Baseline

Successful change is easier if you know where you are starting from.

I can’t tell you how many times I have spoken with people who haven’t weighed themselves in, well, years. Not that weight is the only, or the best measure, of health, but it is an easy one to measure.

They invariably say “I don’t want to know.” Some, even when I weigh them, stand and face away from the scale and say “don’t tell me.”

I will weigh myself when I lose weight… I hear that a lot too.

Establishing a baseline is an important first step.

No one changes when they are comfortable.

This is not about feeling bad it is about owning the space you are in now. Leaving denial behind and understanding that maybe this isn’t a great place to be and you are ready to change.

What should I measure?

Regardless of your current health and fitness your Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference can give you a baseline measure.

Body Mass Index doesn’t tell you your body composition. However, it is a valid tool for establishing the risk of chronic health conditions based on your height and weight.

You can calculate yours below.

Body Mass Index:

[bmi] 

Waist circumference is important because we know that abdominal obesity will affect our long term health.

Waist circumference is easy to measure at home. You can review how to measure it and your score here.

What about fitness tests?

Baseline fitness tests are also an important first step for measuring improvement over time.

It is easy to think after a few weeks of consistent exercise that nothing has changed, but it has. I know from working with many extremely deconditioned adults; those working back from injury, illness, and surgery that fitness improvements happen quickly.

They are also easy to minimize.

Because fitness improvements are easy to miss. We forget that a flight of stairs was difficult or that we couldn’t lift something. We don’t think about things getting easier, we notice when we can’t do something, not when it is effortless.

If you want to measure your fitness go here.

I’ve got lots of time

Sorry, no. A new study has reinforced the importance of fitness for long term health gains. Men and women rated for the following 5 health factors have longer and HEALTHIER lives.

Researchers followed more than 110,000 people. They ranked 5 health factors to find out how many extra DISEASE free years they lived when compared to people that didn’t practise these healthy habits.

The habits tracked for a healthy lifestyle were:

People were assigned a healthy lifestyle score. Ranging from 0 (if they had none of the healthy habits) to 5 if they followed all the healthy habits.

What did they find?

Researchers found that for people aged 50:

Women with 4 or 5 healthy lifestyle habits can expect to live another 41.1 years. 34.4 years of which would be free of disease.

Women with no healthy lifestyle habits can expect to live another 31.7 years. 23.7 of which would be free of disease.

Men with 4 or 5 healthy lifestyle habits can expect to live another 39.4 years. 31.2 of which would be free of disease.

Men with no healthy lifestyle habits can expect to live another 31.3 years. 23.5 of which would be free of disease.

National Health Services, Healthy Habits Add up to 10 Disease- Free Years to Your Life.

Men who smoked heavily and obese women (BMI over 30) had the worst disease-free expectancy rates.

90% of people with unhealthy lifestyles had been diagnosed with diabetes.

50% of those with cancers were estimated to be due to unhealthy lifestyles.

Disease-free years.

This is what we want.

Having more disease-free years means more time to enjoy life. More of your years spent being independent and engaged in your favourite activities. Enjoying all the things and people that you love.

It only takes a little consistent practice to reap a lifetime of rewards.

It is hard to change alone. If you are interested in getting the tools you need to have a healthy life, fill out the form at Longevity Program to learn more. It includes all the aspects of health that give you the biggest rewards.

If you are practicing good health habits now, congratulations! This is your personal health retirement plan and one of the best investments you can make in your future.

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla