A Thursday Thought from Dietitian Addie
We check our email, we check how many likes or followers we have on social media, but how often do we truly check in on our health? Typically, we pay attention to our health when something goes wrong or at the first of the year when the hot topic of resolutions come around.
Waiting to pay attention to your health until something goes wrong is a dangerous mindset to have. It is delusional to believe that our health (talking lifestyle disease, unhealthy weight gain/loss, and chronic inflammation) changes over night. Whatever our health outcomes may be, good or bad, they are a result of a multitude of choices and years of habits (yes I am talking to the 20-40 year olds in the crowd). Why wait to reverse when you can prevent? To be on the prevention side, we have to check in with ourselves. While I am actually a fan of New Year’s Resolutions, I don’t think we need to narrow our yearly window of self-improvement to the month of January.
It is important to set goals for ourselves. Reaching for a better version of yourself is the best way to live. We can always do better, learn from our past, and understand our present. When setting goals with clients, I begin by identifying the big picture goals; the things that their “end – most perfect vision of themselves” looks like. Then, I break it down in to smaller goals that they have to work on for the next few weeks in between our appointments. By breaking down the vision of their end result into smaller, more manageable goals, it puts the focus back on the daily choices and habits along their health and wellness journey and takes it away from the destination. We are not reaching for perfect. The goal is to make your health a daily priority.
So whether we are in prevention mode or maybe you are on the noble road of reversal, I HIGHLY recommend checking in with yourself multiple times throughout the year. Like right now! It is hard to believe but we are currently half way through 2019. There is no time like the present to check-in with yourself. How have you been doing the first half of the year? Maybe your goals have completely changed. What can you work on in the months going forward? The time is NOW to start focusing on your health and wellness. And I am not meaning to focus on a pant size or number on the scale. I am talking about what nutrients you are or are not putting in your body – whether or not you have a consistent exercise routine – are you building community in the physical world around you? – how well are you sleeping? – is your health and wellness information coming from reputable sources? – do you need to reach out to a professional to help you set and manage your health goals?. The time is now!
I encourage you to reach out to our practice. Our online coaching programs are EXACTLY what this is for… helping YOU get healthier today so that you can truly LIVE and ENJOY all of your tomorrows! What will you do with the second half of 2019??
– Addie Dulaney Majnaric, RDN, LD