Health, Diet & Exercise: What goals are important for an extraordinary life?

I thought work was tough... health, diet and exercise are even more difficult to whittle down to a universal set of goals.  What do you think of these?

The 43 Things Health Challenge

1. Stop eating fast food
2. Quit smoking
3. Develop an exercise habit
4. Try a vegetarian diet for six months
5. Drink enough water
6. Get enough sleep
   
7. Reach my ideal weight
8. Take the stairs
9. Walk or bike to work
10. Get regular checkups
11. Know my blood pressure and cholesterol levels
12. Develop a meditation habit

Comments

[Raymond Brigleb]

These are all great, worthy goals. Just a suggestion... consider trying not just a vegetarian diet, but a raw food diet. At least partly raw. In many ways, dairy can be just as harmful as meat. And since trying a raw food diet, my life has changed greatly for the better. Many of the points you list above can be addressed by a raw, living food diet.

In fact, we've created the website goneraw.com to help form a raw foods community, including recipe sharing, forums, and more. We'd love to have more folks try it out!

[AnnieDee]

Great list. I have just a couple of comments. I'm curious as to why you mixed process goals (ex. "take the stairs) and result goals ("reach my ideal weight"). Personally, I prefer to use all process goals because those are things that I can definitely achieve (with enough will power). Then if I haven't reached the result that I want I can modify my goal or create a new one that I think will help me achieve the result that I want.

Secondly, I'm curious about the wording of goals that start with "develop ...". Why not just something like exercise x times per week for x minutes? Is your goal really to develop a habit, which seems like it's actually a self-discipline goal, or is the goal to exercise or mediate?

And finally, I'd add a goal to minimize sugar and one to eat 5 to 9 servings of fresh fruit and vegies per day. It's possible to be a vegetarian and eat an awful lot of junk (even if you stay away from fast food).

[Justin See]

Great list. When I switched to a vegetarian diet, I realized how easy it was to maintain. I'm Italian and live in Chicago, so the thought of giving up all the things I used to love just seemed impossible to me. (Osso Buco from Osteria De Stato, Sausage Pizza from Gino's East, Kosher Dogs at Wrigley, and my Mom's homemade ravioli) Seeing how easy it was made me think differently about other things I thought I couldn't do and has made me a much better person.

Also, on the weight issue, after adopting my Veg diet, I lost 20 pounds over a period of 4 months. It was a gradual easy weight loss and eventually I was at the weight I said I would be happy with, but I wasn't. I was proud to have achieved my goal, but I realized what most nutritionists and trainers have been saying for years, weight is just a number. At that point I stopped weighing myself every week and focused more on working out, and less on dieting. 3 months later I found out I have lost another 4 pounds, but my body looks totally different and I feel great.

The most important thing to remember is that any health goal has to be a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. Don't worry, deciding to become a healthier person for the rest of your life is nowhere near as difficult or scary as it sounds.

To the editors, keep up the good work, I really enjoy reading this website.

[Tim Ferriss]

I think I can help simplify this a bit. Two-second background: I design training and nutritional programs for Olympic athletes, around 30 world records thus far. The most impressive specimens, all of which have less than 6% bodyfat, do the following three things:

1. Consume 1 gram of lean protein (chicken, fish, or micellar casein powder preferred) per lb. of lean bodyweight (subtract your fat) per day. Some split this into three meals and two shakes. I prefer four meals (9am, 1pm, 5pm, 9pm) and one shake after exercise. A piece of animal about the size of your palm (similar to a hamburger patty) is around 30 grams.

2. Carry a Nalgene bottle with you full of water. As soon as you empty it, fill it again. This will help your liver to oxidize fats and eliminate waste products that cause skin problems.

3. Resistance train with free weights or machines 2-4 times per week. I prefer machines for safety and ease-of-use. I only spend 30 minutes twice per week in the gym if I'm not competing. You don't need any more than one set to failure (5 seconds up, 5 seconds down rep cadence) with the following exercises: leg press, overhead press, seated row, bench press, back extension, abdominals, calf raises. This workout will last you less than 15 minutes, then finish with 10 minutes on a stationary bike to minimize soreness the following day.

If you only do these three things, you will lose a massive amount of bodyfat within two weeks and improve cardio-muscular function, increase bone density, decrease cholesterol, and have better skin. It's as easy as 1-2-3.

Last recommendations, have the same professional at a gym measure your bodyfat every month, and have your physician draw blood for comprehensive blood tests every 6 months (you'll have to pay $100-400, depending on what you want tested).

[Leo]

Good list. I'm also a vegan who is training for a triathlon, so I've been following a lot of these rules. I've lost about 30 lbs already. You might be interested in my personal development blog, Zen Habits, where I talk about a lot of these issues as well as how to achieve your goals:

http://zenhabits.blogspot.com/

I posted some articles about getting fit and healthy:

http://zenhabits.blogspot.com/2007/01/get-healthy-and-fit-part-1.html

http://zenhabits.blogspot.com/2007/01/get-healthy-and-fit-part-2-exercise.html

and my Top 20 Motivation Hacks:

http://zenhabits.blogspot.com/2007/02/top-20-motivation-hacks-20.html

as well as a guide to quitting smoking:

http://zenhabits.blogspot.com/2006/11/10-tips-for-quitting-smoking.html

Hope this helps! Keep up the great work with your blog. I posted a link to it in my daily links today, and it's now on my blogroll.

[Allen]

Great list! Most important is to eat healthy and exercise ... and be always positive.

[Loi P]

Cool, I've already got 6 of these done!
If you want to respond to this (or my wish list contained in the link) email me at middens.is.hott@gmail.com (Note the two d's instead of ts and the two ts in hot.)