From the time I was a teenager, I always wanted to work in wellness. I struggled with obesity, then eating disorders, and then exercise compulsion. It wasn't until I finished college and started my dietetic internship working for a hospital that I really saw the meaning of "being well".
The fast food that you eat today really can make a huge difference in how your heart works in 40 years. The cigarette that you smoke today could really kill you. The overuse of supplements or alcohol and other drugs really can destroy your liver and kidneys. Although these are chronic diseases, it is so easy to form toxic habits that end up destroying our bodies.
So many of the patients that I saw - of ALL ages - urged myself and the other interns to take care of our bodies today. They told us stories of how they wished they would have avoided their vices in the past to avoid being in the situation they were now, which was a painful and expensive one for both themselves and their families.
I'm not here to lecture you, by any means. I hate when people tell me what to do - it makes me want to automatically discredit any attempt at help. This is real. I met with a young man who took steroids for the first time, was diagnosed with acute kidney failure, and died 2 days later. I met with patients who were on their 4th stent placement and had their family bring them in McDonald's Big Mac's because they didn't like the hospital food. According to them, why make a change when insurance covers the cost of their care?
We aren't as lucky at this point in healthcare and quite frankly, I'm relieved. You are now responsible for your health. Insurance is outrageous, deductibles are high, and the burden on your fellow human to cover your cost of healthcare is something we all can relate to. Why not insure your health by making responsible choices, or at least accepting that you're irresponsible choices can kill you much sooner than you may want.
My take on wellness is simple: live the longest, healthiest life that you can. A lot of what we do today is based on the environment that we place ourselves in and how we react to stimuli, both positive and negative.
We can't eliminate all stressors from our life, but we can certainly take the time to analyze why you are experiencing stress and whether or not it is coming from a positive place or not.
Most of the time, it is these negative emotions that cause us to indulge in self destructive behaviors. This doesn't mean that you won't experience negative emotions. All emotions are a part of life and should be embraced equally. I want you to stop and think about why you are experiencing them and be able to move on in a manner that promotes wellness and self growth.
You
see in the media today a lot of hype for cleanses of all sorts - juice
cleanses, detoxes, etc. I challenge you to cleanse your life of the longstanding impact of negative
emotions and I guarantee that your cravings for food or other vices
will decrease in a much more sustainable and healthy way than simply
juicing or detoxing with external sources. Detox yourself and be well
:)
