5 Healthy Habits I’ve Developed Because of Asthma
My friend Kelly Kunik over at Type2Diabetes.com recently wrote an article called 6 Good Habits I’ve Developed Thanks to Diabetes. Before I even started reading, thoughts started tumbling through my head of positive things I do for my health that likely wouldn’t be the case if not for my asthma—I quickly sent Kelly a Facebook message asking if I could “steal” her topic idea, and fortunately she said yes because I’d already started writing!
Healthy changes… because of asthma
- Have—and regularly see—a family doctor. Because of my asthma I need to have a doctor—and because of my other medical issues, I have several specialists too. But as a byproduct of my asthma, in particular, I found a family doctor (even if it was a bit late where my asthma was concerned), and that helped some when I’ve had other medical issues develop.
- Exercise (at least sometimes). The reality is, if it weren’t for my asthma, connecting with my friend Steve, and getting involved online, I probably wouldn’t even exercisesometimes. Because of my asthma, I found myself getting active, with a degree in kinesiology, and with more friends who are good (active) influences on me. I never would’ve thought that 11 years ago!
- Consider nutrition (again, at least sometimes) This is really just a byproduct of being more active than I might otherwise be—for whatever reason, on days where I exercise, it is a huge motivator to improve my otherwise semi-brutal 7-year-old-esque food choices. After all, I can still choose strawberries over cookies or chips when satisfying my inner 7 year old’s palate. (And strawberries are delicious.)
- Focus on embracing the good things. Certainly there are things that are harder to do with asthma, but harder does not mean they are not worth it! Living with a chronic illness like asthma means, so long as I keep my focus on it, I get a lot better at focusing on the good things—even if that’s just comparatively good! While my positivity came into my life before my friend Jay did, I certainly have him to thank for the phrase “good things” and everything it encapsulates for me.
- Mostly excellent self advocacy skills. While this is in part mainly due to a series of unfortunate healthcare experiences, I’ve developed a slew of self-advocacy skills that I’m (usually) not afraid to whip out when I need them—although, sometimes my brain needs to work a little faster to catch up! Self-advocacy skills are something that I don’t believe you can ever perfect (because some sort of wrench is always going to be thrown into the works!), but I’ll settle for my “mostly excellent” self-advocacy skills. And, well, even when they’re lacking in excellence… they’re a whole lot better than they were!
While some would say having asthma makes me less healthy, I like to think I’m actually healthier because of my asthma—and definitely healthier than I would be had I not developed asthma! I am sure there are other ways my asthma makes me healthier than I would have been otherwise, too.
What healthy habits have you developed because of your asthma?

Community Poll
Has asthma changed your exercise routine?
Join the conversation