As a part of my legacy in the world, I want to create a stronger, trimmer, more fit body for myself this year. I want to create it and keep it up over at least the next ten years.

First, let me say that I love my body. It is still fully functional — I have no chronic diseases or pains that prevent me from doing everyday activities. I am grateful as well because I haven’t always made taking care of my body the highest priority.

I’m prioritizing work on my body this year to achieve a couple of results. From everything I’ve read, our bodies have a tendency to decline with use. This begins happening when we’re 30 or 40. The jury is still out on when your body is at its physical peak. And there’s universal consensus that our bodies do decline.

I liken it to a car. Even if you do all the routine maintenance and take care of a car, there’s still wear and tear that adds up and negatively affects the functionality of the car. More parts start breaking down, the car spends more time in the shop.

In terms of our bodies, we know vigorous exercise is a key component of living well as measured by a fully functional body over a longer number of years. I want a result I can see and feel thus the desire for a stronger fitter body. Exercise extends your body/mind’s life.

I’ve added trim to the list of results I want to see as well. I’ve been up and down with weight throughout my life. For me, I attribute much of that up and down to my beliefs about food and how we use it in our lives.

Food is fuel

I haven’t consistently behaved as though the purpose of food is simply to fuel my body. I’ve used food to entertain myself, to comfort myself in times overwhelm or boredom. I’ve used food to fill a gap in the conversation and for many other reasons. My behavior around food come from beliefs my brain has curated throughout my life. 

When we’re very young, and we feel bad, as in hungry, we feel better when we’re fed. Often, as we get older, adults will give us food to distract us when we feel bad or hurt. You see how this can create a habit of addressing feeling bad, either physically or emotionally, with food. 

I’m not judging my beliefs and habits related to food as either good or bad, per se. Everyone involved was well intentioned. This is just where I find myself now when I take a moment to notice what I’m putting in my mouth and trying to figure out whether it serves my goal to have a strong, fit, trim, solid, flexible body as I move through my upcoming decades. 

I’ve started looking back at the end of most days and I’ve discovered I’ve often consumed way more food than my body needs to get through the day. I’m asking myself why I ate so much and why so much of what I ate may not even be healthy food for my body.

I could go for stronger and fitter. In my case, I’ve added trim to the mix because I’m sure my practice of using food for more than fueling my body won’t serve me over the next few decades to 99!

I’ve been pretty haphazard about how I’ve maintained my body up to this point. I’ve been lucky to behave that way.

I’ve decided doing what I’ve always done will not get me where I want to go — to my 100th birthday. I’m adopting some new practices around caring for my body to help make sure that happens.

Changing from where I am to where I want to be will be a struggle. A struggle for my physical body and my psyche.

Here’s one recent ah-ha for me. Any change I want for me will take a long-term intention and commitment. It takes persistence and practice to change our way of being based upon habits and beliefs we’ve held most of our lives.

Ten thousand hours of practice

Malcolm Gladwell coined the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to master something new, to make it a part of who you are. I’ve asked myself if it’s worth 10,000 hours to master being strong, fit and trim for the next thirty years. I’ve said yes. I’m willing to invest the time to honor my body on a new level, intending to prolong my ability to function at the highest level possible.

Daily, I’m practicing being intentional and creating a new habit around food and eating. Each morning I take a few minutes and plan what I’m going to eat. Again, the habit isn’t about learning to restrict myself—I can eat anything I want and as much as I want. The habit is being intentional in sticking to a plan that’s aligned with my future self.

The intention will become more of a habit and over time, it will be a part of my daily practice. Practice involves seeking to be consistent and improving. I don’t plan to give up on this desire and so if I don’t stick to the plan or even don’t make a plan one day, I will the next.

This is where the 10,000 hours come into the picture. Once I’ve practiced being intentional about eating healthy foods in an amount my body needs for fuel, the practice becomes second nature. At one point, it will become a part of who I am and I won’t ever need to think about food again.

You may look at that investment and say it’s not worth it to you. That’s a choice each of us makes individually.