Thought 39: One must be healthy and fit

Vegetarian foods are excellent - especially when cooked at home with spices that add interesting flavors to the food. Such flavors make the vegetables more acceptable and interesting to consume. Vegetarian food can provide all the proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and vitamins that you need.

In India, the effect of various types of food on the mind has been studied in depth – in Ayurveda (Native medical system). A healthy body always houses a healthy mind. They believe that your happiness or otherwise, is wholly dependent on what you think and on what you eat – and what you do (or not do) to your body. Regular physical exercises (such as walking, work outs on a machine, yoga Aasanas, etc) as well as breathing exercises (such as Praanaayaama) combined by meditation – keeps you healthy, physically as well as mentally.

It is almost universally accepted now, that the food intake should have some reference to the work that you do. Manual workers and those who are engaged in an active form of work, such as constant walking or lifting things etc, for instance, need more calories. Professional sitters like the white-collar employees and the computer guys, etc, who lead a comparatively sedentary life, need less calories. Ladies in general need less calories.

Those who are inactive physically in their work place need some type of fitness program. Those who are on diet need fitness programs much more. Dieting reduces the body metabolic rate and this does not make dieting very effective, unless it is combined by some sort of physical exercise program. As a matter of fact, a regular exercise for any person is a very desirable thing. Exercise is highly recommended for those who are constantly under stress such as policemen, teachers in inner city schools, air traffic controllers, office executives etc.

I always tell my children that your health and happiness depends upon ”what you put in your mind, what you put in your mouth and what you do to your body”.

The next thought is about “The balanced diet”.