Relative Something

Thinking long-term has become a key component guiding my choices in pursuing a rewarding, healthy lifestyle. In line with my desire to invert pyramids of dysfunction, I look at unhealthy practices and consider the results of not just ending bad habits but replacing them with something helpful.

Specifically, I like to pay attention to the types of behavior that are known to contribute to problems over time. An unhealthy diet is pretty straightforward in this regard. Eating a serving of anything that is obviously unhealthy won’t kill a person but if they did that for years, negative outcomes result.

Seems logical to avoid a prolonged habit of eating poorly. So, take it a step further and replace unhealthy food with nutrition-dense food as a long-term habit.

A person who eats poorly doesn’t check the next day to see if they are less well. In the same way, a person who eats healthy food shouldn’t expect to become healthy in a day. Many people check their weight every day as a monitor of their health. Cyndie and I don’t own a scale. My weight gets checked whenever I have reason to visit the doctor.

My day-to-day weight fluctuations don’t concern me. In the same way, I don’t check my retirement account value every day. It’s the long-term trends that indicate how I’m doing against my goals.

Most people know that it’s good to avoid dehydration, but it is common for people to allow their hydration to regularly fluctuate. I tend to think it is more helpful to my body to consistently function at a healthy level of hydration. What’s the worst that could happen if I’m wrong ten years down the road?

You might think my kidneys would get worn out but my practice is beneficial to them in preventing stone-forming crystals from sticking together. One bout of kidney stones was enough for me. That pain was off my scale.

When I’m well-hydrated, I feel more confident about stretching my muscles. Do you stretch every day? Does your dog or cat stretch almost every time they get up after a long lie down? It’s fun watching the horses do cat-like stretches.

I’ve learned to be patient and allow my body time to process a thorough stretch. It always strikes me as surprising that each time I prepare to stretch, I discover that my body has returned to the same limits of movement as the day before.

When I lay flat on my back and bend at the waist to lift my legs with my knees locked and bring my feet as far as possible toward my face, the stopping point is always the same and surprisingly limited. Then I do a hamstring stretching routine. After I have stretched, I revisit that first exercise of lifting my legs with knees locked and my back flat against the floor to see how much closer my feet come toward my head. The change is dramatic.

What do you imagine the long-term impact might be of regularly stretching for the rest of a person’s life versus not stretching?

“...that fascia molds to your muscles like an immovable cast that keeps your muscles from functioning to their full capacity.“

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