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by Reena Daruwalla, guest writer for Nancy Hayssen.com

Have you ever given a thought to what are the important numbers in your life? Which are the numbers that hold meaning, and I am not talking telephone numbers and address numbers and prosaic stuff like that. I mean other numbers that tend to exert more influence in our lives: waist size, dress size, weight or the number that comes up when you stand on the weighing machine.

Do these numbers hold you in thrall? Do they manipulate the way you behave, dictate your priorities in life? If so do you think that they should? Should they be of such consequence, of such magnitude in your life as to eclipse all the other more important numbers?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying these numbers are of no consequence, certainly you should be aware enough and involved enough in the issue of your own health to see that your proportions and weight are at a level of good health and fitness. But even in this, there are other numbers that should be more important.

There are other numbers that are the indicators of your good health and wellbeing: how many miles can you walk or cycle without getting winded? How long can you play with your kids an energetic, rough and tumble game? How many laps can you do in the pool? How many flights of stairs can you climb without getting out of breath? How many minutes a day do you spend in vigorous activity that you enjoy?

I think these are the indicators of good health and fitness, not those other straitjacketing and often unrealistic umbers that indicate sizes.

Consider for instance how destructive a preoccupation with a size 2 would be when the frame of a person is large, thereby making it well nigh impossible for that person to achieve that size. Consider also how pernicious it would be for a person who is genetically predisposed to be at a certain weight to try and come down (or up) to a weight that is unrealistic for that particular body type.

So which are the numbers that rule your life? Do you count your blessings often enough? Or do you count other inconsequential numbers all too often?