Health and fitness, dieting, obesity and personal health and wellness, in general, have long been framed as an issue of personal responsibility. The prevailing notion has been that if people simply stop eating junk food and start eating healthy fruits and vegetables, they will maintain a healthy weight. This is simply not accurate. Not entirely, anyway. Although we are just beginning to understand how bio-individuality (one man’s food is another man’s poison), alongside environmental factors such as portion size affect eating behavior, the available data suggest that large portions of energy-dense foods are contributing to inflammation, chronic and fatal diseases, and the obesity epidemic.
What ails you?
The truth is, that both the food and healthcare industries seem to be working against the general public to make us more and more dependent on unnatural healing methods, and the endless ingesting of fast-foods which ultimately lead to prescription med’s, and this process is not limited to the physical health, but also your emotional and mental health as many foods carry components that induce certain disorders, like hyper-tension, anxiety and depression. These components include processed sugars, plant fertilizers/pesticides, hormones, GMO’s (genetically modified organisms), and even heavy metal like mercury and arsenic in the soil of plants we ingest.
In 1960, the total annual U.S. expenditures for food were estimated at $74.6 billion. This was nearly three times as much as the total expenditures that same year of $27.2 billion for healthcare. Fast forward to today. U.S. citizens spent $1.5 trillion on food and $3.2 trillion on healthcare, flipping the ratio, with healthcare spending now twice that of food.
These sobering statistics document a 20-fold increase in food expenditures over the past half-century, as compared with a 118-fold increase in healthcare expenditures over the same period of time. Interestingly, in recent years almost a quarter of all preventable deaths in the U.S. were from causes linked to dietary risk.
One reason for this shift may be the increasing reliance on hyper-processed foods of white flour, added sugar, excess salt, and unhealthy fats, as well as the decreasing amount of time Americans spend cooking today as compared with the time spent decades ago—a decrease of 50 percent across all demographic groups between 1965 and 1995. Interestingly, even though this could be more circumstantial than causative, each 30 minutes of reduced cooking time has been associated with a 0.5 increase in Body Mass Index (BMI). Regrettably, however, physicians do not typically receive training with regard to dietary, fitness, lifestyle, or culinary counseling, nor are these items currently included in their required courses or certification examinations.
Get moving!
The continuing rise in the rates of obesity, chronic, fatal and mental diseases calls for urgent action.
When my parents passed away; Mom in 2015 and Dad in 2017, they were both taking approximately 30+ prescriptions meds between them, all of which merely covered or sustained side effects of the other. Like so many in this country and across the globe, while my parents were both academically and socially intellectuals, that was not the case with nutrition and fitness; and as much as it pains me to write these words, they left this earth in agony. In fact, 7 out of 10 individuals in this country, especially, pass away in agony due to one of several chronic and fatal disease that might have been controlled and/or reversed given the proper diet/nourishment, and lifestyle change.
A key factor in the “look good, feel good” theory is physical movement… exercise.
Being active has been shown to have many health benefits, both physically and mentally. It may even help you live longer. It produces changes in the parts of the brain that regulate stress and anxiety. It can also increase brain sensitivity for the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of depression.
Additionally, exercise can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain.
Primary food: First thing’s first!
While a great number of Americans are, in fact, knowledgeable on the topic of health and nutrition, and eat and keep healthy diets alongside a fitness routine, many of these same individuals still find themselves not only struggling with weight issues, but also suffer from chronic ailments because they are “lacking” in the department of Primary food.
Primary Food, as you will often hear me refer to, is everything other than that which we ingest, that can and do affect the natural balance of our lives. In short, the core four elements to primary foods include:
- Relationships
- Spirituality
- Exercise
- Career
When we’re struggling in any of these areas, our bodies send us signals (red flags) by way of the release of the hormone cortisol (the primary stress hormone which increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream, enhances your brain’s use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues) into your system. Cortisol curbs functions that would be nonessential or detrimental in a fight-or-flight situation. However, when stress levels remain high over long periods of time, the long-term activation of the stress-response system — and the subsequent overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones — can disrupt almost all your body’s processes. This puts you at increased risk of numerous health problems, including – anxiety, depression, digestive problems, headaches, inflammation, sleep disorders weight gain and memory/concentration impairment.
Our primary food, is, for obvious reasons, more important to our well-being than our secondary food.
“Make it go away!”… (Healing Power)
Our bodies were created by AN ALL-LOVING God and can, like a powerful machine when well-oiled and maintained, heal itself from ANY ailment and disease including the big “C” (cancer).
As your Health & Fitness Coach, I will invite you to become better educated and gradually shift your thinking on what your body is telling you. I believe in the holistic- Post-modern approach to health and wellness, realizing that no two bodies are the same and therefore, require distinct nutrition, physical activity and care.
We will explore and cover the different areas of your life so that together I can help you achieve your ultimate health goals; because no one ought leave this earth while overly medicated and painfully clinging to life with every, depleting breath.
It is my hope and prayer that over the course of the next decade, more and more physicians and fitness entities will hire at least one certified Health Coach in their practice.
Wake, pray, slay!… Everyday!
~Maddie Jomolca~
Contact me for your complimentary initial consultation: madeleinebydesign@gmail.com
health. faith. art. life. 