Have you ever been in position where you just feel completely overwhelmed with health and fitness? Not even a clue on where you should start in order to start making improvements? Well I can assure you that you are not alone. It seems about every day there's a new test or metric we can use track our health or some news headline telling us how we can live forever if we take these certain supplements or do this specific 4 week program. Some times it feels like living a healthy lifestyle is becoming harder and harder to manage. When did health get so complicated?

Well we started with a focus on simple things to improve our health like simply eating more fruits and veggies and getting more steps in our day, and fast forward to today we can now wear high-tech fitness trackers that gives us more data than we even know what to do with. Don’t get me wrong, new science and advances in technology can be a great thing and has done our society a lot of good! At times though, this information overload and fast paced technological advances can become confusing and overwhelming. It's really no surprise things have seemed to get more confusing with the rate at which new information is produced and available to us. It's hard to figure out what's true and what's not and more importantly what we should even be focused on.

Right now the rate at which information and new technology is being produced is incredibly fast and is not showing signs of slowing down any time soon. Currently, 1.7 megabytes of data is created every single second, which equates to 2.5 quintillion bits of data every day. It’s difficult to wrap your mind around what that even means, but these next few lines should give you an idea. Here are just a couple things that contribute to that massive number each day: 3.5 billion Google searches, 300 billion emails, and 500 hours uploaded to Youtube every single minute! With the constant influx of new information, it can be easy to get caught up in all the little nuisances and newest fads to help keep our health in check, so it’s good to have an easy and quick method you can always rely on to quickly check in on your personal health.

Up until recently, humans never had access to all these health advances we have now. However, they did have access to one of the most advanced tools we have ever had on this planet, our body. Your body can do some absolutely amazing things along with one of its most important roles which is to let us know when something is wrong within us. Ages ago our body was all we had, no technology or highly advanced medical system to help keep our health in check. Humans relied solely on listening to their bodies for all their health needs.

In today's world, that has basically become a lost art as we are constantly pulled in all sorts of directions that demand our attention -- work, family, relationships, and of course, social media. With all these things going on in our fast-paced lives, we forget to check in with the most important resource we have, our body and our health. Without a clean bill of health, not much else matters. It’s hard to enjoy that perfect vacation with your partner, or watch your son score his first touchdown if you aren’t here to see it. Moments like these are certainly worth taking care of your health right now and choosing to make it a priority.

I came across this saying years back and it’s something that has always stuck with me. “At some point in your life, health will become your #1 priority. Your job is to do everything you can to make sure it’s on your own terms.” In other words, start making health a priority today, rather than waiting until it’s too late and you are forced to focus on health because of some terrible health issue from years of neglect and poor choices. As humans, we have quite a bit of control over our overall health by what we do and put in our bodies each day.

So, how do we take care of ourselves before it’s too late? Well, let's use the analogy of your car. You buy a new car. You know that taking care of it by getting routine maintenance and regular check-ups will ensure that you get the most out of your vehicle and that it has a long life. The same should be true with your body! Don't be that person who sees that check engine light on and chooses to ignore it. Trust me, that doesn’t end well. Be proactive in checking in with your body and giving it the attention it needs and deserves. In this next section, we will discuss three simple questions you can ask yourself as a routine check-up to see where you could personally use a little maintenance work.

Question #1: “How does my diet currently look?”

There’s a saying that well-known strength coach, Dan John, uses that makes things simple to understand and easy to remember. The phrase is, “eat like an adult”. When you hear this you get a pretty good idea of what it means. First, think about how children or even a typical teenager likes to eat... Poptarts, mac and cheese, fruit snacks, soda, juices, and sugary cereals are some popular choices among this crowd. As an adult we know a majority of the time we should be focused on things like fresh fruits, veggies, healthy fats, and lean proteins.

More whole foods and less ultra-processed things is a good place to start. Eat your fruits and veggies, drink lots of water, get plenty of lean protein, and eat in moderation. This doesn't mean you can never enjoy some ice cream or pizza if you want to on occasion. However, if health is a priority to you, just be mindful about what you are putting in your body on a regular basis.

When you ask yourself the question, “what does my diet look like?” and you know it’s not where it needs to be, that should be an indication to make some tweaks. Start by making some simple changes. As an adult, nobody is going to force you to eat a certain way; you don’t have your parents yelling at you to eat your vegetables before you can leave the dinner table. It’s your job to take ownership and make the right choices for your health. These choices really matter because what you eat affects more than just your waistline. What you eat has an influence on everything that goes on in your body, and I really mean everything. Food is not just food, it is information and it effects hundreds of different processes in going on in our body. What type of information are you sending to your body?

Question #2: “Am I getting enough movement?”

Moving on to the next question. “Are you moving enough?” This will vary quite a bit from person to person depending on goals, current health status, lifestyle, and so on, but we should ALL strive to get some form of movement in our daily lives. This doesn't mean you need to hit the gym for an hour after work every day, but you should find time to get some sort of movement in throughout your day. This could be anything from taking a ten-minute walk, a little yoga before bed, doing some yard work, or possibly something more strenuous like a strength training workout session. There are literally hundreds of ways to move your body, but the most important thing is to find something you enjoy so that you will do it regularly. If physical activity seems like a major chore to you, then the chances of you sticking with it aren't very likely.

