Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’
World Health Organisation
The fitness and health industry seems to be more about the fitness element and less about the health. With social media posting people with their ‘perfect’ bodies after an epic gym session before eating their ‘perfect’ macro friendly meal it can sometimes seem like whats the point …
The point ladies (and gents) is to be healthy. As humans we all have a state in which our body is at its healthiest which isn’t defined by a certain weight, dress size or look. It is personal to you but it includes everything as stated above in the quote.
Physical
You should workout and do some form of exercise to improve your physical and mental health. You will improve your CV and muscular systems, you will be able to function on a day to day basis with ease and you will be able to do things you want to because your body can.
Whether you are gaining weight, loosing it or maintaining what you have it should be because your health will improve. Aesthetics goals are fine and we all have a way we would like to look and your type of exercise will be determined by that. But at the same time please don’t make this your main focus, your body will change and adapt to the training you are doing, so have the idea but train because you want to, because it will make you fitter and healthier. And the biggest thing – make it a form of exercise YOU like doing 🙂
Nourish your body with good quality ingredients to give it the nutrients and fuel needed for optimal health and performance. 80% of your diet should be full of foods you know your body works well off and provides you with what you need.
Mental
Exercise release endorphin’s which are essentially your happy hormones so you will feel a lot better for doing it which in turn can help with your mental health. Just moving more will help you find clarity and time to yourself to think. Always remember why you do it but also the fact you enjoy it. When training starts to become obsessive or hated then it might be time to take a step back.
Alongside the foods we know our body needs there also needs to be foods in your diet that you want. There should be no restrictions in your diet unless you are in a place mentally where that is ok for example I am currently having to restrict certain foods from my diet because they are not helping my digestive health but I’m ok with that and know it will help in the long term.
Moderation and balance are words that are thrown around a lot and I think we all need them but on our own terms and something we can follow to be mentally stable around food.
Social
Don’t lock yourself away from the people around you because of a certain goal. Train with friends, take a class together, be apart of it together.
Embrace social situations – this is where the 20% of your diet comes into play. Don’t stress about missing a day or over indulging that is life and memories will have been made.
Exercising and eating well should be a part of your lifestyle, something you enjoy and don’t stress over. If either of these things do this then I think should take a step back, assess the situation and try to work out what can change. There are always people to talk to as well so don’t be scared to open up.
At the end of the day we all want to be healthy therefore we need to make sure that we work on the 3 elements that make up our health and do it for our health – physical, mental and social well being ! Please remember that we only have the one body so lets look after it first and everything else comes second.
Vicki xxx
