READ ME FIRST...

This 30 Days to a Healthier Life was posted in the Health and
Fitness Forum in Section 12, the Body Shop.  It was originally
published in the September 1991 issue of Men's Health.  I added the
quotations and a little extra verbiage to help inspire anyone who
chooses to complete the program.  It's well worth the effort.  

Below is the original announcement.  Hope you enjoy the activities
and gain benefit from participating.  If you have any questions or
comments, please contact me.

Good Luck and GOODHEALTH!  Allan Stevens [76702,562]
=================================================================

Beginning Sunday, September 29th, the BODY SHOP will offer a 30 day
step-by-step plan designed to help you improve the quality of your
life.  

Just think... in 30 days you can accomplish "small daily acts that
add up to a well rounded lifestyle founded on health and vigor."

If you are stuck in an exercise rut, wondering how to get started
on the path to improved health, or just, "looking for something
different," this plan will help you adjust your behavior patterns
as well as increase your self-esteem.

The ACTION CALENDAR-FOR-THE-NEXT-DAY will be posted in Section 12. 
Just follow what it says and you'll be on the road to a better
life. THE FIRST DAILY ACTION WILL BE POSTED ON Saturday, SEPTEMBER
29th, before 12 noon.  

(NOTE:  This, 30 Days to a Healthier Life Action Calendar, can be
found in the September 1991 issue of Men's Fitness.  This program
will not impact the SUGer's Conferences on Thursday; but may,
provide subject matter for those weekly conferences).

FWIW... I'll be participating and taking notes.... <G>! 

"Man who says, 'It cannot be done,' should not interrupt man who is
doing." -- Chinese proverb

Here is your chance to improve your health and well-being.  For the
next 30 days, I'll be posting DAILY positive actions that can help
you make a turnaround in your behavior patterns.  Below is DAY 1.
You should accomplish this on Sunday, September 29th.  Tomorrow, I
will be posting the activities for the FOLLOWING DAY, etc.  Give it
your best shot and let the forum know what happens during the
course of the next 30 days.    GOOD LUCK!!!





DAY 1, Sunday

  MENTAL CONDITIONING: Get up and make your bed.  If you already do
that every day, then wash the dishes, sweep the floor or take care
of some other daily task that you habitually shirk.  COMMIT
YOURSELF TO DOING THIS JOB EVERY DAY FOR 30 DAYS.  The purpose: to
exercise self-discipline, to demonstrate that you can keep a
commitment, to build self-respect.
  PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Sit down and consider what you want to
achieve in this area.  In 30 days you can gain a lot: improved
endurance, greater muscle definition, rejuvenated interest, faster
running times, weight loss or gain, skill in a new sport.  Set your
goals!

  NOTE: Everything suggested here for the next 29 days is _an
addition to_, not a replacement for, your current routine.

  NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Start today, eat breakfast within 90
minutes of waking every morning for the next 30 days.  This is one
of the simplest yet most powerful things you can do for your health
and energy level.
  Also, drink at least two 8-ounce glasses of water.  Over the
coming week, up your water intake to eight glasses each day.  Water
is vital to your recovery from exercise, efficient digestion and
ideal-weight maintenance.





























DAY 2, Monday

MENTAL CONDITIONING:  Visit a bookstore and invest in three books,
one from each category, on the following topics: (1) stress
reduction, (2) positive thinking and/or self-improvement and (3)
spiritual meditation.  Also pick up a blank hardbound journal
[those with computers can set aside some disk space].

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING:  Add a 20 minute energizer in the afternoon
-- especially if your primary exercise is weight lifting. 
Energizers include any activities that cause you to break sweat and
increase your heart rate to between 60 and 85 percent of maximum
(220 minus your age equals max).  For example: brisk walking,
biking, jogging , interval sprinting, in-line skating, roller
skating, calisthenic circuits (push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, jumping
jacks), jumping rope, climbing ropes, Frisbee, Smashball, swimming,
working out on a treadmill or stair climber, dancing, hill climbing
and fast games of racquetball or tennis.  Enter your goals in your
journal.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING:  Pick up a cookbook that specializes in
low-fat, low-cholesterol recipes and also offers sound nutritional
information.  Take it home and read the opening chapters.  If you
have a diet-related goal for the month, such as losing 10 pounds or
lowering your cholesterol level by 20 points, write it down in your
journal [if your goal requires laboratory work-up, schedule an
appointment with your physician.  Establishing a baseline helps to
set definite, achievable goals].

