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One of the things that can get lost in a narrow chasing-after of the weight loss dimension is that there's more to health than any particular kind of fitness or a particular body fat percentage.
And we don't all have the same genetic blueprint or environment, which is one thing that often gets lost in the one-size-fits-all approach that's all too common in all the health-related literature. What works for me (carb-insensitive, fast-twitch dominant, ex-smoker) may not be even remotely workable for your particular combination of environment and heredity.
Calling it 'holistic' is perhaps a misnomer, even if I enjoy the irony of for once nicking a useful term from the New Agers and fill it with sense, as opposed to the New Age approach of nicking useful terms (quantum vibrations) and filling it with nonsense (Crystal healing) - I enjoy playing around with the concept of an approach to health that would take the whole person more into account.
How about you? What do you see missing in today's standard approaches to health?
I don't feel that I am in the "woowoo" school of new age living but I do believe that we spend to much time, money and energy treating the results rather than attacking the causes of poor health. I speak from the experience of being fat and not exercising enough. I've got heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. Weight is the enemy. It is one of the root causes of all of these destructive conditions.
Hey, I take medicine for these but I now also watch what I eat and exercise. Since I decided to change my lifestyle last October and get healthy, I dropped from 247 to 178. My blood pressure went from 150/90 to 135/65. my average blood sugar level is 107 instead of 125. My cholesterol went from 307 to 117. In addition, my meds have been decreased.
Wickopedia (spelling?) defines Holism (from ὅλος holos, a Greek word meaning all, entire, total) as the idea that all the properties of a given system (biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc.) cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone. Instead, the system as a whole determine in an important way how the parts behave.
That kind of sums it up for me.
C. H.
I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that one size doesn't fit all when it comes to fitness and weight loss. As I am fond of saying, having a willingness to experiment and try out techniques to find what works best for you is the key to successful weight loss and reaching fitness goals. That's why I read everything I can regarding fitness, nutrition and weight loss and try to keep an open mind. Even if I don't agree with everything that a particular book or web site espouses, doesn't mean that I can't find a nugget of useful information.
This is why my diet is one that I invented myself. I took ideas from lots of different places, tried out various things, kept what worked and threw out the rest. I don't claim that my diet will work for anyone except me, but for me it works very well.
I'm not saying that I will blindly try any fad out there, but I am willing to entertain ideas from many sources and as long as they aren't obviously based on nonsense and they aren't dangerous to my health, then I'm willing to give them a try.
That is why I get so annoyed at the "eat your BMR" mafia and the "starvation mode" police here in the forums. They blindly spout the "rules" of weight loss, but fail to take into account the total fitness picture and seem unwilling to see that each of us is unique and that only by educating ourselves, finding what works for our particular body types and genetic makeup, and being willing to just do what works for us is the right way to lose weight and get fit.
I whole heartedly agree with the we are not of a same mold. I am 5'11, 225 and by any online or, paper survey would be considered obese. Heck in the Army I weight 245, and by standard was considered over weight until I was taped a 11% BF. I am still sub 15% at 45, and still out shining 25 year olds in the gym.
At the gym people generally ask about bodyfat, and how to loss weight and...... My answer is primarily that we all are different different. If your going to the gym and dedicating your self to better your health through Cardio,weights, and healthy eating, where you weight goes will be based upon where your body is comfortable, with the three components. for some that is 5'11" 180, for my body 5'11" 225. Just because I weight more doesn't mean i have more body fat either.
The best we can do, is take care of ourselfs using these three means. Generally the better our health, the more balanced the other parts are. We feel better, our hormones, and body chemistry are better, we stop worring so much about oh I need to START..(another added stress) it is not to say we don't have, High blood pressure... or what ever..there are many things that factor there, but by better taking care of ourself, and getting check ups to prevent things, can help us "holistically".
I have read all these posts and have to agree with you all. Every person is uniqiue, and you can not say that a certain way of doing things is right for everybody. One diet might work for one person and not the next, so I think as others do you should tailor the diet to suit your lifestyle and fitness levels. i like the idea of taking a holistic approach to dieting / fitness cause then you are not confined to one section of the public that think they know everthing there is to know about losing weight.
Gordon
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