Diet and exercise. How many times have you heard that the best way to do anything is to eat healthier and exercise more?
Need to lose a few pounds, or 60? Diet and exercise.
Want to prevent heart attacks and stroke? Diet and exercise.
Having problems with constipation? Diet and exercise.
There is a clear theme in our healthcare system. Our diets and exercise routines are foundational to our health.
With all of the advances in medical care over the years, diet and exercise are still the top recommendations to prevent disease and improve health and general function.
Why is that? You would think that science would have come up with an easier way to stay healthy. Can’t we just take a pill?
Our bodies are complex organisms that are constantly changing and adapting to meet the needs of the environment. Our diets and exercise routines are methods of controlling the that environment.
Much like an automobile that was designed to run on premium gasoline, our bodies were designed to take in good nutrients as fuel to get from place to place. If you put the economy gas in an engine designed to run on premium, you’ll be able to get from point A to point B, although your car will not be performing as well as it could.
The same is true for our bodies. When we eat poorly, we are putting poor fuel into our bodies. Sure, we can still manage to get through our days, but it may be like riding a roller coaster. One minute we are enjoying a time of high energy, but an hour later we have experienced a crash because our bodies no longer have the surge of sugar or caffeine in the blood stream.
What about exercising? Again, let’s look at the example of a car. What happens to a car that is never driven or taken care of?
It starts to deteriorate. The once pristine leather interior begins to crack. The tires disintegrate. The paint begins to fade. And that is just the outside!
If you try to take it for a spin, there is a good chance that your battery is dead and your engine may seize!
Not having a good exercise routine can produce similar results in your body. You will notice that you don’t have the endurance and energy that you once had and may just not be able to do the same things you used to. Your own battery and engine have sat for too long.
Unfortunately, unlike cars, it is not easy for us just to replace our parts and start running like new. And we have to fuel our bodies much more frequently than we have to fill up the car’s gas tank, which means more changes to put in junk instead of the good stuff.
The good news is that we are not like cars! Our bodies start to respond immediately when we begin making good changes to our health.
When we begin to eat a healthier diet, our bodies use those nutrients to begin healing the damage that we have done by eating poorly.
As we start to exercise more, our bodies begin their journey back to health by improving circulation and strength.
Diet and exercise are still the top recommendations of our healthcare providers because we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that our bodies respond positively to those very things without harmful side effects.
That is something that can’t be said about medications.
Now is the time to start eating better and moving more. Every minute you are making a choice to either move your body towards health or illness.
If you have difficulty moving around because you are having pain or just don’t seem to be able to get going, it is time to seek out the professional help of a physical therapist. They can help teach you how to move and make choices that will let you start your engine again with confidence.