What does it take to be HEALTHY? Exercise, food, proper diet?

Healthy???

What exactly does that mean... "Live healthy", "Eat healthy", or "Make healthy choices..."

When someone asks you "Are you healthy?," what do you say? How do you respond? Well let me tell you--- Health is more than you think. Being Healthy is more than looking good and drinking low calorie smoothies. I often hear people say that "they are healthy" or "they eat healthy." ---Really. Well lets find out how Healthy you really are.

The Health Umbrella

* To become healthy you have to be solid in all areas of the "Health Spectrum." It includes having a solid nutrition plan (so that you do not gain Fat Weight), having an active lifestyle to prevent "body aging," being stress-free (free from Chronic stress), well handled emotions (staying balanced and focused), exercising to rejuvenate the body and strengthening the muscles, AND living your life by making the right choices---WOW... Now you know that health is part of a larger more integrated system.

Why is this important, well because you have to understand that each facet of the spectrum plays a role in determining the next.

Ex) You can't expect to have a solid body by eating poorly, having a negative attitude, and putting yourself in harms way. It just doesn't work that way. All facets in the Health Spectrum MUST be in sync.

I'm going to give you a personal example of what being healthy is all about--- bare with me as this is not a way of me "show boating," but more to illustrate a point.

This is me in 2007. I had been training body building for years and competed in a few All Natural Competitions. My goal was to get huge. I began training weighing in at 150 lbs in 2001 and jumped to 190 lbs in 2007 without ever sacrificing my body fat, which floated around less than 6%.---Do I look Healthy??? I think not. Believe it or not I was a wreck. My body was stiff and rusted as the "Tin Man" from the Wizard of Oz. My joints ached and crackled every morning OF every hour of the day. Mentally I was unsatisfied with the way I look. My body was frequently craving food which soon became expensive and numerous times I felt bloated and deprived of water. Emotionally I bounced around feeling behind and undersized based on my work ethic and energy I put in... At first glance everything seems "gravy," but the truth is that it wasn't.

Remember, Health is more than appearance. It is lifestyle, stress management AND much more.

Make the best out of your life. Live clean and shine. I will guarantee you that when you do the next cup of coffee that you have will taste sweater and much more rich than ever before.

Quick Tip---Make a quick self evaluation based on the Health Umbrella. Make sure to include exercise, nutrition, levels of stress, emotional happiness, and your general state of mind (like your positive attitude or the way you look at things). Feel free to include any other detail or category that you may have. Rate each factor based on a one-to-five scale. One being poor and five being the best.

Be honest with yourself. Critique hard. Once you are finished have a minute to self reflect and work towards improving your Health. I promise you if you WORK hard at it, you will know the TRUE meaning of what being healthy is all about.

Good Luck