Unlocking the self, the key to health

One of the famous assumptions I’ve heard people make- a very lean person exhibits the tendency of being weak and unhealthy. Time and again, we do not disappoint ourselves in making a statement for others. Now, again, what is being weak? Is it incapability to carry kilograms of loaded bags or not being able to walk through the mountains? We all have our own belief patterns and ways of describing the status of health. However, is there any perfect standard of distinguishing one's strengths and weaknesses? Or are they simply based upon someone’s body weight? 

Speaking from my personal experience of having maintained an appropriate food schedule for a number of weeks, I could say that one could attain a positive outcome from various aspects. I was having two meals a day, a proper meal, and two to three glasses of water in a day. A meal free from all the excessive spices. Having the kind of body that hardly has gained sufficient weight, with this meal plan I was amazed to see myself gain weight. I was gaining; not just bodyweight, but most importantly my energy. Having said that, one of the things to consider is do we just want to increase our body weight or our focus is all about being exuberant? Because if it just about gaining the weight, mostly any kind of food that comes on our plate at any time during the day or night would fulfill that (now, there are many of us as well, who eat a lot and still the same forever) but for the liveliness to happen, the food needs to be taken care of. That is to say, being conscious of what, how, and when we eat.

One could have a perfect weight in numbers and still be weak. The health status is not always based upon those numbers we see on the weighing scale. Health is also not about how we see others. It is more of an internal feeling, quite like our emotions. It is an extent of lightness we feel within the body. It is like those Down Jackets that weigh much less but still protect us from the intense cold. So, someone or something is light does not mean it is empty or needs some extra filling. Only an increase in weight does not fulfill the criteria in considering one as healthy.

Lightness weighs much more than the stuffed things. Now, how does that lightness come? The choices we make in what we eat are an important factor to be considered. But, despite having choices, what goes inside our stomach is mostly guided by our taste buds. That is not fair enough!  So, the first thing is actually being aware of what we are actually eating. We all know what kind of foods are good for our body to function efficiently. We are informed or sometimes over-informed where most of us have a list of all the healthy and nutritious food. We are just a step behind considering it as a part of a healthy lifestyle. It’s in everybody’s dictionary, but just because this process demands a lot of commitment, we could hardly maintain all of it. But, it does play a major role. We choose comforting clothes for our body, in the same manner choosing the right kind of food that fits our body makes complete sense. But, wearing a shoe that does not fit and expecting to run smoothly? Well, Good luck!

One more thing, minimizing the habit of snacking every hour is as important as consuming the right kinds of food. Snacking all the time does not give our bodies a rest. And this concept of intermittent fasting (16 - 8 type) is well known among many of us which basically is about giving our digestive system a rest for a certain number of hours. For instance, we have our brunch at 11 in the morning then the next meal we will be taking around 7 in the evening.

Weight neither brings you weakness or strength nor explains your health or ill- health, it only brings heaviness, the heaviness that clenches your freedom to fly. Remember! The heaviness does not just come from the physical weight. When a fresh lifestyle is acquired for enough weeks, every cell in the body becomes energized. When we eat food that makes us feel fresh, we need not worry about health. If we open the door for proper food, health will come along.