What is your definition of health?

The word "health" means many different things to many different people.  Let's look at some commonly accepted definitions of health:

1. The state of being free from illness or injury: "he was restored to health"; "a health risk".

2. A person's mental or physical condition.

Dictionary.com

"a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

World Health Organization, 1946

"Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities."

World Health Organization, 1986

Which one of these definitions do you like best?  I like a mix of the last two, with a few extras added in.  :)

One of my favorite authors, Tim Ferriss, has this great chapter in The 4 Hour Body that gets in deep about these vague definitions we use to describe our physical and mental state.  A few terms that necessarily get ripped apart are health, wellness, cellulite** and toning**.  The terms health and wellness are very subjective.  They mean completely different things to each individual. 
Ex: an elite athlete vs. a 90 year old man with heart disease.  The athlete is concerned about keeping their body at the utmost peak health (ex: high VO2 max, high level testosterone, elite cardiovascular conditioning, low body fat level), whereas the 90 year old is concerned with much lower level health outcomes (being able to walk around the grocery store, maintaining adequate hormone levels, pickup his grandkids, decreasing the progression of heart disease).  While these cases are extremes, it's important to realize that even your seemingly similar neighbor has very different health goals than you.

"Everything popular is wrong."  Oscar Wilde

Why are popular things wrong?  Because they're probably not right for you.

Health is a very subjective term.  In order to reach your best health, you'll need to look inside and determine what it is you want out of your life.  Wanna live the longest, highest quality of life possible?  How about climbing Mount Everest?  Maybe you just want to be able to keep your options open in the game of life by maintaining a fit figure?

If you're not sure what it is you want for your health and fitness, here are some questions that may help you determine your goals:

What do I want to accomplish in my life?  

What are my values, and how do I need to maintain my body to continue living my life according to these values?

What does my ideal body look like?  (Do I need to decrease fat/increase muscle mass to reach it?)

How long do I want to live without illness?

Why do I want to be healthy?  (Or, who do I need to stay healthy for?)

Determine your purpose, vision, and strategy for reaching and maintaining your health goals.  Find out what it is you want out of your body, and you can hit any goal!

For better or for worse, don't feel bad about yourself because you're not 15% body fat (or a size 4) and your neighbor is.  Is that really even your goal? 

When you live your life based on your values and your goals, you'll be happy.  But first, you need to figure out what it is you are.  Second, you'll do the actions needed to be who you are.  Third, you'll have the things/body you want.

Be. Do. Have.

Start everything by looking inside.  :)

**  Side note for the gals:

Ladies: As far as the words cellulite and toning go, they should be thrown out of any health seeking woman's vocabularly.  Cellulite is really a different type of fat deposition, commonly occuring in women's thighs.  In fact, if you have cellulite on your thighs and transplant thigh skin onto your hand, you'll have cellulite on your hand.  It's true- and it happens!  The only thing that actually decreases cellulite?  Increasing muscle and decreasing fat.  Your body can do two things when it comes to composition: Increase/decrease fat or increase/decrease muscle.  If you decrease fat, cellulite decreases.  Yes, it may be stubborn- but adding increased muscle mass on those saddlebags will certainly make your thighs look differently.  No store bought "skin firming" lotion will ever decrease the fat deposition in your thighs.  You have to do the work.
Same thing with the word toning.  You'll appear more "toned" when you lose fat.  Is there a better type of exercise to tone your muslces?  NO!  The best type of exercise to build your muscles is strength training with heavy weights.  Using light weights and higher reps for toning isn't going to build your muscle mass nearly as fast as heavy weight training.  Want results faster?  Lift heavy weights.

Worried about bulking up and looking like Governor Arnold?  Unless you're supplementing with steroids or taking extra testosterone, you're never gonna look like the Governator.  We have a mere fraction of the testosterone our male counterparts have.  Forget about it, and pick up those 15 pounders!  You will looked tight and toned when your muscle mass increases (and you're not going to do it with those 2 lb weights....)