Take Baby Steps to Better Health

By Craig Ballantyne

I get hundreds of e-mails every day, but only a few of them upset me. And those are the ones from guys who are under 30 and feel that they'll never be in good shape again. It is frustrating that so many men, and women, think they are over the hill in their late 20s. Can you believe that?

I've worked with men and women in their 50s and 60s who are kicking butt and training hard every week. So to have a 26-year-old guy e-mail me and ask if he can ever lose his love handles is disappointing.

Bad attitude!

Now, to their credit, these guys are often new fathers, working 50 to 60 hours in the corporate world, and having to commute through heavy traffic for another hour or two each day.

Combine poor food choices with decreased physical activity, and you can feel pretty old, pretty quick.

But you can also turn things around just as fast, simply by starting today and trying to be a little bit healthier every day.

Just take baby steps.

• If you had only two fruits yesterday, try to have three today.

• If you didn't have any broccoli last week, try to get one serving three times this week.

• If you cheated on your diet five days last week, cut the cheating down to three days this week.

A little bit better, every day, all the time. And before you know it, you'll feel better than you did last year, five years ago... and, hey, maybe someday even better than you did 10 or 20 years before.

You have a lot of life to live, so start living it with as much energy, strength, fitness, and enthusiasm as possible.

Word to the Wise: Philtrum

The "philtrum" (FIL-trum) - from the Greek for "to love; to kiss" - is the vertical depression in the center of the upper lip, directly under the tip of the nose.

Example (as used by Emily Yoffe in Slate): "[The day care workers] endlessly rip off wads [of toilet paper] and wipe little philtrums, like rescue workers mopping off seabirds after an oil spill."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2408, 07-15-08], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.