The REAL Secret to Getting Fit
The real secret to getting fit is…
DRUM ROLL PLEASE!
….that there is no secret.
“Exercise might be the most potent “drug” we have for extending the quality and perhaps quantity of our years of life.”
Exercise. Is. Necessary. This doesn’t mean you have to go to a gym or lift weights or run on the treadmill, but you do need to do a combination of resistance, cardio, and stability training. What this exactly looks like should be based on what you enjoy so you consistently do it. That’s the most important thing. Secondarily, ensure you’re doing a combination of resistance training (building strength), cardio (improving heart and lung health), and stability training (preventing injury and increasing performance).
“Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”
Eating healthy really isn’t hard. But breaking the habit of unhealthy eating can be. And that’s by design. Junk food is specifically made to be highly palatable so that you eat a lot of it, and processed food is often cheap and convenient. So breaking the habit of choosing these foods definitely can be challenging. But once you do, once you start eating a primarily whole foods diet and are able to stick with it for a period of time, you will see how easy it is. You will start to be grossed out by some of the processed food you used to eat - you’ll start to see it for the junk that it really is. In the words of one of my favorite authors, Michael Pollan, “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” (By “food” he means real, whole food. Ya know, animals and the stuff that grows out of the ground.)
“The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life. The leading causes of disease and death in developed nations—diseases that are crippling health-care systems, such as heart disease, obesity, dementia, diabetes, and cancer—all have recognized causal links to a lack of sleep.”
Sleep is truly the most underrated and neglected aspect of our health. I believe our attitudes towards sleep and the “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” hustle culture of our modern western world will be something we look back on in the not-too-distant future with genuine regret. Poor sleep has been linked to a higher risk of dementia, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity just to name a few. But I’m not going to list all of the ways that sleep improves health or reference the countless studies that show the impact of good vs. bad sleep because you need an entire book to convey all of this information. Thankfully, this book exists, and it’s written by one of the leading sleep scientists in the world. Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker should be a must read for everyone. I mean that literally. I highly recommend you check it out.
“Almost all our suffering is the product of our thoughts. We spend nearly every moment of our lives lost in thought, and hostage to the character of those thoughts. You can break this spell, but it takes training just like it takes training to defend yourself against a physical assault.”
Last, but definitely not least, is the mind. Actually, this is the most important aspect of your health and often times the root cause for everything you currently have or want to change. I’m not going to pretend that I have my mind figured out, I definitely don’t. Unpacking the mind, processing trauma and old wounds, detaching your mind from your thoughts, and freeing yourself from the struggles of stress, depression, and anxiety is a life-long journey. It’s one that I didn’t start taking seriously until just a few years ago, and I can’t believe I neglected something so important for so long. I know I’m going to sound like a broken record, but what you do for your mind has to work for you. You don’t have to meditate, or journal, or do yoga, or pray, or read, or see a therapist, etc., but you do have to do something. If you let your thoughts control your mind and/or shove your emotions down deep, not only are you hurting yourself but also those closest to you. You can have the nicest body in the world, but if you are deeply unhappy, sad, or anxious, what’s the point?
I say all of this to you not as someone who has it all figured out. I don’t have a perfect body, or eat a 100% healthy diet, or get my eight hours of sleep every night, and I’m certainly not “enlightened” or free of stress and anxiety. But I do pretty well, and I know all of these “secrets to getting fit” - the fad diets, weight-loss drugs, sleeping pills, and “don’t be soft” mindsets - are a bunch of bullshit. There is no secret. You have to do the work. The key is finding the the exercises and foods you like, creating a schedule that gives you ample sleep opportunity, and taking care of yourself mentally so that none of this feels like work.