There are different theories as what caused the Titanic to sink. The latest I have heard is that the iceberg cut a long 1.5 inch cut down the side of the ship. Within 2 hours, that tiny incision caused the 900-foot long “unsinkable” ship to go down.
Poor Leonardo DiCaprio.
“What does this have to do with health and fitness?”, you might be asking yourself. And that is a good question.
I think this illustrates perfectly the point that small things can make a giant difference, for good or bad.
Here is an example about drinking wine I used to answer a question in our Transform In 4 Weight Loss Program we just wrapped up.
"How bad is one glass of wine per night? Not terrible, it is anywhere between 150-200 calories per serving. But little things add up when done consistently. So an extra 150 calories per day over a year is 54,750 calories. A pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories. So an extra 150 calories per day would result in additional 15.5 pounds of fat per year."
Now what if you eliminated the nightly glass of wine (or daily Mt Dew)? You could lose that same amount of weight.
Then you get all excited and decide to walk for 30 minutes a day. If you walk 30 minutes at a brisk pace you would get in about 2 miles. That would burn about 200 calories. Fun fact, it burns just as many calories to walk a mile as it does to run a mile.
In a year’s time you will burn 73,000 calories by walking 30 minutes a day. In that year you would lose about 21 pounds of fat.
Put both of those together and you have lost almost 40 pounds without some gargantuan, marathon training, starvation diet type of lifestyle.
You picked out two small habits and did them consistently. THAT is the key to success in diet and exercise.
Start with one thing you want to change. Where will you start? Pick out something you could see yourself being successful at, not what you picture being the hardest thing.
Then make a commitment to yourself. You will miss a day of exercise, you will have a day you drink glasses of wine or Mt Dews. It’s ok! It’s part of the process, so dust yourself off and get back in there kid.
Start small, start today, and keep at it. Think lifestyle change over short term gain. I know you can do this.