Thinking small to think big Part 2, Blue Zones and exercise snacks.

I am continuing from where I left off in my earlier episode on thinking small to think big. Worldwide hunger is a real issue and action needs to be taken. What’s your take on the interesting exchange on Twitter between David and Elon Musk? Exercise snacking another new concept. What are Blue Zones and are you living in one? Join me on this podcast as I speak about these issues and more.

Transcript

Thinking small to think big Part 2, Blue Zones and exercise snacks 

Hello Everyone and welcome to the podcast of the Ordinary Maverick. This is Ajey, your host, an ordinary Maverick sharing real life thoughts and experiences and Maverick tips. If you haven’t hit the subscribe button yet, please do so, and you’ll not miss another episode.

To think big, think small, this thought has remained with me ever since I first heard it. It’s profound in so many ways. I mean, often we get lost with grand plans and everything gets overwhelming and then its easy to just give up or maintain status quo. Right?

But think about it, we ‘ve all heard that saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. And so it is with everything that has that grand plan….it’s big.. and to get there think small.

Think detail, work out the tiniest bit of detail, and as you work that through, each detail adds up and adds up and multiplies and multiplies and there – you have the BIG thing.

It’s the same with our climate story. I spoke about it recently. Global warming, pollution…all seem big things. But let’s do our bit. I spoke about Dhaka and the challenges. But there are some positive sides too. When we first got here, what struck us were the green terraces. Yes, Dhaka is an urban jungle of sorts. Lots of buildings and ongoing constructions as I shared. But we saw the most amazing green terraces, oasis being created on rooftops. The other day we went for dinner with a friend and his uncle’s place had a waterfall of sorts running over the roof of the restaurant and the most amazing roof top garden with grapes, berries, and some beautiful climbers bearing flowers! In our home too, our terrace has mango trees, orange, litchi and other fruit trees, basil, different herbs, it’s pretty amazing. Now these are small things, but all are contributing to our climate.

Another striking thing we saw here was the use of cloth bags. All takeaways, deliveries etc come in cloth bags. Although, plastic is very much still there but at least we are seeing the shift. The small things that will all count towards the big goal.

Recently there was a lot of discussion around food security. Climate change effects are leading to increasing concerns around food insecurity in the coming years. Increased drought, pests, various challenges including climate related side effects threaten to further impact every facet of food production, from food quality to people’s ability to access it. I was following the back and forth between David Beasley, the head of the World Food Programme and Elon Musk on Twitter. The big challenge issued by David to billionaires to help fight famine. The headlines were, 2% of Elon Musk’s wealth could solve world hunger. And Musk responded, saying if he could get a plan as to how $6 billion will solve world hunger, he would sell Tesla stock right now and do it. Well, the plan was outlined to feed 45 million people in approximately 43 countries. And the point that if you don’t feed people, you feed conflict, destabilization and mass migration. The 6.6 billion dollars plan outlined plans for food an d its delivery, cash and food vouchers, supporting countries to design, scale up and manage programmes and for coordination of global supply lines and logistics etc.

The twitter dialogue generated huge interest with varying opinions and responses to the plan as well as what can be done with 6.6 billion dollars.

Well, one can argue, debate and agree or disagree, but the bottom line is ‘hunger is real’. And there are too many people, children and adults who do not have food to eat, and even more than that who do not have the right foods to eat…and every bit counts. Using cloth bags, growing a terrace garden, walking instead of taking a car, all conserve the resources of our planet and contribute to the big goal of stabilizing global warming and key climate change effects.

So here’s another take on the thinking small to think big. We all know that exercise and keeping fit is so important. It’s important for our physical health and for our mental well being too. And all too often we’ve struggled to keep up our exercise routines. Isn’t it familiar….chatting with friends and family and complaining about how tough it is to find time to exerise….and how one needs to do to lose weight but is not able to keep to the routine etc etc.

Well, have you’ll heard about exercise snacks?

What are these? Well, it’s a short easy form of exercise that gives you similar benefits as longer more sustained workouts. It grew out of the concept of high intensity interval training and sprint training where you exert yourself for a short period, rest for a short period and then repeat. These are time efficient workouts that generally last for 10 to 25 mts and can give huge benefits. These exercise snacks increase the amount of activity in a person’s day and not only help our bodies feel better but also improves productivity, concentration, creativity and more.

So what are some examples of exercise snacking? Jumping jacks, push ups, jogging on the spot, lunges, squats, running up a flight of stairs, walking up and down at a brisk pace – anything that gets the blood flowing…..the basic principle is…just work with what you’ve got…don’t feel that you need a full hour to get exercise in your routine. Just start off…even if its 10 minutes in a day. Also, it doesn’t have to be something that gets heart rate up…it can also be stretching, like yoga.

It’s like in a workday, we take coffee breaks and washroom breaks…well, how about an exercise snack break? Here’s a tip, listen to your favorite song and break into a dance during your work day…even if it’s just for 4-5 minutes, it’s an excellent exercise snack!

And you know what, this has been proven by blue zones! Blue zones are regions of the world thought to have a higher than usual number of people live much longer than average and have low rates of chronic diseases. It’s seen that people in these blue zones move every 20 minutes. There are 5 blue zone countries. Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece, and Loma Linda, California and were identified by Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain. Blue zones support the ideas of healthy eating, active lifestyles and community involvement.

And it’s once again the same principle, think small to think big….so keep moving, build in exercise snacks in your day and ultimately it will all add up to the big goal of fitness, weight loss and well being.

I’ve built in these exercise snacks in my day and loving it! Of course, I love snacking anyway…ha ha..

Try it …am sure you’ll will enjoy it too!

Write your comments, share your feedback, I would love to hear from you. This is Ajey, signing off and wishing you have an amazing day. Keep well.