Health - it's a lifestyle not a number

You can’t buy me or rent me - you have to earn me. What am I?

Whether it be physical and mental performance or absence of illness and disease, your health can be many different things and unfortunately the infinite number of variables that interact to create it mean evaluating health is a very complex issue. When it comes to assessing your health specifically, there are many tests, numbers, surveys and equations you can use, but how useful are these and what else is there?

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a home testing kit that could determine how healthy we were, warn us of potential problems that may be building up inside and offer suggestions as to how to stop these problems from even coming to the surface? If only.

When you’re trying to make improvements to your health, it’s easy to get too caught up in the numbers.

How many calories in the foods you eat; how many grams of carbohydrates, fats or proteins; how many steps have you walked today; how many Kg’s do you weigh; how many hours did you sleep; cholesterol numbers; blood pressure measurements…. I could go on. Whilst all these things can be useful, there’s so much more to living a ‘healthy’ life. In fact, getting too fixated with the numbers can ironically create a stress that can be detrimental to your well being.

Let’s look at a more holistic way of determining how healthy we are by using a self assessment.

Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for their own health and we all have a choice to live a healthy lifestyle. There isn’t a one size fits all approach and nobody knows your own body better than you. You need to customise your own lifestyle to your own unique needs and preferences through a certain amount of experimentation. To do this you need to listen to your body and understand what it is telling you.

Creating health is simple but far from easy. Sometimes it’s hard work and it definitely takes planning, perseverance, discipline and determination as there are many obstacles in our way. A holistic approach must be taken (a 360 approach). It’s not just about doing one thing or focusing on one area like nutrition or sleep or stress - it’s everything. Our bodies are very complex and need to be taken care of in many different ways.

I will never take my health for granted.

Keeping myself healthy is on the top of my ‘things to do’ list. It’s a busy life so I have steps, actions, strategies in place to help me work towards optimum health? How do I know what I’m doing is working? Blood tests, DNA analysis, food sensitivity tests, stool analysis, bone resorption assessment? None of these. Many of the signs and symptoms of health, or lack of, can be felt and seen in the body. How your skin, your nails, eyes or hair look can be an indicator of health or any deficiencies you may have

To give you an opportunity to consider your own health from a number of different perspectives, read through and answer the following questions

Physical Health Assessment

Overall, I have a ‘healthy’ diet and know which foods make me less or more healthy

I drink adequate amounts of water

I eat 7 or more servings of fruits/vegetables a day

I avoid potentially harmful foods (processed, additives, pesticides, trans-fats, etc.)

I have a healthy relationship with food

I practice mindful eating

I have learnt to listen to my body

I have abandoned the idea of a quick fix weight loss plan

I don’t use food for comfort or reward or stress management

I know the difference between hungry and a craving

I can eat less ‘healthy’ food without guilt or binging

I am free of physical pain

I avoid acute health problems (colds, injuries, etc.)

I am free of chronic illness

I am at the ideal body weight for someone my height

I don’t suffer from PMS

I exercise daily and during the week include activities that increase my heart rate to 80% its maximum

I do stretching exercises (Pilates, yoga included)

I feel good about my physical appearance

I fall asleep easily

I regularly get a good night’s (7-8 hours) sleep

I wake up feeling refreshed

I don’t suffer from restless legs

I am active in ways that require physical endurance

I consume potentially addictive substances in moderation (alcohol, caffeine) and don’t need them to get through my day

I avoid smoking

I take time to enjoy simple pleasures (good food, flowers, art, nature, massages, music)

I spend time outdoors/in nature

I have a healthy digestive system (normal bowel movements, minimal reflux,no heart burn)

I feel physically healthy

I have healthy gums and fresh breath

I have no need for medication

I heal quickly from injury

Mental and Emotional Health

I have high self-esteem/feel happy with myself

I have fun

I laugh and make others laugh

I am comfortable with ‘negative’ emotions (sadness, guilt, anger, envy)

I engage in meditation, contemplation, journaling, or other activities that help me to explore my thoughts and feelings

I feel excited to be alive

I set goals and follow through with them

I have a good level of motivation

I find enjoyment and fulfillment in my work

My sleep is free of bad/disturbing dreams

I avoid being manipulative or controlling of others

I am filled with inner peace/tranquility/peace of mind

I feel compassion

I use relaxation techniques

I am free of chronic stress/respond well to acute stress

I engage in hobbies

I embrace change; I try new activities/experiences

I keep my mind active and stimulated

I use my talents/skills

I have a good memory

I have good concentration

I am able to handle fear and anxiety

Spiritual and Social Health

I actively use my intuition to help guide my decisions

I am compassionate toward others

I take time to be creative

I learn and grow from my negative experiences

I feel a sense of belonging to a group or community

I have healthy family relationships/spend time with my family

I have healthy relationships with friends and spend time enjoying them

I feel a sense of meaning and purpose

I feel inspired by events/people/experiences

I avoid unproductive/negative encounters with other people

I am able to apologise/acknowledge my mistakes

I take time to focus on what really matters to me

Consider the following:

• How did you feel while answering the questions?

• Was there a particular area where you felt you answered no to more answers than yes? Why might that be?

• Did answering the questions seem overwhelming? Can you take just one of the questions and give it your full attention for a day or a week? Do you feel like you have to do everything completely right to feel like you are healthy?

• Do you agree the questions asked focused on things that are truly important to your health? If they don’t seem important, that is fine, but spend some time thinking about how they relate to you and your life. How well do you balance your time among the different aspects of your health? Does how you live reflect what matters most to you?

What is limiting you as you work to optimise your health? Is it lack of knowledge about what to do or is there something fundamental about your life that needs to be changed so that your health can improve? How might those limitations be circumvented. If they can’t be, what steps can you take, despite them?

Be mindful and give full attention to your environment, thoughts and behaviour

The point to this blog was to encourage mindfulness and to stop getting caught up in the numbers often associated with measuring health. Mindfulness involves noticing what arises at different times and reacting in the appropriate way. Listen to your body, it’s an important self help tool that’s worth developing. The body is an amazing machine. When things go wrong, it doesn’t just shut down without warning. Instead it gives us little biological taps on the shoulder letting us know something is not right.

Do you get heart burn or indigestion? This might be your bodies way of telling you that something you have eaten hasn't been properly digested. But what do you do? Take an antacid tablet and forget about it once the discomfort has gone, or do you find out what the food was that caused the problem and be mindful not to eat it again or eat it more slowly?

When you get headaches do you head straight for the paracetamol, or do you ask yourself if you might be dehydrated or sleep deprived and relying on too much coffee? It may be worse than that and you repeatedly suffer from more chronic aches and pains. Don’t ignore them or try to mask the problem, your body is telling something.

Similarly, when we are giving our bodies what they want and need to thrive, we feel amazing, happy, sociable, perform well physically and mentally and sleep well.

Remember, your health is complex and is a state of mind and body and there is no secret formula or special pill that’s going to make you feel vibrant or happy. Review the questions in this blog regularly and keep reminding yourself of all the things that can’t be given a number - health is so much more than that.

#health #lifestyle #mind #body #fitness