The Balancing Act of Diet and Exercise

What a cliche thing for the Doctor to say. To add to a cliche, it’s often ironic to take this advice from a Doctor that does not appear to follow it!

We have heard it often. Diet and exercise is the way to be fit and healthy.

We make it seem that we need to somehow dominate our bodies into submission. As if our natural tendency is to be unfit and unhealthy as time goes on.

We often think we have to force ourselves to eat the right foods. Or have the will power to go to the gym and exercise.

We seem to have a mentality that says, in order to achieve success, we must go against our very nature.

As though to say that our nature is anything but healthful.

However that is not accurate. Our nature is to be healthful. Our nature is to be vibrant. And on the other end of the spectrum, we can be unhealthy and lacking energy.

We are on a scale that requires consistent attention to maintain balance.

What we actually need to do is to create an environment for our bodies to reestablish it’s natural balance.

As Without, So Within

Given our external environment, we have created an internal environment. The balance of resources we find in our outer world is reflected in the balance of resources in our internal one.

We must therefore consider our bodies in a state of balance which is influenced by what we choose to do. What we choose to put into our bodies, and how we choose to move it.

The simplest idea is, “calories in versus calories out”.

In this phrase, we imply 2 things:

1. Our bodies must constantly be involved with the external world in order to survive.
2. We must balance the resources of our external world to recreate the balance within ourselves.

However there is a third element to this thought: We can choose our external world.

We have the ability to decide what type of world we would like to balance within ourselves.

A world of poor diet and lack of exercise will elicit a certain balance within our bodies. A world of healthful nutrition and a daily exercise program will create a different internal balance.

The choice is ours to shift the balance as we desire by creating the habits that allow our bodies to achieve an optimal state of being.

Balanced Diet, Balanced Body

We often hear about a balanced diet. This usually refers to the food pyramid and later became “MyPlate” as depicted by the USDA Dietary Guidelines.

But what if we look at this pyramid a different way. What if it’s a food scale? And we, ourselves, are the scale which weighs all the foods we take into our bodies.

The weight of our bodies is the cumulative effect of the balance of foods we ingest.

However our bodies make for very weird scales. Our weight is not dictated by the weight of food that we eat.

The easy way to realize this is by looking at a person that can eat “a ton” of food without gaining an ounce, then compare that person to someone who hardly eats a piece of bread and gains 5 pounds!

These are extreme examples, but we all know people like this.

Therefore if our individual bodies are individually unique, then we must have unique intrinsic scales.

With a unique scale, comes a unique diet to balance each scale. And perhaps more importantly, a diet that can ensure each scale is in good working order.

Balanced Exercise, Balanced Body

Reppin’ out sets at the gym is not for everyone.

In fact, this method of exercise need not be done for well-balanced health.

The groundwork must be established prior to building upon it. Logically, having a baseline exercise regimen will help create a stable foundation to grow from.

Where does this baseline exercise regimen come from?

It comes from your body’s unique scale, yet again.

It is often advised to walk for 30 – 45 minutes daily at a brisk pace to achieve the necessary exercise requirements of the body. So that is a decent baseline for the average person.

Another person might do 10 push-ups per day. Another might do 50 squats per day. Yet another person might jog/run for 30 minutes. Another will swim or bicycle.

In any scenario, finding what feels right for ourselves is the key.

The body knows intuitively if something is right or if something is terribly wrong. It will even know if something just doesn’t feel quite right, and would let you know to make small changes to bring a better balance to the scale.

How Do You Balance Your Scale?

There is no magic trick.

People know what needs to be done.

Dietary guidelines are simply guidelines. Exercise guidelines are also simply guidelines.

They represent a beacon created by research. A north star that lets you know the general direction you might like to go to achieve greater health.

While guidelines are wonderful, each of us is unique. Therefore the responsibility falls to each of us to be in tune with how our bodies respond to different foods and different exercises.

You might not know how your body responds to a particular food or exercise now. But pay attention, and it will tell you.

If you eat something which makes you feel tired or sleepy, your body is letting you know that this was not good.

If you eat something that went south quick and makes you run to the bathroom, well your body was clearly in a rush to get it out of you pronto!

However if you feel refreshed or energized, that should indicate to you that this gave your body wellness.

Conclusion

If we provide our body building blocks, then our body will use it to create a balanced scale.

It is up to us to decide what building blocks to provide our body while keeping in mind that different raw materials will shift the scale of balance.

The body always finds it’s balance based on what we do.

Staying in tune with ourselves and providing the appropriate balance of diet and exercise will help create and sustain a healthful relationship within ourselves and the world we inhabit.