The Intersection of Fit and Fun
Post written by Leo Babauta.
Many people dont exercise or eat healthy because they think its hard or takes discipline.
Theyre missing out on a lot of fun.
If you do it the wrong way, exercise is difficult and boring and too much work. If you do it the wrong way, eating healthy takes too much discipline. And so people (myself included, just a few years ago) often do unhealthy things, because its easier or more fun. Its easy to not exercise, and to watch TV or surf the Internet instead. Its more fun to eat a pile of nachos or fries, to eat fried chicken or sweets.
We want fun, not strict discipline and boringness.
The trick is fairly simple: figure out whats healthy, and figure out whats fun. Then find the area where the two circles intersect.
When those two worlds collide, look out. Youre on your way to being fit.
Food Thats Healthy AND Delicious
When we see healthy diets as boring and bland, we cant stick with them for more than a short while. Sometimes a week or two, sometimes only a few days.
But if you can find delicious, healthy food, its easy to stick with a healthy diet.
I generally eat just a few types of plant foods (no animal foods, for ethical reasons): lots of veggies, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains. Some wine, coffee, tea. I eat a few foods in modest amounts, only occasionally: sweets, processed grains, fried foods, sugary beverages.
Boring? Not if you do it right.
For example, here are some foods I find delicious:
- Berries
- Nut butter (almond butter especially)
- Avocados
- Mangos
- Coconut
- Steel-cut oats with flaxseeds, fruit, cinnamon
- Bananas
- Stir-fried veggies w/ olive oil, spices
- Spicy tahini sauce on brown rice, kale, black bea! ns < li>Veggie chili
- Veggie curries w/ coconut milk
Thats just a start. And thats just my tastebuds yours are different, of course. You need to find the foods you love that are also healthy. That takes some experimenting. Also, Ive found that tastebuds change over time. So give different foods a chance.
Fun Fitness
I dont do boring exercise. If I hate doing something, I stop doing it. I dont have enough life left to waste doing stuff I hate.
But I exercise almost every single day, because I love it. How did I learn to love exercise? Its simple: I play.
I play every day, and I love it. When exercise is play, youre not forcing yourself to do it you *want* to do it.
Some examples of ways I play:
- I go on runs with a friend, and have long conversations.
- I go to the playground with my kids, and climb monkeybars with them.
- I play soccer or basketball with the kids.
- I throw my kids around, let them ride on my shoulders, swing them, do pushups with them on my back.
- I race the kids up hills.
- I throw heavy stuff around (sandbags, kettlebells, logs).
- I go on hikes with family or friends.
- I do races now and then, for the fun of it (no goals).
Those are just some examples, and again, theyre what I like to do. Whats fun for you will be very different. And again, it takes some experimenting to find whats fun for you.
Dont do boring exercise. Find where fun and fit collide. It makes a world of difference.
