by Joshua Zambrano

Created on: November 15, 2008

No single one food, when consumed, will keep away doctors. Doctors come and go as they please, especially if you're married to one. While you could presumably use the apples to pelt the doctor, it would likely take a supply of more than one per day to effectively ward off the aggressive attacker.

Once coming to grips with this difficult yet undeniable truth, one can then slowly begin the process toward a healthier and more meaningful life, integrating back into society once more. Doctors, love them or hate them, are fickle, strange people in white coats who will come after you should you exhibit strange and mentally deranged behaviors (such as pelting them with apples).

Now, with all that said, this topic serves well to illustrate a common fallacy in the thinking of society today. Diets aren't the sole key to a healthy life! There are a variety of other factors affecting one's health, such as lifestyle habits, exercise, and the wisdom to not step out in front of that oncoming bus.

A book series called Fit or Fat by Covert Bailey hones in on this important fact, with an emphasis on 15+ minutes of aerobic exercise several times a week. Bailey makes the point that even if you diet and lose a lot of weight, you are losing muscle, the fat-burning muscle responsible for burning off calories and fat even when you're not exercising, as well as fat. Those periods of exercise are needed for about 15 minutes or more to build the fat-burning muscles needed.

While diet is a key, it is not the only key, and arguably not even the most important one. Studies have shown that a simple range of healthy lifestyle habits will consistently produce longer lives, habits such as not smoking, not drinking, getting regular medical checkups, and exercising both physically and mentally at a moderate level.

Now, as for those doctor-pelting devices, healthy, nutritious foods are certainly a staple in reaching longevity, but one does not need to starve oneself to look good or live long. Simply exercise, practice sensible lifestyle behaviors, and eat healthy foods. Don't worry about eating too much - simply eat when you're hungry and find some exercise time that will prove fun!

Some more summarized points from Bailey: Starving yourself can make you look bad, with baggy skin, and though you may be skinny, what is there will still be fat, not muscle. What is more, the fat-burning muscles will be lost along with the fat, making one prone to gaining the fat right back quite easily; a problem exacerbated by the body's metabolism adapting to the lessened diet, so that it then is overloaded by the inevitable splurging afterwards. Work does not equal exercise, and one should set aside time for actual aerobic exercise.

For those looking to learn more, I suggest checking out Bailey's The New Fit or Fat from your local library. Some of his books are even freely available to read online!

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