I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. Michelangelo

Most of us know of this famous quote. It is a favorite of woodcarvers who see a deer in the wood, removing everything around it which is not a deer. Also, it could be one of honor students who highlight the important line in a paragraph, knowing that the rest can be ignored in preparation for the exam.

How many of us think that this has anything to do with fitness? Probably not many. Most of us believe that getting into shape has merely to do with following a set of exercises recommended in one of the many how to training books It also has to do with taking the latest multi-vitamin which the media says is good (Centrum, for best current example. )And, it has to do with cutting down on our food intake without giving up any of our favorites.

That is how we try getting into fitness. That is what we do in January, resolving to make this year the one in which we will lose the wanted weight. We all know that this good and that it is going to work. But it very seldom ever does. Why?

First, the exercises recommended in the standard fitness book are good for theoretical people, not real ones. They may be good starting points, but they are little more. We all know what we do best. That is what we should do, not what someone else says. But we think some fitness authority knows better, largely because he or she looks better on the cover than we do in the mirror. Second, the standard, much praised vitamin pill (now Centrum) may have close to the minimum daily vitamin requirement for a few nutrients, but lack even minor amounts of others which serious athletes would never be without. Too, it is the standard pill for mildly active people, not highly active ones–those who never miss their daily workouts. Further, the labels do not advise having a test to determine nutrient levels already in the system–something which would expose deficiencies if they were there. Third, the standard American daily diet is not only too many calories to begin with, but in most cases loaded with sugar and fat. In short, cutting down the quantities is but a baby step in the right direction. Really, most, if not all of these favorite foods should be replaced by healthy ones. » Read more: An Angel in the Marble