Health And Well‑Being

By glenmckenzie(justabitfurther) on July 24, 2024

Daily writing prompt

What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?

Taking care of oneself, both physically, emotionally and mentally sounds on the surface to be a concept that just about everyone would agree with. Agreeing with it is one thing. Implementing or actually employing strategies to maintain our health and well-being may very well be another thing altogether.

Part of the problem or issue(at least from where I sit at times) comes from a couple of areas.

First, there is far too much information available to decipher and figure out - "Okay how can I approach this and develop strategies?" We end up with a list of "things to do" that makes it far more complicated than it actually needs to be.

Secondly, our brain or some nasty inner voice fu@ks around with us. It/they tell us: we have no time; this is stupid; you can't do this or some other lame excuse we buy into.

Along with that, fancy new words get thrown about like "self-care" which freaks people out by assuming it's some new-age voodoo witchcraft thing, whereas in reality self-care simply means taking care of yourself.

Strategies sort of suggest some well-thought-out program or process that in this case addresses your health and well-being. Sure, some will have gone through an extensive process to develop these strategies and that's good. Others may not have put that much effort into writing them down. Regardless, of the effort to create them, if they're working - does it really matter?

The more difficult the strategies are or the effort a person needs to put out, the more likely they are to quit. I'm a big proponent of KISS - "keep it simple stupid" or "keep it simple silly."

So, here are simple strategies I use:

Eat a balanced and healthy diet. I strive for three meals a day. No fast food/take-out foods from fast food restaurants; no junk foods like candy or chocolate bars; eliminate sugary drinks. Eliminate salt from diet. Eat a plate that is 25 percent carbs; 25 percent protein and 50 vegetables/leafy/dark greens. Stay away from "snack foods" in between meals - try to eat a healthy snack if I feel I need to.
Exercise more. I try to walk between 6000 to 10000 steps per day which works out to be about 5 to 8 kilometres.
I prioritize my mental and emotional health. I actively choose when I feel I need to, those things that help promote and more healthy mental and emotional well-being. This can be a tough one. And often it means not exposing myself to those folks who create mental and emotional strife in my life. It also means doing those things and activities that ground me more and allow me to recharge myself.
The word NO - is not a bad word. When we learn to say NO to things that don't build us help or support us or say NO to doing something when we have no more time - saying NO is freeing. I know people, very close people whose personality/being is of a "YES" person; a people pleaser. Then they bitch and complain about being so busy; razzled constantly; no time. Saying NO is freeing.

I'm perfect each and every day with these strategies - of course not. Often I find that I fail miserably. But, that's okay. I know that one day I sucked huge, but the next day is a new one with a clean slate so to speak.

What I do find is that often people try to go from starting strategies or whatever to take better all-around care of themselves assuming they can arrive at being a health and well-being expert in one huge leaping bound. Most often we trip up just after starting. Great intentions, but crappy execution and follow-through.

Implementing "small-achievable wins" each day and building upon each of those small successes - wins in the end. Today doesn't have to be an 8km walk. Making the decision to get off the couch and walk around the block or down the street is a win. Build upon today's win by doing the same tomorrow. Each small step gets us one step closer.

--as always with love--

--- get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself ---