Monday 19 December 2011

Balance

Something I have thought about the last weeks.. I believe it is so important to be in balance, and now I'm thinking especially on food/exercise/health. It's so easy to be rather extreme in both ways - not being healthy at all and don't care or never allow yourself to eat anything unhealthy/ get anxiety if one day goes by without working out.

Health can mean many things but for me it means to have a balance with eating the right things, working out to the point it's building up my body and still be able to eat unhealthy things at birthdays/holidays or any other special occasion and don't neglect that food is also something social!

Health is not about appearance. It is not about being super skinny. I read the other day that it's more dangerous to weigh 1 kg to little than tens of kilos too much. I also have a friend whos best friend died a few weeks ago when he was running a marathon. The guy was only 25. I'm guessing it was something wrong with his body because people normally don't die during a marathon but it still made me think; why do people (me included) want to work out to the point that it's being unhealthy? I also read (or heard somewhere, can't remember) the other day that elite athletes live shorter lifes and that they loose about as many years on their lifes as obese people do - that both are really dangerous.

All of this has made me think about the balance in all of this. I really really like to run far, but I know that it's only positive for the body up to 5-10 km, so why do I sometimes run further and why do I want to run a marathon one day? I'm not saying it's bad if you want to run a marathon and I'm also not saying I will never do it (even though I'm considering not to). But I also think that as I want to be a role model in health and teach about it, then maybe it's even more important for me to be in balance and show what real health is without making it extreme?

One of my favourite bibleverses when it comes to this is:
Col 2:20b-23 ... as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. 

It says in my swedish bible that those things are of no value and that it's only there to satisfy the flesh/the mind. So if we choose to run a marathon, then it's only good for our mind as we feel that we have accomplished something, but it's not healthy and it's only breaking down the body.

I have also been thinking about this when it comes to food. One of my biggest passions are baking. Due to health problems and allergies, I can not eat everything as normal people can, but I think I have still given myself too many rules. I stopped eating red meat - something my health problems doesn't restrict. I stopped because it isn't healthy and I still believe that - but at the same time, it won't kill me if I eat meat at christmas (or once in a while) so that's what I'm gonna do.

That's my thoughts, and also my lack of dicipline (as I shouldn't blog but study for the exam right now!!!!!!)

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