Inches

I read a wonderful quote by football coach Vince Lombardi—“Inches make champions”. This is not only true for football champions but fitness champions as well. Its not white knuckled perfection or ascetic nutrition programs or death defying workouts that make for champions of health and fitness; but rather the day to day inches of moderate eating, moderate exercise, and moderate thinking. Consistency with an inch of daily exercise contributes far more to being champions at fitness than does sporadic mile long sprinting that few can maintain.

For years I have bought into the destructive diet mentality of all or nothing. Years of New Years days were spent in senseless starving while writing our food plans and contracts that not even Gandhi could adhere to—only to fail miserably around week 2 and fall back into the despair of failure and total binging. Now I know that had I simply taken it one inch at a time; one healthy breakfast a day or one less hour of eating in the evening, or maybe just one more glass of water instead of a cookie I could have succeeded not only with healthy weight maintenance but healthy heart and soul maintenance too. It’s not rocket science but it IS rock solid science. My inch for today?—a handful of fresh spinach from my garden.

-R