The Sixth of Seven Sins in Obesity – Sedentary Leisure Activities

Following on from time management skills, do we actually have time for leisure activities? It is questionable whether anyone plans to have leisure time, or whether you are like me; you just grab it now and again, when someone offers you a hike up the “Grouse Grind” or something else active and you feel it is OK to take some time off!

So what do you do when you do have some leisure time off? Do you want to do something active that challenges your physical stamina? Or do you just want to pamper yourself and make yourself feel better, with something like a therapeutic massage?

I believe that if you are heavy, you would choose the latter; because no one would choose the first one, unless they want to test their physical performance level. What is wrong with testing your physical capacity? Are you so embarrassed with yourself that you cannot conceive of testing your physical abilities? I imagine that if you are heavy, then you will not have much energy for doing much activity.

I like to challenge myself in performance activities that few people would accomplish in their mid fifties, unless they are fit. We have a hike in Vancouver called the Grouse Grind. The elevation is very steep. I have only tried it once, when I was taken in a friend’s car over to North Vancouver to perform the hike.

It took me over two hours to get to the top, because I have exercise-induced asthma; which prevented me from trying to go up any faster. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to try it again to see if I could beat my time on the next go. However, cannot go down the same way as it is too steep; it means paying $10 on the Gondola, in order to get down! So I have not tried it again on my own yet.

I think if I cycled over to the Grouse Grind, I would not be able to make it up the Grouse Grind as well; because it will take all my energy just to cycle to the bottom of the Grouse Grind, before I even start on the hike. It has always been my goal to cycle and climb the Grouse Grind on the same day, but I have not achieved it yet. My excuse is that I don’t have enough time and energy to push myself at the moment, but one day I will and that I promise!

Challenges like this are healthy and invigorating activities to accomplish, for challenging your physical abilities in healthy performance. If you are obese, you will realize that you are unable to do this type of activity. Do not shut the door on it, because you can start making small realistic and achievable goals that can still get you to work up to this sort of level. It just takes time to get there and you can do it, with discipline, perseverance and patience.

It is my belief that obese people do not see themselves as energetic and therefore do not push themselves into something that will provide them with more energy. It means that most obese people will choose all sedentary leisure activities such as sunbathing, saunas, massage, board games, movies, photography, TV, reading, computer technology, painting and any other very sedentary activities that lack movement.

By choosing sedentary activities, obese people are just feeding into their inactive style of living. It would be better for their overall health, if they consider using more movement style of activities such as yoga, swimming, golf or miniature golf, or just simply walking outdoors in pleasant scenery and enjoying the moment. This may just improve the quality of their life.