That's all for now, I'm having fun, et vous?
























DAY 3, Tuesday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: As Jimmy Stewart's character learns in _It's
a Wonderful life_, nothing dispels negative feelings better than a
spirit of thankfulness.  So write a gratitude list in your journal,
itemizing everything in your life that's good, helpful, convenient
and otherwise positive -- from good health to indoor plumbing. 
Read it whenever you feel low.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Take your measurements (shoulders, chest,
arms, waist, thighs, calves, weight) and enter then in your
journal.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Increase your daily water intake to three
glasses.  Learn which high-fat offenders appear in your current
diet and eliminate 25 percent of them by week's end.  Make a
reduced-fat equivalency list and post it on your refrigerator.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HIGH-FAT OFFENDERS -- Mayonnaise; whole-milk products; most
cheeses; chips, many crackers; butter; creamy soups, gravies,
sauces; fried foods; bacon, sausage, lunch meats; highly marbled
beef; creamy salad dressings; processed dinners; most pastries.
===================================================================
REDUCED-FAT EQUIVALENTS -- Nonfat mayonnaise or sandwich spread;
nonfat milk products; ricotta, Neufchatel, mozzarella cheeses;
frozen low-fat yogurt, ice milk, sorbet; evaporated skim milk for
gravies; baked or broiled foods; lean ground beef, drained of fat
after cooking; poultry (without skin), fish; olive, canola, corn
oils; oil-and-vinegar dressings; broth coups; salsa-type sauces.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
===================================================================
Something to think about:

"First say to yourself what you would be and then do what you have
to do." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Question: What books did you select?  

















DAY 4, Wednesday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Do some reading in your new books.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Increase your afternoon energizer to 25
minutes.  Do something different from Monday's activity.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Increase your water intake to four
glasses.  Begin the practice of eating four smaller meals --
breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner -- instead of one, two
or three big ones.  This increases the efficiency of your
metabolism.  For each meal, choose one serving from two or three
food groups, such as a cup of nonfat yogurt mixed with fresh fruit,
a baked potato stuffed with onions, beans and cheese, a tuna
sandwich with a reduced-fat mayonnaise.  Just be sure you don't use
the increased-meal plan as an excuse to [pig out].

Plan a menu for at least three dinners and two lunches for the rest
of the week, making a "healthy" shopping list of the necessary
groceries.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Something to think about: "Be intent upon the perfection of the
present day."  -- William Law

===================================================================




























DAY 5, Thursday

MENTAL CONDITIONING:  On a 3" x 5" cards or scraps of paper, write
five or more positive, motivational notes to yourself (they're
called affirmations) and post them in strategic places around your
home and work environment.  The point: to surround yourself with
encouraging messages.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Hop out of bed and crunch your abs until
they burn.  Do your 25 minute energizer at lunchtime if you can
(you almost certainly can if you're inventive).

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Increase water to five glasses.  Get rid
of the high-fat offenders in your kitchen.  (Give them to a food
bank if you can.)  Post the recommended food-group servings on your
refrigerator, and today, work on getting your full share of grains.
==================================================================
FOOD-GROUP RULES (Use the following daily)

Dairy products: two to three 1-cup servings
Protein foods: two 3-ounce servings
Breads, grains: six servings, 1/2 cup or one slice each
Fruits and vegetables: five to eight servings total
===================================================================
Did you know:  Homogenization -- the mechanical breaking up of fat
so that it will stay in suspension rather than rise to the top. 
Also, pasteurization -- the heating of a liquid for a specific time
at a specific temperature to destroy harmful micro-organisms.
===================================================================
Something to think about:

"Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the
age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen." --Mark Twain

PS... I'm struggling to keep up.  But, I have noticed that I am
getting a little more done each day and not getting distracted by
TV.

















