What Can My Body Teach Me? 4 Things It’s Trying to Tell You

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Nobody knows your body as well as you do, but sometimes it can be difficult to pay attention to the things it’s trying to say.

Normal stresses of daily life often shift the focus away from yourself. Precedence is given to external things: bills to pay, meetings to attend, dinners to cook, relationships to nurture. When there are too many things on your plate (and when you have a finite amount of energy to work with), taking the time to sit quietly and notice what your body is trying to communicate can almost seem like a nonissue.

After all, in a society that tends to honor the concept of perpetual “busy-ness,” who has time for self-care? It’s far easier (and maybe more socially acceptable) to “burn the midnight oil,” believe in the idea of “no pain no gain,” and wake up every day pledging to “do it all,” often with little regard for your own well-being.

Unfortunately, not only does this go-go-go mentality contribute to chronic stress—which is linked to everything from heart disease to back pain—but it can also further break down your ability to listen to (and heed the advice of) your body.

That little nagging ache? That weird craving? That skin rash? Resist the temptation to ignore it, and see if you can figure out its hidden meaning instead. To get you started in the right direction, here are four things your body may be trying to tell you.

Four Things Your Body Wants You to Notice

1. You’re not getting enough sleep.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, the “architecture” of our sleep naturally changes as we age, with less time spent in deep REM sleep (dreaming sleep) and more time spent waking up intermittently throughout the night (sleep fragmentation).

But just because you’re growing older doesn’t mean you need “less” sleep—the typical person requires at least 7 and up to 9 hours of quality sleep per night (and no, you can’t “make up” for a night of missed Zzz’s by sleeping in on the weekend).

If you’re feeling tired, down, irritable, or having a hard time concentrating, poor or insufficient sleep could be to blame. To fix this, try sleeping in a cool and pitch black room, keeping phones and TVs out of the bed, and going to bed at the same time every night.

2. You’re sitting too much.
Human bodies were meant to move. And while chairs are ubiquitous and of course helpful, they’re a bit of a necessary evil when it comes to modern day life.

Research shows that excessive sitting can increase your risk of health problems and mortality even if you exercise regularly. This means that hour at the gym you managed to squeeze into your schedule may not be enough to counteract the damaging effects of sitting all day at your desk.

If you sit most of the day or if you frequently feel sore, stiff, and uncomfortable after a long day of work, use this as a cue to get out of your chair more often.

How often? At least once to twice per hour—just get up and go for a short walk or do some simple stretches. Better yet, consider investing in a convertible stand-up desk attachment so you don’t have to always sit to get your work done.

3. You’re dehydrated.
We’ve all heard the fun trivia—that upwards of 60% of the human body is water. And it turns out we really need water to perform even the most basic bodily functions. Replenishing your body’s water supply is like putting lubricant in a machine—it helps keeps things moving efficiently and smoothly.

Signs of dehydration include dark yellow urine, low urine output, headache, sluggishness, rapid heart rate, dizziness and lightheadedness, fatigue, and increased thirst and hunger. How to fix? Drink more! Aim for at least half your body weight in fluid ounces per day, but realize you may need more if you live in a warm climate or are highly active.

Aside from feeling better, you should be able to tell if you’re adequate hydrated by looking at your urine output: it should be a pale straw color and plentiful. Hint: don’t use the physical sensation of thirst as a reminder to drink, because when you’re thirsty you are already dehydrated!

4. You’re eating too much sugar.
Don’t let its sweetness fool you. Refined sugar (found in most processed foods with long shelf lives) is highly inflammatory and can truly throw a wrench in your overall health. And because of the way it promotes inflammation and cellular damage, sugar can increase your risk for chronic health problems.

If your joints are achy, if you’re putting on excess weight (especially around the abdomen), if you’re moody and irritable, if you feel physically and mentally sluggish after a meal, if your skin is breaking out, and if you have frequent cravings, you could be having too much of the sweet stuff. Cut back on refined sugar as much as possible and opt for things like fruit to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Conclusion

Your body contains true wisdom, a well-spring of knowledge about the health of your physical and emotional state. If we can start to see signs and symptoms as feedback—and then take heed of that feedback—then we can learn to be grateful for the temporary discomfort, because it will prompt us to take action…and hopefully avoid the discomfort turning into a more chronic problem.

Need help making sense of what your body is trying to say? Talk to your doctor or consider a consultation with another health professional, such as a physical therapist, nutritionist, or personal trainer. Sometimes, that little bit of objective input can really open up a better line of communication.

Sources


  1. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/things-bodys/story?id=20297618
  2. https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2014/stress-and-disease.html
  3. https://www.self.com/story/8-signs-youre-eating-too-much-sugar
  4. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/aging-and-sleep
  5. http://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/2653704/patterns-sedentary-behavior-mortality-u-s-middle-aged-older-adults
  6. https://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20906153,00.html
  7. https://water.usgs.gov/edu/propertyyou.html
  8. https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/health/sitting-increases-risk-of-death-study/index.html

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