Become Your Own Health Coach!

By Patrick Driessen & Denis Waitley

"Treat your body like a temple, not a woodshed. The mind and body work together. Your body needs to be a good support system for the mind and spirit. If you take good care of it, your body can take you wherever you want to go, with the power and strength and energy and vitality you will need to get there." - Jim Rohn

In my previous article ('Can You Afford NOT to Invest in a Coach and Mentor?') I have briefly explained in which areas a coach and mentor can help you to succeed better and faster. Now there is one particular area in which you should become your own coach: your health! Your health and wellbeing is the basis of all your success! Without a good and strong health you can not be successful in all areas of your life!

Think of your body as a high-powered, finely engineered transportation vehicle, like a space shuttle. Instead of liquid hydrogen, your body is powered by your own intake. The liquid you drink and the food you eat is the fuel that energizes the vehicle. What you put in your fuel tank is burned by your high performance activity or - in the case of low-octane, junk food - is deposited in your engine. Think of your mind as the driver who takes control of and steers your body to victory or hits the wall. Your body is very much like a car. Drive it without proper fuel or maintenance and it will fall apart. You take it for granted to get you where you want to go, until it breaks down. Then it disrupts your way of life!

Like your car, your body only speaks to you by exception! You only notice it when it is damaged or inoperative. But, unlike your car, the spare parts business for your body is not a viable option at present.

• To combat disease and aging, you need to keep your bones, joints and muscles flexible and strong! The right exercise means weight-bearing exercise, not simply aerobics. The International College of Sports Medicine has now added exercise with weights to its long-time recommendation of aerobic exercise. First, check with your physician or GP who can assess your general condition and advise you about healthy levels of activity. Second, be aware that the effectiveness of exercise depends as much on enjoyment as on the nature of activity itself!
  
• Just as important, if not more important than daily exercise, is proper nutrition. What you eat and drink has a major impact on degenerative diseases. Do eat a low fat diet! Keep your fat intake to 15 percent of all daily calories. This will keep you lean and boost your immunity! Do eat a low salt diet. Use a potassium-based salt substitute on the table and in cooking. Do eat a high-fiber diet. Fiber protects the colon from cancer, lowers cholesterol and stabilizes blood sugar. Eat 40 to 50 grams of mixed fibers daily, as in whole grain breads and cereals, especially those containing oat bran, vegetables and fruits. Do eat a low-sugar diet. Use a little fructose in place of table sugar. Eat complex carbohydrates in place of sugar and look for carbohydrate drinks sweetened with zylitol.
• Do drink clean water! Drink bottled or home-distilled water, as much as eight glasses (~1,5 to ~2,5 litre) per day!
  
• Do eat an alkaline diet! Our high-fat, high-sugar diet creates acidity. So many people are now acidic that we spend hundreds of millions of dollars on antacids every year.
  
• Do take daily nutritional supplements including essential multi-vitamins, antioxidants, omega-3 (fish oil), vitamin B-Complex and minerals. Current research confirms that we can no longer get the essential nutrients from our food alone. We must supplement even the best diet with nutrition to promote resistance to disease. Do eat the right kinds of foods and stay away from the fast-food, fat-food drive-throughs. You are doing yourself and your children a dangerous, long-term disservice by developing the habit of eating high-fat, nutrition-poor meals.
• Do eat a brain diet! Often forgotten but very important for your overall health and performance: the condition of your brain. Maintain your brain by eating almonds, drinking apple juice, exercise your mind, practice yoga or meditation, reduce your sugar intake, eat whole wheat, develop your imagination, take omega-3 daily, and control your temper!
• Do schedule an annual health check! Like a car needs a regular inspection and service, your health needs a regular inspection as well! Prevention and early detection of health issues are key. To prevent and mitigate risks of obesity, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, etc., an annual full body health check should be part of your own health coaching program!

Action Idea: List one activity you will begin to do tomorrow to improve your health and increase the quality and quantity of your life!

Make your health your TOP priority! You can't buy your health or life back after years of neglecting it while you earn your living!

"To get rich never risk your health! For it is the truth that health is the wealth of wealth." - Richard Baker

Make this a Positive & Fruitful day....unless you have other plans!

Thanks, warm regards & success,

Patrick Driessen