Day 6, Friday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: In your journal, make a list of your goals,
both long and short term.  What do you want to accomplish in your
relationships, career, education, self-esteem or overall
satisfaction levels?  And what can you do this week, _this day_, to
work toward achieving those ends?  Write it all down.  You'll go
through the same process once a week during this month.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: In your journal, make a list of the
activities you most enjoy or think you would like if you learned
how to do them.  Choose a skill that intrigues you and commit to
learning more about it in the next few weeks.  Pick another one
tomorrow.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Increase water to six glasses.  Eat the
right number of servings of grains, fruits, and vegetables.  Cook
yourself a complete, healthful dinner tonight.
===================================================================
Thought for the day:
"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in
a tree. 'Which road do I take?' she asked.  His response was a
question: 'Where do you want to go?' 'I don't know,' Alice
answered.  'Then,' said the cat, 'it doesn't [really] matter.'"
                                  --Lewis Carroll
===================================================================
QUICK BREAKFASTS

--Apple and cheese
--Ak-Mak crackers and peanut butter
--Whole-wheat toast topped with cinnamon applesauce
--English muffin with swiss cheese
--Bagel with Neufchatel cheese
--Cantaloupe filled with low- or nonfat yogurt and grapes
--Shredded Wheat, All-Bran cereal or oatmeal with low- or nonfat
  milk and sliced fruit
--Breakfast shake: nonfat yogurt or milk, banana or other fruit and

  ice cubes mixed in a blender
--Orange BLAST: egg white, 6 ounces plain yogurt, 2 tablespoons
  frozen orange juice concentrated and ice cubes mixed in a blender
===================================================================












DAY 7, Saturday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Do some more reading, and don't neglect the
daily chores you've committed to.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Work your abs first thing in the morning. 
Then get out and indulge in your activity of choice (see Day 6) for
at least an hour.  This is pure play time.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Increase your water to seven glasses. 
Plan menus for the coming week -- at least for three dinners, six
lunches/snacks and four breakfasts.  Eliminate another 25 percent
of those high-fat foods.
===================================================================
Thought for the day: "Self-confidence is the first requisite to
great undertakings."      --Samuel Johnson
===================================================================





































DAY 8, Sunday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Set aside a half-hour in the morning to attend
to your spirit.  This might mean meditating, reading spiritual
books or taking a hike and noticing your natural surroundings. 
Depending on your personal understanding of _spirit_, spend some
time positively thinking about the nature of the world around you
and your place in it.  Start practicing affirmative self-talk; that
is, every time a critical or defeatist thought enters your mind,
immediately refute it with a positive statement.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Establish short-term goals for the week
ahead.  Using the affirmation technique, post motivating cue cards
on the bathroom mirror, over the kitchen sink, beside your bed;
take a few to work.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Increase water to eight glasses and keep
your intake there for the rest of the month.  Cook a large meal,
such as spaghetti, beans, soup or roast chicken, so you can have
leftovers during the week.  Review your goals, revising and
updating your short-term ones.
===================================================================
Did you know:  ENRICHED -- foods in which nutrients that were lost
or diminished in processing have been replaced, such as addition of
thiamin and riboflavin to enriched bread.  FORTIFIED -- Foods in
which nutrients have been added above the level normally found in
them, such as milk fortified with vitamin D.
===================================================================
Thought for the day: "The future comes one day at a time."
                                       --Dean Acheson
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PS... We've make it through the first week. (yeah!!!!!) So far,
I've had a chance to read, increase my awareness of nature,
friends, and family.  I'm getting up earlier and doing little tasks
that I have tended to put off because I have organized them.  The
whole family is coming 'round.  Hey, maybe... just maybe... <g>!
 

















DAY 9, Monday

MENTAL CONDITIONING:  Start your day with a 10-minute quiet time in
privacy.  Give your mind a chance to center itself on the positive.

