Texoma Living Well Magazine November/December 2016 | Page 10

From previous page public eye. I have to look a certain way.’ It’s been motivated by, I want to live a long, healthy, happy life, and what do I need to learn to make sure I can provide that for myself? I don’t have any ideal of perfection that has to be maintained all the time. I’m the normal girl, and I’ll gain or lose five pounds in a week, just like anybody will.” Jewel has found it relatively easy to embrace her exercise routine, linking it back to her commitment to emotional wellness. “We all know that getting a good workout creates endorphins and gives us an overall sense of wellbeing because it engages your biochemistry,” she ex- 8 plains. “If you want to have a healthier body, one of the best things you can do is invest in your emotional and mental health. It’s going to have an incredible impact on your overall sense of wellbeing, and there’s a lot of science out there to show the connections of stress and illness.” “At the same time, stress affects your biochemistry. Learning to handle stress affects your physical health. Talk to any medical doctor, and they’ll tell you stress is one of the underlying causes of a lot of diseases. I know this firsthand, because I had unmitigated and prolonged stress a lot of my life, and it caused a lot of health issues.” TEXOMA AREA Living Well Magazine | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016