Why ‘I eat well’ is no longer enough to age backwards
Ditch the new years resolutions of ‘getting healthy and eating better’ and start a ‘revolution’ of ‘ageing backwards into the future’.
I’ve said it many times over the years whether it was to my GP, a naturopath, a PT or someone who said innocently ‘you don’t look well’.
‘Oh I but I eat well’ was like a rote, natural, automatic, thoughtless response.
I always thought I ate well until my own health started to take a turn around menopause time. And now working as a health coach I hear it all the time ‘Oh but I eat well’.
It helps to look back over the years and ask yourself ‘where are you on your timeline of health?’ Look back 10 years and how did you feel? What state was your body in? Were you proud of it? Now project yourself into another 10 years considering everything you want to achieve. Will the health and state of your body remain the same if you do nothing new? Will it carry you through the next 10 or 20 years with ease?
I needed to face that question. At the time of writing I’m 57 and I look back over my life knowing full well that the state of my health now is the sum total of what’s gone before me. How I’ve lived my life, who I was surrounded with, the food habits I created, how I was raised, my belief systems, how much I moved, what kind of parental beliefs were laid down on me, how my schooling and teen years affected me, illnesses and surgeries I’ve experienced along the way and of course emotional traumas that were dotted in amongst it all. We find ourselves here at this point in time and look back on the last number of years. Now as I look ahead I see there’s many more years that I simply expect to be vibrant, purposeful, healthy, lean, young looking and have the confidence and self esteem to carry out the work I want to do.
We expect to live healthfully and we have every right to live without disease or degeneration.
But as I’ve questioned in years gone by ‘what am I doing to create the healthy body that will serve me in that quest’?
After seeking education in the health and nutrition field and taking hold of my own health, that’s taken a few years to turn around, I now emphatically know it’s not just about ‘eating well’. There’s so much more to the game of life, living it well and seeking that vibrant longevity that’s so sought after. A combination of carefully considered movement that I would term ‘Mindful Movement’, mindset and our immunity is the other half of the health equation.
Here’s a few words of wisdom from some of the authors I’ve been studying.
“Your body reflects your health. It’s about the food you eat, how flexible and strong you are. It’s about your personal psychology, your looks and your intelligence. And – it’s about the way you live’ says Bob Cooley who’s book ‘The Genius of Flexibility’ is one of my absolute favourites.
“Fifty percent of your health is based on your nutrition – the food, water and air that you ingest. But, the other fifty percent is based on the physical functioning of your internal immune system”. Dr Christiane Northrup.
Taking your health investigation much further than just ‘eating well’ makes the different between feeling a little worse every year of your life or experiencing a release from the ties of aches pains, stiff joints, illness and that feeling of spiralling downward.
Another favourite author is Kit Laughlin author of ‘Stretching and Flexibility’ who says
“How do you make an adult’s body flexible? Why is it that adults’ bodies are so much tighter? Why do adults display such individual postural signatures, and why aren’t their bodies soft, supple and graceful, the way young children’s are? And the most important question: can the adult be brought back into this state of gracefulness and, if so, how? The answer to the question of whether the adult body can be returned to its earlier suppleness is an unqualified yes!’
I love this!!!
Part of that desire for health and longevity is to look good. I don’t mean having that ‘celebrity/magazine’ impossible level of looks but to look vibrant of face and body especially in later years.
In my experience it’s so much more than just what we eat:
Who and what do we surround ourselves with everyday? What we read, listen to and speak over ourselves affects our psychology .
Having a practice of gratefulness whether it’s journaling or a morning meditation.
To know that we’re listening as well as being heard. It’s a primal human need.
Knowing that there’s someone in your life you love and who loves you.
To have a sense of self acceptance, self worth, self esteem and self liking.
Having a faith, spiritual practice or belief in a higher power
Having an awareness of your body, leads to an awareness of mind which leads to an awareness of others
The rest is how you eat, drink, think and sleep.
All of the above are examples of feeding and nurturing the body in more ways than just eating and it shows in our face. This is the source of youthfulness.
Of course there’s the other side of the equation that will create more degeneration and move us faster down the path of ageing. The consumption of all things unhealthy both physically and emotionally and lack of ability or will to take on healthy mindful practices will affect us in the opposite manner. That’s for another blog post.
Over time after incorporating all of the above I can truly say that I feel in my body a sense of ageing backwards. I’ve known the feeling of illness, nutrient deficiency, toxicity, inflammation, weightgain, painful joints, hot flushes, night sweats, insulin resistance, fatigue and anxiety. Now that I’ve discovered how to deal with it all, I have a sense of youthful strength, agility, flexibility and clear headedness that’s quite amazing. In fact I’ve seen my own face change.
It’s very satisfying. I have confidence now that I’m moving well away from ‘premature ageing’ and moving toward ‘true age’. I have time ahead of me now to enjoy and thrive rather than face deterioration.