From Amanda's very early writing (1990s to early 2000s), shared as it was originally written.
wellness in 8 weeks- physical 1
The first step to wellness was to assess you life and determine goals for aspects you would like to change. And a good place to start is your physical wellness.
How happy are you with your physical wellness? Not just your body shape! In fact, focusing on, and being obsessed and unhappy with our too fat, too thin, too tall, to short (in our opinion) body is one of the most prevalent diseases of our society.
Physical wellness goes far beyond just our body shape.
Sit as an outside observer of your physical being for a few moments - maybe you can pretend someone you really respect is giving you this opinion. And objectively ask 'how is this person doing?'. What do they need to know that they may not be aware of?
And then ask yourself 'How much energy and vitality do I have?' How much do I want? How is my body shape? If I am not happy with it, what would I prefer? How is my muscle tone? Are my muscles weak and flabby or firm and tight? Am I cardiovascularly (heart lung) fit? And how fit would I like to be? Is my life too sedentary? Do I smoke? Do I want to give up? Or drink or do anything else to excess? Do I have arthritis and what can I do about it?
In other words, what am I happy with and what would I like to change?
If you are really happy with your physical wellness - fantastic!! If not, work out what you are willing to do about it. Let's take it chunk by chunk - the easiest way to eat an elephant is piece by piece!
- If you don't wake up most (OK some) mornings full of energy and vitality, why not?
Possible Solutions: Do you need more sleep; less grog!; less stress; better food; more exercise; more love; less work or just more life? We are our own best doctors in many cases - when we stop long enough to be still and quiet most of us really do have a sense of what we need. And what we need to do - there's a big difference! Sometimes what we need is to do nothing for a while!
Once you have identified what you need to do, set a goal and make a plan of easy and achievable steps to help you to that goal. Set a time frame - both a start and a finish date - or you'll never do it.
- What about your body shape? Is the feature you would like to change genetic and unchangeable or made especially by you? Being overweight in many cases, requires tremendous hard work and dedication - putting vast amounts of food (when you are not hungry) in your mouth takes determination!
Possible solutions - go to the gym, join a yoga group , start circuit training, attend body building classes, eat less, eat much less. exercise more, learn about your body and how it works, and the best nutrition for it; do not diet - no fads, watch what you put in your mouth; visualize what you want to look like every morning; think of yourself as that shape already; when eating ask yourself 'does my mouth want this or my stomach?'; gradually change the way and the amount and the type of food you eat; IMPORTANT - chew each mouthful at least 30 times - not only does this prepare the food it prepares your stomach for the oncoming digestive process . And it makes you feel full - try it, it's not easy - at least 30 chews!
- If your muscles are flabby and soft then you have poor muscle tone. Good muscle tone is what you see on athletes - firm, non sagging, hard muscles. Age doesn't mean we automatically have to fall into flabby mode - it just means we stopped exercising certain muscle groups - like abdominals and triceps muscles. If you want to turn your body clock back 10 years and look that much younger, work on muscle tone.
Possible solutions: lift weights, do more yoga, go to the gym for specific body building sessions; do aerobic exercises; walk and do upper limb exercise while you walk; walk or run up and down stairs a lot; do sit ups at home and push ups; find a personal trainer you like.
- What about cardiovascular fitness? Do you puff and pant walking up slight hills or collapse after 2 flights of stairs? Not good team! We need aerobic fitness to keep out body - and brain - in peak condition. Being aerobically fit means we have buckets of oxygen available for the brain (which sucks up more oxygen than any other organ) and for our muscles. Wanna live longer? Then get fit and build up your muscle strength.
Possible solutions: work your way up to walking 4 kilometres in 30 minutes at least four times a week; walking burns more fat than running - good news!; go for a swim four times a week or do exercises that make you puff in the pool for 30 minutes; use a skipping rope - fabulous exercise!;go for a run (If you have to); ride a bike - real or stationery; walk on a treadmill; run up and down stairs; hire a personal trainer; there are a zillion things you can do to be aerobically fit , and you know most of them; as Nike says - just do it!
PS do the exercise so that you are working at a perceived rate of exertion that is enough for you. (big medical jargon meaning, the level at which you exercise is determined by how you feel - when you feel you are going fast enough or hard enough that's where you keep it!)
- Is your life very sedentary? Ha , ha - only if you live in the 20th century! Even if you work standing up, unless you are moving rapidly all day and puffing as you go, you are not in an active job - you are in a job where you can move. Most people sit down for 30 years of their working life - no wonder they are tired! Sedentary lifestyles increase your risk of bowel cancer by 60% - not good! If you are a complete slob, the good news is that doing some form of activity will have astounding effects on how you feel and your health! So get moving!
Possible solutions: stand up and stretch every 30 minutes; go for a brisk walk at lunchtime; use the stairs instead of the lift; walk to the shop. don't drive,; stop using the remote control and walk to the TV instead; stop watching the TV and play sport at night; run around the garden with your children; vigorously scrub the bathroom or kitchen; move more; push the mower and do the gardening instead of paying someone to do it so you can sit longer!
- You'll only want to give up smoking if you have a brain! Often it's difficult to give up even if you have a brain! So make a decision that you are a non smoker and keep repeating it - you are the only one who can stop yourself. See yourself drinking tea, coffee or alcohol without the cigarette in your hand. Watch what you say to yourself about you and your smoking - you may be programming yourself to keep smoking by telling yourself you're' addicted. Of course it's not that simple - but this is a good start. The same applies to other addictions like drinking or drugs.
You could try Dr John Tickell's approach of 3 alcohol free days a week - preferably in a row! If that proves to be a huge struggle, then you might have a 'problem'. Or just adopt his philosophy of 'moderation man/woman ' - do what you like but set a limit and stick to it.
- If you are riddled with or vaguely bothered by arthritis listen up! There's lots you can do. Arthritis is simplistically put, when two bones rub against each other - the 'cushion' between them had gone. So inflammation and pain arise from the grinding of bone on bone. And then the pain stops you using the joints so the muscles weaken; which put more strain on the joints ; which increases inflammation; which increases pain etc. The only way to stop the spiral is to gently exercise on a daily basis and bring back joint mobility and muscle strength. Initially you may need some physiotherapy to loosen stuck joints and be taught the exercises but then it's up to you to maintain the program.
You can make a dramatic difference to how you feel and your levels of pain. Study your diet and watch a video called 'A Diet For All Reasons' from the Vegetarian Society in your State. Learn about the food you eat and it's influence on the inflammation in your body and adjust your diet accordingly. Exercise in a pool until the joints and muscles are strong enough to work out of water. Make sure you have enough essential fatty acids in your diet - not all fats are bad - read "Fats that Cure , Fats that Kill' by Udo Erasmus. Above all, keep mobile and moving.
Rheumatoid arthritis is similar but the approach needs to be much more gentle and slow.
- Other things I haven't been able to think of - only you can know! And only you can determine what you need to do to remedy the situation.
So there are a load of ideas to start you on your path to physical wellness - you will be 'killing two birds with one stone' in many cases eg increasing cardiovascular fitness while improving muscle tone and body shape simultaneously- so it's not too gruelling.
If you have many points to work on then prioritize them. Choose one area that you would be willing to work on for a few weeks - and draw up a schedule that's workable for you. Plan it sensibly - wellness is not about expecting huge changes tomorrow - it's gradual - progress may come in spurts or waves, but consistent gradual improvement is the best goal for most. Plan reviews of your progress every month and celebrate when you have reached your target.
Make the commitment to yourself - no one else will!
Oh yes, and have fun!
