Category: General

I remember when Jim Fixx died. You may not, so here’s a little about him. (You can read a short article about Fixx at Wikipedia.)

Jim Fixx is widely credited as being one of the pioneers of fitness. He started running at age 35, when he was overweight and a two-pack-a-day smoker. Ten years later he had lost 60 pounds, was smoke-free, and had written a best-seller about running.

Seven years after that, at the age of 52, Fixx dropped dead of a heart attack after a run.

This happened in 1984, and many people jumped on a bandwagon that claimed Fixx’s death proved that running is bad for you. There were even jokes circulating about it.

But what Fixx’s death was really displaying was the difference between fitness and health.

“Fitness” describes your body’s ability to do physical things, like running, lifting heavy objects, moving without pain.

Jim Fixx was a fit guy. He could run for miles. He was in shape.

But he was not healthy. The autopsy revealed that atherosclerosis had blocked one of Fixx’s coronary arteries 95%, a second 85%, and a third 70%.

Fitness does not necessarily lead to perfect health. There are always past behaviors, hereditary tendencies, and environmental factors that can bring disease to anybody, even the most fit people.

But you can severely lower your risk profile by getting into — and staying in — good shape.

I’ve witnessed this with my own body during my quest for fitness.

As I lost weight, I saw my blood pressure drop to normal, allowing me to stop taking two blood pressure medications my doctors had prescribed. I watched my bad cholesterol and triglycerides decrease drastically, and my good cholesterol increase dramatically. Pain I used to feel is now gone. I can run and climb steps without getting out of breath.

And all that increased fitness has led me to better health, lowered my risk of heart attack, cancer, and a host of other ills.

But I still struggle with my blood-sugar level. It’s down from where it was, but still borderline and doesn’t seem to be getting any lower. And this is happening in the face of the fact that I severely — and I do mean severely — cut back on consuming anything with added sugar about 18 months ago.

I haven’t given up looking for the answer to that health issue, but it’s there, even though I am more fit than I’ve ever been.

So fitness is one thing, health is another.

I often tell people that I may not outlive them, but it won’t be because I didn’t try.

How about you? Would you rather go out fighting, or lie on your deathbed, wondering why you thought everything else in your life was so much more important than getting fit?

I remember seeing a bumper sticker back in the 90s that said “Kill your television!” I also remember thinking that was a rather harsh solution to a somewhat benign problem.

I was wrong.

Many of our lives seem to revolve around television. Who’s eliminated from “American Idol” or “Top Chef” is the topic of many discussions. What’s happening on “Burn Notice”? When is “Breaking Bad” going to come back on? What’s up with Larry David and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”?

KILL IT!

How much of our time is spent watching crap on the TV? Seriously?

I know we all need down time, and mindless entertainment — television’s specialty — is good for that. I also know that I am personally very bad about taking down time. I try, and sometimes succeed, but usually I end up remembering something else I need to do, like write a blog post, create a new website for a client, process some photos, work on a video. I can’t just sit there and watch “Ghost Hunters”. I can’t!

Admittedly, with TV I am probably one extreme. Are you the other?

Are you the person who has to record Letterman, “House”, “Biggest Loser”, and other shows, so you can keep up with what is going on. That’s all fine, unless, of course, the TV is interfering with your fitness goals.

Do you find yourself thinking, “I should work out, but, you know, I do need to catch up on all those back episodes of ‘Glee’ I have on the DVR….” If you end up with decisions like that to make — those kinds of decisions that should be no-brainers, and do end up being no-brainers, but in a different way — then you need to kill your TV, or at least wound it severely, so it will release its hold on you.

How do you go about doing that?

• Don’t turn it on. For an afternoon. Then for a day. Then for two days. Then for a week.
• Cancel cable or satellite. Save yourself some money. People complain that they can’t afford Tony Horton’s P90X but they drop hundreds each month on TV.
• Be more selective. Watch only limited run shows. Stick to half-hour sitcoms — you can watch them without worrying about following a season-long story arc. It’s all crap, so don’t let the crap trap you.
• Find more outside interests. Start a new hobby.

Of course, you could always kill your TV. Get rid of it. Perhaps my original conclusion was correct: That’s too extreme. Without a television, how will you work out with your Tony Horton’s P90X DVDs? (Hmmmm…. Guess you could use your computer for that….)

Here’s a song about killing your TV.