It’s been a while since I updated y’all on my new life venture, or, more to the point, how I am doing on my get healthy, get fit, take care of myself journey. If you recall, I had a not so perfect physical – actually, the physical was fine, it was the resulting tests afterwards that were not so great. Elevated sugars, high blood pressure, too much weight and overall not a healthy place to be in. I am in a far better place now and kicking myself that I slacked off for so long.
My WellnessQ Today
It has been six weeks since my physical. Five weeks ago, I got the results of my blood work. I already unhappy with weight gain and my blood pressure, but the sugar levels indicated a real need to smarten up. I decided to get a little assistance and started following Body Break’s Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod’s #WellnessQ Tips. These are five steps to wellness to encourage you on your health and wellness journey and not create roadblocks.
My progress is something I am extremely proud of, and not just the weight loss. I had a follow- up appointment and my blood pressure is finally back to normal. Woohoo for me! Ten pounds gone off this frame of mine, normal blood pressure and I am back walking on the treadmill.
WellnessQ Examined
The concept of the #WellnessQ is simple: here are five simple tips on how to create your own #WellnessQ goals and incorporate them in your life. Nothing too earth-shattering, but really sound advice that is simple and easy to follow. Are you still in doubt? Well, let’s just examine Hal and Joanne’s #WellnessQ tips and my personal journey.
- Make Healthy Habits Easy: Whether they are fitness, nutrition, sleep or health-related, a wellness habit is successful when you establish a trigger that sets your healthy routine in motion and gives you gratification or an award each time you do it. The goal is to make your wellness habits automatic so they don’t require any brain power.
For me, having a partner truly helped. Kent is on this health journey with me, so food habits became second nature. Honestly, I missed the bread at the beginning, but now healthy eating has become second nature. We make sure there are plenty of veggies in the house and little to no bread. I’ve added fitness by doing a simple routine on the treadmill for 30-60 minutes with Netflix or time on social media. Honestly, adding the reward of a cool show and scrolling through my Instagram as you walk makes walking easy and almost pleasurable – totally pleasurable, if truth be told!
2. Power Your Brain: Keep your brain in tip-top shape! Participate in daily activities that will get your brain juices flowing – whether it is a crossword puzzle, Sudoku – whatever challenges you while also being fun!
I have a daily game on my Ipad that generates flight simulation. I’ve been thinking of starting to do Sudoko, but for now, games on my phone suits me fine. Plus, hello! Blogging and writing daily still works your brain, right?
3. “You Can” Attitude: Having a positive attitude gives you the ability to achieve success and feel good about yourself. Being willing to open new doors allows for opportunities to experience new things, meet new people, nurture relationships, create meaningful memories and put a smile on your face. Grab hold of the energy a “You Can” attitude can bring to your life.
This tip is honestly my favourite because it just involves loving life. This is why I blog, it’s why I attend events I normally would not and why I reach out to try new things. I encourage you to expand your world through hobbies or volunteering. Leave the comfortable behind. Say hi to the person beside you on the bus, talk to everyone you meet on the street or take a trip and extend your friendliness to others. Keeping positive powered me through fat biking and snow shoeing last year for the very first time. Who thought you could go fat biking at 50+?
4.Prevent and Protect with Immunization: Don’t get sidelined by health threats that can be avoided. The best way to help prevent illnesses like shingles and flu is to be vaccinated against them. Visit your doctor to discuss what vaccinations are recommended for you to help protect your health.
This one is key to prevention and ensuring good health. It is also one of the key points my doctor discussed with me. There are options available to help prevent illness, so why would we not take them? I would never think twice about vaccinating my children, so why would I hesitate with myself? Have you witnessed a loved one struggle with shingles? I have and it was not something I want to experience. This was a key step I plan to take towards my wellness that involves very little hardship on my part. My family physician provides me with the necessary brochures, so I could educate myself and ask him questions. Like eating an apple a day, getting vaccinated in your later years is preventative maintenance.
5. Plan and Track Your Progress: As we always say, “Without a Plan, You Plan to Fail!” so outline what healthy habits you would like to achieve and how you plan to do it then keep track of your progress in your “WellnessQ” diary. Check-in regularly to see how you are doing and make adjustments if you need to. Your ultimate goal is to “Keep Fit & Have Fun”.
Just a great tip to keep yourself on track. Sign up for a fitness app or maybe purchase a FitBit – this is my personal preference. I set up my FitBit to buzz as I reach an achievement, like reaching my daily steps. I also update it with my food intake and weekly weigh-in. All steps to get into positive habits, reward my behaviour and keep me moving forward.
Life Today
I want to back track slightly. Most of Hal and Joanne’s five WellnessQ tips were not a surprise to me – they made perfect sense and were great ways to encourage me to stay healthy. The one step I had not thought about was Tip #4: Prevent and Protect with Immunization. By coincidence, it was exactly what my doctor had discussed with me in my physical, so it made my leap over to embracing Hal and Joanne’s #WellnessQ goals very natural.
When my family physician sat me down in January to talk about my vaccination options, I was curious. I had heard of the importance of the shingles vaccine and the flu vaccines. Understanding where I was in life today, coupled with friends and family having suffered from shingles in the past, it got me asking my doctor for information for what vaccines are necessary for me. If I could prevent disease and illness, why wouldn’t I? I am a true believer in immunizing our children, so why are older adults any different? I’m happy to be moving forward with positive steps to bettering my #WellnessQ.
Check out more from Body Break’s Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod and their #WellnessQ tips below:
Although this post has been sponsored by GSK, the opinions and language are my own. This post will not be monitored by GSK. If you need to report an adverse event for any GSK product, please call 1-800-387-7374.
