According to dietitians across Canada, March is Nutrition Month.

Um, OK. Good to know.

Don't get me wrong. I've got a lot of respect for registered dietitians, or anyone who uses sound principals, education and science to advise the donut-scarfing public on how to improve their health through proper nutrition. Nevertheless, I'm wondering if saying this is Nutrition Month really has a negative effect on McDonald's and Burger King's Canadian revenue during March.

Enough poking fun. I was asked to define what my personal definition of healthy is, and rather than quote scientific studies or advise you on proven and sound principals, I thought I'd speak from the heart.

Brace yourselves. This could be painful.

What being healthy means to me:

• It means finding my own personal "good enough." I don't pay attention to what the media says about the way I should look, get jealous of fitness models with rippling abdominals, or bemoan the fact that I never won an Olympic medal. The only person I'm competing with is myself.
• It means harmonious instead of obsessive passion. I run because I love doing it, not because I have some number crunching minimum of calories to burn that I obsess over.
• It's about having a life that I enjoy. My diet doesn't feel deprived and I don't feel like my time is eaten up by exercise. When I want pizza and beer, I have pizza and beer. When I don't want to lift weights, I don't lift weights. Conversely, when I'm in the mood to exercise, I relish in going hard.
• It's about finding out what I'm physically capable of.
• It's about having kids who say things like, "Daddy, you're really strong."
• It's about having a loving wife who thinks I look hot.
• It's about not wanting to settle for living in a mediocre shell. My body is my most prized possession, and I'm stuck with it until the end of my days here on earth, so I want to make sure it's as finely-tuned as I can reasonably and rationally keep it so that I feel like a BMW on the Autobahn rather than a rusty clunker that might need a tow to the mechanic.
• It's about actually wanting to eat healthy because it feels like putting premium, high-octane fuel in my gas tank.
• It's about not craving junk food because I know it sits like an unsettled glob in my stomach and makes me feel like crap.
• It's about fighting a valiant delaying action against turning into a decrepit old man.
• It's about falling asleep quickly every night, sleeping like a rock, and waking up refreshed and ready to eat nails for breakfast. Well, I actually prefer a whole wheat bagel, some skim milk and a banana, but you know what I mean.
• To me, being healthy isn't just for my body, but my mind as well. It's about not sweating unimportant things, focusing on finding solutions rather than dwelling on problems, being happy, having fun with my wife and kids and creating a good work-life balance.
• Finally, being healthy is about embracing getting older because it's better than the alternative. I like the idea of being a fit old guy far more than an unfit young one.
  

This is what it means to me. What does it mean to you?

James S. Fell is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a middle-aged family man with a desk job and not much free time, yet he's able to keep in shape because he loves exercise and doesn't mind eating healthy. He is the author of Body for Wife: The Family Guy's Guide to Getting in Shape. His column for That's Fit.ca focuses on weightlifting, running and exercise motivation.