Most of us today stress a lot about “diet”.

Are you one of those??

Checking out every new diet? Questioning your friends about their diets? Trying to figure out what could work for you? 

Continuously searching into every crevice to find something “that will work”?

Some of us want to lose weight.

Some of us have health issues we try to resolve with diet.

Some of us just want to feel healthier, have more energy, and overcome the overwhelm.

Losing weight—And health issues can sometimes be resolved with food alone—just changing what we eat, away from the “Standard American Diet”.

Feeling healthy, and having more energy, diet for sure can help this too.

But in order to have long-term results, for healthy weight loss, for resolving health issues, and actually becoming more healthy and energetic, and keep our bodies (and minds) healthy… there really is more to it than our diet.

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When we change our food from the Standard American Diet, to “real food”, we may not feel any results immediately, but our body does notice immediately. 

Every good step we take toward healthy eating after that builds on the good we’ve done.  And before long, you’ll actually be able to feel and see the differences.

Differences in your energy, your skin, possibly your attitude and even your thought processes.

And you’ll probably lose some weight too.

Wouldn’t it be AWESOME to feel good when you get up in the morning?  And all during the day?  Food (Real Food, not ultra-processed junk—which isn’t really food) does wonders for us.  It’s actually amazing.

Then when we feel better, and have lost a bit of weight, it’s like an amazing miracle…so then…

          do you want to breathe better? Move better? Think better?

          …Feel rested? Feel peaceful? Have time to reflect over your life?

Or…

Do you want to wait until you retire (or some other specified time) “to do those things” you want to do?

Well, if you’ve changed your eating habits, you know it’s a pretty major life change—changing your habits.

Eating is the first step most of us think of, when it comes to improving our health.  But actually, our whole body works together.  We do need the Quality Food.  We also need some exercise…and we need to manage our stress…and we need quality sleep.  We also need to have some caring people in our lives.

1.     Food gives our body fuel.  It also helps the different parts of our body to each do their individual tasks, as the nutrients pass through all areas of our body in different forms.  The nutrients help us heal, and strengthen our immune system, plus so many other things. 

The junk food actually poisons some things as it passes through our body, and it turns some of our signals off and keep our body from working as it should to heal us and help us to be healthy.

2.     So, What about Exercise?   Does our body really need to move?  Can’t we just enjoy life sitting or laying around?  I’ve actually heard people say they can’t wait to retire to do just that—with bodies and minds wanting to be lazy.  Well, I doubt they truly do that, because our bodies were made to move! We weren’t made to just laze around.

Go Ahead and Rest!  And Enjoy it.  We actually need to rest.   Then decide what you want to do.  When we get exercise, it improves our mood, it prevents dementia.  It helps our brain to be more resilient.  Our brain makes new cells.  It strengthens our muscles and bones, which help stave off osteoporosis.  It keeps us from becoming frail as we age.  It helps you sleep.  It helps all your bodily functions to work better.

3.     Stress.  Ahhh.  Stress.  We’re always going to have stress.  But how do we handle it.  How much of it can we actually survive?   How do we respond to it?  Does it make a difference—how we respond to it?

          What, actually, can we do about being overstressed??  Anything?  Yes, stress is a negative in this list that we need to understand. 

An estimated 90% of illness and disease is stress-related.  For you to begin to overcome it, try to think deeply into why you feel so stressed.  It could be nutritional, or it could be related to metal toxicity, or you could be having a really hard time working through many, many real, everyday stresses.

There are things you can do that will help with your stress.  Here are a few:

Actively Relax.  Can you? (This doesn’t include binge watching tv or scrolling social media).  If you haven’t tried meditation, it may be just the thing for you.  Try breathing, and paying close attention to your breathing for a few minutes.  Spend time with other humans; take a 30-minute (or any-minute) walk; Garden; Journal.

If you don’t even know what you’d like to do (I know that feeling!), just try out some things.  Think of some things, and just try them.  You might be surprised at what you will like.

