Health and Fitness

People hear "health and fitness" and immediately imagine sweaty people lifting weights, running in the park on a hot summer day , or doing a spin class with one of those unusually shouty and fakely positive gym instructors. In reality, however, health and fitness are more about living a long and happy life while being able to enjoy being in your body and doing what you love to do. I know this last sentence was filled with vague expressions so lets dig a bit deeper and see what each one of them means to you. 

Starting with "long and happy life" the average life expectancy of both sexes in the world is 73.4 years, or 76 years for women and 70.08 years for men. In the UK, where I currently live, it is 82.31, 83.97, and 80.61 respectively. I think it is reasonable to define "long life" by living up to an age above the average for our sex. What about the "happy" part? This one is rather personal, but I feel like we can do a bit of generalization and inversion here. A miserable life would be one full of pain and suffering, both mental and physical, caused by factors that you think were within your control. I am aware that some illnesses are genetic and cannot be prevented or even cured. They are outside our control, and we should always try to focus on things that are within our realm of mastery—the Stoic within me must be so proud of me saying that. So, by means of inversion, a happy life means being free from illness, having the ability to choose how you spend your time, and being at peace with yourself.

What I meant by "enjoy being in your body" is to be happy with the way your physical shell around your soul looks as well as moves. Most of us see professional athletes' bodies and their abilities, then immediately proceed to compare our body fat percentages, flexibility, agility and coordination to theirs. In reality, however, that is a rather pointless exercise. It is like comparing a mass-produced, affordable and functional Toyota to a highly specialized, luxurious, fast and expensive Lamborghini which has required thousands more hours of R&D (research and development) spent on it. Don't get me wrong, you can spend thousands of hours of R&D on your body and you can turn into a professional athlete in order to make a living from playing sports, but are you really going to enjoy being in your body at that point? I would argue you would not and this is coming from the fingers of a person who has done an amateur bodybuilding competition (placed 4th out of 8 people and was one of the few natural people in my category) , ran a marathon, and done a few century (100+ miles) rides on my road bicycle. I think having a basic level of stamina, flexibility and strength is essential to unlocking the path to enjoying every day in your skin.

Now, last but certainly not least, "doing what you love to do" is the most individual part of the equation. This is something you need to decide for yourself if you don't already know. If you asked me, I love playing with my daughter, which, by the way, is requiring a higher and higher fitness level, exercising, traveling, reading, and, as of lately, writing. 

There you have it—health and fitness are about living a long, happy life, enjoying your body, and doing what you love.