Doc, these lessons have been phenomenal. I enjoyed every one of them. You have such an uplifting and smart approach to health and wellness.
And you are right about America - it’s on the whole lousy for walking. The community planners just aren’t making most places walkable. Add that to the typical American diet, and you really have a crisis on your hands. Why do I live here again? Lol
I agree with you. Walkability scores are in the toilet for modern cities. I live in a Canadian suburb and I can't get anywhere worthwhile on foot without taking half a day. Cities are so poorly developed.
So crazy, right? In Costa Rica, where my family is from, there's no walkability access or a big walking mindset. Poor public transports, safety issues, and sometimes the heavy tropical rains, won't help. But in recent years it has become more of a thing to go hiking on the weekends and do more of outdoorsy stuff in the city, particularly since Pandemic, so at least there's that. I want to believe that consciousness on all these topics is opening up. Let's keep up the work!
Thank you Amy! I'm so glad that my approach feels easy and uplifting. It's definitely always been my aim to make health feel this way for people to understand they can actually embrace their own health journey. Of course doctors will be there when needed in hospitals and clinics, but if we can prevent, it's definitely team work from where I see it. :)
And yes, I'm from Latin America, yet I've spent a third of my life in Europe and the difference is huge. Latin America can be quite dependent on cars too, just like in the US. And as you say, diet awareness doesn't help either. But I do believe that little by little, all this knowledge can fall into everyone's lap to help them improve the basics. That's the Feel Good work for sure. ;)
In honor of the last lesson, I wanted to tell you what a treat this has been! You’re so talented at using storytelling to encourage positive, bite-size changes. (I think the healthcare profession would have more impact when it comes to prevention if more doctors were such excellent writers and communicators!)
Also, I’d never known that hydration and stress resilience were linked until now. It was the motivation I needed to consistently get more water...and I’ve noticed concrete changes since I started. Thanks for the education!
After a year of chronically elevated stress, I started noticing that my heartbeat felt noticeably elevated/fluttery. (Obviously asked my doctor about this and ruled out any bigger issues!) Reducing stressors helped, but drinking more water seemed to help as much or more!
That's amazing, yes. And I'm so glad you took all the right steps to deal with what you were feeling, and that you can now have these new tools to help you even more. Team work! 💪🏻
Thank you so much, Maddie!!!! This means everything. Knowing that my writing is reaping these effects is the best news for me! Specially because of what you say about how great it'd be if all healthcare professionals had the time and tools to teach and express in this way (or simply in better ways). Hence why I'm committed to this work, both for readers and also my colleagues through the Foundation that I'm building.)
I'm thrilled to hear you're already seeing results too! Everything is connected, yes. The body is one truly amazing machine and everything connects. Is quite magical when you start joining all the dots!
Thank you so much for being here. To more courses and more health writing!
I appreciate your recognition of the challenges individuals face in making lifestyle changes and the acknowledgment that trying new things can be difficult. Its a good advice to start with small, manageable adjustments and gradually build up is a realistic and effective approach.
Looking forward to more insights from The Feel Good Life!
Thank you Winston! Yes, it's amazing when you can see the smaller steps that can be done and apply them to the routine. Suddenly the perspective changes and feels more doable. Prevention is everything, I will always abide by it. Thanks for reading and for being here!
I desperately miss the days when I used to clock 20,000 steps as a normal day. Between my dog and my job (in a restaurant) that's how much I walked daily.
When I tore my MCL in June everything stopped, I put on 20 lbs, and then got let go from the job while I was on injury leave.
Now a good day is barely 10,000 steps. It's been a very slow recovery but I'm determined to get back to my normal, lose this weight, and get my knee to 100%.
Oh Kristi, I hear you, that's tough! I hope you've been recovering nicely despite the setbacks...it's definitely not only a physical hit but an emotional one too! Have you been able to get some guidance/checkups on your MLC tore since? To help you regain mobility so you can start moving bits by bits again? I'm sure you can recover yes! If there's anything I can help with in a preventative way or guidance, please do let me know. Hugs!
Thanks Mariana. Yes, I've been in physiotherapy for months now and it has been really good for recovery. I'm at about 90% now. Just can't do super deep bending yet but every day is progress!
Doc, these lessons have been phenomenal. I enjoyed every one of them. You have such an uplifting and smart approach to health and wellness.
