What is your biggest pet peeve? I wouldn’t say this is my biggest, but it definitely bugs me a whole lot–when people say, “I’m feeling good cause I’m looking good.” I am very skeptical of this. I’m sure for the people making this statement they honestly believe that if you look good, then you will also feel good. In the San Francisco Bay Area, where I live, there is a local commercial that runs on TV for a hair replacement doctor. The star of the commercial is local Bay Area basketball legend Rick Berry. In the commercial he says, “I honestly believe that if you look your best, you’ll feel your best,” or something along those lines. Well, if an NBA hall of gamer said it, it’s pretty hard not to be convinced. In many ways looking your best and feeling your best are two completely different things. While, it is a truly wonderful phenomena when look and feel are on the same page, it just doesn’t always work out like that. And whomever says that the two always coincide has obviously never been sick or injured for any extended period of time.
Walking around with a chronic illness or injury is extremely difficult. For those that do so, I really don’t need to say much more. When someone feels crummy for so long that it becomes the new “normal” feeling, that is when looking good and feeling good don’t coexist. It can be frustrating to get a compliment on your good looks when you internally feel horrible. Not because you don’t like compliments, but because you feel like a human facade. Imagine walking around with broken ribs or chronic migraines. Someone comes up and says “Wow you look really great today!” Just smile and hope for better days, that’s the only appropriate response. This relates to the difference between being fit and being healthy–many people often group the two, but it is perfectly possible to be unhealthily fit.
Being fit is basically looking good, being healthy is feeling good. Now, both can venture into the other realm, it is possible to be fit and healthy, but in all honesty, it’s a rarity these days. being fit and healthy, is a lifestyle that some just don’t find appealing. For those who succeed with calorie counting–I’m not saying going on a diet or even lowering body fat is unhealthy. It’s the method of doing so that comes into question. For someone to eat processed foods lacking in so many essentials and boasting in so many harmful ingredients, as a means of looking good is not going to result in feeling good. And by chance if it does, it won’t last forever. Some of the fittest people in popular culture have now been caught by their past poor decisions. Look at Arnold Schwarzenegger, he was undoubtedly one of the fittest looking individuals in mainstream media and for a long time he was able to pull it off. But now he is nothing but loose skin, flab and list of health conditions including heart problems. He resorted to drug use and nutritional shortcuts to climb his way to the top of bodybuilding and movies. Maybe he should have trained his ego.
The Point is…
A healthy person may not be showcasing an awesome six-pack or have grapefruit size biceps or they may be. On the opposite end, someone who has unhealthily gained a good looking physique has no chance of sharing in good health so long as they live that lifestyle. Cutting corners may grant you a rocking’ body, but with it will be increased susceptibility to illness and risk of injury–two things that will not leave you feeling good.