Arete and Fare Bella Figura: Making a Healthy Impression

colinchamp November 12, 2019 8 Comments

“Fare bella figura” and “arete.” The former is an Italian saying, while the latter Greek, but both of these traditional axioms may provide some insight into the importance of how we view ourselves in society and our health. Fare bella figura literally means “to make a good figure” and roughly translates to “make or give a good impression.” It may seem superficial at first, but anyone who has spent extensive time in Italy may recognize that the concept of beauty and appearances are slightly different than what we are accustomed to in the good old US of A. In Italy, beauty stretches beyond the people, their clothes, or their food. The cities themselves – the walls, the streets, even the sidewalks – emanate a certain amount of beauty and charm that have taken centuries to perfect.

Fare Bella Figura

Recently, I was spending time with a colleague who has become a good friend. He was recounting the story of his grandson’s first day of third grade. He came downstairs from his bedroom dressed in a suit with a bowtie. His grandfather asked why he was dressed like that. The boy responded, “I want to make a good impression.” He may have only been eight, but he was exemplifying the term fare bella figura.

My grandfather worked for the railroads and never had much money, but he always wore a suit to church, funerals, and family functions. He may have been Austrian, but he was following the Italian adage of fare bella figura. He was not doing it solely for us, as he also owed it to himself. He grew up poor in the small town outside of Pittsburgh known as McKees Rocks, but his parents impressed upon him how important it was to show respect to others by dressing up and making a good impression and, by all means, avoiding “fare brutta figura” – or making a bad impression. He also, uncoincidentally, always grew his own vegetables, read books, and even lifted weights deep into his 80s.

Some view this as ostentatious or superficial, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Fare bella figura is for us as much as it is for them. It goes far beyond superficial impressions and public images. It includes how we interact with others and the act of striving to be a good citizen and good neighbor. It tells others (and us) that we respect them, and they (and we) should have respect for ourselves. It is the same reason that countless interview experts tout the benefits of dressing up for interviews – even when they are only over the phone. Fare bella figura triggers our brains to take both ourselves and the interviewer a little more serious.

Fare bella figura tells us to do more. It guided my Italian grandmother to make more food than was necessary at dinner, and to treat guests like they were the Sultan of Brunei. It tells us to be our best for others, because being our best for others means we are also being the best for ourselves. We are all interconnected, and you cannot have one without the other.

Arches and manicured gardens are not necessary, but far bella figura in Florence makes the day to day quite nice.

Arete

Arete, on the other hand, is the Greek phrase referring to excellence or virtue. For the Greeks, forget about making a good impression, and instead just live your entire life to the highest quality and personal standards as possible. Avoid the short-term pleasures for the long-term ones; avoid playing the finite games and instead focus on the infinite games. Arete pushes us to focus on those aspects of life that take some time and effort but leave us in an amazing place physically, mentally, and spiritually. Jack Hylton may have told us in 1925 (and Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson in the 90s) that the “best things in life are free,” and in one sense this may very well be the case, but arete tells us that the best things in life require some work and dedication.

Arete means excellence in everything. In other words, completing responsibilities and fulfilling actions leaves us with arete. The constant drive for convenience in modern day America stands in direct contrast to both arete and fare bella figura, pushing us to focus on all those things that stand in the way of a truly happy, fulfilling, and healthy life. Living an Intentional Lifestyle wraps arete and bella figura into one.

The extra work to make that lunch instead of buying the fast food special is arete. Doing the extra work strives towards excellence, as the extra work is excellence, and this extra work is what makes life interesting and worth living for ourselves and others. Fare bella figura and arete may be considered superficial by many, but it digs deep beneath the surface, especially when it comes to our health.

Dealing firsthand with the nearly impossible struggle of weight loss and following a healthy lifestyle by my friends, family, and patients has led me to search far and wide to answer why we are so unsuccessful. I strongly believe it has to do with the push for quick fixes, without actually trying to improve our mindset or lifestyle. Diets nearly always fail over the long term¹ because there are no quick fixes – sustained weight loss and health requires sustained effort, they require arete. This was further illustrated in an assessment of individuals at risk for colon cancer. Those individuals who were more successful at lifestyle change were found to have more determination and consistency, but upon encountering roadblocks, were able to “devise and apply strategies for dealing with setback.”² The latter, in my interpretation, may also suggest the importance of surrounding ourselves with positive friends and family members who can help motivate us to remain determined and consistent.

It may not be necessary to prune vines and flowers to cover your wall in Montalcino, and it takes a lot of arete, but is certainly nice and fare bella figura.

Think about arete and fare bella figura in your daily life?

Do you exercise, go for walks, hit up the gym, cook dinner, and then enjoy it with your family while discussing their day (arete)? Or do you sit on the couch all night, watch TV, and eat premade food while staring at your cell phone, unthinkingly destroying your body, mind, and soul (opposite of fare bella figura).
Do you do your best for other people and push to be the best family member and friend (arete), or do you cut corners to have extra time, only to squander it on unhealthy behaviors (opposite of fare bella figura)?
Do you think about your purchases, the effect they will have on your health and well-being, whether they are necessary, and how those items were made (arete)?
Is your free time spent in quality activities that help you relax and grow, like cooking, socializing with friends and family, staying active, and engaging in mind-resting hobbies like artisanal and outdoor activities that promote immense long-term rewards (arete for you and your family), or do you squander this time for immediate rewards and to promote a consumerism lifestyle that leaves you and those around you unhealthier and unhappier?
Do you eat for quality (arete) or quantity? Do you eat nutrient-dense and vitamin-rich foods to replenish your body (arete), or do you eat for taste, convenience, and instant satisfaction (opposite of fare bella figura)?
Do you buy fast and processed foods, wrapped in layers of plastic containers, plates, cups, forks, and spoons, and then throw them all away with each meal, making this accumulation of garbage someone else’s problem, disrespecting yourself, others, and the environment (very, very opposite of arete)?