You might simply experience your body waking up.  Perhaps you want
to pray, meditate or remember your gratitude list (Day 3).  You'll
continue to take this 10-minute preparation daily or every other
day as you see fit for the rest of the month.  The point: to gather
your inner strength to meet the challenges that lie ahead.  Remind
yourself of your goals; set some new ones for this week.  Continue
to practice positive self-talk.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Work your abs.  Continue spending time on
that new activity you're chosen.  Do a 25-minute energizer at lunch
or in the afternoon.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Find a good fish market and eat seafood
at least once this week.  Introduce one more small midday snack so
you're eating a total of five small meals.
===================================================================
Thought for the day: From the Archives of Environmental Health, Feb
68.  In an article by Bob Hoke entitled, Promotive Medicine and the
Phenomenon of Health:
   "Being healthy is having confidence in the future.  The
healthy man's future does not happen passively to him; it is an
active extension of his life.  For him the future is created by his
choices and decisions.  Instead of the future coming to him, he
takes himself to it and his living becomes a joint creation. 
Health is a participation in that creation, a participation in
one's own being, a commitment to one's living in the world.  To be
healthy is to celebrate one's life."  
===================================================================
PS... My first week was a little harried, but I survived.  The
challenging part was involving a family of 6 in all the activities.
This week will prove to be just as demanding.  Luckily, Denyse has
been there to help.  Well wishes for another productive week!

















DAY 10, Tuesday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: do some more reading.  In the afternoon,
devote 30 minutes to a stress-reduction exercise, such as
progressive relaxation (concentrate on loosening all your muscles,
beginning at the top of your head and moving down to your toes)
combined with deep breathing.  Take a long bath, a sauna at the gym
or a walk in the park.  Make stress reduction part of your routine
every other day.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Work your abs in the afternoon, picking a
new place to do it.  Decide on what kind of sport or activity
you'll engage in on Saturday.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Experiment with a main dish of beans or
pasta.  Teach yourself something new.  Invite a friend(s) over for
dinner Saturday night.
===================================================================
Thought for the day: "You always pass failure on the way to
success."    --Micky Rooney


































DAY 11, Wednesday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Keep practicing positive self-talk.  Write
down some new affirmations and replace last week's.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Try a different 25-minute energizer today. 
Follow up on that new sport.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Plan your menu for Saturday's dinner. 
Don't forget that by the end of the week, you'll have eliminated
half of your diet's high-fat offenders.
==================================================================
Thought for the day:  "Nothing in the world can take the place of
persistence.  Talent will not; nothing is more common than
unsuccessful men of talent.  Genius will not; unrewarded genius is
almost a proverb.  Education will not; the world is full of
educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination alone are
omnipotent."   --Calvin Coolidge
==================================================================
What do you think?  Nutrition is influenced by decisions -- or lack
of them -- in almost every area of governmental concern, including
agriculture, taxes, budget, land use, and import-export regulation.

Nutrition is also affected by industrial decisions regarding food
production, transportation, processing, and marketing.  All these,
in turn, are affected by various governmental regulations.  In
effect, the government sets out the national buffet.  --B. Winikoff
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


























Day 12, Thursday

MENTAL CONDITIONING:  Keep up the 10-minute quiet time in the
mornings.  Treat yourself to a 30-minute stress reducer after work.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING:  Do crunches throughout the day, whenever
you think of it.  Just contract your abs as you sit or stand, doing
sets of 10.  Decide what you'll do for fun on Saturday, picking
from your list of good physical things to do.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING:  Cook an entirely low-fat, low-
cholesterol dinner.
===================================================================
Thought for the day: "The great pleasure in life is doing what
people say you cannot do."                     --Walter Bagehot
===================================================================
Consider these statistics -- About half of the population gave up
sports following graduation from High School.  45% of those
surveyed did not exercise.  40% exercised a little with no effects
on breathing or heart rate (from a report issued by the President's
Council on Physical Fitness and Sport).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hypokinetic Diseases -- an entire spectrum of _inactivity-induced_
disorders, including chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, obesity,
ulcers, headache, backache, muscular weakness and atrophy, pain in
the muscles, and accelerated... need I go on? <g>!

