“Progress, not Perfection”. I like that saying, although I certainly didn’t make it up. But I can see how in many areas of life it can apply beautifully. I have usually seen it used in areas of weight loss, and making healthy changes in diet. And I think in terms of women’s hormones it can be a helpful tool.
In my practice I treat patients in many ways, using chiropractic, acupuncture, supplements, diet and lifestyle changes as well as Functional Medicine. I work with women to help them with natural hormone balancing. I love working with my women patients and I hope that I can be a positive force for change in their lives, and yet change needs to be attainable and sustainable.
“Progress, not perfection”………making changes in your health can sometimes be so overwhelming that you don’t do anything! Sometimes its because you don’t know what the right information is. Did you know that your body is a continual work in progress? Your body is a miracle of true perfection, and your cells turnover and create brand new cells continuously. Red blood cells become new again in about 4 months, your skin cells about a month, and your liver cells about 8 to 16 months. Adopting good health habits can truly create a “whole new you”!
How changing your perspective can help change your health……
- Can you moderate your behavior, or do you need to completely abstain? For example if you are giving up sugar can you allow yourself 1 square of 85% dark chocolate (low sugar and full of healthy anti-oxidants)? or do you eat the whole bar? for some women it is easier to give up an offending or trigger food than it is to try to have a little bit, so find what works best for you. I gained this perspective from an article I read that addressed this, and it makes perfect sense, we are not all the same
- Are you making positive diet changes that can help your hormones? For example, giving up white flour and white sugar products will help improve your health. These products contribute to weight gain, obesity, blood sugar problems including diabetes, fatigue, insomnia and basically any chronic disease. These products are nutritionally so bad that they also rob you of important vitamins and minerals that your body needs to function. So either start slowly to eliminate these foods, or go cold turkey if that suits your style, and track your progress by journaling food intake, You may be surprised to see in a few months you have made a healthy shift
- I have talked to many women who have given up on adopting healthier habits because they are not “perfect” with it. Heck, even I have done that myself, but even though changing your habits can be hard, when you look back a few months on where you started you may be amazed at the progress you have made. Stick with it and you will see more good days, with good habits, than bad days, with bad habits. Even Dr. Loren Cordain, who wrote the Paleo Diet and the Paleo Answer, talks about how much you can improve your health with a Paleo diet by being good with about 85% of your meals
What is “perfection” anyways? As women we are bombarded with non-stop images in advertising of the “perfect” body, the “perfect” weight, the “perfect” hair, the “perfect” skin, the “perfect” house…….Aren’t we all unique individuals? why would be want to be air brushed into an attainable image? Let’s make our health, and our selves, our best goal, that is true perfection…….
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