Carole Carson

What is Your Dangerous Idea?

What do you believe but cannot prove? What is your dangerous idea? What are you optimistic about?

These intriguing questions are the subjects of books whose author, John Brockman, challenges our thinking about almost everything. Each is a collection of essays from some of the smartest people on the planet. When exposed to the innovative thinking in the essays, I remind myself that ideas once considered radical, even heretical, in one century are widely accepted in the next. If nothing else, reading the essays stretches my imagination.

So what’s my dangerously radical idea?

My idea is that just as obesity is contagious, so is getting and staying fit. Becoming fit can be a fun-filled, lifelong adventure. I cannot prove this idea, although I can offer evidence in support of it.

When I chronicled my own fitness and weight-loss efforts and told the stories of others who had undertaken similar efforts, residents in our small community took notice.

When I issued an invitation in the local newspaper to join a weight-loss program, over 1,000 people showed up. Each week attendance grew, until we had over 200 teams. We lost nearly 4 tons in 8 weeks. From my perspective, that phenomenon demonstrated the truth of my idea.

Our local experiment triggered the next question: Will this idea spread? The increasing number of community weight-loss programs springing up across the country is a good sign.

According to an article by Michael Shermer in the September 2007 issue of Scientific American, several elements are needed for a movement or an idea to gain acceptance:

1. The idea takes a stand for something, not against something, and is based on a positive assertion.

2. The idea uses an intelligent, rational approach to tackle myths and raises consciousness and awareness.

3. The idea embraces the uniqueness of self and others, and it requires us to respect each other.

4. The idea encourages exploration, experimentation and a sense of adventure.

If I look at my idea for these characteristics, I think it passes the test.

First, my idea does not argue against obesity, poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles; rather, it asserts that getting fit can be fun, educational and enjoyable.

Second, my idea challenges the myth that losing weight involves dieting, deprivation and boring exercise—all requiring heroic amounts of willpower and discipline. It also challenges the myth that weight is inevitably regained. Instead, my idea is based on rational decisions about what and how much healthy, satisfying food to eat each day and how many hours to devote each week to fun-filled exercise.

Third, my idea acknowledges that the path to fitness is unique for every person, depending upon his or her age, size and time of life. Given that “one size does not fit all,” my idea requires respect for others’ choices.

And fourth, my idea asserts that the pursuit of fitness involves exploring new foods, experimenting with different exercises and learning new, healthful habits. The journey to fitness is a personal adventure.

Is my idea taking hold? I don’t know. But what I do know is that I’m having lots of fun promoting fitness and hope that more people will adopt the radical idea that getting fit is contagious and fun! (539)

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Dubbed “An Apostle for Fitness” by the Wall Street Journal, Carole Carson is the author of From Fat to Fit: Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction, which chronicles her own 62-pound weight loss and the Nevada County Meltdown. Visit www.fromfat2fit.com for more information.

Waitingitis—Five Symptoms of a Potentially Fatal Syndrome

I tore the meniscus in my left knee playing tennis. I felt the tear as it occurred. Arthroscopic surgery easily fixed the problem but recovery forced me to examine my views on the use of time.

Once home and with the worst of the pain dissipating, I immediately became an impatient patient. How long, I whined, would I have to wait before I could resume my life?

When I opened my eyes each morning, I asked: “Is today the day I return to normal?” Then I tried to walk. My stiffened knee reminded me I must wait a little longer!

In this vulnerable condition, I started thinking about all the other periods in my life where I felt suspended between the “before” and the “yet to come.” Limbo periods seem to be a regular feature of my life. In high school, I waited impatiently until I could leave home and start college. I waited through my first pregnancy by marking off each long day. I waited in the hospital to see if my daughter would survive cardiac arrest. The list goes on.

When I tally up the time, I realize how much of my life I’ve spent in one spot, idling my engine, waiting for the next stage or the next event. Waitingitis reminds me of driving a car with the emergency brake on—very hard to gain momentum and disastrous on the running parts of the vehicle.

In my medically imposed leisure, I’ve had time to identify five symptoms of this malady that could easily be confused with excusitis or blamingitis. Although waitingitis isn’t life-threatening, like obesity, it can lead to other conditions that are, such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and even dementia. Immunized with information, maybe I can avoid the damage of waitingitis by recognizing its symptoms:

1. Downward Spiral: A sense of decay and deterioration is present. If depression doesn’t cause passivity, it certainly takes over if I feel helpless long enough.

