Change your perspective, change your world

What is holding you back from living the life you want to live? What is stopping you from becoming a fitter person?

Sometimes, changing your perspective can make a difference. For instance, what is wrong with this world map?

Source: Wikipedia

It’s wrong because it is upside down, right?

But that’s just a convention, with the north being on top on virtually all maps. This is why this world map looks “wrong” to you. You’re northern-hemisphere-centric. Just change your perspective(or pretend to be an Australian or New Zealander) and you will realize this is just as correct as maps with north at the top.

How many problems in life are similar to this? Our perspective being limited by what we are used to, and what we are used to being seen as “right”?

Change your perspective, break with convention, and I know it sounds cliche, but “think outside the box”.

As Albert Einstein once said: “You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew.” or it is sometimes phrased as: “We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”

So think differently, and you may see results.

Can you be fat and fit?

Many people might think it is ridiculous to ask such a question since, to them, the answer is obvious. “Fat and fit? Give me a break!”, they might say. Science on the other hand says something very different.

Source: Wikipedia

Luckily, Steven Blair at the Cooper Institute, in Dallas, Texas decided to put this question to the test. Needless to say, the results of his research sent shock-waves across the world, due to their counterintuitive conclusions. Among their findings: ” 1) regular physical activity clearly attenuates many of the health risks associated with overweight or obesity; 2) physical activity appears to not only attenuate the health risks of overweight and obesity, but active obese individuals actually have lower morbidity and mortality than normal weight individuals who are sedentary“ (emphasis mine)

This is remarkable. It seems to suggest that regular exercise is more important than weight loss. So if you are overweight, and you regularly exercise, don’t get frustrated and give up if you don’t lose weight, there are many other benefits from exercise besides weight loss.

The findings from this study and similar ones also relate to the TOFI(thin outside, fat inside) phenomenon I did an earlier post on – Are you a Tofi?

This doesn’t mean if you are significantly overweight but are still healthy, you shouldn’t try to lose weight.

The lessons to be learned here are: No matter what your weight is, exercise is beneficial. If you are overweight but not losing weight, keep exercising. Also, being slim doesn’t mean you are metabolically fit, so slim people still need to exercise to be healthy.

Fidget off the fat, research says

This sounds almost too good to be true, but research suggests that people who fidget a lot tend to be slimmer than those who do not fidget. 

What this means is that every little bit of exercise helps. Even if you are sitting, tapping your feet or moving around a lot can help burn calories. If possible, stand rather than sit. Losing weight is easier if you approach fitness as a lifestyle, not as an activity. 

Other ways to make fitness a lifestyle and not just an activity:

Take the stairs instead of the elevator

Walk instead of taking the car

Can’t or don’t want to go to a gym? Use resistance bands. You can even bring them with you to work(along with your juggling balls), where you can do a quick resistance workout that is practically the same as if you are lifting weights.

I also think it is important to avoid negative people who may try to sabotage your weight-loss efforts.

Of course twiddling your thumbs or taking the stairs can’t replace the recommended 30 minutes of daily aerobic exercise we need to be fit and prevent disease. And you don’t even have to do the 30 minutes all at once either. You can divide it up – 10 minutes in the morning, 20 later in the day. 10 minutes seems to be the magic number for a bout of cardio to really count as exercise, so if you divide your time for exercise, do at least 10 minutes at a time.

Above all, make sure you enjoy your exercise. Do not think of it as punishment. You were born to move!