Part of getting the life you want is taking care of your body. It’s the only one you’ve got! A lot of thought, care, and love was put into creating it just for you! You need a Body Owner’s Manual to help you keep it healthy and running in perfect order!
Around the world, there is a growing problem of chronic, lifestyle-related diseases. These are diseases that are, effectively, caused by the way that we live our lives. Most, if not all of them, are associated with not looking after our bodies. Many are associated with being overweight and not taking enough exercise, or by putting the wrong substances into our bodies. These diseases and conditions include:
- Adult-onset diabetes
- Heart conditions
- High blood pressure
- Many forms of cancer
You cannot avoid every illness or condition. Many are not lifestyle related. However, looking after your body will go some way to helping you to live a healthier life for longer. Here’s your Body Owner’s Manual.
Before you begin your move towards the life you want to live, you must ask yourself three questions:
- What do I want to do?
- What is best for me?
- What am I going to do?
Being physically healthy enables you to have better overall health, including in your relationships. You only get one body, so taking care of it is important. By knowing your body, and your family’s health history, you can start to figure out what is “normal” for you.
It’s common especially among women to put others first, but not taking care of your body will get in the way of you having the life you want. If you are not healthy, you cannot achieve the goals you set for yourself. You also cannot fully enjoy what life has to offer if you can’t participate.
Even something as simple as playing outside with your kids or your grandkids can be something impossible if your health doesn’t allow for it.
While there are many aspects of your health that are out of your control, what we’re advocating for here is taking care of the things that you can control so that even if you suffer from a chronic illness, you can get the best out of life that you can.
Here are some tips for taking care of your body from our Body Owner’s Manual:
Hydrate:
Are you dehydrated? Even mild dehydration can affect your energy level and your mood. Many doctors still recommend that adults drink eight 8oz. glasses of water per day, but that amount may need to be higher or lower depending on other factors such as your level of physical activity and your size. New research suggests taking your weight, dividing it in two and drinking that number in ounces per day. Start by adding just one extra glass of water a day to what you are already drinking. You may soon see an increase in your energy.
Abstain:
Do not use tobacco, vape products, alcohol, or drugs.
Self-awareness:
Our mental health is just as important as our physical health. No matter how stressful your life is, there are steps that you can take to decrease your body’s stress response and to be doing good self-care. Take a walk, have a visit with a friend, take a candlelit bubble bath with Epsom salts, read a good book, go for a massage, pray, write in a journal, and/or see a counsellor. Do the Wonder Woman /Superman pose:
The idea of “power poses” came from a 2010 Psychological Science study co-authored by Amy Cuddy, an American Psychologist and two then-Columbia University professors, Andy Yap and Dana Carney in October 1, 2016
For example, in “The Wonder Woman” power pose, stand with your feet hip width apart, hands on your hips, and chin tilted upward. Cuddy suggests that our attitudes often follow from our behaviors, as opposed to the other way around. Posture is VERY important!
Cuddy examined over 55 studies and clearly demonstrated a link between expansive postures and feelings of confidence and power. The participants in the studies emerged with higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of cortisol after two minutes in the Wonder Woman / Superman power pose.
When the researchers looked at the results, they were stunned by the impact that body language had on the hormones within the body. High power poses increased testosterone (which helps you feel more dominant and powerful) by 20 percent and decreased cortisol (the stress hormone) levels by 25 percent!
Power posing is a self-improvement technique or “life hack” everyone should use! Holding a power pose for just a few minutes can change how others view you and how you view yourself.
Stand exactly like your favorite superhero in the photo. Close your eyes. Think of the best day of your life. Breathe in slowly and deeply. Hold it; now breathe out slowly. Do this at least five times. This is a “Power Pose” that will increase your testosterone, decrease your cortisol and increase your risk-taking ability! Science backs this up so use it!
Last month, we discussed a few things we can do as owners of a human body. We talked about what considerations to make based on your own health and well-being as well as being honest with yourself about what you want and what you are willing to do to achieve it.
A body is a gift and should be taken care of. You only get one!
Here are some more tips for taking care of your body:
Fuel:
Nutrition is a complicated thing nowadays with food allergies and food intolerances in abundance. What is healthy for your body may not be healthy for someone else’s but there are certain commonalities that most people could agree on. Cut down on sugar. Sugar is poison and your brain reacts to the use of sugar exactly as a brain reacts to the use of cocaine!
Eat a variety of foods. Maintain good portion control standards for your body in terms of your height and energy level.
Nutrition is not about weight. It’s about health. It’s about fueling your body with good energy sources so that it can work at its optimum capacity. Having healthy food on hand is half the battle. Make healthy meals ahead of time and freeze them so that you don’t have to meal plan and can easily pull-out dinner every day.
Eat less junk. Cut out one thing that you know is not healthy for your body even if it is a small thing like removing soda pop from your life.
The human body was designed to run off fat as a fuel. Because the body is so intelligent in its design, it can convert its use of fuel to other sources such as simple carbohydrates or sugar.
Consider newborn babies. Their first food is the fatty breastmilk provided by their mother. The energy source for the brain is fat.
Contrary to popular belief, fat is good for you!
There is balance in all things. Learn what is a good balance for you in all areas.
Exercise & Stretch:
Many people think of exercise as just being for weight loss, but it does far more than that. It helps combat disease such as high blood pressure, depression, certain types of cancer, stroke, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. It boosts certain brain chemicals which leaves you feeling happier and more relaxed than before (this is a very good thing!). Exercise boosts your energy, improves your sex-life, and helps you get a better night’s sleep. Not to mention it helps combat depression. More people today need to read this part of the Body Owner’s Manual!
Add to this the intelligent exercise at Fitworks Perfect Posture along with stretching every day and you will look and feel like you found the secret to help turn back the hands of time!
We make all kinds of excuses as to why we can’t exercise (time, kids, health, etc.), but all of us can do this one simple thing: move more.
Park farther away. Take the stairs. Dance in your kitchen. Use soup cans to do curls. Play tag with your kids at the park. Just choose one small way to move more.
Rest:
Sleep deprivation affects our mood, concentration, attention, memory, ability to fight off infection, libido, and our judgment. Inadequate sleep can also lead to weight gain, depression, car accidents, potentially fatal errors, and cause serious health problems such as stroke, heart attack or diabetes. So, get at least eight hours of sleep every night.
Health Care Providers:
Seeing your doctor for annual checkups and health screening is important but so is seeing your dentist.
Did you know that poor dental health and gum disease have been linked to heart disease and lower life expectancy? That is a pretty good reason to take it seriously. Brush several times a day, Start flossing if you don’t already and book a dental appointment for yourself.
Make a dental appointment today that you may have been procrastinating about. And then, call Fitworks Perfect Posture 407-408-7588 to get serious about your physical health!
We specialize in people who have been in chronic pain such as bulging and herniated disc, sciatica, knee pain, foot pain, you name it and we have seen it!
If you are serious about taking care of your body and getting you life back, please call today! This is a free evaluation so, what do you have to lose, except your pain!
Thank you for reading our Body Owner’s Manual. I hope you found useful information here.