Here at Heart of the Caregiver, we talk a lot about family caregiver self-care. That’s because caring for yourself, in large part, enables you to take better care of aging family members! Too many family caregivers develop ailments and disabilities that impair or prevent them from being able to care for aging loved ones. Often this happens because they did not take the time to care for themselves first.
Managing your health is critically essential for taking care of yourself. Eating right, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep is just part of the solution for becoming or maintaining your best and strongest self. It would be best to keep up with routine check-ups, screening tests, and other recommended evaluations based on your age and current health. These activities and appointments all take time you might think you don’t have, but you can’t afford not to take the time needed to keep yourself in good physical shape.
It would be great if we could wave a magic wand and give ourselves a perfect health baseline from which to start, but let’s be honest. Where you are today is where you begin when it comes to nurturing your health. The good news is that it’s not where you have to end! You can make changes today that will yield improvements in the coming weeks and months. You could feel healthier, happier, and more energetic for years to come.
So, where will you start? The best path to making healthy lifestyle changes begins with one small step. Decide to make one healthy change this week and tell someone what you are doing so they can cheer you on. Maybe you can walk around the block every morning or drink more water. The change doesn’t need to be a big one. Being accountable to someone else is the secret recipe for your success. What change will you make this week, and who can you tell about it?
Chris and I hope you’ll join us this week here at Heart of the Caregiver and share your heart about how your health impacts your ability to care for others.
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