Creating a Mindset for Better Health
There has been a lot of talk lately about health - what to do and what not to do to boost your immune system, to stay healthy, and to recover from illness more quickly.
So much of health is all about habits and actions, but where do these all stem from? What if we don’t have to make as many changes as we think?
What if there was one powerful thing that could make a lot of difference?
Well, there is - and it all starts with your mindset.
Mindset is sometimes called “the story we tell ourselves.” It’s our attitude toward things in our life. And we might not think about it all that often, but it is one of the few things we do have control over. Yes, we can control our mindset so that it works in our favour.
And research is showing that it may be far more powerful than we thought.
Very interesting health mindset study
Here’s a quick story about a fascinating study.
Researchers at Stanford University looked at a bunch of people's health and wellness lifestyle habits, as well as other health markers.
What they found was that the people who thought they were a lot less active than most others had a higher risk of death than the general public. [1] In fact, they had up to 71% higher risk of death than people who thought they were more active. [2] Even if they actually weren't less active!
How is this even possible that people who simply thought they were less active had higher risks, even if it wasn’t true?
There are a couple of ideas as to why. One is that maybe if we feel like we're less active, it may make us feel more stressed. And stress isn't good for our mental or physical health. Second, there may be a bit of a mind-body connection at play where the body embodies what the mind visualizes.
Researchers don't know why, but what matters is that there is a good mindset. So, let me give you a couple of strategies to boost your mindset for health.
Health mindset strategy 1 - Aim for good enough
Almost no one eats perfectly seven days a week. It's inevitable that obsessing over the quality and quantity of everything we eat or drink isn't necessarily a great mindset to have.
It can lead to obsessive behaviour and bring on binging, shame, and guilt - none of these are great ways to get healthy. We want to get healthier by making better choices and building better habits which is usually best done incrementally - one step at a time.
So, instead of having a black and white approach where everything is either good or bad, why not try aiming for good enough to empower ourselves to make better choices most of the time, instead of perfect choices.
Health mindset strategy 2 - Stop making tradeoffs
When you try to earn a gluttonous weekend by eating clean during the week, you're making a tradeoff. You're telling yourself that, as long as you're good most of the week, you can go wild on the weekend.
Unfortunately, this may backfire on you. Having your mindset jump from one extreme to the other can lead to overeating and binging on anything and everything in sight. You may be controlling what you do all week while possibly thinking about and planning how to indulge over the weekend. [3]
It might be better to just live as though you're trying to do well every single day. Like you care about your health and wellness. You're doing your best, and that's good enough.
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Health mindset strategy 3 - Food is medicine
Get in the habit of thinking of the food you eat as medicine - after all it is. The food we eat can create wellness or illness. Food is medicine or poison.
Believing in the power of whole foods is another important healthy mindset to follow. If we remember that the food we eat provides our bodies with the fuel it needs to function optimally and perform for us as we’d like, then we are more likely to make healthier choices in general.
Food choice has been strongly implicated in our overall mental wellness, as well. Nutritional deficiencies from eating a standard Western diet high in processed foods increase our risk of developing depression, mild cognitive impairment, fatigue, irritability, and other mental health issues. [4] Alternatively, a whole-food-based dietary approach can protect us from depression and other mental illnesses.
So, to protect your mental wellness and promote general wellness overall, stick to a whole-food approach most of the time and be mindful that what you eat will help determine how you feel and behave.
Why not feel and be your best self?
Conclusion
Mindset for health can be a powerful tool for better physical health. There’s a proven mind-body connection that research has been able to measure.
Thinking positively, and dropping the black/white and good/bad labels, may just be the ticket to helping you reach your health goals.
How is your mindset for health? Which of these tips resonate with you the most? How are you going to implement them in your life? Let me know in the comments below. I welcome your thoughts and value your feedback.
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