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Here's to Your Health:  what is health?  |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 18 2009 : 2:11:41 PM
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I often wonder what true health is... it seems society has an obsession with defining health. like, you are only healthy if you weigh this much, if you eat and drink these things, if you don't eat and drink these things, if you excercise this amount (this changes all the time), if you get this much sleep, and the list goes on and on and on.
how is a person supposed to keep up with all these standards, guidelines, and rules?! i feel that keeping up with all of it makes you a bit unhealthy because i know i worry about it from time to time.
but when you come right down to it, isn't health different for everyone? it's not a definite for every body type...
i especially hate the body mass index... it leaves you virtually no room to be different. and the line between healthy and obese is so tiny, like one number! my cutoff is 124... but oh my gosh if i hit 125 i'm obese and at risk to die! it just seems strange to me that the cutoff point is so small... you have no room to vary.
so i ask you ladies, what do you consider "healthy?" is society just pushing us to be perfect? is it just to sell products? i also hate all these medication adds.... i think they should be outlawed. they make us into hypocondriacs! and at times, i think the medications can be more harmful than living with the ailment you possess. i have IBS and i was on medication for it a few years back. problem was, it was basically a muscle relaxer for your stomach and it had the side effect of basically making me high (like muscle relaxers tend to do). i had to take this pill 3 times a day, even when i was at work. i didn't like this side effect at all, so i told my doctor i was going off it and have been off it ever since, managing my IBS through more natural means. there are still times when my tummy flares up to the point where i'm terribly uncomfortable, but for the most point i manage it just fine the old fashioned way...
"Only two things that money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tomatoes."
- Guy Clark
"The man who has planted a garden feels he has done something for the good of the world."
- Charles Dudley Warner |
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yarnmamma
True Blue Farmgirl
4247 Posts
Linda
Clarks Summit
PA
USA
4247 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2009 : 08:15:31 AM
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I agree! Thanks so much for putting it into words! It sure seems that perfection is the goal and even that changes in society. We are often finding out that the models and celebreties that are airbrushed to look so perfect are still having serious sicknesses. Even the rich can't buy enough meds or surgery to cure some sicknesses and need photo touch ups to look like we think we are supposed to!
You made an excellent point Elizebeth!
Linda in Scranton, PA
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Thistle Cove Farm
True Blue Farmgirl
141 Posts
Sandra
Tazewell
VA
USA
141 Posts |
Posted - Aug 30 2009 : 08:43:44 AM
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I'm in total agreement. I despise going to a doctor who treats me like an ailment or like everyone else rather than treating ME. Docs who don't listen aren't worth going to, imo. My doc is a trifle overweight and knows it; he's never nattering at me to go on a diet, etc. He just says, "you know how you feel. If you feel you're too heavy, lose some weight." He's great...in that area. In other areas, he's not so great so I'm thinking of changing to my FNP. They both listen but she listens better.
Sandra @ Thistle Cove Farm ~ God's blessings on you, yours and the work of your hands & heart ~
www.thistlecovefarm.com
www.thistlecovefarm.blogspot.com |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
Posted - Aug 30 2009 : 09:58:31 AM
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sandra, your docs sound great! that would be a great feeling not to have to go to the doctor and know you'll be nagged at. would make the whole situation more comfortable...
i've been writing alot on these health subjects on the mjf boards, mostly because i'm having such a time with the idea of health right now. i feel like society pushes us, especially women, to live by these certain "rules" in order to be "healthy." it's hard to restrict ourselves and live by these rules when i don't even know what true health is to me! i don't want someone telling me what health is, i want to figure out what i think it is. if i feel healthy at a few pounds over my "healthy weight" (whatever that is), shouldn't i listen to my body? not the doctors? because i weigh 120 right now, which i havn't weighed since about 2000... and i don't feel nearly as healthy as i do when i weigh 126 and am excercising and gaining muscle! but 126 is a couple pounds over my healthy weight... but i don't think the weight should be the main consideration. doctors don't take into consideration muscle mass and healthy weight... i believe we can be larger and healthier if we are living a healthy lifestyle than skinnier and healthy if we don't live a healthy lifestyle.
"Only two things that money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tomatoes."
- Guy Clark
"The man who has planted a garden feels he has done something for the good of the world."
- Charles Dudley Warner |
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Bellepepper
True Blue Farmgirl
1207 Posts
Belle
Coffeyville
KS
USA
1207 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2009 : 11:33:46 AM
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This might be off topic, but it reminds me of something I heard the other day concerning the health care bill in congress. They say that a fat guy that smokes and drinks and eats at McDonalds will probably die in his 50's. BUT he will be less strain $$ on the health care system than a guy or gal that does everything just right and lives to be 90.
Look out, we may be incouraged to start smoking (again).
Belle |
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2009 : 12:12:31 PM
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I am finding as I crossed my 35th year in life that health is more about have a quality of life that allows me to do all that my heart desires. It is very true when they say your health is your wealth in life.
Heather
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Here's to Your Health: what is health? |
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what is health?
