Simple, Actionable Strategy for Balanced, Energetic Wellness

Copyright © 2007 Soy-n-Joy®

 

 

Health does not equal wellness*. Health is the state of an individual functioning normally without disease or abnormality. Wellness is beyond being healthy. It is a state of balanced body and mind, of being energetic, of being untroubled, and of feeling good about oneself. We need to be in a state of balanced energetic wellness in order to pursue the goals and activities important to us in life.

 

The goals, plans, and activities that we deem important to pursue spring from our needs and wants, that in turn are shaped by our values, beliefs, assumptions, and habits. The demarcation between needs (the necessities) and wants (the desirables) changes with time and place. For example, in today's affluent societies, the refrigerator has evolved from a want to become a need. Universally, we can identify an hierarchy of needs, such as survival, security, acceptance, recognition, dream pursuit, winning, cognition, kindness, and aesthetics, the contents and priority of which are individualized. Wants are driven by changes in the market. As the baby grows up, his/her needs and wants are progressively and simultaneously shaped by the family, the school, the workplace, the groups and institutions he/she identifies with, and the markets of goods, services, and information. By the time we recognize that we are hampered in some physical way to do what we want to do, we may already be set in a particular way with respect to our values, beliefs, assumptions, and habits, collectively defining our character and governing our idiosyncratic hierarchy of needs and wants, and how we go about pursuing them in life.

 

When we have deviated from a balanced state of energetic wellness or recognized the need to be healthily active, we can turn that problem into opportunity. In order to do that, we must first review our values, beliefs, assumptions, and habits. Our values are made up of our principles and aspirations, such as respect, integrity, fairness, justice, and freedom, that we can identify with and which are important enough that we will stand up to defend them. Our beliefs are about causes and effects that we take as true, without the need for further proof. Our assumptions are what we presume to be, but that need to be verified or substantiated. Our habits are what we do or choose routinely and matter-of-factly, without the need for centrally processed thinking. Fashion, for example, reflects our need to catch up with others, our belief that by doing or looking like they do, we shall be accepted by them, our assumption that the fashion will befit us irrespective of our ability, color or build, until reality tell us otherwise, and our habit of going for the latest and giving up the old, like kids with their toys. To modify our values, beliefs, assumptions, and habits that have been set for years or decades is a difficult, but not impossible task.

 

First we must recognize that a state of physical wellness is extremely important to us. Because no matter what we do, brain or physical work, we must first be energetically active. When we are in good shape, our confidence goes up and helps us battle challenges in life. Then we must examine what causes and effects we believe in that can lead to the desirable or regrettable state. If we are overweight, we must examine why we accumulate more than we expend, or why our caloric input and output fall out of balance. Is it because we eat too much (input)? If yes, is it because of a lack of satiety that leads to frequent food intake, or is it because of emotional eating that upsets the balance? Is it a lack of activity and exercise (output)? If our being overweight is compounded with other observable concerns, like the metabolic syndrome which is now prevalent and comprises central obesity, low glucose tolerance, high blood pressure, high blood triglycerides, and high LDL-cholesterol, we must question the quality and quantity of our food intake and our sleep and exercise habits, and take corresponding corrective measures.

 

Habits are tough. We do them without thinking. If we habitually grab a pack of fatty snacks or sugary drink in the visible and reachable vicinity and have an uncontrollable urge to finish it in one go, we must keep it out of visible reach. That forces us to "think" and "work" before we eat or drink, and gives us a chance to break the habit, or to develop a new habit of not reaching for food when we are not hungry, or drinking water or tea in place of sugary drinks when we are thirsty. If we are habitual emotional eaters, we must develop the new habit of eating only when we actually feel hungry. The new habit will fill the vacuum once we kick the old habit. But the new habit requires discipline to take root and needs help from our consciously choosing the right foods and drinks, not only to deal with hunger and calorie control, but also to avoid undesirable surges and dips in blood sugar and insulin that encourages fat deposits and inflammatory damages to blood vessels. If you cannot wean off from emotional eating immediately, at least choose to avoid foods and drinks high in glycemic index (GI), fat (particularly trans and saturated fats), sugar, and calories. Our refrigerator and pantry should contain the right kinds of foods and drinks only. Even in today's hostile food macro-environment, you can still actively manage your food micro-environment and gradually adapt to that new environment. In modern affluent societies, the challenge is no longer managing deficiency, but over-indulgence from inexpensive over-abundance. And under conditions not conducive to famines, our over-million-year-old fat genes are no longer assets in fighting food shortage, but have become liabilities that can precipitate fat accumulation. Because food brings life's prime enjoyment, it is in your best interest to choose wisely.

