 If self image is about how we view ourselves, then our health image is how we view our own health! ‘Makes perfect sense’ I hear you say! So how exactly are you viewing your health?
Do you see yourself as fit and active, slim and attractive, healthy and energetic? Or is the picture more like that of Homer Simpson on the lounge with a beer and a bowl of chips?
But I don’t understand! How does what I think about my health have anything to do with my physical health? NEWSFLASH!!! Researchers keep finding scientific evidence that concludes that our emotions, thoughts and feelings do indeed influence our health.
 There is an old saying in the coaching trade that says “belief rules outcome.” What exactly does that mean? Well, imagine that I believed that I was overweight, constantly tired, and very susceptible to any illness going around. At the unconscious level, I begin to look for evidence that these things are true. God forbid, I could be proven wrong and actually be slim, energetic or have a great immune system! So, if at the unconscious level we’re looking for examples to prove to ourselves that our belief is actually true, we start behaving as though they are already are. We start acting like (we believe) an overweight person would act, we start feeling more tired emotionally than we are physically, but our body catches on and starts playing the game too. This keeps our belief intact, regardless of where that belief came from or how inaccurate it actually is!
 Let’s take a case study: Susan is a tall and healthy size 14, has two kids, and has always had the ‘health image’ of being overweight and run down. This actually started when she was three, when her elder brother said that if she didn’t stop eating like that she’d end up looking like an elephant. At three, do you think that Susan could think logically about that comment and disregard it as a stupid comment from a big brother? No, at three, we take everything in, and I mean absolutely everything! At the age of three, Susan had a seed planted that ‘eating = looking like an elephant’. From that point on she began to look for evidence of that.
As she looked around her, she saw women dieting, skinny women on TV and in magazines and she began to slowly cement the belief that not only does eating equal looking like an elephant, but that she, personally, was overweight. So at an early age, her belief was set, her eating and exercise patterns then took shape to ‘prove’ this belief right. It all sounds crazy when we deconstruct it; however, this is how our mind actually works.
So, think about your personal beliefs around your health. In fact, answer the following questions and let’s see how you go:
1. Are you overweight?
2. Do you have a poor diet?
3. Do you need to exercise more often and for longer periods of time?
4. Do you lack energy and vitality?
5. Do you often feel tired and lethargic?
6. Are you always catching colds or anything going round?
7. Do you often have aches and pains for no reason?
If you have answered yes to any of these questions there are two things that need to change!
Firstly, you need to change your attitude to what’s going on and start seeing yourself as healthy instead of unhealthy. Start noticing when you do eat healthy foods and when you are exercising and positively reinforce these great habits.
Secondly you need to begin to take small steps towards improving your actual health. Clearly I’m not a doctor, nutritionalist or exercise scientist; however, I do know that when something isn’t right in your life or in your body, you need to do some research and figure out the best way to change it!
Begin to work on your Health Image and notice how your actions and behaviours begin to reshape you in to the healthy person you can become!
If you have health, you probably will be happy, and if you have health and happiness, you have all the wealth you need, even if it is not all you want. ~Elbert Hubbard
If you’re really ready to step up and start living life and need a little assistance to get started, please give me a call on 0409 224 303 for a complimentary coaching session and we can work on it together.
To check out workshops available and what’s scheduled for the rest of the year, go to
www.advancedcoachingsolutions.com.au/Workshops.html | 
