Is reading health blogs making you sick?

Have you ever found that instead of feeling inspired after reading a health-related blog you actually feel worse off?  That those ‘healthy’ people can actually be really annoying? Nauseating in fact?

All the earth mothers with a delicate rain of chia seeds falling all around them, their kids pleading for more broccoli – agitating?  

Sometimes the only illumination has been that in comparison to health-officiando you are a bit of a health-failure, low on self-discipline and you still don’t know what the hell a spiralizer is anyway?   

To top it all off, on facebook there is always someone posting about how they ran 15kms in 20mins or just completed a 300-day juice detox.  Does a tiny bit of you just groan inside?

Well don’t let your blatant inadequacies put you off your quest for good health and self-improvement!

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The message is still clear - good health = energy and clarity of mind to live an awesome life.  But we don’t want it to become another unobtainable item on our to-do list to feel guilty about (like how I still haven’t sorted out my photos from my trip to Africa in 1997, or sewn the tassel back on the cushion in the living room).  My to-do list is already as long as my arm and it stresses me out!

Forget all that. There is no need to be an overachiever (and just for the record I’m not sure that overachievers are actually more healthy or happy than the rest of us).   

Don’t let your desire to do-it-all backfire into a stressful pit of despair that has you knocking back a pack of chocolate biscuits and bottle of wine in a oh-why-bother-rebellion.

Health, much like life, is a journey.  Way over there in the distance with all the vegans, where the cakes are made of dandelions and kumquats, and everyone leaves a trail of pumpkin seeds in their wake - that’s where we are headed.  

But right now, most of us aren’t in that place.  Most of us are still trying to eat a few more vegetables each day. Most of us are struggling to pay the bills, get on with the important people in their lives, and squeeze in one exercise session a week on a regular basis.

Wherever you are now is totally okay.  Instead of berating yourself for not making your own pasta out of courgettes I want you to join me on the One-A-Day-Healthy-Haworth-Challenge!  

Each day, starting today - I want you to ask yourself "What is one, tiny – hell, even enjoyable - thing I could do for myself, my health, my body today?" 

Now for some tips – the biggest of which is that being healthy is not actually that complicated.  Here are some basic guidelines:

1. Move your body – you decide how, based on what you enjoy most!
2. Eat lots of plants – you decide which ones you like, go crazy!  
3. Drink lots of water
4. Take time to rest and relax (drinking wine doesn't count sorry!)
5. Remember to breathe(!)
6. Be super nice to yourself

That, my friends, is it!  If you do one thing from that list everyday then super high-fives, you have taken one step down that path to the big V-land!

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Now I know you still have the entire social media world of health fanatics to contend with.  So, if you are willing to take on the One-A-Day-Healthy-Haworth-Challenge (or OA-DH-HC as I like to call it), instead of posting it for the world to see (and making other people feel bad about your achievements in comparison), email me what you did, I will reply with a personalised email bursting with positive reinforcement and adoration.  

If you actually manage to do this 7 days in a row, I will send you a personalised video of celebration at how amazing you are – and you definitely will want to put that on facebook.

By all means continue to search for healthy inspiration and ideas (many of which you can find right here!).  But if it feels too much for you - don’t be put off, don’t compare yourself, take a deep breath, eat that apple and give yourself a pat on the back and think – yup, that was pretty cool.  

(Of course you may notice that after continually following the OA-DH-HC, over time your choices become more and more healthy as you build on what has come before, so this time next year, you may look back and be surprised at how far you’ve come – but shhh, that is just between me and your subconscious!).

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