When it comes to your health, it’s easy to put it on the back-burner. There are so many things to get done in a single day that taking time for yourself can get lost under the mountain of your daily tasks.
The more we push our basic needs to the back of our priority list the more often we are to find ourselves sick, depressed, or suffering from emotional fatigue. By the time we start realizing the effect that neglecting our needs is having on our mental and physical health – we’re so exhausted that it’s hard to just bounce back.
Here are four things we get wrong when it comes to our health.
Not Incorporating A Balanced Lifestyle Into Daily Routines
Some people start on their journey to a healthy lifestyle, and think that they have to do everything 100% perfect. They have to exercise all of the time, they have to eat healthy constantly and the minute they have a bad day then they might as well just give up because they’re failing anyway.
You don’t have to be perfect 100% of the time. In fact, trying to be that perfect is a form of self-sabotage because no one can live up to that. Being obsessed with diet and exercise can become a disorder in itself, even if you’re not starving. Balance is about knowing when to treat yourself and when to eat a salad. Get yourself going to the gym as much as you can but still enjoy that cake! It’s all about balance!
Thinking Supplements Will Be Miracle Workers
I love supplements! I take many myself for many different reasons but they are not a substitute for good health. Just because you take a B-Vitamin for energy doesn’t mean it’s okay to survive on four hours of sleep consistantly.
Supplements can be great but many can only be taken as part of a healthy lifestyle and good diet. You may even take pills that you don’t need to be taking. Thinking that supplements will make you healthy without actually doing any work yourself is not the answer and false information. Supplements can enhance your efforts but they must be used in a balanced way to supplement the healthy things you’re already doing – not to replace them.
Buying Into ‘Health/Weight Loss’ Marketing
Many things in the supermarkets today are marketed as weight loss or health products, when they are in fact the furthest thing from healthy.
Smoothies, for example. Making them yourself is wonderful. Buying them from the shop can mean lots of excess sugar and unhealthy ingredients.
Just because they are marketed as healthy doesn’t mean they are! Learning to read nutritional labels and understanding portion sizes can really help.
There are so many products out there that profit from self-hate, don’t buy into them.
Not Taking Mental Health Into Account
Your mental health is just as important as your physical health, but there’s always been a bit of a taboo around it and you know that I’m all about breaking the stigma around talking about mental health.
Your mental health affects your physical health so we’ve got to take that into account. Do things that are healthy for you on BOTH levels.
If your mental health is hard to manage and you don’t have the energy or motivation to sleep well, move your body, or eat healthy – it’s time to talk to a professional so that you can start with your mental health and then move to your physical health.
Not Being Kind To Our Bodies
“No pain, no gain” has been around forever. We idolize beating our bodies into submission.
I’ve learned that when we our kind and loving to ourselves we naturally want to make better choices for our bodies.
Treat yourself. Pamper yourself. Give yourself massages or hot and relaxing baths. If you’re on the autism spectrum or Focus on your warm up and cool down when you’re working out.
We all have different mental health needs and being kind to our bodies looks different for everyone. People with autism, may need extra support and there are so many options now. There are many things that can assist children too like choosing a blanket for autistic children is one great thing to do to keep them feeling comforted and soothed.
Do things that soothe you, calm you, and make your body feel good.
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