What is Health?
When looking up the definition online for health, the 2 statements it gave were these:
“The state of being free from illness or injury”
“A person’s mental or physical condition”
When we think about health there’s probably a different definition in everyone’s mind. I’d say that’s because what’s healthy to one person may not be to another person, and the next, and the next. I’ll tell you what is NOT health, and that is our weight. We live in a society that is obsessed with appearance with the number one thing being our weights - too skinny, not skinny enough, rarely “just right.” But beauty is in the eye of the beholder right? So we tell ourselves; but do we really believe that?
If we could look at more than just weight, what would we see as our health? How much sleep we get? How much water we drink? Or how about the vegetables we eat? But let me ask you, is that all? I don’t think so.
For years I have taught many people on this subject and will continue to do so - health encompasses ALL of you. It is physical, mental, emotional, spiritual (not specifically religion), intellectual, financial, etc.
What you do for one part of your body and life affects another part of you - which is why exercising and eating a balanced diet is recommended for multiple parts of our health. The benefits you get for your physical health also wildly impact your mental and emotional health. But what about intellect? How does it make a difference in your physical, mental, or emotional health? The answer to that simply is that what you feed your mind will alter the behaviors you choose. For example, if you read an article by a professional that tells you blueberries has positive results for your health what would you do with the information? You could choose to start eating blueberries and reap the benefits of them, which will help your physical and mental health both, or you can choose to not eat them and lose out on the benefit.
Every single day we get a new chance to change our health for the better or worse. It starts with the habits we have formed already, and the ones we choose to put into practice. The word for choosing a new habit to replace an old one is called Neuroplasticity (also my favorite word!).
The question you have to ask yourself is, what is important to you for your health? If you see no problem with ingesting 100g of sugar every day, then your definition of health will be different from mine. When you decide what health is to you, then you can start there and form the habits you want to create for yourself.
Everything you do has a consequence for your being. What habits do you need to create for yourself to be where you want to be?
Your friendly neighborhood coach
Jamie