The Secret to Lifetime Fitness

I consider myself a fit person. Of course, I am not a professional, world class athlete either, but I have learned a few things about fitness and how to achieve a "feel good/look good" level that I am happy with. I used to be sporadically active in my early 20s, until a few years back I decided it was time to take fitness seriously and make the necessary changes. My motivation? Envy. Yes, I was envious because my boss – a woman much older than me—looked younger than her age and said she felt great after her workouts! I was never obese, maybe only slightly overweight, but I wanted to look and feel good, so I embarked on a journey of discovery.

I have a co-worker who wants to do the same: she's about 40 pounds overweight and only about 4' 11" tall. It breaks my heart to see her struggle and fall prey to the latest "fad" or "diet" to hit the market. She spends money on gym memberships and "diet clubs" that charge her for so-called "advice" and food. So I decided to give her big "secret" to a lifetime of fitness. You want to know what it is? Ok, here it goes:

FITNESS EDUCATION

I mean your fitness education. You, my dear reader, have to educate yourself if you have decided you want to live a fit life. And let me define what I mean by fit, or, better yet, what I don't mean by fit. I don't mean:

Spending hours at the gym everyday
Starving till you pass out
Sacrificing day in and day out over your "guilty" foods
Giving up your social life and friends
Taking magic pills or spending thousands on liposuction
Achieving the "movie star" look overnight

What I mean by educating yourself is that you have to read, read and do more reading. Study fitness: separate fact from fiction. Apply your knowledge. Listen to your body. Remember genetics. And most importantly: have patience.

I am sorry that my secret is no "silver bullet". It will require time and effort to understand yourself: how your body works, how it processes food, how it can either flourish or decay. But there is no other way around it. Unless you learn and form your own opinion about what works best, you will NOT succeed in achieving a fit lifestyle. That I can guarantee.

Vera Vanicek is VP of Marketing for The Beach Collection, Inc., in Hollywood, Florida. Vera promotes an active lifestyle through her line of beach gear at http://www.animaltowels.com. Learn how to become fit at http://www.alienstyles.com/Links.htm