Healthy Conversation with Arie Boomsma
Arie Boomsma wrote ‘Volhard’, an inspiring book about building a healthy lifestyle. He was a guest in our podcast ‘Gezond Conversation’.
Yes yes, Arie Boomsma is easy to talk to when it comes to healthy living. He has the right genes and the best looks, he has his own gym and he largely earns his living from fitness. Healthy living is easy for him!
Well… that’s not quite true. Boomsma is also working hard on his lifestyle, has to monitor his agenda and consciously set aside time for sports and healthy food. In his latest book ‘persevere‘ he dissects the secret behind a healthy lifestyle. What makes healthy habits last?
Determine your goal
It all starts with a purpose. You can say that you want to lose 10 kilos or start exercising more, but that is not enough. It’s about what you really want to achieve, says Boomsma. “You can say that you want to exercise more, but then ask yourself why you want that. Is it because you are often tired? But why do you find that annoying? Because you can’t play with your children when you come home after a working day? Then that is your real motivation: you always want to have energy to play with your children.” Only when you find your true goal will you be able to work towards it.
Discipline
Boomsma’s book is called ‘Volhard’. A beautiful, old-fashioned word that revolves around perseverance and discipline. But not the discipline you know from fighting soldiers in the army. Boomsma describes discipline as “The art of continuing to focus your attention on the things you want to see grow in your life.” It helps enormously if you make it as easy as possible for yourself. For example, by designing your environment differently, by making agreements with your loved ones and by choosing a path that you can stick to. Don’t exercise every day, but run three times a week and put that in the agenda. Or: do not follow a strict diet, but agree with yourself to eat vegetables with at least two meals a day.
Umbrella decisions
We make so many choices, every day. What we eat, what time we go to bed, whether we are busy with our smartphone, whether or not we drink a beer… That costs attention and doubt every time. Boomsma says you make it easier on yourself by making ‘umbrella decisions’. That is a fixed decision about yourself, which reduces that daily doubt. For example: I don’t eat meat, or I don’t drink alcohol this month, or I start walking every morning. Such a decision provides peace of mind, and therefore room to improve your lifestyle.
Say no and be mild
The book pays a lot of attention to ‘saying no’. “Make sure you are in control of your own agenda,” says Boomsma. “Say no to the temptations of your phone by using airplane mode, don’t let your e-mails or requests rule your calendar and be frugal with your precious time. Everyone, yes one hundred percent of people, can free up time for a healthy lifestyle, if you give it priority.” That doesn’t mean that you should bluntly refuse requests from other people, or that you always choose for yourself. It’s about the balance, and not to forget yourself. If you take good care of yourself, you will have more energy for others.
Saying no to others also means that you cherish the positive thoughts. “The way you talk to yourself is crucial to change.” says Boomsma. “Are you strict and hard on yourself, or are you mild and optimistic? That makes a world of difference.”
You can listen to the podcast with Arie Boomsma below.
Nice offer!
This episode of Healthy Conversation was made possible by the Shimano Experience Center. Are you looking for a perfect exploration of the Limburgs Heuvel landscape and do you want to experience the Shimano e-bike system for a part of the day? This is possible at the Shimano Experience Center in Valkenburg! Get out and enjoy all the beauty that a bike ride on an e-bike has to offer. Plan your visit, enter the promotional code ‘healthy talk‘ into the Shimano Experience website and pay only € 16.95 for the e-bike package. That includes a cup of coffee, tea or soft drink and a nice piece of Limburgse vlaai. Normally this will cost you € 26.95.
Persevere, patiently build healthy goals, Arie Boomsma. Publisher Prometheus, 222 pages, € 14.99, ISBN 978 90 446 3527 0.
