Visiting a Neighbor Friend.

I was over reading MizFits blog today and although I won't go into all of it here, since you can read it yourselves here, I will say that I am always amazed by how few people seem to know the definition of health. This is the third time I have come across this in the last two days. I too was shocked when I first read it. I thought at first that I had read it wrong, then I thought the text book was wrong. This lead me to researching the word Health. Sure enough the text book was correct and I had a new outlook on life. The definition is:

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

I am not making this up, google it for yourself. I read all the definitions for health on the first five pages and most of them were some form of the same. The above definition is from Wiki but it was originally from the World Health Organization (WHO).

This definition really got me thinking about what I was putting myself through in the name of "health". I always say that I just want to be "healthy" but I was working out so much and counting calories so strictly that not only was I not seeing results anymore, I was driving myself crazy and avoiding my friends.

Was I eating right? Yes
Exercising? Yes
Sleeping? Yes
Healthy? Absolutely not!

This seemed a little redundant to me. I was doing all of this work for my health yet I was less healthy than before I started. Plus I was not seeing the results I wanted and this was causing me to be more and more strict with myself. In turn my Health was getting worse! So why was I doing this? What was the point when the act was detrimental to the results I was after?

I was unable to answer those questions to my own satisfaction so I went to the other extreme. I quit eating right, quit exercising, quit sleeping (very nearly anyways) and started hanging out with my friends and partying and drinking and having fun. Pizza? sure. Ice Cream? I scream. Pass me another cold one will ya? Thanks a million!

Recently I came across the definition of health again (think the universe was speaking to me?) and realized that yet again I was goofing it up. Sure, my social well-being was great. I had lots of friends whom I saw all the time and I was having fun. Mental well-being was alright mostly. Physical well-being however was bad. Very bad!

Balance is another important word. Homeostasis is the balance of life. This definition at Wiki is:

Homeostasis (from Greek: ὅμος, hómos, "equal"; and ιστημι, istēmi, "to stand" lit. "to stand equally"; coined by Walter Bradford Cannon) is the property of either an open system or a closed system, especially a living organism, that regulates its internal environment so as to maintain a stable, constant condition.

Balance!

So I guess you could say that I was unbalanced! (Insert joke and laughter here)

Now days I am working on Balance and Health so that I can have Homeostasis. I work out, but not to the point that I do nothing else. I hang out with friends, but not to the exclusion of everything else in my life. I spend time alone, for mental health and clarity. I am happy, healthy, and balanced (some might still argue). Finally!

MizFit said she was working on being "the person my dog thinks I am".

My dog loves me! She thinks I am the person who is kind and gentle, who takes her for walks and runs, who plays with her at the park and in the living room, who pets her while I read quietly, who takes her to my friends and family to show her off and let her play with others too.

My dog loves me because I am healthy!

I can deal with that.

Happy Training,
Love Jenn