16 September 2008

What are your health priorities?

I'm just curious. I'm at a place where I've gone, from 3 years ago, being rather unhealthy and 60+ lbs heavier than I currently am, eating the SAD, not exercising, etc., etc., to a place where I have learned the importance of near-daily exercise, discovered the joy of at first a vegan diet and now a raw-vegan diet, and all the accompanying healthy-ness that comes with that. One of the more profound 'side-effects' of my increased health has been the lightness and happiness with which I face life. I feel so much more optimistic and generally more stable and calm and able to handle the waves of emotion that come. And that's a huge huge change. If that's what eating raw and exercising give me then that is wholly worth it.

What else am I already doing to benefit my health? Fairly regularly I practice Taoist Tai Chi, which I think is really super-beneficial (one of the benefits that everyone seems too modest to mention is the boost to your sex-life. If more people knew about this benefit, I think you'd see even more people practicing Tai Chi - LOL) Also I recently began a course of homeopathics after visiting the naturopath and have begun B12 sublingual supplements. I spend time in the sunshine, and I try to connect with the earth through simple gardening and composting.

I'm at a place where I'm contemplating what further steps I can take towards optimal health. So the things I'm contemplating are:
  • a reverse osmosis system for purifying and alkalizing water. I've found ones between $500 & $750, so I'm just trying to justify the cost, even though you can taste the chlorine in our water some days (yuck).
  • digestive system health: some raw foodists rave about colonics/colon hydrotherapy and enemas and others are against them. I'm just reading information for and against these treatments, and I think there's even an upcoming night class at the university on it.
  • I'd love to have more regular massage treatments (inexpensive ones can be had at the local (reputable) massage school) and also go for Reiki and Aura Soma, and even take Level 1 Reiki.
  • I'd like to make it a habit to do sitting meditation, especially now that I've got a special corner set up for it.

I'm certainly not obsessed about my weight but I can easily stand to lose more. I think technically my BMI is at 29, which is overweight, bordering on obese, if I'm not mistaken, but this is down from a BMI of 34 just 2 1/2 yrs ago, so things have improved drastically. I've dropped my weight by 23%. I don't know what % of body fat I've reduced, and it really doesn't matter exactly what that number is. It's about my overall health. And I feel a lot healthier.

What things do you do to benefit your health? What are your health priorities? Drop me a line or leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you. :)

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