HAPPY LGBT HEALTH MONTH!!
Here in Rochester, and throughout New York State, we're celebrating the month of March as "NY LGBT Health Month." In the spirit of this celebration of queer people's health & wellness, we wanted to create a pretty basic month-long poll question: DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF "HEALTHY"?
"Healthy" can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people...and so we've intentionally left this question pretty open for interpretation. Once you've answered the poll question on the main page, however, we'd love to hear more about what "healthy" means to you----AND what do you do to keep yourself healthy?
Our friends and colleagues at Lifelube in Chicago did a FANTASTIC media campaign last year called "How Are You Healthy?" (To learn more about the campaign, click here.) In this campaign they asked queer men to share their own experiences in what keeps them healthy. We here at everybodysgood LOVE this idea; and we would like to do our own smaller version here in the comments section.
So answer the poll and then post your comments to and thoughts below to either or both of these questions----
What does health mean to you?
What do you do to keep yourself healthy?
(And to learn more about LGBT Health Month here in Rochester, click here!)
One way I have been actively trying to keep myself healthy, in terms of my physical health, has been going to the gym every day... and I've been going for a couple of months now. It started as a sort of New Year's resolution, and I actually set a goal for myself that by the end of LGBT Health Month I would be at "my ideal weight," (which to me just means feeling good and healthy and being totally comfortable in my own skin), just to see if I could reach it, and I will still strive for that but really... regular exercise has become a part of my daily routine as a positive, productive outlet, and has been really good for my physical health and also for my mental health.
That's great, Allegra. I made a similar resolution this year but have been less successful in sticking to it! LOL However, the start of LGBT Health Month seems a logical time to "reboot" myself and renew my commitment to my physical health through diet and exercise.
In terms of what I do to keep myself healthy----I posed the question for our community without necessarily knowing exactly what my OWN answer would be! I mean I think I do lots of things to stay health---try to eat right and exercise (when I have the willpower), I keep up with my medical appointments and dental appointments, try to take time out for myself to "recharge," etc.
As I consider it, however, the thing that keeps me healthiest is my relationship with my partner. It's immensely helpful to me to have a person in my life who supports me unconditionally when I share & live both the healthy AND unhealthy aspects of who I am on a day to day basis. Having that support----from a significant other, a close friend, or a family member---is something I'd wish for the health & wellness of every person I know....queer or otherwise!