So now that we’ve gone over the whole healthy life pyramid, where do we go?  Even for those of us who are relatively healthy, what’s the next step?  How do we get from the here of not so healthy to the there of being healthy?

There are two answers to this:

Big Bang Theory – No, this isn’t just a sitcom about nerds.  The big bang theory essentially says that you turn your whole way of living upside down in one day.  You commit to a radically different life and go after it 100% from day one.  You’re going to start exercising, eat healthier and be more active starting and all of it will start TODAY!

• Advantage – Making this sort of radical life change is probably going to generate results very swiftly.  You’ll see significant weight loss within the first week and improvements in your health within a month.
• Disadvantage – You’re probably going to fail.  Sorry, but big bang efforts rarely succeed.  Honestly, how many of your new years resolutions have you kept?  And yet, even with this track record of failures, you expect to succeed on a totally different lifestyle?

The Gradual Theory – Take it easy.  Implement small changes, one or two at a time.  Stick with these changes until they become a habit and then move on the next change.

• Advantage – Much higher chances of success.  This method is what worked for me and I think it’s the best one out there.  For the record, the “60 in 3″ in my blog title refers to the fact that I lost 60lbs over 3 years.  Yes, THREE YEARS.  Sound like a lot?  How about the fact that I kept all of that weight off, I’m still healthy, I just ran a marathon and I’m incredibly healthy?  How many people have stayed that successful with their health efforts seven years later?
• Disadvantage – Results are slow and, if you’re impatient like me, you don’t want slow results.  You want low blood pressure, fast running speed, the sexual stamina of a horse and the figure of a Greek god all within 2 weeks.  Well, you’re welcome to try the big bang theory if you want, but this being my blog, I’m going to recommend the gradual approach.

So, What To Focus On?

If you’re just now starting on the gradual approach, I would recommend picking 1 or 2 of the following suggestions and then trying to stick with it for 30 days.  See if it works for you over that period of time.  If it does, stick with it and pick up another little habit.  That’s all you need to do over the first 2 to 3 months, make little changes that together will add up to a lot.  Remember that the specific item you pick depends on your own lifestyle.  For example, if you currently don’t drink a lot of soda then picking the item that says “no drinking soda” is pretty silly, don’t you think?

• A 30 minute walk every day – No skipping days, got to do this EVERY SINGLE DAY
• No fast food – No going to any restaurant where you order at the counter.
• Eliminate your liquid calories – If you have a soda habit, switch to the diet version.  If you like your lattes, try them with no sugar or switch to black coffee.
• Eliminate meat from your diet twice a week – Spend two days a week with no meat.
• Eliminate dinner twice a week – Yes, go without having a large dinner two days per week.
• Eliminate candy and other sweets six days a week – Pick your candy day and make it the only day of the week that you can have sweets on.
• Get better sleep – Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep on 5 days a week.
• No junk food – If it’s stuff that comes in a plastic bag with pretty colors on the outside, how about you not eat it 6 days out of the week?
• Go on a bike ride – A least three rides per week for at least an hour each.
• Try a hike – Once per week, try going somewhere with a few hills and walk up and down them for at least an hour.

Any of these habits is a great start towards a healthy life.  Just keep in mind that these are not an excuse to do worse in other parts of your life.  For example, just because you didn’t eat meat today doesn’t mean you can eat a whole bag of Lindt chocolate truffles.  The point here is not to do something good which is outweighed by something bad.  The point is to keep the rest of your life the same while slowly improving one specific aspect.

So there you have it, pick one of these and get started!

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By the way, for those of you who are already living a relatively healthy life, this approach works just as well.  Figure out a small change and implement it.  Make it a habit and then move on to the next small thing.  As for me, this month I’m working on improving my running speed.