Although health and wellness can have very different meanings to each person, I think most people would assume that it is attributed primarily to the body and how we treat it. We are constantly coming up with new diets, pills, and exercise routines that are backed by scientific evidence and deemed the year’s Number One weight loss plan.
While getting fit is a great accomplishment and staying fit an even bigger feat, it takes dedication and discipline that I just don’t have, so I understand the infatuation with short cuts. Kudos to those people who can get up each morning at 4 a.m. and motivate themselves to run that extra mile. I aspire to be you, but for now the most I can muster out of myself is huffing and puffing for 20 minutes on the treadmill. Even that is short lived because I can only commit to about a week of getting up and going to the gym before I take a much needed day off, which in turn usually extends to several months slump of sedentary living. It is only once I begin to feel like a giant meat loaf again that I usually talk myself into going another round with the treadmill.!
I’ve also tried dieting, cutting carbs, but only found myself lusting over a dinner roll at Bertucci’s. I love food, especially bread! There, I said it. I don’t understand why anyone would ever give that up willingly. Bread is good for the soul and that, in of itself, nourishes the body. Ok, maybe not, but my point is that there is more to health than just staying fit. In the matter of overall health, all aspects of person should be considered. This is what we are taught as nurses and what I have come to learn personally. Like a well-oiled machine, the head, the heart, and the body function in collaboration with one another, bringing you into complete center of your unique self. So, in addition to diet and exercise, I find it equally as important to keep your mind right. Physical activity is a good place to start to help put the mind in the right place. Meditation, yoga, Tai chi are all great ways to help pull it together mentally. Also, finding your unique creative outlet, one that lets you connect with and express yourself is one of the best ways to create balance.
I have been trying to focus more on the internal aspects of my overall health, truly believing that balance is everything. I have come to find that I also value physical exercise and proper diet more because I value myself. People get caught up in trends such as juicing or whatever the trend is nowadays. Personally, I prefer a bit more of happy with my healthy.
Nicole Shank recently moved from Derry, N.H. to Miami, FL.
From Miami:
A Happy Healthy
by Nicole Shank