Quality, what's it all mean?

When you think of the word quality, what is the first thing that comes to mind for you? It seems that I have been thinking and talking to people a lot about quality these days. Not just in regards to food and exercise, but overall quality of life. Obviously this mine is just one opinion of what makes life worth living, but at the base level would be health. If you are constantly fighting off infections, viruses, injuries, obesity, disease, etc... then when is there anytime to truly appreciate life. Let's be honest, being sick is not fun. How often have you heard someone say "I wish I was dead" or something similar while fighting off the latest flu bug? Small changes can make for a big difference in fighting off sickness. Personally, I know whenever I go off the wagon for a one day ice cream binge that the next day I will feel hungover and sniffle a bit in the morning. This is nothing that concerns me greatly as it is a rare occasion, but think about if you were doing that on a daily basis? Sugar will bring down the immune system in the body for at least six hours per serving, so you can imagine the terrible cycle the body would be on if constantly fed sugar. It's also important to remember that sugar isn't limited to the kind found in sweets. Sugar in some form can be found in grains, starches, pasteurized dairy products, and even fruit!

My next step for overall health is physical preparedness. To me this means being able to perform normal day to day activities without impingement or unnecessary pain. I will often see people huffing and puffing just from normal walking, or having to use the handrail when going up and down stairs. It makes me sad to see people struggling with what I consider "normal" activities due to physical impairments that are within there control. Just the other day I saw a man pushing his wife around in a wheelchair. Looking at her it seemed that nothing was really wrong except that she was morbidly obese. If a person has the necessary muscle mass and ligament/tendon strength they should be able to support their body weight in a comfortable fashion. When you start to lose that muscle and add more adipose tissue(fat) in it's place then things get complicated. This is a tough way to go through life in my opinion. When you are not able to move under your own power and depending on someone else or an electric motor to do simple things like get the mail then where is the joy in your life? These people most likely will stay on the same path until they reach death. The idea of trying to turn it around is too much to handle for most, and the ease and convenience of just zoning out eating crap food and popping some pills is what gives them enjoyment, albeit momentary. These kind of people are also commonly stricken with diabetes as well. So adding onto all the stress is the idea of having to measure blood sugars constantly and, with type 2 diabetes, taking insulin shots. Take a look around you and think about how many people you see with handicap parking stickers that don't appear to have any handicap except that they are too fat and sick to walk to their destination from any further away. If you have been thinking that some of the everyday movements you use to do with ease have started to get a little more difficult it might be time to take at look at some of your life choices and make some changes.

The next ingredient in our quality formula is psychological happiness. For me this means being able to wake up everyday and be happy that I'm alive and well and able to do what I want. Constant fear, anxiety, worrying, and anger are no way to live and quite stressful. If you want to be happy I think it's easy to do. Give up trying to control everything and everyone around you and just live moment to moment in the very best way you can. Negative thoughts will emanate from you and spread to others. Truly engage and listen to those you interact with and see the effects. There is a connection to the other two values that we already discussed and I feel its obvious here. Waking up without sickness or being impaired physically will naturally lend itself to a state of positivity and overall well being. On a biological level, when you are filling your body up with unnatural and processed foods it can cause hormonal and chemical imbalances. These imbalances are often then exacerbated through the addition of prescription drugs meant to treat symptoms instead of looking for root causes. When the body is out of homeostasis it's constantly fighting to get back to that point. This process is often very stressful on the body and can cause great mental despair. So looking at our average unhealthy human being we find little to no movement due to physical impairment heaped on top of sickness and disease with small amounts of "happiness" found through more crap food or drugs. Does that sound healthy to you? If it does, then more power to you. If you feel that this could become your future then start looking at some of your choices in regards to food, health care, and exercise. In my opinion it's never to late to start on a path to improved health and overall quality of life. Please let me know how you feel in the comments section.