You Won't Want to Hear This... (really.)
I haven’t written much about this subject, simply due to the politically charged, fairly divisive discussions between “camps” on multiple sides of the issue. I’ve been absolutely amazed by the amount of opinions, suppression, cognitive bias, and in many cases, vitriol, toward those with differing thoughts on the topic.
I’ll be vague about what illness I’m talking about so this is able to be shared on social media and hopefully read. (it’s incredible that we actually have to adjust our content in order to avoid “safety-prioritizing” “f-ct” ch-ckers,” but I digress…).
We could take a look at the data and studies supporting every angle of “facial opening filtering devices,” or “immune system injections” or “maintaining an acceptable distance from others,” or …
You get my allusions there. But, these debates distract us from the opportunity we have elsewhere.
What I’d like to discuss now is economics: time economics, financial economics, and mental economics. There are a huge amount of decisions being made based off of anecdotal evidences, “scientific studies” — in quotes due to the variation of acceptable studies depending on which camp you are in (or running around the outside perimeter of all the camps like I tend to be, personally), and personal experience.
It seems like every decision is hotly debated, with some wanting the government to force decisions upon others, regardless of not knowing each individual’s circumstances, some preferring to leave everyone alone to make their own decisions, and others are almost completely oblivious to what’s going on. Very few can agree on much, and it seems to be perpetuating and exacerbating problems, for every perspective.
So, to cut to the chase, I have a few thoughts.
We can worry and get frustrated about all of the above, or, we can actually do something about it.
You can sit at home and wring your hands about the “dangerous illness” moving from person to person, worry and get angry about who’s donning a “respiration filtration device”, or, "meeting with too many people at once” or, and this is where I might get somewhat offensive… You can decide we’ll all very likely get it at some point, regardless of whether there’s a working “immunity injection,” and start doing sensible, simple things, like working on your natural illness armor and defense systems today.
One thing very few will argue or debate is the health-boosting ability of good nutrition: “Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat” (G. Glassman, Fitness in 100 words).
Another thing few people will contest is that regular exercise is beneficial to the strength of your body’s “biological attack defense system.”
In fact, you likely know people who tend to focus on their nutrition and fitness, generally speaking, fair far better than the rest when it comes to any sort of illness, be it cancer, or the current menace.
We have seen all sorts of studies showing those in better health, be it in regard to underlying conditions, vitamin D levels, overall fitness, mental attitude, etc, etc handle this unnamed infamous illness far better than those who let their health deteriorate. It seems almost stupidly simple, pardon the harshness, to have to spell it out: Your focus on your health can dramatically protect the quality, extend the length, and improve your ability to live your life in the face of all known aggressors. You can do this NOW. No reason to wait.
Now for the economics.
Ask yourself, what is stopping you from making these necessary changes? What is keeping you from minimizing sugar, alcohol, and buying more veggies (which are FAR cheaper than sugar and alcohol by the way, so please don’t use your budget as an excuse :) ?
What is keeping you from exercising? What is in between you and at least getting out of the house for a walk each day? If this illness is so dangerous, and you have a strongly correlated solution to help you defeat it, why aren’t you doing anything about it?
What makes a gym membership, which costs anywhere from $0 (your living room or sidewalk), $12 (Planet Fitness) to $1200 (Personal Trainer) per month “too expensive”? What makes it okay to succumb to a $10,000+ hospital stay when you could have spent a third of that over a year or two and potentially avoided the hospital bill?
What causes you to say “I don’t have time” for the extra 30-60 minutes a few times per week you’d need to see positive progress?
What keeps you from changing your nutrition? Is it too difficult to walk to the trash can and toss the candy you have in the house or buy more fresh veggies you don’t even need to cook to snack on (think broccoli, carrots, celery, cucumbers, etc.)?
The are questions you must ask yourself and answer honestly.
Yes, this is blunt and to the point, but this is my responsibility to you. I am responsible for speaking the truth and not filtering it.
If we are truly willing to:
destroy our mental health and increase suicides because of it
annihilate a huge swath of people’s livelihoods
lock our grandparents away in homes and be unable to see them
force massive restrictions and,
“temporarily” give governments mostly unrestrained power (which has proven throughout history to be exceedingly dangerous in and of itself, but that’s an unrelated blog topic for another day, and apart from the gym) …
If we could do all of that, and more, in an attempt to minimize damage from an illness, then why don’t we, along with the media, big tech companies, and politicians, bring attention to and promote the simple physical and mental things we can do to improve our health via nutrition and exercise and literally save thousands of lives?
The economics of your time spent on your nutrition and fitness are almost exponentially positive.
Invest in yourself and your families. Break the glass. Use these tools. Lives depend on it.