How to maintain your resilience with good health

Maintaining good health is essential for resilience. The five components to staying fit and healthy are diet, hydration, rest, exercise, and mental health. A balanced diet with quality food is important, and hydration is crucial to avoid dehydration. Getting enough sleep and rest is necessary for recovery. Strength training and cardiovascular exercise are beneficial for overall fitness. Monitoring body composition and seeking mental health support are also important. Investing a few hours each week in health and fitness can greatly enhance resilience. Hello, Jeremy Deacke here and welcome to the Insight Post for the 6th of December 2023 How to Maintain Your Resilience with Good Health. Your health is central to your resilience. Now, I'm not a doctor, but I know my health directly impacts my ability to deal with the ups and downs of life. I've worked out that there are actually five components to staying fit and healthy. As I said, I'm not a doctor and this is my personal experience, so the usual warnings apply. Consult your medical advisor before changing your health and fitness regime, especially if you have an existing condition. My approach may be amateurish, but it has kept me moving and capable for many years. It's only two years ago that I completed my last half marathon and my sound health has helped me carry on working and playing into my late 60s. Your health and fitness data is readily measurable today and improves your ability to manage your health. Diet. The key to a good diet is food quality rather than quantity. Health professionals recommend 50% carbohydrates, 30% fat and 20% protein. Calorie counting does not get good press because food manufacturers are allowed a significant margin of error in their food labelling. However, apps such as MyFitnessPal enable you to get a reasonable idea of your nutrition breakdown using data from food labels. Hydration. Around 60% of the human body is water, so even mild dehydration of 1-2% causes headaches, loss of concentration, tiredness and reduced athletic performance. We naturally lose around 2-3 litres of water per day, so it is vital to replace this to maintain resilience. However, too much water can also be dangerous, your kidneys cannot eliminate the excess and sodium salt levels become diluted, which can be life threatening. Rest. Your body recovers during sleep and a good night's sleep is essential. Again, quality is more important than quantity. Get 8 hours of sleep interrupted by light, noise and the phone, your pet and you will probably wake up exhausted, whilst 6 hours of sound sleep will likely enhance your ability to deal with life on a day-to-day basis. And you need to rest after an activity. Your body gains fitness during post-activity rest rather than during the activity itself. Inactivity leads to a range of resilience-eroding conditions, hence the 10,000 steps advice. In contrast, strength training turns fat into muscle and leaves you feeling healthier. You don't have to go to the gym. Get in the habit of around 20 minutes of strength training, push-ups, sit-ups, the plank, etc. 3 or 4 times a week at home. Cardiovascular exercise helps keep your heart and circulation in good shape. Walking, running, cycling and swimming are all excellent CV exercises. Some sports, such as rowing, combine the benefits of strength training and CV exercise. Rowing is low-impact and probably better for your joints than high-impact exercises, such as running. Health professionals recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous activity weekly. Body composition, instinct or gut feeling is no substitute for accurate data. Body composition scales will give you valuable weight, body fat, muscle quality, hydration and more data. Similarly, pinprick blood tests are standard these days and can tell much about the invisible stuff inside you. Mental health. Your mental health is as important as your physical health. I do not profess to be qualified in any way to talk about mental health and its impact on resilience. However, I do know that a walk, preferably in natural surroundings, can do wonders to dispel feelings of anxiety and sadness. In summary, build a couple of hours weekly into your schedule for your health and fitness and significantly improve your resilience.