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ASpects in the world can promote or discourage a persons health. If everyone in your family is fit and eats healthy, if your mom is constantly on you about getting your yearly check ups at the doctors, if you have fresh food at the corner store, or everyone in your neightborhood goes on walks, runs, or bike rides. These all promote health and can influence you to be healthy. But some people do not have these. Some people live in a house where everyone is overweight and have high fat diets, live in places where there is a liquor store on every corner selling cigarretes, alcohol, and junk food, or they do not go for walks, runs, or bike rides because they are affraid of being mugged. These are all influences in our lifes that affect our health. It is not always in our control either but they still effect us.
So what influences your health?

good call Rob. people wonder why people in inner city environments have worse health statistics, and a lot of it has to do with the health of the community around the individual. fast food and bad things like drugs, cigarettes and alcohol are prevalent in these parts of society. due to low income jobs, their is not much money to buy better quality foods, and there are severe limits on time to prepare foods for parents having to work 2-3 jobs, so they can’t prepare good home-cooked meals at home and have to rely on these cheaper fast food options. even relying on the government for aid via welfare, food stamps and food banks doesn’t help, because the foods served in the banks and grocery stores in the area are filled with processed garbage and are extremely high calorie dense. it’s a tough situation, and there really aren’t any easy answers.

I really think my “perspective on time” influences my help. If I am in a really big hurry, and, perceive that I Don’t have much time that day - I will not cook and I will just eat out each meal of the day. Not only does it get spendy but obviously my health is sacrificed as well. You bring up some really good points.

I look at other people who are older then me and judge if I that is how I want to look and how they must feel at that age. I don’t mean to sound rude but that is just my opinon and what motivates me. I like to look like I workout and I feel better about myself when I look good and feel good along with it. This is my motivation and what works best for me.

what do your guys think about the european life style..
 
they take 2 hour lunch breaks, never stress, and just happier and healthier in genernal.. what is this about??
 
Why cant we have that life style??
 
 

Who decided working more days than rest was a good idea? We wear watches all the time when is the last time you took it off and your phone? That is the beauty of camping…escaping and not in an rv.

when i was on my honeymoon we didnt wear watches, locked up our phones inthe safe and did not turn our tv on for 2 two weeks!! it really felt great not knowing what time it was.. we new it was 5 pm bevause peopel would gather at the bar for happy hour lol .. I loved it!! even the workers had no idea what time it was.. it was so weird but refreshing! i miss it!

lulko I love the Euorpen lifestyle, I think they really know what there doing by having these long lunch breaks and things like naps in the middle of the day. Just look at the health factors of the european people, they are skinnier and tougher people then us and that is why I think that they know that taking these naps are good use to them. I believe that since they work harder then american people do they need those naps and those produce more quality work then the americans do. I have found that taking naps in the middle of the day in my training (nothing crazy just half an hour) because taking anything longer is hard to wake up from, has made great strides when going for big squats and what not. I really like this idea and I feel that it is a much better system and would deffinitly help the economy if we started to endure a new working program such as that. However, I think people are too stubborn and too afraid of change to impliment that kind of workstyle into their own lifestyle so this would never happen over here. It would however be interesting to start a petition and see how many people would agree to something like this, and too see what people actually think would happen and if they even know the health benefits of doing this action. Maybe that is another problem that the people don’t know and are not aware of what types of positive effects this would have on the body and if they even know they would put in more quality of work if they had longer lunch breaks and naps in the middle of the work day.

Those are all great opinions and facts on how people are living and why some people do this and that. But wqhat influences you personally? IS it something that can be prevented? Or is it something that is because of your surrounding?

I would have to say schedules of the day( having kids and doing the runaround). The weather is a huge factor here in Northwest PA . It gets dark and cloudy and rainy. On nice days everyone is out but during the winter it gets a bit long and gloomy. I train early and I am in the dark a great deal of the year. The positive influence has more to do with who I associate with. I surround myself with positive active people and I think that is a huge factor in overall health. I can’t control the weather but I can choose who I surround myself with.

@MAx
 
I love that European lifestyle!
I am not sure if i would take a nap… Maybe run errands (which i guess is the American way lol)
 
However when i go to steam boat Colorado I notice that they are less stressed and more low key. They come into work when they want to (around 9 or 10am) Maybe go for a few runs on the mountain in the morning, workout (whether it is skiing, biking running hiking, snow shoeing ect)…
 
I feel like they have a completely different lifestyle… i wonder if its just certain parts of our country that are up on the go “ALL THE TIME”…
 
Overall we have a different lifestyle then Europeans. I just feel like i am on the go ALL THE TIME!! What is the difference?
 
What are they doing different in their lives (other then 2 hours lunch break) then we are doing?  I just don’t understand how you can be successful in life and not be on the go all the time?? Do they have shorter work weeks?  
 

