Dr Anna Rolleston The Cardiac Clinic

With September comes spring. If you have been feeling blue, a bit ill or have been hibernating during the last few months, pull your socks up, soak in a pool of warm summer sun and start making plans.

Spring is a great time for plans; in nature, new beginnings are happening. The weather is getting warmer and we can venture outside a bit more than we might have done in the last little while. Plan for your health – change the mindset of only actively focusing on your health when you are not feeling 100 per cent. Remember, it is what you do every day that matters, not what you do sometimes.
Plan to not become sick in the first place. Plan to prevent the onset of fatigue and illness. If you have a family history of illness – for example heart disease, stroke or diabetes – plan to have these illnesses not be a part of your health future. Easier said than done, but making a plan of action is better than doing nothing.

Tips

Schedule in time for yourself each week for rest and relaxation – this is time where you do something that you enjoy. Something relaxing that removes you from the stresses that are a normal part of life. For example, find a warm spot in the house with sun streaming in and read a book. Take a walk along the beach. Have a picnic lunch with a friend. It is important your scheduled relaxation time does not include alcohol – this is time to just be.

Plan a regular health warrant of fitness with a health professional. This is especially important if you have a family history of disease. Catch it before it catches you. It's better to go and find there is nothing wrong with you then not go and discover the disease process has been developing within you for years.

Eat better

Don't go on a diet. Diets don't work. Simply eat better. Choose four or five nutrition areas to change and implement one every two weeks. Here is an example:

• Consciously increase the amount of green leafy vegetables you have every day
• Stop eating junk foods – chips/chocolate/lollies etcetera
• Reduce your caffeine intake and stop afternoon caffeine intake altogether
• Find a green tea that you enjoy and have a cup each day
• Buy less processed food – things that come in packets – buy a cookbook and start using real ingredients to prepare food

Exercise is also integral to this process, but it is never a good idea to change everything at once. Do one thing at a time. If it takes you six months to implement all your proposed changes – so be it. As long as when you make one change, it sticks before you make another. If it takes you six months or a year to get where you want to be in terms of your health – it is more likely to last than if you attempt to do some type of challenge or quick-fix diet. Plan for your health now – and enjoy the sunshine while you are doing it.