Getting Healthy: What is Real Health?

How to find true health and be the best version of you. 

“A healthy outside starts from the inside.” – Robert Urich

Being healthy is individualized. Not everyone is the same, so not everyone’s health looks the same. Of course this means the journey will not be the same either. For me, the real health transition started when I started having some minor health issues in my late twenties. I was extremely fatigued and had nagging pains and stiffness in my joints. When a lymph node in my neck became so enlarged it was hard to swallow, I became a little more annoyed.  I was not sick, but I was not well either. So, I did what any nurse would do and I brushed it all off. At first, anyway. I was telling myself it was all from stress (which is not all wrong).  I mean, I was a wife with four little kids and a full time job. Of course I would be tired and run down, right? I ended up going to a doctor to just get a checkup, since I did not even have a primary at the time. A very long story short, he found that I was very deficient in vitamin B12 and also sent me to an ENT( Ear, Nose and Throat) doctor for the enlarged lymph node. The ENT did decide to remove it after watching it for a while, but it ended up being benign (Praise the Lord!) and he suggested that I see a Rheumatologist. What I left out before was that the Physician who sent me to this guy had also suggested this because my autoimmune panel was abnormal. 

Instead of listening to the advice of not just one, but two medical professionals, I returned to ignoring it all and went on my merry way for some time. I mean, I was getting B12 injections, I did not have cancer and the lump from my throat was gone, so why go to another doctor? All my problems were solved. And there is no way I had something autoimmune, I thought, I am healthy. I am active, I eat decently enough, and I feel overall happy and healthy. Well, it was not that simple and in the end, I was not as healthy as I thought I was. I ended up talking to a friend, who was a Rheumatoid Nurse Practitioner, over a year later and she got all of my records. Within a couple of days, she called me to come see her. When I was being asked the questions, I absolutely downplayed any issues I was having. Again, I thought most of these things I felt were normal, or at least my normal, therefore, I did not need to mention it. And if I am being completely transparent, I felt like it would sound whiny to tell her about every single ailment I had. The way I chose to see it was, if I had something, she would find it without my help- Let me stop right here and tell you, as a medical professional, this is not correct thinking and I am not an example of an ideal patient…always tell your physician or nurse all the details. But sure enough, she calls me a week later and tells me that I, in fact, do have an autoimmune disease. 

I was in denial for a while (still am at times)- I knew about this, had patients with this and I did not feel like I met the criteria.  This was a life long disease that I wanted no part in. 

This began my search for REAL health. It wasn’t just about how I looked on the outside anymore. It wasn’t what others saw or thought of me. It was what was going on on the inside of me. My innards. And I knew it wasn’t just physical changes I had to make but I had to change my mindset.  

So, back to the question, what is true health? One of the ways that the World Health Organization (WHO) describes it is “a state of optimal physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” It’s the whole package. It is being physically, mentally and socially healthy. Meaning you can’t have one without the other and, thankfully, just because you have a disease does not mean that you cannot have overall health. So, again, true health is different for everyone, but getting there can look similar. Which leads to the next, and hardest question, where do we start? Where you start is up to you, but here are some tips to help get you going…

• Make a Goal: 

To make a goal, you need to think about what you want our end result to be. Evaluate where you are and Invision where you need to be. For example: If it is to lose or gain weight, think about how much. If it is to lose or gain inches, decide how many. If it is to lower cholesterol and/or blood pressure, look at where your numbers are and where you need them to be. If you want to feel better mentally and decrease anxiety and depression, write down or think about where you are physically and decide where you need to make changes.  And so on. 

• Be realistic and Start Small: 

Making changes that stick is hard. Give yourself realistic, obtainable goals because a lot of it is mental and you do not want to set yourself up for failure right from the start. Also,  mentally prepare yourself for this so you are ready for the challenges that come because they will come. When trying to make too many changes with too many expectations at once, we become overwhelmed. This leads to mental depletion and eventually we will burn out, leading us to give up.  You don’t just decide to run a marathon and just start by running the full marathon (if you can do that, way to go, you are exceptional). You begin with smaller distances along with training and conditioning, eventually pushing yourself the full distance. It takes weeks, months or longer, depending on how you choose to get there. Same with any goal we have. Make lists of smaller goals that lead to something bigger. 

• Don’t Diet:

Make lifestyle changes. Diets are short term fixes. Make changes that are long term and are maintainable. Carb counting, keto, or one I will never understand or care to do, counting macros(that’s just too much, y’all). That is all great and wonderful, but at the end of the day, it ain’t fun.. And let’s be real, it's probably not going to last forever.

When I started having kids, I decided that I did not want to have any other drinks in my house besides milk and water. Other than the occasional OJ or grape juice kicks for special occasions, I have stayed true to that for more than fifteen years. And while it does keep us from drinking it every day, it also has my kids acting like little addicts. They beg for it and act like I am serving them crack when they get it. They want the biggest size fountain drink and will slurp their drinks at a restaurant like they are dehydrated or something ( poor servers). Same with anything else I have tried to keep from having at the house like poptarts or snack cakes- y’all, my kids will start counting them and yell at each other if the last of it.  It is pitiful, really, and it makes me question myself as a parent. But what I have found is that we adults are the same way.  Maybe the key is not deprivation, but moderation.  Oh, and I am a big believer in intermittent fasting-delay don’t deny. 

• Do Exercise: 

Moving and staying active is a must for your health. It is not just for physical benefits. It is for emotional and mental health.  Hormones, like dopamine and serotonin, released during exercise boost our mood and our energy.  

Exercising was something I completely underestimated before. I did it regularly until I had my third child. I could list multiple reasons why, but the truth is, I just didn’t “feel” like it and didn’t for about five years. When my fourth child was around two, I had a friend talk me into going and I am forever grateful. I realize now that I would rather go when I am not feeling it than to feel bad when I don’t go.  

• Supplement, Supplement, Supplement: 

Most of us do not get near what we need from what we eat. As we age, we become deficient in things and it becomes harder for us to get the nutrients from diet alone. Take a multivitamin, take in extra vitamins (vitamin D and magnesium are big ones), take some herbals (reishi and lion's mane are a couple of my favorites), or find out what your body needs specifically from a health provider. When your body is lacking something it needs, it is not regulated. This is not just vital to you physically. The health conditions that come from lack of nutrients we need, also cause emotional dysregulation. 

• Don’t Do it Alone:

I suggest having accountability with a friend or multiple friends. We need people and encouragement when making changes. Find someone that can keep you on track.

Whatever you do to get to true health, stick to it and keep fighting for it. More than anything else, I have learned that health is not something that is obtained. It is not one and done. It is a lifestyle. It is a series of choices we continue to make every single day.  Now, go transform into the better version of you.