What are the benefits of Good Health and Wellbeing? Part 1
The Benefits of Being Healthy
Many people talk about the risks associated with being unhealthy rather than the benefits of being healthy. Being unhealthy, as we know, can cause a variety of nutrition and obesity-related health dis-eases. I wonder, how come there’s less talk about the benefits of doing right by your body? What can being healthy offer you on a long-term basis?
Here are just some of the benefits of being healthy:
1. Fights Dis-ease
Before I go into this, let me explain a bit more about what I mean when I say ‘dis-ease’. When disease was first used, it referred literally to ‘lack of ease or comfort’, rather than how it is used today to refer to sickness or problems with bodily function. ‘Dis–ease’ is a lack of something (ease/health), whereas disease is the presence of something (an endpoint condition).
When a health professional uses the word dis–ease, it is indicative of your body being MINUS something that your body needs to be at its optimum health. Something needs to be restored to help your body to become normal again. When your body is FREE of dis–ease, it is 100% normal and you will have better wellbeing.
It is my belief, that the “mind and body are interconnected”. There is a relationship between what the mind thinks and what the body creates. Do you think the right thoughts for good health and wellbeing, or do your thoughts focus on dis-ease and sickness? This all matters!
Your body is a marvellous device, which is designed to produce behaviour based on your pattern of thoughts. Not a fleeting little thought, but a pattern of thoughts you repeat regularly, maybe for a lifetime. This includes a fear of future events turning out badly, imagining the worst disasters that never happened, conjuring up all sorts of colourful stories in our imagination that aren’t the reality of your life!
So, let’s get back to the main point of ‘Fighting Dis-ease’.
Working out and eating right are a powerful duo when it comes to the longevity of health because it helps the body prevent dis-ease. Health complications such as cancer, diabetes, or heart failure are all linked to poor health choices and a sedentary lifestyle. While having a family history of a particular dis-ease increases the chances of contracting this, it is often the choices you make that either mark its appearance or make it worse.
Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables equips the body with the antioxidants and fibre it needs to flush toxins to keep your cells healthy. Any exercise is helpful to overall body health, especially the heart.
2. Builds Confidence
You gain a new level of confidence when you work out on a regular basis. Strength training, walking, running, dancing, or swimming may initially seem troublesome, tiring, or hard for some.
However, after a short time the challenges and pain become worth it, as you begin to enjoy seeing your body change in the process.
The boost in confidence is not only physical. It’s mental too. You may begin to believe in yourself more and take on more things to challenge yourself.
3. Improves Brain Health and Mood
Proper exercise and diet also improve mental health. When you exercise, positive changes happen in the brain. Working out allows the body to circulate blood and oxygen to the brain more efficiently.
This improves memory and mood, as new brain cells are made, and a stronger connection is made between cells that communicate. Exercise is effective at combating anger, anxiety, and depression.
Changing your diet by reducing or eliminating processed food and sugar also helps improve mood and reduces fatigue and “sugar crashes.”
4. Reduces Stress
If you have a lot on your mind, doing something as simple as taking a walk outside can help reduce stress. When you exercise, your body releases feel-good neurotransmitters known as endorphins. They also act as natural painkillers and help improve your ability to sleep.
Exercising also releases catecholamines that induce a fight or flight response that helps you protect your body from the effects of stress. You can control your stress with exercise by keeping your mind off bad habits such as smoking, if you want to quit or control your appetite.
5. Optimises Performance
You’ll have more energy when you supply your body with the right fuel and engage in exercise. Working out as little as a few minutes during ad-breaks if you’re at home, or for 20-30 mins during your lunch break improves focus, creativity, and concentration.
When you get moving, you become both a mental and a physical powerhouse, where you will become energised and full of vitality. Although it may seem as if it’s the opposite during an exercise, especially when you start. Pairing your workouts, no matter how long or short, with a good diet improves mental clarity and performance.
6. Healthy Gut and Organs
The stomach is loaded with bacteria, both good and bad. There should be a balance between the two which occurs when you have more good than bad bacteria. Naturally occurring bacteria assists the body with digestion and metabolism.
Other good bacteria helps to make vitamins B and K, which also help fight bad bacteria and viruses. When the gut biochemistry is altered, there is local inflammation that has the potential to become systemic if not addressed.
Eating fibre, fermented foods, and getting enough probiotics all help your colon to thrive. This prevents digestive issues or dis-ease.
Life is indeed in the blood; your blood is your river of life. Working out is also helpful in having a healthy gut and organs because it prevents poor circulation. Just 20 minutes of exercise is enough to lower inflammation in the body. The blood flow released throughout the body will ensure you get the nutrients you need from the foods you need.
Blood is also a means for transportation for sending cells and hormones from one area of the body to another, when needed. Exercise helps facilitate the ease in communication around your body to help it function well.
7. Maintain Healthy Weight or Lose It
When you are healthy inside, this is also likely to show internally and vice-versa. Eating healthy helps you maintain or lose excess weight. Most people find that eating a plant-based diet, or one rich in lean protein and fibre, allows them to eat as much as they want and still drop pounds.
You are more likely to stay healthy and achieve your weight goals when you refrain from eating sugary and overly processed foods without needing to count calories. While calories are important, the quality of those calories and where they come from also matter.
Working out helps you out even more by burning off excess calories. When you get rid of excess fat, you are helping reduce stress and pressure on your organs which ultimately helps you prevent dis-ease.
