Living a Healthy Lifestyle: Applying the Law of Cause and Effect

Happy Hump day!  This week isn't really flying by, but it doesn't seem to be crawling either.  I am a little surprised (but thankful) Wednesday is already here.  It seems like yesterday I was at blogger potluck (which happened Saturday)!

Photo courtesy of Lee!

Lee was kind enough to offer up her lovely home for our little get together and be our photog for the night.  She isn't in the above picture, but was the most gracious host I've ever had! Left to right we have Emily (a former blogger), Tina, Stacy, me, Traci, Laura (former blogger), Alayna, and Laura. 

The first time I met up with any Atlanta bloggers was back in July 2011 and I cannot believe I've known some of these ladies this long already.  Emily and Laura (both former bloggers) were new to me, and I am so glad they were there as well.  We had a wonderful time chatting about everything under the sun and stuffing our faces with the amazing food everyone brought to share.  What better potluck to attend than one attended by a bunch of food bloggers?!

We had all kinds of delicious food.  Everything was incredible.  Looking at the pictures is making me hungry!  Lee made an incredible spinach and artichoke dip, Emily came with delicious spinach balls, Tina brought a tasty Greek salad, Stacy brought Mama Pea's sweet potato tot casserole, Traci made olive tapenade, Laura.1 brought brie and apple slices on crackers and nutella sandwich cookies, Alayna made carrot cake and Japanese sweet potato casserole, and Laura.2 brought chocolate zucchini muffins and chocolate peanut butter pretzel cookies, and I brought broccoli salad. 

I piled my plate high with a little bit of everything and then got a second plate for dessert.  These ladies know how to cook!

The only thing missing from my plate is the spinach balls, but trust me, I ate my fair share of them and even took some home! It was so wonderful spending some quality time with everyone outside the busyness and noise of a restaurant.  We had the chance to really connect with each other and it was fun getting to know everyone a little bit better.  The amazing food was just an added bonus in my opinion. :)  I feel so blessed to be part of this group and cannot thank Tina enough for introducing me to these ladies last July.

Back to present day! 
 
Last night, I rushed home from work so I could squeeze in a quick three mile run before my wellness class at 6:30.  The run went really well! I averaged 11minute miles and did not have to stop at all (though a few traffic lights did make me wait and look both ways before crossing).  Three things stood out to me about this run:

1. I now think of three miles as a short run.
2. I ran up a giant hill that has always beat me before.
3. The run actually felt comfortable.

All very exciting things!! Consistency definitely leads to improvement and success.
The wellness class I mentioned above was offered for free at my chiropractor's office.  I love any opportunity to learn from someone about their views of a healthy lifestyle- especially a free one- so I decided to attend.  I think everyone can have a different definition of what exactly makes up a healthy lifestyle, and it is important for us to be open to different approaches to health so we can learn from them and continuously adapt, finding what works best for our bodies and keeping ourselves in peak condition. 

The main points I took away from the class last night are these:

• Our bodies are more intelligent than we give them credit for.  It is important to let them function on their own whenever possible without interfering by taking unnecessary medications. 
• All processes require time. 
• Consistency counts.
• The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
• Anyone can do anything they want to- it is a choice you make whether you want to do something or not.

A big focus of the class was the law of cause and effect.  Our society tends to treat the effect- the pain,  high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, etc. without focusing on what the root cause of the problem is.  Have high blood pressure or cholesterol? The solution a doctor gives you usually is not to change your diet and increase your exercise.  Instead, they advise you to take a pill.  It is too often we see a temporary solution being applied to a problem that in reality should be fixed by a lifestyle change.  In reality, these temporary solutions only compound the problem over the long term.  I am so thankful there are people out there like my chiropractor, the folks on the Biggest Loser, and other doctors and health advocates who are encouraging Americans to stop looking for the quick fixes and instead advising us to make the (yes, difficult) lifestyle changes that are necessary for true and full recovery and health. 

I certainly believe medicine and know that doctors play an important role in our society.  I am thankful for the technology humans have created to aid once a disease has festered.  But, I believe we would see so much less disease to begin with if we as a society were proactive about our health instead of reactive. 

Living a healthy lifestyle for me is about preventing what could have happened instead of reacting to what has happened.  I have extremely healthy cholesterol, blood pressure and mineral levels.  But, instead of sitting on the couch eating cheeseburgers and milkshakes every night, I work hard to maintain and even improve my health every single dayproactive measure for my health.  Who knows where my health would be if I did not.  I personally don't want to know.  We all have to start somewhere, so I encourage you to consider your lifestyle and think about the causes you are participating in now that could later have adverse effects on your health.  No one is perfect, but we should all try and do the best we can so we can continue living our happy, healthy lives! Sometimes, we have to create our own luck ;)

What is your favorite dish to bring to a potluck? 
What is your definition of a healthy lifestyle?