What you may notice about the push for arete or fare bella figura is that they are intimately related to our overall health and well-being. Sure, in a time of worrisome perfectionism, these mindsets could have their issues. However, for the majority of people out there, the dangers are likely minimal and the focus is rather on taking responsibility for our actions and being our best.

With hard work and lots of arete, some gardens are incredibly immaculate in Tuscany.

Arete and Health: Medicine Is Not the Answer to Lack of Arete

Too often we rely on medicine to make us healthy. This reliance, unfortunately, will rarely be successful as proactive and preventative medicine (i.e. a healthy lifestyle) is the key to health, not pills and potions from our physicians. Many of us may require them, but if we are primarily turning to our docs for health, we dismiss arete and fare bella figura, we lose much of our autonomy and self-reliance in managing ourselves, and we are no longer even playing the infinite game.

In other words, ask yourself if you are living your life to the highest quality possible. Are you sleeping as much as you should, not drinking too much alcohol or overindulging in addictive and unhealthy foods, exercising your mind and providing it plenty of time to relax? Are you showing yourself the respect you deserve by making a good impression to others and yourself (yes, I’m talking to you physicians who come to work with a dozen donuts)? Yes, you deserve the self-respect, because without respecting yourself, you will have a difficult time achieving health. That is why my grandfather dressed up when he may not have needed to, why that little boy wore a bowtie to school, why many people pass on dessert (yes, even when nobody is looking), and why you can park your bike without a lock in many areas of Japan and it won’t be stolen. Arete is being a good person when nobody is looking, and when you follow this adage and respect yourself and others, good things happen.

There are judgments out there, critiques, blame, and all the talk of gluttony. The truth is, deep down inside we are all gluttons. For millions of years, the search for food has driven mankind, and now it is driving most of us to addictive behaviors that we struggle with daily. Most of us have realized this the hard way. For me, my sweet tooth was so out of hand, it had to be contained with a cheat day. These cheat days eventually turned to debaucherously uncontrolled binge episodes. These cheat days were disrespectful to me, my health, and my grandfather, who always taught me the importance of real food. It was clear to me that I needed to change my mindset. I needed to start pushing for arete.

Arete and Health: The Controlled Push

This push for excellence, greatness, or even just getting by can of course be a slippery slope. Perfectionism lands many people in trouble, so I like to view this as striving to be my best physically and mentally, knowing full well that this push can, if too large, be detrimental. We deserve our best. Our bodies deserve our best. I realized cheat days, and sweets in general, were not giving me my best, as they inevitably ended in overeating, and most importantly, feeling terrible physically and mentally.

That is arete and fare bella figura in my eyes – figuring out what is best for you and striving with that goal in mind. Failure is guaranteed along the way, but the point is to keep trying and to reach out for help when necessary – especially from those people with whom you made a good impression and that you respected. Reciprocity is the gift of arete and fare bella figura.

Making your ceilings into beautiful arches like this one in Florence is not necessary but it follows fare bella figura.

Moving Forward with Arete

In other words, the Italians and Greeks have it right. In all aspects of life, we should strive to do our best, personally and professionally, whether someone is watching or not. We should be the best parents we can be, the best family member we can be, the best friend to others, and of course, the best to ourselves. More often than not, we seem to fail on the last part, and the truth, of course, is that oftentimes our best in any of these is not enough. Luckily, we can turn toward those around us for help – whether those individuals are family members, friends, coworkers, or our physicians. Even in these situations, striving to do our best may mean having the confidence and foresight to ask for help.

Our health journey (and life journey) is one that follows a rocky path, and this path should not be traveled alone. It should, however, start and end by taking our best steps forward, and always strive to push for what is best for ourselves. We deserve it.

Your health will thank you.

Author’s note: This article was written based on the author’s personal experience with patients, personal health journey, and revelations on the successes and pitfalls in attempts to follow a healthy lifestyle. In other words, diet this, diet that, health apps, quick fixes, health “hacks,” etc. etc. did little to help with his overall health. What was lifechanging for him, was the constant push to be better to himself and others. This article is in no way judging, but is rather a suggestion, or even a wager, that a similar approach will help the health of others.

References:

Nordmo M, Danielsen YS, Nordmo M. The challenge of keeping it off, a descriptive systematic review of high‐quality, follow‐up studies of obesity treatments. Obes Rev. November 2019:obr.12949. doi:10.1111/obr.12949
Stead M, Craigie AM, Macleod M, et al. Why are some people more successful at lifestyle change than others? Factors associated with successful weight loss in the BeWEL randomised controlled trial of adults at risk of colorectal cancer. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2015;12:87. doi:10.1186/s12966-015-0240-2