Somewhere along the way, time no longer became my body’s friend. It reminds me of my grandmother who would occasionally muse out loud walking by a mirror, “Who is that old lady in that mirror anyway?” To be fair, she was one energetic and active lady who exercised daily, was in great shape and had a self-deprecating sense of humor that endeared her to many. Fast forward a few decades and I find myself having the same “mirror” experience.
In all honesty, I do not want to lose the experiences and lessons of life, but I do want to keep a lot of life and health in my years. Sadly, too many hours working and commuting were reducing my quality of life and taking a physical toll. Time to make some changes, besides I kind of like that “old lady” in the mirror and I think she needs to stay active and energetic with a large dose of fun included!
How to make those changes was the question. Now I like to think of myself as fairly intelligent woman. I could figure this out. It is the age of instant information with the right question in the search bar. Right? Not so much! I was paralyzed by an overload of information, bad advice, and a lot of excuses. Time to develop a strategy, eliminate excuses, and try SOMETHING!
As we age the effects of lifestyle, gravity, injuries, and even genetics create issues. An individual strategy is really vital to creating the best personal outcome. After reading not a few blogs and articles, I experienced what so many of our clients’ experience—too many changes all at once. A list of twenty steps to getting healthy –really? 20 steps!!!! Time find a role model and prioritize. We all know that breaking big challenges into challenges will help us succeed.
A famous motivational speaker lost significant amount of weight and increased his healthy activity for the remainder of his long life by doing just that. He carved out 15 minutes a day for healthy activity and identified his major barrier to weight loss—he could not stand the idea of giving up all of his favorite foods. So he didn’t give up any his favorite foods, he just ate less of them, he walked more, celebrated each small benchmark and remained committed to the process. He did not expect instant results. It took over a year to lose the weight, but he remained committed to the process. His name was Zig Zeigler.
So here is my very layperson’s recommendation. Choose two things to change. My two: 1) a new career path and 2) the safest, most effective way to address knee joint pain while increasing activity. Next, find the support to make those changes– accountability partner, physician, coach, trainer, health specialist—just be sure they support your goals.
When you come to OsteoStrong to address osteoporosis, back pain, joint pain, generalized weakness, Type II Diabetes, the effects of stroke, MS or musculoskeletal issues; our efforts will be focused on your goals and your commitment. Those goals in a few visits. That knee joint pain took a year to resolve and will require a lifetime commitment. The best surprise; positive side effects that came with effort that required only 15 minutes once a week. At OsteoStrong we focus on your goals and support your commitment. Call us for an appointment to find assistance in creating your strategy.
