Ask Aunt B

Dear Aunt B,

How do you know if you are healthy? I feel pretty good, but I am tired most days. I am not sure I sleep very well. Should I worry about my health? I am young.

Little Worried

Dear Little Worried,

First thing, make an appointment with a healthcare provider. There is really no way to know your health without some basic information that you would get from an appointment with a physician. It may seem silly, if you don’t think you have a medical complaint, but tired most of the time and not sleeping well is a medical complaint.

Even without these complaints, it is good to get a baseline of your health parameters and laboratory tests to understand your body better.

Your health is the most important thing you have. There are many things you can do and should do to improve your health. The main ones that come to my mind are sleep, healthy eating, drink filtered water, move your body, and do some form of relaxation.

Sleep is so important and often underrated. There are sleep disorders like sleep apnea that are very dangerous and would be robbing you of sleep even if you are getting the hours you need. This is something that your physician can help you explore. There are different opinions on how much sleep you need. The average that I have seen mentioned is 7-9 hours for an adult. This varies widely from person to person.

Again, lots of opinions on what constitutes healthy eating. Your physician can help you with this as well. The many different food plans that are so popular today can be healthy for some body types and not others. Generally, good proteins, vegetables, fruits, good fats, and healthy grains work for most of us.

Drink good clean water. It is one of my super powers. I drink one half of my body weight in ounces of water every day. This again should be discussed with your physician. Water means water, not sodas or energy drinks.

Move your body. Walking is the absolute best. It doesn’t have to be fancy workouts and you don’t have to go to the gym. Start with just moving. Again, get cleared by your physician.

Relaxation comes in with good breathing. Prayer and meditation can be very relaxing for many people.

If your weight is not in the ideal range, it would be a good idea to start working on this. If you have extra weight on your frame, it can really add to your fatigue. Go to the grocery store and pick up a ten pound bag of sugar and just walk around the store for a short time. Then imagine carrying that much weight around all day. Wears you out, doesn’t it?

Small steps to improve your health really add up over time. Go get a good check up and then start making some healthy changes to your lifestyle. You will be glad you did.

Love, Aunt B

If you would like to send Aunt B a question please email your question to news@ forneymessenger.com.