Brett's Blog: Should Healthy People ALWAYS Set an Example?
October 2, 2008 | by Brett Blumenthal | 3 Comments
by Brett Blumenthal
The other day, a friend and I were taking a leisurely stroll and we had the choice of taking an escalator or taking the stairs. She headed for the stairs and I opted for the escalator. My friend quickly scolded me, ‘You, of all people, should be taking the stairs!’ Ummm…SERIOUSLY???? Yes, I’m a fit, healthy individual, and yes, I have a business promoting healthy and balanced lifestyles, but in all honesty, does that mean that I, or anyone else who is healthy, should always be setting an example?
Granted, I’ve experienced those individuals who think my healthy choices are ‘unnecessary.’ I look healthy and as a result, why do I need to eat well…why don’t I just dive into a big bag of chocolate donuts? But, as my friend so blatantly demonstrated, there too are those individuals who assume that if you are healthy and are in the ‘business of health’, you should be living the ‘Healthy Example’ ALL the time…or at least WANTING to.
I know I’m not alone in this experience. Recently, I spoke with a woman who runs a personal training company with her boyfriend. She told me that everytime she and her boyfriend go out to a restaurant, people who know them scrutinize over what they eat, commenting on their eating dessert, butter or even drinking wine. Ok…here are my issues with this:
- These extremes are CRAZY! The all or nothing attitude is completely unrealistic, not to mention, self-defeating. It’s these stereotypes that get us into trouble…ultimately de-motivating individuals about being healthy. That is why BALANCE is the true secret to being healthy. Knowing when too much is too much and when not enough is not enough is key.
- The Double Standard: If healthy people ever had this reaction to an unhealthy, overweight and out of shape person, it would be completely unacceptable.
- Comparing Apples to Apples: If the logic of all or nothing held true, then it would be like saying, if you are fat and out of shape, you should ALWAYS do things that people expect out of shape and fat people to do. God forbid they should eat a salad!
Has anyone forced a stereotype of healthiness on you because you are healthy? Do you think that people who are healthy should ALWAYS lead by example?
Related Topics:
- What is Balance?
- Healthy Eating: Diet vs. Lifestyle
- Healthy Eating: Diet vs. Lifestyle part II
- The Tipping Point: Knowing when to Stop
- Top Ten ways to Sabotage your Salad
Flo
Hmmmm I do have a comment concerning the “Double Standard” part. You know I think culture is also responsible. On my side of the ocean overweight people are, let’s say “out of norms”, and they really do get stared at when they eat something that is not deemed healthy. Or get comments on how they should really eat better and get into shape. Concerning healthy looking individuals, people here have a tender eye when one indulges in a bag of pastries. Indulging from time to time is seen as a well deserved time-off in a healthy and strict routine. In a culture where healthiness is the norm, then healthy people don’t have to set an example and the overweight people are pointed out. If overweight were to be a national issue (ie dangerously becoming the norm), then it is most likely that healthy people get extra pressure to ….. stay healthy.
Karen
I am 56, 5′8″ and have weighed the same my whole life. 118 pounds. I have never liked bread, potatoes and detest sugar and still to this day do not eat those things. I don’t worry about my weight, never have. Its just how I live my life. My brother and sister also still weight the same. We grew up on a
farm, where watching Tv or sitting around was not an option and still are very active today. Both my children are also thin. For them they know they have to stay this way. Their father died last year from complications of Type 2 diabetes, which runs in his family His Grandmother also died from it. He never
took the disease seriously, and he was always over weight even with the disease. A disease which can be eliminated with diet and exercise. He went into kidney failure and was on dialysis for four years. He lost one toe then another, then half his foot and never recovered from the many surgeries. When you loose your kidney function, your body can not easily rid itself of the anesthesia which builds up as fluid around your lungs and heart. He died of heart failure. It may be so cliche people, but oh so true, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Elizabeth
I find it terribly frustrating when going out to dinner or even at a family event when I eat something ‘out of character’ (recovered anorexic who went on to treat eating disorders/vegetarian animal friend) and someone yells out loud and gasps and makes some infantile scene about it. My mother-in-law is overweight and most of my aunts have weight problems, so when they say things, or point at me while I’m eating it’s pretty unpleasant, to say the least. I’ve gotten over it, but the comments about my weight and my body are never-ending. I am still thin but very fit now. I eat well and am mostly happy with my food/body relationship. I wish I could just tell them to shut up and go have yet another glass of wine and peice of junk food, but I have more tact than they do.
On the flip side, when you’re the health guru, people don’t like to dine with you and they make it obvious by saying things like ‘oh, we can’t eat that in front of her.’ I should say ‘no, no, that’s fine, go right ahead and choke down some more alfredo and dead baby cow, I’m sure you’re high cholestrol won’t kill you’
Apparently, I still have some anger to work through.