Do you think of your body the way you think of your car? When a few lucky individuals buy a top of the range car that has some of the best automotive engineering available today, watch them read the maintenance manuals cover to cover.

They take their car for inspection even when it purrs like a kitten and book it in for repairs as soon as something does not feel right. And they’re very concerned.

That car is their most prized possession, a badge of all the long and hard hours they put in at work so they could finally own it. It cost a LOT of dollars, so looking after it is logically, their # 1 priority.

But how valued is the person that drives that car? Shouldn’t that person – shouldn’t YOU – be the #1 priority?

The average lifespan of men and women is 80 years, give or take a few years. The sad truth is, a large number of men and women look and feel 80 before they even reach 50! You spot the tell-tale signs from their physical appearance:

* sagging dry skin
* bad posture
* uneven and unsteady walk (they need to drag around those heavy pounds)
* sore joints
* sporting the “I’m not happy because I look terrible” look

Now, if their outward look is this awful, just imagine what the inside machinery is like! Most likely, it’s even worse:

* clogged vessels
* inefficient heart
* mounds of fat parked in or around vital organs
* Conditions such as diabetes, nervous tension, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease that are silently brewing.

If fitness gurus had it their way, they’d introduce legislation to make exercise compulsory as soon as a baby leaves the cradle, not during the teenage years when obesity is likely to strike.

But fitness shouldn’t be associated with any age limit. You can commence at 9 or at 27 – even at 50 and 60 – the idea being that fitness should not be seen as the answer for an ailment that’s already come about. As the saying goes, don’t wait for illness to strike.

Brad King and Dr. Michael Schmidt in “Bio Age, Ten Steps to a Younger You” (Macmillan, Canada, 2001) devised a questionnaire for determining physical damage to a body as a result of lack of exercise. Some of their guidelines include:

Begin with the question, “How do I look?” Do any of these apply to you?
* Am I overweight, looking like an apple or pear?
* Do I have a spare tire around my waist?
* Has my skin become very dry, almost paper-thin?

Next, ask: “How do I feel?”
Do my joints hurt before or after any physical exercise?
* Am I continually anxious and worried?
* Do I feel tired and sluggish most of the time?
* Do I suffer from mood swings?

Finally, “How am I doing?”
* Are simple walking and climbing stairs difficult?
* Do I have problems concentrating?
* Is running an impossibility?
* Am I unable to sit in a good posture, preferring to slouch or stoop my shoulders?1

You’ve finished your basic assessment. Note, however, that other exercise or fitness gurus will have developed their own parameters or indices for assessing your body’s overall state and one isn’t better than the other.

As long as they include all dimensions of the self – physical, psychological and mental – they are as valid as the next person’s assessment charts.

Now you need to create your very own ACTION PLAN.

References: 1 Brad J. King & Dr. Michael A. Schmidt. Bio Age – Ten Steps to a Younger You. Macmillan, Canada. 2001.

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