Have you ever read the book 1984 by George Orwell? It tells a story about a goverment who controlled it’s people by changing the very language they spoke.
I deal with that problem as it exists in today’s world quite a bit on my financial success blog and in other places. The meanings that people give to words differs based on whether they are wealthy or poor. The government isn’t actively changing words as they were in the book 1984, but sub-cultures exist within our society and have their own language. Poor people watch more TV and get their word meanings from TV which is designed for poor people because the advertisers know that more poor people watch TV.
The same thing is happening in the “diet” sub-culture in America. When I say the word “diet”, the diet sub-culture translates that to mean “a reduction in calories.” Outside the diet sub-culture though, the word “diet” simply means what you eat.
The same problem exists with the word “exercise”, but in a slightly different way… and it doesn’t apply only to the diet sub-culture. The word has been warped for most of society. When I say “exercise”, most people instantly envision a gym and exercise machines. The fact is that the word exercise simply means to “use”. I am exercising my computer right this second as I post this blog entry.
I realized these problems with the language when I created this blog. However, I wanted to use those words so that searches for this blog using the words that the diet sub-culture uses would result in this blog showing in the results. But, that means that we need to talk about them and what they actually mean on this blog. If I accept the diet sub-culture meaning of these words, then I will end up being fat… because nearly 100% of the diet sub-culture is fat because they use those meanings of these words!
So, I have already said that when I use the word “diet” here on this blog, I mean and eating plan. We all have a diet regardless of our weight status, our fitness level or if we are intending to have a diet. We must eat. What we eat is our diet.
Exercise is a bit more difficult. I won’t often use the word exercise on this blog because it is so maligned. I’ll probably use the words “use”, “activity” or “sport” more often. When I use those words, no one will envision wasting an hour at the gym three time a week… which I certainly will never intend by those words. I think that’s artificial and a complete waste of time.
Remember that the overweight condition is a modern condition. Some reach all the way back to caveman days to illustrate that, but it is actually much more modern than that. Look at pictures of the roaring 20’s. See any fat people? Look at pictures during the depression 30’s. See any fat people? Look at the 40’s. Any fat people? Even the 50’s. Where ar the fat people? How about the 60’s? Still no fat people. The 70’s? Wait… There are a few fat people in the 70’s. In fact, the female population is being hit first and it’s fairly wide-spread… perhaps 20-30% of the female population is 10-30 pounds overweight. But where are the obese people? Still nowhere to be found.
I’m talking about the United States now. Take a hop over to Europe and you don’t see the beginnings of the problem that started here in the 70’s anywhere for three more decades. What happened at the exact same time as the weight problem started here in the 70’s? An interesting new type of business was created. It was called the sauna and was designed for women to lose weight in the 70’s. It became even more popular in the 80’s and as men started to go was renamed to the gym.
This type of business still didn’t really exist in Europe until the 90’s. It is just now starting to pick up a tiny bit of popularity there.
So, somehow… people stayed skinny, healthy, and physically fit without the gym or “exercising” for centuries until the 70’s. Odd; huh? How is that possible?
Before the gym (and afterwards) there were people who engaged in sports and other recreational activities that kept them in good cardio-vascular shape and muscular. In fact, many of the devices you find in gyms are artifical versions of these sports and recreational activities. People used to lift weights in competition to see who could lift the most. Many of the machines in a gym are based on these weight lifting activities. People used to take bicycle rides through the country to see nature and visit with friends or family. Now there is a stationary bicycle machine. People used to swim to cool off and enjoy the water. Now there is a special pool where currents are artificially produced so that you can swim in one place.
It’s really quite ridiculous. When I say that I don’t intend to exercise or that I think exercise is a waste of time… I mean those silly activities. By definition, it is a waste of time. Why would I go to a gym to sit on a stationary bike for 20 minutes when I could actually ride a bike to somewhere useful and enjoy the scenery along the way? Why would I run on a treadmill to satisfy an urge to sprint to the end of my property?
By definition, exercising is a waste of time. Instead of taking time out of your life to go to the gym and “exercise”, why not actually live life and actually do the real activities that exercising is meant to simulate?
-James D. Brausch
5 Comments
Excellent post, James. I’ve joined gyms and done weight training routines, etc. for the past 8+ years. My wife and I were really consistent for the two years before we had kids. But then the little ones came.
It is very difficult to go to gyms on a regular basis with kids. And so I’ve found it far easier (and cheaper) to engage in recreational activities.
In fact, when I take the kids to the park and the other parents are looking, that’s when I get to play.
Definitely agree with you. The last paragraph was particularly well put regarding simulating the activities that bring us greater awareness of our connection with nature, with life and with ourselves, perhaps God as well - such as taking a bike ride instead of an excercise bike ride etc. Well put, James.
Great point about diet and how it’s perceived. I always think of it as what I eat, but when I share my ideas online, I sometimes wonder if people think differently. I agree that exercise also brings a certain image to mind, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I actually enjoy running the treadmill and elliptical trainers, but then I’ve been doing that for close to ten years now. It gives me a chance to veg. in front of the monitors and get a few minutes of “tv. media” or even time to myself while the kiddo’s play in the nursery. It is nice to go out though and have a fun filled afternoon in the park or hike the trails, though. Thanks for a good thought provoking post and for participating in the Fitness for Moms Carnival.
James,
That’s clever… or at least it’s a clever recognition of the everyday words that we use and what they used to mean.
Treadmills can be convenient for the TV-watching runners, but I agree that it’s better to get out.
I remember watching friends play basketball video games as a kid. Playing the real thing was so much more fun to me. Same with a real bike, a real pool. Funny how we love to create artificial versions of the world around us.
Hi James, I recently moved my life so that everything was within walking distance. Now I love walking to work, church, the library. One day, I had to pick something up at the post office and found myself in a light jog to catch it open.
As you said, walking or biking to somewhere is so much better than sitting on a bike. I always liked moving, but carving out that time to go to the gym was a pain. Now I kill a thousand birds with one stone: better commute, exercise, less gas. It’s win win all around.
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