The Physical and Psychological Benefits of Being Healthy
It’s important to know the reasons why being unhealthy is bad for our health. Knowing the dangers often provides us with the motivation we need to change things. However, the benefits of being healthy can also offer that same motivation.
Rather than looking at the negative aspect of things all the time, look at the brighter side. Sometimes, reading the range of benefits being healthy offers makes people want to go for a walk or improve their diet. I completely advocate self-study on the subject of good health and wellness. Once you are knowledgeable, you are empowered to take action to make the positive changes in your life and, more importantly, the changes that are right for you. Nobody knows your body better than you know yourself. It’s up to you to develop this awareness and notice when things start to go out of kilter, and then make the decision to do something about it.
For me, I have seen enough family members suffer as a result of dis-ease, heart conditions, diabetes, cancer, poor kidney and liver function, Alzheimer’s and even sudden death. This is enough to make me take a look at my health and wellbeing habits and why good health and wellbeing are my non-negotiables. I plan to live a long and healthy life full of energy and vitality. The scarcity of life is what makes you appreciate it most, so why waste it?! Death is one of the greatest teachers on earth to make us want to live.
Here are my 3 Golden Nuggets for helping you to have a happier, healthier and fulfilled life:
Golden Nuggets
1. Have you lost that zing?
It’s time to be honest with yourself! Do you find yourself slumped in front of the TV, playing video games, or staring at your phone or computer most of your day? If you’re not moving and living a sedentary life of little or no physical activity, then your health is seriously at risk!
By completing an assessment, you will have a clearer picture of the health areas where you excel and those areas that could do with some extra focus and work. Taking an honest assessment will also help you to reflect on various components of your health that you may not have thought much about.
Top Tip
Think of this statement:
“I engage in vigorous exercises such as brisk walking, jogging, training with weights or HIIT, swimming or running for at least 30 minutes per day for 3 to 5 times a week.”
If your answer is ‘never’ or ‘rarely’, or ‘some of the time’, then you don’t need me to tell you that it is time for you to make the most important decision in your life to change that.
If you answered ‘usually’ or ‘always’, then great but have you got to a plateau? Maybe it’s time to level up as your body has got used to your current level of activity and feels comfortable. There is always more growth and improvement; you need to keep challenging your body and, trust me, you will also enjoy the new challenge.
In either case, it’s time to STEP UP, you owe it to your future self.
2. Maximising on nourishment is simple
Are you conscious of what you are putting in your mouth? We eat to energise us, to help us grow and develop, and to support us in our daily lives.
Modern society makes getting healthy harder than ever. People are busy trying to balance work, family and other responsibilities. As a result, their health goals are often put on hold. That said, being healthy does not have to be difficult. There are simple ways to get healthier with minimal effort.
Top Tip
Fill half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables. Vegetables can be loosely classified as starchy and non-starchy vegetables. Starchy vegetables generally have more carbs and calories than their non-starchy counterparts.
Examples of starchy vegetables include potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweetcorn and parsnips. Non-starchy vegetables include spinach, other dark green leafy vegetables, brussels sprouts, carrots, broccoli, courgettes, aubergine, and cauliflower.
Filling half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables is a simple way to make your diet healthier. They are low in calories but packed with nutrients, fibre and water.
By replacing some of the starch and protein of your meal with non-starchy vegetables, you can still eat a similar amount of food but with fewer calories.
This simple strategy also saves you the hassle of worrying about serving sizes and calories.
3. Hydration is key
Water is an essential and major component of all living matter. It is the largest single component of the body: our brains are 76% water, our lungs are 90% water, our blood is 84% water and blood plasma is 98% water. Critical processes such as digestion, circulation and excretion cannot occur without water.
Top Tip
Water is important for your health. Drinking enough water can help maintain a healthy brain function, concentration and a positive mood. In addition, water may help you lose weight by keeping you full and increasing how many calories you burn.
If you find it difficult to drink enough water, try having a glass with each meal. This ensures you drink at least a few glasses of water each day. Personally, I have a 2-litre water bottle by my side each day and it’s a must that I get through at least that. I tend to drink around 3 litres of water a day.
So, let’s summarise those Golden Nuggets again:
- Have you lost that zing?
- Maximising on nourishment is simple
- Hydration is key
Discover The Key to Good Health and Wellbeing
Good health and wellbeing are about the mind as well as the body. Feeling physically fit, and feeling good about ourselves, means that we can go and achieve more of the things we want to do in life.
Staying in good health is important to all of us and can become particularly important in later years. The best way to stay healthy, physically, mentally, and spiritually is by learning how to take care of yourself.
In our hectic lives, it can sometimes be difficult to find the motivation, the time, and the energy to make a few key changes in our lives. We’re all human! However, a bit of effort can pay off in many ways.
I wonder, did you set a few New Year’s Resolutions? ‘New Year New Me’ and all that jazz?! If those good intentions have become a long distant memory, then now is the time to make those all-important changes in your life.
Join my FREE 2-hour workshop to achieve and maintain a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing. Held over Zoom on Sunday 21 March at 4pm.
Please register and you will be sent an email with joining instructions. Book your place on “Discover The Key to Good Health and Wellbeing” today.
Thank you for joining me and I look forward to seeing you again next week for Pura Vida Your Life Happenings for insight, inspiration and more Golden Nuggets to help you live a happier and fulfilled life.
I invite you to come on a journey of empowerment with me – sign up to Discoveries to start taking steps to improve your life!
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Pura Vida Your Life – it all starts with you 🧡💙💛
Until next time – Pura Vida!