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Health Habits: Vitality Isn't Magical

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: You need to use your brain in renewing your personal vitality... but use it to discipline yourself toward productive health habits, not to engage in the sort of "magical thinking" that keeps some people fat and lacking energy....

Health Habits: Vitality Isn't Magical

Only The NEWSS Can Bring You Health And Vitality You need to use your brain in renewing your personal vitality... but use it to discipline yourself toward productive health habits, not to engage in the sort of "magical thinking" that keeps some people fat and lacking energy.

When your hand reaches for a doughnut, does your brain reach for the excuse, or the rationalization, that makes you believe eating junk is okay? If so, you have to fight that tendency... but you won't be alone in the fight.

This May's "Journal of Consumer Research" reported that overweight people often engage in "magical thinking" that undermines any efforts to restore their proper weight and vitality. As any fat person knows, being overweight carries not only health consequences, but social stigma as well. Magical thinking is a mechanism to cope with such pressures and societal expectations.

According to the Journal, such magical thinkers will often describe weight loss as being influenced by mysterious forces, such as a body that "conspires" against them or food that "seduces" them. Since our behavior is always controlled by our mindset, it's no suprise that the Journal reports such folks depend more on "luck" and "hope" than upon real disciplined effort. For instance, they rationalize "rewards," such as eating garbage snacks after having eaten cabbage soup all day. And they're very susceptible to fad diets, which often seem like "magical solutions" to the magical thinker.

It's not magic... it's effort. If you're serious about renewing your vitality and energy, put down the doughnut and pick up some personal discipline in the five key daily health habits I call "The NEWSS" - Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sleep, and Supplements.

Other things you've done in your life, such as start a business or work for a promotion, are no more difficult (or magical) than The NEWSS. You just have to decide to do it, and be real about enacting your decision. Stop eating garbage, and instead live on a diet of fresh, real food. Exercise vigorously at least three times a week (and six would be better). Get two liters of water every day, and eight hours of sleep every night. And take at least one good supplement that provides a mix of vitamins, minerals, and cellular-level nutrients.

Get real discipline on The NEWSS, and your body will respond positively. It will ask for more fresh food, not for doughnuts. It'll want more exercise, not less. It'll give you the energy you need to accomplish the great things you want to do in your life, from running your business to playing with your kids. And though it might seem like magic, it will really be work and discipline that brings you true rejuvenation.

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Article Tags: health habits, health wealth and happiness, personal responsibility, successful entrepreneurs



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Re: My 3 best business books - 1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey 3. Permission Marketing - Seth Godin Think and Grow Rich seems more powerful each time I read it or dip into it. The 7 Habits not only offers some very effective ways to organize your life (which I have yet to master!), but also some great quotations and thought provoking statements including this by Nazi concentration camp survivor, Viktor Frankl: [i:2naxzsom]Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.[/i:2naxzsom] Seth Godin's Permission Marketing is a good read for anybody seeking to understand how to approach doing business on the Internet in the right way with regard to winning people's trust.
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Re: Money Does Not Guarantee Happiness - Thanks for singling this point out, Chris. One book that comes to mind that covers it in an overall approach is "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. He addresses our inner life and the way it can change our effectiveness home and at work. There are corporations who have taken this model and effectively molded their business around it.


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