Look at your patterns = be healthy

People look for health information in news articles, they look at recommendations, track numbers, compare routines, and listen to what works for someone else.

Those things can be useful, but there is another source of information that is easy to overlook: your own patterns.

Becoming introspective will help you know more about yourself, your habits and patterns that impact your health than you may realize.

Perhaps you have noticed that your energy is better when you eat regularly.

Maybe you sleep differently when you exercise late at night or exercise vigorously versus walking along.

Maybe your mood improves when you spend time outside.

Maybe sitting for several hours leaves you feeling more uncomfortable or tired than you thought possible.

Perhaps some foods leave you feeling moody, tired or sluggish, but you never put two and two together before.

None of these observations need to become rules.

They are simply clues.

One of the most helpful things we can do for our health is become curious about those clues rather than judging them.

Instead of thinking, “I shouldn’t feel tired after that,” you can ask, “What might be contributing to this?”

That small change in perspective can make health feel much less like a test.

You don’t need to track every meal, every workout, every hour of sleep (I’m not a fan of tracking sleep), or every physical sensation.

In fact, constantly monitoring everything can become exhausting, but occasionally stepping back and noticing patterns can help you make better decisions.

This is particularly valuable because there is no universal formula for feeling your best. Two people can follow the same workout program and have completely different experiences. One person may thrive on early morning exercise while another feels much stronger later in the day. One person may need a quiet evening to recover while another feels better after a relaxed walk.

Learning your own patterns gives you something that a generic health recommendation can’t provide: context.

As October moves along, take a little time to notice rather than fix.

Pay attention to what seems to help your energy, sleep, mood, movement, and overall sense of well-being.

You don’t have to change everything you notice.

Sometimes simply understanding yourself better is already progress.