What does healthy mean to you?

Everyone has a slightly different version of what healthy means to them. If someone were to ask what your goals were to be healthy, what does that entail for you?

Maintaining a sensible weight by enjoying 'real' food in reasonable quantities .  Healthy also includes being active... as distinct from being 'fit'.  And I think it's essential to be mentally sharp.  A healthy body and a dull mind isn't a great combination.  Finally, healthy to me includes a big dose of happiness, fulfilment, contentment.... a sense of purpose.  

I second gi-jane. Its a balanced life stlye with realistic limits. Like I love butter pecan ice cream and I do eat it once in a while, and I even splurge sometimes, and either way I think its fine once I'm still trying to eat a balanced meal, and working out regularly.

healthy to me means balance.  it's about balancing the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of my life.  i find that if i neglect one area, they all tend to fall apart.

it really has very little to do with food.  if i'm in balance, i just naturally want good foods.

Those are all great responses. I was curious to hear what other people think about what health really is because I'm trying to figure out exactly what that means for me. I agree with pgeorgian and find the more balanced my physical, mental, and emotional aspects of my life are, the less attention I place on calorie and scale numbers.  In all, I would like to move away from the day to day calorie counting and focus more on "being healthy" in a way that doesn't involve numbers.

i feel like i should clarify that spirituality for me has absolutely nothing to do with god or religion.  i'm an atheist.  for me, spirituality means anything that makes me laugh (in a positive way), makes me feel loved and gives me a sense of well-being, helps me to appreciate the world, etc.  that might be a yoga class, a bottle of wine and authentic conversation with good friends, or a walk in the woods.  i even have spiritual moments while driving home from work.

This was a question on a Health test back in highschool... the answer:

A person is in good health if they are physically, mentally and spiritually balanced.  To me, that means if you are physically fit, eat well and maintain this, you are healthy physically.  Mentally... well, I don't think anyone is in their right mind haha J/K... but, mentally I would say means you are content with life and able to make rational decisions, whatever the case.  Spiritually, I agree with pgeorgian, it is an abstract kind of thing... a person can be healthy in this sense by being happy, emotionally connected... ummm... hard to explain.  I'll quit; this is long.

Healthy, to me, is a peace and confidence I have in myself that's exuded to the people around me. 

It's both physical and mental.

Physically, I'm probably fine at my current weight. Do I feel fine, though? Not really. I probably won't until I'm back at my previous weight.

Hi--I'm new and I have no idea how/where to post so I'll just start here.   

I started using Calorie Count Plus about a week ago.  I'm 57 years old, more than 100lbs. overweight and have lots of health concerns (heart disease, COPD, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, insomnia and reflux) that make losing weight seem incredibly complicated. 

I've seen the nutritionist at my local hospital--came away with the following daily guidelines (loosely based on the DASH program):  54g total fat, 11g saturated fat, 150mg cholesterol, 2000mg sodium, 247g total carbs, 30g fiber, 40g sugars and 81g protein.

At this point, I'm mostly concentrating on lowering my sodium, sugar and fats--trying to get healthier as opposed to just losing weight.  I recently had a "heart failure" episode (basically means fluid retention, including in my lungs, making it hard to breathe); and recent test results showed periodic irregular and rapid heartbeat.  I'm seeing my cardiologist tomorrow to discuss next steps. 

I've tried online OA meetings, WeightWatchers and just generally starving myself.  No surprise--none of those worked for me.  I don't have a car and I work from home, so I'm pretty isolated.  At this point I need support more than anything else. 

3/27/08:  265 lbs.      4/10/08:  258 lbs.

 1. Calorie Count Name (user id):  pcf50
2. Name you prefer to be called in discussions:  pcf50
3. Age & Sex:  57 yrs. old/Female
4. General Location:  in my head
5. Married? Single?  
6. Kids? Furbabies?  grown kid
7. Favorite color?  red and yellow (can't break them up)
8. Favorite movie?  To Kill a Mockingbird
9. Hobbies?  whatever I'm obsessing about at the moment
10. Favorite Snack?  Chocolate!!!
11. Favorite Beverage?  seltzer (actually, rootbeer)

12. Biggest Obstacle to Getting Healthy?  depression
13. Weight/Fitness Goal?  get healthy, lose 100 lbs.
14. Least Favorite Household Chore?  all of them
15. How did you find Calorie Count?  browser

16. Anything Else You'd Like To Share? see above

 

Hi pcf50,

first of all, congratulations on losing 7lb so far!! That's half a stone where I come from (England).

You are going in the right direction! It's hard to find motivation when you are isolated but you will find lots of friends and encouragement on CC. Post in Motivation or Health and Fitness for the best answers.. and just butt-in to random chats when you see a title you like.. it's the best way to make new friends. Or just read and lurk for a while until you find some like minded friends.

It's not all teenagers trying to lose 10lb on here. If you are interested, there are a couple of groups for older CC-ers that you might want to check out... I have found the people on Going for Gold and Mollymousers Diet Rants to be very supportive (and it's great to let off steam when you feel frustrated too).

Good luck and keep on going for it!