Be BOLD!

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I going to slightly contradict what I say most often.  Usually I spend time professing my preference for making small, step by step changes to your health.  I still truly believe that small systematic changes are the ones that will lead to a healthy style of life that can be adhered to most easily.  But sometimes in life we need to make a more dramatic change in our lives.  Although a larger change is usually harder to maintain, its benefit is usually more palpable from the start.  A large change like this is not for everyone, but it is recommended is particular situations.  Usually, the time for a big change is when your health is being severely compromised.  For the more strong willed, a dramatic change can work and be maintained just as well.  So today I am telling you to make BOLD change in your health!

        A perfect example of where I would recommend this is with someone who uses tobacco products.  We are in the day and age where the information and evidence available to everyone that using tobacco products is horribly unhealthy.   I teach my Health Ed. students that it boggles my mind why anyone still chooses to use them with right on the package, in black and white, there is one of many dramatic warnings of a serious side effect.  Ignorance can no longer be the excuse.  And, we also know that as soon as a user stops using these products that their healthy immediately starts to improve.  So this is an example when I learn that someone uses tobacco products that I tell them to stop immediately...I tell them to be bold and quit "cold turkey."  If someone can handle stopping that way, they will reap a healthier lifestyle right away.  But that is often very difficult to do because of the addictive nature of the nicotine.  Like my other exercise recommendations, weening off of the nicotine is usually more manageable and can be successfully accomplished by more people.  As I started this post, I am only being slightly contradictory, I do think it is easier to stop using tobacco products through a step down process, however the more dramatic and often necessary case is to be bold and just stop right there and then.

          Another example of this is seen when people have to make dramatic changes to their diets.  Sometimes, people do it in order to meet a lofty goal in a short timeline, such as when is trying to fit into a dress.  This also happens when people suffer from a significant disease or bad prognosis at the doctor's office.  Similarly to what I say with an exercise routine, I often say that it is great to want to change everything you do and eat to be as healthy as you can be.  The problem with that is it is often too short lived, and dropped eventually.  And even worse, the positive change is usually overcome to a state even worse than when started because of binging on what was removed.  But just like with quitting smoking, sometimes you just have to be bold and make a dramatic change.  A compromise that I feel works great, one that allows you to make a bold change with dramatic results and is also a small step that will last, is to change one big thing, remove one of the most unhealthy pieces of your diet.  For example, lets say you drink alcohol on a regular basis, responsibly, and not from addiction (although that would be an urgent need to stop just as with tobacco use).  You just like to have a glass of wine with dinner, a drink before bed to help you sleep, or even some beers while watching the game.  In these examples, when done responsibly, there is nothing morally or legally wrong with doing so.  And, you most likely enjoy it.  However that is where the bold change comes in; when you ask yourself whether or not that drink is really necessary?  The answer is it isn't.  Alcohol, even in small quantities is very damaging to maintain a healthy body composition.  The enjoyment of it is deceivingly much less than the positive health benefits gained by avoiding it all together.  Anyone who has a drink on occasion will agree that it would be a bold move to just give it up.  But trust me, it will be worth it.

        One other way I can suggest to make a bold move to being healthier is to try something new.  For example, trying a new cardio class at the gym.  Most people I know gravitate to one type of class or another, e.g. there are the people who only take spin classes, only take yoga classes, only take Zumba classes.  And it always isn't just a preference that keeps people in their one and only class type.  A lot of the time it is like a child not wanting to try a new type of food...they don't want to try it because they're either afraid or think it looks to unappealing.  Now think of yourself as a child, your children, or just that concept of not wanting to try a new food but then trying it and liking or even loving it!  Be bold and try a drastically different type of class...get off the bike and try a dance class, get up from the mat and try a cycling class.  Not only will you find and activity that you enjoy that you didn't think you would, but you will be challenging your body in a new way which is great for both your muscles and general fitness,

          Being bold takes a lot of courage and gumption.  When making a change that can be considered bold to your diet, exercise routine, or lifestyle it can often be very challenging.  But that daunting change usually gets dramatic results...sometimes ones that are even extremely necessary.  As I always say slow and steady typically wins the race.  However, there are times where you need to make a more dramatic change.  And if you are the type of person that enjoys a hard challenge, make a bold change and you will see that the results mirror the significance of the change.  Be bold and make a big change today because its the most dramatic way to reach a fit new you!