• Eat a balanced diet, including five helpings of vegetables and fruits a day.
• Exercise regularly (check with a doctor before starting an exercise program).
• Get regular health check-ups.
• Don’t smoke (it’s never too late to quit).
• Practice safety habits at home to prevent falls and fractures. Always wear your seatbelt in a car.
• Stay in contact with family and friends. Stay active through work, play and community.
• Avoid overexposure to the sun and the cold.
• If you drink, moderation is the key. When you drink, let someone else drive.
• Keep personal and financial records in order to simplify budgeting and investing. Plan long-term housing and money needs (reduces stress).
• Keep a positive attitude toward life. Do things that make you happy.

“Experience Life.” Was that supposed to be an imperative command, as in: “Thou shalt go forward and experience life”? Or was the word experience intended as an adjective describing the kind of life that the magazine promoted (i.e., “a life defined by experience”)? I couldn’t be sure. Plus, it wasn’t entirely clear from the logo’s design whether the title was intended to be “Experience Life” or “Experience” – with just a little, squeaky-voiced “Life!” thrown in as sort of a cheer at the end.

As a former marketing specialist, I was surprised that Life Time Fitness hadn’t seized the somewhat obvious opportunity to brand the publication as Life Time Fitness magazine. Countless people (including me) have suggested this, of course, arguing that it would be a good brand-building move and perhaps – since the magazine focuses on fitness – a more descriptive title.

But now, several months later, the name Experience Life has grown on me. Part of this is simple familiarity, no doubt. But another part of it is a growing sense of what Life Time Fitness stands for, and how the words “experience” and “life” – in all their potential combinations and meanings – are actually quite appropriate as a title for its magazine.

Last week, while I was at the club running on a treadmill (the broken foot has healed nicely, thank goodness), LTF/X director Chris Clark handed me a book called Einstein’s Space and Van Gogh’s Sky. It’s a book, coauthored by a physicist and a psychologist, about the nature/natures of physical and nonphysical reality. Not the kind of light reading I typically go for on the treadmill, frankly, but the page it was opened to intrigued me.

It was an analysis of the word “experience” – a word, according to the book, that is based on the Latin verb experiri, and that can be translated in all the following ways: “to try out; to investigate; to risk; to try, in a legal sense; to probe; to learn; to see; to find; to suffer; to dream; to imagine.” Wow. The passage went on to say:

To learn by experience implies an exposure to fact, often sensory fact, and the adjective “experiential” denotes something externally perceived or verified, in contrast to what is merely felt or thought or believed. But we also experience pain, suffering, a storm of ideas, a temptation, a desire, a doubt, the agony of making a decision. To collect all these strands of meaning we should use the word experience in a sense formulated by the philosopher William James and define it as “any item or ingredient within our stream of consciousness.”

Wow again. Taken in this context, it almost doesn’t matter how you read the title of the magazine: It works.

Later that day, when Bahram Akradi was telling me about what he wanted to write about in his letter this issue, the phrase “stream of consciousness,” and all these deeper internal and external meanings of the word “experience,” struck me with a new kind of velocity. It also struck me how much more Life Time Fitness is than a chain of fitness clubs, and how much more this publication is than a fitness magazine. It is, I guess, more of an Experience Life magazine.

However you care to interpret our title, our intent – at the magazine and throughout the organization – remains the same: To offer you the information, tools and resources you need to build a healthier body, a more complete experience, and a more satisfying life.

We thought we might get lucky and receive a handful of responses, but during the past several weeks, we’ve gotten heaps of reactions, including an actual, bona fide thank-you card (thank you, gentle reader). You can read a few of the Web survey responses below; letters-to-the-editor appear on page 12.

