We were having dinner one day when someone commented that people like me don't need programs or education on obesity because we are so self-motivated and disciplined and that is why I would not be overweight to begin with.
While I appreciated the compliment, I don't believe it is really true. As a young adult, I got into certain habits that are now no more effort than lighting up a cigarette is for a smoker. If you can change habits in your twenties, it will make a huge difference by the time you are fifty years old.
Let's take a look at just how self-disciplined and motivated I am not. If you walk on your lunch break for ten minutes, five times a week, you will lose 2.5 pounds a year. Do I do that? No, I walk maybe once or twice a week. I know I should walk every day, but I am busy and like everyone, I put off things I should do. So, those one or two walks a week come out to about one-half pound a year. Over 28 years I have had that habit, that is about 14 pounds.
About 10 years ago, I got a cell phone. I spend a lot of time talking on the phone for business and with my family. I got into the habit of getting up and walking around outside while I was on the phone. I spend another ten minutes a day just walking back and forth and around the block while I am talking on the phone. Walking ten minutes a day accounts for another 2.5 pounds a year. Over the ten years I have had that habit accounts for another 25 pounds.
Finally, I always take the stairs instead of the elevator when I am by myself. I can't really insist on that in a group of people, but when I am going to my hotel room, unless it is on the 28th floor or so, I walk. I am in a hotel or office building with several floors about five times a month, so that is another half-pound a year. Over twenty years, that comes to about ten pounds.
14 + 25 + 10 = 49 pounds
It is not great self-discipline or motivation. It is small habits I got into just like some people twirl their hair around their fingers when they talk or always have a cup of coffee in the morning. After ten or twenty years, I do these things automatically without thinkig about them. The point is, if you can get into these habits at age twenty or thirty, it will prevent you from being overweight at age fifty. If you are already fifty, starting now will keep another ten pounds off each decade. With the life expectancy rising the way it is, you can expect to save yourself carrying around another 25 or 30 pounds. Start now!
Exercise and Disability