The body is a fantastic servant but a hopeless master. The default option for everyone is to let the body decay. The default option for everyone is to eat as one pleases, succumb to short-term pleasures and gain weight. The default option is to take things as they come. The default option results in your body influencing your actions. Your existence is reduced to serving your body.
The obesity epidemic is prevalent because so many people have become slaves to their bodies. While people are becoming extremely hard-working in acquiring wealth and a better life, they are not practicing the same values in caring for their bodies and health. A lot of people are willing to expand long hours in the office for a promotion and promise of a better future and yet can’t spare a half hour for exercise that is so essential for health and longevity. What good is that promotion or wealth when the body is in such derelict that there is no chance to enjoy the fruits of one’s labour.
Moderation is a thing of the past. Being a slave to the body, people undergo unrestricted bingeing in alcohol, unhealthy food, desserts, colas, smoking and the like. Short term convenience and comfort has become more important than long-term goals of a healthy life.
When the body is the master, exercise is always an irritation. These people say, “Tell me how I can lose weight the fastest, without exercise. I don’t have time for exercise”. When the body is the master, taste buds take precedence over everything else. Emotions rule the day. But time and time again, we have seen that a single heart attack will change a person’s entire mindset about diet and exercise. When death is probable and the very existence is threatened, one goes to great resolve whether via exercise or diet, to re-acquire the health that has been lost. The question is, why wait for death to knock on the door before we start taking our health seriously.
Its time to put a stop to all this by regaining control of your body. You are the master, and your body is the slave. Your body is nothing more than a sophisticated organic machine. Use this fantastic machine to serve you. You should not be at its mercy.
The first and foremost goal of your body is to extend your existence. You want to live as long as you can. A lot of people complain that they do not want to live for long as they worry that they will not have the income to sustain themselves. But these people forget that if you want something bad enough, your mind will always find a way. Finding money for your existence is the job of your mind. You just got to make sure that your body is hale and hearty to serve your mind.
You are your mind and your thoughts. Your thoughts and your mind are you. You are the master. Your body is your servant. Make use of this fantastic creation to achieve great things in this lifetime.
With this in mind, have a look at the timeless video by Jack Lalanne from the Jack Lalanne show. It addresses precisely the question at hand. Is your body the slave or the master.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9okZrrrOxT4]
Tags: body, exercise, health, healthy, Jack Lalanne, master, mind, obesity, servant, slave, weight loss
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>>The default option for everyone is to eat as one pleases, succumb to short-term pleasures and gain weight. The default option is to take things as they come.<<
This is a blatant generalization. I for one belong to a fraction of society that does not gain weight without extreme dieting (excess of 2900 Calories/day) and my body does not drive me to eat copious amount of food. My default mode is to eat as my motivation to acquire food deigns, which is not very active. Metabolism and diet cravings (out bodies speaking to our minds as you would see it) are regulated by genetics and lifestyle. Some people never experience satiation and literally eat themselves to death, others take mind altering substances and die of hyponatremia. The mind and body connection is very complicated and you make it sound so very simple.
Thank you very much for your comment. Lucky you who can eat what you want and yet not gain weight. I am sure there are many souls out there envying you. Anyway the default option is spoken in term of the averages. You are at the extremity of the bell curve. if everyone were like you, we would not have an obesity epidemic. Lifestyle is the main culprit. We have all become creatures of comfort.
I for one totally agree with Jack on this issue. After 30 years in the fitness/weight loss business I have helped thousands change their lives in a very positive way. On the flip side to this, I have heard more and every excuse from women about not exercising, I can’t do it, it is to hard and blah, blah, blah. We have become slaves to our bodies and lazy on top of it. This country is in a crisis and we are becoming fatter and fatter. With processed and junk food at an all time high and readily available we will burst as a nation.
People need to change their eating habits, get moving and stop whining about what they can’t do and begin to do what they can.
Excellent Article and video. I for one totally agree. I belive it is a mindset and I am trying to get myself in the right mindset to conquer my extra 25 pounds. Thanks.
Its always easier to blame others for our woes. But once one takes responsibility for one’s self, the battle is already half won.
Thank you for your comment Lynn. The biggest battles are fought silently deep within our souls. When these battles are overcome, the worldly battles are meager formalities.
It is better to make a lifestyle change instead of going on a diet. Diets are short-term and often extreme and not good for your body. If you change your lifestyle by exercising regularly and eating healthy, everything else falls into place. Excellent post Paramjit!
I have lost from a size 16 to a 10 in the past year. Exercise has been the key, I do know if I stop and continue eating like I do now, it will be a vicious cycle. Thank you for this article.
Thank you Neva for your valuable comment. Exercise is indeed essential. People try to negotiate their weight loss doing asll they can to avoid exercise. This sends them on a vicious downward spiral. Congratulations on your success. That is quite a feat.
Thanks for the feedback Zack. You hit the nail on the head. People have to realize the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Jack Lalanne is living proof of this.