Life is designed to be consumed in cycles. The seasons of the year and the seasons of our life. As you live through those cycles it’s useful to take time to reflect, recognise where your current life season is, and to respect and adjust appropriately.
Maybe you are a party animal, out till all hours but still able to put in a 40 hour working week? Or are you a parent and survive on 3 hours sleep a night? The body has a superhuman power to deal with whatever we throw at it. In your 20’s and even up to your late 30’s your body is working at it’s optimum. You can afford to burn the candle at both ends. However, this is a huge drain on energy and resources.
We may be different but we will all hit the critical health window. It is usually between 40-55 years of age. And at this point, what might seem small illnesses or health issues can suddenly grow into serious chronic illnesses. Illnesses that affect your life and need long term medication.
What is the critical health window?
This is the age where your actions can have long term effect. Where you are at greatest risk of developing conditions that will affect your health in later life. Such as type 2 diabetes, CV disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, to name but a few.
After diagnosis you may be prescribed medication. But do not be mis-lead – all prescription medications have side-effects. If you want to optimise your health in your 50’s and beyond, and, avoid having to deal with both the illness and the side effect, your 40’s is the time to start the work.
Does this sound like it might be hard work? I pose the question – how do you want to age? Do you know friends or family in their 70’s who are house bound, or worse? Do you know family or friends who are in their 80’s and still enjoying life? Which do you choose?
Because the choice is yours.
Strong, fit, healthy, happy and sexually active – all these are available to you in your 70’s and beyond. The responsibility is yours. You can choose to act now.
What are the signs?
Critical health implies just that – health. But critically you need to act on any signs of ill-health no matter how small.
No more ignoring the occasional headache, aching joints, poor sleep or brain fog. No more relying on over the counter medication such as Ibuprofen, Aspirin or Paracetamol. OTC medication, is just like prescription medication and comes with side effect. If you are self medicating on a regular basis you will feel the side effects in later years.
Aching joints, poor sleep, brain fog, low energy, these are all signs of an imbalance. Time to look at the root cause of the imbalance and find ways to redress it.
Homeostasis Is our body’s natural balance. It is what we are constantly trying to maintain. Whilst we are able to spring back in our 20’s from a night of excess, we are not quite so springy in our 40’s.
We have natural levels of reserves and if you are eating well, sleeping well, getting plenty of exercise and not too stressed your body will replenish those reserves.
However, if you are not doing all of these efficiently (and who is in their 20/30’s) your body will be using up all the resources it has simply trying to power you through each day. In short, it runs out of power and needs a bit of a service and some TLC. That’s why it’s your critical health window.
Simple changes can reap significant results.
Consider your lifestyle choices. Re-asses. Do you need to make changes?
- Is your body still able to deal with toxins and stressors like it used to?
- Do you need to build in more time for rest and repair?
- Is burning the candle at both ends still possible?
- What are you fuelling body with?
This doesn’t mean an end to fun and the need to be in bed by 10am every night.
Maybe it’s as simple as knowing that you love to dance but don’t require alcohol anymore?
Perhaps it’s the realisation that yoga is more beneficial that a HIIT class.
Ultimately, it is about understanding which phase of life you are in, and then making positive changes to support your current phase and beyond.
Taking a long hard look at your diet can be key. Are you restocking your essential vitamins and minerals with colourful vegetables and whole grains? Or are you fuelling up on caffeine and sugar? This may have worked before, but in your critical health window, you need to be restocking those reserves so you want to live a long healthy life.
No-one wants to live a long life in ill-health, so take responsibility now to allow you to live the longer life in optimal health. You don’t have to change everything all at once, but assess your lifestyle and commit to making improvements – small cumulative changes net big results.
Need more support?
It’s hard to go it alone and the information can be confusing and contradictory. That’s why I created my Transformation Program. In jut 5 weeks you can transform your health, understand how it really feels to feel well. Address niggling health issues that may have been bugging you, and begin your next phase of life in the best place possible.
The Transformation Program runs three times a year. We follow the functional medicine 5r’s protocol to help rebalance and reset.
As a Nutritional Therapist my aim is to support you to eat healthy, tasty nourishing foods whilst reconnecting to your body and restoring critical balance. Giving you the best chance possible to enjoy your later life in the ultimate health possible.
If you are in your critical health window, and ready to make those changes sign up for the next program now.
Reviews for the Transformation Program
My motivation for signing up was to gain more energy, feel better and earn how fuel my body properly.
The biggest change has been my relationship with food, followed by my bowl movements and sleep! All have improved!! I also felt much better in myself, lighter, more energy snd great mental well-being.
My biggest take away has been learning about letting my gut rest to carry out it’s other functions, and leaving space between meals as this has allowed me to feel hungry and enjoy the food I eat. Lesley, Scotland
I have loved taking part in this programme and am blown away by what it has achieved. As a former sweet-tooth I never imagined for one second that I would actually prefer healthy alternatives. I have always tried to eat healthily but what I actually wanted to eat was far different to what I allowed myself. My body now actually wants the healthy foods! Wow! Amazing! I can’t thank you enough Wendy!! Jane, Staffordshire
My main reasons for wanting to do the programme was to wean myself off sugar (chocolate and sweets) and to see if my Rosacea would clear up. Plus lose some of the fat gained through the winter lock down. I am pleased to say that all 3 was achieved! The change I noticed was the flat stomach. I didn’t think I got bloated but in week 3 I really did see a change. My biggest take out on this is that you really can live without certain foods. Just treat them as a treat and cook with different ingredients. Yvonne, Nottingham
