What Does Good Health Look Like?

Last night I watched a documentary on PBS. Actually, it was more like a horror movie and I was the unsuspecting victim. I saw myself walking down the aisles of my local drug store perusing my favorite aisle–the supplement corridor of good health–when suddenly a giant monster jumped out from in between the shelves, bonked me on the head, and gave me a brain aneurysm. Or even better, a slow wasting cancer. And then I paid him handsomely for my trouble and quietly walked away. That’s what I felt like while watching the show. Okay, so maybe I’m naive, but this was all news to me. So let’s get this straight… I can’t trust politicians, or food labels, or news anchors, or non-organic food. I can’t trust weather men/women, or big banks, or antibiotics or chocolate. And now I’m not even safe in the supplement aisle. For the love of humanity, I doomed! What’s left? People? As one of my favorite Australian reality TV celebrities used to say, “Crikey!” You can’t trust them either! Ugh!

So I slept in late and skipped my workout. Because, seriously, why bother? I’ve spent a small fortune on vitamins A through zinc, glucosamine(for achy joints), St. John’s Wort for depression and, well, the list is pretty long so I’ll just stop there. And now I learn that most of the supplements on the market don’t actually have the ingredients in them that the label says they have. They are, in fact, unregulated. I must be the pharmaceutical companies most gullible victim! Of course it could be worse. A friend of mine recently told me about this guy, which leads me to ask the question, who isn’t chasing the almighty dollar?

Some people chase money. Some people chase power. I like to chase beauty. I mean, why not? Pretty people are popular, and who doesn’t want to be attractive? But let’s be honest, being pretty in and of itself is not satisfying either. Sure, the media and various companies who want you to buy their products will tell you that it is, but if that is really true, explain to me why beautiful people are so unhappy. I know you’ve met them, the Omarosa’s of the world. They look nice, but deep down they are just a villain waiting to pounce on your happiness and twist you up with their manipulative schemes. So what’s left when pretty isn’t enough? That is the question I was asking myself today. Why am I trying to live a healthy lifestyle when it feels like I not only can’t trust anyone or anything, but I can’t even trust myself?

I don’t necessarily equate “healthy” with carrots and other assorted “rabbit food”, even though I did eat salad for lunch and cooked carrots for dinner. I ate them because I like them and I feel really good after ingesting them. I have learned that healthy can not only taste great, but have fewer calories and provide all the nutrition my body needs. And since I’ve learned that supplements are produced by companies dead set on trying to swindle me out of my money, why not go straight to the source? This was my lunch today:

Margaret’s Tasty Vegetable Viddles (Salad)
Spinach leaves
Romaine lettuce
Tomatoes
Onions
Grilled Chicken
Blue Cheese
Raspberry Vinagrette Dressing (only 30 calories per 2 tablespoons)

I threw it all in a bowl and tossed it together and wallah! Yum–ee! I don’t feel like I’m on a diet. In fact, I just feel happy. So if I’m wondering what healthy looks like, this is it!

Healthy also looks like this… My morning at work was very busy. About 10:00am I began to feel guilty for skipping that workout. I knew I needed to make a trip to the 10th floor of my building and that the elevator was the fastest route. But rather than hop on, I decided to see if I could take the stairs(from floor 3). In case you were wondering, that’s 140 steps. And I did it. And it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible. In fact, it felt pretty healthy. And if I’m really being honest, it was totally awesome when I reached the top step and I didn’t die.

And lastly, healthy also looks like this. Why is do we think chubby babies and puppies are adorable but chubby grown ups are not? It simply doesn’t make sense. Who decides that skinny people are more attractive than not-so-skinny people? If you ask me, I think it’s some crazy marketing mogul pursuing the almighty dollar.

So now that I’ve said all that, I feel really good about myself and you should too. Haven’t reached your goal weight? Don’t fret. Keep working at it. Keep making one healthy choice at a time. Eventually you will get there. And then you will gain some weight back(like me) and then you will lose it again. The point should never be about what you weigh anyway. Living a healthy lifestyle begins and ends with a positive attitude.

On January 20, 2016   /   The Journey   /   Leave a comment