So thank you, and please keep those comments coming! We promise we’ll keep working hard to deliver a magazine that informs, inspires and entertains you. We also take your suggestions seriously, so if there’s something you’d like us to cover, clarify or investigate, by all means, let us know. In the meantime, here’s what you had to say about Experience Life (now known affectionately as “EL”) …
I was thrilled when the first issue came to me in the mail. I sat right down and read it cover to cover and couldn’t wait until the next issue! It is a great membership “perk.” It definitely motivates me. Jean, 35

The recent improvements to the magazine seem to have added more “meat,” more substance, which is a good thing. Keep it up!
Martha, 44

The magazine is well written and interesting. I like the balanced approach you take to diet, cardio and resistance training. James, 30

I love the magazine. It’s very informative. I consider LTF a very credible source of health and wellness info. I like the articles that highlight different types of exercise and benefits/results. I also like the success stories of other LTF members. Maureen, 34

Everything I have experienced from your club since I’ve joined in October has been positive. I love the magazine, the meal guide, the vitamins and the help of the professionals who work at the club. Everyone is nice and so eager to help. Janet, 31

I have learned a lot and have been inspired numerous times by articles that I have read in EL. Thank you so much for taking the time and caring enough to ask us what we think. Angela, 20

This is the first issue of EL that I deemed worthy of skimming (based on the cover story). The skimming revealed that there were a few pertinent articles (metabolism, EFAs and Q&A). These particular articles were very beneficial. I wish I could say the same for the rest of EL. Evan, 31

We know not every article will appeal to every reader, but we’re glad you found at least a few pieces interesting. Let us know if there is something in particular you’d like us to cover!

I enjoy EL and I feel it creates and gives a feel for the culture of LTF. The articles are well written and have good information. I especially enjoy the nutritional and supplement information. David, 37

After reading EL, I feel more valued as a customer at LTF. LeeAnn, 19

I appreciate how the magazine touches upon not just fitness and nutrition, but also exercising the mind and spirit. Information about new clubs and programs are helpful, too. Sometimes the lingo loses me because I am not a die-hard, workout-for-three-hours-a-day athlete (as much as I would like to be). Kelli, 32

I would like something that gives me more info about my local area LTF facilities. Lynn, 40

I liked the section in the back that told us where the discounts are locally. Can you put this back in? Nicole, 29

We know having that information in the magazine was handy, but it took up so much space and became so quickly outdated that we decided it just wasn’t the best place for it to live. The fastest, easiest way to get up-to-date local and club-specific information is at lifetimefitness.com (or at your club, of course).

I am a brand-new member and really impressed by the magazine. I was pleasantly surprised to get it. I have a long way to go toward becoming fit: I wish you could include some more articles that address the long climb of the obese. Vivian, 39

Good suggestion. We’ll plan on it! For now, you can check out our Success Story on page 74.

Being a new member, I’ve only had the privilege of reading a handed-down copy of EL. I am impressed with Life Time Fitness for the attention to detail given to their members promoting a complete, healthy lifestyle. Matthew, 25

I look forward to EL coming in the mail. The past two editions have been really super! I have looked at the magazines Oxygen and Energy and I always feel that I am reading one long commercial! I appreciated that EL does not do that. I enjoy the in-depth information. I do have one complaint. That is in the August feature on raw foods there were no suggestions on how to prepare raw foods (e.g., recipes, etc.). Also, the Web sites that were referenced had little information. Going from processed foods to raw foods is challenging and I feel that there should have been some information on HOW to do this instead of just the information on how it is good for you. Thanks for EL, and keep up the good work. Laura, 30

Give www.living-foods.com/recipes a try. They claim to have the largest collection of living- and raw-food recipes on the Internet.

This publication impresses me as a reliable source of health- and fitness-related information. Please don’t forget those of us who are older. I would like to see articles for the over-60s who continue to be very active and health conscious. Marsha, 62

Watch for our July issue on “Ageless Health” — we’ll be covering lots of topics of interest to post-adolescents of all ages.

I think it is great that LTF cares so much about their clients that they would publish a fitness magazine. Aaron, 14

It makes me consider the “real issues” with health and how it affects my body. I love Maxim and Men’s Health but most articles are too short. You really dig in to a subject. I really found the “metabolism” issue informative and helpful. Thank you. Andrew, 28

Add articles to the Web site. Gary, 45

Done! In November, we began posting a selection of EL articles on the Web site. Check it out at www.lifetimefitness.com/magazine.

