why is health now a non essential additional extra

justsomebloke

So in keeping with some of the threads that have popped up in the last while, which have lead to debates on the state of the health of people, which I have to say I have enjoyed has it has been a change from the usual threads in here. So the question is why in today's society has health become a non essential additional extra?

So it seems in today’s society that quite a lot of people have run out of time in their daily lives in which they can take care of their health. Now I could go into the reason’s into why there is a decline in our health, like longer working hours, commuting, wider availability of fast food etc but I think we have covered that in some of the other threads so I don’t think there is a need to go into it here.

The question I want to ask is why have people let them selves get to the point where neglecting their bodies has become acceptable and that they are unwilling to make the changes even with it being small changes to try and improve their health. I think this was highlighted in the more knowledge = more obesity thread, were some of the posters didn’t feel they had any time between commuting, work and children. It was however pointed out that if they did around 10 minutes of simple exercises in work (as they couldn’t fit in 10 minutes anywhere else in their day) that they could help improve their health by improving their fitness however they felt that they would be to embarrassed to do exercises in the office so too these their health wasn’t as important and had become an additional benefit which they have learned to live without. Now the thread also showed that some people had taken simple steps to improve them selves and did things like walking during their lunch so at least to some people health is important but not to all of us however.

Dragan

It's a pretty complicated issue in my opinion, and there are many, many reasons why people cannot, or do not, put any effort into physical improvement.

1) Time - has been discussed over and over, and whether it be a fact or an illusion this will stop people from working out. My only question is do you have time to watch an hour or two of telly in the evenings to relax?

2) The Hollywood effect - go and see any film and chances are the leading man is sporting a six pack to go with those good looks and the leading lady is sporting perfect breasts, tiny waist, tight bum and full lips. This is the "ideal" that people are force fed and the image that we should apparently aspire to. As such, there seems to be an attitude of "if i can't have it all, and get the perfect body, then whats the point?"

People find themselves being sexually attracted to the likes of Jessica Alba, Salma Hayek, Brad Pitt etc etc, so surely to pull good looking people you need to be a good looking person??? And what can help us? The gym of course, but if you go for 3 months and see no results then whats the point. You tried , you really did ( despite not knowing what you were doing, or having a clue about proper diet ) It's all very stupid really.

3) The Aesthetic Effect - "You go to the gym to be healthier....what the fu*k are you on about?". A lot of people seem to forget the main benefit or proper diet and physical activity and that is improved health and an overall feeling of well being. As such, they never think about what 10 mins a day might do for there heart and lungs, but only what it WON'T do for the well hidden abs. SO rather than do the 10 mins a day for the health benefit, they will do nothing because 10 mins won't help them aethetically.

4) Cost - "i can't afford the gym fee's" - really? First off, you don;t need a gym membership to be active dude, second of all, how much do you spend a month on Pepsi and Dorito's, eh tubby????

5) "Living for Today" - i laugh everytime i hear this, because it's normally from some who is recounting some story involving a severe level of alchohol abuse while tucking into to something very unpleasant they believe is food. Now don't get me wrong, i love the odd piss up and a nice dirty fry but only on the odd occasion, not as part of my weekend ritual. What good is living for today is the cost is our tomorrow's? ANd who says living for today need involve our own self destruction.

Largely, people are nuts, and will offer as many reasons for not taking care of themselves and any of us have time to listen to them.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Dermington

Fear. It compells everyone.

If your not healthy you will die from a encyclopedia of possible causes.

You feel the need to compete with other males/females however subconscious the need is.

If you dont have big muscles that girl wont want to sleep with you.

The list is endless...

Dragan

Dermington wrote:

Fear. It compells everyone.

If your not healthy you will die from a encyclopedia of possible causes.

You feel the need to compete with other males/females however subconscious the need is.

If you dont have big muscles that girl wont want to sleep with you.

The list is endless...

We're talking about reasons why people DON'T workout dude.:)

Dermington

Dragan wrote:

We're talking about reasons why people DON'T workout dude.:)

ah fiddlesticks! :mad:

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Referring to the actually topic then:

I have no idea.

I for one neglected my body for 20 years and being honest I still don't know why.

The only thing that made me want to change was realising my own mortality was a very real issue for me.

In my own experience I'm sure there was a part of me who saw something or someone I wanted to be with or even be and in my head I weighed up the odds and decided against changing.

Life is very simple and easy when you dont think about real things, such as weight, cardiovascular health etc. People get on with their lives whatever way they can until they die and very often it is easier to neglect whats important overall for whats important right now.

Also despite all the advertising and press health and fitness has received over the last 12 months I dont think peoples opinions or actions have changed much. 90% of the people who post in the fitness forum have some idea of how health and fitness can change your life and I and most likely most of those posters cannot believe people dont want to go do this for themselves too instead of being unhealthy or overweight. The fact is it's not that black and white.

Before I ever took any interest in going to the gym etc I never understood why people did exercise at all. Now that I am immersed in the whole health and fitness world to some extent I can see why and it's for the same reasons (fundamentally) that I am exercising, which is to look good, feel good and live a better life.

People dont want to worry about their health. Some of the reasoning behind people neglecting their own health is because they have no reason to mind their own health. all the press and coverage of health and fitness issues are beneficial to the children of today more than the adults in my mind because they will grow up with the idea firmly planted into their heads as opposed to being introduced to it in later life (ie: 20+).

Just a few thoughts there.

Dermot.

