Have you heard the term; “Everything in Moderation.”?
Forget it, wipe it off your subconscious. It’s a myth and it’s killing us.
We were once told that Smoking was good for us. Moderation is NOT good for us.
The word Moderation comes from; moderacioun, early 15c; “quality of being moderate or temperate; a lessening of rigor or severity.”
and
The state or an instance of being moderate; mildness; balance. Not excessive in amount, intensity, quality.
At school I got mostly B’s a couple of A’s and on the odd occasion some C’s and D’s. Physics, I suck at physics. I don’t understand what I can’t see… plus it was really boring, taught by people who did not make it fun or exciting.
Health is like that. If it’s boring, unexciting and taught by people who are not good at sharing ideas, then you won’t take to it. You will make the wrong choices, believe the advertising and live with the idea that moderation is ok.
When it comes to my health and well-being, I want to be an A-student, (B+ on my holidays). Moderation means average (think just passing with a C). It means just getting by, not too excessive.
So as the instances of obesity, cancer, anxiety, depression and ADHD continue to rise and we continue our idea of moderation, we perpetuate a myth that is eroding society and destroying the well-being of the mainstream population.
I believe the idea of everything in moderation is just another clever marketing campaign designed to help us think we can have whatever we want most of the time, and we will be OK.
So, what is the opposite of Moderation? Well, according to a dictionary, it’s Extremism…
But the connotations of that word are linked with some terrible acts, so I want to propose the word Optimal instead.
Search: Optimal versus Moderate and see what you find!
The definition of Optimal is; best or most favourable; “seeking the optimal solution.”
If we have a mindset of Optimising our health versus having Moderate health, many of our worries and diseases could be managed far more cheaply and effectively.
So, what does Optimal Health look like? How do we Optimise our Health?
We start with the idea that we make predominately good decisions.
We look at ways to reduce toxicity; in our diet, relationships and environment (home, work, neighbourhood).
We consider our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health when making choices.
We understand the physiological effects of stress on our body.
We may indulge, yes, but those days are far less than the days we don’t.
We consider the foods that we eat not in terms of the five food groups, but in terms of eating the rainbow with a variety of fresh foods with no labels.
We consider the full impact of what we eat and drink in terms of our physical health (weight), gut health (microbiome) and mental health (food & drinks which wreak havoc on our neurotransmitters and ability to sleep well).
We bend, stretch and move daily as we understand that our sedentary life-style is killing us. “Use it or lose it.”
We recognise that we are role-models, and as we lean on convenience, make poor choices, sit too much, eat too much, drink too much and work too much, we are saying to our kids that it’s OK!
We educate ourselves on the various aspects of health and well-being so that we can proactively optimise our health rather than reactively treat our health. “If you don’t make time for Wellness, you have to make time for Illness!”
It’s not about positive body image versus poor body image, Fat versus Fit. It’s about understanding that we are responsible for our health and well-being and we can feel good on the inside and out, if we have an optimal and holistic approach to our health. And that is the message we should be sharing with the next generation.
The fundamental thing is that it’s so basic it’s almost boring!
So, the trick is to make it exciting, fun an adventure, and learn from a variety of stimulating and fun people. And listen to your Gut… It’s your second brain, and it’s sending you all kinds of messages all the time.
Take some time to digest what I’ve said. I really want people to start optimising their health.
All the information you need to do this is out there, free to consume and abundantly fresh.
You can join my Online Wellness School to educate yourself and hear from a variety of experts on health and well-being.
Love and Health,
Krissy x
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