Insight into Health

I'm baaaack!

Hello to all of my origional subscribers and to the newbies on the list - most of you haven’t seen me in your inbox since 2022 😬….

To be completely transparent, when I first started this newsletter I was in the depths of a depression that had turned into axiety and was morphing into diagnosed OCD, so the processes of publishing a newsletter was fraught with an outsized level of stress that I just couldn’t manage. The good news is that I am now in a much better place and couldn’t be happier to be returning to this platform as a way to share my passion for all things health & wellness.

Speaking of health & wellness….I was recently invited to develop a speaker series for our AMAZING nonprofit community pool, Sonoma Splash and I was so inspired that I’m directing that energy into developing a discussion series titled,

Insight into Health - Beyond the WHAT, explore your WHY, and find your HOW¹

The basic premise is to bring the approach I use when working with individual patients to a bigger audience - moving beyond health and wellness “shoulds” to explore individual quality of life goals, understand the WHY behind the health-based recommendations, and HOW to successsfully and sustainably integrate them into your life.

Because after nearly 15 years as a Registered Dietitian, here is what I’ve learned: 1) You already know WHAT is healthy (more vegetables, less sugar - you don’t need me to tell you that). 2) Chasing an arbitrary number on the scale or lab report is rarely motivation enough. 3) Having insight into WHY something is good for you can improve your likelihood of buying into it (my goofy anthopomorphized description of high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and fat storage, for example). 4) If diets worked I wouldn’t have a job - and the reason they don’t work is because they offer a “box” that you are expected to fit yourself into, instead of empowering you to build your own flexible box that meets you where you are at.

Which explains why I stopped creating meal plans years ago - they don’t work - they are my box and not yours.

Before we start building your box, let’s make sure we are speaking the same language:

What does it mean to be healthy, anyway?

1. Physical - preventing & managing chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, etc.)

2. Functional - ability to move your body as desired

3. Cognitive - capacity to remember, problem solve, interact, & learn

4. Emotional - managing a full range of emotions with resilliency & compassion

Where do I start?

1. Fuel - nutrients via food & drink

2. Fitness - movement via deliberate exercise & daily physical activity

3. Sleep - adequate quantity & quality

4. Connection - positive connections with yourself & others

Reinforcements:

1. Medical screening

2. Medical interventions to support the success of your lifestyle choices

3. Targeted therapeutics such medications and supplements

4. Support system

As a personal example, I am diligent about getting regular labs (medical screening) because I know my chronically elevated cholesterol increases my risk for heart disease (physical health). Despite my dedication to doing all of the lifestyle things known to reduce cholesterol (fuel, fitness), it hasn’t budged. So I have gratefully accepted the help of a cholesterol-lowering medication (targeted therapeutic) to support my efforts.

The point is it is not all or nothing here. I am not pro- or anti- medications, supplements, or medical interventions. There is room for it all, especially when you take on the responsibility for the things you can change and call in reinforcements, as needed.

That’s it for today. I’d love to know how this is landing for you all.

Future posts will cover the content I introduced above, starting with Fuctional Health & Fitness.

Thanks for being here,

~Allison

1. A special thanks to my husband, Lyle McKeany (happy anniversary, babe!) for helping to create the graphic you see at the top of the post