Health and Wellness.
I would imagine those words will mean different things to different people. I have a friend with rheumatoid arthritis and I think when she can walk to her car, drive to church and then walk in the building to worship that she feels well. Most days she moves very little.
What does health and wellness mean to you? To me, it means that as I get older and become more aware of how my body is not so accepting of the aging process, I want to help myself age more gracefully. There is no getting around it: I am getting older. I can’t undo the past habits that maybe weren’t so good for my health but I can decide today that I will pay more attention to my health. If you followed my Friday Journal last month you saw that I am trying to lose 10 pounds. Well, I lost 9 pounds and then gained 3 pounds but then shed those so that I was back to the 9 pound loss. I am not so discouraged and I am not so regimented as I have been in the past while trying to lose weight. What I am is—becoming aware of how I feel in this body.
I love pizza. I hadn’t had pizza in months and we had an occasion to buy my favorite. Because I didn’t plan on pizza being a regular part of my diet I decided, yes I consciously decided, to have 3 pieces. I figured that would hold me over for another month or so. I found that the last piece didn’t taste as good as the first piece so I thought to myself, “Why eat it if it still isn’t giving you pleasure?” So I stopped. I then noticed the rest of the night that I had an uncomfortably full feeling. I hadn’t felt that in a while and decided I didn’t like it.
The next day I made better choices and felt better, felt lighter and had more energy. I told myself that next time I will have one piece and be happy. I believe I will, too, because I am finally beginning to listen and pay attention to my body. Because this is my choice I am just fine with it.
I may never be svelte in the last decades of my life but if I can move well, feel well and be able to enjoy many activities then I will consider myself an A+ student on the subject of Health and Fitness.
What do you need to do to meet your goals of feeling well and being as healthy as you can be?
