Stop neglecting your health...8 simple ways to start paying attention to your health today

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“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver”- Mahatma Gandhi
 
Ever had a nasty stomach bug or a really bad cold where you felt so bad you just wanted to crawl into a hole and die? After doing something stupid recently, I was reminded of how truly important it is to stay healthy.
 
I ate a pre-made salad kit that had been sitting in my hot car for several hours. I really hate the idea of wasting food. So I decided to eat it anyway. I figured it looked and smelled okay so why not? Dumb, dumb, dumb.
 
Saving those $4 was not worth the stomach issues that I had to endure for the next 3 days. During that whole ordeal, I can tell you that the only thing that mattered was just feeling better again. It didn’t matter how beautiful it was outside. It didn’t matter how much of a bonus I was getting at work that month. It didn’t matter how many “Likes” my latest Facebook post got. At that point, all that mattered in my life was my health.

Death is the great equalizer (and so is disease!).  Until the day we become cyborgs, money isn’t going to save us. You can have all the money in the world but you can’t buy back your health. 
 
Even if you did have all the money in the world, there’s still no cure for the most common diseases that afflict us today: Dementia, cancer, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and heart disease, to name a few. There are treatments but a treatment is not a cure. And these treatments do not come without side effects.

The most memorable patient
Every now and then when you’re a nurse you have a patient that changes your perspective on life forever. Though his story is sadly common, the graveness of his particular situation stuck with me.
 
He was a successful man and a well-respected professor. He was a conversationalist, so naturally he had a lot to share with anyone who’d listen. He had a career that he was proud of. He lived in an affluent neighborhood and did well for himself and for his family. But more important than his success, he was a kind man. He had worked hard his entire life. He’d retired about 6 months prior to my meeting him. At age 60, it was an early retirement. He had big plans for his Golden Years and he’d been looking forward to retiring for a long time. Then suddenly the unexpected struck.
 
Shortly before retiring his wife began showing signs of early onset dementia. It was progressive in nature so each day came with new surprises. He assumed the role of her caregiver. But this new role of his didn’t last too long…
 
 He himself was suddenly debilitated by a massive stroke. His ability to walk, talk, bathe, toilet, dress and feed himself was gone from one day to the next. The money he worked so hard for was being spent on 24/7 nursing care rather than on vacations in the French Riviera.
 
There was one particular moment that cemented this experience in my memory forever. It was a powerful moment and is one that still brings tears to my eyes as I write this.
 
I was doing a home visit and was doing a routine assessment of my patient. In a moment of real lucidity, his wife came into the room and began singing to him. It was a pretty song but it had a sad tone to it, somewhat melancholic. I’d never heard it before. I suddenly felt like I was very much in the way. It almost felt like I was in a movie. The depth of the moment had me firmly planted in my seat. My brain told me my presence might be intrusive and that I should excuse myself. But in that moment neither of them seemed to care or even notice that I was there.
 
They locked eyes and she went silent. She walked up to his bed, knelt down and grabbed his hand. Both began tearing up as they just gazed into each other’s eyes. I had no idea what was going through their minds. Or why they chose that exact moment to have this very private exchange. This special, silent moment with handholding and teary eyes lasted a few minutes.
 
My guess was that they were silently asking each other how life had come to this. They were seeking answers deep in each other’s eyes. How did this long-awaited retirement become this sad, unfortunate reality for the both of them? But I also felt that in this very moment they were communicating their unwavering love, support and commitment to one another. Choking back tears, I waited eagerly for them to finish so I could continue my assessment, return to my car and release my heavy emotions in private.

Making health a priority
The goal of this post is not to scare you. Well maybe it is…it’s to scare you into action. To refocus some of your attention on what really matters. We watch the numbers on our bank statements, the numbers that reflect the value of our houses, the scores of sports games, our numbers of likes on Facebook and our number of Twitter followers. But are we watching the numbers of our health metrics just as closely?
 
We monitor our performance in the stock market. We monitor our performance as employees, as parents, as students, as friends, etc. But how often does the average person monitor the performance of their bodies?
 
Granted, we can do everything right and still succumb to disease. But there are these diseases known as “lifestyle diseases”. These diseases have risk factors that can be modified. Decreasing risk factors means decreasing our chances of having to deal with such ugly diseases. These diseases include: heart disease, dementia, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease and some types of cancer.  
 
