For anyone desiring to make changes to improve their health and well being, I cannot highlight enough that when it comes to the creation of WHOLE HEALTH, this is a crucial concept to keep in mind…
We don’t have to overwhelm ourselves by trying to do everything at once! There is just so much, often conflicting, information out there around what we ‘should’ be doing about our diet and lifestyle that often we don’t know where to start and may end up being put off starting at all!
My own personal, transformative health journey only began to evolve when I found the confidence to move away from the distractions and noise I was surrounded with and just SLOW DOWN so that I could tune into my OWN INTRINSIC ANSWERS about what was right for me, for my life, for my health. Sadly it took a serious accident, in which I suffered a broken back, to actually make me STOP but I can now describe this significant and awful event in 2020 as a ‘storm which came to clear my path in life.’ I didn’t pay attention to any of the warning signs that lead up to my accident, I ignored it all and pushed it all away, soldiering on and trying my best to cope but the Universe had other ideas and made me LISTEN.
The long recovery process set me onto a completely different trajectory and involved the most minute ‘baby steps’ as I literally learned to walk again but, in applying this strategy to my Diabetes management and all areas of health and wellbeing I began to understand the necessity of taking such an approach in order to move towards my health goals and achieve them successfully.
For Example, when it came to making changes to the food I ate (the single most important variable when it comes to reversing insulin resistance) I focused on just one meal at a time – breakfast first, then lunch, then dinner and snacks. Trying to change them all at once would have been too much, too soon! As tempting as it was, I did not want to fall into this trap, risking overwhelming myself and feeling like it was just too much of a challenge to continue.
Like I do now with my health coaching clients, as I began this process I took time to reflect on a simple question “Why am I changing my nutrition habits to maximise my insulin sensitivity?” This was my powerful WHY – and it is important to think about what your ‘why’ is before embarking on what can be a challenging journey. Clarity and direction is the key to finding strength and dedication to make a transition effectively. One of my most important reasons for making the changes was to have more energy to spend time doing the things I enjoy with the people I love the most. Whatever it is, connect with your why, and commit to understanding it inside and out to motivate you to sustain consistent behaviour change.
I wrote my SMART goals down, using specific language and giving myself a reasonable time frame. Once I had nailed my breakfasts and the post prandial blood sugars following eating them, I moved onto lunch, then dinner and snacks. I followed a similar process when it came to introducing exercise too. I have struggled with incorporating exercise routines into my daily life for years without success, due to the affects on my blood glucose control. There is nothing more frustrating than taking part in physical activity only to have to stop and treat a hypo mid exercise and eat extra carbs to stop blood sugar levels plummeting through the floor!
As with key dietary changes I built up exercise slowly and focused on what really felt good – not what I thought I should be doing or trying to keep up with everyone else! This involved walking, jogging, an at home yoga practice, swimming and bike riding with my daughters – making physical activity part of my normal day to day routine instead of trying to fit it in as an additional extra, which would make me feel like a failure if I didn’t get round to it. It was unmanageable as a mother with a teaching career, who was also studying and had a difficult disease to manage daily too! Building up my preferred exercise routine is still ongoing as I now aim to add in some resistance band strength training to aid my bone health as I enter my forties! I leave my resistance bands somewhere visible so that I am reminded to grab them and do 10 minutes here and there – sometimes even when I am watching telly!
Another area, which is still a work in progress for me, is making sure that I continue to communicate openly, honestly and effectively with those around me. That includes friends, family, wider relatives and colleagues (all of whom I used to hide my real struggles from) to ensure that they are aware of and understand my needs and I can build a supportive network around me, who I can readily accept help from when I need it…and I am getting better at this!
Whatever changes you are looking to make to your health, I urge you to start small. Once you successfully achieve smaller goals you will build your motivation for tackling the bigger goals you set and your confidence will soar. Keep returning to your vision of how you want to feel in 3 months, 6 months, 12 months from now…after all everything is created twice, first in your mind and then in reality!
‘Accept who you are. Focus on who you want to become.’