Do a self-examination on your beliefs, your attitudes, your responses to things that happen around you.  Consider changing your point of view, to reduce your stress.

Focus on things that challenge you in a positive way, giving you room to grow.  Take a class; or learn something totally different from your norm.  Meet new people.

Minimize your negative influences (including unhealthy food, negative influences, negative social media, and toxic news).

Good movement for your body (30 minutes daily is great!) burns off stress chemicals.  Really!!

If you make time for some of these tools to decrease your stress, but your bonus will be a longer health-span, and a longer life-span!

4.     Sleep.  It’s right up there with Nutrition and Exercise as #1 for disease prevention and weight control.  It’s generally recommended to get at least 7 hours of sleep at night.  Sleep makes a world of difference in our brainpower, our imagination, our attitude, and our health.

While you’re sleeping, your body performs “repairing and maintaining” processes that affect nearly every part of the body, so a good night’s sleep (or lack of it) can affect you both physically and mentally.

With regular good nights of sleep, you will have a better mood, healthier heart, regulated blood sugar, improved mental function, stronger immune system, more stress relief and better physical performance, in addition to a healthier weight.

5.      We also need good relationships in our life to go along with our good food, and healthy lifestyle.  Are we sure this is so important?

Well, yes, there have been an abundance of studies about just that.  And these are the things that good relationships in our life, affect:

Lower rates of anxiety and depression; higher self-esteem; greater empathy for others, more trusting (and cooperative) relationships.  The studies also show it increases the strength of your immune system, helps you recover from disease, and probably lengthens your life.

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So, what is your goal, really? 

To lose weight? 

Well, that may help you feel better about the way you look, but unless you do it with good, real food, your health may need more of your focus.

To overcome a health issue?

OK, but if your goal is to just overcome one issue, other issues will probably crop up if you don’t improve your whole health.

A Healthier You? (This is the Best Goal)

Changing your eating is like really totally changing your life.

If you’ve done it, you know it’s a big deal.

But if you really want to be a healthy person, these other areas of your life need to be addressed.  Not all at once, but maybe just one, then after that, another.

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The Five Pillars of Health that I coach people to improve are:

Nutrition

Exercise

Stress

Sleep

Relationships.

There are healthy and very do-able ways to improve each category.  And some of them can even be fun.

New recipes can be fun! Adding candle light or a special table setting for that new meal can make it like an adventure.

Hikes, or walks outside can be fun!

And Relationships can certainly be fun!

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So Stop with the searching under every rock and in every nook and cranny for some new diet, or supplement, or herb, or some new discovery that would be your Magic Bullet!

YOU have what it takes to make yourself healthy.  You are your Magic Bullet!

There are some good guidelines here in this article.

For a practical in-depth knowledge of exactly what is causing your problems, and what will fix them, visit a Functional Medicine doctor.  They will be able to put you on the right course for your wellness.

In the meantime, if you want to improve your own health yourself, these guidelines show you the direction to take.

I can help you find the path that works for you, and I can help you stay focused and navigate on your path to better health and energy, with less overwhelm.

So…

If you would like help finding a Functional Medicine doctor, I can help you, or if you would like help in any of these categories (or all of them), just let me know—I have detailed information on each of them.

Let me help you.

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If you’d like for me to help you one-on-one with individual coaching, in person or on line, remember, I’m having a special during the month of May.

          Sign up for a (free) 30-minute coaching session with me.

Your initial 30-minute coaching session will give you a personalized strategy for going forward.

After that if you would like, a 4-week coaching series will be available to you, to guide and support you to a relaxed and enjoyable life, and at a reduced price.

Click below for your FREE 30-Minute Personalized Coaching Session.

(No obligation, and no pressure to commit for any further coaching.)

SIGN UP HERE!

Thank you for reading, and please let me know if you’d like more information about these Pillars of Health and how to master them.

Sharon

(Among other resources, some of the information I used in this article is from Dr. Mark Hyman, MD and Functional Medicine Doctor, SleepFoundation.org, and BetterHealth.vic.gov.au)