According to new information released in 2015 by the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, only about 3% of the population in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom are actually healthy – with 97% of those individuals living in those countries struggling with a variety of different ailments that sets them up for pain and frustration.
It is critically important that you do absolutely everything in your power to improve your health if it is lagging behind, but you are only going to be able to do so if you understand where you are health is right now.
After all, most people are under the false impression that they are significantly healthier than they really are (as evidenced by the 3% figures outlined above). Here are three questions you want to ask yourself to determine whether or not you are actually healthy or if you need to get to work.
Are you actually exercising enough?
To hit the kind of healthy lifestyle that you are looking for these days you need to spend at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week exercising and really pushing your body to the limits.
The overwhelming majority of people are leading very sedentary lives that are getting even more sedentary as time goes on – and that’s going to cause some pretty big trouble later down the line.
Do absolutely everything in your power to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day five days a week (seven days a week would be even better) and you’ll be able to dramatically overhaul your health in a hurry.
How does your diet stack up?
The average diet is absolutely awful, loaded with all kinds of simple and complex carbohydrates, processed food items, and all kinds of toxins and additives that have absolutely no place whatsoever in the human body.
You’ll want to switch your diet to something that focuses on food as close to its natural state as possible. Lots of fresh fruit, lots of fresh vegetables, and lean sources of protein will have you much healthier in record time.
What does your body fat percentage look like?
A healthy Body Mass Index (your percentage of body fat versus bone, muscle, and water) sits somewhere between 18% and 24%, and you’ll want to get measured ASAP.
There are quite a few homes scales that can calculate BMI effectively, though if you’re looking to get the most accurate numbers you want to go to a testing laboratory and drop some serious cash to find out EXACTLY where your numbers lie.