This is the story of my personal health crisis and what I wished I knew two years ago. Diet and exercise alone aren’t enough and these 5 tips to change your health have changed everything for me.
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Two years ago I found myself on a high. I had finally figured out an eating plan that seemed to be working. I had energy and had lost the majority of the baby weight I carried for over a year after just completing a half marathon.
Yet, what I didn’t realize was that while my external appearance seemed to be paying off, internally there was a battle going on. I was stressed, overworked, fatigued and ready to buckle and since I was on this high, I didn’t realize I was about ready to crash into my worst nightmare.
Yes, right after this crash I lost it all.
It started out with just a minor cold, which quickly turned into a raging fever, weakness, dizzy spells, unknown diagnosis at doctor appointments, headaches, steroids, body aches, weight gain, blood tests, daily doctors appointments, x-rays and depression. I literally had lost it all in a matter of weeks.
the final diagnosis
The actual diagnosis was never determined. There were a lot of factors, a lot of unknowns but not one resounding thing that seemed to crush me. Rather it was a bunch of little stressors adding up to the overall crash.
Just little things like; too much exercise, not enough sleep {hello infant}, repetitive arguments with my husband, unknown financial situations {hello running your own business}, the random sick kid, lack of drive, late nights working and fighting for more time, never able to fully catch up. Everything that I thought was just “normal life”.
Nothing major, just the constant and repetitive minor stresses of life.
Life is all it was.
Or all I thought it was.
Unfortunately, I didn’t learn the power of stress, even the little stressors in my life until I reached a point seven months into my healing journey where I wasn’t getting better, I was just holding stable.
It was in this time that I realized there had to be more. That health was more than just how much we exercised and how we ate. There had to be an entirely different component that we were missing, and a big one. I’m not alone in this world of sickness, depression, lack of energy and weight gain. I’m not the only one who had been doing “everything right,” or so I thought.
So what was the missing component?
it all came down to stress
Stress, lack of purpose and focus, poor relationships, frustrating financial situations, toddlers and infants, poor planning and a mediocre spiritual life all created endless amounts of small stressors in my life.
Some of them I could control, some of them I could choose to let control me and some were out of my control, but the reality was, I was still choosing to focus on all of the wrong things, the things I thought would get me healthy only in the end to leave me completely exhausted and fighting for my health, rather than living with it.
Yes, even though they may have been little stresses, there were enough of them that the little stresses compounded into one great big heap that caused my body to crash and burn.
This is when I realized that stress may be the biggest factor in our overall health. I’m not alone in this thought process, with countless books, studies and researchers who support this fact. Stress could be the factor that determines your overall health and longevity.
A great book that studies this in-depth, in multiple disease processes and life choices is: Why Zebras Don’t get Ulcers.” which I talk a lot about it in today’s podcast.
So the question becomes “If stress it the main underlying factor determining our health, how can we fix it?”
eliminating stress
Eliminating stress isn’t as simple as it appears. However, it tends to be a snowball effect. Once you recognize what stresses you have in your life you can start to make choices that change either your mindset or the effect it is having on your life.
In my own healing journey I realized that while I love health there is way more to health than just how we exercise and what we eat. In fact, these two things can either add more stress or take it away.
Health is not about pushing our body harder, working out more, trying to out smart our body or beating it into submission. Health is about working with our body, in harmony, in peace, in satisfaction and ultimately joy.
It’s about eliminating the stress.
So how do we do that?
There are five truths I’ve learned about health that no one seems to be talking about but could change everything. Yes, you can change your health without changing what you eat and how much you exercise.
The five ways to change our health without changing what you eat and how much you exercise are:
- Foundational Beliefs
- Vulnerability
- Self-Awareness
- Healthy Relationships
- Healthy Mindset
listen to the podcast
In today’s podcast, I break all of these down into more details and show you exactly how to start taking the right steps in creating peace, living with satisfaction and ultimately living in health rather than for it.
There is a transformation happening in the world of health and I think it starts here, with our beliefs, our hope, our lifestyle and our mindset. Check it all out in today’s podcast above.
Q&A
I’m also answering a few questions I’ve been getting recently about veganism and if it is healthy? What is happening with the moldy clothes we have in our home? Where to start with health when you’re so confused and overwhelmed?
Get all of the answers to these questions inside the podcast.
the goods from the show
Here is the list of all the resources we talked about in today’s show and where to find them!
- Bonus Episode: Warm Lemon Water Fad or Fact?
- Episode #06: The Science of Intermittent Fasting
- Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers
- Mold video and follow-up video
- Blue light blocking glasses
- Episode #30: How to Sleep Better with Dr. Breus
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Do you have a topic you’d like to see for the show? Leave a comment below or send me an e-mail and let me know!
This is about you, your health and ultimately helping you to live with joy! Don’t forget to follow me over on Instagram to see more real life stories as well as on Facebook where I happen to follow-up the podcasts with some personal conversations with you on FB Live!
