Your Actions Today Are an Investment in Your Future Self

[00:02] Bobbi: Welcome to UnYielded: Thriving No Matter What, where we talk about how to make your next chapter in life your best chapter. I’m your host, Bobbi Kahler, and I believe that the best is yet to come back, everyone. I am so glad that you are here. I am super excited today because we’re going to hear from a returning guest, expert Pam Sherman. As many of you know, I had a health crisis back in 2003 that nearly took my life. It took me ten years to experience a full recovery. And because of this, I firmly believe that our health is the most important thing for us to protect. Trust me, nothing happens if we don’t have our health. And if you haven’t heard that story and you want to, you can check out the episode I did earlier on that this year, and that was episode 192, and I’ll put that link in the show notes for you now. At the same time, even though I believe our health is so important, I know that sometimes health and fitness, it can feel kind of know, how do we get started, where do we begin? What do we do? All that kind of stuff. How much is enough? So that’s why I’ve invited Pam Sherman, an expert fitness coach, to share some of her expertise with us. And you can learn more about Pam on her website, www.theperfectbalance.guru. And that link will also be in the show notes.

[01:40] Pam: Today I want to talk about your health as a lifelong journey. In my 26 years of working in the fitness arena, I have seen too many people go on a diet or start an extreme exercise program, reach their goal, think it’s the finish line, and then they’re done. Only they’re not done. Your health and wellness is a lifelong journey. There is no finish line until we’re no longer alive on earth. I want you to think about your health in a different way. Instead of a weight loss journey, which many people want to lose weight, and that’s fine to have that goal, but what you do now affects your life next week, next month, next year, in five years, or in ten years. I want you to think about your health in terms of how do you want to feel when you’re 60, 70, or even 80, if we are lucky enough to get that old. We’ve all noticed people in stores, older people that are hunched over, that seem very frail. I want you to think that you can change your health right now. I’m going to talk about things you can do to feel great as you age. One thing make your health a priority every single day. Don’t wait for the weekends. Don’t wait till after vacation. Don’t wait till after summer is over. Start now. And if you’re starting from ground zero, start with daily walking. That is something everyone can do. And it doesn’t take any extra money. It doesn’t take any great shoes. Although I would suggest getting good cushioned shoes because our shoes protect our bones and our joints. Another thing, you can do regular strength training if you have never worked out with weights. Let me dispel one of the very most common myths that will not die. You are never going to get big or bulky muscles. What you’re going to do is build strength. Your muscles protect your bones, which both of them recede as we age. After the age of 40, we lose 1% of muscle every decade, going up to 2% after we turn 60. Strength training and prioritizing protein will make a change in staying strong as you age. So making your health a priority, strength training and doing the little things, things that you’ve already heard before. Take the stairs, park farther away. Don’t circle the parking lot and look for the closest spot. When you have to go somewhere that’s close by, walk there instead of taking your car. Take your dog on an extra walk. Take a walk after breakfast, lunch or dinner. It doesn’t have to be a long one. Five to ten minutes actually makes a huge difference in your day. Many people, in my experience, fail with their health because they try to change everything all at once. I’m going to ask you to take baby steps to get to your healthiest self. So not taking an hour of cardio, doing yoga, stopping eating all carbs, everything, all the things. Tomorrow, start walking tomorrow. Put yourself on your calendar every day to do a workout that you love. If you have never strength train, hire a professional to teach you the very basics and then doing the little things that really is going to make a difference. What you do now affects how you feel later. It’s a good time today, right now, to start taking care of yourself and your health. Our health is the only thing that we have control over for our entire lives. We can’t control our families or our jobs. I mean, we can a little bit, but you know what I mean. For the most part, we are in charge 100% of our health and wellness. Making it a priority will change the outcome. And you will never regret feeling great when you’re 80. This is Pam Sherman, and please know that your health is your greatest wealthy.