I was sitting down with a client earlier and he made a very good point- most people live their lives in a reactive state instead of pro-active state. Something unexpected happens or goes wrong and they are completely rattled by it and they put themselves under huge pressure to get on top of it.
To be honest, we are all like this at certain times but when it comes to you health, being reactive is the worst approach you can take.
You see, your health is a bit like your bank account. The more deposits you make the better it will be and the less pressure you will feel. The more withdrawals you make from it…….. Well, you know thats not a nice place to be.
Imagine you have been saving regularly for the past 12 months and have built up a nice savings pot. All of a sudden your car packs in and you get an unexpected bill for €400. Not the most welcome thing in the world but it’s also not the end of the world because you’ve been saving away. You can get it sorted without too much difficulty.
Now imagine you haven’t been saving regularly so have nothing built up and you get hit with that bill! The pressure is on. Panic Stations. You react out of fear and worry instead out of control.
Make sense- no regular lodgements no safety net.
Now, it works the exact same way with your health account. They more lodgements you make to it the more of a safety net you get in return and the more you can get away with when you come up against unexpected challenges.
Lodgements to your health account look like this:
- Regular exercise
- drinking enough water daily
- Eating your fruit and veg
- Having adequate levels of strength
- Taking care of your joints
- Building a strong, conditioned and resilient cardiovascular system
- Not going on the piss every single week
- Limiting your intake of processed food, fizzy drinks, biscuits and junk in general
- Getting to bed for 7-8 hours a night (parents with young kids, this probably doesn’t apply to you!)
- Not smoking- there’s absolutely no place for this in your life
- Reaching a healthy body fat level
This takes time. It takes effort. It takes consistency and it definitely takes a commitment for life. Giving it a blast for 6 weeks just doesn’t cut it.
Agreed?
So, you’ve been making regular lodgements to your health account and you hit an obstacle- you get sick, take a fall and pick up an injury, work goes crazy, the kids get sick so you can’t make it to the gym for the week- you get the idea.
It’s not a big deal. Your health account is healthy and can weather the storm. You’ve built up a huge buffer zone that allows you to deal with it. Again, it’s not the ideal situation but it’s also not the end of the world because you’ve taken the time to build a fit, strong, resilient and condition body.
The other scenario is that you haven’t been making regular lodgements to your health account. You’ve actually been making huge withdrawals on a regular basis and you’re actually massively overdrawn. Withdrawals look like this
- You’re a smoker
- Regular hard drinking sessions
- Lots of processed foods and little nutrient-rich food
- Very little structured exercise or general activity
- Regular late nights- always remember that you can’t compete with sleep deprivation
- You’re excessively overweight
- You drink more fizzy drinks and alcohol than you do water
- You lack basic strength and fitness levels
Basically, you’re inconsistent and lacking in all the ‘Lodgement’ areas mentioned above. More often than not, you been making withdrawals for a long time. Your body isn’t prepared to handle sickness, injury, a huge life stressor, etc. the way a ‘regular savers’ body is. You’re already on the brink just from your everyday choices.
When something goes wrong you simply don’t have the same buffer zone to cushion the blow. It’s going to make some huge withdrawals but the bad news is that you’re already overdrawn so you got to pay the interest and penalties due:
- Drained of energy
- Lack of confidence
- Weak immune system
- Lack of motivation
- Excessive weight gain
- Increased stress levels
The point I’m trying to make is that healthy people don’t wait until they’re in trouble to get healthy and fit. They tip away at it on a consistent basis so that they can call on it when they need to.
They are pro-active about their health, not reactive.
Thats my message for you today. I hope it helps.
Steve McGrath
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