 

We do not need to use drugs to control hunger pangs if we know how to manage hunger by choosing satisfying foods. In scientific studies, foods of low glycemic index (low GI) are known to be more satisfying, especially high-protein ones. For example, if you feel the need to snack on something, you may choose a handful of nuts, like cashews (GI of 22) or peanuts (GI of 14). That will keep you satisfied and the hunger pangs away for an extended period. Of course, if you are uncomfortable with the high energy density of nuts, or not confident yet that you can stop at just a handful, you can always try the 33 tasty flavors of Soy-n-Joy's high-protein, low-glycemic, low-fat, low-calorie, organic tofu "ice cream" or soy milkshake to tide you over till the next meal, or even for meal replacement. You will find the organic tofu vegan "ice cream" very satisfying, taste-wise, nutrition-wise, calorie-wise and satiety-wise. And you can feel good about yourself for having made a smart, sensible choice to include organic soy for your health enhancement. No wonder, Soy-n-Joy naturally stands for "An Enjoyable Lifestyle for Your Better Tomorrow!"

 

In choosing low-GI foods, we do not need to memorize the table of food glycemic index. We just need to remember the kinds of high-glycemic foods that we normally should be consuming less, or balance them out with low-glycemic foods in a meal to minimize overall glycemic impact. For example, rice in a porridge is high-glycemic, but we can balance it by boiling medium-GI long-grain rice with barley (GI of 22) to make a low-glycemic tasty porridge of high satiety. Similarly, high-fiber oatmeal cookies are better than ordinary cookies prepared from regular flour. If you treat the GI satiety effect as an assumption, you can verify its truthfulness by testing it on yourself. Some rules of thumb in managing the glycemic index (GI) of your food intake: the finer the food, the more it is cooked, or the less fibrous it is, the higher the GI for the same food. In this regard, eating a whole fruit is better than just drinking the juice minus the fiber. And nutritional common sense should prevail in your choice of foods. High-GI foods and drinks are still acceptable if we are building up or replenishing carbohydrate reserves before or after strenuous exercise. And if through the market of nutritional information you have come to accept that trans fat is harmful and saturated fat is not good for you, it will not make sense to choose foods high in such, even if they happen to be of low-GI. Common sense also tells us that medium-to-low-GI fruits and vegetables are a much better bet, not only for the GI attribute, but also for the fibers, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. You also need a sufficient but not excessive quantity of high-quality protein, such as provided by whole-soy (unless you are allergic to soy), for growth and maintenance need. A balanced medium-to-low-GI choice based on common sense is best conducive to optimal wellness.

 

Even with the best dietary habits, you still need good habits of sleep and exercise to achieve a balanced state of energetic wellness. Listen to your body to understand your natural sleep cycle. Only if we sleep well can we recover from a full day's activities and be energized again to handle the next day's challenges. And if you care about your bodyweight, there is another reason to try to sleep well at night. Research has shown that people who sleep fewer than seven hours secrete less leptin, the appetite-suppressing hormone, and secrete more ghrelin, the appetite-stimulating hormone. People who sleep four hours or less are the people who gain the most weight. Even though their basal metabolic rate is lowest when they are asleep, and hence they burn more calories during the longer waking hours, their appetite surge more than compensates for the calories burnt and leads to bodyweight gain. And do develop a good habit of regular exercise, not only to help you burn off extra calories, but also to increase your good HDL-cholesterol, and to tone up your muscles to facilitate the uptake of glucose from the blood stream. That helps to manage the threat of metabolic syndrome, which can lead to the triple menace of obesity, type-2 diabetes, and heart disease. Start your exercise routine slowly, build it up gradually, and turn it into a daily habit, like walking or running with your pet. When close to one-third of American adults now have metabolic syndrome, we cannot afford not to develop good habits. And a good habit, once established, is built to last. A regular runner's legs will "itch" if he/she stops running even for just a day, but can restore that balance by running again. Forming good habits is simple, actionable wellness strategy, no matter what you set out to do in life. That sense of direction for a meaningful life, of course, is yours to discover.

 

 

*The Chinese phrase "jian kang" (健康) meaning wellness is composed of two words. The first word means being fit and energetic, representing the desired physical state, and the second word means being peaceful and balanced, representing the desired mental state.