Ooohhhhh...It's Diet AND Exercise!!!

Several years ago, when I worked at a local television station, I was engaged in a conversation with a news anchor friend of mine. As he was preparing to go on the air, with less than 30 seconds until the start of the broadcast, he said to me, "Michael, what if I could tell you the secret to living a long and healthy life?" I said, "Sure, Marc. Please. Enlighten me." He continued, "What if I told you that all you had to do was eat some well balanced meals several times a day and maybe engage in some sort of physical activity that raised your heart rate just a bit?" "Really?" I inquired half sarcastically. "That's it?" "That's it," he said, "Do that and you'll probably live quite well for a really long time." It sounds kind of obvious, doesn't it? But the inside joke to all of this was that we had been doing a special series of live interviews with a particular doctor early in the morning every week for several weeks. Regardless of what the topic of the day was, our early morning guest always ended by telling the viewing audience, "...and don't forget...diet and exercise." That message resonated in our heads to the point we believed that it was the answer to everything.
For example:
"I'm feeling kinda sluggish today. I need more energy."
"Diet and exercise," says that little voice in my head.
"What's in the plan for the new health care bill?"
"Diet and exercise," I hear again.
"What is the meaning of life?"
"Diet and exercise."
"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
"Diet and exercise." (okay, I know the real answer to that one, but you get the idea.)

So I've been thinking about this as I move closer and closer to that magical milestone of forty. Why is it that I haven't been able to integrate this mantra into my life? Nothing I eat is really that bad for me. I even start each morning with a full bowl of heavy fiber cereal with soy milk. Once in a very long while I'll even get the itch to hit the gym and work out. (Though truth be told, I haven't had that itch in about 7 years). Then it dawned on me. My problem is that I've always been choosing diet OR exercise. When I have chosen to work out in the past, I wouldn't necesarrily concern myself with eating three well balanced meals per day. I'd even snack a lot too. I would tell myself that it's okay, it all balances out in the end. Or when I've chosen to eat healthy in the past, I've often thought that there is no reason to exercise. I've been eating healthy. I feel fine. And water? Water is in everything. Why would I need to start drinking water by itself? But then came a moment of truth for me. I woke up one morning back in January and felt quite sluggish. I dragged myself into the bathroom that day and looked in the mirror. I was going to turn forty this year and I didn't want to do it looking like this. Something had to be done.

Now I'm pretty good at taking on a new project as long as it's not an open ended deal (much like this blogging project I've started). If there is a beginning and an end game in sight then I can be disciplined enough to follow through all the way to the finish line. If I leave my task open ended though, I'll never do it. I know myself. I won't even start. I wish I had a dollar for every time I said, "Ah! It's a new year. This is the year I'm going to eat right and exercise." I'd probably have enough money for a half a tank of gas by now.

I need a new plan. I'm turning forty. This is a chance at a fresh start. So I decided to do a little experiment. What if I tried both eating healthy AND working out for a finite amount of time? I need something with rules though...something in writing...something I could stick to. Okay...how about this? What if I tried this whole diet and exercise thing from now until my birthday? I can stick to a plan of working out; say maybe four times a week with a break on Wednesdays. I'll come up with a series of exercises. I'll include both cardiovascular and weight lifting. I'll balance it all out so I'm working out all the muscles in my body plus my heart. I'll do it for about an hour each day. I'll even drag my cousin-in-law and mother-in-law with me to work out and ensure that I stay on track. It would be a regimen worth pursuing since 40 will be the age I probably think about seeing my doctor more frequently. Then I'll be ready for my final exam on my birthday which I will call my "Physical at 40". For even more motivation, this May, my wife (of 3 1/2 years) and I will finally take that honeymoon we promised each other when we got married. Wouldn't it be nice if I was in much better shape for that too? Okay...the motivation is there. The plan is there. Now I just have to start.

Here's a secret though. I've already started. I'm currently in the middle of week #6. Things are going well. I'm keeping a little exercise journal on my iPod so I don't leave the gym until I do all of the exercises. I'm eating pretty healthy. Nothing too crazy. I'm snacking less and I've just introduced my secret weapon into the plan this week. I've started drinking a lot more water and a lot less soda and artificially sweetened drinks. I know that water alone should really help improve things. But I need to see results, man! I need to see results! It's slow going, but it's happening. Though I haven't seen the results physically quite yet, I can say that I feel healthier. I feel as though I have more energy. I haven't felt that in about seven years. Another benefit is that for quite some time now I've had a lot of extreme lower back pain. Though the pain is not quite gone, I have a lot less of it. I feel as though I'm strengthening my lower back through exercise while giving it less of a load (the infamous Buddha belly) to carry. It's all good though. It's all working. I can do this. I know I can.

I'm calling this my "E40 Plan" (you guessed it...embracing forty). I've got a big goal set and I'm working hard to achieve it. Ideally, I'd love to lose about 15 pounds by the big day. I'm hoping it's a realistic goal. I'm doing it with diet and exercise alone. I don't want to take any pills or any aids or accelerators of any kind. I think this will be much more satisfying if I can do it with my own will power. Plus I have an even bigger goal in mind. I'm hoping that at the end of this run that I have a routine in place that has become such a part of my daily life that I continue to do it long past my birthday. I'll let you know how it's going from time to time in future blogs. I'll even have to give my old friend Marc a call and tell him I followed that secret he gave me all those years ago. It turns out he was right...not such an ancient chinese secret after all. ;-)