The start of a new year is a natural time to take stock of your health and fitness goals and to chart a clear course toward meeting them. It’s also a natural time to retire self-sabotaging habits and to launch better ones.

But too often, in our enthusiasm for reforming our fitness – or any aspect of our lives – we latch onto vague, half-formed ideas of what we want to change, and why. On New Year’s Day (or in some other bold moment of fortitude, disgust or self-loathing), we yank out our mighty List of Things To Do. We write: “Get in shape; eat better; exercise; lose 20 pounds,” or what-ever we feel is standing between us and the body we’d like to have and the life we’d like to live.

Maybe we sign up for a class, or we buy running shoes, or we post threatening messages on the refrigerator and throw out every cheese curl in the house. Our intentions are good. But inevitably, our list of resolutions begins to feel more like a lecture and a life sentence than a pep talk and a life plan. And before long, we start caving into weakness and unconsciousness. We may give up hope in one desperate moment of self-sabotage, or we may start breaking our promises to ourselves so gradually (and so subtly) that we don’t even realize what’s happening.

The net effect is pretty much the same: We lose our vision and momentum toward our ideal life, and once again find ourselves adrift without oars – just a little boat bobbing helplessly on the immense sea of our own dissatisfaction. Okay, we’ve been there. We’ve done that. In the past.

Resolution Workshop

YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY: Do what you’ve always done, and you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. So clear your mind of disappointments, judgments and self- recriminations, and prepare for new territory. This year, instead of making the same old tired vows, we invite you to try something a little different. In fact, we challenge you – to choose a deeper, more creative, more empowered approach, one that asks a little more of you at the outset, but pays you back in satisfying spades, quite possibly for the rest of your life. You’ve got nothing to lose but the weight of past failures. And think of what you stand to gain: clarity, insight, success, a huge sense of accomplishment, and a healthy, happy, beautiful body!

Less than delighted with your current physique? By all means, resolve to remake it! But before you start jotting down a long list of “shoulds,” keep this in mind: Resolutions tend to work best—and have the most staying power—when they are driven by personal values and developed with care.

In this workshop, you’ll find some ingenious suggestions—gathered from a wide variety of disciplines and experts—for designing meaningful, lasting resolutions and making them stick.

A word of caution for the emotionally squeamish: This is a mind-body-soul approach. If you’re in the habit of avoiding self-examination, introspection and other touchy-feely stuff, some of these exercises may make you feel a little uncomfortable. You may want to skip ahead to the more familiar “goal-setting part.” That’s perfectly normal. And probably precisely what you’ve done up ’til now that’s gotten you where you are today. So suck it up and do all the exercises anyway.

Do them in private, and don’t tell anybody if you don’t want to. But remember—you have to live in your body, and you need your body on your side. Building your consciousness about your body, therefore, is a very good and practical idea, and it can change your whole life for the better, if you let it.

Right then. Stop your squirming. Turn off the phone. Take a deep breath. Take another. Here we go …

PART 1: Choose Your Focus

When designing resolutions, it’s a good idea to concentrate on just one or two big things at a time. In The Art of the Fresh Start: How to Make and Keep Your Resolutions for a Lifetime, author Glenna Salsbury instructs us to begin our resolution exercises by considering what part(s) of our lives are the most frustrating or dissatisfying to us. (Note: This is the first step in many resolution-crafting exercises, but too often it’s also the last. Don’t make the mistake of getting stuck here, or you’ll miss out on the really good stuff.)

A. Think about your body and your relationship with your body. Isolate two or three areas (choose from the list below or jot down what comes to mind) that cause you the greatest amount of anxiety, annoyance, dissatisfaction, limitation, pain or disgust:

• My weight/size
• My fitness/muscle tone
• My body’s appearance or shape
• My level of energy/vitality/mobility
• My general health
• My activity level
• My sex life
• My athletic confidence
• Other:

Next, prioritize these areas. Which one is driving you the most crazy, has been bugging you the longest, has the biggest repercussions or limits your happiness the most?

