The Five Fingers of Health

Five Fingers of Health: My Quirky Philosophy on Staying Healthy

When I was very young, health was not something you did, it was something you had. Now I can see that health is something you do to yourself. Certainly, some health issues are beyond our control – getting hit by cars, genetic predispositions to breast cancer, mental illness. However, so much of what goes wrong with our bodies after 40 could be cut off at the pass through lifestyle changes. Eat less. Eat better. Get exercise. Don’t smoke. Get sleep. These things seem logical, but sometimes impossible in the chaos of the day by day.


America is not built for healthy people: It pretends to be, with its huge diet magazine selections and gyms on every corner – but who has the time to use them with the pressure to work longer hours to keep your crappy job and then get home and watch the DVR’d finale for American Idol? We prize thin, sexy bodies, but fill every surface with ads for Chillis Too and Coke. It’s a jungle out there, and we’ve forgotten how to say “Enough.”


Here are the my guiding beliefs when it comes to staying healthy – there are five of them, like five fingers:


Eat Consciously
People who have a reason to eat consciously often eat more healthfully. Vegans and Vegetarians, people with food allergies are forced to check ingredients and ask questions about the food they are eating. People who eat only organic food, or local foods take the time to look at not only the content of what they eat, but the process by which it is (or rather, isn’t!) processed. You are what you eat, but you eat what you are: Part of being an adult is discovering your relationship with food. Ultimately, food fuels us. It can also be the place we go when we’re sad, tired, and even celebrating. At 40, it’s high time to be in charge of what goes in your mouth. You’re too old to ‘eat what’s put on your plate.’


Move Your Body Every Day
I believe that the less you move your body, the less able it is to move. We have become a culture that is sometimes embarrassed to walk at lunch; to close our office door and stretch after a couple hours hunched at the computer. We need movement every day – and a variety of movement, too, not just a few minutes on the stairmaster: You’re better off doing 5 minutes of stairmaster, 5 minutes of the bike, and 5 minutes of calisthenics like jumping jacks. Little kids romp and play and their bodies stay flexible, strong and agile.


Moderation
I don’t believe in monastic diets or pursuing long term fitness goals that tear the body down more than they build it up. I do believe that constant splurging can cause trouble, even if it’s splurging on running. Or French fries. But somewhere in the middle is a lifestyle where you truly feel like you’re enjoying the food you eat and the exercise you choose, where it fuels your busy life rather than impedes it. It’s all about Balance Finding balance between work and rest, healthy foods and luxury foods, exercise that’s fun and exercise that you know you’re supposed to do is important. If you push yourself too hard, your body breaks down. If you’re not rigorous to some extent, your body breaks down…(or in my case, breaks down sugar!)


Everybody Lies: Trust Nothing/ Get Evidence
It doesn’t matter what I believe – or even what any scientist or researcher believes: Nobody has the silver bullet for health, diet or exercise. There’s some evidence about what makes you live longer, but we don’t know for sure. One study can tell you to eat like a caveman, another study can tell you to eat like a Southbeach metrosexual. My yoga teacher tells me to stretch one way, my running book tells me that’s completely wrong. You can’t trust anybody or anything – get opposing viewpoints. Read. Find non-advertiser supported resources. (All my favorite workout books are in cahoots with different supplement companies! I read them with a grain of salt.) And most especially – don’t trust anything on the front of a label. It’s the ingredients on the back that count.


Eat Simple: The less processed, the better
I’ve heard the phrase “don’t eat anything with ingredients your grandmother wouldn’t recognize.” Well, my grandmother hardly ever read food labels or would have cared about High Fructose Corn Syrup. But it can be helpful to keep in mind that there is a pervasive use of processed additives in the past 40 years. I try to keep the bulk of my foods as natural as possible – fruits, veggies, fish. I’m eating less bread lately, but whole-grains can be a part of this (If you read the labels carefully!)


There they are – five fingers of health. So, the next time somebody rolls their eyes when you go for a run at lunch, or your date gives you a pained look when you ask your waiter what’s in the entrée, give them the finger.