lifestyle

Fitness and Wellness

Let’s face it – the ultimate key to happiness is your level of fitness and wellness. Fitness is the essence of life, wellness allows you to get on with things.  There’s absolutely no point in having a lot of ‘stuff’ if you don’t have fitness and wellness. Money won’t buy you those things. Fit and well are kind of the same thing. You can’t really be one without the other.

Here are my thoughts on 3 Keys to Fitness and Wellness.  I consider myself to be fit and well – and always have. The three key areas to fitness are: 1) Aerobic exercise, 2) Careful, nutritious diet,  3) A mental vision of your fit and well self. My inspiration to write this post is that I have been unwell for a few weeks now – and it is highly unusual for me to be sick – ever. So there’s one other key I would add to the above – personal hygiene and cautions around others who are unwell. Oh – and living

in a place like Jackson Hole – or any other Rocky Mountain resort town goes a long way to fitness and wellness.  But, without being a Nazi about it (some fitness fanatics can be rather boring with their relentless fitness discipline and I believe it’s OK to not take yourself too seriously), if you get regular exercise (a good workout routine in a gymnasium is good or at least a long walk), it starts to become part of your expectations as an every-day event. Exercising regularly feels so good that you begin to crave it – and that’s a good thing – fitness is addictive. Similarly, eating well begins to feel so good that other foods lacking in nutritional quality really lose their appeal. I start to notice in a day or two if I haven’t had a good, fresh salad recently – and boy does it feel satisfying to munch into a good, fresh salad with crispy lettuce leaves and veggies. I feel ‘lucky’ to crave the habits of well-being and fitness – but luck has nothing to do with it – this is the way I have planned my life and as I get older I have less and less tolerance for poor diet and exercise. Oh – and did I mention chocolate? And cookies? And wine? Like I mentioned above – there’s no need to be a Nazi about it – I enjoy wine with dinner almost every evening and a piece of chocolate or two for dessert. And sometimes – just sometimes – it feels good to have a day of rest – especially if you’ve been ramping-up your exercise routines. Oh – and did I mention massage? Visit your friendly massage professional on a regular basis – and, heck, just becoming a massage

therapist in Jackson Hole has completed the fitness and wellness circle for me even more.  The mental part of it follows naturally. You begin to feel GREAT!  Then you become that and it feels even better – and a cycle starts…you feel better because you eat well and keep up your fitness – so you do those things more – so your mental state gets better – and everything feeds everything else. It can be hard to get started. I’m not a nutritionist, but generally lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, uncooked and unprocessed foods are best. Low fat is crucial (but not ‘no’ fat) and I prefer not to eat meat for reasons that go beyond diet and involve factory farming.

When you keep fit, your body will crave certain nutrients – listen to your body and it will come to you what will be the ‘right’ thing to eat to make up those nutrients. Another thing…don’t overeat! Enough is enough. If you are satiated – don’t eat any more just because it tastes good or is on your plate. Eat what you need. It’s best to ‘graze’ slowly through the day than eat large meals. For breakfast, try a healthy multi-grain toast with natural peanut butter (contents: 100% peanuts) and slices of banana – with tea. Lunch is a great time to eat salad with lettuce, spinach, sliced, pickled beets, garbanzo beans (for protein), Sunflower seeds, raisins, broccoli florets, red pepper, avocado and sprinkled with goat cheese. A great dinner to finish off the day would be grilled salmon with lemon juice, lemon-pepper seasoning and butter. Accompany that with a baked sweet potato and some scalded asparagus spears….yum!

Be well, Hamish and Rochelle.