JUDD JONES: Revolt!

I would like to propose a grassroots revolution to gain control of your health and wellness quietly. I am not suggesting revolution by storm, but in a fundamental, most uncomplicated set of changes to our daily behavior.

One of the most significant economic factors driving the world economy is health and medicine. When we talk about health, we think of a broad range of products, services, and activities from exercise, dieting, nutrition, changing lifestyles and advancements in medical treatments.

We are all consumers of health and wellness, and we face the daunting task of selecting which health and wellness approach is best for each of us. We quickly get lost choosing from such an extensive menu of options and pitched at every turn the next trendy unproven new health thing.

Perhaps it’s time we consider that our media-driven dogma on what it means to be healthy is not only outdated, but ridiculously complicated and even unhealthy.

Let’s consider going old school, and I mean falling back to some ancient thinking. A sagacious man once said, “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” Yes, if you guessed it was Hippocrates that said this, you would be correct.

Modern nutrition seems to jump around like a squirrel from tree to tree into the next significant trend, often leaning toward things that are cheap, processed and nutritionally questionable. Getting back to basics with whole, raw and natural foods is such a simple approach to health, you would think it would be an unshakable trend that we all follow religiously.

The next aspect of a real revolution is to change our thinking about jumping into seasonal or specifically, all the rage programs. Steering away from the idea to diet after the holidays, start a gym program after the first of the year, and engaging in unproven health and wellness fads.

Instead of putting yourself through the ups and downs of seasonal health routines and buying into fitness fads, consider merely creating consistent and proper nutrition and healthy fitness habits that last year around. Shift your lifestyle to a process of living at your best each day.

Finally, you have the fast and furious folks, with a “YOLO” (you only live once) approach. This attitude, which is often driven by the need to make a statement “Oh look, I am drunk again, I being stupid with unhealthy behavior again,” on social media showing the world just how skilled they are at destroying their health, again more social dogma. For being a vast population of brilliant humans, we are undoubtedly ridiculous in our poor behaviors and choices.

It is worth considering that the best and brightest of both young and old that live a full life of adventure do so with health at the top of their daily game. These folks know that their body is their temple, requiring that they take care of themselves so they can make “YOLO” happen with peak performance.

Now before you think that I am judgmental or critical of lifestyle choices, let’s consider a life filled with excellent days, excellent health, excellent mobility and a conspicuous lack of illnesses. To be part of this quiet revolution, we need to get back to basics and ignore social and media-driven health and wellness nonsense. We will need to pay attention to the insanity of poor behavior and shift to the long-game of logical ideas which are the foundation that builds on healthy nutrition and exercise.

This simple idea to build a health and wellness revolution that each of us can add our voice and actions to is a beautiful thought. Perhaps we already see the early signs that it’s hip, cool and trendy to be wellness centered. Is it such a stretch to eat healthy nutritious foods and be physically active every day?

Daily wellness is a conscious shift to be your best self, live a quality life and thrive unencumbered by health problems. Make consistency be your roadmap to successful lifelong wellness. It’s never too late to start a journey and a revolution to turn our health and wellness around, bringing forward our best self.

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Judd Jones is a director for The Hagadone Corporation and Certified Health Coach. www.jhanawellness.com