"Always consult your doctor" – this phrase is everywhere.
We are told to consult our doctors before starting any exercise program, when making dietary changes, when beginning a new supplement or health modality.
Even in my certified natural health professional and certified health coach courses, we were told to use this phrase. In this situation, it wasn't so much because it's actually necessary but more-so to protect ourselves from legal liability.
Now, I'm not denying there are times when you do need to consult a doctor ... but it's NOT all the time!
If you are a reasonably healthy person, you can begin an exercise program without consulting your doctor. Just pay attention to your body and stop or slow down if it's telling you it's too much. Same with dietary changes and new supplements or health modalities – pay attention to your body.
Your body knows better what is good for it than your doctor does.
The hard truth is doctors know very little about health. Hear me out. Most medical training focuses on anatomy, physiology, pathology, and pharmacology. That means they learn how the parts of the body fit together, their proper function, causes and effects of diseases and injuries, and how to use medications to fix problems.
In case you didn't catch it, their entire education trains them to identify health problems (good) and fix them with medications (bad).
They don't learn about nutrition. They don't learn about herbs or homeopathics or essential oils. They don't learn about the emotional and spiritual components of health. They don't learn how lifestyle modifications and ingredient awareness can eliminate so many common health issues.
Is it any surprise then that when you go to the doctor with any health complaint, you are almost always prescribed a drug? It could be a simple headache, and you just need to hydrate and stay away from artificial fragrance, but you'll walk out of the doctor's office with a prescription instead.
I know someone whose doctor offered only a total knee replacement as a solution to an injury. This person had no pain prior to the injury and does not want a knee replacement, but the doctor looked at one x-ray, saw there wasn't enough cartilage in the knee, and went right to knee replacement. He never examined the patient beyond the x-ray. In his mind, X=Y, and there was nothing beyond that. This patient learned more from a chiropractor visit than this so-called specialist.
So even though I may be required at times to tell you, "Consult your doctor," I will almost never actually mean it. Sure, if you've got a broken bone, are bleeding profusely, or have endured some trauma, you need to see a doctor. It can also be helpful to have x-rays, MRIs, blood work, and more done by a doctor when needed. Get the information, refuse the drugs (unless your life is in imminent danger without them), and work on actually solving the issue – because medications aren't cures.
You know your body better than anyone. If what a doctor says goes against what you feel, trust your instinct. Get a second opinion. See a naturopath or chiropractor or health coach. Do your own research. Get familiar with the range of options available to you. Only then should you decide on a path forward.
And for goodness sake, unless you're an extreme case, you don't need to consult a doctor to start doing yoga or walking. You don't need medical advice before eating more fruits and veggies and drinking less soda. And you can research supplements and other remedies for any contraindications yourself.
Check out this article to hear in doctor's own words what they wish they'd been taught in medical school. Then, feel free to click some of the categories at the top of this post to read more on topics important to you.
Sun lamps, also known as light therapy boxes or SAD lamps, are an affordable and simple way to get some of the benefits of sunlight even when you can't get out in the actual sun.
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First of all, you never need to wait for a new year to make changes in your life. Commit to starting with a new month, or a new week, or a new day. There is no inherent magic in a new year. You can change your life any time you choose! I want you to realize that!
That said, many people are planning to make big changes with the start of the new year. Sometimes, they don't know how to go about it, so that's what I'm doing here.
Health is a very common New Year's resolution, but many people fail to make specific and achievable goals or plans for how to achieve that health they desire.
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Do you have any health goals for the coming year?
The beginning of a new year seems to be when many people focus on making changes, especially to their diet or weight.
When you're setting weight loss goals, you may consider popular fad diets as the method to get there. You may have had success with them yourself or know someone who did, but be careful about the plan you choose.
Here are two that have been popular but you need to be extra careful with.
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I want to encourage you because we all need encouragement to keep us going when change is difficult.
Often, I felt like the small steps I was taking were doing very little to affect my overall health.
Was I ever going to actually see any changes?
Were the efforts I was making actually doing any good?
Was it all for nothing?
Should I just give up?
I chose not to give up out of sheer stubbornness! But if that doesn't work for you, I'd like to introduce you to a concept I discovered somewhere along my journey - the 1 degree effect.
Hang with me – we're going back to math class for a moment. I promise, it'll be quick and painless!
Remember that tool we used called a protractor? It was a half circle in shape and had all the degrees from 0 to 180 marked along the edge.
Now, the difference between those degree marks is not very large. They are really close together. When you drew lines from the center point to each of those marks, the lines were almost on top of each other, weren't they?
But ... here's the important part! The further those lines got from the center point, the more space there was between them.
That's the one degree effect.
Put another way, imagine you and your friend are standing side by side, facing exactly the same direction, and you start walking together. You'll continue along side by side, won't you?
But if you turn, so you are facing just a teeny bit away from your friend before you start walking, it changes, doesn't it? At first, it will seem like you're still walking side by side, but little by little, as you keep walking, you will begin to get further and further apart. After you've walked an entire mile, there will be quite a bit of distance between you, and there will be even more at the second mile, and so on.
It is the same concept with adopting lifestyle changes. You make a tiny change, a one degree change, and for a while, it doesn't seem to be making any difference.
Then, you get a bit further along your journey, and you start to see the changes from where you would have been if you hadn't changed that one degree.
You're also likely going to make another one degree change somewhere along the way, and then another, and another, and before you know it, you've made five degrees of change, or even 10 or 20!
It all starts to add up, and when you stick with it, you really start to feel the enormous positive difference that's happened along the way, one degree at a time.
So when you feel like the changes you're working so hard at aren't making any difference, please commit to another day, another week, another month. Over time, I promise, you will start to notice.
Don't give up!
If you'd like regular tips and encouragement for your own journey, join the Created for Healing: Natural Health and Non-Toxic Living Facebook group!
