Five Stages of Health: Which Are You?

Health-seekers know what they're after, and they know when they've found it. 'It' is good health. 'It' is better health. 'It' is a chance to forget that they were ever seeking something in the first place. I can't think of a single health-seeker who wouldn't jump at the chance of becoming a health freerider. But that, unfortunately, is stage five. Which stage are you at?

THE LOST STAGE OF HEALTH: You have no idea what your alien body is doing, you don't understand your symptoms/condition(s), and you have no idea what to do about it all.

Enter the experimental stage of health: you start testing which foods are making you feel ill (if any); you start working out at which times you have the worst symptoms; you start recording when those symptoms occur; and you start trying different routines, diets, and activities.

You are now on a regimented routine or/and diet, but it's not really working. It requires huge amounts of effort to sustain, you keep having 'crash' afternoons or whole days, you keep getting it wrong, and you keep wanting to detox and start over, and over, and over again.

Your routine/diet is working. You feel good, you have more energy, you are happy with this near-'perfect' routine or diet, and you sit down for a meal out, happily annoucing that you have just swum or run a mile because everything is just so good right now. Your friends are impressed, so you sit there smugly and grin at the waiter: if you eat the 'wrong' food tonight, your stomach/body in general is in such a good place already that you probably won't even notice the mistake. Grin widely.

This is the pinnacle of your health journey: freeriding (symptom-free). You may have had a taste of this for a few days, or a week, or maybe even a month at a time, but now you are finally here and it seems like everything is pretty stable. You don't have to think about your routine or your diet: it seems second-nature to you. Your stomach hasn't rebelled in a long time and that means that you are more able to eat occassional meals out and not feel stressed or lost afterwards. Health freeriders no longer feel like there is a challenge surrounding their health or their diet. Good health...just happens.

Which stage are you at right now?