Polishing the Stone
Not too long ago, several would be cosmetic surgery patients got together at a New York City YMCA to hear a lecture on the latest cosmetic surgery procedures by a prominent plastic surgeon. The surgeon, Dr. Gerald Pitman, spent the first twenty minutes of his talk trying to discourage the audience from having cosmetic operations in the first place. “Ask yourself ‘Can you avoid it?’”, he asks, and “what kind of lifestyle changes can you make?” “Some people think liposuction and tummy tucks are alternatives to diet and exercise”, Dr. Pitman said, "They are not”.
We are all diamonds in this world, diamonds in the rough. We live in a culture that conditions us to be dissatisfied with our bodies and encourages us, for the sake of profit, to select products that will make us “happy” and/or “attractive”. This is rarely the result. Fads and gimmicks often leave us feeling disappointed and unhappy with ourselves. The typical result is to look for the next fad or gimmick that promises to fix what ails us.
To polish the true miracles are bodies are, we have to develop habits that will sustain ourselves throughout our lives and provide a true foundation for satisfaction and happiness. Although not always easy, it’s almost too simple: the basic elements are diet and exercise. It’s difficult to create profit from simple solutions. Feeling comfortable in our skin and responsible for our health is the cornerstone to enjoying our lives the way we were meant to do. We are all different and we will never all look the same, but we all can follow the same plan to be the best that we can be.
The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy body isn’t about short-term dietary changes and on and off again exercise programs. It’s about a lifestyle that makes habits out of healthy eating, regular physical exercise, and balancing the number and quality of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses. It’s about developing habits that make us feel good.
Make a commitment to start making regular small changes to your diet, eliminate foods that are high in fats, processed meats, and sugar. A healthy eating plan should be based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy products. Be sure to include lean meats, poultry, seafood, beans, eggs and nuts. Avoid heavily processed foods and foods high in saturated fats, cholesterol, salt, and the two bad “boys” of the grocery isles, trans-fats and sugars.
Moderation and balance are not dirty words. Maybe to the soft drink makers and potato chip industry. We don’t have to eat large quantities to feel satisfied. Go ahead, have some ice cream, just don’t eat a quart every night! Expand your food choices and sample all of the wonderful and exotic foods available to us. Forget apples and bananas, try mangoes, kiwi fruit, pineapple, or berries! Grill or sauté vegetables with herbs like rosemary; buy a new cookbook and experiment. Use protein sources as part of your meal instead of the centerpiece. The diets of many healthy people around the world, Asia and the Mediterranean for example, use protein very creatively in combination with legumes, vegetables, fruits, etc.
A good diet needs to be complemented with physical activity. Good exercise habits keep our metabolism and bodily systems functioning. A good diet improves our ability to effectively exercise and proper exercise is difficult without a proper diet. A well designed exercise program can help you maintain your proper weight, reduce high blood pressure, reduce risk for type 2 diabetes, reduce arthritis pain and risk of osteoporosis. It has been demonstrated that exercise can reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety. Do you think it’s coincidence that the country with one of the highest obesity rates in the world also has the highest rate of psychotropic drug use in the world? We think not!
But best of all, a balanced and healthy diet and a well designed exercise program makes us feel good and happy with ourselves, just what all the ads promised! Make a commitment to be happy with yourself and to do something everyday that will make you a better person!
LouAnn Good is the Owner of Fitness Together, located in south Fort Myers, part of the world’s largest personal training organization. She has over 15 years of personal training experience in Lee County helping people of all ages meet their fitness goals. All personal trainings at Fitness Together are done one on one in a private training studio where there are no interruptions, no waiting for equipment, and all the attention is on you, the client. “One Client-One Trainer-One Goal”.
Not too long ago, several would be cosmetic surgery patients got together at a New York City YMCA to hear a lecture on the latest cosmetic surgery procedures by a prominent plastic surgeon. The surgeon, Dr. Gerald Pitman, spent the first twenty minutes of his talk trying to discourage the audience from having cosmetic operations in the first place. “Ask yourself ‘Can you avoid it?’”, he asks, and “what kind of lifestyle changes can you make?” “Some people think liposuction and tummy tucks are alternatives to diet and exercise”, Dr. Pitman said, "They are not”.
We are all diamonds in this world, diamonds in the rough. We live in a culture that conditions us to be dissatisfied with our bodies and encourages us, for the sake of profit, to select products that will make us “happy” and/or “attractive”. This is rarely the result. Fads and gimmicks often leave us feeling disappointed and unhappy with ourselves. The typical result is to look for the next fad or gimmick that promises to fix what ails us.
To polish the true miracles are bodies are, we have to develop habits that will sustain ourselves throughout our lives and provide a true foundation for satisfaction and happiness. Although not always easy, it’s almost too simple: the basic elements are diet and exercise. It’s difficult to create profit from simple solutions. Feeling comfortable in our skin and responsible for our health is the cornerstone to enjoying our lives the way we were meant to do. We are all different and we will never all look the same, but we all can follow the same plan to be the best that we can be.
The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy body isn’t about short-term dietary changes and on and off again exercise programs. It’s about a lifestyle that makes habits out of healthy eating, regular physical exercise, and balancing the number and quality of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses. It’s about developing habits that make us feel good.
Make a commitment to start making regular small changes to your diet, eliminate foods that are high in fats, processed meats, and sugar. A healthy eating plan should be based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy products. Be sure to include lean meats, poultry, seafood, beans, eggs and nuts. Avoid heavily processed foods and foods high in saturated fats, cholesterol, salt, and the two bad “boys” of the grocery isles, trans-fats and sugars.
Moderation and balance are not dirty words. Maybe to the soft drink makers and potato chip industry. We don’t have to eat large quantities to feel satisfied. Go ahead, have some ice cream, just don’t eat a quart every night! Expand your food choices and sample all of the wonderful and exotic foods available to us. Forget apples and bananas, try mangoes, kiwi fruit, pineapple, or berries! Grill or sauté vegetables with herbs like rosemary; buy a new cookbook and experiment. Use protein sources as part of your meal instead of the centerpiece. The diets of many healthy people around the world, Asia and the Mediterranean for example, use protein very creatively in combination with legumes, vegetables, fruits, etc.
A good diet needs to be complemented with physical activity. Good exercise habits keep our metabolism and bodily systems functioning. A good diet improves our ability to effectively exercise and proper exercise is difficult without a proper diet. A well designed exercise program can help you maintain your proper weight, reduce high blood pressure, reduce risk for type 2 diabetes, reduce arthritis pain and risk of osteoporosis. It has been demonstrated that exercise can reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety. Do you think it’s coincidence that the country with one of the highest obesity rates in the world also has the highest rate of psychotropic drug use in the world? We think not!
But best of all, a balanced and healthy diet and a well designed exercise program makes us feel good and happy with ourselves, just what all the ads promised! Make a commitment to be happy with yourself and to do something everyday that will make you a better person!
LouAnn Good is the Owner of Fitness Together, located in south Fort Myers, part of the world’s largest personal training organization. She has over 15 years of personal training experience in Lee County helping people of all ages meet their fitness goals. All personal trainings at Fitness Together are done one on one in a private training studio where there are no interruptions, no waiting for equipment, and all the attention is on you, the client. “One Client-One Trainer-One Goal”.
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