B. Hold that thought. Now try to associate it with a particular image—a real or imagined moment of anxiety, embarrassment, self-loathing or defeat. Maybe it’s picturing yourself in a swimsuit; maybe it’s a traumatic experience or a big fear; maybe it is the image of you camped out on the couch, snarfing down fast food in front of the TV. Make the image as big and real in your mind as you can stand it. Make it visceral. Feel in your body how much anxiety, fear, shame, dread, sadness, frustration or exhaustion is tied up with it.

Try to discern where in your body you feel tense or sick when you think about this image or experience: Is there a knot in your stomach; tension in your shoulders; a lump in your throat; a sinking in your gut; a flushing in your face; or just a low-energy drained feeling? Make note of your physical sensations.

C. Now listen with your inner ear. Do you hear any voices (such as fear, anger, shame) in your head when you think about this issue? What are they saying? Try giving each of your emotions a voice. Cat Thompson, Experience Life’s resident emotional-fitness expert, suggests the following exercise:

Thinking about the aspect of your body or body image that upsets you most, complete the following (using as much extra space and as many sheets of paper as you need in order to hear from all of the individual voices).

• I’m unhappy/upset/dissatisfied about:
• My fear says:
• My anger says:
• My grief says:
• My guilt/shame says:
• My hope says:

Write down any phrases, thoughts or beliefs that come to mind. You might hear some fairly disturbing stuff here, so be prepared. Certain voices may seem like cruel tormentors. (“You are so fat and ugly. You’re just lazy. You have no discipline. You’re an embarrassment to your partner/ kids/friends/self.) Some voices may seem sad and defeated. (“I’m so tired of this. I try so hard and I never seem to make any progress. It’s impossible for me to find any time to work out. I’m doomed to looking/feeling this way.”) Still others may seem apathetic and discouraging. (“This is stupid. You’re just putting off the inevitable like you always do, and it won’t do any good anyway. You’ve got the body you deserve. Get over it.”)

Of course, if you’re lucky, you may also hear a bright voice of hope and encouragement. (“I’m ready to change things. I like my body fine, but what I’d really like is )

Going through these voices, you may suddenly feel like you have a split personality or that you are a total whiner. Don’t freak out. Write quickly and automatically—as though you are taking dictation—and don’t worry about whether you really agree with what the voices are saying.

Getting these things out on paper may seem a little weird or psycho, but hearing what these splinter personalities have to say is actually the best way of ensuring they don’t keep running the show inside you. They may also have a lot to teach you about why things are the way they are for you, and what kinds of beliefs might be anchoring you to your current body.

D. When you’re sure you’ve heard from every voice that has something to say (and that you’ve heard everything they have to say), put your pen and paper aside. Take a five- or 10-minute break. Go outside and get some air. Walk around the block. Then come back for Part 2.

PART 2: Visualize Change

A. Sit in a comfortable chair with your legs un-crossed and your feet on the floor. Take several deep breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

If you think you can deal with a little holistic imagery (aw c’mon, you’re in for a dime, in for a dollar, eh?), imagine a stream of golden light pouring over you. Picture it coming in through your head, flooding out through your entire body and washing away both your physical tensions and any images, ideas, experiences or limiting beliefs that have caused them. (Or you can just breathe, focusing on breathing all the way in and all the way out.)

By the way, if you’re sitting there thinking this is a flaky thing to do, remember that Bruce Lee (the world-renowned martial artist who could kick pretty much anybody’s butt, and whose amazing abs men everywhere are still trying to emulate) made mental visualizations and breathing exercises a regular part of his training routine. So there.

If during the course of the last two exercises you find yourself getting stuck or clenching around any particularly disheartening images or beliefs, go ahead and focus on them. Ask yourself what they are really about. Acknowledge where they’ve likely come from (could be a childhood experience, or your family, religion or culture of origin) and consider what holding those mistaken or outdated beliefs has cost you. How might you be different without them? How might your body be different without them? Mull it over. Offer yourself permission to change your beliefs, and forgiveness for having believed them for so long.

