A New Approach to Health - The Healthy Deviant
A new year always seems to bring forth new energy in the realm of self-improvement. Goals and resolutions fill all the media streams. Are you feeling it? Have you made any goals for the year? I love the idea of self-reflection and “editing” our lives to feel more in sync with our values. Ideally, this process is ongoing—it happens all the time, not just once a year. Personally, I lean more toward intentions than goals—as intentions feel kind and focusing, versus rigid and overly aspirational. Goals work marvelously well for some folks though. Knowing ourselves is key. How will you be approaching growth in the new year?
One of the core values in my life is health: physical, emotional, and mental. A few months ago, I read a book called The Healthy Deviant: A Rule Breaker’s Guide to Being Healthy in an Unhealthy World by Pilar Gerasimo. Pilar was the founding editor of Experience Life magazine and is the co-host of The Living Experiment podcast (a favorite of mine). You can get a taste of the book by heading over to this website to take The Healthy Deviant quiz. I appreciate how holistic this book is as it seems to be grounded in functional medicine, which focuses on the root causes of health issues as opposed to managing symptoms. Expect data-based observations that are always cited.
HERE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE INSIGHTS FROM THE BOOK.
We live in an unhealthy default reality. We know this. 50% of adults have a chronic illness. 80% are struggling with anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, a mood disorder, or just feeling disconnected and sad. Over 97 percent of us are not managing to maintain four of the most basic habits required for long-term health: eating a reasonably balanced diet, getting adequate exercise, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy body composition. This study conducted by the Mayo Clinic did not even measure other key components for health like sleep, stress management, and social connections. This unhealthy default is supported by many systems: the medical system, the agricultural/food system, the government, and the insurance systems (to name a few). Knowing that we live in a default reality that supports illness allows me to see why choosing health can feel radical, confusing, and challenging at times.
Our struggle with maintaining healthy habits has less to do with willpower and more to do with becoming cognitively depleted and finding ourselves resigned to learned helplessness. I appreciate the data, insight, and compassion here. Understanding this cycle allows us to stop shaming and blaming ourselves so that we can strategize more effectively to focus our efforts where they count most.
Renegade Rituals are a wonderful way to re-boot your life. Think of renegade rituals as a way to shift from doing to not doing. Our bodies are simply not designed to be productive all day long. Renegade rituals can include:
Morning minutes - A short pleasant ritual that allows you to connect with yourself before beginning your day,
Ultradian rhythm breaks - Allowing your body to take small breaks during the day to optimize self-repair and energy cycling, and
A nightly wind-down ritual that allows you to ease and calm yourself before bed.
HEALTHY DEVIANT SKILLS
My favorite section of the book is the chapter on what healthy deviant skills look like. Pilar breaks the skills into categories like: Food and Eating, Sleep and Recovery, Exercise, Stress Management, Self-Image, Media Literacy, Science Literacy, and Health-Care Literacy. Let me share a few examples here so you get the idea. Sound good?
FOOD AND EATING SKILLS
Healthy Deviants tend to care about what they eat, enjoy eating, but don’t spend a lot of time obsessing about it.
Healthy Deviants tend to eat whole, natural, and unprocessed foods most of the time.
Healthy Deviants tend to reject the idea of “cheat” days in favor of eating in ways that please them and feel good to them most of the time. They periodically will enjoy foods just for fun—without guilt and anxiety.
SLEEP AND RECOVERY
Healthy Deviants tend to make sleep and rest a priority.
Healthy Deviants tend to block the light that comes into the bedroom.
Healthy Deviants tend to not bring work into the bedroom.
Healthy Deviants prefer to wind down before bed with relaxing or low-key activities.
STRESS MANAGEMENT
Healthy Deviants tend to recognize when they are under excessive stress and take steps to reduce or manage it.
Healthy Deviants are willing to renegotiate commitments if they realize they are no longer going to work for them.
Healthy Deviants use mindfulness, yoga, cognitive behavioral therapy, and related practices to manage emotional responses and negative thinking.
EXERCISE/MOVEMENT
Healthy Deviants tend to see physical movement as essential to their physical and emotional health.
Healthy Deviants build a variety of movement opportunities and active breaks into their day.
Healthy Deviants tend to focus more on strength, flexibility, and body awareness than on achieving a particular look or body composition.
Healthy Deviants tend to enjoy moving outdoors when they can and actively seek to spend some time outside most days.
SELF -IMAGE
Healthy Deviants tend to find things that they love and appreciate about their bodies.
Healthy Deviants don’t panic if their weight shifts up or down a bit.
Healthy Deviants do not talk bad about their own appearance.
Healthy Deviants do not respond to the idea of “perfecting” their body parts.
SCIENCE LITERACY
Healthy Deviants realize scientific results can be misreported or skewed as a result of industry interference or researcher bias.
Healthy Deviants understand the difference between causation and correlation, knowing much of the research claiming causal effects draws on correlations that can be explained by other means.
Healthy Deviants are inclined to experiment on themselves in order to see how specific approaches or interventions work for them.
Again, I gave you just a few areas with a few examples. This is only the beginning! At the end of the book, there is also a seven-day practice that allows you to start where you are—because taking action is KEY!
I tend to be picky about the books I read with regard to health and longevity. Fear dominates so much of what is out there. I found The Healthy Deviant to be a refreshing change. I felt empowered when I was done reading it. I didn’t feel overwhelmed, triggered, pressured, or fearful at all. Pilar Gerasimo writes with a gentle voice and includes her own illustrations in the book—all of this allows the process to feel like a conversation with a wise and trusted friend (who has talked with hundreds of medical and wellness experts!).
If you are inclined to look at your health but feel uninspired or cynical or burned out from the traditional approaches, I would recommend this book wholeheartedly. Pursuing our own health and wellness is a way of taking care of ourselves. Of declaring that we matter…to ourselves. Here’s to that!
THANK YOU FOR JOINING ME HERE FOR MY FIRST POST OF 2021. HOW DID YOU LIKE THIS BOOK CHAT? WHAT WILL YOU BE LEANING INTO FOR INCREASED HEALTH AND WELLNESS THIS YEAR? I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!