Health or control?
When did health stop being something we cared for and start becoming something we believed we could completely control?
I watched an interview with New York Times’ Ezra Klein recently about GLP-1 medications. It was an interesting conversation despite the subject matter being a little over yapped about in my opinion. It did have me thinking about care vs. control.
Why are we so obsessed with controlling our bodies? Notice how I didn’t say “caring.” CONTROLLING our bodies.
We want to control our weight. Our wrinkles. Our blood sugar. Our biological age. Our fertility. Our lifespan. Our recovery. Our sleep scores. Our VO₂ max. Our gut microbiome. Our hormones.
We count our steps. We wear rings that grade our sleep. We track every heartbeat, every calorie, every gram of protein, every hour of fasting.
Increasingly, if there’s a pill, supplement, surgery or protocol that promises more control, we want that too.
I don’t believe these things are inherently bad. GLP-1 medications have been life-changing for many people. Cosmetic surgery can restore confidence after trauma or illness. Wearable technology can help identify dangerous heart conditions. Medical breakthroughs save lives every single day. I’m deeply (and personally) grateful for that.
I also think it’s fair to say our relationship with health changed. Health became about optimization...and productivity and morality. Now, if you’re not optimizing every corner of your existence, you’re somehow wrong. You’re lazy.
Bryan Johnson whose become famous for spending millions trying to reverse aging is probably the most extreme example of this. His life is an experiment in eliminating uncertainty. Every meal is prescribed. Every biomarker is measured. Every decision is optimized. Personally I find it an exhausting way to exist but do you, BJ. But seriously part of me wonders, what are we actually trying to outrun? Death? Aging? Or uncertainty itself?
No matter how optimized we become, the fundamental truth doesn’t change. We are still human. Our bodies will still surprise us. We will still get injured. We will still get sick. We will still age.
Almost ironically, Bryan was recently diagnosed with a autoimmune gastritis. Control has always been, to some extent, an illusion.
I see this in fitness all the time. People ask me for the perfect fueling plan. The perfect training schedule. The best strength routine. The plan A race strategy. I understand why. If I just execute perfectly…then surely the race will go perfectly too.
It doesn’t work like that. Sometimes you sleep terribly before race day. Sometimes it’s 85 degrees in October. Sometimes you twist your ankle stepping off a curb. Sometimes you train flawlessly and still have a bad day. If you’re always out to eliminate uncertainty, you’ll be prepared to navigate only perfect conditions.
That’s a very different relationship with health.
I believe some of this obsession comes from fear. Fear of losing control. Bodies are unpredictable. They’re vulnerable and constantly changing. That’s uncomfortable.
So perhaps optimization gives us something else. The feeling that if we just gather enough data, buy enough supplements, eat perfectly, lift enough weights, avoid enough seed oils, wear enough trackers and never miss a workout, we can bargain with biology.
Ironically, I think the healthiest people I’ve met aren’t the ones who spend the most time trying to control their bodies. They’re the ones who trust them. They eat enough. They move because movement adds to their lives.
They sleep without obsession. They take medicine when they need it. They get preventative screenings.
They lift weights because they want strong bones at 80 and they know it’s good for them. They care about their health but they don’t make health their entire identity.
I don’t think the answer is to reject technology or medicine. Far from it.
I’m incredibly grateful we have medications that can treat disease, surgeries that restore function and diagnostics that catch illness earlier than ever before.
The question isn’t whether we should use these tools.
It’s whether we’re using them to support our lives or whether our lives have become organized around the pursuit of perfect health.
As a reminder, perfect health doesn’t exist and if we’re not careful, we can spend so much time trying to avoid living imperfectly that we forget to actually live.
To more living,
Coach