Make A Run For It!

What's the worst thing you've ever smelled?  A few years ago I was in a meat packing plant in Philadelphia, Pa. If you saw the first Rocky movie you've seen it too.  He built his strength by punching hanging beef carcasses like a heavy bag. The further into the building I walked the worse the stench became.  They told me it was the smell of drying blood.  I learned that day just how they slaughter cattle.  They start out by keeping them in large corrals where they can move about easily while being fed. Then after a while they began to funnel them down to a chute.

I sorrowfully watched as these round eyed animals lined up, one behind the other, ambling toward their demise.   They weren't aware that at the end of the chute there was a gate that blocked each cow, while a large electrified pole shot through their heads and they slumped to the floor.  You see the cattle never knew it, but they were being fed simply so that they could eventually be slaughtered and become meat in our grocery stores.  Step after step they walked, moving forward, never realizing that they were in line to die. If someone had told them the truth don't you think some of them would have tried to make a run for it?

This is just what is happening in our country today. With all of the documentaries that have come out in the last several years like Food Inc., Supersize Me, or Forks Over Knives it is amazing that people just continue on the same path.  We are killing ourselves one mouthful at a time.  I was in the Cardiac ICU last weekend recovering from heart surgery when my kids told me about a family in the waiting room right outside.  They came in carrying large bags of fast food; hamburgers, french fries and lots of sugary drinks.

The American diet is filled with fast food, take out pizza, sugars, fats, and simple carbs. There they were eating the very foods that are sending so many of us to our deaths with cardio-vascular episodes.  It makes me wonder how we can visit loved ones suffering from the effects of heart disease, while we consume the the kind of calorie dense stuff that we now KNOW is responsible for these illnesses. For thousands of years humanity suffered from a lack of food.  Today we are dying both because of what we are eating as well as how much we consume.

I know I sound preachy and maybe just a little judgmental and I'm sorry for that.  I am sitting at home recovering from quad-bypass surgery and I realize how profoundly the decisions I made about food and exercise years ago have impacted my health today.  I would go back, if I could, and make better choices.  I'm so grateful to have another opportunity to live life fully and enjoy time with my family and friends.  I have decided to consume less, move more and eat closer to the ground.  I want to be around for a long time.

The next time you are standing in a fast food line ask yourself this,  "Am I behaving like that cow in the rendering plant?  Where does is this line actually taking me?"  Then take a big breath and make a run for it!

Quit Hating!!!

Do you hate exercise as much as I do? Of course I tell stories of how much I ran in college, but for 20 years the main kind of running I've done was to the refrigerator, out for pizza, or to the Krispy Kreme (is there really anything that tastes better than a box of hot glazed doughnuts?). I have been hogging the remote for a long time, and the only game of football I've engaged in comes on the television. I was seeking a new definition for "couch potato". But that all had to change.

I was determined to get healthy again so I made exercise my number 1 priority.  I was already going to the gym 3-4 days a week, and walking on the treadmill 20-30 minutes each time but it wasn't nearly enough. Today I am going to the Omni East Club 5-6 days a week, and I'm there between 1.5-2 hours every time I walk through the doors.  I'm on the treadmill 45 minutes (30 at a moderate run), the elliptical for 10 minutes, and the recumbent bike for another 20. I didn't start at this pace originally.  I started out walking 12 minutes a day, just raising my heart rate to 120 bpm.  Many people start out trying to do too much and are discouraged so they quickly return to the couch again.  Making the decision to start out running 3 miles a day is a sure plan for failure for most of us. It usually doesn't work, so start out slowly.

About 6 months ago I started to seriously add weight training to my routine, something I tried desperately NOT to do for decades!  It isn't that I want to bulk up.  It's just that as I have grown older gravity has caused everything that used to be strong and tight to become loose and weak. Lifting smaller weights with more repetitions is reversing the effects of years of inactivity. I have also added core training and stretching to what I do on a regular basis. Because I am partially retired I am able to dedicate the time I need for exercise but nearly anyone can find at least 45 minutes to an hour every day if we make it a priority.  Sometimes it's as simple as stepping away from the remote.

The real problem, after all, is our priorities, right? We are leading busier lives than at any other time in the history of man. We all aspire to become great at multitasking, but a wise man once said that if you chase two cats at the same time they'll both get away. Our careers, our homes, our families, and our friendships are all important, but they don't mean anything without our health. I am convinced by everything I have experienced this past year that if I make exercise a priority I can eventually reclaim my health. Join me and just get started !  Raise your heartbeat a little for just 12 minutes. A journey begins with the first step.