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Community Corner

A Healthy Body Needs a Healthy Mind and Soul

Learn why being healthy is more than diet and exercise.

When you hear the term healthy, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? A little stick figure with a tennis racket? An image of a person running through a field of spinach? That’s my first thought.

Whatever yours is, there’s usually the idea of traditionally healthy food and exercise. But what about the other stuff, like rest and relaxation? Play, fun and laughing? Your relationships with others? Your job/career? Wouldn’t you agree that these pieces of your life, if intact, can contribute to being happy and healthy?

On the flip side, what if they don’t exist or are even a thorn in your side, a chore? Couldn’t that lead to being unhappy and ultimately unhealthy? We often forget, myself included, that being healthy is more than an apple a day and running three times per week.

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I used to train my clients (and myself, really) based on the diet and exercise principle. As long as those two things were being addressed, my clients were healthy. Man, what an idiot I was. Why wasn’t I telling my 90-hour-work-week client that he needed to get more rest, relaxation and play time – not more running time?

Why didn’t I tell the parents of my 300-pound teenage client that she could probably use a few extra hugs and love, since she had all the signs of being an emotional eater? One client admitted she ate a pint of ice cream every time her boyfriend would pick on her about her weight. That was roughly four times per week. Do you think the results they were after were ever going to come with the other areas of their lives being out of whack?    

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It seems this stuff is a package deal. If you’re overworked, you’re probably under-played and under-rested. If you’re emotionally abused or lacking love and support, you may be trying to fill that void elsewhere, like in a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. On the other end of the spectrum, what if you’re too obsessed with a healthy diet and extreme exercise? Completely stressed at even the thought of having a beer and burger with friends at one of San Diego’s happy hour hotspots. Is that healthy?

All of these things—stress, an abundance of calories, lack of sleep, etc.—are a complete detriment to one’s life, leading to imbalanced chaos and little to no healthful results. A healthy body needs a healthy mind and soul.    

My advice: Check in every once in a while. Ask yourself how you are doing and really think about. Evaluate the things that are key players in your life—relationships, career, physical activity, rest, good food, stress, etc. Then decide if they are positive or negative, good or bad, enough or too little and ultimately make you happy and healthy or sad and unhealthy. 

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