You’re only as old as you feel, the saying goes. But what if you feel old, tired, and rundown, how do you get back to health?
Fasten your seatbelt, and hang on – this is going to be a bumpy read!
What I am offering you today is important suggestions of lifestyle changes that may bring relief from long-term health issues, merely by taking my advice to make changes to your diet, and other areas of your lifestyle.
There are lots of things that compromise our health but probably the worst of them is an unhealthy lifestyle.
The day-to-day lifestyle choices you make influence whether you maintain vitality as you age or develop life-shortening illnesses and disabling conditions like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and a myriad of other diseases.
You may understand exactly what you need to do to enjoy a healthier life, you just haven’t done it yet. A healthy lifestyle shouldn’t be hard to maintain or expensive! It just has to be implemented.
Lifestyle changes can really improve your health. The evidence for the importance of healthy lifestyles is overwhelming. small changes in people’s behavior can make a big difference. For example, 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day, that is the equivalent of a brisk walk, can reduce your risk of a heart attack by up to 50%. Increasing your fruit and vegetable consumption can reduce your risk of colon cancer by up to 50%. So these changes are real, they are achievable.
There is no getting away from the fact that you need to implement important lifestyle changes to get back to health. By devoting your time to healthy behaviors every day, you can ensure that your whole body stays as healthy as possible for as long as possible.
I know how hard it is to get back to health.
My world was thrown upside down as a consequence of a period of chronic illness following multiple eye operations. Sky rocketing blood pressure, underactive thyroid, low testosterone levels, early stages of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), back problems and abdominal pain. Throw in difficulties with bowel movements and urinary problems my health was a complete mess. Together with all this was the growing feeling of negativity and desperation, isolation and fear. In fact I would say that the emotional problems became a bigger issue than the physical ones.
I came close to giving up, accepting things couldn’t ever get any better.
If you had seen me at this point you would never have believed I was once a fitness instructor and owner of a chain of gyms. That once my body was a temple and weight training was my passion maybe even addiction. Nor would you have guessed that for most of my life I was an incredibly positive and always motivated person. I went from looking 20 years younger than my age to 20 years older than I was. Fit and healthy to completely unfit and ill.
Thank God that’s in the past. Being someone who believes that only the now and future is what’s important I don’t dwell on what’s gone yet I have to admit I’m still frustrated by the time I’ve lost through ill health and the havoc it brought to my life and wish I knew then what I know now.
The changes to my lifestyle have brought about what I can only call my restoration. Physically and mentally I’ve been transformed.
I see it as my mission to help others deal with the difficulties of overcoming their long-term health problems and helping them take the necessary steps to take back their health. I feel privileged to wake up every day knowing that I have the power to educate, motivate and inspire people who are desperate to get back to health.
Let me share with you some key steps to get back to health
Take responsibility
I urge you to keep on questioning everything to do with your own health. Take full responsibility for your own health, until you become satisfied with all aspects of your own health directions. So much of my time was spent going backwards and forwards to doctors and consultants. Tests galore and changes in medication. I was in their hands and did everything I was told but my health kept deteriorating. Only when I made the decision to find my own answers did I set in motion what would soon put me on the path back to health. I want to help you take responsibility for your own health, figure out what to do and how to do it, and then actually make the changes that can lead you to a healthier tomorrow. You can do it. You must do it. Your life literally depends on it.
Believe in the possibility
As I said earlier I was in a bad place negatively. I could only see things getting worse. Only once I was able to change my mindset to believing that I would find answers, knowing things were possible did I find the motivation to literally get off my ass and try out different things, and to keep going until I found those that worked for me. The world-renowned mind empowerment pioneer Jose Silva believed that 90% of all illnesses are caused by the mind. He sees optimism as the key to good health. Have no doubts that a positive outlook can aid the recovery process. Having hope and being optimistic is very important if you are going to take the steps necessary to get back your health. You going to get knock backs, some days you’ll feel as though you’ve made no progress, so it is essential you keep believing.
Find empowering reasons to succeed
As strange as this may sound it’s an essential step. Unless you have deep and compelling reasons to take back your health then you will never find the commitment or the determination to follow through. Of course, you want to get well, but why? What will it really mean to you? To me restoring my health was my number one priority. I wanted to be able to do far more for my daughters and be an active granddad. The vision of playing football with my grandson and walking for miles along a beautiful beach with my granddaughter were key, and visions I held on to. As was my determination to be able to not just get back to blogging but use it as a platform to help others struggling with their health. “Ask yourself why — ‘Why am I making these diet, exercise and lifestyle changes?’ Finding the true purpose for getting back to health is like a light switch going on and provides the inner strength and inspiration needed to bring about change.
You need to give your body time for healing.
There is a natural inbuilt process within our bodies which can help bring about improvements to our health called the healing process. Fasting puts the body in a condition where it can turn its attention to flushing out the causes of body miseries. Allowing our bodies to have a prolonged period of fasting gives your overworked and overburdened internal organs ample rest and time for rehabilitation and permits them to become 100% efficient in healing themselves, flushing out the toxic poisons and the retained wastes that it was unable to break down and remove in the feeding state. But this needs the right environment to operate in. I discovered that intermittent fasting was a powerful way to free one’s body up to allow healing. Intermittent fasting for me involved going 16 hours without food and eating in an 8 hour window. 6 days a week I fast between the hours of 8pm to 12 noon the next day. I have no doubts whatsoever that this was the catalyst for my health transformation. I swear by it.
