Hey, how's your health?

The most impactful things I have ever done for my health.

"Hey, how’s your health?" my friend asked as I approached him, someone I hadn’t seen in months. We both laughed at how this had become an "alternative" greeting, replacing the usual "hey, how are you?". It was a sign that we were coming to terms with the fact that our invincible 20s were behind us.

And not just us. Our parents and loved ones, too. In the last 12 months alone, I’ve accompanied different people to the ER over 5 times. The waiting room is unfortunately, has become all too familiar to me.

My year of health

After a very serious case of eczema and skin infections during COVID-19 (as a result of diet, stress and lifestyle), I knew I had to properly take care of myself. And so, health has became my number one priority this year.

I have a completely separate (and generous) budget just so I don’t skimp out on anything health-related: prescription medication, specialist appointments, therapy, exercise classes and more. I was determined to build great habits this year and sustain them when I found my next role.

There were three areas areas I wanted to focus on:

• Exercise: continue to exercise 3 - 5 times a week, ideally learning something new along the way.

• Food: focus on having nutritious meals most of the week.

• Chronic health: as a lifelong eczema sufferer, I wanted to spend the time and energy understand my triggers and reduce my flare-ups as much as I could.

After about 10 months of focusing on these areas, I’m pretty proud to say I’m the healthiest I have ever been; both mentally and physically. 😊

Exercise

If you had told me three years ago that I would be exercising five days a week, I would have said that’s impossible. I despised the gym and running, and even my attempts with ClassPass were short-lived. It took me a while to realise that exercise needed to be enjoyable for me. When it’s fun, it becomes something I want to continuously do. And, as a bonus, I’m becoming healthier while doing it.

Social sport 🏸

One of the unexpected gifts of COVID-19 was badminton. It rekindled my childhood love for sports. It’s physically and mentally stimulating, and it’s a great sport for everyone, regardless of gender. The fast paced nature of it means I have to fully be present and concentrate on the game — something I needed after a long day at work.

But most importantly, badminton introduced me to some amazing friends. It has become a ritual to exercise together, eat and then just chat about life for hours. It’s genuinely something I look forward to every single week, not just because of the sport, but also the people.

Aligning to your values ✨

One of my core values is curiosity — I love to learn. So what if I do something that happens to be an exercise, but also makes me feel like I am constantly learning? That gives the activity a whole other purpose.

For me, that activity is swimming. I’ve been doing swim classes for the last 10 weeks. Every week, I learn something new — a new part of the stroke I need to focus on more. Just this week, I finally swam 50m non-stop!

This can apply to different values too! For example, I love appreciating the small things in life. Going on walks allows me to do that. If you’re someone who loves to measure your progress and achievements, then maybe weightlifting and/or running could be perfect for you. If you value mindfulness, do yoga.

Food

I have two bad eating habits:

1. I eat when I am stressed; my body automatically heads to the pantry and I don’t even know what I ate or what it tasted it like. I just see an empty packet of chocolates in front of me, minutes later.

2. I overeat because I have been told since childhood to not waste food. It’s a great concept, but it’s tough when restaurant portions tend to be bigger than what I really need.

Both of these things contributed to me eating more than I needed, but more importantly, having effects on my mood and concentration. When I came across mindful eating, it changed the way I eat completely:

Mindful eating (i.e., paying attention to our food, on purpose, moment by moment, without judgment) is an approach to food that focuses on individuals’ sensual awareness of the food and their experience of the food. It has little to do with calories, carbohydrates, fat, or protein. The purpose of mindful eating is not to lose weight, although it is highly likely that those who adopt this style of eating will lose weight. The intention is to help individuals savour the moment and the food and encourage their full presence for the eating experience.

It allowed me to enjoy food more and understand whether I was actually full. It also allowed me to be more intentional with my cravings — if I actually want to eat McDonald’s, I will, but most of the time I don’t actually want it. Stress makes us make decisions that we tend to regret later.

You can read more about Mindful Eating here.

Eczema and Immune System Management

Although this may not be the most relatable category, I am sure some of you might have a chronic illness you’re managing. My eczema has always been an excellent litmus test of all areas of my health. If I exercise well, eat well and stress less, then my eczema is relatively manageable. If not, then you will see it immediately on my skin (before my brain even recognises it).

Staying hopeful 💜

In the last few years, eczema sufferers have a lot more options than before to manage their eczema. One of them was taking medication (an injection every 2 weeks or immunosuppressant pills). To me, that was the last resort — I really didn’t want to take medication.

So I decided to try “fix” my eczema through exercise, diet, mindfulness and lifestyle. But it was still here. I always felt like another huge flare-up was just around the corner. It was frustrating that when I sweat (which I do… because of exercise), it makes my eczema so much worse. But I know if I don’t exercise, it will flare up regardless.

It felt like a losing battle. So, I almost gave up. Perhaps this is something I will have for the rest of my life: to be constantly itchy and be careful of everything I touch, eat or care about, and not feel beautiful in my skin.

But something my dermatologist said to me stuck with me for a while: “I really think you’re underestimating the pain and itch you go through every day. You just don’t know what it’s like to not have to think about that.” And so, I made the decision to give the medication a try.

Me at my worst vs me now :D

It’s only been 2 months, but it’s been life-changing.

It’s not even about how clear my skin is (although that’s a massive perk). It’s the fact that I no longer feel itchy anymore — I don’t have to have awful flare-ups after I exercise; I don’t want up the middle of the night, frustrated at how itchy I am; I don’t have bruises on my legs everywhere; I don’t feel bloated or swollen all the time anymore; I can now breathe with my nostrils (it somehow cured most of my hay-fever). I genuinely feel like I have a decent immune system now.

So, how’s your health?

We all know that “health is wealth” and that health should be more important than anything else, but it’s easier said than done. After all, it took me a year of not working to finally focus on the things I’ve been putting off.

Let me tell you though, it’s been worth every penny. I feel ready to tackle anything. Hopefully this is a helpful reminder for all of you out there, to check-in with yourself and prioritise some of those health things you’ve been delaying.

A couple of questions to help you get started:

1. What’s a health-related thing you’ve been delaying that you’d like to focus on?

2. What’s the best investment in your health you have ever made?

Leave a comment below or reply to my e-mail, I’d love to hear your answers!