Health is a Gift
Health is one of the greatest gifts in the world. It’s at the center of everything. Every single part of your life relies on you having good health. Health problems, even minor ones, can overshadow other aspects of your life. Without health, you have nothing.
What is health?
Health is defined as the state of being free from illness or injury; a person’s mental or physical condition.
I don’t think that definition is anywhere near close to describing what true health is. See, since I’ve lived with bad health (physically, mentally, and emotionally) and have finally come out on the other side, the meaning of health for me has evolved.
Health to me means not being in pain, being able to move comfortably, having sustained energy throughout the day, and being able to do typical life activities like carrying in groceries or picking up my granddaughter.
True health is being free from medications, emotional and mental issues like depression and anxiety, digestive issues like gas, bloating, and constipation, skin issues like acne, rosacea, and psoriasis and of course, the aches and pains many associate with aging. And no, these are not normal. May be common, but it’s most certainly not normal even though we’ve been conditioned to believe it is.
In this post, I’ll be focusing mainly on physical health, but understand that all components of health matter, including mental, emotional, social, spiritual, and environmental. .
Importance of Diet
Let’s start with the importance of diet when it comes to health. And when I say diet, I mean the way a person typically eats, not a calorie-counting-salad-eating deprivation-short-term one.
And make no mistake, what you consume absolutely affects your overall health. A poor diet can manifest in many ways such as fatigue, anxiety, moodiness, and weakness to autoimmune issues and metabolic diseases like diabetes and heart issues. Yes, food affects all of that. It can be a poison or medicine depending on what you eat.
In the US as well as many other countries, we have government nutritional guidelines that have contributed to our declining health and increasing rate of metabolic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and autoimmune issues. It’s shameful that those who stand to profit the most from our poor health have the most influence in deciding what’s healthy all the while witnessing the opposite.
For most of my life, I truly believed that the guidelines were accurate and that I must have been doing something wrong. In other words, my fault. But now I understand it was the diet at fault, not me. I ate only low fat foods, little to no red meat, used “heart healthy” vegetable oils, ate lots of grains and fiber, and a good amount of fruits and vegetables. What did that get me? Obese, depressed, on 5 medications, and very unhealthy. I did not have a quality of life. It’s pretty sad to be so out of breath after changing the kitty litter that I had to lay down for 30 minutes to recover. Walking up a few steps was torture. I hardly slept because I had to prop myself up with pillows, so I didn’t choke on the acid that would come up in my mouth if I didn’t. My face would flame and burn if I got hot or upset or went into the sun or ate spicy food due to the rosacea. I had Reynaud’s syndrome and my fingers and toes would lose circulation and turn white and throb if I got too cold. My gut hurt so bad sometimes I’d fall to my knees in pain.
I spent a few years going to doctors so often that they all knew me. I can remember breaking down after one visit when I got the pre-diabetes diagnosis after hearing so much other bad health news, that I just lost it. My poor doctor didn’t even know what to do. And I’m just touching the surface with all this. Emotionally and mentally I was a mess inside. I hated myself. Hated my body. Felt it was betraying me. That it was the enemy. I tortured myself with restrictive dieting with foods that made me miserable and hating life.
But all that changed when keto dropped into my life. I personally have been following a ketogenic lifestyle for over 5 years now. The last 3 have been carnivore. That means I don’t eat plants other than a few spices. Yes, no veggies. No fruit. I’ve never felt better and all my health markers are awesome with the exception of cortisol. Hello stress. I know it’s hard to wrap the mind around such a lifestyle. I get it. But meat has been a huge part of the human evolution. And quite frankly, most of us do not get enough animal protein and it’s obvious. Meat is the most nutrient dense food we can eat. So, don’t skimp on it because some experts and agencies cry that meat is bad based on flawed studies.
Now before I go onto how awesome keto and carnivore are, I don’t believe every single person should follow one specific way of eating in order to be healthy, but I do 100% believe that there are certain foods no one should be eating on a regular basis or not at all like processed foods, seed oils, sugar, grains, plant-based fake foods, and anything labeled low fat.
