Why Health & Fitness Is Not A Project

Health and fitness is not a project - it's a lifestyle, and this is why it matters.

Hey there. It's me, Kore. Welcome to Exercising Self-Control: From Fitness to Flourishing.

So there's no single behaviour that is going to provide your health and fitness. It is a comprehensive approach. And here's why that matters.

There are three behaviours - lack of exercise, tobacco use, and poor diet - that contribute and lead to these four diseases: heart disease and stroke, lung disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.

Now, these four diseases account for about 50% of the deaths in the U.S. This is according to an article entitled Up To Half Of U.S. Premature Deaths Are Preventable; Behavioral Factors Key published in 2015. Premature death here means before reaching age 80.

Now pay attention to the three words at the end of that title: "Behavioral Factors Key." These behavioural factors are a matter of an individual's lifestyle choices, and that's what they wanted the readers of that article to pay attention to.

Having said that, there are obviously possible factors beyond an individual's ability to control. But we're talking about the choices up to the individual, whatever the circumstances. And in the context of individual choice, these premature deaths are preventable to the degree that:

* you choose to be physically active daily,

* you choose to be tobacco-free,

* and you choose to eat the healthiest diet options available.

A few simple changes in behavior and you can mitigate up to 50% of the leading causes of premature death. Simple changes. Not necessarily easy but definitely doable.

Here's the thing: no single behavior is going to be enough. You can't just exercise while eating a poor diet and making use of tobacco regularly. You can't just depend on a healthy diet while living a sedentary lifestyle while using tobacco. And you can't just be tobacco-free while making poor eating choices and avoiding exercise. It requires a focus on the lifestyle that you have chosen to live.

If you change one of these factors for the better, that's good. If you change two, that's even better. But to do your best, you must choose to be physically active, eat a healthy diet, and be tobacco-free.

And here's another consideration: There's nothing you can do once and for all to be healthy and fit. Again, it's a lifestyle. Being healthy and fit is not a project with a beginning and an end. Health and fitness is a lifelong commitment - if that is, you want to be healthy and fit for a lifetime.

If you want to maintain all the benefits of attaining a certain level of achievement, you need to continue making the choices consistent with that achievement.

Now this can sound overwhelming, but you don't have to change every aspect of your life altogether. It's best done step by step with patience and a view to the long term.

Once you've put in the disciplined effort long enough, you'll have built the habits and the routines that make the lifestyle maintenance easier than attaining it in the first place. To put it one way, you have built the momentum that's then easier to maintain than it is having gotten it rolling in the first place.

So focusing on getting started, taking those first small steps, and then continuing adding a little bit more, a little bit more, when you are able. And if you do this well and you stay consistent, you will have done all you can, you'll have done the best you can, to be as healthy as possible in whatever circumstances you have.

That's it for today. Catch you next time.

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