By Joel B. Belinan
As we start the year after almost a month of revelries with extravagant eating, the most common complaints are related to weight gain. Yes, even at this time of the pandemic most Filipinos still managed to find ways to do those traditional celebrations that came with the season. The thing with gaining weight is it takes a lot of effort and a long time to lose what you gained in a very short period.
In our daily early morning workout at the park where I meet several friends and acquaintances, almost all have the same purpose for going there to stay healthy by losing excess weight. Even in our corner of the park where we play various combative sports like boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, wushu, karate, and the like, it’s very evident that most of us gained weight during the holidays. It doesn’t matter that we regularly sweat. When one takes more calories than what our metabolism can burn, we will surely gain weight.
A friend of mine asked me whether having an ideal weight (based on height and body frame) automatically translates to good health? That is a tricky question. I don’t claim to be an expert on this but accordingly, when one can maintain a certain weight level based on individual physical circumstances, it can be regarded already as a big advantage. This is for the fact that having an ideal weight means many problems that come with an overweight would be eliminated from one’s possible health risks.
In the first place, if I, as an individual, can maintain my ideal weight, the probability is that I am doing my regular exercises and at the same time am watchful on my food intake. These are two of the most important factors to attain good health. While it is true that some people can have an ideal weight without doing regular exercises, there remains the big advantage of people who have ideal weights due to their efforts in doing exercises and being health conscious on their food intake. Indeed, one should still be on guard about other health hazards not necessarily caused by being overweight.
Other than the appreciation of backyard gardening, one of the positive things this Covid-19 crisis taught us is the deeper understanding on the importance of having good health. As being emphasized by health experts, maintaining good health means boosting our immune system. Having an active immune system is our first line of defense against the Covid virus and of course other health risks. Furthermore, experts especially those in complementary medicine say that in most cases, maintaining health does not necessarily entail spending high on food. It is even more expensive to indulge in those many unhealthy food found in popular fast food centers compared to the usual home based foods prepared by mothers or whoever takes care of the house kitchen. The nonstop bombardments by commercial advertisement through mainstream and social media, however, makes it even harder to convince our younger generation and to some extent including adults to avoid those trash or highly processed food products.
I have to confess that despite being a vegetarian for 34 years already, due to various circumstances, there were a few times that I was overweight and my health was not at its peak. Back during my days as a missionary of the Ananda Marga (AM) organization, we followed strictly the protocols called 16 Points for physical, mental, and spiritual health. In my entire six years as AM missionary, I cannot remember a time that I got sick. My physical body was always in the best of shape. Even when I returned home for good, I maintained my adherence to the 16 Points for health until the age of 45. During those years, my health had always been very good and I was the envy of those who knew me.
Age and life circumstances slowly changed though and at times I had to struggle to maintain my weight, just like many others during this holiday season. This means that being a vegetarian is not a sure guarantee of good health. However, being a vegetarian is a big advantage compared to carnivores as it eliminates many health risks that come with eating meat and fish (many will surely disagree).
For those interested in what these 16 Points are all about, we can arrange a yoga or special session as this would entail a long discussion and sharing. **
