I don't have time to eat right. I don't have time to workout. I don't have time to help you with that. I'm soooo busy......
I was in the mall the other day finding a store that could upgrade a computer a friend gave me because I didn't want to take the time to do it myself. I can't even put into words how much I hate the mall. But spending 2 or 3 hours on upgrading the computer myself was not on my list of "ways I am willing to spend my time". Notice here that I didn't say, "I don't have time to do it.", I could have made the time. This is the point of this entry and I will come back to it, but I have a short tangent I need to go off on..... I end up in a mall once or twice a year and I always make it a point to walk through the Food Court, mostly out of morbid curiosity, partially because that's where the bathrooms are. The Food Court is a microcosm of the obesity epidemic in America. Old, young, male, female, entire families, if you don't give a shit about what you're putting in your body then the Food Court is for you. At this time of year it is easy to imagine failed New Year's resolutions embodied by Burger King wrappers, 32oz soda cups and Chinese food containers scattered around tables. One look around at the people eating there should be enough to make you think, "If I don't want to look like that, then I shouldn't eat here.". Similar to the thought process that tell you that you shouldn't smoke if you don't want to get lung cancer. For some reason, though, many people don't think like that. It's the same logic I use when I shop for food. When I go to grocery stores I look at what's in fat people's carts and I make sure I don't buy the stuff that's in their carts. I don't buy English Muffins, Cap'n Crunch, or Doritos. I also don't buy 2 liter bottles of diet soda, Low-Fat Columbo Yogurt, or Weight Watchers Frozen Dinners. Ironically, the most out of shape people in the supermarket always have carts loaded with "low-fat" and "diet" products. (pssst, shouldn't this send up a red flag?). I was at the supermarket recently and an obese woman in front of me has 2 loaves of Wonder Bread, a bag of Fritos and a bag of potato chips, boxes of spaghetti, jars of Ragu, 4x 2 liter bottles of soda, boxes of Kraft Mac-n-cheese, English Muffins, and 3 bananas. Think about that for a second. She actually ripped 3 bananas from a full bunch and placed them in her cart amongst the rest of the garbage that she considered food. I felt so bad for the bananas that I immediately started to plot a way to rescue them before they made it to her car. If you're keeping score at home, the final score of this shopping cart was: Processed Crap - 99, Bananas - 3. But this isn't about nutrition, it's about time, so in the interest of time, I'll leave the nutrition rant with one final comment. If you're in a supermarket reading a package, thinking about whether it's healthy or not, just put it down and go buy something that doesn't come in a package. Oh, and don't eat in Food Courts...
If the one on the right actually served panda, seared in olive oil and sprinkled with some fresh pepper, then you may have a healthy option here.. Otherwise, sorry, keep moving....
Time. We are each allotted 168 hours per week. Tom Brady is allotted 168 hours per week and he has become one of the best quarterbacks of all-time, while at the same time fertilizing supermodels and shilling for furry boots and manly fragrances. Steve Jobs was allotted 168 hours per week and built the most successful company in iHistory while battling iCancer following an iLiver transplant. Though I would argue that the way he chose to use his 168 probably had a hand in him contracting the iDisease in the first place, regardless, he got a lot done with his time. We all get the same 168 hours, and make no mistake about it, what we do with them is our choice. I don't believe I've used the phrase "I don't have time to......." in quite a while because it's not accurate. If I don't have time to do something it's because I've placed a higher priority on something else. I've made a choice. If it's important enough to me, then I find the time. My health is important to me so I find the time to eat right and exercise. My time with my daughter is important to me so I find the time to coach her soccer team. Providing the best gym and training experience to people that I possibly can is important to me so I find the time to study, read, research, and experiment to make myself the most knowledgeable coach I can possibly be. "I don't have time" is one of the most popular excuses I hear from people who are out of shape, don't eat right, and don't exercise, yet they have favorite TV shows, active facebook accounts, and spend hours a month at bars and restaurants. If posting pictures of your pub crawl on facebook is more important to you than keeping yourself in shape, then please don't tell me you don't have time to train. I'd much rather you tell the truth and say "partying and social networking is currently a higher priority to me than taking care of myself, and I have to know what happens on the next episode of Jersey Shore".
I've never seen Jersey Shore so it's hard to say what's going on here. My guess is the cameraman said "OK, try to look like the biggest douchebag possible.". I think the 2nd in from the left nailed it the best.
Old time strongman George Hackenshmidt once said, "Find the time to be healthy, or you will be obliged to find the time to be ill.". What you do with your 168 hours is your choice. I don't really think any of us is any busier than the next person who is successful, happy, and in really good shape. We all just choose different ways to spend our 168 hours. To really be healthy and fit you need to be active at least 5 or 6 hours a week. You need to spend 4 hours per week, planning, purchasing, and preparing the right foods to eat. Sleep 8 hours a day, and you still have over 100 hours left.
I think in many cases the priorities get screwed up and people put lower priorities on health, activity, and sleep then they do on the other things. People take their health for granted right up until it's gone. You want to watch your time disappear, get incapacitated by injury or illness and watch your hours build up on the couch, in the doctor's office, and in line at CVS. At least you'll have more time for facebook and tv. Without your health it doesn't matter what you want to do with your 168, they will be dictated for you.
One of the things that made my priority list for 2012 is to do some rock climbing.
I can tell you one thing for certain, I haven't missed a day to sickness in as long as I can remember. People are dropping like flies around me with stomach bugs, flu viruses, colds and debilitating injuries. I've placed top priority on eating right, getting my workouts in, and sleeping 8 hours at least 5 nights a week (even if it means getting in bed at 8pm). Because I've made these my top priorities, I honestly believe that everything else falls in place. Especially since I get to determine exactly what I'm going to do with my other 100 hours. If you don't have that freedom, if you find yourself getting sick sometimes, if you're fatigued and not at the fitness level you want, take a quick look at what ranks highest on your priority list. Maybe a simple re-ordering of your 168 will fix a lot of issues for you. I highly recommend doing it now, rather than letting a doctor dictate it for you later.
