| Wouldn't it be great to be fit again? Wouldn't it be | | | | came back, often with a few extra pounds on top. So |
| great if 50 really was the new 30? We read and hear | | | | you "know" it's all a game you can never hope to win. |
| this mantra all over the media - newspapers, glossy | | | | We give up on ourselves, and as each year passes a |
| magazines, and on every TV interview show and | | | | little more weight gets added on, and every few years |
| "lifestyle" special. The usual celebrity suspects are | | | | we have to let out another notch in our belts or even |
| trotted out to "oohs" and "aahs" of the studio audience. | | | | buy bigger belts. That is very discouraging. |
| And, these 50-plus celebs really do look terrific. But | | | | Or, you get really motivated. Like Howard Beale, the |
| then you look in the mirror and the air goes out of the | | | | crazy TV anchorman in the classic movie Network, |
| balloon. Whatever you see, it's not the "new 30". | | | | you think, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it |
| Possibly not even the "new 50". | | | | anymore." But instead of screaming these words out |
| And yet, don't we really want to have a body that | | | | an open window, as Beale advocates to his millions of |
| looks great and feels great ? to have the energy, the | | | | listeners, you decide to start running. Getting in shape is |
| vigor, the vibrancy we had 25 years ago. Don't you | | | | your new mantra, and you buy new running shoes, |
| look in the mirror and think, "Who is that person? That's | | | | shorts, and a tank-top, and go run three miles. Only the |
| not what I really look like, that's not who I really am." | | | | last time you did any running was five years ago, and |
| Right there, that's the disconnect. | | | | you spend the next two weeks recovering from a |
| Your self-image is probably how you remember | | | | pulled hamstring or calf muscle. |
| yourself when you were 25 or so, somewhere | | | | Sound familiar Maybe this has even happened more |
| between 20 and 30. But years have passed, stuff has | | | | than once. After a few failed attempts, we "know" |
| happened, and gravity, lack of attention, and too many | | | | getting fit is just not going to happen. "Working out just |
| pints of ice cream have dulled your edges, broadened | | | | doesn't work out for me, it's too overwhelming, and I |
| your waistline, and taken the spring out of your step. | | | | always get hurt." End of story. |
| You could put all this together being out of shape and | | | | The real problem, however, is not with you. The real |
| overweight, the decreases in flexibility and stretchability, | | | | problem is not having the right information. The real |
| having health issues, and the cumulative effects of old | | | | problem is not knowing how to get started. |
| injuries and you could be pretty discouraged. You could | | | | The good news is we can all be fit, healthy, and well. |
| think, "There's too much to overcome. I'll never get | | | | Starting right where you are, today, you can begin to |
| anywhere, so why even bother." Or, like so many of | | | | do the things that will bring you the level of fitness and |
| us, every few years or so you join a gym, maybe | | | | wellness you desire. |
| even begin training for a few weeks, and then stop, | | | | The key to restoring, retaining, and improving fitness is |
| pulled down by your own inertia, lack of support, and | | | | to train safe, smart, and ultimately, strong. You start |
| lack of practical guidance. | | | | right where you are, acknowledging the truth of your |
| It just seems like too big a mountain to climb. You think, | | | | physical status, and taking the steps that will work for |
| "I'll never lose 20 pounds." Or maybe, you've lost | | | | you. Actions that work for you now, and actions you'll |
| weight before, have paid the price in time and discipline, | | | | build on as you go forward. |
| and then slowly, gradually, all the weight you took off | | | | |