I’ve been a health coach for about a year and a half now, and I’ve been researching and experimenting with my own health and wellness for the past 15+ years, so needless to say I’ve learned a thing or two. And you know what? Even with all of that experience, I still get f*cking confused sometimes with ALL of the information that’s floating out there….
Meat is good. Meat is bad. Move a lot, but not too much. Don’t overeat. Calories in, calories out. Don’t get too stressed, but your body needs stress. Don’t eat a ton of sugar, but it’s not that bad. Load up on veggies, but wait, they have to protect themselves from us eating them, so they are poisoning us. Lower your sodium. Go raw! Make sure you meditate. Everything in moderation. Make time for your family but make time for yourself. AHHHHHH!!!!!!
It's just too much!!!!!!
So, let’s start by getting back to the basics. Let’s go simple.
First, let’s start by defining what good health because if we don’t know what it is, then how the hell are we supposed to get there?
I googled the definition of health, and this is what came up… “the state of being free from injury or illness.”
I also found a Pubmed article that defined “good health.” It says “Perhaps we should think about ‘good health’ in a different way. Essentially re-defining our health goal to include a more rewarding human experience; thus, living not only physically healthier lives, but also more meaningful and impactful lives.”
Both of those got me thinking about what good health actually is and you know what I came up with? You ready for this…It depends. I know, I know… you’re throwing your hands up in the air and screaming, “WTF Kim??!! I thought you were going to make it simple and actually tell me what it is.” Let me explain…
What health means to one person could potentially be completely different for another person. To have good health will depend on each individual’s life and goals. Plus, that can change over time.
Let me give you a couple of examples:
First, let’s look at two separate individuals.
Person A is a male in his late 60’s, who has four young, rambunctious grandchildren. His idea of good health and wellness is to be able to move and keep up with those grandchildren for a couple hours a day, to be able to throw a ball easily with them, to be limber enough to play hide and go seek with them, and to be able to go home at night and not have to take pain meds because his joints and muscles hurt.
Person B is a young woman in her early 20’s, who is fresh out of college. She is single and is looking to go have fun with her friends and enjoy things that she wants to do without having to worry about anyone else. She wants to have the strength and mobility to easily go hiking, kayaking, snowboarding, paddle boarding, running a 10k or
completing a hard workout. And, then at the end of those days, be able to go out and enjoy a drink or two with her friends, get up the next morning, and do it all over again.
Now, let’s check out another example where the thought of health and wellness has changed over time. This is a personal example (aka me ☺️).
When I was younger (about 15 years ago), I wanted to be able to run 4 to 5 miles every couple days, be able to lift super heavy weights, and go out at night to the bars, drink beer, and shoot pool on the weekends.
Fast forward to late 2021, I had a big health crisis (no, not Covid). Almost overnight (and when I say “almost overnight” I mean within a matter of about a week), I was barely able to walk. I had to use a cane or crutches. I thought I was on my way to having to be in a wheelchair. It was horrible. At that point, my thoughts on good health and wellness were just to be able to walk again (I was insanely jealous of everyone who I saw walking by not even giving it a second thought), be able to squat deeply again (I couldn’t deeply bend or straighten my right knee), and be able to pull myself up off the floor after playing a board game with my kids (I was able to do that but was in a LOT of pain).
Fast forward to now, I have since figured out the cause behind my health scare and am now able to walk, squat, and get up off the floor with no pain or issues. While I have not taken that for granted, I’m striving for a bit more. I now do a lot of walking (thanks to our doggies ❤️) instead of running, but I’m also working on more mobility, strength, and stamina. This is for several reasons. One is I want to get to a point where I have little to no pain. I still have some back pain, especially first thing in the morning (I’m thinking it might be my mattress). I want to have the energy and mobility to go do things like jump on the trampoline with my kids or easily go snowboarding my whole family. But, to add something I haven’t mentioned yet, I want to get out of bed and have the energy and mental clarity to really be excited for the day instead of wanting to pull the covers back over my head and sleep in a little longer (not that there’s anything wrong with that from time to time).
As you can see from those examples, good health is going to have a different meaning to each and every one of us. What I encourage you to do is to take some time to reflect on what it means to you at this point in your life. Here are some questions to help:
Do you feel that you have good health right now? Why or why not?
If not, what’s missing and what can you do to fix that?
When you hear “good health,” what comes to mind for you?
What would a perfect “normal” day look like?
When I say “normal” day, I mean, what would a perfect typical day in the life of you look like?
Get into as much detail as possible. How do you feel? How much energy do you have? What will you do or not do? Etc.
Physically, how would you…
Feel?
Look?
Mentally, how would you feel?
Emotionally, how would you feel?
If you can answer those questions honestly for yourself, then you are off to a great start! Now you just need to put together small baby steps, or experiments, to strive to get there. And that’s where I come in… my job is help you get from where you are now to where you want to be. If it were easy, we’d all be in perfect health. But this is the real world, and it ain’t easy. We have a lot of things working against us, so having a team behind you is important!
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