6 Signs You’re a Healthy Guy — How Many Do You Recognize?
What does it mean to be healthy?
Back in the day, the simple answer given to that question might have been something like: “physical fitness is key.”
Nowadays, most of us realize simple answers like that do not do justice to the complex question of personal health.
Physical fitness is one part of the puzzle, surely, but our definitions of what it means to be healthy — and even the language we use to describe those states of being — have evolved to a point where it can sometimes feel maddening to keep up with it all. Because today, when we ask what it means to be healthy, we’re not really asking one question, we’re asking several.
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Life moves fast, and that only becomes truer as we age. A simultaneous truth is that as we get older, we also have more to worry about, health-wise. And that’s why right now is the perfect time to take stock of where you stand. So here are six signs that will tell if you’re a healthy guy, and what you can do if you feel you’re falling short of your own standards:
1. You’re Getting Regular Exercise
Reading that sentence might feel like beating a dead horse — how many times do you need to hear that exercise is important? — but it gets repeated as often as it does because staying physically active is, in fact, a major boon for your overall health.
And look, we’re not saying you need to train for bi-monthly marathons or compete in weightlifting competitions; you just need to register at least a half hour of physical activity on the daily.
“As a general goal, aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day,” writes Dr. Edward R. Laskowski, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center and professor at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. “If you want to lose weight, keep off lost weight or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more.”
Even if you have to break it up throughout the day, putting in 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there, that’s OK, says Laskowski.
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“Even brief bouts of activity offer benefits,” he notes. “For instance, if you can’t fit in one 30-minute walk during the day, try a few five-minute walks instead. Any activity is better than none at all. What’s most important is making regular physical activity part of your lifestyle.”
2. You’re Sleeping at Least 7-8 Hours a Night
Not to pit the two against one another, but an adequate amount of sleep is perhaps even more foundational for your overall health than daily exercise. If you want to have energy to do the other things required to maintain a sound mind and body — or to do anything at all, really — getting that beauty rest is paramount.
Researchers generally agree that most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep each night to wake up the next day feeling alert and well-rested. Of course, you can still function with fewer hours of shuteye than that, but it’s certainly not optimal. And if you regularly get less sleep than the doctor orders? Well, the results are not likely to be good.
According to clinical psychiatrist Dr. Thomas R. Verny, sleep “has been linked to improved concentration, better memory, and higher cognitive function, which can help you be successful at work or school.” On the other hand, he writes, a lack of sleep can literally be dangerous, increasing the chances, for example, that you may get into a car accident due to reduced reaction times.
If you feel tired throughout the day, have a hard time paying attention, or regularly feel unmotivated, it could be time to take stock of your sleep schedule.
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3. You Have Some Kind of Healthy Eating Plan in Place
It’s a law of nature: what you put into it is what you get out of it. This applies to all kinds of things, but what we’re talking about in this instance is the food you’re putting into your body on the regular. A healthy diet not only physically helps you feel like a better you, but also offers countless benefits, such as protection from conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
What exactly constitutes a healthy diet looks a little different for everyone, but there are some basics. According to the World Health Organization, a combination of grains, fruits and vegetables, legumes (see: beans), and some kind of protein source are generally what you’re after. On the opposite end of the spectrum, what you’re trying to avoid is too much salt and too much sugar.
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Here’s the thing: if you’re eating poorly, your body is going to let you know. Those consequences can take several forms, from stomach issues to weight gain to the onset of chronic disease. Bottom line: if you want to get good out, you’ve got to put good in.
4. You’re Staying Hydrated
Our bodies, in their adult forms, are made of up to 60% water, says the United States Geological Survey, which explains why it is so crucial to keep up with a minimum daily intake of good ol’ H2O. From regulating our internal body temperature to lubricating our joints and transporting nutrients, water truly does the most for us, and should not be taken for granted. That much is clear.
What isn’t so clear, maybe, is what that minimum amount should be. Conventional wisdom tells us roughly eight cups of water a day is enough to keep the doctor away (or something like that), but the truth is that the amount of daily hydration you need is dependent upon your body type and the amount of activity you do day-to-day.
Perhaps the one thing you should remember is that over-hydrating is pretty tough to do.
5. You Can Easily Identify & Express Your Feelings
On a different note, another part of the formula for overall health that we tend to pay more attention to nowadays is mental well-being — and for good reason. What good does it do you if you are in peak physical shape but are totally wrecked in the head? Not much, which is why “exercising” your mental muscles is also majorly important.
“Our state of mind directly impacts our physical body — meaning we can make ourselves ill,” explains life coach, speaker, and author Wayne Levine of BetterMen Coaching. “So taking care of our physical health requires that we care for our emotional health. And, of course, the reverse is also true: our physical health impacts our emotional health.
“Expressing our feelings moves the energy which, if locked in our bodies, will negatively affect our health. We can also offer and receive wisdom that can help us deal with life’s challenges.”
Bottling up your emotions can sometimes lead to disastrous results, such as reaching a boiling point and potentially damaging a relationship irreparably. So if you feel you are in a space, mentally, in which you cannot express yourself, it might be time to ask some hard questions and examine why that is.
6. You Have Reliable Emotional Outlets
Keeping in that same vein, having people in your life that you are able to be open and vulnerable with is critical. That doesn’t necessarily mean seeing a therapist — although it could be a good outlet for you, if no others are readily available — but simply that you have a close friend or two that you are comfortable sharing things with.
“Having at least one close friend to talk with is the least expensive, and perhaps most effective, form of preventative medicine,” says Levine. “The cornerstone of the work I do with men is precisely intended to help that man establish a trusting relationship with another man so that he can eventually seek out and nurture those relationships in his personal life.”
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“Counselors, life coaches, men’s groups and men’s retreats are all excellent means by which to better understand oneself and to build the skills that lead to a healthy state-of-mind,” Levine adds.
Short of speaking with a professional or attending a retreat, ask yourself if you have one or two people in your life that you would be comfortable sharing almost anything with. If not, and you feel as if you need that sort of outlet, trying therapy — which is more readily accessible, affordable, and flexible than ever — could be a good option.
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