This post is based on an article I read in the Simple Dollar, a personal finance blog by Trent Hamm. In fact, large parts of this post were taken verbatim from The Simple Dollar because I found no way to improve on some of Trent’s basic messages. TSD is one of the most interesting, readable and useful blogs out there. So if you have a chance and you’re curious about ways to improve your finances, take a look at it HERE.
About two or three times a month, a reader will send me a very extensive explanation of what they’re doing to stay fit and ask me if I think it’s okay – and virtually every time, it’s just fine. Even though some of the themes are repetitious, I actually quite like these emails, as it shows there are a lot of people out there making good, strong, healthy choices.
What I find interesting is what all these emails have in common: a general sense of “I think I’m doing this right, but I’m not sure.” I have this same exact feeling as well, quite often, when it comes to my own fitness and health. Why is this sense of unease so universal? If I feel it and a fair number of my readers feel it, there must be something to it. I think there is a pretty deep fundamental concern for “getting it right” among people who are getting their health in order.
For me, I made some big health miscues earlier in my life. I basically spent 5 years doing nothing but working, playing video games and eating junk food. These miscues taught me one key thing: I certainly don’t have all the answers when it comes to health, and because of that, I’m often concerned I’m not following the right path. However, there are at least three big factors that make me feel better about this.
No One Has All The Answers
First, no one has all the answers when it comes to health. Even my doctor can’t answer all of my questions although she is very enlightening about some topics. There are a lot of health gurus out there, as well as some great fitness role models. Guess what? None of them have all the answers. The best thing you can do is learn, synthesize, and figure out what’s right for you. For example, I love reading a variety of fitness blogs, from Mark’s Daily Apple and Modern Forager to Cranky Fitness and the Diet Blog. A lot of times, these blogs don’t agree with one another. In other cases, I find things on these blogs that I don’t agree with. So what? Just keep reading and keep educating yourself. You won’t always find things to be clear cut, but you’ll eventually develop a much better understanding of the issues.
But There Are Some Absolute Truths
Second, there a very few absolute truths in all of the information on health and fitness:
- Eat in moderation
- Be physically active
Everything else stems from these two items. Exercise? That’s all about being active. Eating veggies? That’s all about eating in moderation. Smaller, more frequent meals? A great way to eat less over all so right back to eating in moderation. Take the stairs instead of the elevator? You guessed it, be physically active. Everything about fitness essentially comes down to these two truths. Sure, there are an infinite number of details, but always keep those two basic rules in mind.
Communication = Motivation
Finally, we’re not alone in this struggle. I often look at others and think, “They really have their head on straight.” Meanwhile, others look at me and think the same thing. What does that all add up to? We’re all in this together, making little mistakes, but largely following a strong fitness path. Unfortunately, we don’t share enough of this with each other. Quite often in these emails, people tell me all about their exercise plan, but then they say something like “how do I explain all this to my wife/husband/partner/family/parents?” Folks, the hardest part to being fit is staying motivated and the easiest way to stay motivated is to get your friends and family involved. These people know you, care about you and want to help. You’ll find out things from them about yourself that you may not be aware of and they’ll keep you going long after you would have quit on your own.
Sooo…..
If you’re sitting there worried about your fitness, you really only need to ask yourself a few things.
- Are you eating in moderation? Be honest with yourself and look at how much you’re eating (and drinking).
- Are you physically active? Again, look at your life and be as honest as you can.
- Are you communicating with your family and friends? Are you using this amazing support network to keep yourself motivated?
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Fitness isn’t that hard. Eat less, move more, communicate. That’s all there is to it.
I think when someone worried about their fitness, probably he/she oftenly makes big tolerance to his/her eating and exercising habbit.
Hello,
Sometimes, I felt the same way – being healthy is pretty simple: just eat right, exercise and surround yourself with fit, happy people. But I found that people are sometimes lost when someone says “eat right” because they don’t know what that means. I think fitness and proper nutrition become easy after just learning a few basics (which many people unfortunately do not know).
I’ve found it more beneficial to give people some background info and basic facts, then teach them how to apply fitness principles to themselves.
Disagree a bit with Yongho. I believe that every man woman and child in this country, over the age of eight, knows the basics of eating correctly. We learn about food and nutrition early in life, usually in school. Granted the science behind those facts does change; the food pyramid for example, but the baisics we learn ealry.
Conversely, we develop eating behaviors just as early — usually not consistent with the nutritional facts we learn along the way. These habits are usually learned at home.
At some point though, we must acknowledge that each time we put a piece of food to our mouths one of two signals goes off in our head: ‘This is good for me and I’m going to eat it,’ or more likely, ‘This is not good for me, and I’m going to eat it anyway.’
At that point, it’s all about the choices we make based on habits we created — despite our knowledge. On consideration of this, it’s our colective parents that teach us — allow us, to create poor eatig habits.
I think the phrase ‘Eat in moderation’ is a difficult one and potentially too subjective to serve as an absolute truth. The absolute truth should be ‘Eat what you need’. Of course our hunger should tell us what we need, but our hunger only functions effectively in that role when our diet is composed of the foods it was designed to regulate. As a fellow visitor to Modern Forager you will know that I am referring to the paleo foods. Therefore it’s hard to come up with an absolute truth that works for everyone in relation to nutrition, since it depends on what you are eating.
Methuselah,
I’m not sure I agree. Sure, eat in moderation is not something I can define scientifically, but it’s definitely something I am aware of. I know when I ate too much or too little because I pay attention to what I eat and how my body feels. Is it an exact science? Of course not, but with a bit of honesty, eating in moderation should not be impossible.
That said, I do agree that eating in moderation should be combined with eating healthy. Eating the equivalent amounts of chocolate vs. spinach, is not the same. They both might make you feel equivalently full, but they are not equivalently healthy.
Gal
Gal,
I understand where you are coming from regarding the instinct for knowing what is moderation. I suppose I am just flagging that some diets make that easier than others – a good example of why that might be the case is something I read recently about how when you eat fat it more quickly lets your brain know you are getting full. See this article on the ProteinPower website.
Methuselah
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