Finding the Starting Point, Part 3

Part 3: Determining Your Physical Activity
This part is all about figuring out how much you move your body during
the day. This won't be as complicated as establishing your eating
norm because we typically don't get active as often as we eat, hence
the need to affect change!
Using the lists below, check the items that most closely resemble your
level of activity. If there is something that you do to be active
that is not listed, then add it to your own list. The purpose is to
establish how active you are right now so you can make smart choices
about how to change that level of activity to achieve your fitness
goals.
1. In a typical work day, I am:
• Sedentary – sit at a desk or work station with little to no
additional activity.
• Moderately active – sitting mostly with some walking about for
periods longer than 15 minutes at a stretch.
• Active – mostly on my feet and moving throughout the day with only
occasional periods of sitting that exceed 15 minutes at a time.
• Very active – I'm always moving about and also do lifting, product
movement, control machinery, etc.
(Note: If you do not work but engage in some other daily activity such
as going to school or volunteering, then pick the item above which
most closely represents your activity or create a new item that
describes your activity more accurately.)
2. In the evening after work, I am:
• Sedentary – sit on the sofa and watch TV till bedtime.
• Moderately active – tidy the house, do light work in the yard, play
active games with the children before relaxing in front of the TV or
with a book.
• Active – work a second job that involves physical movement, do heavy
work in the yard or around the house, play sports with the children or
friends, work out.
3. I do a specific workout routine:
• Once in a while but nothing regular
• 2-3 times a week
• 3-5 times a week
• 6-7 times a week
4. My routine lasts for XX minutes and here's what I do:
(Note: give a brief description of the type of exercises included in
your routine.)
5. Other physical activity include:
(Note: write in anything else you do such as kayaking, skiing, golf,
etc. and include the frequency this occurs.)
Record the information above directly on your "My Starting Point"
document. You have just entered the name of the city into your GPS,
thus completing the point of origin!
Summary
Now you have the information you need to make smart choices about how
to move forward. You know your body size plus critical information
about what you eat and how you expend energy through activity. You
know that to maintain this course with no changes, will either keep
you at the body size you are now, or perhaps keep pushing you in the
direction you don't want to go such as gaining weight or continued
muscle deterioration. The next step will be to set your goals, break
them down into immediate, short-term and long-term, and to determine
the changes you are willing to make to achieve those goals.
Before you move on to that, take time to really assess what you've
recorded as your starting point. Make sure that it is as accurate as
you can make it and then really take a look at it. You are doing the
things you've recorded because you have been doing them for a long
time. Most of us are not following any set plan, but simply engaging
in a set of behaviors that we have built over the years with little or
no thought about the consequences. The result of this non-planning
approach is what we see in the mirror or feel under our hands. You've
taken this big step because you want to change that image in some way,
and to do that, you need to fully comprehend if not how you got here,
then at least what here truly is. You can't edit a story without
reading it and this is your chance to read the story of your current
level of fitness. If you don't like the outcome, then it's time to
start editing!