How Long Does It Take To Get Fit?

The first season of Biggest Loser had some ridiculous challenges.

The title of this post, the question I'm asking ... it's an everything-rolled-up-into-one bit of thinking. And it doesn't make much sense. I'll say that right off the bat.

It's like telling someone that they shouldn't throw stones at a glass house with two birds in the bush crying over spilled crocodile milk. It's gibberish until you pull it apart and examine the pieces.

And even then, it's still doesn't quite add up.


The Scales, Er, Doors Of Perception 

A lot of your cells get replaced over the course of your life. Not all. Most. Some, like the lens of your eye, are the same ones you're born with. Some, like skin and smooth muscle, replace themselves constantly.

So you could say that most of your body gets replaced in a relatively short time (the "7 years" thing is a myth, if you're wondering). And in one sense, once you replaced the unfit cells with fit ones, you'd be fit. Call it a year.

It's said that it takes 21 days to make a new habit. If you made a habit out of fitness that was as hard to break as, say, nicotine, you'd be pretty much golden after a month or so.

I know that, personally, I have a one week threshold for feeling like I am on a runaway train headed for the fittest body in the universe. It takes me about 5 solid days of good food and exercise.

And when I'm at my lowest, just having one good, healthy meal instead of junk is an accomplishment akin to Hillary and Norgay on Everest.


Adding It Up

So, a year. A month. A week. A moment.

It takes as long to get fit as it takes to get fit. That's not to say that setting and achieving goals isn't important. It is. Hugely important. I plan on writing posts and posts on it.

But the highest goal, I think, is to be fit and at peace. To me, that would preclude any time line. It would simply be, at all times, the state of your body, mind and spirit.

Well, at most times. You know what I mean. I think that's what I'm going for. Eternal fitness.

Like I said before, should be easy.