My goal is to provide a resource that presents information on simple health practices that can go a long way based on my own thoughts about health after working several years in the healthcare field as well as my own personal experiences in learning what it means to be healthy. I will highlight the importance of the context around lifestyle practices that could be health-promoting or health-defeating.
I will not be discussing particular types of workout plans to do or a particular diet program to consider. Instead, I will be discussing a person’s approach to living healthy and noting health practices to consider that may not immediately come to mind when one thinks about living and feeling healthy. Here are some examples of things that may not come to mind immediately with respect to living healthy:
- Giving or receiving a hug from someone close to you (read an interesting article on fighting stress and the common cold with a hug)
- Always parking your car further from the entrance of your job to extend the walking distance
- Receiving seven to eight hours of sleep
- Making time to sit and do nothing as a way of unwinding after work or to reflect on your day
- Standing next to your child at the bathroom sink, brushing your teeth, while she or he is also brushing, as a way to motivate your child to brush daily and brush well
- Starting off each day with a do-to-list.
- Reading a story to your child at bedtime or any time you consider worthwhile
These are things that may seem off-topic, perhaps quite off-topic for some, but are just as important to promoting your health as are exercise and eating healthy. This is a subject I’ll be addressing in this blog.
Bear in mind that I consider exercise and eating healthy to be important health-promoting practices and will include them in several topics I plan to discuss. And from time to time, I’ll touch on recommendations from public health resources that will be relevant to some of my postings. My overall intention is to have you consider the context of your lifestyle around health. And, hopefully, it will help motivate you to recognize that being physically and mentally fit goes beyond hitting the gym or monitoring carb intake.
I would like to conclude this introduction with two questions:
- Can you think of at least one thing you did today or recently that benefits your physical and/or mental health?
- Whatever comes to mind, is it an activity that would be immediately seen by anyone as a health-promoting practice or something that you or someone else would not have thought of as health-promoting?
Many of you will likely come up with an activity that would clearly be seen as a health-promoting practice. What I hope is that you will also consider something different from the usual responses that include going for a run or walk or eating a salad. In fact, the latter half of the second question is intended to have you think outside the box when it comes to health behaviors. I say more about this in a post published on 9/4/2017.
Hoping that your day is health-promoting in every way possible.
Pedro Antonio
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