March is Women’s History Month. this is a time to reflect on all the accomplishments women have made throughout time. It is a celebration of society’s progress regarding women’s rights. March is 31 days to focus on women! And we as women must focus on ourselves.
Did you know? 13.9% of women 18 years and older are considered to have fair or poor health. Only 20.4% of women 18 years and older met the 2018 federal physical activity guidelines for aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity. And 41. 8% of women 20 years and older are considered obese. At least 45.2% of women 20 years and older experience hypertension. The leading causes of death in women are heart disease, cancer, and Covid-19.
With statistics like those, I can see us getting depressed, but we shouldn’t. Most of the diseases mentioned above are considered lifestyle diseases. Lifestyle diseases can be caused by poor eating habits, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, excessive stress, and so forth. By changing our lifestyle, we can reduce the occurrence of these diseases.
It’s easy to say that by changing our lifestyle, we can improve our health but doing it… that’s where the trouble begins. Whether you are a mom, a mom with a career, a career woman, a caregiver, a wife, or have a partner or any of the hats we women wear, it is hard to make a lifestyle change. Kids need attention, significant others want attention, career women must give 100% at work, and so much more. If you are part of a marginalized group, add the stress of imposter syndrome, racism, discrimination… you see where this is going.
There are a lot of factors as to why we, as women, do not take the time to eat healthy, exercise, drink water, and sleep. I challenge us to break this cycle of everyone else matters and make sure that we matter to ourselves. Sis, you matter! Your health (mentally, emotionally, socially, sexually, physically, and spiritually) matters.
For the whole month of March, I will be sharing tools to help us as women start to care for ourselves. Please join me on this journey!
“I want all the girls without an exception to have that space for themselves where they have opportunities to be the women they wish to be.”
— Priyanka Chopra
