healthier had they stayed couch potatoes! On the other hand, I saw
many sedentary people who attempted to get healthy without an ade-
quate level of fitness — also a condition that was not ideal. The main
reason for the dysfunction in both types of patient is an imbalance
between fitness and health. Let us define these two important terms
as follows:
Fitness: The ability to perform physical activity. You define the
limits of your fitness; you can walk a mile a day or train for the
Ironman Triathlon.
Health: The optimal balance of all systems of the body — the
nervous, muscular, skeletal, circulatory, digestive, lymphatic,
hormonal and all other systems.
Improving fitness is associated with physical activity. Only a cou-
ple of generations ago, most people were naturally active, working
hard physically to accomplish their daily chores. Today, we have esca-
lators, microwaves and remote controls. Some people drive around a
parking lot for 10 minutes to get a parking space closer to the door.
Others wait minutes for an elevator just to go to the first floor. We can
fulfill most of our needs literally at the push of a button. This radical
change from a vigorous to an inactive lifestyle has taken place, genet-
ically speaking, in a very short time frame. The human body can’t
adapt to such a major change without dire consequences. Our relative
inactivity has resulted in an overweight and obese society and an
entire host of other functional disorders from blood-sugar problems
and overfat bodies, to fatigue and low-back pain. This is followed by
increased rates of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other diseases.
Dysfunction and disease are, in large part, due to not taking care of
the body.
Since most of us have lost the natural tendency to be active like
our very recent ancestors, we must satisfy that need artificially, by
exercising. Without some fitness activity, you can’t improve your
level of health. And don’t forget the issue of balance; too much activ-
ity can also impair your health.
Steps to improving your health may include eating real foods
rather than processed, obtaining real vitamins and other nutrients
DEFINING FITNESS AND HEALTH • 13