Across The Health Spectrum
Most things in life seem to be very one sided. In politics you either believe this or that, with spiritual beliefs you are this or that and even which sports teams you support, you are either this or that, but what about health? Of course, we all know that some people can be kind of healthy and some can be very, very sick but I think most of us on a day-to-day basis also categorize health as two-sided. “Yes, I am healthy” or “No, I am not very healthy”. The truth is though that often people fall somewhere in the middle on many of these things. Things aren’t always as simple as this or that. I like to think of health as a spectrum that really has no ends on either side. You can never be perfectly healthy, but you can also almost always find some hope or something to be grateful for even in the worst of health circumstances. When it comes to how we treat our bodies, you are moving along a health spectrum. On one end you have good health and on the other poor outcomes and disease. Each decision you make that pertains to your lifestyle will move you along the spectrum in one direction or the other. It may not always be large movements, but which direction are you going?
Parking further out in the parking lot and walking or taking the stairs at work? You’re moving along the spectrum toward better outcomes. Eating out multiple times per week or eating fast food or drinking heavily on the weekends? You are moving steadily towards illness and disease – maybe not tomorrow but with enough negative health spectrum choices, eventually you will get there.
The research is overwhelmingly sufficient to show us that the lifestyle choices we make with the food we choose to eat, how active we are, how we sleep, how chronically stressed we are and the toxins we surround ourselves with are mostly what move us in one direction or another along the health spectrum. Think you make mostly good choices most of the time? Maybe you do, but maybe that’s just based on the information you have been told or on what you think is healthy.
So, what can you do? Start by learning what current research is showing us on many of these topics, being careful not to choose trends or new extreme health choices. Be mindful of your choices. If you are choosing convenience over quality, stop! I think that is one of the biggest reasons why more people don’t cook, they don’t want to take a little bit of time to put together something that is better for them, it’s easier to get takeout or heat up a frozen dinner.
Next, set yourself up to make good choices. Don’t make the healthy choice the hard one. Don’t decide to cook all your meals this week but buy ingredients for difficult lengthy preparation meals. Cook but make it simple on yourself. Don’t keep easy to grab, unhealthy snack foods around the house. Make your fitness routine easy to get done and at a time of the day you are most likely to do it. Have a plan and be prepared at least one day in advance. Don’t rely on willpower, it will often fail you.
Finally, surround yourself with others who support you and make their own good choices. The old saying “birds of a feather flock together” has a lot of truth to it. If you are around friends that make fun of your goals or don’t think your health is that important, rethink your crowd. You can’t change the people around you, but you can change the people around you – at least some of the time.
View your choices as steps on the health continuum and realize that while you will have days you fall short or have setbacks, more days that not, you want to be moving toward health and a better future for you. Making one small change at a time, even one small choice at a time will go a long way toward reducing your risk for chronic disease and possibly even reversing some chronic disease. To learn more about how to optimize your health, follow me on Instagram or subscribe for free at the bottom of any of my website pages (thehealthandwellnessnp.com) to receive weekly blog posts and exciting upcoming information. Together, let’s transform your health!