It has been said that, over time, you become the sum of the five people you spend the most time with. No matter your age–Baby Boomer or older adult–your friends and family affect your success, your beliefs, your eating habits, and your fitness level.
So what do your influencers look like? Examine them closely, especially when it comes to eating habits. Do your friends eat out a lot? Indulge on ice cream or other desserts? Always heap on second portions? Be careful: One study concluded that a having a friend who became obese increased a person’s chances of doing the same by a whopping 57%!
On the other hand, parents and grandparents can model healthy eating habits for children, increasing the chance they will try new foods and develop a taste for a more nutritious diet. And study after study has shown that having an exercise partner increases accountability and improves fitness results.
I experienced the positive influence of somebody close to me this past weekend. My sister and brother-in-law had flown in to spend a few days with us. My sister, Dina, is one of the first people I know to start using a FitBit years ago. And she remains extremely dedicated to meeting her daily goals.
While I continue to rebuild my fitness following hip replacement surgery (biking in my patio 15 minutes a day and using my phone to count steps, happy to log 5,000 – 7,000 daily), she is determined to reach 15,000 steps every 24 hours. Day and night, Dina took long walks with me, then went on to explore our neighborhood streets, circle the house several times, and power walk up and down our hallway. And she didn’t stop until she met her goal!
My sister inspired me! I am now actively researching activity trackers again. (I accidentally killed mine about a year ago when my hip started getting bad and I was no longer interested in logging my declining number of steps. This is when I took up swimming and stationary biking.)
So find people whose fitness and eating habits you admire, then make a point of spending more time with them. And be conscious of the influence other people have on your health; they may inadvertently be leading you towards extra weight and chronic diseases.
For more ideas about ways to improve your wellness, give me a call!
We can discuss some practical tips and discover if any of my programs or classes are a good fit for you.
If you’d like to schedule that call with me, just CLICK THIS LINK, and let me know in the message that you would like a 1-on-1 call with me right away and I will be in touch to schedule that – oh, and leave me your phone number in there too since email is not as reliable as it used to be! Thanks.