Is Your Health in the Red or the Black?

One of the smartest things to do is to keep a check on your finances. By paying a little attention you get to avoid nasty surprises and you also know what you can go out and buy because you know how much you have. Doing a regular audit is a sensible thing to do on many levels but, as you know, many people in the UK are seriously in debt and need to face up to the problem which we also know is getting bigger. This article is to help you focus on what you may not want to focus on. If you are in debt you need to do something to put yourself back in credit. You can live with poor finances, it's not fun but it is possible. But poor health affects everything including the things money can't buy.

So if you think of health in the same way we look at our finances you will quickly be able to see how much you are in the red or in the black. The more in the red your health gets the less you can do in life and, to be blunt, there is no going back from health bankruptcy.

If I were to ask you how well your health bank account is would you say you are in credit, at zero or in minus numbers? It is pretty easy to know where you are with your finances but do you have a way of judging your health statement? Most people tend to find out about their financial health when their health credit card bounces. They usually find out when something goes wrong, it may be a damaged back, diagnosis of a disease or the realisation that you can no longer run for the bus or keep up with the kids. So a simple question; will you do something now or when you have no choice?

What Is Your Score?

If you were to be really honest what score would you give yourself out of ten for your health?

Now what score would you give yourself for your fitness? Can you do all the activities you want to do? Are you going to blame it on age or are you going to be truthful that you haven't looked after yourself in the way you should? If you are a bit confused about the difference between health and fitness there are some simple definitions below.

Health is the ability for your body to work efficiently and easily. This means you can carry out normal functions like turning your head, raising your arms, going to the toilet and the ability to think clearly. All functions that keep you alive and help propagate the species are in the domain of health and there are a lot of these to pay attention to.

Fitness is the ability to do a specific activity to a particular standard. Simply put fitness means to be able to do a job, whatever that may be. Walking ten miles, climbing a mountain or playing tennis all need different sorts of fitness. A weight lifter will need a different sort of fitness from a marathon runner but this does not mean that either will be necessarily healthy. The ability to participate in an activity can actually be bad for your health, either from accidents or from repetitive stresses. Having health does not mean you are fit and being fit does not mean that you are healthy.

Are you fit and healthy enough to be able sit at your desk for a days work? Can you get out of your car after an hours journey without moaning about your back?

Today I helped a 22 year old woman sort out a minor foot sprain which came about from playing her favourite sport. Nothing much to worry about there, a simple injury that won’t take too much to sort out. What did trouble me though is that she had the early stages of a bunion that she seemed unaware of and which could potentially become a far more damaging problem.

What are you putting up with that you know is not right but is not serious enough for you to deal with?

Look On The Surface And Below

Good health is not just a physical thing; you can also be stressed emotionally, chemically and energetically. For great health you need to make sure you pay attention to all aspects of your health and fitness and the thing you ignore can be your biggest undoing. Time to look carefully at what condition you are in. Are you prepared to find out?

Your body is extremely good at sending messages to you when something is going wrong. The most obvious is pain but shortness of breath, blood pressure problems, mental and emotional instability, skin problems are all examples of the body demonstrating its health status to you.

Nothing I have said so far should be a surprise to you but what is interesting is the way people don't listen to the signals. It will tell you that you need sleep, water or exercise but most people don't listen fully or let themselves get distracted by 'more important' things. Human beings are brilliant at kidding themselves that something is not important, can wait or is not that bad.

Men in particular are exceptionally good at avoiding health issues. Studies have shown that men fail to recognise when they are overweight and deny the roll of fat that everyone else can see bulging over their trousers. Prostrate cancer is just as big an issue for men as breast cancer is for women but the attitude around it is totally different.

Over the last fifteen years as a physiotherapist and NLP npractitioner and trainer the average split of women to men attending the clinic is about 65:35. I don't think that there are more women in need of treatment but on average they are more willing to do something about their problems. Are you ready to get honest?

Audit Time

Exercise 1
Stand in front of a mirror and take a good look, a real good look. Have with you a pen and paper and starting with at the top of your body start to write notes on your condition. Is your hair healthy or is it dry, damaged or overly greasy. Look at your face, is your skin clear or is it dry or spotty. Do you have bags under your eyes from too much PC work or lack of sleep? Are your eyes clear or bloodshot? How is your vision? How good is your hearing? What about your teeth and gums? Can you turn your head easily, can you nod it up and down without pain and do you have full range of motion?

Do you get the picture? Really examine every single part of your body in turn and make notes and flag up any areas of concern. A great way to do this is to code each part as red, amber or green. If your eyes are good give yourself a green, if there is trouble starting then give it an amber score and if you are in trouble then give yourself a red. I know this sounds a little tough but very quickly you should get a clear idea of the condition of your body.

Do this with the whole of your body. Miss nothing out and be critical so you know what to change. Look for anything that you are not happy with and get it down on paper to look through later.

If you are brave enough get your spouse or close friend to do this with you and then you can help them. Ask them to make sure you are being honest.

Exercise 2
Spend a week creating a diary of all your activities for a week. Write down any problems you have in accomplishing anything you want to do. Write down any pain you experience, any stiffness, any problems with breathing, any lack of stamina, headaches, chest pain etc etc etc. Make sure it's a full diary and at the end of the week sit down and look back for any trends or regular problems.

From these two exercises you should be able to get a clear picture of your level of health and fitness. This is not to replace a professional assessment but will help you make a decision on what to do next.

Most people have an idea about how to look after themselves once they recognise what the problems are. Most health and fitness issues can be solved by taking simple and logical steps but first we need to know how well we are doing. Are you prepared to do something now or will it be later?nn© Copyright Stephen Bates 2007