Your Body

Listen to your body. We often take our body for granted and don't serve it as we should. We tend to our work, bills, routines, family, car, house, appearance, our need to socialize and update our facebook status. In the middle of such crazy world that we create for ourselves, we forget our body. We often sacrifice our body for many reasons; for example skip sleep to watch movie, drink coffee to stay awake, eat unhealthy food in the name of comfort and forgo exercise to hang out with family and friends. With each such actions, we neglect our body. Then we act frustrated when we get sick.

During my nursing education, I noticed a pattern for all major illnesses (except genetic abnormalities). The top three reasons for cardiac disease and cancer are obesity, stress and unhealthy diet. Obesity can result from unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle. Add smoking and drinking to them and you got the recipe for all kinds of disease. Stress, whether physical or mental, release hormones in our bodies that throws off the chemical balance of our bodies and create chaos. Unhealthy diet exposes our body to excessive toxins that interferes with normal bodily functions. Now look at your lifestyle and tell yourself if you are taking care of yourself or not. Determine for yourself your risk of cancer and other chronic disease. 

You know what is the scary and simple part? We are doing all this to ourselves. We abuse our body and in return expect our body to support us in our deadly habits, till death parts us. How is it fair?

Take care of your body first and foremost. You don't have to take drastic measures. Eat less fast and fried food and more home cooked. Watch your portions and your intake of vegetables and water. Gradually eliminate sodas, juices, too much alcohol and coffee from your diet. Don't starve your body; small snacks between meals will keep your blood sugar balanced and decreases your risk of metabolic syndrome in the long run. Sleep sleep sleep. Don't deny your body the rest it needs. Regular and adequate sleep protects your health and your beauty. Move! Stretch! Walk! Do whatever your can to get your body moving. Start your day with 15 minutes of stretches and squeeze at least 45 minutes of exercise 4 times a week in your schedule. Skip TV, your reading, your shopping, your hanging out or whatever else to work out instead. You don't need expensive equipment, gym membership or anything else. Get your water and go jogging, jump rope, do yoga, dance, play basketball. Stop taking too much of OTC medicine. Your liver can only take so much. If your have chronic issues, see a doctor for it. Unless something is really wrong with your body, you won't have constant symptoms. Our bodies are amazing in recovering and fixing itself. So when you have constant symptoms, it means your body needs help in fixing itself. 

( http://tinybuddha.com/blog/body-betrayal-how-to-cope-with-chronic-pain-and-illness/ )

Our body is a very gracious machine. It always returns the favor. So pay attention to your body and it will help your achieve your dreams.