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The Twelve Principles of Personal Leadership

Principle #3 – Maintaining Your Health – (Part 2)

-One Leader’s Perspective

By Greg Thomas

Decorative 03 Personal leadership includes the desire to care for and nurture this incredibly designed body we have been given. To read part 1 of this article, please click here! We need to discipline ourselves to maintain and maximize the health we presently have. We can only get the most out of life when we “feel good” and are not distracted by illness or pain. Last time we discussed how our attitude about health can tell us a lot about our locus of control. In this article we will discuss exercise, and the importance of the food we eat. The statistics I provide in this article are gleaned from a recent issue of a major consumer’s magazine published in the United States. Unfortunately most of us today live unnatural sedentary lifestyles due to technology and the way we work. Most work places have been designed for us to remain inactive since it is considered “inefficient” when people leave their desks. Our culture has even built in an economic incentive to remain inactive in the workplace. Yet, the human body was designed to be active and physical, not frozen in a static position looking at computer screens or on the telephone. To compensate for this lack of activity and to remain fit it is important for us to exercise regularly!

What do I personally recommend? I am an avid believer in walking briskly either outside or on a treadmill. First of all, walking is natural and has many benefits. It does not require any special equipment unless we desire to walk on a treadmill for convenience. It requires no special equipment or clothes except for a good pair of walking shoes. You are not required to learn any special skills and if done outside, the view is constantly changing! Remember to get your doctor’s approval before you start any intense exercise program and be sure to start slowly. It is best to gradually increase the length or intensity of your exercise routine. Recent studies show that a 30-minute walk at 2.5 mph will burn 173 calories for 200-lb person. Walking benefits your cardiovascular, weight-bearing and lower body fitness development. According to William Haskell, Ph.D., professor of medicine at Stanford University, “There are good, solid studies showing that sedentary adults who take up walking have significant improvements in risk factors associated with chronic disease”. Look for ways to increase your opportunity to walk. For example, park your car farther back in the parking lot and enjoy a longer walk. Rather than take an elevator to travel a few floors up, why not walk the stairs?

The only exercises you would need to supplement a walking briskly is resistance (push or pull against weights) and upper body strengthening which is also assisted by lifting free weights. We are not talking about the lifting of heavy weighs to build bulk! Free weights of 5 or 10 pound “dumbbells” are all that is needed. According to the consumer magazine I mentioned earlier, between the ages of 20 and 50 a healthy adult has basically a fixed amount of muscle mass. After age 50 it begins to erode if we don’t resistance-train with weights. By age 80, sedentary adults have only about 60% of the muscle mass they had as active young adults. Building muscle mass also helps us to burn more calories to simply sustain it! You body consumes an extra 35 to 50 calories a day for every pound of muscle you add to your body. The benefits are also very functional to the human body such as being able to push yourself out of a chair or walk up stairs without your legs hurting. Dr. William J. Kraemer, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut has stated, “What puts the majority of people in convalescent homes is their inability to use their hip flexor muscles to get out of a chair or off the toilet.” Weight training can also slow down the loss of bone mass in our body keeping our bones stronger. Finally, exercising with free weights can also help us to maintain our sense of balance. Losing our balance and becoming physically unsteady also tends to increase with age.

Between intense walking almost daily, and a balanced weight routine of 3 days a week, a person can become more active, more alert during the day, and proactive about health. The experts now believe we need to exercise about 150 minutes per week at a level that is moderately intense to maintain our weight or tone our body. If you want to lose weight you may need up to 300 minutes per week along with a healthy balanced diet. If you are not into walking, please get into some type of consistent and regular exercise regimen. If you do something you enjoy, you are more likely to stick with it and perform it more consistently. Another tip is to choose the same time of day that is most convenient to you and your busy lifestyle. As the modern marketing slogan goes, “just do it!”

Have you ever heard the saying, “you are what you eat”! There is a lot of truth to this statement beginning with how much we eat! Americans are now more obese than ever before and we have the associated chronic diseases to prove it. From 1976 to the year 2000 obesity in the United States increased from 14.4 % to 30.9% of the U.S. population. In the American population 34% of adult woman are considered obese and 28% of men. Obesity can produce some debilitating chronic illnesses with an increased risk of diabetes, stroke, heart disease, breast cancer, hypertension, arthritis and gallstones. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women take in an average of 335 more calories per day than they did 30 years ago. Men also take in 168 more calories than 30 years ago!

Part of the problem is in the size of the portions we eat. In our fast food “super size-it” world, more food is marketed to us as being somehow better. This simply is not true and eating too much is unhealthy. An excess of food consumption provides more calories than our bodies need to perform well. These excess calories are turned into fat and this leads to obesity. In 1957 a typical “fast food” burger weighed about an ounce. By 1997 the typical burger grew to six ounces and now ½ pound burgers are marketed as normal and desirable. In the year 2002, the average American consumed 137 pounds of beef, chicken, fish and shellfish. We also eat outside the home more than ever. In 1997 about 46% of a family’s average food expenditures were for meals purchased outside the home and 34% of these expenditures were for fast foods.

I travel quite a bit around the United States and a typical restaurant meal also has food portions that are too large. And you are sure to be reminded to save room for large dessert! It took me many years to overcome a problem regarding food I developed as a child. I was taught to eat everything set before me on my plate. I was reminded that all food was precious and limited because there were “starving children in China”. This inbred sense of guilt I developed as a child was carried with me for many years. When ever I ate out at a restaurant I felt obligated to eat everything the chef had put on the plate. I felt bloated if I ate everything on my plate, and guilty (wasteful) if I left food on it. I simply had to train my mind to only eat until full and leave the rest behind. This was an “invisible horse” in my life. To learn more about invisible horses click here!

