Live In The Dash

Every New Year, countless people start a new healthy lifestyle to either lose weight, gain a new career or perhaps just to recover from a terrible situation.  Over my 53 years on planet Earth, I’ve been fortunate to learn from many mistakes, poor judgment and tremendous mentors and friends.  The following is a list of most of my personal habits and behaviors about “living in the dash”.  I may not be perfect at following all these behaviors 100% of the time, but I’m constantly seeking to improve and to live a life He taught us.

Healthy Diet:

1. Cut all pop (aka soda). Yes even diet pop. It’s all crap. 
2. Enjoy your coffee hot and black. Especially a cup before your workout.
3. Drink at least 1 gallon of water a day which includes 1 glass before each meal.
4. Cut all fried foods. Except for french fries. I mean...c’mon!
5. Reduce red meat to a maximum of once per week. 
6. Cut all garbage sugar. Start looking at those food labels and see how much added sugar is added.  For example, a best selling Greek yogurt has 15 grams of sugar listed on the container label. Not enough for you?  Check out “Fed Up with Katie Couric” where she investigates how the American food industry is responsible for the the decline of our nations health.
7. Cut down on processed foods like chips and most breads.  Note I say “cut down”.  We gotta enjoy some chips and salsa on occasion right!
8. Lean protein is best such as poultry, fish, low-fat pork, eggs, zero-fat milk and low salt roasted peanuts and other nuts.
9. Eat 2-hours before bedtime.
10. Enjoy a salad a day and not that man-made iceberg lettuce garbage. 
11. Don’t gorge yourself at every meal. It’s ok to eat leftovers! 
12. Feel free to go vegetarian for a while.  Meat is not necessary at every meal.
13. Put simply, just insert less food in your mouth daily. 
14. If you cheat on any of the above. Pay the price the next day and fast for like 18 hours (yes that includes your sleep time).

Healthy Physical Activity:

1. You really don’t need a fitness center membership. Did you know that nearly 70% of fitness center memberships go unused? All you need are some quality running shoes (don’t go cheap here - go to a real running store), loose fitting exercise clothes and maybe some simple dumbbells. 
2. Everyone says you need a goal. Such as a goal to run more miles or faster miles or lift more weights.  Here’s a goal for you - exercise for 1-hour each and every day and the same time every day. I don’t care if one of your workouts is 1-hour of stretching or a nice brisk walk.  Just start sweating more and kick up that metabolism. Try to do it first thing in the morning so you don’t have any excuses later in the day.
3. Exercise needs to be blended with cardio, strength training and stretching.  Don’t feel like you need a fancy weight machine, treadmills or dumbbells.  For example, try doing 20 sets of 50 pushups & 1 minute-planks.
4. Listen to your body. If something is hurting - don’t do it. This took me many years to realize. 
5. Mix up your workouts.  Don’t be so focused on one type of exercise. That’s when boredom kicks in.
6. In the beginning you may need a fitness partner to hold you accountable or motivate you, however, in the long run of life - it’s really the inner discipline that matters. 

Other Random Healthy Habits, Behaviors and Attitudes:

1. Sleep! Try for 6-8 hours a day, unless you are my bride, then 10-11.
2. When you go shopping, don’t drive around forever looking for that elusive parking spot closest to the door.  Park far away and get some more steps in the process.
3. Skip escalators and elevators.  Stairs are really good and I guarantee they are almost always an available option.
4. If you sit at a desk all day - stop it!  Get a sit stand desk. 
5. Read something daily. Anything. But always seek to expand your horizons.
6. Save early and often!  Compound interest is your friend. 
7. If you smoke - well - you are clearly missing the mark. Stop it! It’s just plain gross.
8. Alcohol - it’s all about moderation.  In your 20’s you could probably get away with more, but our bodies can only take so much once you are over 50. 
9. Live the Golden Rule.  Let’s face it, not everyone is “out to get you”.  When you get upset at someone, take a moment to consider their situation. 
10. Pray daily. From anyplace too. Just have a conversation and a relationship with Him.
11. Laugh daily and often. I don’t care if you watch YouTube videos to make yourself laugh, do something. Tell a joke, be silly or just hangout with fun people. Just laugh. 
12. Learn how to fail forward. And when you fail, know it, learn from it, celebrate it and move on. 
13. Seek feedback and just listen without excuses. Those who give you true actionable feedback are a gift. 
14. Whatever you do, be hungry. In other words, don’t do things half-assed.  If you are going to do something, do it right or don’t do it at all.
15. Never take yourself too seriously, and if you do, your true friends and your spouse with let you know it.
16. Finally, each and every day do something for someone else.  Even something so simple as buying someone a cup of coffee or texting a friend or coworker and telling them you appreciate them. There can be no greater calling that serving others. 

Bottom line, living a healthy lifestyle really boils down to Discipline, Humility and a Passion to Be the Best You Can Be!  In the end, we can’t take it all with us. It’s been said that each of us will have only two dates on our tombstone - and a dash in the middle. Commit to “live in the dash” so that when it comes time to post the end date, you can say you gave it your all and lived a healthy lifestyle.