HEALTHY HABITS FOR A HAPPIER LIFE: MY JOURNEY

Jenni Mayıs 06, 2022

This is the first post in a series I am starting on health and happiness. Today I am sharing my current journey.

Last month my doctor, who I had only met with once in person since moving to Atlanta, retired. I have been wanting to find a new doctor for a while, but now I was forced to take action.

I did my research and found a PA in a medical practice at Emory. Yesterday I met with her and now feel that I have the right person for my health.

She asked me if I was feeling depressed and I replied honestly that I was. We then went on to discuss healthy habits that I can do for a happier life.

First I knew that I needed to assess myself. As a counselor, when someone came in to see me and said they were unhappy I would ask them three questions.

The first question was, do you know what is making you feel unhappy? After we had worked out what that was I would then ask them, what makes you happy? Finally, I would ask what can you do differently to reach that happiness?

I thought about my life as it is in this moment and what it is that makes me happy. Time with my family is number one and feeling healthy is number two.

I am very blessed to see my family about once a week so that makes me happy. That takes care of number one,

My number two problem is different. My health is suffering because of stress. I know I need to work out a plan to be healthier.

I've gained fifteen pounds over the last sixteen months, my blood pressure is a bit higher than normal, and I have developed digestive issues. The plan we came up with is that I need to keep a daily food diary for the next three months, exercise for thirty minutes five times a week, and cut myself some slack.

As I have already lost five of those fifteen pounds by changing some of my eating habits and walking three times a week, she said she could see that I am really trying. In other words, I just need to cut myself some of that slack.

This is where I have to be really honest. I was of the belief that "if you build it they will come" and I haven't really seen any results from all of the hard work I have been doing lately. I have been feeling very discouraged, but I have decided that I need to give it time and think positively.

Today I have talked about some of the things I am doing in my journey to be healthier and happier. In future posts, I will talk about things we all can do to have a happier and healthier life.

As I need to find out which foods I am sensitive to I have ordered the Food Sensitivity journal. After I finish my three months, I hopefully will have a better idea of what foods I can tolerate and then use the Hello New Me journal to track my food and exercise habits.

Do you practice healthy habits for a happier life?