Crisscrossing

Crisscross Your Way To A Better Life:Finding the Unexpected Connections of a Healthy Lifestyle --

By Mike Kramer, Staff Writer
www.sparkspeople.com

The fitness universe always talks about Nutrition and Exercise as if these are the only two options for getting in shape. Want to lose the post-pregnancy padding? Nutrition & Exercise.

Want to look 10 years younger? Nutrition & Exercise.

Want to make everyone jealous at the high school reunion? Nutrition & Exercise.

Whatever happened to good old Sleep and Stretching? That’s right. Regular sleep and staying limber are just two ways you can take advantage of the Crisscross Effect to lose weight.

The Crisscross Effect is what happens when life’s building blocks hinder or help each other. Weight loss is just a single part of your dynamic, intertwined life. You also might have kids, a demanding boss, car problems, a nagging cough, magazine subscriptions, sports teams, fishing trips, traffic, high blood pressure, music practice, cranky relatives, noisy streets, babysitting, card night and the daily comics to contend with.

Weight loss has a real impact on – and is impacted by – all of these and more. There's more to weight loss than Nutrition and Exercise. Weight loss is linked to everything else going on in your life. Programs that ignore this connection are doomed to be interruptions and stress producers.

When any part of your life changes – when new habits spring up – the Crisscross Effect takes over. Sometimes, the Crisscross is obvious and direct. Other times it’s more subtle.

When you learn goal-setting skills by trying to eat more veggies, and then start using those skills at work, you’re seeing the Crisscross Effect. When your sleep habits make it easier to get up in the morningin time for a strong breakfast, you’re seeing the Crisscross Effect.

When your success inspires a friend to start his/her own program, you’re seeing the Crisscross Effect. The magic of the whole thing is not that parts of your life are linked.

The real benefit is how you can use that link to your advantage. Nutrition and Exercise are still extremely important and should be a big part of any Fitness program. But with the Crisscross Effect, you can also use other building blocks to speed you on the way to weight loss.

-->