Pain is a signal that we need to pay attention to, particularly if it has gone undiagnosed. I’ve known lots of people that walk around for months or even years with pain from overusing a muscle, postural imbalances or an exercise injury without seeing anyone about it. They just live with it and ultimately become more inactive and both emotion- ally and physically debilitated. I did the same thing a number of years ago. I tore a tendon from exercising after disregarding the aches that provided the warning, and when I went to see a physical therapist she said I was an injury waiting to happen. Most of us are, because we don’t pay atten- tion to the signs.
“Some common signals to pay attention to are symptoms of stress, pain, hunger levels, exhaustion, high blood sugar levels and weight gain. When we are stressed by trying to do too much or by not taking care of our selves, our bodies respond with anxiety, insomnia, ulcers, chronic pain, headaches, illness, or other maladies and we often feel helpless, out of control or over-reactive.”
Feeling full or ravenously hungry are also important signals. There is no better appetite suppressant than feeling full, but many of us don’t stop to notice when we get full and later feel horrible because we overate. For some people, this is a nightly occurrence. On the flip side, it is becoming very common to ignore hunger signals because we are too busy to stop for them and food isn’t readily available when we feel hungry. Ignoring either signal slows down metabolism, leads to weight gain, high blood sugar levels and cre- ates carb cravings and bingeing.
Your body is also letting you know that it is out of balance when it is overweight and has a disproportion- ate body fat percentage to muscle. When your lean body mass is low, your metabolism or thyroid has slowed down and you don’t feel as energized. When your hormones are out of balance, you don’t feel as well. When you lose your muscle, you can’t lift as much, you aren’t as toned, and you have less shock absorption in your knees and joints.
Honor Your Own Wise Council Overdoing it is a common denomi- nator. We take on too much, push ourselves too hard, and put our own physical and emotional needs last. We even do this with diet- ing, choosing a severe diet plan, or when starting back into exercise by picking a hard core workout program or boot camp. We overdo it and get an overuse injury or struggle to stick with the program, because we think harder and more extreme is better. Actually less is more. It is better to pace yourself, listen to your body and gradually progress in a way that feels good to your body. Doing nothing, while being in denial, is the other extreme.
You don’t have to wind up in the hos- pital, receive a diagnosis of disease, or get derailed by an injury to start paying attention. Get to know what your body is wisely trying to tell you and then determine the best course of action for you. It doesn’t matter if someone else thinks you should push yourself to an extreme measure if you know that it isn’t right for you.
aspiremag.net
This month pay attention to your body and see what it is trying to tell you, and then honor its request to take better care of yourself. You may avoid being the next diagnosis waiting to happen.
Alice is America’s Healthy Lifestyle Coach and bestselling author. She shows people how to fi- nally succeed at healthy eating, regular exercise and long-term weight loss in a way that is enjoy- able and feels so good they stay motivated and can easily maintain their new changes. Receive her e-book “Feel Your Personal Best” with 9 tips for success.
www.AHealthyLifestyleWorks.com/freegift
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