2 Massive health lessons you’re missing out on because you’re focused on the political aspects of Covid
Do you remember a year and a half ago when the world shut down in an attempt to stop the coronavirus? Since that day in March, everything surrounding the coronavirus has gotten insane. It’s morphed from being a virus to a polarizing topic that divides neighbors, families and friends. And the worst part of this is, instead of using the coronavirus to improve our health, we’ve used it to create division and fear.
For the last year, I’ve seen this fear infect every single person I know. My kids were scared to go to school and get sick. I was scared to watch my husband go to work as a firefighter and be exposed to it. We’ve feared our parents getting sick. We’ve feared infecting other people. We’ve even been afraid to simply admit that we got coronavirus!
Fear causes our bodies to go into the fight-or-flight reaction. The flight-or-fight response isn’t supposed to last a long time. If we can resolve it in a few minutes our bodies relax and go back to normal processes. However, if we stay in that feeling long-term then, we’re going to see a lot of damage or change in our habits and behavior to try and ease that feeling.
One of the quickest ways to silence the fight or flight response is through food. Food makes us happy and it gives us a hit of dopamine -the happy hormone- that calms our nerves. This is why you eat when you’re stressed!
And if you’re anything like the women who have come to me in the last year, you’ve been emotional eating or binging on Netflix to try and avoid all the emotions and stress that are out in the world. This combo is also the reason you put on a few more pounds than you’d like to in the last year and a half.
The worst thing about all of this fear and hate that accompany the coronavirus is that we’ve missed out on two huge lessons that could have improved our current quality of life and our future health!
Last month, my family was hit with ‘Rona and while I was sick and recovering there were two lessons I learned. I want to share them with you today so that you can take advantage of the unique opportunity Covid is giving you to improve your health.
Before you write me off because you haven’t been sick, I want you to know that these lessons aren’t just for people who have had corona, they’re crucial to every single person! I hope that you use them to improve your health and your family’s health this year.
Mental health is just as important to your recovery as your physical health
When I was sick last month I was lucky enough to have a mentor tell me to keep an eye on my mental health. My mentor knew that my body would recover from this, but that it was going to be difficult for me to feel so secluded from the world.
This was 100% true for me! I’m an extrovert and lead a very full and busy life. When I have to slow down and literally do nothing, it drives me insane! Having Covid was hard because I felt so secluded and alone.
It wasn’t just being sick that made me sad, it was an overwhelming feeling that the world was never going to recover from this. It was never going to be the place it was before 2020. People have changed and the world has become less loving and hopeful.
I felt like I was being crushed by the weight of everything that has happened since corona hit. If I just sat there, it was going to consume me. I knew I needed to pull myself out of the spiral I was in if I wanted to get better - both physically and mentally. These 3 things helped me stay afloat when my mind wanted to drown in negativity.
I asked friends and family to check in on me. I knew they couldn’t physically come and see me but texts, phone calls and FaceTime calls all helped me feel like I was still a part of my community.
I went for a daily walk. I got out of my house and walked around the neighborhood. I walked for 3 miles in 100+ degree weather. I could have given in to excuses, but I knew I needed to get out and move my body. I needed to step out of the mundane!
I kept doing my daily mindset work. I know that I feel better mentally when I practice gratitude, listen to a devotional and take time for myself. I didn’t focus on waking up super early while I was sick because I needed the rest to heal my body, but I made sure to still do these things each day.
Doing these 3 things and anything else that helps your mindset (showering daily, getting dressed, sitting outside in the sunshine) will make a huge difference when you’re quarantining from Covid.
We missed an opportunity as a nation to set a tone for better health
The second lesson I learned from Covid was that we as a nation have missed this huge opportunity to improve the culture of health. We have been so focused on what politicians are telling us about the virus, masks, vaccines and quarantines that we forgot that we have the power to control our health. We know what the best practices to stay healthy are and we can choose to live that way with or without a mandate.
My family and I were lucky to have mild symptoms. We each suffered from fevers and lost our sense of smell and taste, but luckily we didn’t get much worse. I know that this isn’t the case for everyone, but I attribute our mild symptoms to how we lived our lives before we got covid.
We prioritized getting at least eight hours of sleep.
We ate balanced meals with plenty of natural foods.
We exercised regularly.
We took vitamins to help boost our immune systems and complement our diets.
We worked on our minds to reduce stress.
For the last seven years, I’ve been laying the foundational bricks for myself, my husband and my kids.
When the coronavirus hit back in 2020, we knew that it was going to be the hardest and the most deadly on the elderly, the immunocompromised and the overweight. We also knew that to stop the spread of it we needed to take better care of ourselves. We needed to wash our hands, eat healthy food and exercise.
But we blazed right past all of that! Sure, we’re all better about washing our hands and using hand sanitizer, but that was the easiest item on the list! In true American fashion, we focused on the quick fix and crossed our fingers that washing our hands and wearing a mask would be enough. We avoided diving in and doing the real work to change our unhealthy habits.
The public service message should have been: “This is the time to uplevel your health!” You should be working on your health and boosting your immunity not as a solution to Covid, but as the best natural defense against it!
Covid provided us the opportunity to take our health seriously. We know that eating healthy foods, exercising, and focusing on our mental health all lead not only to stronger immune systems, fewer illnesses but to a healthier life overall. We still have the opportunity to change things around!
We need to do better for ourselves because we love ourselves. Because we value ourselves. Because we want what’s best for us and our families. That love will trickle down and make a difference throughout the world.
When we take care of ourselves physically and mentally, we level the playing field and give our bodies the best chance to fight diseases and infections. That’s how we restore health to the world.
Mama, take this as the opportunity to start living the healthy life you deserve! Don’t wait until you’re sick, whether it’s with coronavirus, diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis, etc. Take action on your health today because you deserve it.
This pandemic has shown us that there is truly only one thing that matters when it comes down to it and that’s your health.
Who follows you on social media doesn’t matter.
Having a huge house doesn’t matter.
Going on elaborate vacations doesn’t matter.
Having friends in high places doesn’t matter.
In the end, how you care for yourself and your health is going to be what matters most. Your health will determine how much time you spend with your kids, your spouse, your family. Don’t take it for granted anymore because we’ve seen it can change in the blink of an eye.
If you’re ready to start your own health journey, then let’s talk. In the Macros Made Easy program, we tackle the physical and mental challenges and changes you need to make in order to live your healthiest life. I combine these two aspects to help you change your life, not just lose weight. You’ll leave my program understanding how to care for yourself now so that you can prevent future illness.
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