How to Put the Pieces of Your Health Together to Achieve Peace in Your Body

It can be overwhelming when you are faced with chronic health symptoms or a chronic health condition. If you’ve decided to take the steps to improve your health, there’s a good chance that you’ll become frustrated at some point, or even lose hope that you will ever be able to make the progress and achieve the improvement in health outcomes that you are looking for.

There is a way! Take heart in knowing that the journey is just that…a journey. As the saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Well, if you have a disease and/or chronic symptoms, it likely took years to get there, and so it may take considerable time and patience to reverse your symptoms and achieve your end goal(s). There are some ways to help you put the pieces of your health together to achieve peace in your body.

So, if you are determined to get your health back, consider the following as you make the journey:

• Determine your why-What is motivating your desire to get well and improve your health? Not necessarily that you want to look good or feel good, but what is the driving force behind your desire? Get granular with your “why” to understand what your motivation and commitment level are.
• Make sure that your goal feels realistic-While some people have an amazing capacity and dedication to achieve what seems like impossible goals, most of us need to choose goals, especially short-term ones, that are realistic and achievable.
• Get granular-While we may make resolutions to change our health, being non-specific in exactly what we are aiming for and how we plan to get to our goal can lead to failure.
• Take small steps-Pick the pieces of health that you want to work on that you feel will be most successful first. Small wins are encouraging!
• Build a routine-We are creatures of habit and habits are hard to change. Add or connect a step to a routine that you usually do. Like brushing your teeth or making your breakfast.
• Be patient with yourself-Just because you don’t see improvements within a few days doesn’t mean that you aren’t making headway. Sure, if weeks and months go by with little to no progress, you should discuss this with your provider. There may be additional testing to uncover what may be the hidden causes of a symptom or chronic disease.
• Be persistent-Don’t give up too easily. Just because you may not have followed your plan perfectly, doesn’t mean it’s a reason (or excuse) to give up. Forgive yourself and continue forward. Flexibility and resilience are keys to getting back in the direction you want to go.
• Tap into your strengths-We all have strengths. Leveraging our strengths in unique ways to help us achieve our health goals is a great strategy. Tapping into personal strengths, whether creativity, honesty, humor, love, curiosity, perseverance or another strength, can help us be more successful.
• Be honest and true to yourself-If you’re ready to give up, “take 5” and reflect on where you may have taken a wrong path. Honestly consider where things may have seemed to fall apart, and if there is a way how you can find your way back to the path. Don’t beat yourself up. If you truly believe that the path is not working or cannot find a way to make it reasonably work, think through what may be a more realistic path to get you there. Also, you may not necessarily need to change the goal, maybe just modify the tactics to get there.
• Do your best-We all have our good…and not-so-good days. Strive to do your best. Forgive yourself if needed, and move forward. Reground yourself in your intent. Using mantras, journaling, meditations, affirmations, or support groups can help keep you on your path to being the best version of yourself.

I help my clients at Peace x Piece Wellness Coaching examine their personal health history, their “why” for wanting to improve their health, and help them reflect on their values and strengths. I help them to test, not guess what may be behind their health issues. Testing and seeing how those tests align with symptoms is part of the detective work to find metabolic imbalances that may be contributing to disease or symptoms. Often, there may be more than one system in your body that needs some support. Whether it is hormone, immune, digestion, detoxification, energy, or nervous system imbalances, these things can often be rebalanced with diet, supplementation, and lifestyle programs.

I work to personalize a diet and lifestyle program with you based on D.R.E.S.S. for Success® (Diet, Rest, Exercise, Stress Management, Supplementation). This is a program designed by Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN®) and used by FDN® practitioners. Coaching through the program is the “secret sauce” for supporting clients along their journey.

Sure, committing to a health coaching program is investing in your health. While many people view health as a cost, committing to a health program results in positive health outcomes and reduced overall costs that may come with diseases associated with chronic inflammation and pain. Think of it this way. We see car insurance as a necessary investment to cover major auto issues. We know that not taking care of our car regularly, not changing the oil, or replacing a dying battery can lead to broader engine issues or the ability for our car to work.

It’s the everyday maintenance and periodic checking under the hood that counts. Taking care of your body and looking under your hood for signs of imbalance can help point you in the direction you need to care for your body. When you learn where your healing opportunities are, you can better target diet, and lifestyle changes, along with supplement support if needed to rebalance your body so that it works the way it’s supposed to.

I hope these general principles for how to put the pieces of your health together to achieve peace in your body have been helpful. Just remember, like different cars, while there are general principles of maintenance, each vehicle, each person, has unique influences. So, as individuals, the specific approach and recommendations need to be personalized to you.