I know your schedule is busy and you are juggling many things at once. However, if you don’t make time to be healthy, you are going to find yourself spending WAY more time being unhealthy.
Have you made any medical appointments lately? You wait on the telephone to speak with a person and wait some more attempting to get an appointment scheduled. These days, you could wait nine months to see a doctor! When you do get in, you wait for them to see you because appointments don’t mean much these days, and your time is not valued.
If you need tests, you’ll spend time discerning where you can get the best price as everything has sky rocketed. You wait to get the tests done, and you wait for the results. You repeat the cycle of getting an appointment with your doctor to discuss the findings. This takes months and months! Our healthcare is now divided into specialists, and one person can’t help you. You must see multiple doctors.
Do you see a trend? Being unhealthy can consume your life, and I don’t know about you, but this isn’t how I want to spend my time. Yes, I spend time on being healthy, but I can control when and how. I certainly don’t have to wait and wait!
Time on your health is like time spent planning…it is never wasted! For every hour you spend on your health (or planning), you get back ten-fold! You don’t get anything back from all the waiting in doctor’s offices; you only get more frustrated, and then your blood pressure goes up. Uh oh, another doctor’s appointment for that!
Not everyone loves exercising—I get it. Suffice to say, I believe everyone wants to live. Well, if you want to live and not spend it in an insane medical nightmare, you must dedicate time to your health. Here is what that looks like:
- Being healthy requires us to engage in cardiovascular exercise like aerobics, spinning, running, jumping rope, or hiking. These work your heart and keep it strong. Heart disease is still one of the number one killers in America. You need 3 to 5 days of cardio a week, and you want to work at an 75 to 85 percent of your max, thus why I didn’t mention walking as an option. Walking is great to move, but it doesn’t challenge the heart enough…enough you are doing power walking or serious hills.
- To be healthy, you also need to strengthen your muscles and build bone mass. This is accomplished by resistance training like hand-held weights, weight machines, exercise bands, yoga, Pilates, and calisthenics. You want 2 to 3 days of strength training a week, and you must challenge yourself. Although 1-to-3-pound hand-held weights are a place to start, they won’t do much for you.
- A healthy body needs to be stretched, especially after doing cardo and weight training. Most pain is a result of tight muscles, and good stretching can reduce pain and help you sleep better. See my blog about proper stretching to learn what types you should be doing and when. I encourage you to stretch every day!
- Our body needs fuel, and we must provide it good nutrition. We are giving too much power to food and need to put it in its place. Yes, we can enjoy it, but it shouldn’t be killing us. The bottom line is to limit packaged, fat, and fast foods and eat natural whole foods like fruits, veggies, and lean meats.
- Our health is more than our body, and stress leads to heart disease. We must quiet our minds and maintain mental health as well. Yoga is a great way to find your center and get balanced. You can also meditate and pray! Multi-task and hike in nature. Know what helps you step away from the edge and do it.
- In addition, a healthy life requires restorative sleep. I’m not sure when this began such a challenge, but many adults struggle with this. You can’t function properly during the day if you haven’t rested. The only way our brain gets a break is when we sleep. Shut down technology, including your cell phone, at least an hour before bedtime. Stay away from things you find upsetting, and create a quiet ritual of going to sleep.
- Lastly, we must have faith. I have spent more time at doctor’s offices than most because of Lyme disease, and it has affected my entire life since 1999. If I wasn’t investing time into my health, I wouldn’t be here, and without my faith, I couldn’t have kept going. Sometimes we face health challenges despite our best efforts, and faith steps in to give us hope, strength, and courage. Fill yourself up with God’s word and stay connected to Him. What good is physical health with spiritual death?
All of this takes time, and I didn’t even mention supplements, which I take. I much rather spend money on supporting a healthy body than on drugs trying to fix a broken one. I guarantee you, though, all the time (and money) spent here will be worth it. You’ll have more energy, and you won’t waste time at the doctor’s office. Remember, anything worthwhile takes effort!
Some additional help is found in my Finally FIT book where I help you identify your unique fitness individuality trait (FIT) so you can customize your healthy life in a way that works for you. And of course, I am here to help coach you on the journey.
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