Heading for the weekend looking good......


























Day 13, Friday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Review your gratitude list (Day 3).  Do a
little reading, and write in your journal.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Do a 25-minute energizer at lunchtime.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Stick to eight glasses of water, five
small meals, getting your correct share of the food groups.
===============================================================
Thought for the day: Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the
year."   --Spanish proverb
===============================================================
PS... Well, I'm certainly glad I getting a break for a couple of
days.  It will give me a chance to do a little catching up. <g>!

This has been a good exercise in self-discipline.  Although my
life for the last couple of weeks has been run by a planner that
has more priorities than I can "squeeze in" in a day, I have
developed a "healthy" focus I haven't had in about 2 years.

Taking the kids on more exercise sessions.  While they cannot keep
up with Dad, Dad has come to enjoy helping them with their own 
exercise sessions.  We usually do the PARCOURSE together.  That
way, each of us can complete the course at our own speed; and, Dad
can keep an eye on the technique. <g>...

Geeesh! Only 17 days to go.  Time sure flies when you're having
fun!

























DAY 14, Saturday

MENTAL CONDITIONING:  Have your friend(s) over for dinner (see Day
10) and talk.  Try your best to talk about feelings and practice
listening, too.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Play for a minimum of two hours, stretching
beforehand.  Work your abs!

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Cook that healthful dinner.
==================================================================
Thought for the day: "The measure of success is not whether you
have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it's the same
problem you had last year."  --John Foster Dulles
==================================================================
PS... the above quote really hit home with me.  How many times have
I faced the same problems over and over again.  Somehow, patience
has to figure into this somewhere. <g>...

George Bernard Shaw once wrote... "Give a man health and a course
to steer, and he'll never stop to trouble about whether he's happy
or not."  Of course, Dave Barry tells it like it really is in this
modern day, "Fitness is a philosophy of life, a revolutionary new
concept in personhood, and, ultimately, a way for people like me to
become wealthy via the sales of fitness-related items such as this
book" (from Stay Fit & Healthy Until You're Dead, Rodale Press).

Ah, the weekend!  What a glorious concept... <g>!


























DAY 15, Sunday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Spend some time in natural surroundings today.

Have your meditation period.  Evaluate where you stand in terms of
reaching your goals, and set short-term priorities for the week
ahead.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Take your measurements again and enter them
in your journal.  What progress are you making in learning that new
skill?  Review your physical goals and set some for the week.  It's
time to replace those motivational cue cards with new ones.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING:  Map your menus for the week and make
your shopping list.  Plan to prepare at least four of your own
dinners and most of your midday meals.  How are you doing on your
nutritional goals?
===================================================================
Thought for the day: "When we are unable to find tranquility within
ourselves it is useless to seek it elsewhere."                    
                                  --Duc de La Rochefoucauld
===================================================================
PS... My family is headed out to Sunday worship and then off to
enjoy the colors of autumn.  I can't think of a more beautiful time
of the year as we approach the winter season.  My kids are starting
to get on a regular schedule.  It hasn't been easy adopting this
"extra" challenge to improve our lives.  BTW, I've lost some inches
and I've embarked on learning how to juggle (I've got the "jug"
down and I'm progressing on the successive event part <g>)...

I've also been re-reading a book called FLOW.  I recommend it for
two reasons: It is a harvest of meaningful observations; and, it is
appropriate for the challenges we all face.  

As we approach the opportunities of the week, remember... "Be glad
of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to
play and to look up at the stars." -- Henry Van Dyke

















Day 16, Monday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: It's time to get involved with others. 
"Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our
joy, and dividing our grief," the British essayist and poet Joseph
Addison once wrote.  An  important part of mental health is
camaraderie, a sense of belonging, of being helpful, of community. 
Today start thinking about how you [and your family] can get
involved with a support group, volunteer work or, if it applies, a
12 step program.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Work those abs in the AM.  Take a 30-minute
to 40-minute energizer during your lunch break.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Eat fish twice this week.  Eliminate
another 25% of your high-fat habits.  Buy a non-stick frying pan
for sauteing.  Try your hand with a slow cooker, which cooks meals
for you while you're at work.
==================================================================
Thought for the day: "You think your pain and your heartbreak are
unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.  It
was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most
were the very things that connected me with all the people who were
alive, or who had every been alive."  --James Baldwin
===================================================================
PS... The best help my wife and I ever got was the crock-pot.  An
excellent way to have nutritious meals.  If you haven't considered
one, do so!

