It’s not unnatural to compartmentalize behaviors into categories. To a degree, we all do this; at the very least subconsciously.
We brush our teeth, take showers, and groom ourselves in order to “look nice.” These are all hygienic behaviors.
Then we have behaviors associated with our work: We build things, sign paperwork, create paperwork, curate our speech to be appropriate for our profession, we even have letters before our name to designate our position in the workforce, and so much more.
All of these behaviors are done under the heading of a particular category of our life.
This can become quite problematic in the health and fitness space, because we can begin to look at health and fitness like a scoreboard of “healthy” and “unhealthy” behaviors. We tally up the “good/healthy things we do” against the “unhealthy/not so good things” we do, and check if we are net positive or net negative.
A thought exercise
Imagine you are at a birthday party with an old friend of yours. There is cake, wine, beer, cigars, hearty meats, and an assortment of handheld desserts. All of the ingredients of a celebratory feast are available. You decide that in order to be healthy, you will eat none of the cake, smoke no cigars, drink no alcohol, eat no desserts, and have a portion of meat that fits your calculated macronutrients exactly.
You spend the whole party analyzing what you can and cannot eat, what may be healthy, and what would not be healthy.
Your friends keep on asking you if you want some cake, but you say no. You say no because cake consists of little to no nutritional density, and you cannot afford to waste your daily caloric intake on it.
This person leaves the party having eaten no “bad food,” and simultaneously having no fun at all.
Do you think this was a “healthy decision?”
A holistic model of health
Our word “health” means so much more than “eating within your macros, or moving your body enough, or filling out your rings on your apple watch.” The word is rooted in the Proto-Germanic word “hailitho” which means: sacred, whole.
In other words, our word “health” is a synthesis of sacred wholeness. This is where our word “health” comes from. Therefore, if we take the root of this word as truth, then it must mean: to be unhealthy means to be defiled in some way, and broken.
If we think being healthy means mere behavior, then we are fracturing the word. We are missing so much of what it truly means to be healthy. In the aforementioned thought exercise, the individual (who is describing myself) is not healthy at all. What more accurately describes a sense of “sacred wholeness,” than being able to celebrate well with friends and family? This of course doesn’t mean to overindulge and celebrate with a complete lack of restraint, but it certainly means being able to present with others while engaging modestly in the feast of celebration.
Why this is important
You may ask, “Why is it important how I view health? Can’t I just do the right things to get the results that I want?” This is a good question that deserves our attention.
The reason why our thinking on health is important is because our thinking, in many ways, predetermines the quality of our response.
Example: Let’s say you view exercise, and eating as a quid pro quo for obtaining the results that you want. (you desire to lose weight or build muscle) Eventually the rate at which you see results will decrease; eventually you won’t lose weight at the rate you were, or gain muscle at the rate you did at the beginning. (This is the fable of newbie gains. An unconditioned body changes rapidly, but as your body becomes more conditioned, change becomes more difficult. It’s why the first 10-15 lbs. may fly off, and the last 10 lbs. take so long; I am generalizing a bit here, there are always exceptions.)
If you are exercising for results sake, you will decrease your effort once the results begin to dwindle. You will come to the conclusion that perhaps the effort isn’t worth it, or what you are currently doing isn’t working; you may even resolve to completely change your routine. (This is the proverbial pattern of trying fad diets, or the next novel workout regimen to achieve your desired result).
But, if you want to eat healthy, and move your body because you understand that as a human being we are meant to do what is good for us, how will that change your approach? How will that alter the way in which you view results? The “healthy” action is no longer determined by the results that it gives you, but is determined by you seeing the behavior as an aspect of the “sacred wholeness” of living a full life.
To me, this is a far more compelling vision than an appealing physique or an increase of any metric of strength.
Lee Ramsey has a passion for fitness as a way to help people grow and change into more adaptable, capable and resilient versions of themselves. He is owner of Sanctify Fitness in Covington and a regular fitness columnist for the NKyTribune.