2. Excuses: Life is filled with remarkably plausible excuses that I try to convince myself, and others, to believe.

3. Powerlessness: The cause of my waiting always seems beyond my control. And since I have no control over what is going to happen next, my only alternative is to wait.

4. Myths: If I repeatedly tell stories about how real the obstacles are, I convince not only myself but others as well.

5. Self-Pity: It is easier to talk myself into accepting my situation rather than to seek the unique opportunities in each particular circumstance.

Recognizing the dark role of waitingitis and noticing when I am in that state freed me to handle my recovery more positively. While I couldn’t do everything, I could still do floor exercises in the morning with my good leg and upper body. As part of the healing process I noticed both improvements and setbacks. By keeping track of progress in my diary, I took charge of my outlook.

Going further, in a real turnaround, I began to realize the huge opportunity I had to use this time constructively. I became rested, I read broadly, and I had time to reflect and replenish my emotional bank. Best of all, I had a ready-made excuse to enjoy the upcoming holidays without all the fuss and work!

Shortly before the knee surgery, I finished teaching a workshop—From Fat to Fit—offered at the local hospital. Like me, they’ve finally realized the destructive power of delaying their intent to get fit. They are having fun getting fit, they are designing their own individual programs, and they are participating together—surrounded by a support team of their own creation.

We don’t have to wait for the perfect time to begin adopting healthful habits. Now is not only the best time to begin but it is the only time we have. The rest is obstacle illusions.

Trivia Question

On average, how many pounds do people gain during the holidays?

1. One pound

2. Two to four pounds

3. Five to ten pounds

Contrary to popular wisdom, only one pound is gained between Halloween and the New Year. The additional pound, however, is retained indefinitely and results in long-term weight gain.

Iowa State University Extension provides practical suggestions on how to avoid gaining weight during this period. It recommends planning celebrations around activities (rather than food), spending less time in the kitchen and rethinking the food gifts you give. It also suggests getting adequate sleep and continuing your regular exercise routine.

These recommendations are based on the premise that we need to focus our attention on the meaning of the holidays and the joy of being in the company of friends and family rather than on how best to indulge ourselves.

Armed with this advice, surely we can avoid gaining even one pound during the next 12 weeks.

Breaking Out of Our Spiritual Jail: Weight Loss Lightens Our Spirits as Well as Our Bodies

When we make changes toward a healthier lifestyle—losing weight and exercising regularly—not only do our bodies respond positively in measurable ways (reduced blood pressure, lowered cholesterol, greater strength and increased flexibility) but our spirits soar as well. We break out of a spiritual jail. These feelings are the little "proofs" that we are headed in the right direction when we focus on becoming FIT:

F = Free: We are able to fly through life because we are free from the dead weight of remorse. When we feel bad about excess weight or about being a slug, our spirits are grounded. When we lose weight and become fit, we sprout wings and become more creative, energetic and positive. Unencumbered by guilt about not taking care of our bodies, we give up swimming in peanut butter. We have a lot more fun and feel fortunate that we found the key to our personal jail.

I = Inspired: We are inspired to become our unique selves—more centered and more confident of who we are and of what our purpose is. We become more intuitive and, at the same time, more informed as research on the impact of healthful eating and exercise confirms our decision to lead a healthier lifestyle. Our enthusiasm inspires others.

T = Transformed: Those of us who have lost weight commonly become unrecognizable. That is, we have transformed ourselves or reinvented ourselves as different people. We have triumphed over earlier limitations; our joy is apparent in our walk, talk and manner. Like an addict who has broken free of a destructive habit, we have escaped spiritual slavery and rejoined the productive members of our society.

Having been blessed with a second chance at life, we eagerly share that opportunity with others. Instead of dying with our potential untouched, we allow our lives to take off in the direction they were always intended to go.

Buff on the Outside, Genetically Altered on the Inside

From time to time, I find myself struggling to maintain my weight loss. I can gain five pounds without even trying. When this happens, I must quickly resume my careful regimen so I can drop back to my target weight range.

After five years of conscious effort, I confess to a certain longing for a magical solution.

Isn’t there a pill we could safely take that would help us shed pounds? Or curb an unmanageable appetite? Isn’t there a way to turn fat into sleek muscle without the time and effort of exercising?

You know the expression “Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it”? Perhaps to our detriment, our wish may come true as a result of genetic tinkering.

Nicholas D. Kristof, a New York Times columnist, reported on a research breakthrough that could change the form of warm-blooded species, including humans.