Check out this blog on Intermittent Fasting
Eat for health – Plant Based Diet
The foods we eat have a direct influence on the health of our bodies. Instead of eating to feel full, focus on eating to increase your energy levels, benefit your digestive health and improve your overall health. Another huge change for me was to change my diet dramatically. I have always eaten sensibility and dare I say healthily. Being very much into weight training and development building muscle I would mainly eat lean protein and complex cards. Lots of white meat, eggs, lean beef. I was always careful to restrict fats, sugars and salt. During the worst of my illness, restricted by my lack of eyesight, I resorted to eating mainly processed foods particularly microwaveable ready meals. Together with my being unable to work out or exercise I believe much of my deteriorating health was down to these 2 factors. Yet going back to my healthy diet didn’t seem to make any difference, that is until I began to read about the risks of eating all forms of animal products and then I began to learn about the incredible powerful health benefits of plant based eating. This led me to become almost vegan. I don’t eat animal products, neither meat nor dairy at least 6 days a week. I give myself leeway to eat them once a week, something which I’m now finding I rarely take advantage of. In fact I have grown to love what I’m eating the tastes the aromas and of course the health benefits. I would strongly recommend plant based eating to anyone.
Check out this blog on Plant Based Eating
Fully hydrate everyday
This should be one of the easiest lifestyle changes we can make, yet a majority of people don’t do it. It costs virtually nothing and yet is so crucial for the human body. Water is the basis of life, including the human body. As a whole, your body is made up of about 60-80% water. Your muscles are 75% water, your blood is 82% water, your lungs are 90% water, and your brain is 76% water. The hydration of the body’s cells is crucial to proper immune, endocrine, cardiovascular, neural, gastrointestinal, muscle and skeletal function. To maintain good health you have to drink plenty of water. A daily minimum of 3 liters (14 cups) of fluid is recommended for men and 2.2 liters (9 cups) for women. Try drinking water instead of coffee, fizzy drinks or juices throughout the day. Believe me, this is a must do.
Check out this blog on drinking water
Take time to breath properly
Water, food and exercise are important for your health but breathing is essential. The sad truth is many of you are shallow breathers and this does you no good at all. Nothing is more important than breathing. You can survive for a long-time without food. Water for maybe a week. But breathing for less than a few minutes. When you breathe in, you inhale oxygen. When you breathe out, you exhale carbon dioxide. But when done properly it can be so much more, it can be revitalising, energising as well as calming. You will benefit both physically and emotionally by spending time focusing on your breathing, and practicing deep diaphragmatic breaths.
Check out this blog on breathing
Move your body
I believe that one of the most important thing that we need to do to get back to health is move, move our bodies. Being physically active can help you maintain a healthy weight and body composition, reducing the risk of weight-related medical conditions. It can also help you maintain the health of your muscles, bones and joints with age. The simple truth is that the health benefits of physical exercise are numerous and it doesn’t have to cost a penny. After all the best exercise we can do is walk. I don’t mean from your front door to your car, but walk around the park, along the beach, on a wonderful path through the countryside, Aim to build this up to 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week. The benefits to your health will be considerable.
Check out this blog on Walking
Get plenty of sleep
The amount of sleep you get every night dictates your energy level, feelings of mental alertness and ability to maintain a healthy weight level. Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. Lack of sleep can lead to premature aging, high blood pressure, and increased stress. Getting enough quality sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health, physical health, quality of life, and safety. Sleep allows our bodies to repair themselves, recharge and restore. Try to get at least eight hours of sleep a night.
Check out this blog on sleeping
Make time for relaxation
Learning how to control stress can help you retain your mental and physical health. Meditation helps to bring the body back into a state of balance, allowing healing to occur. Regular meditation can lower your heart rate and blood pressure, improve sleep and efficiency, reduce stress-producing hormones, and have a positive influence on your internal systems. By developing peace of mind and by reducing fear and anxiety you can boost your immune system and create the best conditions for your body to heal itself. Thirty minutes a day spend doing meditation will serve your body and mind in a great way. You have to make the time for it.
Check out this blog on meditation
Take a Multi vitamin
My experience has demonstrated that taking vitamins is a big ally of health and wellness. Taking a multi vitamin supplement seems to have recently received negative comments, people writing about the limited benefits or even that they do nothing for our health. I don’t accept their arguments at all, and believe that a complete multivitamin supplement is a good choice for health conscious people who want to get back to health. A regular diet may not always be able to supply your body with the daily nutritional requirements. With multivitamin supplements, you can get most of the nutrients required by the body for proper functioning.
Check out my very own Multi Vitamin
I am passionate about helping others get back to health, and grateful for this opportunity to share with you the lifestyle changes that have enabled me to personally get back to health. I encourage you to commit to as many of these as you can. You’ll be amazed at the substantial changes they bring to your life and health.
photo credit: VisitLakeland private yoga on a lake shore via photopin (license)
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