Fitness

      You pick up the magazines each day, and you’re bombarded with health and fitness information.  Advertisements and articles that are designed to impart much needed information to the reader about the state of fitness and health in America today, and what we as responsible citizens should do.  I want you to stop, and think for just one moment.  How do you determine your current fitness and wellness levels?  Does your regular doctor as you each time you go if you believe yourself to be fit and well?  Probably not.  Nor does he give you any method for determining the status on your own.  Fitness centers abound in this country, and most are staffed with counselors who can test your fitness level.  What about your wellness level?  Are they one and the same?  They are not one and the same, yet they rely heavily on each other to keep you healthy.

      Being fit and being well are totally different conditions.  Your wellness rating is dependent upon your immune system, and what vitamins, supplements, and nutrition you provide for your immune system.  Fit people can sometimes be unwell.  And well people can sometimes be unfit.  However, when you do combine the two, and use sound principles based on clean living, exercise, and healthy eating, you attain a state of equilibrium where you are both fit and well.

      Most individuals do not take the time to completely understand the advantages of being both fit and well.  We read and absorb the information we’re given through the media and health organizations, without ever pondering if we’re receiving all the information we need, or simply the part that is profitable to be seen or heard.  Fitness gyms need your monthly fees in order to remain operational.  They have no real concern about the condition of your immune system.  Physical fitness is a condition of the body alone.   Hospitals and doctors need you as a patient in order to remain operational; they want you to know you need to be fit and well, but often leave out important pieces that affect your wellness and, therefore, your ability to be fit.

      What about eating habits?  What about vitamins?  What role does our daily intake play in our health, our wellness, and our fitness?  More than you have been lead to believe or understand.  The body’s ability to remain well under anything other than ideal conditions is a direct result of the nutrition received on a daily basis.  The mind’s ability to remain well is, again, a direct result of our nutrition intake.  For instance, the human brain doesn’t develop well without the necessary input of protein in our daily diet.  No protein, no intelligence.  No intelligence, then none of the other states is attainable.

      Our spiritual input is a determining factor when establishing our fitness level.  We all need the benefit of spiritual reflection, as a way of cleansing ourselves of the stress of our daily life.   Spirituality is a way of assuring ourselves of a renewing, and rebirth of ourselves as humans.  Fitness encompasses our body’s health, as a whole and in this respect it includes the mind. It is a condition of the whole body.  Fitness is a condition of wellness for our physical body.

Rex Shell

The Benefits of Walking

Walking is one of the most productive forms of exercise, and causes a tremendous increase in our energy levels.  The benefit seen from adding just 20 minutes of walking to your daily routine are unbelievable.  I can attest to the tremendous increase in energy, as a participant in walking for exercise.  I lost a total of 74 lbs. in one year, by simply adding walking to may routine.  I had been dieting for almost two months, with very little in the way of results.  Walking was suggested by my physician, and I’ve never been so impressed.  My energy levels were three times what they were prior to beginning the walking, and I truly enjoyed the peace of mind that I achieved during those daily walks.
            The added exertion of physical exercise is often the catalyst our bodies needed to boost weight loss into high gear.  For the individual trying to loose weight, the benefits of walking far exceed an infringement on personal time, or detraction from television time that occurs.  Not only is it good for your body, when you’re trying to cut back, it gives you something constructive to do with your time.  Exercise also decreases our hunger pangs, increases our fluid intake, and helps our blood to circulate much better.
            If there are any down-side effects to walking, it is the added pressure we put on our knees, ankles, and feet.  If you already have a joint condition, such as arthritis, you might want to start very slowly, and add mileage only as you see that your body can handle what you are presently doing.  Taking the time to buy good, supportive shoes, and wear leg bracing if needed can eliminate any further injury or harm.  Talk to your doctor is you think you might have any of these conditions, and make sure that you are taking care of your body as you exercise it.
            There are some excellent magazines and journals out there that provide a novice walker with all kinds of helpful advice and tips.  Tips that offer assistance in what type of walking shoe you need, to what kind of walking sticks are best.  There are many opportunities for you to participate in community events, national events, and even marathons, if you choose.  From shoes to clothing tips, these magazines were a real inspiration for me, also.  There are real life stories that you feel as though you could have written, that sing the praises of walking as a way of life.
            The peace of mind that comes from taking a few minutes to stop and enjoy the sunset as you walk cannot be compared.  Walking gives you the time we no longer take for private reflection.  To ask yourself if you spent your day wisely, did you omit something that needed to be done, did you listen to your spouse when he needed to talk?
            Twenty minutes out of your day to walk, contribute to your health, clear your mind, and get a glimpse of the most beautiful sunset, how can you not take advantage of an offer like that?

Rex Shell