What is “healthy”?
After the year of 2020, the majority of us have realised, if we hadn’t already, that our health matters. Sure, you can say you always knew this as it is common sense; however, the majority of the planet aren’t healthy – so clearly, most didn’t believe it enough to actually subscribe to a “healthy lifestyle”.
Yet now, when we have faced a global pandemic, that singles out those of us that are classed as ‘un-healthy’ as more susceptible to having detrimental effects should (when) we catch it, we have all taken another look at how important it is to be healthy.
But what does being “healthy” mean?
A lot of people who don’t subscribe to a healthy lifestyle see healthy as boring. They see it as salads, restriction and constant exercise – but this is not what being healthy is all about.
Earlier this year there was an article in Cosmopolitan magazine (it actually featured on the cover) called “This is healthy” and it received quite a lot of attention from people celebrating its inclusivity of people that are all shapes and sizes, as well as criticism from people claiming that it is not ok to promote a body type as healthy if in fact it is not.
After reading the article myself I feel that the people who jumped on the negative side of the fence mustn’t have actually read the article and just taken a snapshot judgement of the cover and the title. The article shares snippets from 11 amazing, diverse women that explain how they do not define their worth or happiness by how they look. That despite them struggling with their weight, with eating disorders, with disordered eating, with a lack of self-worth and criticism from others over the years, that they have moved to a place where they have realised that health and happiness can’t be bottled up and labelled in the same way for everyone. That health is about more that the way you look. And I could not agree more.
Health is about more than aesthetics. In fact it isn’t even healthy to constantly keep a completely shredded physique year on year out, proving that looks aren’t the way to determine someone’s health. Healthy can look different from one person to the next. Someone with a larger physique might actually be healthier than a person with a slimmer build. Health incorporates your mind as well as your body; it is about how you fuel yourself, how well you move, how you interact with the world around you and how you deal with all the emotions and stresses life throws your way. If one element of the scale is off, then your overall wellbeing is affected and, therefor surely, the only way to achieve the title of being in good health, is to have all the scales balanced.
With balance comes health and happiness.
However, there is a difference between being comfortable in the skin you’re in (which is ideally where we should all be) and being healthy; which is, I believe, where the mentioned article went wrong. The use of the word healthy indicates overall health; not just a better mental wellbeing through acceptance of one’s body or appreciation for the effect exercise can have on you mentally as well as physically.
The truth is … no extreme is healthy.
As previously mentioned, being completely shredded with hardly any body fat 365 days of the year is not a healthy way to live, which is why composition athletes will have their ‘off seasons’ where they don’t follow as strict a regime, to give their body time off from this extreme way of living. On the other end of the spectrum, carrying too much body fat is also unhealthy. You may be full of body confidence (which is again how it should be) but it does not mean you are healthy. The facts are carrying too much excess body fat can put you at a greater risk of developing certain illnesses and ailments (heart diseases, diabetes, and some cancers to name a few), and you may be putting stress on certain areas of your body (bones, joints, organs, arteries…) that you could 100% be doing without. But on the flip side, having too little body fat also puts you in harms way. You need fat stores on your body for warmth, protection, hormone production, energy levels plus much more. Women lose their menstrual cycle if their body fat percentage is too low and men risk losing their erection and lower their sperm count, as well as it affecting our immune system, mood and overall quality of life. So it is not a bad thing AT ALL to have fat on your body, it is 100% necessary, however health is found in the balance rather than in either extreme.
And this is what we need to promote. Balance.
We need to promote health as a whole rather than singling one area of it out and disregarding the rest. Yes, your mental health is 100% important and chasing unobtainable aesthetic-based goals will most certainly have a negative effect on your mental wellbeing. But on the other side of the coin, not being conscious and aware of the negative affects you are having on your physical health if you are not looking at how much you are moving and what you are consuming is also unhealthy.
Health can not be defined by a look. You can not judge a book by it’s cover; someone who looks “healthy” might not be at closer inspection, just as someone who doesn’t fit the aesthetic ideal of ‘health’ might be 10x healthier than you first believe. So instead of having how you look propel you towards exercise or changing your eating habits, actual health should be the driving force behind why we chose to take the first step to better ourselves and why we then continue the journey.
Whether you enjoy going to the gym, lifting weights, boxing, swimming, cycling, running, hiking, dancing… literally the list goes on… do it for the good of your health and out of respect for and in celebration of your body, not as a punishment or in a quest to look a certain way. After all we are designed to move and being active makes us feel good. Just find the activity that you enjoy and get moving.
When you choose to sit on the couch in the evening and eat your go to snack, be mindful of the effect it is having to have this kind of food take up the majority of your diet (if it does). Don’t fear the food or feel guilty post consumption, just start to be more aware of the foods that make up the bulk of your diet and where you can make improvements. Eat more veg, stay hydrated and think about your health.
Alongside this, watch what you say to yourself, watch the people you spend your time with, ensure you aren’t draining yourself striving for perfection or saying yes to everything that is asked of you. Set boundaries. Take time to breath. Learn to be in the moment and work on the other areas of your wellbeing too.
In conclusion, health can not be defined by one look. There are a multitude of factors that come together to encompass our health. So, hold your judgement and appreciate everyone’s journey is their own. And whilst promoting body confidence and celebrating what our bodies are cable of is 100% a positive, necessary thing; having body confidence does not necessarily mean you are in good health.
If you are focusing on you and your health, that is what matters.
Be proud to be you. Celebrate what you are capable of. But respect yourself enough to look after your health first and foremost.