Four Vital Elements of Health Everyone Must Obey
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The owner of this blog, Becky Joubert, and I have become good buddies. She has helped to inspire me to get back into shape, and now I consult with her about it.
Becky has invited me to be a regular blogger here where I will be posting on in this section called Longevity Guide for Fitness and Health.
I encourage you to follow along my journey because what I am currently facing is what many of us face – time challenges, on and off motivation and life balance. These things affect our health.
But I have the will to get back in shape because as cliché as it sounds, all this hard work I’ve put into creating a lifestyle that I desire will go down the drain without good health.
My good health is no longer a “should,” it’s now a “must.”
If this sounds interesting, keep reading, or bookmark this page so you can come back later. Becky and I will be here for the long haul.
Here in my little corner of the healthbecomesyou blog, I’ll provide insight on nutrition and fitness for everyday regular people.
Leave a comment (at the bottom of his post) and let me know what you think!
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Every journey begins with a story, so today I would like to explain a few things about me so you have an understanding of where I’m starting from.
My hope is that you use what my situation to apply it to your situation. All situations are different, but there is certainly a thread to follow here.
I’ve always been athletic. I played college baseball. I played a lot of pick-up basketball, and enjoyed many long days at the park playing Frisbee.
I’ve always had eaten healthy: lots of greens, plenty of fruit, and since the late 1990s, always organic. 
For eight years, I was a teacher. I had a predictable schedule: up at 5:30 a.m. for a tall glass of water and a brisk walk around the neighborhood, stretches on a mat, push-ups, crunches and pull-ups.
Breakfast was two eggs scrambled bagel and French press coffee. I’d grab an apple, banana and tea bag to go for a mid morning snack. I never got hungry. I was always snacking, or eating small meals.
At school, I’d drink from my water bottle, which held 32 ounces of water. I drank three: one before lunch, one after and another once the students left for the day.
On my way home from school, I’d often stop at the local gym to play racquetball, or lift weights, or run on a treadmill. On the weekends, I’d get up the mountain for cross country skiing, or pedal my street bike up the rugged geography of Portland, Oregon or find friends to play games of basketball or Frisbee.
I was always moving.
And it was very natural to fall right asleep around 10:30 or 11 p.m. I usually didn’t have a hard time falling asleep, or waking again at 5:30 a.m.
When I really break this down, and reflect upon that old lifestyle of mine, I met four vital requirements for health.
1. Sleep
2. Water
3. Exercise (some form of Movement)
4. Nutrition
But because of some life changes, I was no longer comfortable with the security of being a teacher. In fact, I began to seek a career change.
Here’s a quick note about “change.” We don’t really change until we are uncomfortable. For me, the thought of teaching for 30-35 years was so depressing and uncomfortable, that I aggressively sought after a change.
Just like now, after being sedentary for the last 18 months, I have become so uncomfortable with my body, that I am getting aggressive about change.
I have spent the previous two years learning to find a synergistic approach that combines the advantages of blogging, with the leverage points of traditional Internet marketing, and the opportunities inherit within social media so I could have an internet business.
So I could create a new lifestyle for myself where I didn’t depend on a j.o.b. Where I didn’t have a “9-5” and where I could eventually work half as hard and make twice as much.
Yes, the grass truly is greener on the other side. It’s just a septic field to cross getting there. And although I’m not quite to the point of making twice as much and working half as hard, I’ve “made it” for all intent and purposes.
BUT, and here is the big BUT,
I’ve let the most important thing slip.
I’ve let the thing that I covet most gather dust.
I’m out of shape.
This means that I sat in front of the computer a lot! For the previous 18 months, I’ve abandoned my body and spent much to much time in front of the computer screen.
Recall the four vital requirements of health (above). I’ve majorly slipped in these areas. But it’s these areas that I am going to focus on FIRST.
- Water Consumption – you should be drinking 8 eight oz glasses per day. I was replacing water with coffee.
- Sleep – you should get 6-8 hours per night. I was pulling all-nighters, sleeping odd hours, and not keeping consistency. This resulted in trouble falling asleep and waking up.
- Nutrition – you should eat smaller & healthier meals spread out more often throughout the day. I was forgetting to eat until I’d feel this rush of hunger. Then I’d mash down two plates of water I could find as fast as I could.
- Cardio-Vascular fitness & strength training – you should aim for 20-30 minutes of cardio-vascular fitness and/or strength training 3-5 days a week. I had to be reminded to walk the dog. All exercise went to the wayside.
So this is where I’m starting from. You won’t find any “before” and “after” pictures here, but it’s suffice to say that when I look in the mirror, I’m not saying, “Hey honey, come here, check out these abs.”
Instead, I’m saying, “Hey honey, come here, do I look fat to you?”
I will tell you that my goal is to be in a speedo this August (I can do this and so can you). 
So, that’s my story, and now you know where I’m picking up the pieces.
The very first call to action is to get back to the vital four requirements of health.
I recommend keeping a logbook for one week or longer to register how many glasses of water you’ve drank what you’ve had to eat and at what time during the day and the time you’ve gone to bed and time you’ve awaken.
The point is to be aware and change bad habits into good habits. To do so, awareness is the first key.
Follow the link as I discuss a Longevity Health Plan, and other important things to keep in mind as you get back into cardio-vascular & strength training shape.