Are You Developing Positive Mental and Physical Habits?
When you were a kid, didn’t you hear the expression “you are what you eat” all of the time?
Well despite the cliché, it is a statement of fact.
Warning: Those easily offended shouldn’t read this post. A reality check is on deck.
Barring specific disorders and diseases, people don’t become overweight or obese by accident. They become that way because they fail to exercise discipline and self control. They become that way because taking care of their body is not a priority. They become that way because they eat junk, or drink too much alcohol, and in all likelihood live a sedentary lifestyle.
Let’s be honest people, eating Oreos at your desk throughout the work day, followed by Margaritas at happy hour, topped off with takeout and 5 hours of junk TV does not a fit person make….period.
If you feed your body junk, you will have too much junk in the trunk.
I know we hear it all the time, every day, but I’m going to reiterate how important it is to take care of your body. If you take good care of your health, you will feel great physically AND mentally. I see so many people in my life who don’t do this and they are miserable! Today, we have little room for excuses because there are so many resources on health and nutrition available to us.
Can’t afford a gym membership? Get killer, effective, FREE workouts at Crossfit. They are amazing.
Or, here is a novel idea….go exercise outside. Yeah, like run around, throw a Frisbee, or ride a bike. Basically, get off your butt and make a commitment to getting healthy. We only have one body, we only have one life, and you only get one chance (unless you’re lucky) to truly treat it right.
So yes, we are what we eat in a physical sense, but we are what we eat in a mental sense as well.
For a really long time I didn’t believe that I was affected by the things I was exposed to. I didn’t think that exposure to TV violence desensitized me much, or that listening to negative chatter would encourage my own negativity. I thought that so long as I was aware of the potential affects, I had the power to be immune to them. Not true.
The truth is we become what we think about most of the time. Read that sentence again, understand what it means, apply it to your life, and your life will change. Guaranteed.
In my brief 30 years I’ve learned that I am influenced, even if I’m aware, by everything I expose myself to. The thing is, typically the influence is gradual, and so you don’t notice that you’re being influenced. It is only in reflection that you can see the impact your surroundings and thoughts have on your life. When I turned 26 I took a hard look at the places, the people, and the things I exposed myself to, and if they weren’t providing the influence I wanted, I eliminated them. This wasn’t easy, but it was necessary.
Since then, I’ve become acutely aware of what I allow myself to be exposed to. It has changed my life in fantastic ways. Now, I’m not suggesting that you live in a bubble or subscribe to ignorance, but I am saying that if you want to see things in your life improve then you need to start feeding your mind stuff that will facilitate improvement. If you have a negative outlook on life, you need to start focusing on things that highlight the good around you. If you don’t like yourself, you need to start focusing on your positive attributes and start improving your less desirable ones. If you want to improve your career or level of knowledge, you need to find people who are where you want to be and learn from them.
Feed your body healthy wholesome sustaining nourishment and feed your mind the same. If you feed yourself the best physically and mentally, you will become the best too.
photo credit: JasonUnbound
