What Does It Mean To Be Healthy?
What does it mean to be healthy? Does it mean wearing a size two or 28″ waist? Does it mean that you only eat healthy foods? Does it mean that you workout regularly? Does it mean that you are disease free? Does it mean that you don’t drink alcohol or smoke? Does it mean that you watch every Dr.Oz episode? As you can see, using only these few examples of many represent how complicated this simple question may seem.
So how do we know? And, do u automatically think that if you don’t do any of the above, or maybe just a few, that you are “more healthy” than the person who does less than you?
We constantly compare ourselves to others, trying to get thinner like “her” or more muscular like “him” or even gain weight so we don’t have such a scrawny frame, or have more toned abs, butts, and thighs, but does making these constant comparisons to every single person really bring that ideal image even closer? Absolutely not, instead we tend to think we are deprived of something that someone else has, and shameful of our own unique bodies!
If you can look at something in a positive light, and use it to motivate you that is one thing, but beating yourself up does absolutely nothing but harm yourself! Yes, it may sound a bit crazy, but your bodies cells can sense this useless stress! So why on earth do we continue to do this?
Now I want you to try this, flip your perspective around, and look at all your body does for you! You were able to breathe today, blink, smile, frown, read this article, use your brain to take all the information in, and that’s not even close to all the things that you can accomplish in a given day, let alone a lifetime! Now, pause and re -scan your body, and see all of it’s positive attributes. Look beyond where you were or where you want to be, and simply see what is. Be grateful to have the opportunity to “fix” anything that may not be your favorite currently.
I purposely used the word “fix” because our body is not permanently broken! We were born perfect, and growing up in a world where we have to learn everything, we often face trial and error situations. What happens if I eat this doughnut…this cake…this entire bag of chips…how does my body respond? Occasionally, treats are fine, but bombarding our bodies with countless calories of nutrition-less food rather than nutrition dense foods eventually adds up, not just physically, but internally too with all the diseases that are rapidly arising. This goes for all the above examples too. Eventually weight gain, disease, and health risks arise. Using the right tools, we generally can “fix” our bodies to running the way they were meant to.
Again, what is healthy? For some simple, easy suggestions, lets strive for REAL food, less processed, more vegetables, complex carbohydrates, more fruit, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Try to cook more and order out less. For fitness, get outside on nice days, join a gym, check out workout videos online, go to a group fitness class, or ask a friend to be your accountability partner. There are plenty of free ways to exercise, and if you don’t believe me, think back to our ancestors that did not have gyms, and still were doing outdoor labor (our current workouts) to stay “healthy”.
Again, these are just two legs of the table of “healthy”. I could write a novel on everything else we could/should be doing. However, I’d like you to take each day, and try to FUEL your body with real food, real movement, positive interactions with others, less unneeded damaging self talk, and simply be gracious for all that your body does to maintain its natural state of balance and health. Remember each day is a present, a new opportunity to FUEL your best self!
Megan Church
CEO of MangoFuel LLC
mangofuel.co (not .com)
mangofuel3@gmail.com
765-620-9227