MrJones

i think its laziness in the mind. i also think it has a lot to do with your childhood.
for instance if you grew up taking part in lots of sports, then as you get older you still feel the need to keep fit and active as you identify with the buzz and feeling you get from it.

kwalsh000

MrJones does have a point, lazyness , especially in youth can be one. If you never really experienced fitness or health from sports when your young then as you get older, you dont see a problem with it, as far as your concerned..everyones the same as you in what they eat and how little they excercise (bar the few who have 'genetics' on their side) so you just get used to it.
Also between pressure from work, study etc people have an excuse..in some cases its genuine, in most its not. I mean how many hours are in a week that you work..then how many hours do you sit down and watch tele..take away 3 hours of tele watching out of the week for some excercise and it would make a world of difference or simply change your eating habits..slowly at first. But as with most this would be too much of an effort and it would change the routine which they have had since youth (difference being work in place of study/school) so they continue to be lazy.
Then to be honest, you do get those who just want people to feel pity on them. 'I tried everything but it didnt work'. It would have worked if you took the bar of chocolate out of your mouth for a minute to actually excercise, granted its only a small percentage.

There is also the thin unhealthy people aswell. Aged between 20-30, they have no muscle mass to speak of really...they play a bit of footie here and there but they smoke, drink and eat crap all week. They think just because they dont have flabby arms or a gut (yet) they are healthy? Like most they are too stuck in a routine to change it or they are just plain lazy to go out and really find out the facts of how to live life healthy..because eventually that fast metabolism will slow down and couple of hours of football a week along with smokes and drink will not be keeping them as slim as they are now.

After all people dont see health as something they need to work towards, they think they can take their vitamins and be healthy and thats all it takes. But sure if anything does happen, we have advanced so much in medicine that they dont need to worry, it can be fixed.

I hope i wasnt waffling too much there, just my opinion

Dermington

MrJones wrote:

i think its laziness in the mind.

Yeah I have to agree. Its a weakness also.

The need and determination to achieve is a very powerful feeling, I found I never had that until I was in the gym and wanted to improve myself and feel better.

MrJones

kwalsh000 wrote:

There is also the thin unhealthy people aswell. Aged between 20-30, they have no muscle mass to speak of really...they play a bit of footie here and there but they smoke, drink and eat crap all week. They think just because they dont have flabby arms or a gut (yet) they are healthy? Like most they are too stuck in a routine to change it or they are just plain lazy to go out and really find out the facts of how to live life healthy..because eventually that fast metabolism will slow down and couple of hours of football a week along with smokes and drink will not be keeping them as slim as they are now.

i think its a good point that you bring up.-that some people that are unhealthy are not necessarily fat. i've seen older people in 40's and 50's who have died of heart attacks and strokes and people were really shocked by their death because they were'nt obese at all and seemed pretty healthy.
fact is thought that it doesnt matter whether you are carrying an extra few lbs or not, you needs to get regular exercise, keep cholesterol down and keep the heart in shape.
some people can get away with unhealthy lifestyle for life; others can't and will suffer serious illness or death as a result. everyone's body is different.

exercise can only help though!

Dermington

MrJones wrote:

i think its a good point that you bring up.-that some people that are unhealthy are not necessarily fat. i've seen older people in 40's and 50's who have died of heart attacks and strokes and people were really shocked by their death because they were'nt obese at all and seemed pretty healthy.

Exactly.

You dont have to be obese to have gravy flowing through your veins.

Boru.

Evolution. That's it and that's all it will ever be.

People have doszens of reasons; childhood, self esteem, work, life, lobster friends who begrudge development, fear of failure, lazyiness - the list is endless , but these are just symptoms of an underlying cause - Evolution.

Let the lazy sods become unfit. Let them pass their pathertic unmotivated attitudes on to thier children. It just means they'll die out quicker.

It's all evolution. Survival of the fittest. I am programmed to survive so I exercise hard, eat well, and mate.

The other lot, the unfit bunch, eat badly get lazy never breed and die of coronary heart failure. The ssoner their off the planet, the sooner my helaht insurance and ht cost of living goes down, the less wasters in the gym and less inane post about the same three questions on boards.

Then we can concentrate on converting our conciousness to pure energy and realising the truth - Steven Seagal really is a reincarnate Buddist Saint.:D

Okay that's a little childish, but think about it - there's logic in there somewhere!

(Incidently this isn't my theory its a very well respected greek philosopher's...well everything except the Seagal bit, Chuck Norris made me write that.)

MrJones

Boru. wrote:

Evolution. That's it and that's all it will ever be.

People have doszens of reasons; childhood, self esteem, work, life, lobster friends who begrudge development, fear of failure, lazyiness - the list is endless , but these are just symptoms of an underlying cause - Evolution.

Let the lazy sods become unfit. Let them pass their pathertic unmotivated attitudes on to thier children. It just means they'll die out quicker.

you have contradicted yourself there. evolution means the human species adapts to its surrounding,habits,diet, the life as it currently is.
therefore these "lazy sods" species as you call them will not be dying away(or becoming extinct) anytime soon.
Also just because somebody is not into fitness and exercise doesnt't mean you look down on them as "lazy sods" or the like. everyone is entitled to walk their own path in life as they like.

Transform

Primary reason is not enough PAIN!!

i.E. we all NEVER make any significant changes in our lives without feeling pissed off enough to make a change. Think back to any major changes or decisions you made in your life............. they all involved telling youself enough is enough lets go for the big picture here and make a change that feels right!!

When i consult with clients i make it abundantly clear as to where they are going to end up if they take no action.

I recommend using the force of pain to do something about it and make health and fitness a non-essential extra.

Dermington

Interesting way of looking at it.

I took the same aproach to quitting smoking and it worked.

I never looked at fitness in that light.

Pain it is then.