Why Reaching Optimal Health Means Rethinking Wellness

You cannot accomplish anything in life without health. 

Besides love, health is probably the most important thing in your life.

However, there's a big chance that if you're reading this website that you're struggling with your health. Alternatively, you might not be struggling, but you just want to improve your overall health.

You're not alone.

The sad truth, is that you're probably misinformed about health. Many people are. You might have been told that:

• you need to exercise more to lose weight.
• you need to eat 3-5 servings of grains each day.
• sunlight is bad for your health.
• it's o.k. to take melatonin supplements at night to sleep better.
• being stressed is an inevitable part of modern life.

All of these statements are either half-truths or absolutely wrong.

But what do I even mean by health? What I mean by health, is not just survival - it's not just staying alive. I do not mean just getting by.

What I mean by health is beyond that.

Health to me is more than surviving, it's thriving.

Health to me is achieving optimal health. 

Optimal Health

Optimal health means that you've got an excess. You've got reserves. You're ready to get started with the day. You're feeling that rush of excitement. You're resilient. 

You've (literally) got excess energy.

How to know whether you're in optimal health? 

Answer these big picture questions:

• how do you sleep?
• How are your energy levels throughout the day?
• How well do you move?
• How do you feel?
• How is your immune system?

The answer should be "GREAT!".

If the answer to these questions is not "great", then you're not in optimal health.

The Importance Of Taking A Long Term Approach To Health 

If you're aiming for optimal health, you also have to be in for the long-term. Optimal health is not a short-term solution that's easily achievable for most people.

Why?

• Stress is often not cured in a day
• You won't achieve your maximum fitness levels in a month
• Insomnia is most often not beaten after making a few small changes
• Losing lots of body fat in a healthy way cannot be done in a month either (just ask yourself how long it took to put that extra fat on!)

And so forth..

Realize that if you're aiming for optimal health, you're in this for the long-term...

Aiming to achieve optimal health means being committed for the long-term.

So, how do I define "optimal health"?

The Three Stages of Health

Let's consider three stages of health that people generally experience.

These stages are just a conceptual tool for you to better understand health:

The First Stage of Health

In this first stage, you're either in optimal health, in very good health, or good health. My content on this website is going to help you very well in this stage, for example, by preventing you from getting sick in the first place. 

Realize that almost anyone in modern society can make improvements to their health.

In stage one, most of your time is focused on preventing disease, and making your health even better. I think prevention is massively undervalued. Investing in your health is one of the best investments that you can make in your life.

Investing in your health at this stage will pay off for the rest of your life.

The Second Stage Of Health

In this stage, your health will be average or poor. Fortunately, you're not dealing with a very serious illness (yet). 

I'd say most of the adult western population is in this stage. They're not sick, but they're definitely not in optimal health.

If you're in this stage you can turn things around to achieve good or optimal health. But it does require work, discipline, the right protocols and time.

Again I can help you get there. It will be hard, but will definitely be worth it (I was once in this stage of health, you can read my inspiring story here, and this website is a result of the health transformation I have been through).

If you think you are in this stage, then you should really prioritize health right now, before you end up in the third stage of health.

The Third Stage Of Health

The third stage. No-one wants to end up here. But many people do.

People in this stage realize they should have taken care of their health a long time ago.

Once you get ill, it's can be extremely hard (and in some cases impossible) to reverse that disease. If you're extremely ill, you're probably better off in a hospital. Reversing an illness at this level is not something a few dietary changes, mindset shifts and lifestyle tweaks is going achieve.  

However such changes might be able to help you deal with the symptoms of your disease though. And at the very least add some form of vitality back to your daily life.

Health Should Be A Priority For Everyone

Why does almost everyone need to improve their health?

Remember that I said that health and love are the most important things in your life?

Forget love for now. I cannot help you with love. So let's talk about health. 

Health is the biggest asset you have.

The longer you wait with dealing with your health, the harder it will be to achieve optimal health.

When you're sick, the journey to optimal health will be longer than someone who's in average health. And when you're sick, your energy levels to deal with that sickness will be lower, compared to someone in average health.

What's my point here?

If you get sick, it becomes exponentially more difficult to return to optimal heath.

That's why you need to start taking care of your health right now:

Not tomorrow.

Not before the summer

Not after the summer parties are over.

Not after New Year's Eve.

Right now. 

My goal with this site is to move you closer to optimal health.

How Can AlexFergus.com Help?

Within the many thousands of words in the blog articles on this site, I give you principles that help you improve your health. There's a lot of confusion around health. Because of that confusion you might:

• feel insecure about how you can improve your health
• not have the confidence to take action 
• not be getting the results you want
• not even know what health consists in (for example, you may think of 'health' as someone who can run marathons every week, or look like a bodybuilding fitness model. I can tell you from first hand experience this is not a picture of of health)

Most Conventional Health Beliefs Are Wrong

There's the widespread illusion that you need to exercise to lose weight.

For many people in our modern society, however, lots of exercise is a poor strategy in the quest for health. Most people in modern society are already over stressed.

Exercise - another form of stress - just adds stress on top of existing stress.

Before exercising a lot, you need to lower the stress levels in your life while at the same time improving the bodies resilience to withstand stressors (stress isn't a bad thing, it's just the inability to handle and recover from stress that causes the problems).