B. If you feel a rising surge of energy, rage or sadness, by all means express it (in privacy). Feel free to get up and pound around the house. Go to a safe, private place and throw or punch something until you feel calm again. Then return to your seated position and repeat step A. Reward yourself for being a passionate person. Hello! You’re alive!

When you feel like you have a clean internal slate, it’s time to begin building a mental picture of your ideal body and most-hoped-for physical life. What does your dream body look and feel like?

C. In his best-selling book, Life Strategies: Doing What Works, Doing What Matters, Dr. Phillip McGraw suggests asking yourself the following questions:

• What is the “it” (in this case, the body) that you want?
• What will it look like when you have it?
• What will you be doing behaviorally when you have it?
• Who are you doing (um, let’s just say “enjoying”) it with?
• How will your life be different from the way it is now when you have it?

Dr. McGraw also encourages you to ask yourself what aspects of your life you will have to overcome or change in order to achieve this “it.” If you have never had your ideal body before, this may take some imagination: Where do you picture your fabulous new body going? How are you treating it—feeding it, dressing it, moving it and otherwise caring for it? How are your activities and experiences, your personality and your life different because of it? Spend some time visualizing your body and your life this way.

D. Write a brief paragraph or list some adjectives to describe your dream body. If you are a visual person, you may also want to cut some photos out of magazines or draw some pictures that express the images and feelings you have in mind. Make a collage or scrapbook. Include any words and pictures that help crystallize your notion of what your ideal body and your ideal physical life are like. Then move on to Part 3.

PART 3: Engage Your Values

In Parts 1 and 2, we’ve been focusing on what you want to achieve. In this section, we focus on the why.

Most often, underlying our specific, named desires, there are layers of deeper, more vague and unnamed desires—unspoken dreams and unexamined personal values that give those desires life. Many of our conscious goals, it turns out, are a means to an end. We may know we want washboard abs, or 6 percent body fat, or that we want to be strong and healthy and beautiful, but we aren’t often inclined to ask ourselves why. And those whys can make a big difference both in how meaningful our goals are to us and in how committed and effective we are in achieving them.

Whatever things you want, Dr. McGraw suggests, “The answer is very likely that you want them because of how you think you will feel when you have them.” Perhaps we want to feel masterful, or successful, or sexy, or confident or loved. Perhaps we want to feel capable of participating fully in certain relationships or areas of our life. Perhaps we just want to feel totally excited about life and that we are fulfilling our greatest personal potential.

That’s all good, the experts agree. But what if acknowledging and committing to those bigger values demands that you step out of your “normal” mode of thought, attitude and behavior? What if it means you have to change your life in a deeper, bigger way or make some hard choices? Ah, that’s the trick. And that’s also the key—to making your goals work for you and to having not just the fabulous body you want, but the whole fabulous existence that goes with it!

A. Here are the questions Dr. McGraw suggests you ask yourself in order to get down to the core reasons and motivations for what you want and why. On a separate piece of paper, write down honest, clear answers to the following questions:

1. What do you want?
2. What must you do to have it?
3. How will you feel when you have it?
4. So what you really want is … (feelings you described in question 3).
5. What must you do to have that?
6. How would it make you feel?
7. So, what you really want is … (what you described in question 6).

B. Complete this cycle of questions as many times as it takes for you to define and understand your goal(s) intimately. You may discover answers that have little or nothing to do with physical fitness. You may discover life priorities you didn’t know you had, or you may just come away with a deeper sense of purpose and comfort with physical goals you might have otherwise written off as silly, narcissistic or superficial.

That’s important, because it is a whole lot easier to blow off a trip to the gym, or to give into your urge for junk food when all that’s at stake is some flimsy resolution to lose 10 pounds. It’s a bigger deal when that commitment is tied to your commitment to yourself, your chosen life experience and the core values that you’ve decided will define it.