I also believe some form of a lower carb diet works best for keeping hormones balanced, healing the body from the inside out improving or reversing disease, feeling satiated instead of always hangry, steady prolonged energy, better moods, & less brain fog to name a few. I will say zero of the typical restrictive diets I’ve tried did that for me. So to say it was shocking is an understatement. I remember looking at my husband after less than a week of keto and saying that I could live like that the rest of my life. I couldn’t fully explain how I felt other than euphoric. It was most definitely a game-changer for me. And I knew even after those few days that there was no way was I ever going back to the mainstream dietary standards. It was such a pivotal moment for me. The realization gave me such joy yet angered and baffled me that I had never even heard of keto before. How was it allowed that I suffered for so long when there was a different way of eating I could have been following that would have given me my life back. What a difference my life could have been. I wouldn’t have spent 20 years hiding from the world and feeling like a fat failure.
I want to add a little note before we move on. When I talk keto or carnivore, I’m coming from a whole food based way of eating. Even low carb or keto can be junk diets if a lot of processed keto foods are consumed. I do believe they have their place like helping some to transition from the typical carb filled processed foods to a better options. But they shouldn’t be a main staple. Whole foods are always preferable.
We should all be focusing more on what’s going on INSIDE the body and how food affects that. Food quality matters. Absorbable and bioavailable foods matter.
It’s so important to learn about our bodies and what they need. We need to address root cause of issues like blood sugar regulation and metabolic damage from years of restrictive eating like many of us have done over the years.
Non-Diet Related Factors
Let’s talk a little about some non-diet related factors that affect physical health.
Sunlight. Yes, sunlight. I know we’ve been told to slather our skin with sunscreen and avoid the sun most of the time, but we need the sun. It’s incredibly important for our health. And guess what, when you remove toxic foods and chemicals from our diet like seed oils also known as vegetable oils and processed foods, our bodies can actually tolerate being in the sun like it was meant to be.
Exercise. We all know this one. I don’t think I need to go into it. Get some activity and do some weight bearing exercises. You don’t need to kill yourself, but we all need to move our bodies to build muscle, maintain bone health, not to mention improved moods and stress relief.
Sleep. I think we also are quite aware of this one. Sleep is so important. And it’s not just quantity, but quality. Your body can’t function correctly without sleep. Pay attention and make it a priority.
And one more health related factor I want to mention is stress management. Stress can literally kill you. It can mess up hormones and ramp up inflammation. Find some way to reduce stress. Go for a walk. Meditate. Whatever works for you. I’ve heard the tapping method works well. I have yet to try it, but I sure need to. I’ll admit stress is my biggest issue.
Benefits of Focusing on Health
By focusing on health, several things happen. One huge thing is that you relieve a lot of stress from feeling like you have to meet a certain goal as in a certain number on the scale. And trust me, stress from worrying about not losing “weight” can absolutely cause you to stall or even gain.
Two, when your health starts improving, you feel better and start to realize just how big of a deal health really is. More energy. Better moods. Less brain fog. I’ve had so many clients tell me they no longer care if they don’t lose weight because they feel so amazing. They plan to continue eating that way regardless.
Last but not least, by healing your body from the inside, it becomes much easier to deal with the outside. And what I mean by that is you are no longer fighting against your body but working with it. It makes weight loss easier and maintenance much more sustainable. It’s a win win.
Yes, I know we all want results yesterday, but if you really think about it, would you rather lose weight quickly then gain it all back because the restrictive diet is miserable and not sustainable? Because I think we all know it’s inevitable. Or allow your body to heal and do its thing even if it takes longer than you want so the rest of your life will be so much easier?
Health works from the inside out. Don’t base health on the outside. And remember, happiness, health, and a long life doesn’t come by looking a certain way.
Be careful focusing on aesthetics goals. These take time and you could easily get discouraged when you don’t see quick progress. Keep track of the healthy behaviors you accomplish every day and how you feel…like having more energy.
It’s not wrong to want to lose weight or improve the outside, but it shouldn’t be the focus. And focusing only on weight loss doesn’t lead to long-term health. Remember, it’s get healthy to lose weight. Not lose weight to get healthy.
And once the inside issues are addressed and healing happens, the outside will follow! Give it time and be patient. It’s not a race to the finish line because health doesn’t have one. Health is an ongoing process and a life-long journey, not a one-time event.
It takes time for most of us to love ourselves in all our perfect imperfections, but it is an uphill battle that is always worth fighting for. I’m still fighting. I can now look at myself in the mirror and be okay with my body. I’m not at the love my body stage…yet, but I no longer treat it like the enemy. I appreciate it for the amazing biological machine that it is.
The body’s sole purpose is to keep you alive, so give it what it needs and it will do its best to work with you!
I hope you are starting to look at what’s important and that’s quality of life.