Some simple daily strategies to lower stress include:

• Blocking blue and green light at night, helping you sleep better
• Meditating, which removes stress every single session
• Putting the gym membership on hold, removing a big stressor from your life.
• Exposing your skin and eyes to sunlight, literally giving you a natural high
• Making sure you ingest enough magnesium, which is a mineral which lowers stress.

And when you finally start feeling great, then start thinking about re-introducing exercise. 

Overexercising is just one example of health mismanagement.

Almost Everyone Is Making Mistakes In Managing Their Health

Other examples of health mismanagement actions you might take are:

• if you have heart disease, you might not be supplementing with magnesium, or manage your blood sugar properly
• if you're a pro athlete, you might not know about red light, or the benefits of cold exposure
• if you're still avoiding saturated fats, you might not know that these fats are not damaging, it's the commonly used PUFA fats that are toxic.
• if you're counting calories, you might not realise that hormones are more important for fat loss than tracking calories.

Dealing with simple mistakes can yield massive improvements. Let me give you one last example: sunlight.

You have been told to avoid the sun almost completely.

We are told:

• you just need a few minutes of sunlight a day during the summer
• you need sunlight just for vitamin D
• you can supplement with vitamin D and avoid the sun
• a reddening skin in the sun is a bad sign
• you need to wear sunglasses in the sun

All of these statements are dead-wrong. Not even scientific evidence supports these statements (and be sure to subscribe to my email list as I will be publishing a science heavy article explaining why these things are wrong).

You need a new approach. A new approach that uses nature - such as sunlight, natural foods, quality sleep, stable circadian rhythms and breathing methods - to the maximal extent.

Whether you want to:

• Lose fat
• Improve energy levels
• Sleep better
• Look better
• Feel better
• Be physically stronger
• Improve your thinking
• Be less anxious
• Live more

This site will help. I promise.

Change won't be easy. It might even be pretty hard.

But I've tried to make it as simple and easy as possible. 

Ready For Action?

You're reading this nodding your head in agreement and no wondering 'where should I go next to learn more?' Well below I have listed my the top resources on this site to help you on your optimal health journey:

1.  The Health Reset Program

If you're wanting to throw some cash at this journey - and follow a a plan that has helped 1000's of people before AND have support from some of the top health coaches in the world - then the Health Reset Program is perfect for you.

CLICK HERE to learn more about that.

2. Comprehensive Resource Pages

If you're prefer a 'Do It Yourself' approach, then I highly recommend kick starting your journey by using my resource pages. I have a topic for every goal including:

• Health & Wellness
• Fat Loss
• Fitness & Training
• Sleep
• Performance
• And much more...

3. Books

Prefer to read and have everything laid out for you in one place? Then for the price of a coffee or two you can pickup a copy of my books on topics ranging from sleep, to supplements to fat loss:

• The Ultimate Health & Fat Loss ebook
• The Ultimate Guide to Deeper Sleep ebook
• The Ultimate Supplement ebook
• Increase Your Testosterone Naturally

4. Consultations

Prefer to talk 1 on 1? Book a consultation in and we can dive right in.

5. My Free Tips via Email

Keen to learn more but short on time? Enter your email below and I'll send you some helpful information in the coming days.

A Unique Approach To Health & Wellness

What makes the AlexFergus.com approach different from all the other "lose weight in 12 weeks" websites out there, is the long-term approach to health.

There will be no recommendations for calorie counting or exercise till you drop training protocols.

Instead, we will guide you towards building strong health foundations.

I'll help you re-balance:

Now, don't get me wrong: even though I'm advocating natural solutions to many problems, I'm a big fan of conventional medicine. 

Conventional medicine is amazing if anything's wrong with you...

If the arteries near your heart are clogged, conventional medicine is amazing, and natural medicine is useless.

With a broken bone, the same is true. Ditto for anything what happens to your brain.

My point is that you don't want to end up there in the first place. Natural solutions will help you avoid that situation.

If you're in the first stage of health - great work. Now put the effort in to stay there forever.

If you're in the second stage, be inspired by my own story and start making changes today to turn your health around. My Health Reset Program is your best option.

If you're in the third stage, every day counts! Read as much as you can, work with a professional medical team (if you're not already) and even though you have a big challenge ahead of you, know that every thing you to for your health today is going to help.

Over To You

It's your move.

If you think you have areas your health, energy, sleep and performance could improve AND you want to do something about this, then I congratulate you.

You are already on the road to optimal health!

I also invite you to explore the amazing content available for free at AlexFergus.com

I hope it helps you like it has helped the millions of others that have already visited this site.

And remember, be sure to jump on my email list as I will share my most informative and beneficial content with you - helping you on your journey.

Items Mentioned: 

• Health Reset Program

Found This Interesting? Then You Might Like:

• About Alex Fergus - My Incredibly Inspiring Health Journey And My Credentials
• Why We Need To Be Weirdos To Be Healthy
• PUFA's: The Worst Thing For Your Health That You Eat Everyday
• The Secret To Looking AND Feeling Amazing
• Find Out What Other Health Lies You Have Been Told

 

This blog post was written by Alex Fergus. Alex is a ISSN Sports Nutrition Specialist, Fitness Professional and certified Superhuman Coach who continues to expand his knowledge base and help people across the world with their health and wellness. Alex is recognized as the National Record Holder in Powerlifting and Indoor Rowing and has earned the title of the Australian National Natural Bodybuilding Champion. Having worked as a health coach and personal trainer for over a decade, Alex now researches all things health and wellness and shares his findings on this blog. Learn more about Alex's Credentials HERE.