What can you do?
Health should not be something we only pay attention to when we get old. We need to build up our reserves for tomorrow, today. We do this for our bank accounts, right? We're told to have a rainy day fund so we have enough reserves for when things go south. Then why not do the same for our health?

Our health deserves our attention each and every day. We can’t afford to ignore it. We can’t only begin to track our health metrics once we get old. Only so much damage control can happen at an older age when healing and recovery happen at a slower rate. The time to pay attention is now. With age comes some natural, inevitable, progressive decline. But how much deterioration and how fast will be dependent on your built-up reserves.

As the saying goes, “If you do not make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness”.
 
8 ways you can pay attention to your health today

• Watch your health metrics

 This means monitoring your blood pressure. It means knowing your Body Mass Index (BMI). It means keeping an eye on your weight to ensure it stays in the healthy range. It means getting regular blood work done to check your cholesterol levels, for possible deficiencies, for inflammation and to see if your blood sugars are within normal ranges.

• Measure your performance indicators

How flexible is your body? How good is your balance? How fast can you walk or run a mile? How much weight can you lift? How quickly can you get from a sitting to a standing position from the ground? These are examples of quick easy ways you can monitor the performance of your body.

• Get enough physical activity

Are you meeting the current exercise guidelines? Are you getting at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or at least 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week? Are you strength training at least twice a week? How sedentary are you? One of the best things you can do for your health is get enough physical activity. Being sedentary is a risk factor for most lifestyle diseases.

• Nutrition

Are you meeting current nutrition recommendations? Are you eating a balanced diet? Are you making sure you aren’t deficient in key nutrients? Are you avoiding those foods that are known to cause lifestyle diseases? Are you avoiding toxic substances and excess alcohol? Don’t forget, junk in, junk out. What you feed your body is probably the single most important health factor.

• Mental health

Check in with yourself often. Make sure your stress levels are manageable. Practice good sleep hygiene and make sure you’re getting enough sleep so you wake up feeling energized. Consider mood journaling. Ensure your support system is intact. And don’t forget the importance of challenging your brain with mental stimulation to keep your brain sharp as you age.

• Energy levels

 How much energy do you have when you get up in the morning? Do you have energy slumps during the day? Do you have to rely on caffeine or other stimulants just to make it through the day? Do you get “hangry” or have blood sugar crashes often? 
 
These are all red flags of problems to come if you don’t take action today to improve your energy levels. Again, remember that a healthy balanced diet and regular physical activity can improve energy levels. And don’t hesitate to see your doctor if you have unexplained low energy and lethargy. Because it’ll only worsen as you age if it doesn’t get addressed today.

• Monitor for aches and pains

If your joints and bones are already aching today, chances are they’ll ache even more as you get older. Maintaining strong bones and joints is critical as we go through life. Joint pain can be crippling as it worsens. Did you know that we already reach our peak bone mass in our late 20’s? That means that after our 20’s, it’s all about preserving what we have left. Because our bones aren’t depositing minerals like they used to. This puts us at increased risk for osteoporosis and fractures later on.
 
Though you can’t change your genes, you can control other risk factors like: getting enough calcium and Vitamin D, engaging in weight-bearing/low impact activities and keeping your weight in the healthy range. 

• Address any new symptoms

Found a new spot on your skin? Notice increased sensitivity in one of your teeth? Feeling more tired than usual? Experiencing a change in appetite lately? Lost some weight unexpectedly and without trying? Don’t wait for a problem to escalate. Get checked out by a doctor. If you wait too long to address a problem, it can sometimes literally mean the difference between life and death.
 
Call to action
It’s normal to want to avoid the doctor. I mean, who isn’t filled with dread at the prospect of being poked and prodded and possibly being told they have something terribly wrong with them? But burying your head in the sand doesn’t make the problems go away. In fact, it’ll only make them worse.
 
Don’t wait until that catastrophic moment, where years of neglecting your health, finally catches up to you. More often than not this happens by way of a sudden serious health crisis. If you hated going to the doctor before, you’d really hate it under those circumstances!
 
Watch your health metrics as closely as you watch your bank statements. Or as closely as you follow the scores of your favorite sports teams. Then act accordingly to improve them. Trust me when I say, there is nothing in this world more important than your health. Without your health you really don’t have much.
 
“Health is not valued ‘till sickness comes” –Thomas Fuller