Kristof writes about recent advances in genetic engineering of cattle in which scientists have genetically blocked the production of myostatin, a substance that curbs muscle growth. The result is overmuscled cows without a speck of fat—all without exercising.

The cows look like what Arnold Schwarzennegger would look like if he were from the bovine species. For your own peek at the future, you can look at Belgian Blues here. The photograph would be laughable if the implications weren’t so serious.

When the same genetic engineering was tried on mice, an increase of 15-30 percent in size was noted. Also importantly, the middle-aged, overmuscled mice didn’t lose strength as they aged.

The genetic research was originally intended to help two groups—persons suffering from muscular dystrophy and seniors suffering from weakened muscles as a result of aging.

But once genetic engineering becomes available, do any of us believe it will be limited to those two groups? If steroids are a problem, imagine how the availability of genetic engineering would affect sports. Monday Night Football would become a contest between giants.

Wouldn’t it be tempting to undergo a painless procedure and bypass a lifetime regimen of eating carefully and exercising regularly?

Wouldn’t men find the magic solution hard to resist, given our culture’s emphasis on masculine strength? I’d like to think I wouldn’t succumb to a quick fix, but I’m not certain that I wouldn’t.

The implications for future generations stagger the imagination. Would overmuscled athletes be the norm and people who refuse to change their genetics be freaks? With two-thirds of us being overweight, we currently suffer numerous medical problems. Would those medical problems lessen if the majority of us were trim giants? Or would we create other problems?

Kristof describes a boy who, through an accident of nature, has the human form of the Belgian Blues genetic mutation. At age four, the boy is already setting records for weightlifting with his extraordinary muscling.

Where will the genetic tinkering stop? Probably not with the human race. Wouldn’t we want supersized chickens so eggs would be larger? Wouldn’t we want bigger pigs so hams would double in size? Wouldn’t sheep be supersized so farmers could harvest more wool?

We all know what happened to the tomato when it was reengineered genetically. Commercial tomatoes are thick skinned and frequently tasteless. Would human genetic engineering produce the same unsatisfactory result?

Spared by advancing age the opportunity to tinker with my own genes or alter in utero the genes of my offspring, perhaps I am better off than I know. Given my ambivalence, I don’t even have any useful advice for the next generation.

At least for the foreseeable future, for better or worse, I’m stuck with eating carefully and exercising regularly. To quote Popeye, “I’yam what I’yam.”

Coming to My Senses—Time Well Wasted

In an attempt to convey my resentment of the tyrannical clock, I once wrote a poem about a woman who was imprisoned by her wristwatch.

For years, it seems, my life has been measured in rushed increments. A half-hour to get home from work; an hour to unload the dishwasher, prepare dinner and start a load of laundry; and then a few minutes to pay some bills after a quick glance at the mail.

Living under the pressure of time, I gained weight and exercised very little. With a perpetual sense of no time to lose, I had no time to lose—pounds, that is. Only after I retired did I take the time to shape up, dropping over 60 pounds in the process.

Even in retirement, I feel time is scarce. When I become engrossed in writing, a few minutes can morph into hours. Before long, the day is over. Where did the time go?

Because the minutes fly by, I make myself start each morning with an hour of playtime on my living-room floor. The routine is a collection of exercises from a yoga instructor, a physical therapist and gym classes. I also include exercises that I made up. When I begin, my mind bombards me with tasks to accomplish that day. To escape their oppression, I repeat the mantra “Work can wait. First things first.”

During the exercise routine, I pay attention to how my body feels. Some days I can do more, other days less. I extend my limbs and stretch my back. In the process, I’m reminded that body awareness was a given as a child—not something I sought out each day. I didn’t need to come to my senses; I lived in them.

I experience the same conflict when I quit work in the middle of the day to play tennis—play being the operative word. Never am I so carried back to my childhood days as when I am running around on the tennis court with my friends. I laugh when I succeed; I groan when I miss. I give my partner a high five when we make a great play. The game isn’t about winning—though I hate to lose—but about being outdoors, running around in the open air and playing with friends.

While my self-discipline is spotty, my appetite for play is strong enough to throw off the tyranny of time. I can count on myself to exercise regularly—not for health reasons but because it‘s fun. Maybe my heart appreciates the exercise. Maybe my lungs function better. Maybe I can move more easily. Maybe I have more energy. Maybe I reduce my risk of stroke. Maybe my waistline stays trimmer. These results are all wonderful outcomes—but they aren’t the reasons I get out and play.

