The Secret to Happiness? Stay Healthy!

We have been trying to get pregnant for the past four years. We remain unsuccessful, but optimistic. In my search in trying to create life, I started to truly respect life. Whenever the pregnancy challenge issue ever came up, the supportive people would always tell me "at least you have your health". At first this comment irritated me to the core, but as months turned into years of waiting for our baby, I started to think, yes at least I am still alive and well; and my husband is also still alive and well. Nowadays, these words are part of my mantra.

So to those of us who still have our health, this is what I've learned through this challenging time: our body is the vessel through which we not only can give life, but through which we maintain this life, our life. I know this sounds like common sense, but without this corporeal object, we cannot live. What a simple thing to consider, but it is surprising how we forget this important fact when we think smoking is okay or consume alcohol on a regular basis or when we eat junk food or processed food. If we want to live, why are we trying to kill our bodies? And to those who are being challenged by health issues, this is even more important to consider.

When I think of our body, I think on all these complex and beautiful organs that help us to experience this wonderful world of ours. Our brain is our big processor, it's the leader of the group. Our heart is the life-giver, it keeps us warm and stable by circulating our blood throughout our system. Our blood helps deliver and feed our various organs with oxygen and nutrients. Our lungs help us take in that oxygen we so critically need for survival. Our stomach and intestines help us to process the food we eat into the energy nutrients that sustain all our biological systems. And wouldn't we want to help maintain these amazing organs and help them work longer on our behalf so that we can live life to the fullest?

The first step to good maintenance of our bodies is to eat healthy foods. If you want to build a boat to take you across the ocean, you would want the best materials so that you won't sink. The best materials for our boat through life, our body, are healthy foods. Healthy food means natural food. Food that is grown and fresh, not processed and preferably not frozen. Fresh is important because anything that is preserved has preservatives which are chemicals added to food to give it a longer shelf-life. The most important of these healthy fresh foods are fruits and vegetables. If you can't imagine life as a vegetarian (although most of the Hindu/Budhhist population will beg to differ), you can add lean meats like fish or chicken to the group. Nuts are also healthy food. If you can afford it, also go the extra mile by buying these foods organically grown. Organic is important because this means the food is grown naturally without added chemicals like pesticides, or growth hormones. Think about it - Mother Nature had been growing fruits and vegetables for billions of years before Man discovered how to industrialize agriculture for his own advantages. So why mess with Mother Nature? These are my favorite foods: Bananas - because they are mood lifters. Oranges - which give you vitamin C to boost your immune system. Spinach which is good for your bones and skin. All in all, any fresh fruit and/or vegetable will do. The keyword is FRESH - and eat it daily. If you stray to the bad food once in a while, eat a double dose of fresh fruits or vegetables to make up for it.

The second step to help our vessel live longer and feel better is to get exercising. Move your body; whether it be taking a walk or a jog. If the weather is bad and you can't go out to walk or jog, then clean the house. Cleaning is also an excellent way to keep fit - there's sweeping, mopping, scraping, wiping, and vaccuming. If you have a cleaning lady, maybe have her take one day off and do the cleaning yourself. It will keep you fit and save you money. For those shopaholics, give your computer a rest, leave the amazon or ebay sites, and go to the mall instead. Yes, going to the mall can be healthy for you IF you walk around and preferably window-shop rather than working the wallet.
The point is your body needs to move around everyday. That's what those limbs are for - mobility. This is the reason we were made this way. Without exercising or moving our body, we become sedentary and lethargic because our body is now just a storage facility for fat that's not being turned into energy.

That's it - only two steps - so simple right? And why do I want to share this with everyone? Although my husband and I remain optimistic as we continue in trying to conceive, we also understand there is no guarantee that we will get what we want. However, after making healthy eating my number one priority and living these two steps, I've lost a good amount of weight which helped me to feel ten times better now than I did when we first started on this journey; so I know whatever the outcome, we'll always have our health and each other.

Tungning Reiland lives in Woodside, Queens.