The Manifesto

When I try to decide what to write next, I keep ending up looking for a higher level of abstraction. I can't talk about meals until I've talked about diet. I can't talk about exercise until I've talked about fitness. I can't talk about fitness until I've defined health. It's difficult even to talk about what's normal any more. In the US at least, being overweight is 'normal'. Looking to the general population to determine what is typical doesn't seem too smart to me. There is a distinction that is gaining traction between surviving and thriving. I seek to thrive. So what 'truths' do I hold to be self-evident?

• We need not become crippled as we age
• Illness is minor or rare
• You can lose weight and not be hungry
• You can build strength and not be sore
• You can always walk
• You can run for hours every day without injury
• The only things you need for sure are sun, sleep and water
• Performance need not be coupled with eating
• You can lift things every day, and recover rapidly from extreme effort
• You can maintain a calm, balanced mood
• You can find a way to include any vice
• Being healthy means being able to cope with occasional adversity
• Life is variable and multi-objective, there are no definitive optima
• Early-afternoon fatigue is not inevitable, nor any fatigue
• Most weather doesn't need to be avoided
• You don't have to crash or hit the wall when being active

I'm sure I can (and will) add more, but this seems the best way to get started on what I consider to be normal for me, and what I think is achievable by the vast majority of people. I also think, taken as a whole, the benefits of such a lifestyle often fulfil the deepest desires of many, while making a mockery of the excuses employed to avoid change. I know there are different challenges for different people, but I don't like to see people affirm their own helplessness for lack of information. So many messages are pervasive in our culture to the point where they aren't even questioned, but you can gain without pain, you can make a difference, you can have your cake and eat it. And if any of these things aren't true for you, that's your choice.