Would you trade years of your life for beauty?

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“Almost one-third of young women would trade at least a year of their lives to have a perfect body, according to a new survey of British undergraduates.” That’s what this article said.

Focus on those words “at least.” Ten percent would give up two to five years, two percent said they'd chop a decade off their lives, and one percent said more than two decades.

Thankfully, there is no pill available that grants such a wish. If offered such a miracle intervention, I bet the third giving up a year would still do it, but I wonder about the others.

The thing is, that one-third can give up a year of their lives to improve their physiques. It may not give them that “perfect body,” but they can do very well.

Hang on, we’re in for some math.

There are 8,760 hours in a year. Now let’s say you decide to exercise intensely for seven hours a week. This is getting you into hardcore workout warrior territory (I do 10 hours a week), and it will have a profoundly positive impact on anyone’s physique. Maybe not “perfect,” but still awesome.

Seven hours a week averages out to an hour a day, and it takes 24 years before this adds up to a year of your life — and that’s including sleep time. So, they could “sacrifice” an hour of their day every day for the next 24 years and as long as they made some positive changes in eating behaviour (which exercise makes easier) they’ll get a nice body, and they’ll have earned it, which garners all sorts of other positive changes by developing determination and mental toughness to persevere at something difficult.

Also, they’ll live longer, not less.

Visit www.bodyforwife.com or email James at james@bodyforwife.com.