Michelle Garate

Professor Apiafi

HED 044

12 September 2020

Upon conducting my self-assessment, I began to realize my overall health could be

improved. I am a manager at a restaurant which keeps me active for a few days out of the week. I

am constantly going back and forth, being pulled around in all directions during my shifts. The

days I am not working, I tend to be more sedentary. I do not have the best eating habits since at

work it is easy to just grab something quick to have for lunch. An issue I realize I have is

overeating, or binge eating. When I eat a meal, I have the tendency to keep eating although I may

be full.

Physically I have always been a bit on the heavier side. During my childhood I was an

average weight but began to gain weight because I lived with a large number of family members

who would constantly be cooking different Mexican dishes. In the beginning of my teen years, I

began to lose weight due to personal issues I was going through at home. I was a size double

zero for a while. I then continued to deal with body dysmorphia for a large portion of my teenage

years. My weight fluctuated often, leaving me with mental issues to deal with.

According to The Six Dimensions of Wellness Model my social, physical, and emotional

health can be improved on. Social wellness is necessary in order to develop successful

relationships with others. Whether it is social networking in a professional setting or personal

and romantic relationships, presenting myself with self-confidence is crucial. Physical wellness

encourages us to stay active and adapt to a balanced diet. This does not mean to restrict yourself
from the nutrients your body may need, but to be aware of what you are putting into your body

and how it can ultimately affect the quality of life. Emotional health is to be attentive of your

feelings, negative or positive. Mental wellness dives into the root of behaviors and aids in coping

with stress in a productive way.

Holistic health is a lifestyle that must be adapted. It is not something you can just read

about and expect it to work on its own. You have to practice this way of life every day. In the

article Five Steps on the Path to Holistic Health, it mentions five methods to help you

incorporate this spiritual way of life. A few options include empowering yourself to make the

change, embracing it, and finding the therapies that work for our individual bodies. Taking back

control of the way we want our bodies to be cared for is predominant. Our mind, body, and soul

need to feel empowered daily in order to function at its full potential. Putting my needs first,

loving every aspect of my being, and continuing to utilize the therapies or practices available will

aid in the life modifications.

When it comes to my social health, what needs to be worked on first and foremost is my

mentality. There was a time when I was an extrovert, very outgoing and quick to make friends.

What I would call PTSD is what flipped the switch. Getting a job and becoming a manager at 18

has helped me become comfortable in starting conversations with people I do not know. Being

forced to communicate and delegate has become easier throughout the years. Ways I can

improve my current physical health is to improve my nutrition. Ordering takeout does a lot of

damage if done consistently. Eating out or even cooking something fast is not the best option.

Walking to my nearby destinations instead of driving there can provide the movement I lack on

off days. My emotional health has suffered because of anxiety and depression since my teenage
years. I need to find ways to reassure myself that my thoughts and feelings about myself are not

valid excuses to treat myself negatively.

Sustaining a healthy lifestyle is easier said than done. In our textbook Health: The Basics,

it provided great tips in how to hold ourselves accountable. Having a friend or family member

that we trust walk with us through the process can ease us into the new lifestyle. Journaling can

be helpful in the long run if we ever want to look back at the amount of progress that has been

made. Rewarding ourselves for the completions we have achieved and the milestones we have

hit can raise our self-esteem. It has great benefits and down the line when we get older, we will

thank ourselves for putting in the effort at a young age. Being in college can be incredibly

exhausting on our bodies in more ways than one. We often feel the pressure to have to have our

plans set of what we want our futures to look like which can take a toll on our health. Striving

towards a goal to keep our mind, body, and soul in good condition is a step towards a positive

future.

One of my individual goals I have set for myself is to be more social. We are in

quarantine so this can be a bit tricky since I am only going out for my essential needs. Since I

have a job, this is very helpful. I am already comfortable talking to my workers so I am making it

a goal for myself to make conversation with customers. I am giving myself the task of

conversing with at least 10 customers per shift. Something as easy as giving them a compliment

or talking to kids can be easy for me to further a conversation. I am a very shy person, although

this may seem like the bare minimum this is very out of my comfort zone. My next goal for my

physical health is to watch what I eat. I will not be double, or triple serving myself every meal.

Once I get the hang of that, I will move onto reducing the portions I eat and having a healthy

snack in between meals so I do not have the urge to eat. A fruit in between meals instead of
binge snacking will help my body have more energy. Lastly, for my emotional health I have

decided to start journaling. I took this idea from my textbook because I really like the idea of

being able to look back at the journey. Some days are better than others, and this will help me

keep track of them. I will write out how my day was every night. What I did, what may be

bothering me, and how I genuinely feel. Our textbook talks about relapses and how this can

make us feel like it is not worth it to continue bettering ourselves. If that day ever comes, I will

be able to look back at the better days and see that everything is not always negative. One bad

day does not mean it is a bad life.

My journey to improving myself will be a lifelong journey. Self-assessing has been a

tremendous aid in choosing to take accountability for my actions that affect my body. Societal

standards have impacted the three dimensions of wellness that I had my lowest scores in.

Through this process, I have learned so much about myself that I did not know before. One of

my goals at the beginning of this was going to be to hit a certain number on the scale. I realized

that as much as I want to lose weight, that may not bring me the happiness I am searching for. I

need to better my mindset and all aspects as well. It has inspired me to let go of all the negativity

that goes through my mind daily and to focus on the things I can change. Listening to my body

and embracing who I am and who I can be will be what I work on daily from this day forward.