When I think about being healthy, I think about three intersecting spheres. They are 1) eating patterns (notice I did not call it a diet), 2) activity patterns (not exercise), and 3) rest and relaxation.
Not only is each of these essential on its own, but each also affects the others, such as when, to our collective benefit, we eat homegrown tomatoes in the fall after having potted a few tomato plants back in the spring, or we sleep better after having gone for a long hike. Or when, like a pile of puppies, we all lie around on the couch after Thanksgiving dinner.
The words “diet” and “exercise” carry a lot of baggage. Diet and exercise are things we feel we’re supposed to be doing, let’s say, instead of things we want to be doing.
Walking instead of driving, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, brushing your teeth on one foot, stretching our your low back for a minute after your shower, standing at your desk, or walking while meeting with a co-worker — instead of sitting — are all ways to increase activity without signing up for an exercise class. You could also wear a pedometer, which is said to increase one’s daily steps by 1,000 simply by putting it on. Sometimes when I’m behind the wheel I feel like I’m driving around on my living room couch, and I don’t like it. Powering my own engine by walking on my own two legs is a great feeling. Activity can be incorporated unobtrusively into your life with a little less fanfare than exercise. Exercise seems like it’s more of an investment. So stick with the former if that helps.
Where do I even start with “diets”? First, they don’t work. Secondly, they don’t work. What does? Replacing stripped carbs (corn starch/syrup, white flour, white rice, sugar) with intact carbs, like vegetables, beans, fruits, and grains. Replacing trans fats and refined oils with nutritious oils like avocados, olives, fish, nuts and nut butters. Replacing processed foods with whole foods. That works.
Rest and relaxation means something different to each of us. First and foremost, it means a regular bedtime with an adequate amount of sleep. But that’s not all. We recharge our batteries not just while we sleep, but during our waking hours, too. Rest and relaxation can be photography, or soccer, or cooking, or book club, or training a dog, or knitting, or painting, or hiking or backpacking, or gardening, or being with friends, or writing, or editing, or holding a kitten, or dancing, or playing piano, or meditating, or yoga, or woodworking. It could be LEGOS, or reading, or a regular afternoon nap on the weekend, or seeing a play, or hearing a concert, or listening to wind chimes.
The last thing I want to say about these spheres is that while each of them is important in its own right, there is a special kind of synergy where they intersect. A hike to a picnic grounds, preparing a special dish to share with friends, taking a yoga class that incorporates both movement and relaxation, scheduling your mammogram together with a friend and going out for lunch afterward, gardening with grandchildren — all of these are examples of what I mean.