If you went back in time what do you think would be the most difficult concept to get across to a caveman?
The internet?
Combustion engine?
Telephones?
Well for the purpose of this article, I'm going to say it would be the fact that we run for exercise because we don't get enough of it. I'm saying it because it's funny, and I find that humor gets people to read my articles and comment.
But seriously. Try explaining to a caveman that we don't have to move to get our food... we can use a telephone, computer or combustion engine to have someone bring us our food. That person bringing the food didn't have to expend energy to kill it either.
Yes folks, we live a life of extreme leisure.
Our bodies are designed to move in order to keep us alive and cover our basic needs for survival. Food, shelter, clothing, and warmth. All of those things used to require you to move, and be active. So imagine why it's so difficult to burn enough calories in 30 minutes three times a week in order to stay healthy.
Activity, healthy living, fitness, wellness, or whatever you want to call it can not be put into a time frame and then have you expect to have a body that functions the way it's supposed to. Our bodies evolved or were created(you chose the expression) to be the machine that we use to stay alive and keep our friends and families alive. They are built to move, and our emotional well being is tied to getting up and getting moving. It's not just carving out 30 minutes to be active. It's about going back to what fundamentally makes us human.
Recognize that your body is a beautiful machine. It has purpose. That purpose needs to be fueled responsibly (eat local, complete meals, and enjoy healthy food), and that purpose needs you to move daily without time restrictions.
So think about explaining to your forefather, the one just after we may or may not have been an ape, that life got so easy that you are going to sit around and slowly let your body die. Explain that with all this free time you are not going to work to become as smart as can be, travel the world, hike and explore in order to be the best version of you that you can. Try to justify sitting down, watching TV, and letting your body get sick. Not just sick, but "preventable" sick.
I'm poking fun a little, and over simplifying things. However, I want it known that I'm trying to create a healthy Nation, One Fit City at a time. To do that, I want people to realize
1) Our bodies can do amazing things, and it's rewarding beyond belief when you try new things. Yoga, Running, Weight Lifting. Your body is hard wired to get excited about physical accomplishments. Your physical accomplishments, not that Messi kid from Argentina. Stop dreaming of your before and after photo, and start creating some "durings". Go out and have some fun, capture YOU doing something active. Star in your own show, and change your body that way. That's what I call a "during" and I'm going to start seeing the demise of the "Before and After photos that sell us products we don't need based on being sexy. Sell me a way to create a memory and be active please, not a pill that doesn't work.
2) Our brains are designed to explore and learn by doing. We give them just enough stimulus with TV to be "ok", but miss out on all kinds of extra joy by not going out ourselves. As long as I live I will not be able to thank Contiki Tours enough for taking me to Thailand and showing me that culture. I told those stories on my last first date, and I hope that last first date is my last first date. Stop watching people have fun, and go make your own memories.
3) Burn calories, and create a need for sleep. You will be amazed at how much better your body recovers. Imagine never driving a car, but taking it to a gas station to refuel. In theory you should have to refuel a car, but if you don't burn the gas, you don't need to be there. I strongly feel the same is true about the human body. If you don't use up your energy, create a need to refuel or re-energize and your body doesn't "need" sleep, or go to bed properly. Daily we need to use up our energy, learn new things, and demand more from our bodies. If you don't make memories, use your muscles, then your body doesn't need to recover or create new synapses in the brain. We evolve daily, yearly, and each generation. Make sure you are doing your part to get better.
Exercise isn't going to the gym. I will continue to apologize for the girls on the covers of magazines and the dudes in the pages of magazines being portrayed as "fit and healthy". Those are athletes, and those photos are their sport. They deserve respect for the work they do, but there bodies are not the result of a healthy living lifestyle. They go to the gym as a religion.
You, me, and the rest of the world are on a mission to lower stress, increase energy, look fantastic naked, enjoy the variety of food provided by mother nature, enjoy the planet we live on, and get exercise accidentally when we have fun. One day I'm hoping Tourism Canada notices me and helps me show off how amazing each one of our Provinces is. . I want people out and living. Your backyard, your province is cheap to explore... so go do it! Stop reading magazines and taking supplements to be skinny and start being healthy. Just go have fun.
It's simple, think of explaining it to a caveman. To make the situation easier, stop half way and say "so instead of running after my food, in my spare time I go explore the world around me". He'll get that, more time to enjoy nature and make memories.
It also will leave you more time to explain social media.... @FitCityJordan on twitter and Instagram, just saying.
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