Feeling Good…Your Journey 

We don’t always feel good… 

Headache…stomach ache…tired…feeling “down”… no energy…pains here & there… 

Go to the doctor?  Well…what would the doctor do?  Don’t really want to take medicine?  Rather figure out the cause yourself? 

How would you figure out, yourself, what is causing the trouble? 

…could be something you ate… 

…could be something you’ve been eating for awhile that your body isn’t tolerating anymore… 

…maybe you’ve been pushing yourself lately and your body’s getting tire of it… 

…or maybe you’re not resting good at night…with no time set aside during the day for peace and quiet (a very necessary thing for a healthy-feeling life—that we usually totally overlook!) 

…maybe you’ve been inside too much and not getting enough movement in your body (our bodies truly were made to move), or maybe you’re not getting any sunshine… 

…or maybe it’s a change in the seasons; as the new season begins, there can be changes in the amount of light, and the air temperature.  These can cause changes in our daily routines, and can affect our sleep or even our resting heart rate (per Oura.com). 

It could be other random things.  There are LOTS of causes to consider… 

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Correcting the cause could heal your problem…BUT…How to Figure it Out!  So many directions it could go!! 

A traditional doctor might find it very difficult to narrow down the cause from all these options. 

According to W.H.O. (Work Health Organization), the #1 Cause of death worldwide, is from illnesses and conditions that are caused by the way we live (and eat). 

Slight nuisances of pain and discomfort, or about our body not working normally, are usually our bodies telling us there is a problem.  Our bodies are giving us a warning that something needs to change. 

We, ourselves, are in the best position to figure it out.  It takes a little time, a little patience, some trial and error; but so much of the time WE can do it, and in a fairly short period of time.  We might need some medicine along the way but usually not.  The best part is, WE CAN usually do it ourselves. 

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The #1 way to BEGIN your search, and the Most Important thing you can do, is to pay very close attention to your body and how it feels from day to day; and also to pay attention to what you have eaten and what you have done, from day to day.  Keeping a food log of what you eat and drink, and a log of your activities would be the best way, but it’s possible to do it without logging the info. 

You may know of some things already that when you eat it, you feel good, or feel bad.  That’s a start. 

You may have an idea if your problems possibly come from sleep issues, or activity (or non-activity) issues, or from pushing yourself too fast and too hard, for too long of a time, or if it might involve what you eat or drink. 

If you have that kind of clue (for instance you may know already that some foods or exercise, or certain stresses, make you feel good or bad), then start out working on those pieces of the puzzle that you feel you have a little insight on. 

If you truly do not have a clue, I would suggest beginning with food, then activity and stress, or just begin with whatever you think might be causing your body stress, which could also be lack of good, restful sleep. 

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With food, if you’re eating the Standard American Diet, you get a lot of the wrong kind of oils & fats, processed “everything”, and ‘way too much sugar.  If you want to see if your problem may be food, I would suggest making some small but pretty drastic changes. 

I would suggest leaving off all grains and all packaged foods out of your diet for 2-3 weeks.  “Cutting Down” just won’t work—you won’t be able to tell any difference. 

There are many reasons (which we won’t go into right now), but if it’s got to do with your eating, usually grains, along with sugar and dairy are the worst culprits. 

If you could leave off all packaged foods, all grains, and all sugars for 2-3 weeks, you probably would be amazed at how you felt before the 2-3 weeks were up.  The idea of doing this is HARD, I know.  But once you begin, you see the Real Food you can actually eat, and enjoy, and actually taste the real food. 

There are all kinds of substitutes in our markets today (for sugar, for grain, etc.) but if you can just stick to regular real food at first, it will help you uncover a lot of secrets your body may have for you.  If you would like help with ideas or recipes, or help in general, let me know and I can help you. 

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If you start with activities, you might combine that with stress.  All these categories work very closely together, and depend on each other, like for instance, adding better quality food may give you more energy, so you might feel like going for a walk, etc.  For Walking, or any activity that will be moving the body, it will benefit you when you are consistent. Again, I’d go for doing whatever movement you decide to do, planning for every day, then feel like you have Victory if you do it 4-5 times in a week.  Again, try it for 2-3 weeks.   

There is no telling what your body’s potential is! 

The experts say exercise alone helps relieve stress better than a pill.  Exercise also helps us to be more ready for a good restful night’s sleep; it lubricates our joints, strengthens our heart, our lungs, our bones; helps us slough off our old cells and replace with new ones, and it just helps us to have a better frame of mind. 

And as for stress, exercise is one of the best things, but there are many other things that reduce stress; just spending time alone in the quiet for a little while every day can bring your stress level down. 

Doing breathing exercises can also help; meditating is truly not a bad word…it can help you tremendously if done daily.  Journaling can help; being thankful can help.   

In my opinion, one of the things in our society that helps the most (and which may be the biggest challenge) is Slowing Yourself Down.  If that sounds like the Voice of Experience, it absolutely is.  And you truly can slow down.  Not in a day, probably not in a week, maybe not in a month.  But you can do it.  You must “Break Your Pattern” of pushing and running.  If you need help with this, please let me know and I’ll help you. 

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Sleep:  Most health professionals believe that 7 hours of sleep is a minimum of what our mind and bodies need for good health.   

If you feel like your body is not resting, which might be causing you problems, concentrate on the things that can help you sleep.  Some things you can do: 

• Most clinicians agree that having a good amount of movement during the day will help you sleep better at night; 

• If you get outside in the morning (early morning is better), and the sunlight will actually help your circadian rhythm to get you started for your sleep that night. 

• Come up with a “nighttime ritual” so your body and mind will know it’s about time to go to sleep; 

• Ideally, about an hour or two before your chosen bed time, turn off all blue lights, including the t.v.  Blue-light filtering glasses are a good idea when you’re looking at your screens, especially in the evenings. 

• Have your bedroom dark and cool, and free of electronics (including lighted electronic clocks, etc.) 

• Have a goal of being able to enjoy a peaceful evening; 

• Don’t exercise heavily or work on anything that is stressful or problematic just before bedtime (write a note to yourself and save it until the next day—your sleep will thank you!) 

• Have your evening meal as early and as light as you can.  If your body can digest its food early in the night, your body can begin to rest and repair (muscles, nervous system, all organs, etc) so you can feel more rested and refreshed in the mornings.  And this includes rest and repair of your heart. 

• Alcohol also affects your sleep…so there is that. 

All this is Quite a Lot!! But you don’t need to feel like you have to change everything all at once!! 

Start with just one thing!  But be very consistent with it.  You’ll have small victories at first.  Then you’ll get momentum, and as you plan what you want to do next, you’ll just begin to glide forward.  And I think you will be very surprised at the great results! Oh…And you’ll look healthier too! 

And…You may not be able to solve all your health issues by yourself, and if not, I would suggest consulting with your doctor, or searching out a Functional Medicine doctor at ifm.org. 

If you would like some help in finding a doctor, or if I can help you follow through on any of the changes you’d like to make, I would be very glad to help you with it. 

Thank you for reading my articles… 

And until next time… 

To Your Health…And To Your Potential! 

Sharon