I've decided to journal my health journey for accountability and to help me to keep focused on improving my health and well being.
To define my 'health journey', I will firstly say that I am referring to my physical health, not mental, while I will also acknowledge that the two are inextricably linked. My physical health is much easier to define and measure, and less private. I expect that as my physical health improves, so will my mental health and that, in turn, will help with my journey to improve my physical health.
How is my physical health right now?
Not good. I am 20-25kg overweight, in the obese range for my BMI (but only just). Most of my weight sits in my torso increasing my risk factors for a range of lifestyle based illnesses. I have high cholesterol (the inherited kind), high blood pressure, suffer from panic attacks and poor sleep. I get restless legs from fatigue, indigestion, have severe eczema on my hands and feet (dishydrotic eczema), and have a tendency to retain water and get massive cankles. I have trouble walking with even slight inclines over a distance, even one flight of stairs will leave me breathless, my flexibility is so bad I have trouble putting on my shoes and socks in the morning, let alone picking up something off the floor or reaching into a floor level cupboard to find a container in the kitchen! Most recently, I went on a short 2km hike, granted it was a steep incline, but I had an exercise induced panic attack just before reaching the top at the halfway point.
This is in stark contrast to where I was just seven years ago. I reached a healthy weight, could touch my toes, run 10km, bench press 40kg and squat my body weight on the Olympic bar. My mental health was the best it had ever been after years of panic disorder and agoraphobia. I would go hiking and camping with my kids and loved walking trails, especially the mountain ones!
I don't really know what happened. A series of let-downs in my study, people moving away, a few stressful events and I just slowly gained weight and retreated into old habits.
On the plus side for my health, I'm short and tiny and I love my body. I have a great metabolism which tends on the high side, which, while it means I am an anxious, fidgety person which I control though numbing myself with food and tv, it also means I have a high 'incidental energy' output and can eat a few more calories then would be expected for someone my size!
What do I want to achieve?
Like most people, I want to look good! Not just to look good, but so that others can see I am a strong and determined person who values their health. I respect that in others, and I want to be respected for it as well. Mostly though, I want to feel comfortable in my body. I want to be a healthy weight but also be capable of living in my body again. To be able to hike, put my socks on, open jars and carry boxes, arrive at a meeting without being out of breathe from the stairs!
I would also like my doctor to stop mentioned blood pressure medication and statins every time I visit. I'd like to not die from a heart attack before I'm 60 years old! I'd like to not die from cancer, or emphysema.
How do plan to it?
I'd like to buck the trend a little bit and say, I'm want to increase my calorie intake, or at least maintain it. I like to eat.
The "calories in < calories out" equation is a lot more complicated then it sounds and when you look in more detail, cutting calories from food is only one option.
Calories in
If we look more closely at 'calories in' we find lots of ways to improve our health on this side of the equation without 'dieting' at 1200 calories. First and foremost is the quality of food we eating. We need our macros: protein, fats and carbs (the ratio of these vary hugely in 'natural' human behavior based on culture, season, and environmental fluctuations), but we also need our micronutrients and we need fibre. If we stick to actual food - meat, fruit and vegetables, greens, nuts and grains which are unprocessed for the main part, then we will get our macros, and our micros, and our fibre AND will be able to eat more of it to get the same calorie intake compared to highly processed food. Yay! More food! How could that be a bad thing?
So, first step in getting healthy is improving the quality of the calories I am consuming. In doing so, I might end up eating less calories even though I am eating the same amount of food. Or I might just eat more food.
Food which is in it's natural form usually takes more energy to digest as well, adding a bit more weight on to the other side of the equation. The common mantra 'eat less, move more' could be more effective as 'eat better, move more'
Calories out
This side of the equation is where it gets a lot more complicated! There are so many ways our bodies use the calories we eat. As I said above, just eating uses calories and some foods take more energy to digest then others (I'm looking at you celery!). Most discussions revolve around basal metabolic rate like it's this static thing that stays the same day in and day out. Hint: it doesn't! What we eat, if we are hot or cold, fighting an infection, anxiety, dreaming, breathing, and especially how much muscle we have can all effect our basal metabolic rate. These are all things that happen without our conscious control - it's just our bodies being alive.
It's not very efficient from a survival perspective, for our bodies to maximise our base calorie expenditure given starvation has historically been a real risk! Any increases here have to be proven as worthwhile. It has to save your life and you have to work to maintain it or your body will go back to the most efficient it can be. One way our bodies are triggered to increase our base metabolism is to lift heavy stuff. Remember, our bodies are designed to adapt to be the most efficient they can be and when we lift heavy stuff, it's better to build muscle then to risk hurting ourselves, and more muscle is more energy efficient at lifting the same weight - the trade - off, more muscle means we need more calories to survive. That means we really have to show our bodies we need this to survive and that we are not at risk of starvation!
That's step two of my plan! Increase my basal metabolic rate by eating more often and building muscle. This is the most often missed step when people are trying to lose weight. the mantra 'eat less, move more' skeps over this completely! It really doesn't sound as good to include it though.. 'eat better, build your metabolism, move more'
The other calories out aspect is our conscious movement. The movement that we do consciously everyday (or even unconscious fidgeting!). While I am going to say I want to increase this, the point is not use it as a calorie burning tool, but to become fit and healthy. this is one area where we want to be more efficient at burning calories so we can increase our heart health, our general fitness level, and to get more out of life!
Step three of my plan, is just to get fit and move more to improve and then maintain a comfortable level of fitness, flexibility, and stamina!
Summary
While this a long post, it can be summarised very easily..
Eat better, Build muscle, Get fit.
An important addition to the conversation though, is balance. It's okay to eat take-out every now and then, or have a chocolate bar if you need a quick burst of energy.
