I went to see my doctor on Monday for a check-up and inquired about the shingles vaccine, and he reiterated once again that I was his healthiest patient and not to worry about it for a couple more years. The doctor and I are very close in age, our birthdays separated by only a couple of days, and he has told me that he uses me as sort of a barometer for his own wellbeing. But I always chuckle a little when he tells me that I’m his fittest or healthiest patient. If I’m the fittest the others must be really bad off. Isn’t he looking at the same body that I see in the mirror? Maybe those tests that he runs on my blood don’t tell him that I scarf down a Nutty Buddy every day. Sometimes more than one.
The next day, I met a woman whom I was gifting some old running clothes to and I mentioned that we had a common friend. She said that her friend told her that I was a “health nut.” Huh?
Okay, what the heck?! I’M NOT A HEALTH NUT! I’m a running nut, and there’s a big difference! But really though, do these two things go hand in hand? I don’t think that they do. I’m sure that there are those who are steadfast in their nutritional intake and also exercise, but I would bet good money that they are very much in the minority. The pros are probably more apt to look for any advantage they can get, and I assume they look for performance advantages with their diet. But for us age groupers, we are generally the type that uses running as an excuse to eat whatever we frickin’ want.
I’ve ranted about this before (I’M SHOCKED!) and I find it somewhat interesting that people who don’t run think that being a runner also means that I also eat kelp and quinoa. Trust me, I don’t. I had to look up how to spell quinoa.
What is a health nut anyway? Am I just defining it incorrectly? I Googled it and the first definition I came across was “someone who is very serious about their health; someone who exercises a lot and always eats healthy food.” Well, I’m definitely half of a health nut. And what’s with the nut part? Are they indicating that they think I’m nutters because I like to run? Is running a nutty thing to do? Nuts taste good and I think some nuts are healthy, too. I eat some nuts occasionally – maybe I am a health nut!
I guess if there is one thing that I could be doing better is not sabotaging my fitness with bad food choices. I’ve tried in the past and failed. I just like to eat foods that give me pleasure, not some spinach-laden salad thing. Who doesn’t? In all honesty though, I don’t overdo the junk food stuff. I haven’t ate at McD’s in years.
I mentioned above that I assumed that the pros are health nuts when it comes to diet and exercise, and now I can kind of understand why others assume that I am some sort of health nut too.
Maybe I should become a full-on health nut, then I won’t take it as an insult. Yeah, that’s right, I’M A HEALTH NUT AS WELL AS A RUNNING NUT! Eh, maybe not. I’ll stick with just being a running nut. Being a health nut is hard! And there’s no medal for it.
an amazing run 