The Four Pillars of Health
Updated: Mar 4, 2022
What does a complete profile of health look like? How can you look and feel more healthy?
Continue reading below to learn more.
Being "healthy" can mean different things from person to person. In this post, I have compiled what I believe are the four essential pillars of a healthy person. Obviously, being healthy is a complicated and is a loaded topic that will vary from person to person depending on their individual needs. With that said, the four lifestyle choices below will certainly get anybody on the right track of looking and feeling healthy.
I call these four categories of health "pillars", this is because I believe that if even one of the pillars out of the four that are holding up a building is weak, then the building will collapse. So, if just one of these four lifestyle components is lacking, it can be detrimental to a person's overall health.
#1 - Fitness
Of course, my first pillar will be fitness. Physical fitness now sits on a mountain of evidence that verifies the fact that being in good shape is necessary for good health. The minimum recommendation for weight training is all muscle groups, at least twice per week. The minimum recommendation for cardio is 150 minutes of moderate level activity, every week. Meeting these minimum recommendation will improve the quality and length of your life.
Simply put, keeping up with your physical fitness makes you feel better, look better, and helps you avoid chronic diseases.
#2 - Nutrition
The food you eat is what your body uses to replenish and refuel the energy you burn each and every day. Nutrition can be an extremely complicated topic, but it is actually pretty simple to have generally "healthy" diet. Avoid excess sugar, alcohol, and salt. Regularly eat natural foods that grow out of the ground like apples, oranges, and bananas. Eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and lean forms of protein like salmon (there are also plenty of vegan options). Eat a balance of fats, carbs, and proteins.
In general: If you consistently eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If you consistently eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. If you consistently eat around the same amount of calories you burn, you will maintain your weight.
"An apple a day (and wide variety of other fruits and vegetables) keeps the doctor away." – Anonymous
#3 - Sleep
Sleep is often neglected by many people in the modern work focused lifestyle. Sleeping 7-8 hours per night is necessary for most adults to reach optimal health. We need sleep to repair our bodies, expel toxins, and allow our brain to process each day. Neglecting sleep even causes your immune system to fail, resulting in frequent illness.
Long story short: Without sleeping enough we can not function properly and our bodies will break down.
Tip #4 - Positive Social Environment
This is arguably one of the trickiest of the four pillars to master. A positive social environment includes things like having good relationships and feeling included at your work. Having good friends and positive social interaction is necessary for human beings to thrive. We are social creatures and we need to be social in ways that make us feel empowered. We cannot function optimally if we feel alone and unwelcome everywhere we go.
Being social even improves our memory and other cognitive skills. When we feel appreciated, we tend to feel much less anxious and lonely. In romantic relationships, having a partner that you feel always has your back and best interest in mind is important. In friendships, it is important that you feel like you can really count on each other if needed.
Healthy People Stand On These 4 Pillars
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Email me at amandagaryfitness@gmail.com