Healthy Habits are Easy. To Break

Healthy habits are hard to keep. And easy to break.

We all know what they should be. We get daily reminders, not just from Mom or our spouse, but also from the experts who usually agree on the recommendations for a healthy diet, levels of exercise, and a disciplined daily routine for your life and your work.

We know all that and we’ve tried to develop and maintain healthy habits, but there are frequent distractions and interruptions. Life events get in the way. That’s OK, we can’t control everything that happens. As long as we recognize the break in our routine and get back on track as soon as possible. It may help to allow for occasional indulgences that enhance the enjoyment of life. But don’t use the interruptions as an excuse to discontinue the healthy habits.

Remember that maintaining good health is not for show, it’s to enable continuing enjoyment of the quality of life that you have achieved or wish to attain. Don’t let up. Keep at it. Healthy habits will have an impact.

Personally, I don’t set a good example, but I am willing to share my own attempts at maintaining healthy habits. It has been a late life necessity as I’ve had to respond to a decline in physical fitness. For fifty years, I’ve had the good fortune, (maybe it’s a curse) of retaining good health and fitness while neglecting a healthy diet and regular exercise. I blame the good luck of being born with the genes and metabolism of two families with a history of long healthy lives. I can take no credit for being athletic and fit enough to run my first marathon on three weeks training at the age of fifty.

Now I’m no longer running marathons and have played my last season of competitive old-timers hockey. It’s time to be more attentive to healthy habits, especially diet and exercise. I try to walk and hike up stairs and hillsides for 10,000 steps per day, plus stretching, strengthening the core, and taking care of my damaged old back. I do admit to occasional lapses and self-indulgence, however. Like snacking on beef jerky with a beer, maybe two, and not light beer. And a late morning breakfast of champions with Cheerios followed by greasy maple syrup-soaked bacon and eggs on toast. And too many cups of coffee.

It seems a reasonably balanced routine of diet and exercise to me.

I wish you well on your own path to healthy habits.  

Be better. Do better.

Be an Enlightened Entrepreneur.

Your Uncle Ralph,

Del

Del Chatterson

Learn more about Enlightened Entrepreneurship at: LearningEntrepreneurship.com 

For more of Uncle Ralph's advice for Entrepreneurs read Don't Do It the Hard Way or The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans.

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