How serious are you about trying to get back to good health? Are you willing to make some changes?
If you are frequently tired, in pain more often than not, struggling with health problems galore or dealing with a chronic health conditions, you can get back to good health through making lifestyle changes.
My experience shows me that one of the hardest battles any human being can ever face is trying to get back to good health. It is like climbing a mountain without the tools you need to make it possible.
For three years I fought a battle I constantly lost. Nothing I seemed to try worked. Every step forward was accompanied by two steps back. It all started with the retinal detachment and the subsequent loss of vision. The impact of this led to a multitude of other health problems. When one symptom seemed to be coming under control, a new one would come along. No matter how much I thought I knew, and as a fitness professional I thought I knew it all, nothing worked. My body seemed to be shutting down.
What a sorry state of affairs. Three years of nothingness. Every day just trying to get through. Limited by my vision and my general poor health.
You can read more about my illness to wellness journey here.
I can look back now from a much better place but I admit regretting the time I have lost. I wish I knew now what I learnt to help me to get back to good health. My mission as I see it is to support others to learn what they need to do to get back to good health.
There are some basic principles to follow if you want to pursue better health and vitality and get back to good health. If you are not willing to follow the basic principles, then you will be fighting an up hill battle. You didn’t get into the condition you are in overnight and thus it will take some time and dedication to achieve better health and wellbeing, but it can be done. I have seen many people turn their life around because they were willing to make some important lifestyle changes, including my own self.
Let me share with you a few of the key principles that are absolutely essential to get back to good health.
Change starts inside of yourself.
It starts with a hope, or a thought that things can be better than they are now. Then, exploring how that might happen. Accepting that we do have the power to make change. It’s doing this versus dwelling on the negative, blaming others, shutting down new ideas, thinking your effort will be pointless, or whatever other negative self-talk may be taking place. All those things cause us to be stuck in the place we don’t want to be. Any time you want to make a change, you have to first recognize and believe you have the power to make it happen. Change – any change – starts in one place: Belief that change is possible.
“An attitude of positive expectation is the mark of the superior personality.” Brian Tracy
Don’t rely on medication
The power to heal ourselves is in all of us. Not in the medicines we can be prescribed but the things we do. Healing requires lifestyle changes, rather than relying entirely on the health care system to “fix” us. This requires adopting a lifestyle where optimum physical, mental and spiritual health can be achieved and maintained.
“80% of how healthy people are has nothing to do with doctors, hospitals, drugs. It’s their lifestyle. That is a huge mental shift… to really step back and say, I’m responsible.” Prof. Mary Jo Kreitzer Univ. of Minnesota School of Nursing
Relax your mind and body
You can use relaxation techniques and the power of thoughts and emotions to improve your physical health. Some of the most commonly used techniques include meditation, guided imagery, breathing exercises, and a mental detox. These can help a person reduce their levels of stress-related hormones. It can strengthen the immune system and can activate the body’s remarkable capacities for self-healing. Taking time for relaxation can have a profoundly positive impact on your well-being because it encourages relaxation, reduces tension and pain, and lessens the need for drugs.
“No matter how much pressure you feel at work, if you could find ways to relax for at least five minutes every hour, you’d be more productive.” Dr. Joyce Brothers
Eating for health
Bring into line what we eat not only with the body’s need for fuel, but also with disease-preventing properties naturally found in certain foods will bring about dramatic improvement. As will avoiding foods that increase the risk of some diseases. This means enjoying more fruits, vegetables, grains and beans, and reducing or eliminating intake of animal products. Lowering “bad” fat and cholesterol intake, and upping whole grain consumption can prevent plaque build up in the arteries; this reduces risk of heart disease. Eating healthily can significantly reduce risk of chronic illnesses, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes and some cancers. You should add more dark leafy greens. Dark leafy greens include things like kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, dandelion, arugula, and spinach. They are some of the most nutrient-dense foods and calorie-poor foods on the planet. This can result in an improved immune system, an increase in energy, a healthy weight, and a boosted natural healing capacity.
“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” Thomas Edison
Water
Drink more water. The average woman wants to aim for at least 2.2 liters a day, and a man should aim for 3 liters (if you work out or are in a warm climate, you may need more). Water aids in digestion and helps sweep waste and toxins out of the body. It also fills you up, and many people find that drinking more water quenches what they thought were food or hunger cravings. The best way to make sure you are getting enough is to purchase a 1 or 2 liter water bottle, and track how many times you refill it each day to ensure you get your necessary water intake. Keep it on your desk or by your side, so that you never “forget” to drink it.
Water is a cure-all. Water is everything. You can’t get better without drinking lots of water, and you can’t drink water unless it’s clean. Josh Fox
Exercising
I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but it is so important so I’m going to remind you. Physical activity is key to optimum health and it keeps the whole person—body, mind, and spirit—strong, flexible, and balanced. There are many types of exercise that can be very beneficial, walking, swimming, aerobics, dancing, jumping, and so forth. Even activities like gardening and housework can be aerobic. Moderate exercise optimizes health and healing capacities, and it discourages a sedentary lifestyle. Underuse of the body is a factor in many common illnesses. So please, if you want to get back to good health, you simply have to start exercising.
Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far. Thomas Jefferson
Spirituality
A means of connection and/or self reflection through which one finds comfort, purpose and inner peace. Human spirituality is not necessarily religious. Spirituality can simply be making time for yourself, stopping the constant barrage of external noices and go within your self finding inner peace. Meditation is fantastic for you. As is practicing being grateful. Maybe taking time to read the bible and finding the inspiration and peace this can bring. The effects on health and well being of spirituality can include benefits to immune, hormonal, cardiovascular, and nervous systems.
He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened. Tao Te Ching
Fasting
I leave this to last but will say categorically that fasting was the one change that without any doubt contributed most to me being able to get back to good health. Fasting is the willing, conscious and deliberate abstaining – partially or totally – from consuming food and/or drink for a predetermined length of time. The time for therapeutic fasting is at least 12 hours to a few days. Longer times can defeat the objective, as negative effects will manifest. I eat my food within an 8 hour window and for 16 hours every day I fast. This means taking in no calories. I sustain myself by drinking lots of water, black coffee and herbal teas. It is life changing!
“The natural healing force within us is the greatest force in getting well.” Hippocrates
Starting a healthy lifestyle may seem overwhelming, but if you break it down into manageable steps, it’s a lot easier than you’d think. So, instead of doing a complete overhaul overnight, take one of the above suggestions and focus on implementing it over a 2-week period until it becomes simply part of your life. Then move on to the next step.
My mission is to empower you to live life as you always imagined you would, unhindered by the limitations of chronic disease. For you the desire to get back to good health will mean making many changes, and showing the determination to stick with them empowered by the belief that you will successfully return to good health.
If you are truly determined but need help, I can give you the support, motivation and knowledge you require, after all I’ve been through this battle myself. As a qualified life coach, once a Fitness Instructor I am exactly the person you need in your corner. Take a look at my Take Back Your Health coaching page and if interested arrange a FREE consultation.
photo credit: twiga269 ॐ FEMEN Few more steps before Denali Pass (18,200 ft) On Summit Day via photopin (license)
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