Most of us already know that movement has tremendous benefits, not only for our physical health but also for our mental health. When it comes to exercise, it can have a major impact on things such as improving mood, building muscle, losing fat, improving memory, strengthening the immune system, improving heart health, preventing heart disease and cancer, better-looking skin; and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

With that list of benefits, you would think exercise would be a no-brainer, but unfortunately, that's not the case for a large part of the population. The most popular excuse for not getting enough exercise is lack of time. The good news is that you really don't need much time to reap quite a few benefits of exercise. Even just 10-20 minutes a day can have a positive influence on your health. You can certainly find 10 minutes in your day for exercise. If you don't think you have 10 minutes to spare, do me a favor and go check your phone settings to see how much time you spend on your phone each day… or laptop…or TV. Most Americans spend on average 4-5 hours on their phones each day! Certainly, you can spare 10-20 minutes on something that will give you a much larger return on your investment.

The second most common excuse is not enjoying exercise. Some people just flat out don't like exercise. Well, if you have tried all of the several hundred different types of exercises out there and can't find anything you enjoy, don’t give up just yet because there’s still hope. There's one activity you already do daily that you may not even think about when it comes to exercise. That activity is walking. Yes, that's right, walking is a great form of exercise with its own long list of benefits. The best part about walking is that it’s free! Most people of all different shapes, sizes, and abilities can do it, and you don't even need a lot of time to reap some of the benefits. Science now tells us even a 10-minute walk can have some noticeable benefits to our health! Tell me, what was your excuse again?

The fact of the matter is that we know without a doubt that exercise is such a game-changer for our health in so many ways. So instead of looking for an excuse, look for some sort of activity to get your body moving!

Question #3: “How stressed am I really?”

The third and final question is about your stress levels. Stress is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of health, but it’s something that affects every single one of us. We’ve all heard stories of the “successful” CEO who seems to have it all put together from the outside looking in -- making great money, the leader of a thriving company, a supportive spouse, and a lovely family; but behind the scenes, this person is barely holding on because of the amount of stress they are under. This ultimately leads to more stress, unhappiness, and potential health problems. Now, you may not be the leader of some big company or deal with high-stress situations every day, but your body is still taking on stress every single day. We all have it in some form and we all deal with it differently.

It is important to point out that all stress is not inherently bad. In fact, without it, life would be pretty boring and monotonous; not to mention it would be difficult to grow in any particular area without some stress. Stress causes adaptation. Adaptation leads to growth and improvement. Things like strength training or low-level pressure at work are both stressors that can be extremely beneficial and push you towards making progress and growth. We shouldn't think of stress as this evil thing that we should avoid at all cost. Instead, we should focus on managing our stress levels and taking on stress in healthy doses.

For the average person, there is a pretty long list of things that could be causing you to stress in your everyday life. Just to list a few, here are some common causes here in the US: work related stress, sedentary lifestyles, poor sleep, poor diet, loneliness, poor relationships, and financial stress. Your body can’t really tell the difference between the different stresses so it’s pretty easy to see how this stress can add up and become too much to handle over time. It’s been estimated that approximately 75-90% of doctor visits are linked to stress. So, you can see why being able to manage your stress is crucial to your health.

Before you can start to manage stress, you first need to take inventory of all the things that may be causing you stress. The cool thing is that by making some changes from “Question 1 and 2,” you are already making strides to manage two large causes of stress.

After exercise and diet have been addressed, another big thing to tackle is sleep. A large majority of people don't get nearly enough sleep and also don't get the quality sleep they truly need. Have you ever got seven to eight hours of sleep, but still woke up tired. Chances are you sleep quality was pretty poor on that occasion. Doing things like creating a bedtime routine, ditching the phone and screens an hour or two hours before bed, and sleeping in a cold, dark room can all help to improve sleep. These changes will take time and practice to create new habits, but it is absolutely worth it. Better sleep is something that will have an immediate impact on your quality of life. It can not be stressed enough how vital sleep is to our overall health.

Lastly, adding some fun back into your life could be that last you need! In our fast-paced culture, it’s easy to get stuck in the rat race and forget the importance of including some fun and enjoyment back in our lives. There are so many ways you can do this. Things like joining a group, finding a hobby, hanging out with friends, listening to your favorite music, reading a good book, or watching that new Netflix show. The list is endless. The important part is to find something you enjoy and schedule time in your day to do it! If you don’t schedule it then, for most of us, it probably won't happen. It truly is important for your health, so again, make this a priority for yourself even if it's just 5 or 10 minutes a day.

Take Home Message

The reality of the situation is that life is always changing. Your lifestyle, current situation, job, family, relationships, diet, exercise schedule will all change throughout different stages of your life. In some phases so may feel like you have total control of your health and other stages not at all. You certainly can't control everything in life, but you do get to make have some control. You get to make choices every single day that can lead towards better health or choices that may pull you further away.