Nobody Knows You Better Than You

Learning how to be healthy in today’s world can be a challenge. There are conflicting opinions on everything from nutrition and exercise to the causes of common health issues.

So what business do I have posting information on health? And why should you even listen to me? Well, actually…you shouldn’t. In fact, you shouldn’t believe anything you read or hear about health regardless of the source.

So where the heck does that leave us? How are we supposed to make sense of all of the health information that comes our way?

More importantly, how do we translate that information into practical exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle strategies that actually improve our health and function?

Are we just doomed to a state of infinite confusion?

You Are Your Own Master

It’s true, the information provided by health professionals can be beneficial. Where else are we going to learn how to eat healthy and exercise?

Who else is going to teach us what it takes to achieve long-term wellness while preventing the diseases that affect so many people?

These professionals should be looked upon only as a starting point. Ultimately, YOU are your own master.

Only you can discover what truly works for you. This takes time and effort. Most of all, it takes personal responsibility.

We can never obtain true health without first taking responsibility for what we create each day. This is the first step in the journey.

As long as we place our health in the hands of others—expecting them to somehow “fix” us—then we may never have the health that we seek.

Do Your Own Research

It’s up to each person to take the time to learn about his or her own body and mind in order to manage them throughout life.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like if we spent as much time paying attention to our health than we did to politics, celebrities, and the latest tech gadgets that we just have to have.

What if we learned to tune out the things that don’t serve our physical, mental, or emotional wellbeing and, instead, turn our attention towards the things to do serve us?

When someone tells you what you should be doing to get healthy, you need to do your own research. Take everything you read and hear with a grain of salt. You are the ultimate judge when it comes to figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

Put it Into Practice

The only way to determine if something works for you is to apply it. You can read an instruction manual describing how to drive a car, but until you actually put it into practice, you can never really know if the information is true.

The same applies to your health. If you believe something might benefit you (a new diet, exercise, supplement…whatever), then apply it. Give it a true test to determine the validity of what you’ve learned.

Putting health strategies into practice is the only way to confirm what works for you. But remember, what works for you may not work for someone else.

Health is highly individualized as a result of the biochemical and physiological differences that exist from one person to the next. One’s genetics, environment, and stress can also influence how a given health strategy will (or won’t) work.

Learning the importance of testing anything you learn may be the greatest lesson you have when addressing health problems related to weight management, chronic illness, injury, and any other challenge you may be facing.

Consulting with a doctor, nutritionist, personal trainer, physical therapist, or any other health professional can be a valuable tool in your journey towards improved health. But you must remember that nobody knows YOU better than you do.

Keep this in mind the next time you hear someone preach about how this food is healthier than that food…how you need to take this supplement to take to get over your health problem…how you need to be doing this type of exercise instead of that one in order to get results.

Test it out. See what results you get. Keep what works…throw out what doesn’t.

Indeed, everyone has an opinion. And discussing those opinions can be a great learning opportunity for all of us. Just remember, when it comes to your health…you are your own master.

Image source: By Silberio77 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons