How to ensure that ensure EVERY part of your life is AWESOME!....Checking in with the 'pillars of health'.

At the chirping of the birds, I woke up yesterday with eyes so puffy, you could mistake me for having an extreme allergic response to something during the night. My cheeks felt swollen, my mind was on another planet and I felt exhausted.

I certainly hadn’t been out partying the night before (I’m getting too old to do that on a regular occasion – it only happens a handful of times a year and takes me week to recover so I try to keep it pretty spaced out where possible!), I didn’t have the sniffles or a head cold to match it….but I felt as if I had hit a brick wall.

I started to go through my head and ask why I felt like this? I’d eaten the same, healthy, vegetable filled, lean meats and complex grain diet that I usually would. I’d exercised in my usual routine – a long Saturday run followed by a Sunday Pilates and weights session.

The thing is – I’d been so consumed by the setting up of my business and making sure that I’d been on hand to my family and friends as needed during the week – that I’d got to a point where my mental state was burnt and stressed. I hadn’t taken time for myself AT ALL during the week for my daily meditation or yoga. The time I did spend at home was spent either emailing, trawling through social media pages, working on my website or working with clients. I had taken the odd 20minute break to make some quick lunch and sit out in the sunshine, but  oh – how I wish I could move my desk into the middle of the park across the road to do some work in the great outdoors….as weird as it would look to the toddlers running around the play equipment!

My point is – most of us get so caught up in making sure that we are ‘healthy’ by eating nutritious, fresh and home-made food as much as socially possible and exercising most days…that we completely become oblivious to the fact that to be healthy and happy, you have to address ALL of the ‘pillars of health’ (explained in more detail below).

Every one of these works together in a similar way to a whole bunch of ants carrying a heavy piece of cake they had just found on the ground of an unsuspecting person on a picnic.

If one of the ants is not pulling it’s weight, there is a drop in the height of the piece of cake. The other ants then struggle and have to work harder to try and maintain the lifting of the cake and eventually one of them gets worn out and the cake doesn’t quite make it back in one piece back to the ant hole!

Each of these pillars creates a ripple effect in being able to produce ‘health’ and ‘great health’ at that. Change one of them, and it has an effect on the rest of the other pillars.

For most ‘humans’, maybe even making a small change to one could be all the difference in inspiring the other pillars to naturally ‘lift’ and start working in order to help the over-all picture of health.

Take an example of someone who isn’t getting enough sleep (less than 7 hours a night). If you sleep less than the recommended 7 hours, then you are 30% more likely to gain weight; this being due to the release of a ‘fat storing’ hormone and also your body craving more sugar laden and high energy foods to give you the energy you need (that you are not getting from your sleep cycle). You are more likely to become stressed not only from your brain being fatigued and not able to deal with the day to day events in your life, but also from you starting to potentially put on weight and eat foods that will not satisfy your nutritional needs or provide you with sustainable energy levels (think white breads, fried foods, sweets). 

When you’re tired, there is a hell of a lot less chance that you will muster up the energy to go out for a run or hit the gym – making you more tired, grumpy, stressed and most likely heading towards foods that will provide you comfort (ever noticed that when you exercise you feel like you need to ‘nourish and fuel’ your body more to pair up with your exercise?). If you’re tired – you generally won’t be jumping around full of love, cuddles and wanting to stay up that extra 20minutes later to have a little ‘loving’ with your partner either!

Think about the following and how you are incorporating or perhaps NOT incorporating them into your life today?

Drink Up – Making sure you are drinking around 8 glasses (or 2 Litres) of WATER (not soft drink, not juice, not diet soft drink, but clean, healthy, nourishing and hydrating H20!!) EACH day. The body is made up of mostly water and without it, can mean the cells and systems within us are not working at their peak. Being dehydrated can also impair your energy levels, concentration and mood.

Sleep Deep – 7 Hours minimum EACH night. Less than this means you are at 30% + risk of gaining weight (from eating quick-energy-fix food and from an increase in a hormone responsible for storing more fat).

Stress Less – Your body will not produce the stress response hormone if it is releasing the relaxation response hormone. That said – even if it is 10 minutes of mindful, deep breathing or a quick guided meditation – that is included in relaxation. More relaxation = clarity, less stress on your body, better sleep patterns, more conscious choices when it comes to food & exercise, higher productivity.

Love More – You heard it right, LOVE is a vital part of our health. It releases the calming and comforting hormone oxytocin. This can be done through even a 10second hug, or even better spend some time each day kissing, ‘horizontal dancing’, hand holding your partner or a loved one.

Live Consciously – Clean up your house, office, bedroom or even your fridge. Its amazing how de-cluttering can completely change your view on the world around you. Wouldn’t you rather select today’s meals from a nice, clean and organized fridge or cupboard? Choosing whatever you can find from one filled with mould, half empty plastic bags or old tubs filled with dinner from 2 weeks ago is not inspiring AT ALL!! Try it!

Eat Empowered – Rather than feeling like you are on a DIET – think about food as having a choice. Make things that you enjoy and allow yourself to eat those ‘sometimes’ foods occasionally, rather than holding it all in on a super strict regime that you can’t wait to break out of. Thinking about food as being a fuel for your body to do the exercise, day to day chores or simply to feel great (a good question to ask yourself is “how will this make me feel if I eat it?” or “How did I feel when I ate this last time?”).

Nurture Yourself – When was the last time you took 20 – 30 Minutes to YOURSELF to do something that YOU enjoy (not the things that you feel you have to or should be doing, but the things that really make your heart sing). Maybe its singing out loud, doing some yoga, reading a book, partaking in a hobby like painting, or even going out for a soy latte at your local café to read the paper and people watch by yourself.

Sweat Often – Some people, hate exercise. 

The thing is – you need to find something you enjoy and start thinking about exercise as a way to get you to a goal (and NOT a goal weight). Why not think about entering yourself in a 5km fun run or walk-a-thon? If you pair exercise with losing weight, it will lose its value and appeal to you and will become like a chore. 

Exercise is so, so important in preventing a range of lifestyle diseases, improving heart health, increasing longevity and acting as an awesome stress reliever. 30minutes a day is a great guide.

Take some time to reflect. Which of these do you do really well already?

Which of these do you feel (and be honest with yourself – you’re the only one with the power to change it) could do with a little bit of attention?

Xxx

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