I exercise because, for a few minutes every day, I want to forget I’m grown-up. I want to be lighthearted and escape the seriousness of everyday affairs. For an hour or so, I want to live only in the moment.

John Seivert, a physical therapist, gives his clients one rule to achieve fitness: Play regularly. He said we will know what our exercise is because doing it will elicit uncontrollable smiles, fits of laughter and childlike behavior. Before you know it, John assures us, we will become more fit than we ever dreamed possible, no matter what our age.

Nothing reveals our values more than how we allocate our time. For the joy of it, I’m going to continue to spend hours each week playing—whether I’m stretching on my living-room floor or running on the tennis court. These moments help me come to my senses. It is time well wasted.

Are Your Friends Helping You Stay Fit?

If you’ve read many of my articles, you’ve no doubt noticed that I repeat myself on the importance of surrounding yourself with like-minded fitness friends and family. I have done so out of a conviction based on my own experience that our success is mightily dependent on the team we assemble around us.

Let me explain. I tried and failed to get fit and lose weight for 40 years. I succeeded only when I went public and surrounded myself with support. Armed with this insight, I support weight-loss challenges across the nation: these programs encourage individuals to work together as communities to get fit. I also serve as the coach for the AARP Fat 2 Fit online community.

This concept—that we need each other to succeed--is being confirmed by results of the Framingham Heart Study, a longitudinal study beginning in 1948 of more than 15,000 Framingham residents and their descendants. The purpose of the study is to analyze behavior and health habits to understand their impact on heart disease.

The most recent insights were published in an article in the New York Times titled, “Are Your Friends Making You Fat?” The researchers confirmed that the people who stayed fittest were part of a group whose members stayed fit. Although the mechanism isn’t entirely understood, researchers suspect that we pick up social cues from each other and reinforce positive behaviors.

So here’s my question to you: how can you increase the support you have around you in your day-to-day world? Knowing how critical support can be to your success, how can you strengthen this element in your fitness program?

How to Know If You’re Ready to Lose Weight and Get Fit

Seven years ago, I stepped on the bathroom scale—and it broke. In that instant, I made an irrevocable decision to get fit and remodel my body by losing weight. I remember the moment as if it were yesterday. The incident was a decisive turning point: I took the fork out of my mouth, and I took a fork in the road instead.

In retrospect, the internal discussion (or should I say argument) I’d been having with myself during the prior months was coming to a head. I liked my self-indulgences and didn’t want to give them up. At the same time, I knew I needed to make positive changes because my appearance was making me miserable. The broken scale didn’t trigger my transformation; rather, it crystallized my need to change in such a way that I couldn’t return to my old habits.

If I could bottle the process by which a person irrevocably commits to make positive changes (such as lose weight, stop smoking or give up alcohol), I would indeed be a rich person. Although I can’t patent the formula, I can tell you what the ingredients are so you can tell if you are ready to get fit and remodel your body.

First, your current habits and lifestyle are hurting and distressing you. Maybe you feel bad when you have to move up a size because your clothes no longer fit or when you accidentally catch a glance of yourself in the mirror. Maybe your extra girth is causing medical problems that threaten the quality of your life or require drugs that stretch the family budget. Maybe you feel sad when you can’t take your grandchild for a walk because your joints hurt from carrying a spare tire around your middle. Maybe you’ve lost self-respect because you are unable to manage your impulses and say no to yourself. Whatever the reason, you are unhappy with the status quo.

Second, the pleasure you derive from your current habits is greatly outweighed by the pain and suffering you experience by being out of shape and overweight. The nightly raiding of the refrigerator, while satisfying in the moment, is causing you to suffer when you step on the bathroom scale or the waistband on your pants feels like a vise around your middle every time you sit down. The second and third helpings of food at the supper table make you feel lethargic, bloated and out of control. You have begun to realize that the price you pay for your indulgences is too high for the pleasure you derive from them.

Third, you realize that adopting healthier habits will lead not to a grim life of deprivation but rather to a life that is richer, more meaningful, more productive and more satisfying. You will enjoy the food you carefully choose more than you ever enjoyed your mindless eating. You will add far more joy and satisfaction to your daily life than you give up. Instead of being ashamed of how you look, you will enjoy the experience of being in your body. And you will appreciate the simple gift of life your body represents.

There you have them. Insofar as I can tell, these three conditions, when present, can propel you into beginning your own fitness remodeling project. Are you ready? If the answer is yes, start making the positive changes today.