Every nutrient in your body has a Goldilocks Zone - not too much - not too little - just right! When you get this just right, the effect is enduring good health. However, getting there and staying there is as good as impossible and we all fail in the end.
Sorry to sound so depressing. Let me explain.
Image above: The "Reference Range" = the "Goldilocks Zone"
Forever seeking the Holy Grail of good health
As simple as it appears: it's complicated! Finding and getting into the Goldilocks Zone and staying there is far from easy. In fact, it is the impossible Holy Grail of life because the inevitable and natural course of events over everyone's life is to fall into a state of metabolic chaos, eventually resulting in death.
Image above: I'm still looking for the Holy Grail. Is it sitting on your desk?
Death is something all of us must face - eventually. As I say, when explaining this gradual decline in metabolic health - a state of metabolic chaos:
"Even the most famous people in history died"
We can't escape death, but there is so much we can do to ensure a long, healthy, productive and happy life. A good life is is founded on a rock-solid base of enduring good health.
It is complicated because the nutrient Goldilocks Zone varies from one person to the next and is never a constant for a person, due to factors like periods of stress, excess exercise, infections, injuries, age, gender, medications, toxic exposures, genetics, and variations in diet. It's more than complicated when you come to think of it.
Human Beings make for poor lab rats!
Yes, it is complicated and not helped by Human Beings being the worst kind of lab rats.
Seldom will a person stick to the programme, no matter how good it may be or how motivated they may be. People are fickle and unpredictable at best of times, they go on weekend "benders", they get fired from their jobs, they run about the countryside in their underwear (triathlons) when they should be resting, and they love chocolate and potato chips.
These weaknesses and strange quirks of behaviour are part of what it is to be human.
Falling off the wagon happens and it is never the end of the world, although many would think it is. What matters is getting back on the wagon. What matters is being consistent over the long term. What matters is consistency and persistence over one's lifespan - not over a few months. losing the plot now and then is of no real consequence over the long term. Being consistent over the long term is the key to good health.
This idea is in stark contrast with crash diets and harsh detoxification regimes, or the brutality of most pharmaceutical drugs, or by cutting out pieces of a person's anatomy. They fail miserably.
You can not beat or poison a person into good health
You are like a potted flower. A delicate petal. If you are wilting and dying, sadly dropping your flowers, you can not be beaten or poisoned back to good health. What you need is to be carefully repotted in fresh potting mix. You need to be gently watered each day with the perfect nutrient mix that is specially formulated just for you. You need to be placed in the sun while sheltered from the wind and the cold.
We need to sing to you, as well, and all will eventually be rewarded by the most beautiful of flowers!
When you come to think about it, the modern approach to health and medicine is so masculine. It's brutal and forceful and it does not work. It is the angry, fiery iron Hammer of Thor. Got a problem? Smash it!
What I am advocating here is a feminine approach to health. It's loving. It's gentle. It's nurturing. Love yourself. Love your body. No hate please!
Consistency over the years is what produces the winners
Please bear these ideas in mind when embarking on any programme to improve your health and fitness and success will be your reward.
Image above: Lorraine Moller, modern Samurai Warrior. Consistency and persistence wins.