Our family got together and decided that, during this upcoming
week, we would become familiar with the "rest" homes in the area,
pick a few close to home, and start a family visit program on
Sundays.  I curious to see how my children react to this "service"
project.




















Day 17, Tuesday

MENTAL CONDITIONING:  Follow up on the involvement issue (Day 16). 
Read for awhile.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Do something from your list of enjoyable
physical activities after work today.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Try a new pasta and a new protein main
dish this week, and make a commitment to eat no deep-fat-fried
foods.
=================================================================
From the shorten it down file... 

Samuel Johnson said, "He is a benefactor of mankind who contracts
the great rules of life into short sentences, that may be easily
impressed on the memory, and so recur habitually to the mind." 

What immediately comes to mind?  How about the NIKE corporation's
immortal phrase:

.................     JUST DO IT     .............................
==================================================================































Day 18, Wednesday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Take a walk with a friend at lunchtime.  Do
some reading and writing tonight [what distant friend needs an
update letter?]

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Take a brisk walk for 30 to 40-minutes. 
Work your abs.  Are you making progress on developing your new
skill? 

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Invite someone [friends] to dinner for
the coming weekend.  Make sure you get those five to eight servings
of fruit, vegetables and grains today.
===================================================================
Thought for the day: "Always do right.  This will gratify some
people, and astonish the rest."   --Mark Twain
===================================================================
Today is over-the-hill day.  It all down hill till the weekend. 
How's the crock-pot cooking?  For a busy person, it's the only way
to go.

Carry on!
































Day 19, Thursday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Keep up the positive self-talk.  Listen more
during your conversations and speak less.  Have a 30-minute stress
reducer tonight.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Tonight, do a 45-minute energizer that's
also on your list of fun things to do.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING:  Be loyal to your water intake, your
breakfast and those small midday meals.  Plan your dinner with a
friend(s) for the following night.
==================================================================
Thought for the day: "it seems, in fact, as though the second half
of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has
accumulated during the first half."  --Dostoevsky
==================================================================





































DAY 20, Friday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Share dinner with a friend(s) tonight. 
Communicate from the heart and practice being a good listener as
well.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: When you wake, hop out of bed and burn those
abs (or, when you read this burn those abs).  Then use them to give
yourself excellent posture -- stomach tight, shoulders back, head
held high.  Concentrate on holding yourself proudly all day.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING:  Prepare a healthful full-course dinner,
from appetizer to low-fat dessert, for your friend(s).
===================================================================
Thought for the day:  "Have patience with all things, but first of
all with yourself."   -- St. Francis of Sales (ca. 1600)
===================================================================
PS...This weekend should be an excellent time to spend observing 
nature.  GET OUT OF THE HOUSE AND RECREATE!



































Day 21, Saturday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: evaluate the stress level in your life, using
your journal to organize your thoughts.  How well are your stress
reducers working?  What other positive steps can you tale to
alleviate negative pressure?  Use your books as sources for
creative ideas.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Go outside and get physical for three hours
today.  Warm up and stretch beforehand.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: This is a free day.  If, for the most
part, your habits are healthful, you can indulge now and then in
even the most fatty foods and suffer no ill effects.
===================================================================
Thought for the day: "Nature goes her own way, and all that to us
seems an exception is really according to order."
                                --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe




































Day 22, Sunday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Take care of your spirit with a climb up a
mountain or a walk through an art museum.  Do something to refresh
your sense of life's magnificence.  Then replace last week's
affirmations with fresh ones and post them.  Finally, do some
writing to explore your feelings.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING:  Set your short-term goals for this final
week.  Do some ab work.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: How are you doing on the basics --
breakfast, water intake, meal frequency food-groups balancing and
fat reduction?  If any are needs special attention, map out your
strategy for the week ahead.  You'll be eliminating the last of the
high-fat offenders from your diet in the next eight days -- at
least, ending any habitual consumption.  Plan your menu for the
week.
=================================================================
Thought for the day: "The man who has no inner life is the slave of
his surroundings."    -- Henri Frederic Amiel

































Day 23, Monday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Review your gratitude list (see Day 3) and add
to it this morning.  How is your involvement with others
progressing?

