What Physical Health Means to Me

Physical health can be defined as, pertaining to the body, "everything ranging from the absence of disease to fitness level." Seems quite broad, no? Study.com goes on to break up physical health into 5 subcategories including physical activity, nutrition and diet, alcohol and drugs, medical self-care, and rest and sleep. Sure, makes sense. Physical health to me is more than that, though. We as humans are all built differently, physically and genetically, in our own beautiful ways. So the means by which we measure physical health should be unique to each one of us as well. While it's important to maintain physical health in the obvious ways, getting exercise and trying to eat clean, life gets messy. Physical health, to me, is being in touch with your mind and body, knowing when to push it, and being kind to yourself when you just simply can't.

Body dysmorphic disorder has plagued my existence since childhood. Defined as "a body-image disorder characterized by persistent and intrusive preoccupations with an imagined or slight defect in one's appearance," BDD affects about 1 in 50 people according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. So, while some may choose to make mental and physical health distinctive from one another, physical health to me is the marrying of the two together. I've always been quite active as a child, participating in ballet and various sports, but I've never really started taking my physical health seriously until I got to college.

Those who live with BDD know that it’s a constant state of desperately wanting to love your body in its current form but always managing to find a flaw in it until it becomes obsessive. Despite what anyone may tell you about yourself, it doesn’t make a difference. Part of my experience with BDD stems from past mentally and emotionally abusive relationships in which I have been body-shamed and made to feel worthless. Since freeing myself from the chains of those relationships, I have become stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally. If you're experiencing a similar situation, I urge you to get out. You are worth so much, and it's important that you know that.

So anything I do for my physical health is strictly for me—no one else. No matter if one battles BDD or not as well, I think it’s important for everyone to make positive strides on behalf of his or her physical health for his or herself alone. It's been quite a war zone in my mind for as long as I can remember, but the longer I'm on this journey, the more I realize that being physically "healthy" is more about how I feel and not how I look.

My favorite way to stay in touch with my own mind and body is by running—particularly outside. A nice jog affords me the feeling that I’m quite literally running away from my problems, even for just a little while, which is not only good for my body but eases my frantic mind as well. Making it a point to get to the gym 5 days a week, too, helps me to stay on top of my physical health. Even if it’s just a light workout, exercising my mind, body, and soul gets the endorphins flowing, and as Elle Woods said best in Legally Blonde, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don’t kill their husbands. They just don’t.” And hey-- that’s an idea that I can get behind.

We are given one life, one body. We have one chance to make it what we choose. Physical health to me is taking care of my own unique being in the unique way it needs loved and nurtured. Physical health to me is long runs through Schenley Park on sunny days, reminding me of how beautiful this life can be and how blessed I am to be able to move on my own. Physical health to me is learning to forgive myself for the days when my mind and body are simply too overwhelmed or exhausted to make it the gym. Physical health to me is being mindful of the foods I intake to fuel my body but always indulging in that pizza when I get the chance. Physical health to me is understanding that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and should be celebrated. Our bodies are temples, so let's be kind to them.