I was recently interviewed in a podcast, and the host labeled the interview, “Your Health is a Part Time Job”. I couldn't agree more, so I took the time to write this blog. Your physical and mental health needs to be looked after if you are to remain healthy, and in the long term, have little issues that would slow or stop you from achieving what you want to do in life.
In talking to my patients, I always ask them to look after their health and body as they would look after their car. If the car is to keep working in good shape for a long time, you need to take care of it, clean it, avoid crashes, and service it regularly every few months for oil change, air filter change in addition to other things. Our bodies and health are not much different, in order to keep running, they need to be looked after and serviced.
Pay attention to your body, just like you pay attention to your car. If you feel that something is not normal for you, schedule an appointment with your physician, similar to scheduling an appointment for your car to be checked. Do not let abnormal symptoms get unchecked and untreated, as you run the risk of developing chronic illnesses that might be difficult to treat. You need to see your doctor regularly, similar to taking your car regularly for service.
Keep moving as much as possible. The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week, or a combination of both preferably spread throughout the week. A car left parked for a long period of time would possibly not function properly when you want to use it.
Eating healthy is also very important to make sure that our bodies are receiving good nutrition that does not negatively impact our health. A Mediterranean diet, or a variation of it, is one of the best diets to follow. I spoke previously about this in one of my videos. The car analogy applies here as well, as you need to ensure that your car gets good quality oil, gasoline and genuine spare parts.
It is also important to avoid harmful substances and excess of anything. Avoiding smoking and nicotine products is very important, so is avoiding excessive alcohol intake, excessive caffeine use, in addition to excessive work. If you keep using your car all the time with no downtime, your car is likely to break down sooner rather than later. It is also important to give yourself adequate sleep at night for your body to get rest to be able to function optimally the following day.
It is never too late to start. If you have not been taking care of yourself, start doing it now. Your body and health are a part-time job. You need to work on them to be able to use your body to achieve your goals in life.