The 5E’s of My Personal Health Journey

Do you want to feel better and live healthier?  Life moves quickly and friends or habits join us in our journey.  Certainly I collected some habits along the way with friends and family that served me well.  Of course, life is full of distractions that take your eye off the road to health.  A visit to my doctor allowed me to discover how my bloodwork results looked like a scatterplot on a graph. At this point I felt the yearning to make some changes in my life because I prefer not to take medication.  This decision led me to be passionate about eating the right foods and the desire to share health information with others.  As an educator I focused on the 5 E’s of instruction (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate their learning).  But now I transfer 5 E’s into my health journey and to help others on their quest to live healthy in their 2020 journey.

Envision the Change

Maybe during our quarantine time, you realized the lack of movement in your life.  I know I did.  The average number of steps on my Fitbit went from 8,000 to 10,000 daily to around 2,300 to 3,300 steps per day easily.  Another reason to envision change is because you’ve built your life around a job.  Time evaporates quickly leaving little time to focus on your health.  A shocking response best describes my doctor sharing those bloodwork results!  Several incidents forced me to wake up. Subsequently I pictured myself with a healthier lifestyle that didn’t include the sugar I adore!

Elevate Your Food Awareness 

The next step of my journey was to elevate my awareness of what is actually good fuel for my body rather than the junk clogging my arteries and causing illness.  For me it is about repairing the cells in the body but for someone younger it may be about providing regular maintenance so that you don’t get sick and have to visit doctors or pharmacies.  Your body is similar to your car.  Providing the best quality fuel and regular maintenance allows your car to run better.  Similarly once I started identifying processed foods, fake sugars, unhealthy fats, and reading labels I changed my eating habits. This change allowed me to notice amazing gut feelings.  Of course, my new hobby to living healthy promoted researching food and illness online and recognizing how I felt after eating certain foods!  If you think you’re too young to pay attention to what you’re putting in your body, I would encourage you to check out recent statistics on autoimmune disease and obesity.

Execute:  Change Your Diet, Change How You Feel

So, I had some data to support a change, pondered the idea and began to take baby steps toward changing the diet.  Change takes one day at a time .  At least that’s what I told my students in my past life as an assistant principal!  I truly believe that’s the key to change.  As a result, I researched the benefits of Omega-3 and began eating more fish.  Eating more salads and incorporating lots of bright, colorful vegetables along with foods started immediately.  The addition of more fiber and whole grains to my diet is a big plus.  A great nugget to feeling better!  However, the best advice I can share is to listen to your body.   I remember eating a chili dog during my time of change in my diet and remember how awful it made me feel.   Foods I spent most of my life eating and appeared to be normal foods no longer provided me with enjoyment.  Dr. Bill Sears calls this concept  “wisdom of the body.”

Exercise:  Just Move

Exercise is another of the 5E’s.  Of course, this can mean different things to different people. The idea is to provide regular movement into your daily routine.  This can be walking, running, weight lifting, yoga, or whatever makes you happy.  Sitting behind a desk or on the sofa will not provide your body with the movement it desperately needs.   In fact, the quality of sleep is impacted by the amount of movement on a given day.  I know when I was getting 10,000 steps a day, I slept much better than when I was getting 2,300 steps a day.  You get the picture!

Effect:  Self-Care, Living Healthy, and Happier You

With these activities I realized I had more energy.  In addition, I was actually practicing self-care. This concept was a wee bit foreign to me but the realization changed my life.  I felt better and happier because of the foods I consumed.   I no longer continue to do what I’ve always done.  The big change is listening to what my body needs and keeping it maintained.   I’m no longer hitting a brick wall!

After my personal health journey with what I call the 5E’s, I made the decision to become a certified health coach through the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute – L.E.A.N. Start for Families and Prime-Time Health.  My intent for coaching online is to educate, motivate, and support you living healthy from the convenience of your home! No matter where you are in your health journey, I encourage you to take that next step!