What is your favorite Summer Olympic sport? Mine is gymnastics – it is amazing to me the beautiful things gymnasts can do. I do enjoy other events as well – swimming, beach volleyball, diving, and some of the Track and Field. Watching the varied accomplishments of the athletes and listening to the stories about their path to the competition is fascinating. Often we look at highly accomplished athletes and think they are so removed from us we can’t really relate to how they got to where they are. Surely they have some special gene or came from a special place. However, each of those athletes did start out as a child just like the rest of us. They faced challenges, choices, and ups and downs as we all do. I look at them and wonder if we can learn something about healthy eating from them to apply to our everyday lives.
The first thing each athlete’s story shares is dedication to a goal. They know what they want to achieve and they stay focused on that goal through all the challenges life throws their way. Each of us has a goal for healthy living – that goal may be to lose a few pounds or inches, gain energy, reduce stress, sleep more restfully, etc. Whatever the goal is, it needs to be clearly defined in our own words and on our own terms. Our commitment to that goal needs to be strong enough to pull us through the days we think it is not possible to get there.
The second thing each athlete’s story shares is a step by step plan to reach their goal. The plan is laid out in a schedule. When life’s challenges come up an athlete is committed to their plan and they make choices based on how they will affect the plan. In order to achieve our goal for a healthy life we need a plan too. That plan includes healthy eating to fuel our bodies properly. The plan includes a schedule designed to create time for meal planning, purchasing the foods needed to create healthy meals, meal preparation, and time to eat healthy meals and snacks. As life’s twists and turns arise having that schedule provide a framework for making choices that will lead us closer to our goal.
The third thing each athlete’s story shares is overcoming challenges. Any time we set a goal there will be things that happen to interfere with our progress. That is a part of living a full life. Successful athletes face those challenges and keep on going – they don’t let challenges stop them cold. They may have to take a training break or find a new coach or move to a new training location but they keep moving. As we move toward our goal of healthy living we, too, will face challenges. Our schedules are hectic, but we cannot use that as an excuse to stop moving toward our goal. When we fall short of our menu plan for the week or we go on a vacation and can’t make all our own meals we simply improvise and keep moving. A healthy eating plan is flexible and ultimately will bring you to your goal of a healthier life.
What is your Olympic Plan for healthy eating? Would love to hear your comments below.
