I have a few very simple questions to ask you. What will it take for you to decide to do something to change your health for the better?

What kind of evidence do you need to see in front of you before you realise that you need to make a change?

In the 1600’s Dr. Thomas Fuller said “Health is not valued till sickness comes.” rather poignant considering nothing seems to have changed in 400 years.  

It seems that ‘we’ humans have a tendency to live life in reaction to events often reluctant to make a change to our lives unless we are forced into it. We learn through personal experience, each experience dictates the choices we make when confronted with a similar situation.

You apply sun cream not only because you know that you should but because you have at some point experienced the lingering and somewhat excruciating pain of sunburn.  You strengthened your home security after you were broken into.

We make changes after the event in the hope of avoiding it reoccurring.  We are, in essence, reactive rather than proactive which, for the most part, we can get away with.

Not when it comes to your health.

I am often surprised by how much the human body can endure, our ability to keep going when by all rights we should be flat on our backs and six feet under is quite remarkable.

We push ourselves long past our breaking point in pursuit of our goals, paying no attention to the toll on our bodies until our bodies give in. When we dare to listen to them, suddenly but perhaps not unexpectedly we once again find ourselves in the reactive position versus the proactive mindset.

In my practice, I deal with the after-effects of life in the fast lane. A life spent pushing our bodies, both mentally and physically to the very limit of what they are capable of. Those limits vary for each and every individual. For some people, their health descent is triggered by too much pressure and stress leading to burnouts and in some cased mental breakdowns or midlife crises.

To others, it’s the result of continuously poor food choices, years of overeating and under-exercising. Some people come and see me suffering from both, some – having pushed their bodies so hard they have fallen into a state of disease; realisation that previous lifestyles has been damaging comes further down the line when the bad results show up.

Some fast lanes are comparatively slow when likened to others but, the result is always the same. Through our ignorance, in pursuit of wealth, we pay with our health. 

So, my question is what do you need to see to realise that your health is the most valuable asset you have.

We are living in uncertain and unprecedented times; the world’s economy has, for the most part, come to a screeching halt. In the space of a few short weeks everything we had come to understand and accept as normal has been turned upside down and while the exact pathophysiology of the current virus has yet to be confirmed one thing is for sure, the healthier you are the better your chances.

Now is the perfect time to do something about the state of your health. You have been ordered to stay at home, you have stopped commuting to work which for most people means that you have gained roughly 3 extra hours in your day. You have time to prepare the delicious meals that you never had time to consider before. You have time to exercise, even if, like me, it’s following a recording in your living room.

You might be sat here reading this feeling motivated thinking, this all makes sense and I am ready to make a change, but you’re not sure exactly how to do it. With so much information continuously hurled at us some of us are suffering from information paralysis resembling deer in the preverbal headlights and that’s ok.

There is nothing wrong with asking for help, nothing wrong with raising your hand and saying “I want to make a change, but I don’t know how to do it”

Nothing wrong with saying “I’ve been trying for years but nothing seems to work.”

Nothing wrong with being scare of making changes either. Help is always just around the corner, all you need do is ask.  

So, if not now, then when?