Here’s to good health!
If I have learnt anything from my health journey it has been the importance of being kind to yourself and taking time to relax and have a balance between work and home life.
I’ve realised now that through my teenage years and 20s the combination of burning the candle at both ends, a poor diet high in sugar and refined carbs, alcohol, stress of exams and work set the stage for having health problems. At that age you think you are invincible and can cope with anything and everything. I'm sure you can relate to that feeling!
The foundations of good health are sleep, exercise/movement, nutrition, stress relief/relaxation and support from friends, family or community. These are the same foundations for everyone irrespective of their physical or psychological issues. Get these right and you will see positive change. I’m not suggesting that these lifestyle changes are the whole solution but they are a good start.
After completing my Functional Medicine training I made a conscious effort to carve out some regular time for myself and practice medicine in the way I wanted. This meant reducing my hours in NHS practice to do more Functional and Environmental Medicine, making the commitment to meditate for at least 10 minutes every morning, training with my personal trainer once a week and climbing twice a week. I have noticed a difference in the way I cope with stress at work and home and although I am still busy, I feel so much better for it.
Remember change doesn’t happen overnight and you cannot change everything at once. The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine have a campaign called #1change. This is about only starting one new behaviour at a time and once you have this established try adding another. Start with something you feel is easily manageable for you, for example, having 10-15 minutes of ‘me’ time every day to read, soak in the bath or sit in the garden. Be aware of your surroundings. I love sitting in my garden listening to the birds sing and watching them come to the feeders.
I would love to know what you do to support your health that works. In my future blog posts I’ll talk in more detail about each of the foundations in more detail.
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