And you are right about America - it’s on the whole lousy for walking. The community planners just aren’t making most places walkable. Add that to the typical American diet, and you really have a crisis on your hands. Why do I live here again? Lol
I agree with you. Walkability scores are in the toilet for modern cities. I live in a Canadian suburb and I can't get anywhere worthwhile on foot without taking half a day. Cities are so poorly developed.
So crazy, right? In Costa Rica, where my family is from, there's no walkability access or a big walking mindset. Poor public transports, safety issues, and sometimes the heavy tropical rains, won't help. But in recent years it has become more of a thing to go hiking on the weekends and do more of outdoorsy stuff in the city, particularly since Pandemic, so at least there's that. I want to believe that consciousness on all these topics is opening up. Let's keep up the work!
Thank you Amy! I'm so glad that my approach feels easy and uplifting. It's definitely always been my aim to make health feel this way for people to understand they can actually embrace their own health journey. Of course doctors will be there when needed in hospitals and clinics, but if we can prevent, it's definitely team work from where I see it. :)
And yes, I'm from Latin America, yet I've spent a third of my life in Europe and the difference is huge. Latin America can be quite dependent on cars too, just like in the US. And as you say, diet awareness doesn't help either. But I do believe that little by little, all this knowledge can fall into everyone's lap to help them improve the basics. That's the Feel Good work for sure. ;)
In honor of the last lesson, I wanted to tell you what a treat this has been! You’re so talented at using storytelling to encourage positive, bite-size changes. (I think the healthcare profession would have more impact when it comes to prevention if more doctors were such excellent writers and communicators!)
Also, I’d never known that hydration and stress resilience were linked until now. It was the motivation I needed to consistently get more water...and I’ve noticed concrete changes since I started. Thanks for the education!
I'm curious about what changes have you started noticing since increasing your water intake? :)
After a year of chronically elevated stress, I started noticing that my heartbeat felt noticeably elevated/fluttery. (Obviously asked my doctor about this and ruled out any bigger issues!) Reducing stressors helped, but drinking more water seemed to help as much or more!
That's amazing, yes. And I'm so glad you took all the right steps to deal with what you were feeling, and that you can now have these new tools to help you even more. Team work! 💪🏻
Teamwork for sure. 🤗 Thanks for adding another tool to my own toolbox, Doc!
My pleasure! ✨
Thank you so much, Maddie!!!! This means everything. Knowing that my writing is reaping these effects is the best news for me! Specially because of what you say about how great it'd be if all healthcare professionals had the time and tools to teach and express in this way (or simply in better ways). Hence why I'm committed to this work, both for readers and also my colleagues through the Foundation that I'm building.)
I'm thrilled to hear you're already seeing results too! Everything is connected, yes. The body is one truly amazing machine and everything connects. Is quite magical when you start joining all the dots!
Thank you so much for being here. To more courses and more health writing!
I appreciate your recognition of the challenges individuals face in making lifestyle changes and the acknowledgment that trying new things can be difficult. Its a good advice to start with small, manageable adjustments and gradually build up is a realistic and effective approach.
Looking forward to more insights from The Feel Good Life!
Thank you Winston! Yes, it's amazing when you can see the smaller steps that can be done and apply them to the routine. Suddenly the perspective changes and feels more doable. Prevention is everything, I will always abide by it. Thanks for reading and for being here!
I desperately miss the days when I used to clock 20,000 steps as a normal day. Between my dog and my job (in a restaurant) that's how much I walked daily.
When I tore my MCL in June everything stopped, I put on 20 lbs, and then got let go from the job while I was on injury leave.
Now a good day is barely 10,000 steps. It's been a very slow recovery but I'm determined to get back to my normal, lose this weight, and get my knee to 100%.
Oh Kristi, I hear you, that's tough! I hope you've been recovering nicely despite the setbacks...it's definitely not only a physical hit but an emotional one too! Have you been able to get some guidance/checkups on your MLC tore since? To help you regain mobility so you can start moving bits by bits again? I'm sure you can recover yes! If there's anything I can help with in a preventative way or guidance, please do let me know. Hugs!
Thanks Mariana. Yes, I've been in physiotherapy for months now and it has been really good for recovery. I'm at about 90% now. Just can't do super deep bending yet but every day is progress!
Fantastic! You'll be in a 100% in no time, and then it's only a matter of getting rolling with it again. Yay, I'm so glad.
Thanks for the restack @Brian M. Ross! 😊
Thanks for re-sharing @OLR! 🥰