Health - What is it really?
"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." - Health as defined by the World Health Organization
I've come to believe that if I want to thrive, I must invest in my health. If I want to merely survive, I can treat health as an expense and treat symptoms as they arise. For years I treated my health as an expense and opted for the cheapest solution. I struggled with iron deficiency anemia, chronic fatigue syndrome, debilitating periods and more. Unlike most practitioners, I understand chronic illness and the struggles it creates because I’ve lived with it.
It wasn’t until I started to truly invest in my health that I started to see the returns on that investment.
What do those returns look like? Drastic improvement with my health that include more energy, the ability to do the things I want to do when I want to do them and so much more. I’m no longer struggling with iron deficiency, chronic fatigue or debilitating periods.
Is my health perfect? No. However, it’s something I choose to invest in daily and that makes a world of difference.
How do I invest in my health? I choose to do this in a number of small ways each day. It’s always a work in progress and it changes day to day. Some days are better than others and some days are harder. Either way, I know that I’ve done the best I could regardless of whether it’s a good day or a harder day. I also choose to learn from the harder days to know what I can do in the future to make them easier days.
The following are three of the areas that I’m actively working on improving. I choose to do this through 1% changes that are sustainable and can become habits that have a lasting impact on improving my overall health (psst - check out the article about habits linked at the bottom of this article). Some of the things I mention are things I’ve been slowly implementing for years.
How and what I eat:
There are a few things I do here that have made a difference for me. First and foremost - chewing! Second, trying to eat the rainbow daily. Third, getting enough protein daily.
Chewing
For those who know me, they know that if I can only make one change when it comes to food, it’s chewing. The ability to slow down and enjoy my food, to really taste it and the ability to optimize digestion all comes down to chewing. The more I chew, the better I digest. The better I digest, the more nutrients I absorb. The more nutrients I absorb, the better I feel.
Eat the Rainbow
Eating the rainbow refers to aiming to eat fruits and vegetables that are red, orange, yellow, green, blue/purple/black and white/beige daily. By having a variety of colours on my plate, it makes my food look amazing and fun. It also adds a ton of flavour and starts to stimulate digestion before I’ve even started eating because I’m excited to eat my meal.
I love the challenge of trying to get all the colours into one meal. I’m really happy when I can make that happen. This is usually accompanied by throwing a ton of different veg and a protein into a pan and cooking it all together as a one pot meal.
Protein
Protein is an area that can be really hard for a lot of women, myself especially. It’s easy to not get enough protein when I’m not overly hungry or I get busy and forget to eat. I prioritize protein because amino acids (the building blocks of protein) are needed to make many of the hormones in the body and hormones are needed for everything the body does. When I get enough protein, I can feel the difference.
How do I know what “enough” is? I use a little math. My weight in kilograms equals the approximate number of grams of protein I’m aiming for each day.
If you happen to have a very sedentary lifestyle or are over the age of 65, you could take your weight in kilograms and multiply it by 0.8 to get the number of grams of protein per day. If you’re very active or are at the gym multiple times a week, multiply by 1.2. If you’re training for something, you’ll likely want to multiply by 1.4 or possibly more depending on what you’re training for.
Sleep:
Prioritizing sleep has become more important to me as I get older. I realize how much better I feel when I get a good night's sleep as compared to when I’m not sleeping well or I’m shorting my sleep.
Here are a few of the changes I’ve made that have had a huge impact on my sleep:
Blackout curtains to minimize the amount of light in my room
This is especially important in the summer months (early sunrises) and the winter months (Christmas lights and lights along the driveway)
Bedding changes to allow me to sleep more comfortably
Sleeping comfortably all night without getting too hot or too cold has been a game changer.
My daily eating habits
I’ve found that how I eat throughout the day has a huge impact on my ability to sleep well and deeply.
Choosing sleep over snacking
If it’s 8:30 pm or 9 pm and I’m thinking about a snack, it’s my body’s way of telling me that I’m tired and it wants calories to convert to energy so I can keep going. This tells me that it’s time for bed.
I’m still working on creating an evening routine that helps me to fall asleep faster and more consistently at the same time each night. This is a work in progress because my schedule isn’t consistent day to day which then impacts my routines. What I’ve come to realize is that having one routine isn’t going to work for me. I need a different routine based on the day of the week rather than trying to make one routine fit.
Creating and maintaining boundaries:
Boundaries have become one of my favourite things in recent years. Something that I came across a couple of years ago that’s stuck with me: any time I’m feeling frustrated or resentful about something, it’s likely that a boundary has been crossed.
This was a bit of a light bulb moment for me because I started to notice when I was feeling frustrated or resentful and then started to actively look for the boundary that was crossed. More often than not, it was a boundary that I didn’t know I had and didn’t realize needed to pay attention to.
By making a list of when these situations happened, it allowed me to say no to things far more easily and for me to establish my boundaries more firmly. I found that this left me feeling happier because I wasn’t doing more than I wanted to do and wasn’t exhausted or not doing something for myself as a result.
What does investing in your health look like?
There are a number of ways, both big and small, to invest in your health. Some are free and some cost money. Regardless of what you choose, choosing to invest is always time and energy well spent. Here are a few things that might help you to decide where you want to invest first:
Asking for help from friends and family
Making time to make and eat meals that nourish you
Saying no to an invitation you don't really want to go to
Going to bed early and/or prioritizing sleep
Setting more boundaries or reinforcing boundaries that have been broken (hint: if you’re feeling resentful or frustrated about something, a boundary has likely been crossed)
Seeing a practitioner that can support you in achieving your personal health goals
Carving out some quiet time just for you
Getting outside daily
Moving your body in a way that feels good to you for you
And so much more!
Health is so much more than one small thing. It's truly made up of small 1% choices that happen again and again, day after day. How are you going to choose to support your health? What's one small change you can make today? Let me know in the comments below!
Andrea
PS - here’s the link to the article about Habits that I mentioned. Understanding how habits work will help you to start shifting how you think about investing in your health.
Here are the links to the three part series about sleep and how to make small changes that have a big impact:
Sleep: Why it Matters and How to Sleep Better
How to Create a Great Sleep Routine
How to Create Daytime Habits to Support Sleep
Enjoy!