“Once you have strength and resolve enough to believe that you deserve what it is that you want,” writes Dr. McGraw, “then and only then will you be bold enough to say, ‘It is my time, it is my turn; this is for me, and I claim it, here and now.'”

Remember, this exercise is about designing and claiming YOU—your body, your physical life. So don’t skimp and don’t rush through it. Getting this part right is essential to moving on successfully to Part 4.

PART 4: Define Your Action Plan

If you’ve actually completed (and not just read) the above exercises, by now you should have a collection of words and images that tell the “what and why” part of what you are choosing to achieve. Next it is time to tackle the “how.”

PUT IT IN WRITING. If you don’t already have a compact description of your supercharged dream-body goal, commit it to paper now. Hint: Avoid using words like “try,” “want” or “work toward,” in expressing your goals – they tend to weaken the power of your resolve. Choose “I will” and other positive statements instead. Be as specific and operational in your description as possible. Say exactly what you will do and how you will do it. Start with the biggest, most important things and work your way down to the details.

ESTABLISH A TIMELINE. Assign a due date for your goal. Try to assign no more and no less time than you think is necessary. (For weight-loss and other fitness-oriented goals, you may want to consult a trainer to help establish a realistic timeline that takes into consideration your current state of fitness.) Next, working backward from your due date, establish a mid-point and as many interim checkpoints as you feel are necessary to gauge your progress. Mark these landmark dates on a calendar.

BREAK YOUR GOAL into specific actionable, measureable pieces. What specific activities and behaviors will be required of you? What logical steps will you need to take? Do you need to acquire any new skills or knowledge to proceed effectively?

ALLOCATE RESOURCES. Most goals take time, focus and energy. Some also take money, space and other resources. Decide how much of each you wish to allot toward reaching your goal based on its relative importance in your life. Also determine where these resources will come from. Are there any time-wasters or relatively unimportant, unsatisfying activities you can eliminate from your life to make room for this new priority?

ANTICIPATE OBSTACLES. When you make a commitment to yourself, it often seems that unseen forces immediately conspire to test your resolve. Expect to be thrown some curve balls – your own (procrastination, fear, excuses) and others’ (temptation, distraction, sabotage). Write down the factors most likely to keep you from completing the various steps toward your goal, then devise some proactive strategies for responding to and overcoming them. If some serious, unforeseen obstacles arise along the way, revisit your plan and adjust it (rather than abandon it).

HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE. Decide in advance how you will amend or accelerate your plan if you hit a checkpoint and aren’t where you should be. These responses should be designed as safeguards to your plan, not punishments. If you have a weight-loss goal, you may decide that if you aren’t down to a certain weight by a particular landmark date, you will up the intensity of your workouts, or enlist the help of a trainer. Also remember to celebrate your successes. Decide how you will reward yourself – at successful interim checkpoints and when you achieve your big goal.

REVISIT YOUR GOALS REGULARLY. As you begin to make notable progress toward your dream body, you may find your goals and priorities shifting. As you get leaner and stronger, you may suddenly discover a new, burning desire to become a competitive athlete. As you get more comfortable and confident in your body, you may find that your athletic goals are carrying over into other areas of your life, or that goals relating to your appearance no longer seem as relevant. Express your goals in the terms that are most energizing and meaningful to you now.

Go for the Goal

Even if goal-setting doesn’t come naturally to you, it’s a habit worth cultivating. Here are some suggestions to get you on the right track:

SIGN UP. Register for an athletic event – it might be a 5k walk-run, a 10k bike race or even a triathlon. Devise a training schedule and benchmark your progress leading up to the event.

PUSH AHEAD. If you are taking beginning group fitness classes now, plan to graduate to the intermediate or advanced level within a set amount of time. If you can do three pull-ups right now, make doing five your goal for the spring.

COLLECT COMPETENCIES. Consider a sport, physical skill or other healthy pursuit that’s always intrigued you, but that you’ve never tried – salsa dancing, rock climbing, martial arts, sushi making? – and make it your goal to learn at least the basics.

