Your health is a matter of taking care of both your mind and body. By exercising and eating well you can improve your physical health. But if you have a negative attitude you will not experience optimum health. You need a plan that develops both your body and mind. Your optimum health plan needs to have nutrition for both soma and mentis (body and mind).

In order to achieve optimum health you may find that you need to change something about your life. You may want to change your diet, your exercise routine, or perhaps your overall mental attitude. Since our society looks for immediately results you need to remember that these type of lifestyle changes don’t happen overnight so be patient when looking for results. Another thing to remember is that if you’re trying to lose weight, sometimes the body gets healthy on the inside first before you begin to see results on the outside.

Getting Your Optimum Health Plan Started

In order to go anywhere you have to understand where you are. Start with a detailed evaluation of your current physical and psychological health. You should know what, if any, medical conditions you have, as well as any mental conditions that may be present.

Here are some things to look for:

Being overweight
Having high blood pressure
Having elevated cholesterol
Having high blood sugar
An evaluation showing a medium to high risk for heart attack or stroke
Having insomnia and or sleep complications
Being depressed
Having deteriorating health (especially as a result of aging)

If you are not sure of the any of the above check with your health care provider. They can help you answer these questions as well as give you suggestions about what’s needed in your optimum health plan.

Putting Your Optimum Health Plan to Work

It’s not enough to know what’s going on with your health, in order to achieve optimum health you need to do something about it! Once you’ve evaluated your current health situation, you need to consider how you’ll what lifestyle changes you need to make and then set making lifestyle goals. One thing to remember is don’t try making too big a leap all at one time. Set small goals that you can achieve. This sets you up for success as you achieve each small step.

For example, if you have an issue with being overweight, what are some simple lifestyle changes that may help you drop a few pounds?

Some of the most common behaviors that tend to pack on the pounds include drinking sodas, indulging in a lot of sweets, eating a lot of processed foods, and even eating late in the day. So a simple solution would be avoiding high fat, high calorie foods by not bringing them into the house, this way you won’t be tempted to eat them.

Another simple solution would be to join a gym or begin taking walks at lunchtime. A great method of reinforcing this behavior would be having a friend to join you and make a habit of it. In addition to helping control your weight, simple exercise relieves stress and improves your heart health.

If you have difficulty sleeping, an easy method of improving your sleep is to take a quick look at the area you sleep in. Is there something that could be distracting you? A simple thing such as watching television before bed or while in bed can over stimulate your brain, causing you to have difficulty sleeping. An optimum health plan would include limiting your TV viewing before going to bed and keeping it out of your bedroom.

Remember, stress can affect your sleep. A good method to combat the stress that can give you difficulty sleeping is to develop a bedtime routine. This will enable your mind and body to relax before going to bed.

Take an inventory of your health habits. Change anything that could have undesired results, even if it’s only one or two things at a time.

Optimum Health IS Possible

Eating well is only part of your plan for optimum health. To get and stay well you need to consider your overall feelings about life. Are you a person with the notion that the glass is half full, or do you think the glass is half empty? Do you see yourself as the victim when it comes to obstacles in your life, or do you see challenges as opportunities you can use to improve yourself?

Most people dwell on the bad things in their lives. In order to develop a positive mental attitude you need to start dwelling on the good in your life. Make it a habit of thinking about all the things that went right that day. Even if it seemed like a black cloud was following you, something good happened. Choose to think about the good things in your life and use your wonderful imagination to meditate about the many good things coming your way tomorrow. This will reinforce your positive mental attitude as well as your overall health.

Remember – if you want to have optimum health you must take responsibility for it. You are directly responsible for at least 95% of everything that occurs in your life. As for the other 5%, there are ways to deal with even those things in a positive and productive manner as well.

If you want to enjoy optimum health it’s completely possible! All it takes is some self evaluation, a little goal setting, and the motivation to make a change. Develop your positive mental attitude by focusing on the good in your life. Then take it one step at a time and without a doubt you will achieve optimum health, both mentally and physically!

Wil Dieck is the founder of Total Mind Therapy a combination of hypnosis and NLP and a number of e-courses including a “Weight Loss Secrets” program that you can have for no charge or obligation.