Got Resolutions?

    I always look forward to the New Year, and often create goals for myself that I hope will make my life healthier, happier and easier.  This year is no exception, but rather than jump into major changes I decided to reflect a bit about where I would like to see improvements and how to achieve them.

As I was thinking I began to notice that while popular media abounds with advice and advertisements for programs to create "our best selves" most of these only focus on one sphere of health.  At this time of year the majority are even more limited, focusing on physical appearance and weight loss only.  While achieving a healthy weight can be a great start to health and wellness, it is not enough.  Many will find that losing weight without examining the other social and emotional factors that promoted and sustained unhealthy eating will only regain their weight over time.

I would like to suggest that true health and wellness has 4 distinct and overlapping spheres, and thinking about, and setting goals in all 4 areas will help us achieve the sense of wellbeing we desire.  The first is the most obvious and the one we all focus on first, our physical health.   I will start this year's blog posts with some thoughts about this sphere. 

The second and third spheres are often lumped into one area but are truely two- mental health and spiritual health.  I think of these two as representing our personal moods and our connections to others and to a greater purpose.  I will try to post on these topics throughout the year.

The last sphere, and the one most often neglected in the popular media, is financial health.  I often use money as an equivalent to time and without adequate resources of either, it often becomes nearly impossible to make the changes needed in the other spheres.  My resolution for this blog is to offer advice that is cost effective and respectful of the busy lives we all lead.

So, as you think about changes you would like to make in 2013 keep all 4 spheres of health in mind and remember that not every change needs to begin on January 1st.   Start with easy to achieve changes and move onto harder stuff as the year progresses.  My hope with this blog is to provide strategies to assist us all along the way. 

Happy New Year!

Are You Comfortable? #2

While it is simple and easy to admonish people to “get out of their comfort zones” the actual practice is much more difficult than Nike’s iconic phrase “just do it”. Rather than approaching this difficulty from the perspective of how to get out of our comfort zone, it can be instructive to reflect further on what keeps us there.

Harvard’s, Robert Kegan, a developmental psychologist outlines a method for looking more closely at our resistance to change. In his model, one begins to identify the competing interests and underlying assumptions on which our resistance to change are based. I was recently reminded of some of the assumptions I hold while waiting outside of the aerobics studio at my local Y. I had heard about a rigorous class which combined aerobics and strength training and wanted to give it a try. As I stood among the fit, much younger women outside the classroom door, I began to question my decision to attend. They all knew each other and I worried that I would be an outsider, not fitting in and not able to keep up. As we filed into the room I asked the woman next to me about some class details and was surprised to learn that she too had never attended the class and was as anxious as I was. As the class began I also quickly realized that I was not the only one struggling to keep up and we all had our fitness challenges. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and was glad I had not let my assumptions that I would not fit in or I wasn’t fit enough keep me from trying something new. Until I spoke to my fellow newcomer I wasn't even aware of the unconscious assumptions I was holding about the class and it's participants.

What assumptions are you making by staying in your comfort zones? Do you assume that your family would never eat that healthy stuff, that you could never complete a 5K run, or that you could never return to school to pursue that new career? Why?

As you begin identifying your comfort zones take a few moments to also sleuth out the underlying and often unconscious assumptions that keep you there. You might be surprised by what you find.

The Adult Onset Athlete

Okay, I’ll admit it. I used to skip gym class. A lot. Enough so, that I almost didn’t graduate from high school. You see, I used to put off my afternoon class homework until the day it was due. If I couldn’t get it all done between classes, I would skip my morning gym class to finish it. Eventually, my surprised parents received a letter from the school, telling them I was in danger of failing gym, and my early (January) graduation plans were in jeopardy. My English and Social Studies teachers had to suppress their smirks as I explained that I would be skipping their classes, several days that week, in order to take gym, almost all day, in order to graduate. Talk about the punishment fitting the crime.

I grew up in the days prior to Title IX. While there were a few girls’ sports teams at my high school, the choices were limited, and there was not the network of childhood teams & camps you see today. Don’t get me wrong; I was active. Kids didn’t have their own cars, so you biked or walked everywhere. Social activities revolved around skiing, skating, hiking, tennis and swimming. In many ways athletic activity was easy, because it was just part of life, and the adults weren’t involved in running the show. There was no sports burnout, soccer moms or traveling teams.

You can imagine my anxiety then, as I waded into a chilly lake at age 44, to await the starting gun in my first triathlon. I had never been in a competitive sporting event, never mind one with a starting gun. My heart rate monitor showed that my pulse was already into my aerobic range, and I hadn’t even started! I didn’t really know what I was thinking when I signed myself up that January, for the Danskin Women’s Triathlon. There was something about those double 4s that just made me want to do something that pushed my limits. Something I wasn’t sure I could even do. I chose something athletic.

I’m not sure where I first heard the term “adult-onset athlete”. As a physician it just struck a chord with me. I had been trained to recognize and treat many diseases which begin in adulthood. This seemed like the perfect tongue in cheek description of the older first time athlete. One who often begins exercising to control their weight, or in hopes of bringing down a borderline blood pressure or cholesterol. In my own practice I had often encouraged my patients to begin exercising. Sometimes it is hard to take your own advice.

The funny thing, though, is that what begins as a means to an end- weight loss, a better blood pressure, a lower blood sugar- quickly becomes something else entirely. The joys in cycling through verdant farm land or running along a seaside path soon become more powerful motivators than any cholesterol reading. The profound sense of accomplishment brought by finishing your first 5K or triathlon is even greater for the adult onset athlete because we have no history of such accomplishments.

I certainly wasn’t the fastest finisher. But I did it. My medal still hangs in my closet where I can see it, especially when I’m feeling old, and slow, and tired. And it makes me smile, and feel a little proud. There are a lot of rewards in being an adult onset athlete. So get out there. Experience them for yourself.