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Jump rope for 20 minutes this morning.  Face
Monday with a strong heart and lungs.  Do something physical and
enjoyable when you get off work [rake leaves or clean around the
house to prepare for winter].  Perform a few sets of crunches
before bed.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: It's time to invest in another cookbook,
for variety's sake.  Choose one that not only offers good recipes
but also gives you an understanding of the roles fat, carbohydrates
and protein play in your health.  You want to build an awareness of
what percentage of your diet each should represent.
===================================================================
Thought for the day: "It is better to wear out than to rust out."
                                 --George Whitefield
===================================================================
PS... One more week!  Can you believe we've come this far?  I'm
still going crazy over last week's "to do" list. <g>...  Carry on!































Day 24, Tuesday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Continue to practice positive self-talk,
discussing your feelings and being a good friend.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Be aware of good posture.  People will
notice a subtle difference in your presence if you make it a habit.

Do some endurance-oriented activities -- swim, walk, run and so on
-- at lunchtime or after work.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Lose your salt shaker.  Instead,
experiment over the next several days with a variety of healthful
salsas and sauces for topping meats and pastas.

Thought for the day:  "The mere sense of living is joy enough."
                                      --Emily Dickinson





































Day 25, Wednesday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Set aside a half-hour to evaluate the state of
your self-esteem.  The Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius once said,
"Look well into yourself; there is a source of strength which
always spring[s] up if you will always look there."  If the source
needs strengthening, use your new books to find ways of boosting
your self-image.  Invite a group of friends to get together on
Saturday.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Work your abs.  Review that list of
activities you enjoy, choose one that you and a number of friends
can try together and make necessary arrangements to participate for
a few hours on Saturday.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Plan to cook dinner with those same good
friends.

Thought for the day: "The nicest thing about the future is that it
comes one day at a time."   --Anonymous


































Day 26, Thursday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Enjoy a 30-minute stress reducer.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: In the AM, jump rope or do something else
energizing.  How's your new skill developing?

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Concentrate on the basics today -- food
groups, water intake and the like.

Thought for the day: "A man's real worth is determined by what he
does when he has nothing to do."  -- Megiddo Message










































Day 27, Friday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Are you still committed to your daily task(s)?

Are you learning that self-discipline feels good and pays big
dividends?  By now you're aware of your needs in the emotional,
mental and spiritual areas of your life, so think about what your
new goals might be.  Review your goals:  Where do you still need
work?  Do what you need to do to achieve what you want.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Keep those abs rock hard.  Get away from
work at lunchtime and do something energizing.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING:Try cooking something entirely new today,
like spanish paella.

Thought for the day:  "Enthusiasm is the greatest asset in the
world.  It beats money and power and influence." -- Cesare Pavese
===================================================================



































Day 28, Saturday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Spend the day with good friends.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Play hard; be proud of yourself.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Amaze your [family and] friends with your
emerging culinary powers.  [Give your spouse the night off].

Thought for the day:  "Life is a progress from want to want, not
from enjoyment to enjoyment."   --Samuel Johnson
===================================================================










































Day 29, Sunday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Today's a good day to be thankful.  It's a day
for feeling great about your accomplishments.  Look over your
journal, remind yourself of where you began, appreciate the
strengths and weaknesses you've learned to recognize in yourself. 
Do nothing except what makes you feel good.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: Take your measurements and look how far
you've come. Your body is an amazing machine, and it loves action. 
It also thrives on variety.  Physical fitness doesn't mean grinding
out the same routine day after day.  The fit lifestyle you're
created for yourself [and your family] has proved that you can
enjoy what you do to stay in shape.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Have you accomplished what you planned? 
Where do you want to go from here?  This month has taught you that
healthful eating is a way of life, not a starvation diet.  What
will be next month's goal?

