Most everyone has likely heard of the KISS principal. It stands for “Keep it Simple, Stupid”.
In terms of the “4 Roads to Good Health”: Food, Fitness, Finance, and Fun… keeping things simple will go a long way.
None of these important life factors need to be complicated to be good. As a matter of fact overcomplicating any one of them will frequently lead to a downslide.
- The simpler the food the healthier the food. Food in a pure fresh state is healthiest of all. The more additives the less healthy food becomes. As food loses it freshness the positive benefits decline. In most instances, the longer food is cooked the more nutrition is cooked away. Simple!
- The simpler a diet plan the greater the chance it will be successful. The simplest way to lose weight, if that is one’s ambition, is to eat less. Can it get any simpler than that. Unless there are extenuating factors involved, eating less will guarantee weight loss. For instance, if one cuts back by 10% everything they currently eat they would lose about 1 pound every 13 days. The decreases would get incrementally lower over time but over a six month period this individual would lose about 12 pounds. It’s astounding how complicated marketers make this.
- Simple as in “basic”. This would apply mainly to meals and prepared foods. In most cases, the more elaborate the recipe or the overall meal, the less healthy it will be. Restaurant food would generally fall into this category. One doesn’t need to be a food expert to understand that a pizza enhanced with salt and sugar, then cheese infused into the crust, is far less healthy than an old fashioned basically prepared pepperoni pizza.
The above examples were provided to make the point that if one does want to eat healthier or lose weight they don’t need to get involved with complicated formulas and processes. Recognizing the basics and making subtle adjustment in your eating habits can get you on a good track.
2. Simple and Fitness:
- Simple everyday activities can do wonders for overall fitness. Stand instead of sit. Walk instead of drive. Use the stairs, not the elevator. Walk over to another person’s work location rather than using the telephone. Push your lawn mower instead of riding it. Even making a big meal from scratch versus opening cans and frozen packages of whatever burns energy and promotes better health.
- Simple exercises are easier and can be just as effective as using sophisticated support tools and equipment or professionally designed programs. A good example is a football player named Hershal Walker. He became an All American college player and an All Pro professional player by doing nothing more than running, push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups. He also developed all of his own routines. Can’t get any simpler.
The point is you do not need gyms, programs, and a significant amount of time to be fit. What you do need is desire and commitment.
3. Simple and Finance:
- The simplest spending habit of all, in terms of understanding that is, is purchasing only what you absolutely need. No fun, maybe, but more fun than fielding phone calls from bill collectors or losing your home because you cannot afford the mortgage payment. The point is, live within your means. If or when you have extra money, go ahead and spend it. Treat yourself, but don’t do it on credit.
- Tracking your spending is simple if you let it be simple. By spending less than an hour per week it is possible to keep a running total of where all your money goes divided up into as many categories as you are comfortable with. You don’t need to use a computer, but certainly if you know how to use it than that hour gets less. However, don’t allow computer software to suck you in to detail that is of no value. We use Quicken for our home budget and by utilizing less than 10% of the software’s features we have all the information we need.
Successful home finance programs have little to do with systems and numbers and more to do with discipline and simplicity. Some people are uncomfortable around money and because of that will stick their head in the sand as to not see all the dumb things they spend their money on. Awareness of one’s own financial status is a winner every time.
4. Simple and Fun:
- A personal experience tells it best.
About four years ago ,in the month of March, my wife and I were visiting a small town in the Colorado Rockies when we decided to take a walk around a well kept old traditional neighborhood. It had rained heavily earlier that day but the sun had come out as we were walking and the weather was feeling very spring like. Something caught my eye. It was a toddler about two years old, playing in his driveway. He was wearing only a diaper, had no shoes on and was carrying a stick. He appeared to be on a mission. I watched him for about five minutes walking to and from a stream of water in his driveway doing something or another with the stick he was carrying. I never did figure out exactly what the toddler was doing and it didn’t really make any difference because he did. What I did notice was how much fun he was having. I thought to myself, wow, that little boy knows a few things about having a good time that many adults could learn from.
As I walked away I began to think, why can’t I do stuff like that anymore and just enjoy the moment? Four years later, I am still looking for the answer but feel I am getting closer.
I do know this, when I discover the secret this toddler had, it will be simple!
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