Prioritize Health Over Wealth

The Brownie Bites Takeaway

Less than 7% of American adults are metabolically healthy. Prioritizing health ensures we can achieve our goals, at home and at work.

1. ?? Prioritize exercise.
2. ?? Schedule your health and wellness.
3. ?? Take time to meditate.
4. ?? Make the time to shop for, and cook healthy meals.
5. ?? Remember that WE are the advocates for our own health.
6. ?????? Prioritize family and friends.

Read on to discover why so many Americans are unhealthy, and why aligning our actions with what truly matters is the key.

A System of Sick Care, Not Well Care

93% of American adults are metabolically unhealthy. It’s likely a combination of our diet, not sleeping, stress, and never taking time off. Our healthcare system is sick-care, not well-care. It is designed to help us with prescriptions and surgery. Most doctors know very little about exercise, nutrition, or mental health. We live in a society that celebrates working hard, even if comes at the cost of our health.

I spent the second week of February in bed, with a two-pack whammy combo of the flu and Covid. My fever held steady, over 102 for multiple days. Despite writing about health and wellness I had forgotten to prioritize my own health in the weeks prior. The only thing I wanted, above all, was to get better. To have my health.

93% of American adults are metabolically unhealthy.

We Glorify Wealth, But We Should Glorify Health

The most unhealthy I’ve ever been was when I was running a wellness startup. I worked 15 hour days–every day. Every day I was stressed. I didn’t have any time to relax or sleep properly. All of this led to spiked cortisol…which led to insomnia…which created more stress, and on and on.

When I first created my startup, my vision was to help millions of women be well. We connected women with amazing wellness retreats. Combining beautiful locations, community, culture, healthy food, and daily exercise was a recipe to reset and heal. But I couldn’t even go on the retreats my company sold because I wasn’t allowed time off.

My investors did not care about my health. I was replaceable to them. But do you know I wasn’t replaceable for? ME. My family. The people who loved me. I am convinced the issues I had with my fibroids a decade later were the result of the high cortisol experienced during my startup years.

Why Are So Many Americans Unhealthy?

The 2022 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) found that less than 6.8% of Americans are metabolically healthy. They examined data from 1999–2018 (pre-Covid).

As Levels health observed, “Only 1 in 14 American adults showed optimal levels of all five metabolic risk factors: BMI, glucose, blood pressure,?HDL, and triglycerides?without medication. The same data showed only 37% of adults had fasting glucose under 100 mg/dL, the typical threshold for prediabetes.”

We are overweight, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides.

Here are the ideal ranges for metabolic health:

• Abdominal obesity – waist circumference <102/88 cm for men/women
• Blood pressure – <120 systolic and 80 diastolic
• Fasting blood glucose <100 mg/dL and HgbA1c < 5.7%
• Triglycerides < 150 mg/dL — HDL cholesterol ≥ 40/50 mg/dL in men/women

Less than 7% of American adults have these levels. What the heck is going on, and can it be explained completely by our diets?

Stress Is The Common Denominator

Stress can cause spikes in blood sugar levels, cause high triglycerides, leads to high cholesterol, and has an impact on blood pressure elevation. Could stress be as important as a factor as diet? Americans are overworked and overstressed. We work so hard we don’t have any time to cook healthy meals. Forget about exercise. I surmise our stressful lives are responsible for our decline in health.

“People who take vacations have lower stress, less risk of heart disease, a better outlook on life, and more motivation to achieve goals.”

Make Time For Health

When did we become a culture that reveres working non-stop, and shames people for taking time off?

“People who take vacations have lower stress, less risk of heart disease, a better outlook on life, and more motivation to achieve goals.”1

In other words, taking time off equates to health.

As I've grown my consultancy on my terms, including vacation time and never doing client work on weekends, I've increased both my health and my wealth. When we are healthy and have enough rest we can tackle our projects at full capacity.

Aligning Our Actions With What Matters

Feeling burned out is not a badge of honor. As human beings we are meant to be outdoors, to spend time in nature, to have days of doing nothing. We must make time for health. Ask yourself–who would care if you end up in the hospital? Will your boss send flowers or ask when you’ll be back to work?

It’s time we start aligning our actions with what is most important.

Tips For Prioritizing Health

Health is the most important thing. Which means we have to take it seriously, prioritize it, and honor it.

1. ?? Prioritize time each day to exercise or do some sort of movement. I like to do small bursts of exercise–walking up the stairs, parking extra far in the store parking lot, doing donkey kicks and other exercises while watching T.V.
2. ?? Schedule your health and wellness. I schedule my workouts into my calendar and I take these scheduled timeslots as seriously as I do my work meetings.
3. ?? Take time to meditate, or find peace to clear our minds. We can find ways to de-stress so we can get 8 hours of restful sleep and start our days in a better frame of mind.
4. ?? Make the time to shop for, and cook healthy meals. We know that fast and processed food hurts us so much in the long-term yet we run out of time and buy convenient food. That food becomes rather inconvenient when it causes Diabetes and Heart Disease.
5. ?? Remember that WE are the advocates for our own health. It means reminding everyone in our lives, from our bosses to our family members, that wellbeing is critical. I have to remind clients all the time that I do not work nights and weekends, because I require sufficient rest time in order to do my best work. Love, family, and friends are truly important.
6. ?????? Prioritize the people who will be there for you at the hospital, or the ones who walk your dog when you are sick. Your friends and family are the people who will attend your funeral after you’ve (hopefully) lived a long and healthy life.

Put things into perspective. We must balance our work with health.

Remember that your health is NOT a luxury. It is essential.

Let me know in the comments below how you prioritize your health and wellness.

? My name is Julie Elaine Brown

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This article was originally published February 23 on my Website (with some extra personal details): JulieElaineBrown.com

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