The Health Jigsaw

I remember once, doing a jigsaw of an alpine scene full of different colours of lupins, but actually, they were all shades of purples mauves and pinks, with lots of snowy peaks and clear blue sky. The way I tackled this was to look for the corners and the straight bits to put the picture together.

Most people, I think, look for the straight edges and corners first. Of course, there are different ways of doing jigsaws, but for me, this method helps to provide a framework to sort out what is often a complex picture.

The whole thing about health also appears to be quite a complex thing. With many different approaches, some of which are helpful and others are downright misleading; so when I look at health in its broadest context, as it applies to me, I think of putting together the “health jigsaw”.

So if we want to start a jigsaw that represents the conundrum that is health where does one start?

Lets try putting the jigsaw together – here are my suggestions for corners:

• Keep It Simple:

I know one of my greatest strengths is detail. But it’s also one of my greatest weaknesses in that I find it so easy to overcomplicate things. For a health programme of any sort to succeed in the long term, it’s best to keep it simple.

• Ignore Media Headlines:

How often do you read a headline in a newspaper, on a website, or in a magazine and then find the content bears little resemblance to the promise of something really newsworthy or groundbreaking or even scandalous.

It’s often the same with health issues, whether it’s an innovative health procedure, a groundbreaking diet plan or a dead easy exercise programme?

Headlines can be misleading.

• One Size Does Not Necessarily Fit All

I like the maxim that everybody’s body is different. Although there are a number of basics in any health plan that are the same for every body there are also nuances or variations to suit age, gender, physique, current fitness and even desired outcomes.

That’s why the “Health Jigsaw”, with its broad framework is a fresh non-prescriptive approach to health and wellness.

• Eat Real Food Whenever Possible

Maybe I’m fortunate in that I was brought up in an age of austerity (1950’s England) when people valued their veg patch more than their immaculate lawns or even the flower bed. Fresh food was relatively easy to come by and the packaged tv dinner was unheard of – after all we didn’t have television until 1959.

I have a passion for eating minimally processed food and, even if I don’t grow as much as my parents did, I seek out fresh produce and endeavour to cook from scratch. There are so many simple but nutritious ways of eating that take less time than you think.

My ebook “The Health Jigsaw”, which looks at these jigsaw corners from a health perspective in greater detail will soon be available as a free download.