How do you define the word “health”?
There’s no right or wrong answer. This isn’t about actually defining the word, but asking yourself how YOU define the word health. Wherever you are right now, grab your phone, a notebook, a journal or if you’re just sitting alongside your family or by yourself, and say your definition out loud and/or write it down.
I know that might sound silly but here is why I asked you to do that. Our own personal definition is usually shaped by media, our environment, or messages we hear through the radio, social media, TV, etc. The word health is shaped and shifted by so many things and we all have a different relationship with that word, just like we all have a different relationship with food, fitness, and our own bodies.
The true definition of health as stated in the dictionary is the “state of being free from illness or injury”. Given the current events surrounding the globe there is a heightened awareness surrounding the concept of health as we are all doing our best to avoid contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to others.
Personal side note, my grandparents are in an independent living facility. We dropped off groceries to them but we were not allowed to get near them or help them.This is really interfering with our lives and I can only imagine those of you that are reading this, and have a similar story of how COVID-19 is affecting you. Whether it’s your relationships with family and friends, your work life, your social life, etc. COVID-19 has affected all of us.
So when we look at true health, the definition of being free from illness or injury. I want to share a quote by one of my favorite anti-diet dietitians, Christy Harrison. She just released a new book called “Anti-Diet” so if you’re looking for a good read during this quarantine time you can still get it on Amazon here.
She put up on Instagram proven ways to reduce the risk of COVID-19…social distancing, frequent hand washing, not touching your face. These are things that we know are proven to reduce the risk of COVID-19. On the other hand.. “Stigmatizing diet culture BS: weight loss recommendations, cutting out certain foods and hoarding others”, that is b******* .
This is a very important message right now as we are in a time of crisis and many people are turning to social media to gather information.There are many medical professionals and social media influencers that are giving their opinions to the media. Over the last few weeks the amount of messages that I’ve received from people stressing about weight loss during the pandemic in an effort to reduce their risk of contracting the virus, is alarming due to how wrong it is factually.
The fact that people are going to go out of their way to say that with no evidence, just shows weight bias in our culture. I wanted to bring this full-circle to show you how this truly does impact our health. If we remove ourselves from this situation of COVID-19 and just focus on what impacts our health and what’s going to help me to be a “healthier” person I think a lot of times people are focusing on trying to lose weight. People are led to believe that if they can lose weight they instantly become a healthier person.
If we look at the determinants of health, we know that health is more than just our medical care, our doctors appointments, getting our blood drawn, and things of that nature. In reality 89% of health occurs outside of the clinical space through our genetics, our behaviors, environment, and social circumstances. During this time, when there’s a crisis going on, influencers and people spreading false messages are going to push weight loss because we live in such a weight centric world. They will put emphasis on something that isn’t necessarily going to make you a healthier person but is actually just going to add more stress and stigma to the situation.
So what does affect your health and what can we do in this time of quarantine and social distancing that is going to positively impact it? There are many different factors involved in the determinants of health. This is the image that we show our clients and ask “how do we improve our health?”, “how can we add to our quality of life?” We look at all these different categories and break down all the things that impact our health one by one. We note that weight is located in the genetics and biology category, medical care such as going to the doctor for checkups and testing is 11%, and environment is the area we live and grow up in.
The three big Kahunas that we’re going to talk about are genetics and biology, social circumstances, and our individual behaviors. Our individual behaviors make up a huge portion of our physical health and well-being.
Genetics and Biology
Genetics and biology make up 22% of our health, so while it may be thought of as the primary component of health, this is not exactly the case. This category consists of our genetic makeup, the body’s physical structure, and bodily functions. While these are important we should also note that this category is only one fifth of what determines our overall health. I think it is important to add that weight is considered a part of the genetics and biology category which can be a confusing conversation. As you may know, like weight, height is genetic. It is commonly said that as we age we may “lose a few inches” and this goes without question. So why is it that we tend to get frustrated when our weight shifts? Weight is actually a genetically predetermined range called a “Setpoint Range”.. This ten to twenty pound range is where our bodies feel most comfortable and we only have so much control over it. Blog on Setpoint Range coming soon!
Individual Behaviors
This is the biggest piece of the pie chart and it shows us that 36% of our health is determined by our individual behaviors. Examples of individual behaviors are smoking habits, sleep and exercise patterns, sexual activity, and mood. Our individual behavior is a critical determinant for our physical and mental health and overall well-being. Positive changes to our individual behavior can reduce the risk of developing a variety of diseases. I want to hold up flashing lights and wave a flag and set off smoke signals to emphasize the importance of our individual behaviors. Positive changes as a result of these individual behaviors can happen regardless of changing the size of your body and a big part of this is uncoupling that relationship.
That does not mean that we are anti-weight loss and we are not anti people losing weight. We are just not going to put all of our focus on a number when we know through research that it is more determined by your genetics and biology. I wish that just saying this would be like “oh, so just changing my behaviors is easy” But no, changing behaviors is hard…we are creatures of habit and we do the things that we do every single day because we got stuck in a behavior pattern. We have to look at our behaviors without morality behind it and not say “oh my gosh I’m so lazy, I’m such a horrible person, why can’t I do this”. Just being able to look introspectively, no judgement, no shame, no guilt, is hard! What are our behaviors? Are they positively impacting our health and if they are not, how can we slowly start to change them so that they will?
Individual Behaviors are related to psychological assets, negative mood and affects, and other related risk behaviors, and then of course, physical activity, sleep patterns and food choices. Please note that when I say food choices and physical activity, I am not saying eat less, move more. I am just saying, what are your food choices? What is your physical activity like? Can we remove the judgment, the guilt, the shame from it and just assess “where am I right now and how is this affecting my health”?
Some of you reading this might be moving too much and not eating enough. Some of us may be eating more than we need to take in, but have such a poor relationship with food and our body that we don’t know how to stop doing that without extreme restriction of food. And that is okay, you are exactly where you need to be in your journey. I hope this blog plants a seed of curiosity to challenge your relationship with food and your body.
Social Circumstances
Social circumstances are more important than your genetics and that is so huge to recognize now that we are being told to socially distance ourselves from the world around us. This is going to have an impact on our health and it is important to notice that 24% of our health is drawn up by social circumstances, so these are factors that impact our environment that we have lived and developed in. Social status, also recognizing that our early childhood development and culture impacts our social development and our personal health and poor social circumstances such as, discrimination, weight stigma, poverty, low education level, have a negative affect on our health.
So right now, COVID-19 has kept us indoors and the weeks to come are going to instill fear or really just an unknown, uneasiness to us and we know that social connectedness such as intimate relationships, quality of family, friend and community support are so crucial.
There are very big pluses and minuses to social media and right now, in this very moment, I feel so blessed and so privileged to have the opportunity to be able to keep in contact with this community online even though we cant see each other, give each other hugs or hold each others hands, we are still all together in a community and I think that’s extremely important to remember right now.
The virtual world allows us to still have community support and social connectedness, without being physically together. Of course the intimacy is lost with touch and things like that, but there are still things that we can do that are going to impact our health in a positive way. We know that if we shut ourselves off, don’t make an effort to talk to friends and hide away in our little bubble and fall into that hermit stage and don’t talk to anyone, that can have a negative affect on our health. Being able to recognize this and remove all morality, judgment, and shame from any current behavior pattern or any circumstances that you have in this moment and just allow yourself to be curious of your circumstances and behaviors are the way that they are in this very moment and being able to make a shift moving forward from there.
If you are looking for extra support during this time of uncertainty, we would love to chat with you. Click here to schedule a free call!
