Sports drawer perspective: Get out and do it

Sept. 23, 2004
By Dan Tomlin
Sports Editor

It’s a funny thing about college. With all the amenities available to us, and with all the required tools to stay in shape, all too often we as the St. Ambrose student body do not take full advantage of the resources available to us.

The seasons change so fast that we barely realize the harm in our ways before it is too cold or too rainy to go enjoy the outdoor weather. For most college students like myself, all too often it’s seems easier to just sit inside and procrastinate instead of exerting the effort to go and enjoy the weather.

During the winter months it becomes increasingly difficult to get any sort of exercise in due to the elements outside and most peoples schedules failing to coincide with Lee Lohman’s many athletic demands.

That is why it’s important to get out now. Join some intramural teams, go for a walk around Vander Veer park, take a ride on the bike trail (located less then a mile north of campus, can be picked up at Junge Park), or just go enjoy playing catch in the quad.

The problem of obesity in America is being blamed on the wrong people. It is not entirely McDonald’s fault that their deliciously delightful fries are full of fats and greases. It is partially the fault of over-indulgent American’s who feel it’s better to just get a small fry, and not exercise. It's easier then to rationalize not getting them super-sized.

The truth of the matter is that due to the obesity problem in America everyone is looking for an easy answer and switching to get thin quick diets. These “hollywood diets” or “miracle weight losing” supplements can be more hazardous then helpful in most scenarios.

When combined with exercise, dieting can help to lose weight, but in weight loss the old adage, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” can be used. Many of these “diets” while they sound truthful and successful, the failure rate can many times do much more then make you feel large and in charge.

When these diets or supplements such as metabolism stimulators fail to work the user tends to get desperate and assumes it is something they have done that made the product fail. At this point the user has started to follow the path towards destruction, physically and mentally.

The next step for someone feeling this way is to possibly stop eating or to double their efforts in “popping pills.”

This is a self-destructive practice that can lead individuals to serious health problems, and more importantly, mental lapses.

Thankfully there is a successful way to lose weight and stay in shape, and it doesn’t involve eating hamburgers without buns, nor does it mean one has to take a couple pills everyday.

Quite the opposite actually. The solution to your health problems lies with the standard practice of eating a balanced diet and combining it with exercise.

Exercise doesn’t consist of spending four hours a day on the treadmill either. To have a profitable exercise all you have to do is go for a bike ride with friends or make it to a local park and play a few pick up games of basketball. Grueling training regiments aren’t necessary, and watching people get “whipped into shape” on T.V is pretty far from the truth.

Good habits start early in life, and the risk of heart disease or other serious health problems don’t discriminate with age. The cafeteria has healthy food alternatives and there are (believe it or not) several sites on the internet that break down what consists of a solid diet, i.e. how much protein or how many carbs a day.

Working out isn’t so bad once you get into a routine of playing basketball or going for a swim at LeClaire Hall (I promise there is a pool there, I’ve seen it). After all, the only thing that feels better then doing it is doing it again.

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