My name is Sally Galloway, and I am what others call a health nut. I am a nutrition counselor and healthy lifestyle coach. I love good, healthy food. I did massage therapy for 25 years. I believe using massage, chiropractic, meditation, healthy food, and nutritional supplements are a person’s best hope for living a full, complete, and healthy life with lots of energy and a minimum of pain and chronic disease.
By way of introduction on this blog, I want to talk about what health is. Kind of a state of the union address, specifically about health care. Now, I do not profess to know a fraction of relevant information about the health care reform bill, so this article is not about that. It’s about what we think and how we behave as individual consumers within the health care, or as I believe is more accurate, the “sick care” industry.
I think it’s a shame that what is considered “normal health” in this country involves people over the age of 40 starting to take high blood pressure meds, statin drugs for high cholesterol, blood-sugar-lowering meds (metformin and glucophage), beta blockers, and steroids for joint pain. It’s ridiculous and totally unnecessary. Where did responsibility go for self health? Western Medicine is awesome and has its place, don’t get me wrong. But when did we give up our power to the Western medical system? Since when was it a good idea to let the medical establishment make decisions about our own bodies and what’s best for us? Where did self-responsible medicine go?
As a nutrition counselor and massage therapist, I see people all the time who have the same complaints over and over again. Regardless of the outward manifestation of what ails them, reducing stress, eating better (better food, quality supplements), doing more of what makes them happy, and maintaining healthy relationships does the trick! Do all those drugs I mentioned above actually work? Well, that depends on what you’re trying to do. Do they reduce symptoms? Yep. Do they address the root problem and what’s causing the symptoms? NOPE!
The secret to health care reform is to take responsibility for your own health. More than using “natural health” techniques and products, I call it Self Health. Create a support team of professionals AND laypeople who love you and will ask you “what are you doing?” just to keep you thinking for yourself.
What are you doing for your own health in 2010? Look at every aspect of your health:
- physical
- mental
- emotional
- spiritual
- fiscal
- relationships (friends, family, significant other)
- food choices
- hobbies, stress relief
How do you deal with stress? How do you want to process and express your emotions healthfully and completely?
How do you want to feel by this time next year? Think about it. How do you want to use your tax return? What kind of fun would you like to engage in because you have the health and finances to do so?
Who’s on <strong><em>your</em></strong> Self Health Team? Here is how to create a long life, full of health and energy, financial freedom and fun. Gather a team of health professionals, a massage therapist, a source for healthy recipes, and a “let’s go have fun” support system. The time to act is now.
In health and harmony,
Sally
Sally Galloway is the founder of GalloWaytoWellness, a team of people who are passionate about health, helping others using food nutrition vitamins to reverse diabetes, reduce obesity, and address the childhood obesity epidemic. Check out our blog at www.sallygalloway.wordpress.com . Follow us on Twitter @SallyFoodCoach, and Sally Toth Galloway on Facebook.
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Certainly, in many cases, individuals have dropped their personal responsibility for managing their own health with the result being that the medical establishment spends significant effort in trying to treat what are often preventable diseases of lifestyle. On the other end of the spectrum, however, there are those who take considerable interest in managing their own health. The difficult task is moving more of the population to being active in their own health.