The Greatest Wealth is Health

The greatest wealth is health. — Virgil

You’ve heard of health and wellness and probably are trying to do something to help yours, right? But what really is health and wellness? Are they the same or different? And how do you even work on improving yours? As a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, I am often asked these questions.

Wellness is a term that people talk about – it’s a lifelong journey of dedication and commitment to make positive lifestyle choices. It is multidimensional including various aspects such as physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual, intellectual, financial, occupational, and environmental. True wellness is achieving a balance between the different dimensions and maintaining that balance through healthy lifestyle choices.

Health and wellness are a continuum. At one end you have optimal wellness and at the opposite end you have disease and premature death. In between you have a variety of things like being aware, not being aware, beginning stages of poor health, latter stages of poor health, making good healthy lifestyle choices, making poor choices, early signs of disease, being diagnosed with chronic diseases, etc. And how you choose really does make a difference in how you end up as you age. Wellness is the hard work you put in to be healthy. You cannot achieve health without wellness. Health is the goal, and wellness is the active process of achieving it.

What does Wellness include?

• Physical wellness: Exercise, nutrition, sleep, and preventive healthcare, beauty care
• Mental wellness: Stress management, emotional regulation, and cognitive health
• Social wellness: Building and maintaining healthy relationships, joining organizations, churches, clubs, community groups, volunteering
• Spiritual wellness: Finding meaning and purpose in life, growing in our faith, interacting with others in Bible study groups
• Environmental wellness: Helping to maintain a healthy environment such as enjoying nature and outdoors, picking up trash, using farmer’s markets, donating unwanted clothing
• Occupational wellness: Finding fulfillment and balance in our work live, volunteering
• Intellectual – lifelong learning and curiosity, engaging in creative and mentally-stimulating activities; hobbies to expand your knowledge and skills so you can share with others, includes traveling, reading, taking classes, researching
• Financial wellness – managing money, income and expenses, savings, budgeting

Remember, wellness is not about perfection – it’s about making consistent, small choices that add up to significant improvements over time. Commit to treating yourself with kindness and compassion while celebrating each small step towards better health and wellness.

Now let’s focus on one of the pillars of wellness – physical health and wellness. What is it? What does it include? Is it just diet and exercise? NO! So keep reading.

What is Physical Health and Wellness?

Physical wellness is a state that allows us to do everyday activities without disease, fatigue, or physical stress, focusing on preventative measures we can control.  It involves self-care for your body’s needs including these dimensions:

• Exercise – the right amount for yourself right now depending on your medical conditions, age, gender, climate, etc. Figuring out how to incorporate activity into everyday life and it also provides fun and joy in life, doing both Cardio and strength lifting – even women over 45 need to lift small weights to help maintain muscle mass
• Nutrition – learning and establishing dietary habits that work best for you and knowing what foods provide health to both your body and mind and that help you maintain a healthy weight, taking supplements as needed; whole real foods – protein, complex carbs not refined like pasta and breads, I’m talking veggies and fruit, healthy fats, fiber; foods with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants
• Sleep – learning good sleep habits so you get adequate sleep. Usually 7 – 8 hours a night; If you wake up at the same time in the morning without an alarm, that usually means you are sleeping adequately for your own body; going to bed at same time, turning off electronics 30 min to an hour before, listening to music or white noise to help you calm down before bed, reading a book or Bible
• Stress – high stress can cause physical health issues; if you always have a stomachache, headache, or anxiety, then you need to figure out why. You might need to seek counselor because it’s not helpful for your physical body or your mind
• Personal hygiene
• Avoiding harmful behaviors like smoking, substance abuse, unnecessary injury
• Beauty care – using non-toxic makeup, skin care, perfume, and soap
• Education about health – learning how to maintain adequate weight, blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels; how to prevent disease and illness and learning about treatment options. It’s your personal responsibility to understand your own body’s warning signs (symptoms) to let you know when you are ill and when you need to seek outside help.
• Medical care – advocating for yourself how you want to handle your care, treat illness, or what to do to prevent disease because there are numerous different ways
• Developing healthy habits – to help you live as long as you can while fulfilling the purposes and potential God wants for you.

When we take care of our physical health and wellness, the benefits are numerous.

What are the Benefits of Physical Health and Wellness?

Helps prevent illnesses, both acute and chronic, or decreases the length and severity

Promotes a longer lifespan

Reduces stress and depression, boosts mood, boosts confidence

Helps maintain appropriate weight

Being healthy physically carries over into other areas of wellness such as mental and emotional health, relationships, spiritual health, our jobs and how we view our jobs and challenges in life.

When we choose to eat nutrient dense and healthy foods, usually we maintain a healthy weight, are more active into later years, have less back and joint issues, have a decreased risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes type 2, and obesity.

Remember, wellness is not about perfection – it’s about making consistent, small choices that add up to significant improvements over time. You don’t have to change everything in one day or even one month.

I always tell you and my clients to not overwhelm yourselves by starting everything new today. Why? When overwhelmed, our human brain can handle it maybe a month, but then we revert to old habits because it’s easier and more comfortable. In order to change, it has to be gradual.

So pick one aspect in physical health this week and then pick one small step to work on. What are you going to do?

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Feel overwhelmed in your health journey? Tired of not feeling better? Feel like giving up? If you’re a women over 40 and having digestive symptoms, weight and hormonal problems, or autoimmune conditions, you’re not alone. Many of my clients (and myself sometimes, if I’m honest) often feel this way. But usually it’s because we think we “have to” change everything overnight.

But success in our health journey happens when we make small daily changes – one tiny step at a time. So if that’s how you’ve been feeling, just know I understand. And today simply make one tiny, itsy bitsy step. You’ll be surprised how that really does help! And this is one thing I do with clients – help them figure out how to break down those big goals into small steps to decrease symptoms. I’d love to help you, too. Click here to schedule a free consult to see how we can work together. — Leah Cheshire, NBC-HWC