Better to Have Health and Not Need It, than Need It and Not Have It

[caption id="attachment_19485" align="alignright" width="361"] Rule #1 and #2 - simple but not easy.[/caption]

In listening to a lecture by an oncologist, one of the points he stressed again and again is how people who are cancer-free, need to not only be thankful, but do everything they can to be healthy. Being healthy, he said, was not about being thin, but about eating right, getting physical exercise and getting enough rest .

He went on to note that of the people who are struck by cancer, the ones that responded best to treatment, recovered from treatment, and flourished in remission were the ones who had put an effort into being conscious of their overall health and strive for a full, healthy life.

Being healthy does not guarantee you will never get sick, but it is better to start the fight against any disease with a body that is at its physical best, rather than one that is overweight, physically sedentary or overworked.

In researching this 'Optimal Health' series with the help of  Smarty Pants vitamins , I've come to appreciate more than ever that we all need a rock solid lifestyle foundation of 'health', upon which a life of awesomeness can be fully erected and appreciated.  The following are:

3 Lifestyle Themes that Everyone Needs to Attain Optimal Health for Life

When considering the best for your body, there are three areas to look at. They are all connected and seem similar, but the differences are key. Health, fitness and wellness are three aspects of overall health that need to be looked at on overall body condition.

My motto has always been, [tweet_dis inject="#SmartyPants"]"Health - it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."[/tweet_dis]

Theme #1: Health is wealth

What does the term health mean?

Health is defined by Merriam-Webster as:

"The condition of being sound in body, mind or spirit. Freedom from physical disease or pain – a flourishing condition."

Health is a definition of the state your total being is in. Not just your body, but your mind and spirit also.

People can look physically healthy, yet be depressed or have other mental afflictions. In addition, people can look healthy and seem sane, and yet they may have no inner life – nothing that makes them shine or feel good. Being deficient in any of these three areas can affect the other two.



Depression can lead to physical weakness, obesity or undernourishment, muscle atrophy, heart conditions, etc. Your mind can also affect the physical by dampening your spirits, potentially leading to conditions such as anorexia.  In this instance, the mind perceives the body as overweight or misshapen. This perception leads to a strike to the spirit in the form of lack of self-worth. Again, the three are intertwined, and if one area is lacking, the others can be negatively affected. Whole body well-being – all three areas – are what make up your health.

[tweet_box inject="#SmartyPants" design="default"]"A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time – pills or stairs" - Joan Welsh[/tweet_box]

Theme #2: Choose Wellness (or illness - choice is yours)  

Wellness is the state of being in good health.

Your health, which is composed of your mind, body and spirit, determines your level of wellness. Your wellness is like the grading, or gauge, that tells how healthy you are being. When infants are born, they are scored on several areas of basic signs of wellness – skin tone, reaction to sound, reaction to light, weight, etc. The scores help decide, though on a general level – what areas may not be up to a level that is considered good.

For example, a baby’s skin color is compared to a chart which reflects bilirubin levels. If a baby has too low of a score, the parent is required expose the baby to filtered sunlight to bring the level up to a healthier level.

[box type="note" align="alignleft" class="" width=""]

The Complex Biology of Cancer (or why haven't we cured it yet?)

Interesting presentation by Dr. Glenn Begley reveals some surprising things that most people do not know about cancer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpALjMJEb50

[/box]

Scoring like this helps keep limits on wellness while bringing attention to possible issues. It doesn’t end at birth either. Your physician does a similar checkup at your annual visit. You may be asked to fill out a medical history update. Based on the answers you give, a check of your vitals, and visual examination, your physician can get a pretty clear picture of your overall wellness. If you are low in an area, or have symptoms that do not coincide with your size, age, and sex, these are red flags for the physician to investigate further. Ultimately your ‘wellness’ is an overall assessment of health.

Theme #3: Fitness (not FATness)

Fitness is defined a person’s ability to survive and flourish, and the ability to fulfill a particular role or task. When you enter the military, you are put through a physical fitness training test. This is the military’s way of assessing your general physical fitness – can you do the tasks to completion in a timely manner deemed proper for your age?

A lot of businesses will use psychologists to assess the mental fitness of an individual to find out the strength, thinking pattern, and even sanity of possible candidates – especially in high pressure jobs that can mean life or death. Spiritual fitness is more difficult to assess, as it is the most personal of the three areas. If you feel your spiritual fitness is lacking, visiting a priest, if you are religious, can offer guidance. For those who are not religious, options such as meditation and other forms of spiritual stimuli may be helpful.

In the grand scheme of healthy living...

...you need your mind, body, and soul to be able to not just survive, but reach their potential.

Concentrating on keeping these areas at an optimum level will decide your health level. Whatever level that may be, reflects your total well-being. The goal is working the three areas to their fullest potential, getting help for areas that are lacking so you can reach your body’s full health potential.

[tweet_box inject="#SmartyPants" design="default"]"You either make time for wellness now or you will make time for illness later"[/tweet_box]

[divider style="dashed" top="15" bottom="15"]

If you liked this post, be sure to check out the following in this 6 part #SmartyPants series:

• 5 Tricks for Getting Your Kids to Eat their Fruits & Veggies


• 3 Tips for Setting your Family Up for Optimal Health


• Why Families Need Multi-Vitamins


• The Super Hero Vitamin: Vitamin D gives you wings


• Brain Power, Inflammation and the Fish Oil Connection


• Better to Have Health and Not Need It, than Need It and Not Have It

Cited Sources:

• http://Merriam-Webster.com


• https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=definition+of+fitness