The Myth Behind Cheating On Your Healthy Lifestyle
People are very good at rationalizing their behavior, and in no instance does this happen more often than when people are talking about their lifestyle. They will say things like, "I can have a second dessert because I'm going to the gym later" or, "I don't need to take the stairs, I spent thirty minutes on the treadmill this morning," as if the whole point of engaging in a healthy lifestyle is to break even at best and legitimize unhealthy choices at worst. It is like buying a Ferrari but only driving it around the parking lot of a grocery store: no matter what its capabilities are, it will never reach its full potential because you are not giving it the correct opportunities.
The number one justification is food and drink. If you have not said it yourself you have most likely heard a friend say, "I'll definitely need to go to the gym tomorrow after this night of drinking." Of course, the next morning they are in no shape to work out, they end up missing the fitness class or bootcamp, and so their rationalization has failed. That, however, is not even the worst part of the situation.
It is not just the calories of what you eat and drink that you need to be worried about. Processed sugars give an unnatural high, followed by a period of sluggishness as your body tries to respond. Saturated fats clog your arteries, making your heart have to work harder. Alcohol dehydrates you, throwing your body into mild shock. All the sessions with a personal trainer in the world are not going to improve your health and well-being if you are abusing your body from the inside out.
People do not understand this because they cannot see or experience the effects of many of these bad decisions in obvious, tangible ways. A perfect example of a bad habit they can recognize is smoking. They can feel it immediately when they breathe, even if it is second hand smoke, and as difficult as it is to quit smoking, people can understand the reason behind stopping that far more relevantly than they can behind skipping the refined sugar or passing by the fast food drive thru.
This is not to say that living a healthy lifestyle means becoming a monk. Many people eat the way they do because it is how they have their whole life and simply do not know any better. Millions of people a year lead healthy lifestyles that include dining out at restaurants and visiting the latest nightspots and enjoying themselves tremendously. They are able to do it because they realize that when they cheat on their lifestyle, they are only cheating themselves.
About the Author
Jack Terry is a fitness and lifestyle writer who has lived in South Florida for several years. http://www.legacyfit.com
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