Fitness Defined!

When somebody recently asked me for a definition of fitness, I stammered, stopped, and admitted that I couldn't really put it into a precise definition.   That seems strange, since I spend a lot of my time talking, defining, and writing.

But it really got me to thinking about that.   So, what is fit?  And then (for some strange reason), I thought about the Bible (yeah, I know...my brain works like that sometimes).  So here goes my definition of fitness, sort of in the form of the Beatitudes.

Fit isn't skinny, but it might be.   Fit isn't fat but it can be big.

Fit isn't being able to bench 225 pounds but fit might be that you are able to pick up a bag of potting soil and carry it to the flower bed.  
Fit is being able to climb a flight of stairs and not have to stop along the way (and maybe not be huffing and puffing when you get to the top).

I'm gonna go off on a tangent here but by the way, if you have the option, TAKE THE STAIRS!   I've seen people 30 years my junior with pounds to lose take the stairs up one floor.   I've even had people that know better take the elevator up one floor and then when they get off, sheepishly tell me that they figured that would get them mentioned in my column.

Well, yeah-here it is.   I do notice and maybe you need to forgive me for that but when you have that heart attack at 40 because you have no semblance of fit and I feel guilty because you are a friend and I should have done more to help you understand that it starts with that single flight of stairs...well then I don't need the guilt and you don't need the heart attack.

Fit doesn't mean that you drive your car around the parking lot 10 times waiting on a space to open up closer to the building.   Fit often means that you park well away from the building (unless you're in a big hurry and then you might be excused) and use those few extra steps.  

Fit doesn't mean that you pull out that Handicapped Parking tag because you couldn't find that aforementioned parking space right beside the building and don't really want to walk all the way across the parking lot when you are perfectly capable of doing so (and that thing about being in a hurry does not apply here).

Fit means that you don't smoke and never will.  Fit is being good to your body and inhaling carcinogens is never good for your body.

Fit doesn't require you to diet but it does mean that you eat smart most of the time. 

Fit means that you find a way to exercise pretty much every day.   And never forget that what works for one person doesn't always work for the next.   Find your own path here.
Notice that I didn't say that fitness means that you shouldn't enjoy life and food and friends and family  and that you shouldn't stop and smell the roses--by all means, you should do all of those things.   But if you want to do all those things for a very long time, then being fit should move way up on your priority list. 

My oldest granddaughter will be 17 when I turn 70 and I want to be around to see that day, to judge her boyfriends, and have important conversations with her.  I want to be the kind of grandfather that she might occasionally want to hang around with, partly because he still does lots of cool stuff.   Like bike and hike and canoe and dive and stuff like that.

So every day, I do things that help make sure that happens.  I guess that's just me though.