A friend of mine, Gina, got me thinking the other day. I was sick last week and she had heard through the grapevine that I was under the weather and her immediate response was “WHAT? Ted is never sick!” This got me thinking…
you see, as a kid I was always sick. Looking back I realized it wasn’t until my early to mid twenties that my sick days were reduced, I started being more productive and overall I just started feeling better! It is no coincidence that my lifestyle experienced a huge shift at that same point in my life. I started lifting weights, altered my eating habits (a lot of you don’t know I worked in the McDonalds system for 8 years), and chose to live a balanced lifestyle. Those of you that know me well know that while I do exercise, my program is designed to fit my current lifestyle. I train 2-3 times per week as my family and business are also a priority. I do not deprive myself of foods I want to eat as I generally make healthy eating choices and I actually sleep less and have more energy now than I did in my early twenties!

SO WHAT DO I DO?

Here are the main lifestyle choices I make and follow that I truly believe help me live a better, more productive and happier life than when I was younger. It’s fairly simple and really is about routine, priorities, commitment and most importantly – choices.

1. LIFT – My program is based on movement and resistance using weights, bands or even bodyweight. Based on my current goals and lifestyle I train for about 45-60 minutes 2-3 times per week.

2. MOVE – I don’t necessarily spend hours doing cardio based work but I do however, make choices that keeps me moving during the day. I park the car a couple of blocks away and will walk or I take the stairs instead of the elevator.

3. EATING HABITS – A long time ago I chose to cut items out of my daily routine that weren’t really a big deal to me. For example, I rarely eat bread, don’t use butter or salt and choose a tomato based sauce over a cream sauce. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying I never eat these things but because they are not a part of my daily diet I can eat them once in awhile guilt free and still operate at optimum health.

4. CHILL OUT – I put time aside to relax and chill. In a sense I am recuperating physically and mentally.

There ya go, that is how I keep my sick days down, my energy up and get more done than I did in the glory of my youth.

Cheers,
Ted