Not always before, taking care of your body and health was the norm. There were times when it was perceived somewhere as something blasphemous, as an encroachment – it was believed that only the soul should be taken care of. And body weakness and self-torture were even encouraged.
There were rituals of violent self-injury – both in women and in men. They damaged their bodies both directly and through the use of junk food and drinks. Self-torture, suffering had to be visible in order to demonstrate involvement in the idea of contempt for the body.
And then the absence of disease, good health could even be perceived as a fault, a violation of accepted procedures. Or even as a danger (probably because health is in some way a weapon, which means a potential threat).
At the same time, everyone around could suffer from violations of accepted norms, due to collective responsibility. This means that there should have been mutual self-restraint of each other.
All these ancient manifestations can periodically emerge in modern society. In various forms – from an inexplicable dislike for those who care about themselves “too”, or a strange shame in front of taking care of their health, and to the desire of a healthy person to inflict even some kind of harm on himself in order not to stand out – to be “like everyone else”, “normal”, a little sick “as it should be”.
By the way, one of the forms of manifestation of self-torture can be workaholism, excessive passion for work – to self-destruction. Or hard physical work with your hands in which there is no special need – just as a tribute to tradition. Even physical education can be turned into self-torture – harm under the guise of benefit.
Asking myself the question – why am I in bad shape, unhealthy, what is the reason for my weakness, what prevents me, why it is difficult for me to accept a healthy lifestyle, this factor must also be taken into account as a probable, significant, but most likely hidden factor. Moreover, you can limit yourself, or someone else can also put pressure on you, who himself is under the influence of these prejudices.