Lifestyle has the simplest definition for one of the most complicated doings possible. Lifestyle is simply the particular way an individual or group chooses the living style they wish to embrace. I realize the words life and living are considered synonyms. But in this overview, life and living differ. Living is a consolidation of experiences involving many choices whereas life is the biochemical phenomena which are unbelievably complex which keep us alive so we can live. How we choose our living to go, ergo lifestyle, profoundly influences our life-giving apparatuses. To a profound extent, these apparatuses determine how long and how well our living goes.
I previously used the metaphor of a swimming pool. The living process is the water in our swimming pool; our lives are filled by the important things. The solid material “pool” (our lifestyle) simply contains the essential thing. We ignore its importance because, as the water in our pool, it is just there. How we manage the water in our pool profoundly determines the quality of the pool.
Regarding health, the old saying,” it’s who you know, not what you know’ is backward. Actually, concerning health, it’s what you act on about what you know that matters. Those of you attending the Health Luncheons are successful and success depends on acting on and following through on what you know, mixed with a portion of deferred gratification. I mix in deferred gratification because it is a necessary trait for success in any endeavor.
When one goes to exercise leisure activities are suspended. I feel better by exercising for a period of time than watching a meaningless TV show. I get more benefit by consuming a lean high antioxidant meal than a high-fat diet with a high carb soda. My luck with grades came about one o’clock in the morning studying a subject. Apply the same grit to your health lifestyle. You will be rewarded more than you know.
Lifestyle improvement disappears when considered an all-or-nothing situation. Although worsening may be sudden and severe, improvement is incremental, which is why five out of six who started exercise programs failed to continue long term. Starting slow and gradually increasing is a good strategy.
Lifestyle means deciding healthy and taking actions that equate with those choices. This is too important to take the Iranian approach; doing whatever you want and declaring it OK.
