Listening to My Heart This New Year
Caption: A heart-shaped plate containing fresh fruits, vegetables, and almonds, surrounded by fitness equipment and a water bottle on a wooden table.
Last year, I opened up about my heart murmur and discussed accepting the diagnosis. It was a frightening yet empowering feeling to share my story with the world. To start off the new year, I’d like to present healthy habits that I have been implementing as a busy student. My resolution for this New Year is to better my heart health with small but impactful changes while being laser-focused on my studies. As a freshman in high school, the transition from middle school to high school has been overwhelming. But over the fall semester, I’ve found that joining sports and eating nutritiously have helped me better manage my heart health while adjusting to the newness of high school. In the past, I’ve struggled with upholding healthy habits due to being absorbed with schoolwork. So, I’d like to take you on a journey of how I turned things around and describe the lifestyle changes I’ve made this school year!
Passion can fuel your body and soul. Volleyball, a sport that I never imagined myself playing, became my favorite thing to look up to every day. Previously, I was always too busy, too stressed, engrossed in academics to care about a sport. This year, I’ve learned firsthand that sports are an important part of upholding healthy habits. As a busy student, sports can be hard to balance, but the sensation of winning and performing at your best makes it well worth it. Joining my school’s volleyball team has significantly improved my mental and physical health, particularly my heart health. Moving around on the court and passing, setting, and hitting regulates my heart and provides me with a sense of peace. Beyond that, I have found meal planning and prepping to be gratifying. I usually plan lunch meals for the week on Sundays. I pack foods that nourish my heart like salad, egg, cucumber, chicken, grape tomatoes, avocado, and other fruits and vegetables. These combinations help me stay energized and healthy throughout the day and practice.
Nonetheless, we all know that change doesn’t happen overnight. As the saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Good days and bad days will always exist. I’m still gradually learning how to balance ambition with well-being. Some days, all I want is to grab a quick snack, sleep for hours, and surround myself with work to finish it faster. However, previous years have taught me that health should always come first. Choosing to fuel my body with nutrition, choosing to rest, choosing to move my body. These are all choices that I’ve found when turned into habits can have a lasting impact. From one high schooler to another, it is possible. Balance is the key to success. I'm well aware that there will be more hardships on the way, but I’m ready to face them. Preventative habits aren’t extreme; they are small but meaningful changes, intentionally made every day, that could change everything.