Good Health Is Personal

Can you think of anything more personal than your health? According to new research published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, a whopping 97% of Americans are considered to be unhealthy. So does that mean only 3% of Americans truly care about their health? Or could it be that good health is in the eye of the beholder?

One’s personal health may be one of the most personal journeys that an individual can embark on. In today’s ultra-technological society there are countless distractions that keep us from focusing on our physical and mental health. As a matter of fact, some offer extreme danger.

In a fast-paced society, most tend to prioritize trying to earn a living or just simply staying afloat. A typical day could range from working one or more jobs, rushing through the drive-thru of the closest fast-food restaurant, and then heading home to find a cozy place on the couch to binge-watch the latest series or catch up on their favorite social media platform.

Given the amount of time that the average person spends working and partaking in leisure, the average American only spends 17 minutes a day performing physical activities that can be counted as exercise. The considerably low rate of physical activity is one of the greatest attributions to such an unhealthy society. 

On the contrary, good health is more so a personal choice. Even with such busy work and home lives one can paste together a minimum of 30 minutes per day to do simple exercises. Not only can we carve out more time to exercise we can also consider making more healthier decisions as it relates to our diets and mental health. In a perfect world, we will all have adequate time to eat a balanced breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even in the instances that we seek food away from home from fast food and other chain restaurants, we can ultimately make healthier choices. 

Making healthier choices can range from ordering items that are grilled or baked to salads, smoothies, or whole wheat grains. Staying away from fried foods, carbonated drinks, and as many whites (white bread, white sugar, white potatoes, etc.). Other healthy choices will include walking around your home or office for 10 to 15 minutes per day and during those 15-minute work breaks doing simple cardio routines. Another good idea is to ditch the car for local commutes to the grocery store and foot it there.

Making healthier choices goes far deeper than just the choices one makes at lunchtime and choices of physical activities. Focusing on one's mental health can be seen as even more personable. Nearly 1 in 5 Americans live with a mental illness. Although mental illness can be due to genetics other leading causes are:

• Environment. Living in a stressful environment can make you more likely to develop a mental illness. Things like living in poverty or having an abusive family put a lot of stress on your brain and often trigger mental illness.

• Childhood trauma. Even if you’re no longer in a stressful environment, things that happened to you as a child can have an impact later in life.

• Stressful events: like losing a loved one, or being in a car accident.

• Negative thoughts. Constantly putting yourself down or expecting the worst can get you stuck in a cycle of depression or anxiety.

• Unhealthy habits: like not getting enough sleep, or not eating.

• Drugs and alcohol: Abusing drugs and alcohol can trigger a mental illness. It can also make it harder to recover from mental illness.

• Brain chemistry. Mental illness involves an imbalance of natural chemicals in your brain and your body.

According to https://screening.mhanational.org/content/what-causes-mental-illness/?layout=actions_ah_test,light

Some of the causes of mental illness are out of one's personal control. However, the majority of them can be controlled. Controlling these causes comes from personal desire and discipline. It is all about making healthier choices for a healthier outcome.

Good health is one of the most personal choices that we all make daily. This is not to indicate that adopting a healthy lifestyle is an easy choice. Whether viewed as simple or complex it is a choice low and beholds. 

Living a healthy lifestyle like many other things works better when you create a plan. Consider it your "healthy me" plan. Jot down the unhealthy choices that you make and for each unhealthy choice write down healthier alternative choices that you can make to replace those unhealthy ones. Repetitions are key. Make a plan and stick with it. Don’t be afraid to make changes as needed. 

The best time to make healthier choices is now. It’s your health and it is personal.

Healthier Convos

w/Anthony McDonald

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