Finally I am getting back to writing! As usual, I really don’t know who will read what I write, but I have been asked by several people if I am going to write about the significant events and discoveries of this last six months of my life. I have been working hard on many important aspects of my life recently and finally do have a few things figured out. I think I can finally focus a little time on my writing.
At the moment I am not completely certain of where to begin. So much has changed recently. Like the rest of my life, I feel that substantial changes are due in my writing as well. Like my recent weight loss and drive to change my health; I feel this time I can sustain the changes I am making.
Everything does come down to my health it seems. This is something that uncertainty and confusion have plagued as much as anything when it comes to my former status: Overweight, inactive, antisocial, uncertain and anxious and unable to achieve any goal or even really know what i desire. Solving my health issues went well beyond simply going to doctors and taking pills and I had no idea how far down the rabbit hole I was.
I have never really understood the full significance of diet to ones health it seems. Sure I know you need to eat nutrients of a variety of types for a variety of reasons. I thought I knew enough; however, I had no idea to what degree what you eat can impact so many aspects of your health. No idea to the level to which a poor diet could impact thinking and behaviour, or how many ways it can derail your health, both physically and cognitively.
Yes I always knew there are things we can eat to improve thinking and memory and that there are a lot of good things you need to sustain good health and some bad things you need to avoid; but what I did not really understand is that what is good and what is bad to eat cannot be generalized by simple rules. What is good or bad is absolutely unique to each individual.
When I refer to diet, I’d like to be very clear that I am not talking of some recipe in a book that you follow, rather I am simply talking about what you eat, when you eat and how you eat. As a person, you always have your unique diet. My previous diet was killing me in so many ways.
The harder I tried to eat what was good for me, the more I poisoned myself and disrupted my thinking and as a result, my behaviour. So many aspects of my day-to-day life were centered around dealing with the unseen stress my diet was causing. Even when the stresses were visible and even severe enough to warrant seeing doctors of all kinds, the relationship to what I was eating was not there.
Fortunately, with some good luck and some good help I finally discovered a few of the keys to unlocking my brain and my body from the chains that were preventing me from actually becoming healthy. Chains that I believe have bound me unknowingly in some way since I was young.
Unfortunately the rules and recipes that generally work, or rather that seem to work for some, don’t and won’t ever work for me. That is tried and proven to fail in every attempt. Nutrition and health are not new subjects to me.
The specifics of my latest attempt to change my life and become a healthy and fit individual comes from a position of enlightenment. New knowledge and a new plan. And the proof is in the the result. The result is that I have lost 53 pounds (25 Kg) to date and I am exercising 10 times per week, or more. I am able to walk my dogs and get the hardcore cardiovascular exercise I need. I am able to go to the gym and do my weight training routines.
I no longer have the spinal problems that prevent it. I am no longer suffering from soreness, back problems, headaches, or the other symptoms that have plagued me in the past. I plan to detail here in my blog; the knowledge that has enabled me to finally achieve my goal of being as healthy as l can be and enabled me to lose the weight I wanted to lose. It also made it possible for me to exercise regularly and gave me some control over the health issues that have derailed and prevented success in the past.
I do have unique health issues, but everyone does. For some they are more significant and more difficult to overcome, but the challenge is really the same. How do we make the most of what we have? How do we get the most out of our effort and our body? The goals are unique and specific to each of us; the challenges we face are unique to each of us, as is the path to achieve those goals.
As I have learned previously when it comes to behaviour; the best result is achieved by working to manage and learn the intricate details that are specific to the individual. Shape the individual. Making the most of yourself is not about following someone else’s recipe. Knowing what works for others is helpful and valuable. Knowing your own choices and how to navigate through them is just as valuable, if not more so.
Maximizing the result is about building your own system, dealing with the uniqueness of the challenges and building the changes within oneself to overcome those challenges.
Richard