I have to say for me personnally i had mixed messages a lot. I grew up in a house that was very fit and competitive. Losing wasnt aloud in my house so training to be the best was something I did. It wasnt hard for me because my whole family was like that. But at the same im from a lower income neighborhood. A lot of crime, drugs, etc. Majority of the stores or food places in the area are either liquor stores or junk food places. Even the restraunants you sit down in were not good food. Fighting was an everday thing in my neighborhood. It did not effect me from going outside. I was outside everyday. I did get into a lot of trouble but it was how we all lived. But i know there were a lot of kids that either werent let out without there parents watching or had to be in before the street lights turned on. And we arent talking about little kids. We are talking some high school kids. So i know both sides. The good and the bad.

Wow Rob… Thanks for sharing that… That must have been really hard… i cant imagine living my childhood like that… we didn’t even think twice about going out side and playing sports until 10pm at night (man hunt).
 
There are not many people which take a negative experience and turn it into something positive… You must have had amazing parents!!! It’s a shame that you had to fight and get in trouble because of other peoples stupidity (really hope if wasn’t you starting it or i would take my comment back lol).
 
How were you able to eat healthy balanced meals?
 
Did your family make an effort to feed you nutritious food?

Looking from the outside it was a rough life style and looking back on it I see that but growing up its all i knew so for me it was just normal. I thought every neighborhood was like that when i was young so it didnt really effect me in a negative really.

I do tend to have really bad eating habits still. I got away with eating bad because of how active i was. I was always outside. But both my parents are very good cooks so i had many good meals. They werent something you ate when you are on a diet but they had usually  a meat, some kind of pasta, and vegies. We did tend to eat really big portions though but you cant help it when you got good food to eat.

When i was younger i had a really fast metabolism and a SMALL appetite… I ate like crap but small portions however i was super skinny…
 
If i ate like i did back then i would have some serious health issues… I hated most veggies, meat, fish, sandwiches, bread, peanut butter, salads… pretty much anything with flavor lol…
 
All I ate was pasta, white rice, chicken cutlets, cereal, all junk food! pizza, home made French fries, cheese and potatoes, maybe some fruits (i think i was just forced to eat them) .
 
 
I swear i didn’t eat anything else… i was the pickiest eater in the world… NOW I like everything! I shocked alot of people with my food chooses now hahah i wonder what happened…
 
My point is… When you are younger, you don’t really understand portion control and healthy eating.. you usually eat what your mom gives you.. Its really the parents responsibility to promote healthy eating..
 

I thought i was picky when i was a kid but i think you beat me on that one. You didnt eat much back then.
I actually still eat almost the exact same as i did when i was younger but i also train so much that im able to do that. I know once i stop training i will have to watch it but if i can get away with it now i might as well right haha

hahah i agree rob!! if i could eat more i would do it!
 
I train intense 6 days a week but you guys are training twice a day! every day!
 
I seriously hated eating when i was younger.. it was a chore to me.. if i ate a smal bag of chips for lunch in school i was good lol.. i cant believe my parents let me get away with it.. but in there eyes it was better then eating nothing lol.. i would eat a half pint of white rice for dinner and be good! omh now i woudl be flipping out hungry in a bad mood.. i NEED to eat every 2-3 hours

 
you are SO right about the european lifestyle compared to ours. So much less stress, and they are better able to handle other daily stressors and whatnot because their mind is well rested. Thus, they choose to work out more and choose other healthier lifestyle factors that allow them to be healthier. It is like a dominoes effect without a doubt too.

do they really all nap?
 
I hear they stay up late too?
 
How many hours do they work a day on average

lori I think they work a normal 8 hour schedule, they start later and end later, this is how they are able to stay up late at night.

I sorta like our American lifestyle the more I think about it….We can choose our schedule more so I believe.

  
 
MAXXX!!!! my name is LAURA!!! NOT LORI!!!
 
ANYWAY..i would not want to get out of work late.. i rather get in super early and end my day so i can spend it with my husband family or freinds. When do they get to spend time if they are sleeping in late and workout late?.. i dont think i like that
  
 

lol sorry about the name Laura, Im not very good with names. I think they spend alot of thier time with thier families at night. It;s a lifestyle for younger people, that is probably why you see alot of younger people when you go to spain and places like that.

lol sorry about the name Laura, Im not very good with names. I think they spend alot of thier time with thier families at night. It;s a lifestyle for younger people, that is probably why you see alot of younger people when you go to spain and places like that.

i think you are right… my freind went to school there for a few months.. she said she never partied that much in her life.. they were out till 5 am and everyone was doing it.. thats insane!! how is this healthy??
 
 

Well I did hear that it doesnt matter when you go to sleep, but it does matter how much sleep you get. What do you think about this statement laura?

ohhh thats interesting.. well i heard you get better sleep when its all dark.. but as long as its consistent (going to bed at the same time) i guess it doesnt matter..
 
 
It depends though.. if these young kids are staying up late partying and most likely drinking… that would NOT be good for training and body composition..
 
what are your thoughts

I think that if you push your body past when it starts becoming tierd then you are asking for trouble, but if you listen to your body and go to sleep when its tierd and not when you want to then youll be ok.

but get good amount of sleep right?? like 7-8 hours or more?

I try 10 if possible, with a half hour nap in the midday somewhere, so if you are really serious about sleeping this way, then I guess you can’t stay up too late because youll sleep away half your day anyway.