When a healthy life becomes a health threat
“To live healthily, according to science, is to find good, simple habits in your day-to-day life.”
For many, New Year is a time of new dreams and new goals. Healthier lifestyle choices are often a big part of this. Many have realised that by making wiser choices, we can improve both our mental and physical well-being, reducing the risk of different lifestyle diseases in the long run. By making better choices, you can increase your energy and boost your mood; additionally, you can prevent premature ageing, thus improving your chance of living an active life for years to come. As knowledge and interest surrounding the topic has escalated, in turn, a skewed perception of health has gained momentum; something that can lead to ill health, now and in the future. Therefore, it’s essential to strike a balance where a healthy lifestyle means finding the best approach to one’s own body and health, which is a part of life and consists of so much more, both beautiful and enjoyable. Above all, prioritise a sense of community with others, and don’t just focus on yourself.
“You should ask yourself what you value in life, how you want to use it, and what you want to fill it with. Hopefully, these are things that enrich the body and soul in many different ways, and that others can benefit from.”
In a time when health has become “big business”, it’s easy to get carried away. On social media, where one can follow other people’s health efforts, you can be inspired to make changes and sometimes these can be very beneficial. But I’m also often struck by the fact that behind many images is an unhealthy fixation around a person’s self-perception and health; meaning, situations presented as healthy can actually be detrimental to your welfare. We’re all affected by what we see, and younger generations, in particular, are very impressionable. Therefore, there’s a great deal of responsibility in the messages you portray. For many, young and old, everyday life is often structured, and it’s important to strike a balance between needing time to focus on yourself and other commitments. Stress-related illnesses have increased significantly and mental illness is a frequent topic of discussion. Both physical and mental well-being should therefore be prioritised as achievable goals that enable you to live life to the fullest. Living healthily is about gradually building a lifestyle that positively contributes to your well-being. Small positive habits can become a natural part of day-to-day life and give you a push in the right direction as well as the energy you need to take life by the horns. Too often, however, what should be an inspiration for healthier habits, is instead a fixation on various cures, diets, methods, trends and products that require more energy, time, and money; above all, these increase the risk of unhealthy self-absorption. Viewing healthy living as a type of achievement contributes towards increased stress and anxiety levels. In the end, we risk negatively affecting our surroundings and relationships through this perception.
“I think the trend of healthy people regularly spending time measuring and following various bodily functions gives cause for concern. Measuring your exercise to track your personal development can act as positive inspiration. But other types of measurements, I believe, can increase the risk of health anxiety and not least provoke an unhealthy self-perception. So we all have a great responsibility, especially towards the younger generation where the incidence of mental ill-health is increasing.”
Behaviour that can contribute to stress, worry and anxiety, and what to look out for:
Exercise – Most people have realised that exercise has a lot of health benefits, and many work towards finding a regular exercise routine that fits their day-to-day schedule and motivates them in their daily activities. But when exercise becomes a fixation, it’s not healthy and overexercising can cause harmful inflammation. For example, there’s nothing heroic about exercising when you have an infection or injury. Forcing yourself through a workout when you have an injury has nothing to do with health or determination. Too many have had to suffer the consequences, enduring prolonged and even permanent damage. Using special supplements to increase your exercise performance is something I personally don’t believe in. You’re unaware of how they’ll affect other substances in the body and have no control over any possible side effects.
Food – Someone said that “food is our new religion”. There’s a lot to that, I think. There’s far too much attention on fad diets and food trends. Also think about how much commitment, time and money is unnecessarily spent on them. When you start to exclude various food groups, become restrictive with your diet, can no longer eat things considered “unhealthy”, and have a bad conscience when eating certain foods, you should stop and think. If you live with children, you should also keep in mind that your approach to food will most likely be reflected on them, influencing their future relationship with food. A healthy food culture should contribute positively and be an asset to your life.
Measuring different functions – Today you can measure many of the body’s different functions yourself. For example, wanting to measure your activity and see if you’ve gotten faster can be an incentive for some, motivating them to continue with their training sessions. And for another, a pedometer can help you identify exercise patterns and encourage you to move more. On the other hand, I am more hesitant towards excessive measuring of things like blood pressure, blood sugar, and sleep quality; one should be on the lookout for this kind of behaviour. I reason that constant concern for your health contributes to an unhealthy attitude, and this egocentric mindset can increase your risk of health anxiety. In addition, measurement errors can occur and results can be misinterpreted without underlying knowledge. If you aim to create a healthy lifestyle and, for example, plan a good sleep routine, but as a result of the measurement of sleep, have a less-than-optimal deep sleep, the risk is that this becomes a worry and leads to higher levels of stress. This, in turn, can affect sleep negatively in the worst case.
My advice:
Building a healthy lifestyle is something that should contribute positively to your day-to-day life and create a sense of well-being and community with other people. If you’re thinking about new trends or methods, you should ask yourself how this will affect your life in the long run, and if it’s worth it. When it comes to measuring bodily functions, my personal opinion is that healthy people shouldn’t commit to a trend unless it’s about measuring physical activity for a motivational purpose.