Thought for the day: "Behold the turtle.  He makes progress only
when he sticks his neck out."   --James Bryant Conant
================================================================= 































Day 30, Monday

MENTAL CONDITIONING: Jump out of bed, sing in the shower and remind
yourself of all the good things you're going to do and experience
today.  Consider this advice from philosopher and historian Thomas
Carlyle: "Our grand business in life is not to see what lies dimly
at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand."  And remember
that the joy is in the journey, not in the final destination.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING: After work, go to the local spa for a
massage.  Make this part of your basic program.

NUTRITIONAL CONDITIONING: Eat, drink (healthfully) and be merry,
for you have done well.

Thought for the day: "Confront the difficulty while it is still
easy; accomplish the great by a series of small acts.
================================================================= 

It's amazing that 30 days can go by so fast.  

I hope that is program can help you improve your health and well-
being.  Remember, it's, ultimately, up to us as to whether we'll
accomplish of goals regarding self-development.  After reading and
doing, you should have a well grounded foundation for charting a
personal fitness path.

Good luck!  


























================================================================
The following is a list of Resources for a better life.  You may
want to consider them for reading during this program.
================================================================


SELF-IMPROVEMENT

 -- Healing the Shame that Binds You, by John Bradshaw (Health
Communications, 1988)

 -- Self-Esteem, by Matthew McKay, PhD, and Patrick Fanning (New
Harbinger, 1987)

 -- The Dynamics of Power: Building a Competent Self, by Gershen
Kaufman and Lev Raphael (Schenkman Books, 1983)

 -- Self-Parenting: The Complete Guide to Your Inner Conversations,
by John Pollard III (Generic Human Studies Publishing, 1987)

 -- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi (Harper Perennial 1990) ** Personal Best **

 -- Happiness is a Choice, by Barry Neil Kaufman (Fawcett Columbine
Book, 1991)

 -- Fire in the Belly: On Being a Man, by Sam Keen (Bantam Books
1991)

 -- All I Really Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarten, by Robert
Fulgnum
(Ivy Books, 1986)

 -- The Art of the Possible, by Dawna Markova, PhD (Conari Books
1991)

 -- The Road Less Traveled, by M. Scott Peck, MD (Touchstone Books,
1987)


FITNESS

 -- The Aerobics Program for Total Well-Being: Exercise, Diet,
Emotional
Balance, by Kenneth H. Cooper, MD, MPH (Bantam Books, 1982)

 -- Basic Weight Training, by Thomas D. Fahey, PhD (Mayfield
Publishing
Company, 1989)

 -- Essentials of Fitness, by Harold Falls, PhD; Ann Baylor, PhD;
and Rod
Dishman, PhD (Saunders College, 1980)

 -- Stretching, by Bob Anderson (Shelter Publications, Ins, 1980)

 -- Athletic Ability: The Anatomy of Winning, by Rolf Wirhed
(Harpoon
Publications, 1984)

 -- The Ultimate Fitness Book, by Charles Corbin, PhD and Ruth
Lindsey, PhD
(Leisure Press, 1984)


NUTRITION

 -- Jane Brody's Nutrition Book, by Jane Brody (Bantam Books, 3rd
Printing
1987)

 -- The New American Diet, by Sonja Connor, MS RD and William
Connor, MD
(Fireside Books, 1986)

 -- Power Foods, by Liz Applegate, PhD (Rodale Press 1991)

NOTICE:  This is not a definitive list by any means.  It is,
however, a list to give you an idea of what is available at your
library or local bookstore.  I suggest you spend some time
reviewing the options available.  Another place to obtain a good
selection of books is the local community college or university
bookstore.  

If you have any suggestions, please forward them to Allan Stevens
[76702,562].  The titles you submit will be added to this list.