JUDD JONES: Time for a change

Well folks, it’s time to end a chapter and open a new one. Back in 2009, I started with renewed vigor to jump start my overall personal health and wellness. In that journey, I found that so many other people were searching and struggling to find the same thing.

That search for health and wellness led me to personal training, sports nutrition and finally becoming a certified health coach. Along the way, I took up writing about my experience and enjoyed sharing my findings of what it really takes to shift your lifestyle to one of health and wellness.

With over nine years of columns and over 600,000 words written, I feel like and hope that I have made a healthy difference for many of you. I will keep writing for my blog at jhanawellness.com, but my print contribution is over for now.

What is important to remember is if you want transformational wellness in your life, start by cultivating a state of mind which leads to “a state of equanimity and awareness” with applied mindfulness. Then work on your nutrition with consistency and moderation, then tackle exercise that makes sense for your lifestyle. If you are someone who enjoys walking, great. If you are a runner, equally good. If you are a future Ironman, that’s fantastic. Just remember fitness is not a one size fits all program.

Here’s what you should keep in mind as you move your health and wellness into the future. It all wraps up into what I call the proper order of three:

1Practice mindfulness and find balance within your thoughts. The mind-body connection is pretty well understood by science. Our thoughts and feelings have a profound impact on our body. If you control your mind through balanced emotions and mindfulness, our internal systems benefit by evenly regulating the natural healing and wellness properties of the human body. A well balanced mind-body connection gives us a solid foundation to build a lasting fitness and nutrition footprint.

2The standard American diet, or SAD, is just that, so work on whole, natural and raw foods. Americans eat one of the most highly processed, nutrient-depleted diets on the planet. It is estimated that 46 million Americans are not getting enough good nutrients from the low cost, highly processed foods we eat daily. Understand the importance of eating a balanced diet with healthy whole foods, meaning foods in their natural state, which are high in vitamins and minerals. Making raw whole foods a high percentage of your daily food intake is equally important.

3We humans are built to move. Our bodies break down rapidly when we are sedentary, so being active means being healthy. We all should understand that exercise is so important to our health. By establishing regular exercise in your life, you are building a solid foundation for health and wellness into old age. Setting the frequency of your exercise regimens to fit your lifestyle is very important. Remember, your exercise consistency is far more important than the actual amount of time spent at the gym or on the road walking, running or biking.

These last nine-plus years have been a lot of fun and very informative for both my readers and myself. Often each week reminded me of writing a term or research paper and waiting for the professor to grade my findings. Many times the readers did so and not too kindly. I can look back with fondness at the outrage of a reader base that disliked my work on caffeine or the smokers who despised my attempts to point out those nasty death nails are killing them.

I feel like getting a reaction was somehow getting the message across, so in a strange way it felt as though it was making a difference. I also can look back at the people who found me in public just to tell me all these columns had helped them or a family member. I recall one such incident around Christmastime when I had written about Mrs. Claus getting Santa on a workout regimen. An elderly man sat down with me to tell me it made him laugh and reminded him of his late wife who did the same thing to him.

Great stuff all the way around and I have enjoyed the journey with all of you. So as you move forward with your health and wellness, be fearless, be mindful, be confident, be strong and be well!

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Judd Jones is a director for The Hagadone Corporation and a Certified Health Coach. jhanawellness.com