Fit Communications

Here’s a curious piece from MSNBC.com’s health section:

Couch potato contentment
Americans know exercise is good for their health. Yet many are overweight, out-of-shape couch potatoes–and that seems to be just fine with a lot of them, suggests a new nationwide fitness survey.

The article summarized a study by the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association, a trade association. The reporter also interviewed Cedric Bryant, chief exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise:

“We’re just passively sitting back and letting this inactive lifestyle become the accepted way,” he says.

Part
of the problem, according to [sic] Bryant, is that Americans view physical
activity as an "event"–one game of tennis or one trip to the gym–rather than "the manner in which one lives."

I think that’s an astute observation. People think of dieting (short-term dietary modification) rather than making permanent improvements in their eating habits; they think of working out as a means to fit into a smaller dress for a high-school reunion rather than a lifelong pursuit. Working toward short-term goals is great and highly motivating–but the lifestyle changes have to be permanent.