Good Sports

by Budd Glassberg

Reprinted with permission from the Zionsville Times Sentinel on June 23, 2004

The World’s Most Effective Nation

After making the Zen Buddhist one with everything, the hot dog vendor took the monk’s $20 bill.
 The Buddhist asked for change and the hot dog vendor said, “Change comes from within.”

Phil Aaron was lying on his stomach in a hospital bed in New York City. His surgeon had just removed a large tumor from his spine. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic told him that the surgery would cause him to wear a colostomy bag and restrict his ability to sit except for short periods of time. He would certainly lose a lot of mobility. Phil was a 50 year old pianist/composer who owned a recording studio in Minneapolis. He needed to sit for his livelihood. He researched and found a surgeon who disagreed with the prognosis of the Mayo clinic and gave him hope for a normal life. The New York surgeon was skilled and provided Phil with a second chance. When he told Phil that the surgery was successful, Phil was determined to make good use of it. He purchased a ring before he left the city and had it inscribed “Everyday”. Each time over the past three years he looked at the ring it reminded him of how fortunate he was to have his life back. Determined, Phil began riding an exercise bicycle for 45 minutes a day. He researched what changes he needed to make in his diet, and sought out a program to bring his blood cholesterol down. Phil lost a great amount of weight and continues to lose more as he has added biking to work and walking each day. He is very dedicated to eating healthy foods. Those of us who have known him for any length of time are amazed and pleased at how good he looks.

Jon Blackburn is a Zionsville resident who weighed 340 lbs in December of 2002. He had been fat for most of his life and would get out of breath just climbing one flight of stairs to his office. Examining his future, Jon figured he might never see his grandchildren unless he changed his lifestyle. Like Phil, Jon did some research on health, exercise, and nutrition. He found the exercise he enjoyed (stair climbing) and changed his diet to include healthy foods he enjoyed eating. Jon’s metamorphosis is very well documented on his website http://www.waswayfat.com. Determined, in two years he lost 155 pounds and finished in the top sixteen percent of all finishers in the Sears Tower stair climb. Brooke Baker of the Zionsville Times Sentinel wrote a very flattering column on Jon’s journey toward health and fitness.

It is doubtful that many readers of this column are in circumstances any worse than these two men prior to their incredible turnarounds. Neither of them thinks what he did is beyond the abilities of an average person. Why is it then, that these two people have attained a very high level of fitness and health, while others who have a much shorter distance to health remain mired in an out of shape, overfed body? Did they have to hit rock bottom, with long-term health problems and death staring them in the face? No, many people in such circumstances have continued all the way to their graves with their old habits. The similarity of the two men’s approach to health provides a clue to their success.

Both Jon and Phil determined from the outset that exercise along with nutrition was the only way to a healthier lifestyle. Both men chose an exercise they enjoyed rather than one prescribed in a book. Neither man jumped on a diet bandwagon which eliminated whole groups of nutritional foods. Having done their research, both understood that carbohydrates are necessary for exercising athletes. Both men chose a balanced diet with foods they like to eat, rather than those prescribed by a fad diet. Phil and Jon are both a fraction of the persons they were two years ago and I am absolutely convinced that neither will go back to their old weights. Both men believe that others can follow their examples without sacrifice. In fact both men feel more alive and much happier than they were in their former selves. Finally, each of them believes that the key ingredient in their change was due to the world’s most effective nation. Determi-nation.

If you want to make permanent change in your life, you don’t need to seek someone else’s way. Instead, do some research; find something you can live with, something you enjoy. Make a plan. Finally, use your determination to execute the plan.

Budd Glassberg is a resident of Zionsville who is active in the local running community. Visit www.runz.com for reprints of all his columns. You can reach him by email at budd@runz.com.