“Time is a luxury you don’t have…”

Bullsh*t!

When Khan Noonien Singh said the above line to James T. Kirk in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Kirk didn’t just lie down and give Genesis over to Khan. No, he used his creativity and initiative to give himself more time.

When someone tells me (and I’ve told myself this) that they don’t have enough “time” to devote to getting in shape and losing weight what you’re really saying is that you lack initiative.

Seriously.

Some of you may be upset to hear that and want to argue up and down with me, but it’s a fact. When you tell me that you don’t have time to work on your health, you’re lying to me, and worse than that, you’re lying to yourself. Let’s do a little test shall we? I want you to get up from reading this and go into your bathroom and look in the mirror. When you get there, I want you to say out loud to yourself one of two things: “I don’t have time to take care of my health,” OR “I lack the initiative to take control of my health.” Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Good, you’re back. Okay, now I am going to break you all into three categories: Group One is composed of those of you who were truthful and said that you lacked initiative. The second group is composed of those who just lied to their own faces and continue to claim that they don’t have enough time. And the third group is composed of people who didn’t actually get up to perform this activity.

Group one, you can stay here. The other two groups, you guys can go watch that rerun of that show you’ve seen a million times while you scarf down some Doritos--I can’t help you guys. Seriously, I can’t. No one can. If you aren’t going to care about your health and take the time to do so, why the hell should I care? Why should anyone care? YOU are the only one who can make the change. If you don’t want to make the time or rather “switch” the time spent doing something wasteful to doing something meaningful, then more power to you, have a good life.

But if you’re in Group One or if you just WANT to be in Group One, that’s an important step. It shows that you are willing to look at yourself honestly in order to make a change.

When I finally faced the fact that I had been trying off and on since college to lose weight and get in shape, it occurred to me just how much time I had wasted in those intervening years. Twenty-something years is a long time to keep attempting to get in shape. What happened? Is it the old chestnut “life got in the way?” No, honestly, I can’t say that. Yes, I got married and had kids, but getting married and having kids does not preclude living a healthy life. I just lacked the initiative.

Some current research is showing that exercise does very little to aid in weight-loss and that the greatest factor in weight-loss is eating less and controlling your portions. (cite: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30826120/ns/health-fitness/ )

For those of you who claim to have no time to lose weight, this is GREAT news. Because eating less requires NO EXTRA F’ING TIME IN YOUR DAY! Seriously.

Picky but easy to please

Some people may call me a fussy eater because there are lots of foods that I don’t like, but in my defense, I’m very low maintenance because, of the foods I DO eat, I can eat them all the time and not get tired of them. I use this to my advantage now.

Let’s take a look at some adjustments I’ve made. There was a time in my life about 20 years ago when I was eating a Quarter Pounder w/Cheese Value meal every single day for lunch. That’s around 1,200 calories in one meal. This past weekend, I purchased a pack of raw chicken thighs from Rouse’s grocery store for $6.43. There were 10 thighs in the pack. On Saturday, I put them all in a pan, drizzled them with a little oil and sprinkled some Cajun seasoning on them. Then I baked them at 425 degrees for 45 minutes. During the cooking time, I cleaned up the house. When they came out of the oven, I let them cool before putting each one of them into its own Zip-Loc bag. Total time spent interacting with food: 15 minutes, tops. (I’m not including cooking time because I was doing other stuff then.) Now, during the week, I’ll just grab one or two of the baggies and bring it for lunch where I’ll pop the thigh in the microwave for one minute.

Or… I could not bring lunch and instead, use the 30-minute break I get for lunch to run down to McDonald’s or Taco Bell, stand in line for 10 minutes and then drive back. Time spent doing that at lunch: about 15 minutes each day, and I haven’t even eaten yet. So, if we break it down for an entire week: Getting fast food versus baking my own:

Time used--Fast food : 1 hour, 15 minutes; Chicken Thighs: 15 minutes,

Calories consumed--Fast Food: 6,000 calories; Chicken Thighs: 800 calories

Money spent--Fast food: $30; Chicken Thighs: $7

So, over a work-week, I have saved: 60 minutes, 5,200 calories, and $23.

(figures based on nutritional information for Quarter Pounder Value meal and raw chicken thighs)

Yeah, it’s because you don’t have enough time. Keep telling yourself that.

Eating less does not take up any extra time in your day. It does not require a babysitter. It just requires initiative… and a little bit of creativity.

You can believe me, or you can go spend the 8 hours watching TV that the average American spends each day watching TV (source: Nielsen Research). With TiVo and series online and DVD sets, is there any reason you have to watch things “right this minute” any more? Trust me, you’ll have plenty of time to watch TV when you’re recovering from that bypass operation. Get up and take a walk. If you MUST watch TV, then stand and jog in place or jumping jacks or anything while watching. But DON’T tell me you “don’t have time.” Nope, not going to believe it. You don’t have initiative yet.

My challenge to you, (for those of you still reading because you are the ones who want to have initiative), is to get a piece of paper and each day this week, write down something that took 20 minutes that you could’ve spent doing something else and it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Examples: “I did not have to continue watching “Suite Life on Deck” after my daughter left the room.” “Farmville.”

My guess is that you’ll find several times that you can switch to more productive and healthier activities. And 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week is a good start. You could walk a fast-paced mile in 20 minutes.

I used to think I didn’t have enough time, but I just hadn’t realized that I had all the time in the world. You don’t have to agree with me, but, you know, I’m just a guy who’s been there…