Thrive not Survive

Thrive not just survive

Local professional acupuncturist Marianne Killick has been working with women for over a decade helping them transform their health, not only using acupuncture, but with Lifestyle Medicine, supporting women through health behaviour change. Also now a certified Women’s Health Coach, Marianne feels strongly that all women should be empowered to not just survive their way through life, but to thrive. Through years of seeing women at all stages of their lives, Marianne has noted some common issues that prevent women from being able to prioritise their own health and well-being. In an effort to reach a wider audience Marianne has now written a book, Put Yourself First - A busy woman’s guide to thriving NOT surviving. Here are some top tips from her book to start thinking about. Are you ready to put yourself first?

Drop the guilt: it’s not selfish to look after yourself! Too many women spend years if not decades serving the needs of others, be it their husband, children, elderly relatives. They prioritise everyone else to the point their own needs come last. Taking time to relax, making time to get to that exercise class, saying no to things you don’t really need to take on: it’s not selfish, it’s self-care. If you come last the whole time, your health suffers. You end up hormonally out of balance through stress, exhausted and burnt out. Symptoms around the menopause can be worse, and fertility can suffer. As you get older, aches and pains are more likely to creep in, and you’ll end up feeling as if you are dragging your way through life. Marianne says, ‘You cannot pour from an empty cup. If you come last all the time, eventually something has to give, and it’s usually your health. It doesn’t have to be this way.’

Prioritise sleep: sleep really is the cornerstone of good health. New research shows that when we are in deep sleep our brain is actually ‘washed’ with fluid that clears away toxins. Sleep helps us repair injury and inflammation, it keeps our brain healthy. It helps regulate our stress levels and our blood sugar. Sleep supports good mood, mental health and hormonal balance. Whilst some people do struggle to get to sleep or stay asleep, a big problem is that many people just don’t spend enough time in bed! Marianne says, ‘To get seven hours of sleep you actually need to be in bed for eight hours, as it’s normal to take some time to drop off and rouse a little during the night. Work out what time you need to be up and make sure you are in bed, lights out, at a time that is eight hours before you need to be up.’ Eat real food: too much of what we eat is highly processed and chemical laden. Our bodies were simply not designed to profess this stuff. Worse, they lack the essential nutrients our bodies need to function well. The research into what we eat and how it affects our gut bacteria is mind-blowing. We are discovering that more and more conditions are influenced by our gut, so if you fill it with rubbish and chemicals it stands to reason it won’t be well. Our gut health and our blood sugar have a direct impact on our hormonal health too and on the quality of our eggs, and conditions like endometriosis, PCOS, menopausal symptoms, our mood and mental health, even things like MS and Parkinson’s. For good health, we need to be having ten portions of veg a day. If that seems a lot, start focusing on one meal at a time as to how you can have three portions with it. There’s lots of tips on this in my book.

Move: we sit all the time. In our cars, at our desks, on our sofas. Some bust out an hour at the gym here and there, but it’s not enough to undo the damage of not moving. For health, we should be on the go much of the day, but not just the same forward facing walking movement, we need to mix it up. Our bodies were designed to move and stretch and reach and lean and hop and bounce and wriggle. Not just move forwards and sit down. This diversity of movement is what keeps our joints healthy over the decades; it supports heart health as each muscle helps pump our blood. It supports hormonal balance and especially in the menopausal years, and it supports our mood. Get boogying in the kitchen, dance, monkey around. Your body will thank you.

Drink: when was the last time you checked what colour your wee was? If you are drinking enough it’s like water with a hint of yellow. Any darker and you need to up your game. Being well hydrated helps mental clarity, helps with bloating, keeps muscles less prone to tightness and injury. Ditch fizzy drinks, they are bad for you, either laden with sugar or the diet drinks contain sweeteners and chemicals bad for gut health. As for alcohol, for hormones, it’s no help at all. You can read more about why in my book.

Take time to unwind. These days we are always on the go; we live in a state of permanent low grade stress. We are bombarded with images from the television or our phones; we have crazy schedules and obligations. Many people have lost the ability actually to switch off. Taking time each day to just sit and let your mind wander is important. Making the effort to do something that actively puts us into a state of relaxation is now super important to help us re-set. This is where meditation, mindfulness or an absorbing hobby come in. If we are permanently a bit stressed it has a huge impact on our hormonal balance

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