I was sitting in the Doctor’s office sick with a cough, a few months back. It had been a regular thing for my body when weather patterns shift. It gets cold, new allergens in the air, a couple months into football season and my immune system decides to lag behind. I fall behind on sleep and the air in Salt Lake forces me to blame big corp for polluting our air. I blame the allergens. I blame the cold. And my cats. And the can or two of booze I drank while watching the Lions.
What other external excuses can I use to justify the decisions I make?
Anyway, it had a bit of a cascading impact on my health. My cholesterol had gone up. My body (although jacked and perfect according to me) had put on a few pounds. And my sleep had turned all the way back to 2am wakeups, feeling like I’d never sleep a full night again.
Surprise, surprise. I got sick as a dog and couldn’t kick that damn cough.
Looking in the mirror at my own health was hard. Here I am, a personal trainer by trade and health professional in my own mind. Yet staring me in the face was the impact of my own decisions coming back to bite me in the ass.
Doctors are professionals in medicine. But they’re not experts in prevention. That’s the lane I navigate.
Taking a trip to the Doc forced me to take a look in the mirror and figure out what I had been missing:
- Blood levels looked Ok but not great.
- My BMI had gotten a little higher than normal.
- The ‘dadbod’ had been fully embraced.
- And I told myself it was ok because I workout and am generally healthy.
It’s funny how we can all find ourselves coping with good enough.
The Doc’s office forced me to reflect. What really caused this visit? Was it the allergens from winter coming to get me again? Shitty sleep? Less nutritious diet? Late nights and early mornings? Or was it that I had reneged on the promise I made to ME, that I would actively prevent health issues rather than merely treat them.
There’s a huge difference between what you do for your body and what medicine can do for your body. YOU can prevent disease with positive action:
- Exercise for 75-300 minutes per week. Make it fun, engaging. Chase your dog around. Race your kid to the car. Play don’t touch the lava. Go for a walk. Chase a ball around a court.
- Eat whole, nutritious foods. Don’t overthink it. Did the food you’re eating grow? Probably a good choice and eat more of that stuff.
- Sleep 8ish hours per night. I’m a victim to my own brain some nights. Be consistent and get to bed early. Reduce booze intake as it will interrupt your sleep cycles. Don’t eat past 7pm, doing so can impact hormones and wake you up.
- Limit alcohol intake(or rule it out if you’re not a pussy, like me). Mostly beneficial for my own eyes. Really enjoy a beer every now and then.
- Maintain a healthy weight regardless of muscle mass. Being big makes your heart need to work harder. Even if you’re a ball of muscle, your heart has to work harder to maintain your physique and health.
These are all simple things that look good on paper but take a lifetime of consistency and practice to nail down.
Dive deeper.
Stella Fitness 