Women’s health articles

Giving yourself the gift you deserve: lifelong health

by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP

I am thankful to work with women. I have nothing but admiration and respect for the extraordinary lengths to which women go for their families, their communities, their work, and the world. Call me biased, but I know women are more selfless than men and that society counts on their selflessness to function. I also believe that it is a losing battle to simply tell women to stop serving others. Our ability to get satisfaction from sharing and nurturing is a precious gift and should never be denigrated.

What you must also weigh against this, however, is how well you can serve others if you are emotionally or physically tapped, nutritionally and hormonally imbalanced, ill or just plain worn out. If I can give you any holiday advice, it’s this: admit that you are the engine that’s pulling the train and allow yourself the time to learn how to refuel. Right now, today, in the midst of this holiday crunch, decide that you will serve others best by giving yourself and your health a place at the table.

If you knew that your mother, husband or child might be spared a premature death due to chronic illness by eating certain foods and avoiding others, taking a few natural supplements, and changing some habits, would you support them? Would you shop and cook differently? Would you take extra walks with them or ask them to quit smoking? Of course you would. The least you can do for them is to do the same for yourself.

So let’s talk about how you can give yourself the very best gift this year: the gift of health.

Changing our ideas about living longer

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I spent some time with my 89-year-old aunt. As we talked, I couldn’t help but think about the quality of her life. My aunt has been in the world close to 90 years, and she is as sharp as a tack. She lives alone, travels the globe, drives herself where she needs to go, keeps track of current events, and doesn’t look a day over 65. I am amazed by her. Not just because she’s 89, but because she’s 89 and continuing to live the life she chooses.

More and more people, like my aunt, are living to ripe old ages. In fact, the US Census Bureau reported that there were over 50,000 people in the United States at the age of 100 or older in 2001. That number jumped to around 55,000 in 2005. With this news, many of us think of nursing homes and wonder what there is to live for if we’re cooped up or too sick to be able to care for ourselves. It’s true — the good life is all about quality. But how do we reach the quality that my aunt and others have? Though it doesn’t happen over night, the concept is easier than you think.

If we take care of ourselves little by little, every day — no matter what our age — we can live fuller and more joyful lives. We, at Women to Women, strive to give women the tools to make small but significant changes in their lives, changes that eventually add up to big improvements. This is why we created the Personal Program and why so many women keep coming back.

The true meaning of a health savings account

In integrative medicine, we tend to prefer natural metaphors when describing how we work, but I think the idea of a whole health “savings account” works best here. Think about the concept of a savings or retirement account: you put in small amounts of money over a long period of time and the savings grows. The more you put in, the more you have. The same idea is true when it comes to your well-being. If you put the time and energy into shoring up the cornerstones of your health — your nutrition, physical activity, hormonal balance, detoxification capabilities and lifestyle — you will see that savings account grow! Your quality of life will increase immediately, and you will find that you are sustaining this quality well into old age.

Unfortunately, many of us only learn through pain. It takes something really bad to happen to our health before we make positive changes. We are, after all, creatures of habit and change is difficult. It takes attention, work and precious time. This is why most conventional practitioners focus only on your symptoms, not the root causes and concerns. It’s relatively painless to give someone a pill that will make their surface ailments disappear, but those kinds of treatments are like paying on credit with no money in the bank. In the long-term they don’t add to the savings; they take from it.

How Women to Women can help

Just as you might need a financial advisor to help you with your finances, expecting to make health and lifestyle changes by yourself may be too much. You need a guide and the motivation — and that’s where we come in.

Take a few moments at the end of this year to really assess your health status — mind, body and spirit. If it’s useful, take our hormonal profile. From there, decide on a few ways that you can begin to focus a little more on what you need. Some good ways to begin are:

• Boost your core nutrition right away. Taking a rich multivitamin every day, like that offered by our Personal Program, is the first contribution you can make to building your health savings — like a dollar a day. This is a wise thing to do for everyone, regardless of your symptoms, and will ensure that your body has the necessary nutrients on hand when it needs them.


• Make the time to exercise. Taking a brisk walk or going to a yoga, aerobics or spinning class increases your positive endorphins and allows you to feel better almost immediately. Try to take advantage of this natural antidepressant at least four times a week.


• Make this holiday meaningful to yourself. Instead of doing what’s expected by others, take some time to think about what you would enjoy doing this holiday. Maybe it’s a religious service or volunteering. Maybe it’s going out for meals instead of cooking. Or perhaps it’s saying no and keeping the holidays intimate and quiet.


• Look outwards as well as in. Don’t deny your giving nature, but try to find the right places to share it. Assess your relationships and activities and engage in those that make you feel good. Avoid those that deplete you. Make an appointment with a life coach or counselor if you feel stuck.


• Start a journal. Ask a loved one to buy or make you a blank book as a holiday gift, then use it. Dedicate a certain time of day to write in it. If you have trouble thinking of things to say, you might begin by detailing a dream or a childhood memory.


• Use our Wellness Diary. Print out our Wellness Diary page and photocopy enough pages for two weeks. Write down how you feel, what you eat and do (it only takes a minute a day) and see if there are places to begin making positive changes.


• Call us! If you know you want to start supporting your health but don’t know how, call us toll-free at 1-800-798-7902. Our Member Advisors are here to help.

The center radiates outward

It is my daily joy and lifelong calling to radically improve women’s health. I know this is a lofty goal — a dream perhaps — but it is what motivates and satisfies me. I simply could not do anything else. And though I live in the constant awareness of this goal, I also know that the first place to improve women’s health is to take care of my own.

My aunt has been an excellent role model for me. She not only talks about living healthfully, but lives healthfully and sets examples for all of us around her. Our children don’t always remember what we say, but they remember what we do. So making small changes in your lifestyle to contribute to your health savings account now will not only pay you in the future, it will pay your children and your children’s children and everyone you come into contact with every day.

As Deepak Chopra affirms, “In my Being is the Universe.” Brick by brick, woman by woman, every truly healthy woman builds a healthier household. Each household contributes to a healthier community and, ultimately, a healthier and more peaceful world — now what better gift could there be? With this season of joy and light, I wish you and yours the best of yourself in the year to come.

Happy Holidays,

We’re always happy to welcome new patients to our medical clinic in Yarmouth, Maine, for those who can make the trip. Click here for information about making an appointment.

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Further reading on the gift of health

 

Original Publication Date: 12/08/2005
Last Modified: 04/10/2008
Principal Author: Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP