What’s Normal? Getting To Know Your Body

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Our bodies and how we feel are influenced by diet, lifestyle factors and stressors. Some times, it can be difficult to pinpoint a cause, But what if I told you there is a way to take control of our bodies and healthcare? By understanding how our bodies, on an individual level works, we can help to prevent and beat any sign of disease or illness.

First step in helping us become experts of our own bodies, we need to keep track of what is going on and to note any differences. To that aim, it can be helpful for a few months to keep a health diary to get a holistic picture of what is going on day to day.

Starting your health diary

We’d recommend purchasing a diary that you can keep separate from your day to day activities as initially your health diary will entail a lot of detail.  The first step is to get a current snapshot of your health at this point in time.

At the beginning of your health journey make a note of your current stats. Include:

• Heart rate
• Blood pressure
• Cholesterol
• Weight
• Bodily dimensions (bust, waist, hip, thigh, arms etc.)

In particular, your heart rate, blood pressure, and cholesterol are key insights into your overall health and can tell a practitioner an awful lot about your current state of health. In addition, taking this information now and again at the end of the trial period will help you see any visible changes to your efforts.

Some things to note when it comes to your ‘key’ stats:

Weight can be a tricky thing to measure

We all base our body weight either through BMI, scales or dress sizes, but because you are a bigger size than what’s socially considered ‘the right size’ doesn’t mean you’re over weight. BMI only measures our body fat against our weight and height, whereas to achieve a realistic measurement we need to include muscle and bone density. As everyone’s bodies and lifestyles are different, BMI can be a good starting point to discover your key stats.

Blood pressure is key to understanding your health

A high blood pressure can create a strain on your heart. Whereas, for a healthy person, their blood pressure should return to normal quite quickly after exercise. The average blood pressure measures around 120/80. If yours is higher, exercise helps to keep blood pressure down.

Cholesterol is essential for our bodies but too much of it can be harmful to our hearts

Cholesterol is made in the body by the liver but is also found in certain foods. It encourages healthy cell function in our bodies but if we eat too much we risk heart and circulatory diseases. Healthy adults should have a recommended 5mmol/L but if you are concerned about the level of cholesterol in your body you can change your diet, exercise to break down any fats and stop smoking to reduce any high cholesterol.

What to record in your health diary

It’s worth diarising all of your habits for at least 4 weeks, though we’d recommend trying it for at least 12, to get a greater idea of how your body functions. The more detailed your diary, the better the picture of your overall health. What we’re suggesting may seem extensive but it’ll really help you understand your current health picture and trajectory, and enable you to take steps now to improve your health and help identify any potential path to disease and illness later down the line. In your diary daily we’d recommend making a note of the following:

What time you went to sleep and woke up

Make additional notes of quality of sleep and if you disturbed at all in the night, for how long and a rough idea of time. A sleep app will do all this working out for you so it is well worth getting one. Sleep Cycle  is a great app that not only tracks your sleep but will wake you in your lightest sleep phase near the time you want to get up so you feel the best you can in the morning.

What you eat and drink throughout the day

Keep track of everything you eat and drink including supplements, snacks, alcohol and even what you cook in/with etc. Also make a note of the time you ate, how long you ate for, and where you eat. This sounds extensive but if you’re eating whilst working it could be impacting your health. If you can, be specific on the portion sizes you have too.

Note the exercise you do throughout the day

Record steps, flights climbed, heart rate if you can get it, actual programmes you participate in, and the length of time you do it. Apple have a health app which records a number of these things for you so again may be worth installing something like this to make it easier for you.

Note down your mood and general feeling

You should also write down any pains, weaknesses, difficulties in breathing and general mood. Remember to be specific by noting the area and characteristics of the pain. Also note any medication you took to numb the pain and any reactions. If you’re visiting the doctor during this exercise remember to record any treatments or medicines too. With regards to your general mood, pay particular attention to your energy levels and whether you feel sad, happy, tired, like you’ve too much adrenaline etc. This information will be surprisingly beneficial in the steps following your health diary.

Even record when you go to the bathroom

Using the Bristol Stool Chart, make a note of the types of bowel movement you have and the frequency you go. Also make a note of the amount of times you go for a wee too and it’s colour. On average, many people poo just once a day and wee between six and eight times but frequency and amount is down to our personal dietary habits so don’t be concerned at this stage. But this information can be very indicitive of your health and highlight ways in which changes to your lifestyle can be improved for overall better health.  

Make a note of your period

Many of us just regard it as a thing that happens to us once a month and the little it happens, the better. But changes here could signal something is going on with your health too. When it comes to your period, note when it starts, how long it goes on for, the flow, and how this changes, any clotting noticed, smells, colour, and any pain you get with it and the medication required to help it settle.

Your health history

In addition to health diary we’d recommend talking with your parents and grandparents about their health conditions and history. This information can prove extremely beneficial when talking with doctors and nurse practitioners in guiding any treatment and medication as their conditions could be indicitive of your current and future health.

You should also make a note of any pre-existing medical conditions and any medications you take. For example, the contraception you use, allergies and medications you take for them, inhalers etc. It may also be beneficial to get key information from your doctors such as blood type and if possible an outline of your most recent blood test.

When faced with an emergency or even discussing your future or current health you will have the basis of knowledge you can draw on quickly and share with a medical professional. This will ensure from the outset you get the best advice and care possible.

What to do with the results

When you’ve completed your 4 weeks diary, make a note of your key stats to see if there’s been any changes. If your habits haven’t changed that much it should be relatively stable.

Mostly this exercise is about understanding what is normal for you. When it comes to bodily functions, everyone differs because our habits, diets, and lifestyles are different, so comparisons can be difficult. But you can use this exercise to improve your health with immediate effect. Once you’ve completed your health diary, you can review your notes to spot patterns. Diet and mood for example hold a number of links (as does diet and most aspects of health) and you can use this information to spot ways to quickly and immediately help you feel, generally, better.

For others, this may be an opportunity to create a snapshot of your health so that when something does go awry you can pursue another health diary noting changes in your health which you can use as evidence and a communication tool when meeting a medical practitioner to discuss your concerns and help guide your treatment.

When you undertake new habits, lifestyle changes and/or diet it will be worth pursuing this exercise again. Particularly when you’re at your healthiest. Spotting changes and patterns in this methodical way, although time consuming, will ensure you’re always at your healthiest.