Assorted Veggies 16 What about the types of food we eat? This also requires dietary balance and a proactive approach in order to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Most of a healthy diet should ideally consist of lots of green vegetables, fruits, nuts and moderate portions of meat, fish, and dairy products. The goal is to reduce the amount of simple carbohydrates with complex carbohydrates and proteins. Unfortunately most of us live in a culture where processed foods are the norm and this can be unhealthy. Here are some types of foods we should limit or minimize in our diet…

Processed sugars – This includes white sugar and all simple sugars that dramatically raise blood sugar levels and stimulate our insulin production.

Fatty meats – Some meats have a higher content of animal fats than others. It is unnecessary to have meat with every meal and too much animal fat can lead to excess cholesterol in our blood. Unfortunately, many domestic animals are now injected with hormones and antibiotics to facilitate their growth before slaughter.

Simple carbohydrates – These are easily converted to sugar by our bodies also raising blood sugar levels and stimulating the production of insulin. This can result in repeated hunger with a craving for more digestion of simple carbohydrates. These high-glycemic carbs include rice, white bread and potatoes. This burst of energy is short lived and within an hour there is a physical demand for more, or the desire for a nap! If you get tired about an hour after a “big” carbohydrate lunch, this may be the reason why!

Alcohol – There is some evidence that a single glass of red wine daily may lower the risk of coronary heart disease. However, in large amounts alcohol is toxic to the liver and nervous system. The key is balance and please don’t consume alcohol in excess. It can destroy your life and hurt those who love you.

Caffeine – Virtually all studies show that one or two cups of coffee or tea per day is not necessarily harmful. Black and Green Tea may contain high levels of antioxidants called polyphenols or flavonoids. Again, balance is the key and we should certainly avoid flooding our body with steady amounts of caffeine during the day.

It is best to limit the consumption of these foods in your daily diet. The best diet is one that includes whole sprouted grain products, vegetables, fruits, nuts and small portions of meat, fish, and dairy. Since we don’t always eat like we should it is a good idea to take a high potency daily multi-vitamin to provide some nutrients we may be missing. There is a wide variety of good natural food we can enjoy and we should… only not to excess. We should also want to set a positive leadership example to our family members. A child with a single overweight parent has a 40% chance of being obese and with two obese parents the odds grow to 80%. It is true that some of this is due to genetics but a part of the problem is also a result of what children see their parents eat, and what kinds of foods are available to eat. I encourage you to totally avoid any addictive substance including smoking. If you find yourself addicted to any drug (including non-prescription medications) please seek professional help immediately. This includes alcoholic drinks if you seem to need more than a few drinks a day to cope with daily pressures. Your life and your goals are too important to be hampered by any kind of an addiction!

Here is a riddle. What is 75% of the human body composed of, and what also comprises 85% of the human brain? It is also one major substance most of us don’t get enough of? If you answered water, you are right! The need for water is just now being more deeply understood by the medical community and here is a major reason why we need a lot of it. Our bodies have a built in detoxification system called our lymphatic system. It is a pathway of lymph nodes and small ducts that recirculate fluids from our tissues back to the heart and kidneys. One of its roles is to eliminate toxins from our body. We need lots of water to facilitate and improve the flow of the lymphatic system to purge our body of toxins. One way this is naturally done is through exercise, especially swimming and bouncing on a mini-trampoline. Another natural way is to drink plenty of fresh water to aid in the recirculation process of the system.

Water also helps prevent DNA damage and increases the efficiency of the immune system in the bone marrow. Water is the main solvent for all minerals, vitamins and food that are eventually assimilated into the body. It transports into the body needed sustenance and transports out of the body toxic substances so they can be eliminated. There is good reason why our blood is about 94% water when we are fully hydrated. Again, we live in a culture where marketers tell us that modern beverages are preferred over plain water because they taste good or give us a “buzz”. We will all do ourselves a big favor by consuming more clean filtered water in the course of a day. Try to drink water that is not tainted with potentially toxic chemicals like chlorine, fluoride, pesticides or dangerous bacteria. Chlorine can be removed by simply exposing the water to air in an open container for ½ an hour. However, other pollutants are not so easy. For this reason a good activated carbon filter or other purification method may be a sound investment.

Believe it or not, some health professionals are now recommending we consume 64 ounces of filtered water per day! Don’t rely on carbonated or caffeine beverages to get the amounts of fresh water you need. Instead, go back to nature and drink copious amounts of clean water as originally intended by the Designer. The same focus should hold true for the foods we eat and the air we breathe. Our bodies respond well to enjoying the things originally intended for their benefit in an unpolluted and natural way.

Next month we will discuss a key that separates all great leaders from the rest! Our PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) affects not only our physical health, but our mental health as well. It is the bridge that makes vision possible and achievement probable.

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To see all Greg’s articles click here.

About the author:

Greg has an extensive thirty-five years experience in public speaking and has spoken to hundreds of audiences worldwide. Greg has a Master of Arts degree in Leadership from Bellevue University, where he also has served as an adjunct professor teaching courses in business management and leadership since 2002. His first book, 52 Leadership Tips (That Will Change How You Lead Others) was published in 2006 by WingSpan Press. His second book, Making Life's Puzzle Pieces Fit was published in March 2009. Both are available at amazon.com. Greg is also the president of Leadership Excellence, Ltd and a Managing Partner of the Leadership Management Institute. Leadership Excellence, Ltd. effectively builds individuals and organizations to reach their highest potential through enhanced productivity and personal development using a number of proven programs. He is also the president and founder of weLEAD Incorporated.