Why Most People Don’t Have Optimum Health


What are the Top 5 reasons we shortchange our health?

There are lots of posts about everything you should be doing…. But do you know why it can be so hard to succeed with your health goals?  Here are the TOP 5 reasons that people fall short at their long term health goals.  This is a short list to help you find the hidden reason(s) why you may be less than successful in pursuing your health goals.

 

  1. Your belief system, if you dare to examine it.

Do you believe that no matter what you do, you are destined to have the same fate as one of your parents?  Do you believe that you can prevent the early onset of disease through lifestyle choices?  Do you believe that you deserve to be radiantly healthy and living a life that reflects health on all levels, like being as active as you want to be, having the type of passion in relationships you desire, and being as intellectual and creative in the world as you want?

At the most fundamental and basic level, when we let go of our goals, we are indulging in a belief about ourselves as less valuable, less lovable, and less deserving.  If your health goal is to lose weight, keep your heart healthy, stabilize your blood sugar, or lower your risk of cancer, this belief system can threaten your life.  One of the worst things I ever saw in a hospital was a man who just had his lower leg amputated due to Type II Diabetes eating a piece of chocolate cake in his hospital bed.  How we love ourselves is a direct reflection of how we take care of ourselves.  Do you regularly skip meals even though you know you have blood sugar challenges?  Do you keep putting off going to the gym when you know you need to lose weight?  The simple method of asking “why?” will lead you to examine your belief system, and if you are brutally honest, it will lead you to the most fundamental questions of, “Are my actions and behavior that of a person who loves and values myself?” and ”Are there ways I can love myself even better?”

Love yourself with no excuses, and yes,

Love requires will power, discipline,

and right action to abolish feelings of unworthiness.

 

  1. Lacking self knowledge….or any knowledge.

There is more information available today to every human being on the face of the earth than there has ever been, at any other time, in the existence of the human race.  The excuse of “I don’t know” might be better phrased ”I don’t want to change”.  Do you understand why you are the way you are?  Did you simply inherit your belief system or did you choose your belief system?  It’s time to learn about you!  Learn about your dreams, learn about archetypes, take a dance class, learn better communication skills to enhance your relationships with your spouse and children, learn about the history of ancient Greece, learn about Nietzsche’s philosophy, learn a new sport such as road biking, golf, or target shooting, learn local edible plant identification, learn about child development and psychology, how about Mises’ free market principles? … the learning is limitless!  When you stop learning, you stop growing, and if you stop growing, how are you going to change?  Everything you learn will fundamentally change how you experience yourself and hopefully change your view of the world into a more accurate experience of reality.

Turn off the TV and turn on your true potential.

 

  1. Inability to delay gratification.

This is a skill that you may or may not have learned in childhood.  The ability to delay short term pleasure for long term goals and achievements is a major milestone in a developing young person’s psyche.  Many people who struggle with will power and goal setting might think that “it just comes easier to other people”, however, that is not the case.  Getting to the gym is hard for most people.  Most people want to eat the chocolate cheesecake drizzled with dark chocolate ganache.  All goals involve the sacrifice of short term gratification for long term benefit.  And let’s be clear, the goal is not to live like a monk or with deprivation!  Life is to be enjoyed!  What I am talking about delaying the gratification in the midst of contradiction.  Have the chocolate cake, when your weight is stable and your habits are bulletproof, not two days into a detox.  See the difference?  Most people I work with know just as much as I do about healthy habits and healthy choices, but the people who are successful with their health goals are the people who understand that a little discomfort is ok and the reward of feeling vibrant and exited about life is invaluable.

Learn to be comfortable in the midst of discomfort.

 

  1. Early Childhood Adverse Events (ACE).

Do you know what is the #1 highest disease causing risk factor in all human beings across the face of the planet  You might be thinking GMO’s, cholesterol, second hand smoke…..you are wrong.  The number one factor in determining general health outcomes is the ACE score.  ACE is short for Adverse Childhood Events, and yes, the things that were out of your control as a child are the factors that directly contribute to your health today.  Are you a parent wanting to raise healthy children?  Well, listen up…. nothing puts an adult in a higher risk category for mental, emotional, and physical diseases as corporal punishment, verbal abuse, living with an alcoholic, traumatic divorce, and other abuses as children.  A high ACE score is correlated to higher rates of depression, anxiety, heart disease, cancer,  and high risk behavior such as promiscuity, criminality and being in abusive relationships  Children who come from abusive households grow into adults with a dopamine-serotonin imbalance, which regulates the pleasure and gratification responses in the brain.

Healing the wounds of your past is the key to your freedom in the future.

 

  1. Imbalanced Brain-Hormone Axis

Do you know the difference between exhaustion and depression?  Do you consistently over function to the point of physical and emotional depletion?  Do you struggle with weight loss or feel crazy around your period?   When I know someone is totally overworked and they just don’t understand why they feel like crap, we run an Adrenal Stress Test.  This is a simple and powerful test that measures the amounts of stress (ie. aging) hormones in the body over the course of a typical day.  I love this part of my practice so much because I get to connect the dots for people between how they feel and what is happening hormonally.  Most people who are over functioning with career, children, marriage, divorce, care taking of parents, traveling to sports games, etc have no idea why they can’t keep up and why their body and emotions feel like they are falling apart.

Your hormones represent your capacity for youthful and vibrant health.

Balancing the Brain-Hormone Axis is one of the most important steps in achieving the capacity for lifelong radiant health and the focus of my consultation practice.  An unbalanced Brain-Hormone Axis will sabotage well intentioned goals every time, because the junction of the mind and body is represented in the body through the brain and hormones.  Every thought and feeling has a hormonal effect in our bodies, are your thoughts and feelings contributing to health or disease?


By Nathalie Trees
September 19, 2014


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