I have noticed headlines touting “this one thing will…” usually fix whatever health, fitness, kitchen sink clog, or whatever the problem. But today, while doing some online research about the latest popular wellness topics, I came across an unusually high number of this type of headline. They were mostly about ‘fixing’ big health concerns like weight loss, back pain, and blood sugar, for example.

I thought, “Do people really believe that one thing is all it takes to accomplish this big thing?” Nah, I’m sure they don’t. At least for health and fitness issues. Maybe not the sink clog. There could be one thing always unclogs a sink. Who knows?

I have even used similar phrases to title (responsibly) two of my posts in the past.

With health and fitness, I can say with certainty that there is a lot more than one thing that will help you become healthier and more fit, thus achieving measurable and lasting improvements.

Three Pillars of Health and Fitness

Making significant and lasting improvements for your health and fitness levels requires what I like to term as ‘the three pillars of health and fitness’ – nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle habits. For a variety of reasons, all three are necessary for transformational longevity.

If you just diet, even if it is not of the caloric deficit variety and you eat a healthy diet, you miss out on fitness improvements and lifestyle improvements.

If you just work out, you miss out on the benefits of nutritional improvements and lifestyle improvements.

And if you just work on lifestyle habits, like sleep, meditation, and other mental fitness work, you miss out on the physical health and nutritional improvements.

None of the pillars of health and fitness works alone. They need each other in order to deliver good health and fitness levels. You might see some improvements by only doing one thing. But those improvements will not give you the best overall health and the results will be short term.

Even if there really was one exercise that would improve a single health and fitness problem, for example strength gain, there is a major pillar missing—lifestyle habits. This includes your mental fitness. You need a strong mindset and good in order to keep up your workout routine and not quit.

The next time you see a headline that touts “this one thing will… (help you lose weight, lower blood sugar, get lean, or whatever health and fitness outcome many of us look for),” be skeptical. It takes more than one thing to be healthy and fit.

For more information and help with improving your health and fitness, click here. I would be happy to help you!

Karen