BUDDY UP. If you can’t swing a personal trainer, you can still share your plan with a supportive friend who is also working toward personal goals of some kind. Report to each other daily or weekly, sharing your respective setbacks as well as your successes.

THINK LONG TERM. Where do you want to be physically six months from now? A year? Five years? Unless you envision your destination, your course will be forever unclear.

GET GOAL SMART. Self-assessment and goal-setting are acquired skills that very few people ever learn to do well. There are lots of books, Web sites and seminars that can teach you simple but effective approaches for managing your time and resources, and for achieving the things that matter most to you. Check them out!

Recently, I met with a colleague for lunch. For mutual convenience, we met at some national-chain restaurant just off the highway. It was the kind of place that runs ads featuring beautiful, fun-loving, sexy people bonding enthusiastically over plates of sizzling food.

Our waitress approached and asked if we’d like to start out with some mozzarella sticks or their new blooming-onion appetizer. We declined the deep fried snacks. We declined sodas in favor of water. Then we started scanning the menu. It wasn’t pretty. Everything seemed designed to give you a heart attack and a spare tire – swimming in cream sauce, triple-battered, jumbo-sized, cooked to death. The few raw vegetables on the menu (even those in the salads) seemed relegated to playing glorified garnish roles. At the time, I was knee deep in several books: two that we reviewed for our new Reading List department (Fast Food Nation and Eat, Drink and Be Healthy), plus Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill by Udo Erasmus (our expert source for the EFA article), and a pre-publication galley of The Warrior Diet (a just-released book by Ori Hofmekler, who authored this issue’s double feature on metabolism).

Given all the in-depth nutritional information I had lodged in my brain that day, it appeared I had wound up in the wrong restaurant at the wrong time. Dishes that might have once sounded delectable now seemed like so many nutrient-poor, metabolism-thwarting gut bombs. I knew it was highly unlikely that anything here would be organic or locally grown, and that nearly everything on the menu would have been trucked across the country, packaged for maximum shelf life and processed for fast preparation.

Suddenly, I felt as though this restaurant’s menu, ads and add-on sales pitches were part of a much larger brainwashing effort – one we’ve all been exposed to so often that we no longer really see or question it. What disturbed me wasn’t so much that the restaurant was trying to sell me a particular food item. It was that the restaurant was trying to sell me the idea that all these obviously health-compromising offerings were perfectly normal, standard fare. Like, “Why wouldn’t you want to ingest 2,000 calories worth of deep-fried, saturated fats, trans-fatty acids and simple carbohydrates before your entrée even arrives?”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for indulgences. But it occurred to me that if you actually ate this way on a daily basis, you’d be malnutritioned and seriously overweight in no time. And this was just a normal lunch. I mean really, should a deep-fried onion and a caramel-brownie-cheesecake sundae be part of a normal lunch?

There can be no doubt that our willingness to devour what is advertised – to eat whatever tempts us instead of what actually nourishes and fuels our bodies – is partially to blame for our nation’s obesity, chronic disease and cancer crises, and perhaps even for the increasing incidence of depression and mood disorders. But how are we to know what our bodies really need? After all, no one is going to come up to our table and say, “You look a little EFA-deficient today—would you like some flaxseed oil added to your salad?” No one, that is, except us.

In stressful, anxious times, simplifying our lives, cleaning up our diets and taking care of our nutritional needs offers a certain amount of comfort. It feels right to trim out the unnecessary and the excessive, and to focus more on the real and important. It feels good to take responsible, mindful care of the things that are within our control.

I do believe that it is possible to relish food, to enjoy one’s share of delicious indulgences and still be a good steward of one’s body. It just takes some know-how and a healthy dose of common sense. That’s what we’ve tried to pack into this issue of Experience Life. I hope that what you discover in these articles inspires you to learn more—about how your body fuels and repairs itself, about how you can live a life that reflects your own ideals, and not someone else’s idea of what passes for normal.

After all, if we really are what we eat, there are better things to be than a deep-fried onion.