So They Say

I have heard it all my life. I probably even heard it on Sesame Street. I can just imagine Kermit the Frog telling Cookie Monster that he should think about cutting down on the cookies and exercise more. I have a vague memory of the Count wearing a John McEnroe-style sweatband around his head. Was Richard Simmons ever on Sesame Street? Probably.

If the eat-better-and-exercise-more drum was beating when I was a child in the early ‘80s it is pounding even louder now. As I write this approximately 60% of the American population is overweight. A full 30% is obese. The message is virtually everywhere we go. Even Barnes & Noble has their front display table devoted to healthy eating, dieting, and exercise books.

They say if you eat better and exercise more you will feel better. You will have energy like you never had before. I didn’t think they were lying. I mean, eating better and exercising certainly couldn’t make you feel worse, unless you pulled a hamstring or something, right? If I had known exactly how great eating better and exercising would make me feel I would have started sooner. But, it wasn’t until I needed to do something about my weight gain that I started paying far more attention to what I was eating. I added exercise in the form of jogging, pilates, and then yoga to supplement the diet. Jogging has since gone by the wayside; my knees couldn’t take the several miles a week I was running. But I still do pilates and yoga regularly.

And I feel great. But even better? On the occasions when I do let my eating slide back into old habits or allow laziness to win out over the muscle-burning yoga practice, I feel far less than great. And the difference is so noticeable it motivates me to get back into that warrior pose.