Healthy Living
When people talk about healthy living we generally end up discussing the food we eat, the latest diet that is trendy or the exercise that we did (or intended to do but didn’t get to do). But can healthy living also include our mental health and taking time for self-care?
On a variety of scales used by medical professionals, I’m not very healthy. I’m overweight, my lung capacity is rubbish and too low for someone my age/size etc. But I think on the whole my mental health is reasonably good. It’s also possible that since giving up Diet Cola, things are in general that bit better too. Something that has recently been discussed on some platforms is how if you’re overweight you can go to the doctor and because you’re overweight that is immediately blamed for the rest of the symptoms. Some days I struggle with loneliness. It can sometimes feel like some weeks I see my boys and that’s it. This is part of why I have a couple of things I try to keep in my week even when it can seem a little crazy. Firstly, I try to make sure that I get to the two daytime knitting groups that I am part of. Otherwise, I can end up spending all the time that Jaxon is at school by myself and actually that can be kind of detrimental to my mood. But actually, sometimes I need time by myself. The human mind (or specifically my variation of a brain) is complicated! The second is making sure I get out for a walk, most of the time this isn’t a problem as Chris has the car and Jaxon and I walk to school every weekday. This week with Chris being away we have the car, tomorrow I will drive him to school as I’m going to do the food shopping on the way home and hopefully I’ll be able to walk to collect him in the afternoon. If worst comes to worst, I’ll drive part of the way and we can then walk from the school to the car and drive the rest of the way home.
Earlier this year, I had two issues that I had to go and see the doctor about. On both occasions, it took me at least a fortnight to pluck up enough courage to go and figure out if the problem I was having was an actual problem or a weight-related issue. On one occasion I was sort of fobbed off (and that issue hasn’t improved). The second issue was an actual issue and wasn’t weight related at all. But in my head, they were both weight-related and because of that, I felt like I couldn’t go and ask for help. Sometimes, I just need to be able to ask the question which almost seems like it doesn’t need a full doctors appointment and might just need a telephone call along with some treatment at home/come back if it doesn’t get better kind of information. There was a reason to this train of thought and then it took me a little while to find the picture and make sure I had remember it correctly so I think I shot off on a tangent but hopefully it sort of makes sense!
Trying to live healthily isn’t just about taking care of your physical body, it’s about making sure that your mental health is taken care off too. Just because it isn’t visible like a broken limb doesn’t mean, that it doesn’t need taking care off too.
