Manage diet & lifestyle for body & mind wellness
Credit to Author: Hazel Morley| Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2019 02:15:00 +0000
Stress. The fact is that stress is neither good nor bad for us. Too little of it and we are not motivated to grow, or change. Too much stress and our body’s natural defence systems weaken, draining our energy and immune function, leaving us vulnerable to ill health – physical and mental ill health.
With an epidemic of chronic diseases in our society today, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s as well as mental health and stress-related disorders, the impact on individuals, families and employers is devastating. According to a recent study, a staggering $2.5 trillion is spent on healthcare globally each year.
While your genetic makeup can be a reason, research attributes only a small percentage to such biological causes. Good nutrition and a healthy, active lifestyle can delay the onset of many chronic diseases, even if you have a family history of the illness.
Managing nutrition and lifestyle choices are important in creating a long and healthy life.
Combine a healthy diet with an active lifestyle
When you regularly eat a diet that consists mainly of processed food (junk food), refined sugars and carbohydrates (think ‘white’ or ‘beige’ foods) you will create disease in the body and mind. Poor quality food offers little nutritional benefit and deprives our body of the essential vitamins, minerals and enzymes that our body and mind need to function well. Processed foods also add more toxins to the body which reduce our tolerance for stress, drain our energy, and negatively impact our focus, patience and motivation. You sleep poorly, you can’t think clearly (often referred to as ‘brain fog’), are more likely to feel anxious and gain weight.
Likewise, when you spend too many hours being inactive, or desk bound, our health deteriorates and puts us at increased risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Making good choices about the food you buy and eat and making time for fresh air and exercise can prevent many of these illnesses. In the short term, you will be rewarded with more energy, clarity, motivation and peace of mind – all of which will help you as you build your life in Canada.
Manage your mind
A very important part of the lifestyle factor is how you manage your mind and the way you think. Every action and every decision starts with a thought. When setbacks and challenges occur in your life, do you get trapped in a cycle of negative thinking, criticizing, blaming, justifying, allowing the situation to consume or overwhelm you? If so, how does this make you feel? What impact does that have on others around you? Is this way of dealing with the situation helpful? Does it move you forward? Usually the response is no, not at all.
Maybe you can stand back, and get some perspective on the issue, before deciding what to do about it (which could include doing nothing). When problems arise, or events unfold that are unexpected and unwelcome, do you focus your time and energy on what you can do about it? Are you able to ‘let go’ of things that you can do nothing about, or that don’t really matter? This doesn’t mean that things don’t bother you, or you don’t show emotion. You simply focus on being proactive; thinking about how you will respond to whatever has happened, rather than getting stuck, going around in circles and getting nowhere. It’s this type of thinking that will enable you to find solutions, attract others to you, and help you find the resources you need to create the life you want.
Naturally, you will be unable to change some of the things you will feel unhappy about, and wish were different. If this is the case, the best thing you can do, as far as your health and wellbeing are concerned, is to accept the situation, learn from it (as appropriate), and give yourself permission to move on, within a reasonable time period. The alternative is to keep heaping stress onto yourself by constantly focusing on your concerns, and yet doing nothing differently to influence the situation or change the way you think and feel.
Think about your attitude
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity” – Albert Einstein.
Whatever your approach to the challenges that life throws at you, it’s how you think about what happens to you, not the event or circumstance itself that makes the difference. It’s helpful to remember that while you do not have control over these inevitable setbacks, you do have control within these circumstances. You are in control of you and that starts with what’s happening in your head. This is the only place a negative or positive thought exists.
When was the last time you thought about the way you think? How might your attitude be affecting your physical and mental health?