WHY I DO WHAT I DO
Updated: 6 days ago
Radhika Patel
Fitness & Nutrition Coach
Always happy to help & connect:
9978675000
@embrace_your_grace
The True Purpose of Fitness
Hi neighbours! I’m Radhika Patel, a fitness and nutrition coach living right here in our community.
People frequently ask me:
“Radhika, why are you training so hard? What is your ultimate goal? Are you competing in a bodybuilding show or preparing for a stage competition?”
I always smile at these questions. Why does caring for your body require a stage trophy or a competitive event? Should wanting a healthy, functional body require an extraordinary justification?
My goal isn't a trophy or a temporary stage highlight. My goal is simple: to maintain a healthy body fat percentage, build functional muscle mass, safeguard my metabolic health, prevent lifestyle disorders, and live every day feeling strong, energetic, and capable.
⚡ FITNESS IS NOT A SHORT-TERM PROJECT — IT IS A LIFELONG LIFESTYLE.
1. Understanding True Health in a Modern World
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being—not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
In our modern daily life, many people assume that because they don't have a fever, can go to work, and socialize, they are completely fine.
But modern technology has made us increasingly sedentary.
We spend long hours sitting in front of screens, commuting, and relying on automated conveniences. We move far less than our bodies were designed to move.
Just not having a diagnosed illness today doesn't mean your body is flourishing to help you live, work, and think with maximum efficiency.
2. Health vs. Physical Fitness: The Tree and the Leaf
Are Health and Physical Fitness the same thing? The answer is NO.
🌿 THINK OF HEALTH AS A LARGE, FLOURISHING TREE. PHYSICAL FITNESS IS JUST ONE VITAL LEAF ON THAT TREE.
While health encompasses your entire biological balance, physical fitness is your body’s ability to perform daily physical tasks with vigor, alertness, and ease—without feeling constantly exhausted or stiff.
🌱 Proper nutrition, restful sleep, active recovery, mental well-being, and social connections are the other vital leaves on your tree of health—each one working together to keep the whole tree flourishing.
3. The Power of Exercise: How Movement Transforms Your Body & Mind
To keep your “fitness leaf” strong and nourish the whole “health tree,” exercise acts as a natural reset button across your entire body:
Hormones & Vitality: Balances dopamine, serotonin, testosterone, and estrogen to boost mood, energy, sleep, and hormonal stability.
Muscles & Bones: Builds functional strength and bone density, protecting against muscle loss (sarcopenia) and fall risks as you age.
Heart Health: Strengthens the heart, boosts circulation, and lowers resting blood pressure over time.
Brain & Mind: Clears brain fog, sharpens focus, and reduces daily stress, anxiety, and depression.
4. Understanding Health-Related Fitness Components
Health-related fitness components are directly concerned with your overall health, daily vitality, and long-term well-being.
Maintaining these components is our primary defense against obesity and plays a crucial role in preventing and managing lifestyle disorders—such as Type 2 Diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, thyroid imbalances, and PMOS/PMS symptoms—while supporting better sleep and mood regulation.
Let's break down the 5 Health-Related Components of Physical Fitness:
Cardiorespiratory Endurance: Your heart and lungs ability to sustain prolonged movement.
Muscular Endurance: Your muscles capacity to perform repeated movements without rapid fatigue.
Muscular Strength: The maximum force your muscles can produce for everyday functional tasks.
Flexibility & Joint Mobility: Moving your joints smoothly through a complete, pain-free range of motion.
Body Composition (The Core of Metabolic Health): Body composition is the ratio of fat-free mass (muscle, bone, organs, and water) to fat mass. While the first four components support how you move, body composition dictates how your body functions metabolically.
💡 BODY COMPOSITION & METABOLIC HEALTHBuilding and preserving lean muscle mass is essential because muscle acts as an active metabolic engine – elevating your resting metabolism and improves how your body manages energy. Conversely, carrying unnecessary excess body fat impairs insulin sensitivity and increases the risk of lifestyle disorders like heart diseases risk, Type 2 Diabetes, fatty liver, hypertension, PMOS, etc..Combining resistance training with cardiovascular movement, proper sleep, balanced nutrition, and recovery help you achieve an optimal body composition – your strongest defence for long term health.
The Physiological Floor: Essential Body Fat
Before examining general averages, we must recognize that the body requires a baseline amount of fat simply to stay alive.
Essential body fat is necessary for nerve signaling, vitamin absorption, and organ insulation.
According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), the absolute survival baselines are:
Men: 2% to 5%
Women: 10% to 13%
Women require a significantly higher biological baseline because their bodies naturally store sex-specific fat to govern reproductive health and complex endocrine (hormonal) systems. Dropping below these markers poses severe health risks.
The healthy recommended body fat percentages vary based on age, and sex, as the human body naturally accumulates more fat and loses muscles (sarcopenia) as it ages.
The following reference ranges represent healthy, acceptable body fat metrics for the general public across different life stages:
Biological Sex | Young adults (Ages 20–39) | Middle-Aged Adults (Ages 40–59) | Senior Citizens (Ages 60–79) |
Men | 8% to 19% | 11% to 21% | 13% to 25% |
Women | 21% to 32% | 23% to 33% | 24% to 36% |
(Data framework derived from public health guidelines utilized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)).
📌 A PERMANENT LIFESTYLE, NOT A TEMPORARY ACHIEVEMENT
Achieving a healthy body fat percentage is not a one-time race or a temporary trophy that you win and set aside.
Health is pure biology—your body constantly adapts to your habits.
To stay vibrant, energetic, and free from lifestyle disorders, health must become a consistent, daily lifestyle that you cultivate and honour for the rest of your life.
The intent behind this article is simply to spread awareness about what true health really means—and why building functional muscle, preserving your body composition, and honouring your daily movement should be lifelong priorities.
Radhika Patel
Fitness & Nutrition Coach
Contact Number: 9978675000
Instagram Handle: @embrace_your_grace
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