I am a 60-something baby boomer, getting fat and out-of-shape. I have health issues, high cholesterol, type-two diabetes among them. It wasn’t always this way. I used to be an athlete. In high school, I lettered in football and baseball, and played intramural basketball. After high school I played softball, some occasional pickup games of baseball, tennis, and golf. I know what it means to be active and fit.But I have never made fitness and health a priority. Until now.I am working harder all the time at eating right and exercising. I don’t do this in anticipation of delaying the inevitable (that’s death, in case you were wondering) but of making my daily life better. Tomorrow, so I’ve heard, is not promised to any of us. So, several weeks ago, I started yet another exercise program. Yep. That means I have done this before.Several years ago, my wife and I joined our local YMCA, and for a while, I was a semi-regular attendee. Then, in an effort to save money — and because we were not as regular as we had been — we dropped that membership and joined a storefront fitness center. Which one it was is not important. What is important is that I was never able to make going there a habit.In the summer of 2009, I joined a diet program. You know, the one where you count points. That was working for a while, but then about eight months, I stopped attending those meetings about eight months ago. In November, 2009, I stopped watching what I was eating and stopped exercising. Guess what happened: I gained weight. What a shock. And my bad numbers — high cholesterol, high blood sugar, high blood pressure — got worse.So, are you starting to get the picture? I am not a fitness fanatic.But then, at the start of the summer of 2010, I started to get serious about my health again. I had been promising myself I would, but the turning point, for me, was a blog called Zen Habits. The post I found was one called “13 Things to Avoid When Changing Habits.” Among the 13 things, these were the ones that resonated most with me:
Taking on two or more habits at once.
Not committing a plan to paper.
Not having support.
Not realizing the obstacles.
Not logging your progress.
Having no accountability.Here’s what I did:
I committed to changing one habit: exercise.
I wrote a plan for the next six months.
I enlisted my brother, who lives in Lexington, to provide both support and accountability. We talk on the telephone every Sunday at 6 p.m.
I am logging my progress in the same document that holds my plan.I am 10 weeks into it, and it seems to be working. So, here’s a tip. Keep it simple. (Right. Like you’ve never heard that one before.) Still that’s it. For me, I can say I have always been a fan of simplicity. But that’s it: a fan. Not someone who really embraced simplicity. I think that’s changed. I think I am really moving toward accepting the simple life. You can sort of tell these things.