May Your Health be a Focus

Colleen Sholar, DOBy Dr. Colleen Sholar

Americans love a holiday so in that spirit May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, Older American’s Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, Arthritis Awareness Month, and includes National Women’s Health Week.
Americans often think of medicine as pill bottles, blood tests, and X-rays. But the monthly themes want to convey lifestyle as medicine. The American Academy of Lifestyle medicine encourages lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions and prevent future problems. The six pillars of lifestyle medicine are a whole-food; plant-predominant eating pattern; physical activity; restorative sleep; stress management; avoidance of risky substances and positive social connections. Sometimes we do need medications, tests, and imaging, but we can’t forget the basics.
A garden is a great work towards a healthier diet, though as my husband reminds me, adding squash and nuts to brownies does not make them healthier. Moderation is key, the fewer processed foods the better.
Spring is a great time to reevaluate our physical activity. For kids this means getting out of the house, playing outdoors or a sports team, but we do this less as adults and many adults report inactivity during the winter being “stuck” indoors. So, spring is a time to increase our activities with hiking, walking and physically active chores. I encourage people to come up with 3 activity routines; one that gets you outdoors, one that gets you active with friends or family; and one that you enjoy doing indoors by yourself (it’s going to be winter again, it’s going to get hot and smokey again). Choose 3 activities, get in a routine and you can always try something different!
Sleep, on the other hand, is often difficult in the spring/summer with our longer days. Stick to your sleep hygiene routines including bedtimes.
Do you need help writing your lifestyle prescription? Developing an action plan? Our team at Clearwater Valley Health hopes to help you on your journey to health and wellness.