The Best Medicine

To Get Healthy, Speed Isn’t Everything

When I was young, a car’s “zero-to-60” time was essential information for me. If you told me you bought a new car, that’s the first question I’d ask. I’d scoff if your car hit 60 miles per hour in 5.4 seconds, and I knew of a model that could do it in 5.1 seconds.

Yet somehow, I can’t remember an occasion when I actually needed to get from zero to 60 as fast as possible. Cutting two seconds off my trip to get a haircut wouldn’t make me look any less dorky. And getting to work quickly was definitely never my goal, which is why I commuted to work on a riding lawn mower, weather permitting.

Part of this has to do with our collective obsession with speed. In my opinion, Nike’s slogan shouldn’t be “Just Do It”—it should be “Just Do It As Fast As You Can.”

And it’s not just time we focus on—it’s giving it our all. We want to go for broke, knock ourselves out, pull out all the stops. We don’t want to leave anything on the table.

But when it comes to getting in shape, this sort of thinking can be detrimental. In the past, when I’ve decided to start exercising, I’ve committed to working out hard for at least an hour, if not longer, every day. If I went on a diet, I wanted to lose 10 pounds the first month, and I wouldn’t have objected to losing 20.

The problem with this approach is that it usually doesn’t work, at least not over the long run. For example, I’d quickly burn out from trying to do too much exercise too soon, so I’d quit. Or I’d realize that food actually isn’t overrated, and I’d want some as soon as possible.

We tend to underestimate the power of incremental change. If you’re just starting to exercise, instead of buying a set of weights, a treadmill and a rowing machine, try going for a 10-minute walk. Walk up a flight of stairs—or even half a flight, if that’s all you can do. Then, before long, add a little to that: five more minutes walking or one more flight of steps. Gradually you’ll build up your capabilities, and then you can start looking at things like weights or other equipment—but first, establish the habit. As for diets, start by cutting back a little on unhealthy foods. Maybe it’s a struggle to do that every day at first, but try eating healthy two or three days a week, and then build on that. Don’t worry about starving yourself or eating a bowl of Styrofoam peanuts for lunch— just eat a little better, then keep doing a little better over time (the key phrase here being “over time”). As Maya Angelou said: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

So try not to focus solely on how quickly you can lose weight or run a marathon. Instead of losing 10 pounds in a month, maybe you’ll lose two pounds. If you do that consistently, in a year you’ll have lost 24 pounds! As for me, several years ago, I went from not being able to run a quarter-mile to completing a half-marathon because each time I went out to train, I ran a couple of mailboxes farther in my subdivision. It took quite a while, but I got there.

Granted, my zero-to-60 time wasn’t something I could measure, but sometimes speed isn’t everything.