Engage Yourself and Create Your Own Feedback Loop for Health and Wellness

Thomas Goetz: It's time to redesign medical data | Video on TED.com

How do we create personal changes that positively influence our future health and wellness? One of the things we need to do is to gain knowledge about our personal medical data. When you see your health care provider, ask questions. Don't just get a report, "Everything's fine. See me in a year." You have the right to be informed about your health and how the pieces of the puzzle fit together to make up you your current level of health. Ask questions. Get your data, request copies for your own records. The only way to make long-term positive changes is to understand your health information. How does your current health compare to optimal health? If you're out of ranges in specific areas, what is the significance of being out of range? What are your options for change?

A specific example of these questions and the feedback loop, as described by Thomas Goetz in his TedMed talk October, 2010, might be this. What is your weight? Is it defined under-weight, normal, over-weight or obese? How does this compare to optimal health of maintaining a normal weight? What are the significant long-term effects of where your current weight is at? Does your weight put you at risk for disease? Does your current weight keep you at lower risk for disease? What are your options? Should you stay at your current weight? Gain weight? Lose weight? Which one of these options best supports achieving optimal health? What actions are you going to take to achieve normal weight? When you develop and take actions to work toward a goal, you are engaging yourself.

For long-term success and optimal health, we must be engaged. We need to engage ourselves in changes that promote health and wellness. Once we know how our current state of health measures with optimal health and wellness, we can determine which action plans will make a difference and which ones we want to incorporate into our daily lives. Enjoy watching this video, learning more about different tactics and philosophies on making lifestyle changes, and use the concepts in this blog entry and the video to create your very own personal feedback loop for positive change.

By getting knowledge and creating your own feedback loop for positive change, you can make a difference in your long-term health and wellness.

Yours in health,
Michelle
mlinrn@gmail.com