By Bethany Ainsley, OptiMe
Every day, we’re exposed to new and often conflicting advice about what we should eat, how we should exercise, how much we should sleep and what we should avoid.
We’re told to prioritise protein, then focus more on fibre, avoid ultra-processed foods, but don’t assume everything processed is bad, eat healthily, but make sure you know how to read the labels. Then there’s gut health, supplements, glucose monitoring, plastics, fasting, detoxes and cleanses, and countless other things we could apparently be doing to improve our health.
And that’s before the latest trends. Creatine is suddenly everywhere, sleep isn’t just sleep anymore, it comes with a score, and exercise isn’t simply about moving our bodies, it’s steps, zones, recovery and performance.
Some of this is backed by good evidence, some is based on emerging research that needs more time, and some has questionable science behind it altogether. But with so much information coming at us from so many different directions, I do wonder whether we’ve made looking after ourselves more complicated than it needs to be.
Having more information doesn’t necessarily make it easier to know what to do with it, and sometimes I think it can have the opposite effect.
Take food, for example. You might decide you want to eat more healthily, only to find yourself standing in a supermarket trying to work out what that actually means. Should you be looking at calories, protein, fibre, sugar or additives? Should you buy organic? And how realistic is it to avoid processed food altogether when so much of what fills our supermarket shelves has been processed in some way?
And food is only one part of our wellbeing. There’s sleep, exercise, stress, relationships, finances, work and everything else going on in our lives, so when making positive changes starts to feel like an enormous lifestyle overhaul, it can be easier to do nothing because you simply don’t know where to begin.
After almost two decades working in wellbeing and with thousands of people, one thing I’ve seen time and again is that there is no perfect formula. What works for one person won’t necessarily work for another, and what works for you now might not be what you need six months from now.
Wellbeing isn’t a fixed destination, it moves as life moves. What needs your attention during a relentless period at work is rarely what needs it after a new baby, a bereavement, a house move or a promotion. Most wellbeing advice assumes a single, permanent focus, when in reality that focus should be allowed to shift, and often the most useful thing you can do is give yourself permission to change it.
You could be concentrating on eating better or exercising more, but if financial worries are keeping you awake every night, perhaps that’s where you need support first. Sometimes we need to strip away some of the noise, look at what’s actually going on in our lives and ask a much simpler question: what’s having the biggest impact on how I feel right now?
From there, it’s about finding a realistic place to start. That could mean looking properly at your finances, getting outside for a walk, speaking to someone you trust or getting into a better bedtime routine, and often one positive change in one area of our wellbeing can have an impact elsewhere too.
This thinking has shaped how we’ve developed OptiMe, particularly the latest version. Rather than adding to the information out there, OptiMe builds a wellbeing profile around your own ups and downs, so it reflects what is actually happening and shows where the balance has tipped across your health, finances, relationships and work. There is no single right way to live, so you choose the philosophy that fits you, and support and small, realistic actions follow. As life changes, your profile and focus change with it.
Because we can have all the wellbeing information in the world, but if it leaves us so overwhelmed we don’t know where to start, how useful is it really?
To find out more about OptiMe and start your free trial, visit optimewellbeing.com