No, I am not channeling my inner Olivia Newton-John anthem, but physical well-being is a necessary part of 52 messages on a fulfilling life. Its importance is evident but not adequately pursued given our country’s obesity epidemic and declining life span.
Writing on this subject is challenging when your audience spans the entire spectrum from the Pillsbury Doughboy to Adonis. Nevertheless, there is something for everyone. Even the perfect can read for validation.
Since you already know the better you take care of your body, the better it takes care of you, these messages will not belabor the obvious but seek to bridge the disconnect between what we know about taking care of our bodies and what we do.
I am here to encourage good physical health, not to fat-shame the wide-bodied or salute swimsuit models. However, society’s glorification of avoidable obesity (My Big Fat Fabulous Life, Lizzo) in the interest of empowerment and avoiding offense is as disturbing as the Thinspiration movement.
The Real Objective
We often think about physical fitness in the context of turning heads at a pool party or boasting about an athletic achievement on Instagram rather than in the proper context of contributing to a fulfilling life.
The ability to live independently as long as possible, to walk the streets of foreign lands, and to play with our grandchildren are relevant accomplishments in measuring fulfillment. Having six-pack abs or cycling up mountains is admirable but unnecessary and is more about ego and entertainment.
When looking at well-being in relation to fulfillment, the objective is more meaningful, and the motivation to attain it increases. The discipline to say yes to exercise and no to artery-clogging foods comes much easier when I view these choices as staying home on the couch instead of hiking through Yellowstone National Park with friends or playing horsey with my granddaughters.
For those who view grandchildren or independent living in retirement as too distant, what you do today lays the foundation for what you do then.
The Road Blocks
Three factors frequently prevent us from achieving the wellness we need and desire: (i) we perceive the road is too burdensome and leave it untried, (ii) the journey is abandoned because progress comes too slowly, or (iii) we pursue temporary fixes instead of sustainable solutions.
Body weight is used to illustrate the roadblocks, but they apply to all well-being efforts. Weight is a barometer but an unreliable indicator as there are waifs who cannot walk up a flight of stairs and heavy people with low body fat percentages.
Too Much. Our idealized version of well-being is probably too challenging and left unpursued. We should set a high bar, but we must avoid the unrealistic, unnecessary, and soul-crushing standard that results in doing nothing. Since you cannot conceive of ideally losing fifty pounds, you do not attempt to lose the thirty pounds you could reasonably shed.
Too Slow. Most lasting improvements come gradually. The negligible, almost imperceptible progress can be so disappointing that you cease working towards your goal. You forsake losing one pound per month and deny yourself the benefit of losing 24 pounds in two years. Rather than patiently receiving the cumulative reward from consistent, modest progress, you resign yourself to no improvement or further degradation.
Temporary. Virtually all of us have proudly followed a diet resulting in significant weight loss. Unfortunately, diets are usually temporal programs with equally temporal results. Once the diet stops, almost all find the weight they lost and more. Temporary programs and results do not yield lifelong accomplishments.
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Good physical health can be reasonably and effectively pursued and obtained with the right mindset and a decent measure of discipline.
With a better understanding of well-being’s role in a fulfilling life and awareness of the usual impediments to our success, we will examine the elements and pursuit of good health in the coming weeks.
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Personal Note. I am passionate about this subject as I have a front-row seat to the brutal consequences of disrespecting one’s physical condition. My mother’s poor diet and sedentary lifestyle have significantly contributed to her crippling immobility and virtual confinement, depriving her of fulfilling time with family and friends.
