Healthy Is As Healthy Does

When you hear, healthy, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? A little stick figure with a tennis racket? A hippy running through a field of dandelions and spinach?  A bear doing yoga?     

WTF?

Whatever the average mind thinks, there's typically the thought combo of rabbit food and exercise, and they're right.  We need physical activity and earthly good food, but what about the other stuff?  The things that can feed our minds, souls and bodies that have nothing to do with proper squatting or eating kale.   Have you ever thought about the positive effects of quality rest and relaxation?  Don't you feel awesome during/after vacation or even a long Saturday?  How about the joys of goofing around, having fun and almost pissing your pants laughing with good friends. Feels pretty good right? Well, until you do pee, then it's just gross. 

 Think about the positive power of good relationships? Lovers, friends, kids - doesn't it feel good knowing someone is thinking about you, relies on you, cares about you, would do anything for you?  That you have someone to look forward to seeing, being with, laughing with, sharing with.   How's that job/career?  Even if it is still work, if you're in a position you enjoy, feels pretty good to put in some time - contributing, learning, doing, teaching, making, creating.   Wouldn’t you agree that these pieces of your life, if intact and positively in place can contribute to making you happy and healthy in ways that fish oil, broccoli and sit ups cannot?   

I used to train my clients (and myself, really) based on the diet and exercise principle. As long as those two areas were being addressed, my clients were healthy, right?  Man, what an idiot I was. Instead of preaching to my 90-hour-work-week client that he needed to get more rest, relaxation and laughter in his life, I was telling him to run more.  Without rest, how the f*ck was this guy going to give 100% during his workouts?  I'll save the suspense....he wasn't. 

How about my emotionally abused client who ran to the comforting arms of Ben and Jerry every time her boyfriend put her down about the way she looked?  Instead of only dealing with the physical effects of the ice cream mayhem, I should have been explaining the emotional causes behind the pint and made her look deeper into that shitty relationship.  I mean, I could run her chunky monkey ass into the ground all day long, but that would be like putting a band aid over a severed leg.  Just ain't gonna work. 

It seems this stuff is a package deal. If you’re overworked, you’re probably under-played and under-rested. If you’re emotionally hurting, lacking love, support and attention you're going to seek that warm fuzzy feeling some place else and a big chocolaty mess sounds like a good place to start.  That or a $99 hooker.  

Stress, an abundance of calories, lack of sleep, emotional abuse, depression, all work and no play, gonorrhea from your emotionally supportive hooker (what did you expect for 99 bucks?), all will lead to imbalanced chaos with little to no healthful results in sight.


The point of all this - A healthy body needs a healthy mind and soul, SO FEED THAT BITCH!     

My advice: Check in every once in a while. Ask yourself how you are doing and really think about it. Evaluate the things that are key players in your life—relationships, career, physical activity, rest, good food, stress, etc. Then decide if they are positive or negative, good or bad, enough or too little and ultimately make you feel happy, healthy and awesome or sad, unhealthy and like a lop of sh*t.


Authors Note: Don't be a lop of sh*t.