Activity does not equal Accomplisment

"Your body doesn't run on exercise, it runs on the food you put in your mouth." - Tony Horton


I love, love, love this quote. There is a definite mentality out there that it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you burn enough calories to offset your foods. I can't speak to the high schoolers of today, but that was for sure the mentality in my high school - even among the athletes. Sure, a 16-year-old has a much different metabolism that that of someone who is 36 or say 66. BUT the principles are the same. If we want to build healthy, NOURISHED bodies we must watch what we put in our mouths. Some may argue and say it's soley calories in/calories out - just like the article that I linked yesterday, but I don't think that anyone can argue with the impact that 100 calories of ice cream vs. 100 calories of broccoli would have on your body, right?

One thing that I love about the facility where I workout is that the focus is on body reshaping. Merely losing, maintaining or even gaining weight focuses on calories in/calories out. But bodyshaping focuses on reshaping and repurposing the way your body moves and functions through a combination of nutrition and exercise. Bodyshaping puts more emphasis on complete wellness than the number on the scale. A weight shift is merely the cherry (tomato, of course) on top.

In a recent conversation with my husband, I mentioned that "activity doesn't necessarily mean accomplishment." What I mean is this - you can work, work, work all day long but until you do the right work, in the right way, at the right time, you won't see results. Now we weren't specifically talking about health at the time, but it can apply here too. You can buy fancy equipment, you can have gym memberships, you can log your foods and you can subscribe to fitness magazines - but all this "activity" won't guarantee that you will get any closer to your goals. Just the same way that searching job listings and updating your resume a dozen times won't guarantee you a job or that attending every time the church doors are open won't guarantee that your faith will grow. You can practice tennis to be the best player out there, but unless you actually compete and go for your goals, no one will ever know about it.

For those of you who take things literally, I am NOT saying that you should sit and do nothing or that all of these efforts are inherently bad. What I am saying is that activity ALONE does not equal accomplishment or change.

No matter the location, I often here the B word - busy. It's the excuse that many have for not exercising and for not eating well. Perhaps it's time to look at HOW we are spending our time. A few small changes in our activity may allow for a more efficient use of time.

My challenge is to TRUTHFULLY log your time and your foods for one week...and I mean EVERYTHING. The 5 minutes you use checking your facebook after you read your emails in the morning or reading sports articles, the 20 minutes spent pinning things on pinterest or the "bite" of cake you taste at lunch or the handful of nuts you sneak between meals or the few bites here and there from your kids plate as your prepare and clean up from dinner. Let's be mindful of how we use our lives. I don't mean to sound melodramatic or seem like you can never have any fun or downtime, but it gets down to how much you want change in your life. What are you willing to do? What price are you willing to pay to get there?

I am doing this too, and SO CAN YOU! Make it a Level 10 Day!