That so-and-so who doesn’t smoke or drink seriously maintains health but dies of cancer early, what’s the use of you asking me to live a healthy life?

“Some people take good care of their health without smoking or drinking, but die young. Some people smoke, drink, eat three meals a day and live to ninety years old. What’s the use of you asking me to live a healthy life?” This is probably everyone who wants to live a life of their own parents. Reasons for resistance to be heard when one becomes healthier. Even some middle-aged and middle-aged people who are not too old really think so. But this is actually a blind spot in thinking.

Eating well (prototype food, balanced nutrition), exercising well (progressive overload improves muscle and cardiorespiratory fitness), and sleeping well (regular life improves sleep quality) can indeed promote health, but of course it does not guarantee that you will not get sick or injured.

People have too many diseases that come from genes, and that is beyond your control. There is no guarantee that you will not suddenly catch an epidemic (and you do not know how your immune system will respond) or get injured in an accident. These are also beyond your control.

In the face of impermanence, always remember that not everything is within your control. But overall, the stronger you are, the more you can control.

For example, your physical fitness is better than most people, and the more familiar you are with public transportation, the more flexible you are when moving outside than others. It’s not like many people don’t know how to move without driving or riding a motorcycle.

The same goes for unexpected injuries.

If you actively promote your health on a regular basis, when these injuries happen to you, your body is in the best condition to deal with them. This is the controllable in the uncontrollable. More importantly, you know that you have done everything you can and will have no regrets. You will be more able to live in the moment and face it head-on. The really uncontrollable aspects of you can also be at ease.

That was the case with my own COVID diagnosis in early August this year. Because everyone’s immune system responds differently, and this was my first diagnosis, I had no way of predicting how my body would respond. I am not yet eligible for antiviral drugs, so I can only rely on my own immune system to deal with it.

Although it is mild, all the symptoms are quite strong. At the beginning of the fever, I had a fever for three days, and the fever reached 39 degrees. I seldom have a fever in my life, and I have never had a fever beyond 39, let alone a fever for three days in a row. Will you worry? of course. But I have been infected in a very healthy state. You can only trust your own immune system. Fortunately, the fever subsided after three days and survived the most intense stage of the immune response.

In fact, this period is also an opportunity to understand yourself. Everyone responds to disease differently, and the experience of others may not be a direct reference. So just observe and feel carefully, without too much worry.

COVID has also impacted fitness quite significantly. In addition to the impact of the disease itself (especially the first two weeks), there is also the impact of reduced exercise training during the recuperation period. In the third week after the diagnosis, the exercise intensity was gradually increased again, which felt a bit like re-training.

Although it is inevitable to sigh “It will take a long time to get back to the previous state”, but it will not be like ordinary people who keep sighing “Physical fitness has deteriorated, this disease is terrible”. It’s more about anticipation. Because when I first started exercising eight years ago, my physical fitness was worse than in the second week of this diagnosis, so I practiced like this. Having experienced various physical ups and downs, I am confident that I can come back from training.

OK, back to the original question. Some people take good care of their health without smoking or drinking, but die young. Some people smoke, drink, eat three meals indiscriminately and live to ninety years old. What’s the use of you wanting me to live a healthy life?

Of course it works. It makes you at least a little bit more controllable when you are uncontrollable, ensures that you are in the best physical and mental state when you encounter unfortunate injuries, and it also makes your body and mind more resilient. The most important thing is to do everything that can be done, and you won’t think “how could I not be so bad now if I had been earlier”, and you won’t have any regrets. You will be more able to “get it and lose it”.

further reading

• Eight Years of Continuous Exercise: Sustainability, Discipline, and Balance
• Finally no longer the Chosen One: A Chronicle of a COVID-19 Diagnosis