The Philosophy of Exercise

 

  It had taken awhile for me to realize just how important it is to be at peace with yourself to then turn to activism. What we need to do to help sustain ourselves is a moral imperative and should not be avoided for those who believe so.

     We've been plagued with the idea of personal freedom, and the increasingly large amounts of tasty, yet horrible for you, foods. If I have the capacity over my body, my feelings, my thoughts, why shouldn't I be able to eat what I want? From a legal standpoint, you should be allowed this freedom, as new information for health continues to change over and over, we should far from ban the freedom to eat what we want. Rather, this should be an obvious moral imperative to us, and it should start with philosophy, and continue to rise with activism.

    I propose a challenge to my fellow moral philosophers. This seems to be a constant running theme throughout the philosophy community. While we are to question what we eat in terms of suffering, why not look to the self? My fellow vegans know how hard it is to transition into only a plant based diet.

     But we as moral philosophers have missed something quite crucial to limiting suffering and increasing pleasure. While we sit and espouse this tremendous idea of veganism, the ideas held for utilitarians, and the positive implications of atheism, we all have missed something so vital to our happiness, the self. Specifically, working out and eating healthy.

     If you aren't convinced of the absolute tremendous benefits of working out and eating healthy, let me just list a few, as well as the absurdly amazing side effects that could help alleviate the suffering of millions upon millions. 

1. Working out increases seratonin levels.
2. Working out allows your brain to function better.
3. Working out alleviates stress.
4. Working out helps you build muscle, and use energy more efficiently.
5. Working out makes you stronger.
6. Working out makes you happier.
7. Working out yourself will help those around you want to try to work out.
8. Working out prevents tons of diseases.
9. Working out improves cardiovascular health.
10. Working out lengthens your life by many years.
11. Working out improves your quality of life in the present
12. Etc,...

     Not only is working out an amazing benefit to your health, but it benefits those around you. Think of all of the suffering you might've caused because you couldn't releave a little stress by working out. That's tons and tons of suffering inadvertantly produced, but easily avoidable. Working out improves brain capabilities. This helps us philosophers analyze our surroundings better, helping us give better and better advice to living a happy life and find meaning. It makes you stronger, happier, etc. This should be an obvious point for us, but we take it for granted time and time again. Why should I care for my happiness? Easy, it helps everyone else live better. It improves everything around you. You're more organized, less stressed, more compassionate. Everything improves when you work out. 

     What about diet? Diet is absolutely essential for working out to be taken at its best. Diet helps you understand your body, just how fragile it is, and how important it is to feel the way you feel while on it. Diet will be the harder thing for almost everybody, but I suggest, since we as vegans have already taken the first step to a stricter diet, why not continue? There is no reason we should continue our lives suffering in such a horrible manner because we've neglected health.

     So what are the benefits of dieting?

1. Dieting increases seratonin levels.
2. Dieting helps you work out better.
3. Dieting helps you sleep better.
4. Dieting helps you think better.
5. Dieting helps you become less stressed.
6. Dieting helps others want to try.
7. Dieting is the sole reason for strength and muscle growth.
8. Dieting prevents a tremendous amount of diseases.
9. Dieting helps your energy levels stay consistent.
10. Dieting improves cardiovascular health.
11. Dieting is good for hair health.
12. Dieting is good for bone health.
13. Etc,...

     With the role model attitude, it's easy to help those around you want to get better at dieting. Once they see the results of how much happier you are, how much stronger you are, the added years of life, etc., it will become quite clear just how important it is for them.

     I've been apart of the philosophy community, but have never seen a philosopher abide by these principles. So, I've taken it upon myself to eat healthier and healthier everyday. My diet is mostly fruits and vegetables, protein shakes, peanuts, walnuts, almonds, seeds, and grains. This should be an easy starting metric for those to follow, and once the metric is followed, the calorie count should then be considered.

     With this general idea I hope to spark a bit of conversation. I challenge all moral philosophers and activists to spout just how important eating healthy is to a thriving society!