Being Healthy: How to be prepared for health and stay that way

To your health!

If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.

Take your medicine!

Don’t forget your vitamins!

Go natural/organic!

 

We hear and see so much regarding our health. Understandably so as health is important as we need to have healthy bodies to keep up with our lives. You go try running a marathon with the flu. (Disclaimer: I am not speaking from experience. I hate running. If I’m running, you should be running with me as it means something is chasing me or I’m super late.)

I’m not going to give any tips or tricks on how you should live your life in a health sense. Everyone’s body is different, reacts differently and needs different things. I’m only gonna touch base on basic health and how to keep healthy. For some basic health needs and goals, check out an earlier post of mine: To Your Health!

 

So now that you got that down, let me ask you some basic questions.

When was the last time you went to the doctor? Why did you go and what made you decide to go?

For me, I had a bad case of an upper respiratory infection April 2015 that I could not shake on my own. I did pretty well from keeping it turn into bronchitis according to the doctor. I had been coughing off and on and thought that weather change here in Charleston + working in hotels with everyone’s germs + still getting used to a new job (so some extra physical and mental stress on my body) was the reason why I couldn’t shake it. After not being able to talk at work (needed of course to do my job), I ended up having to call out of work and to get a doctor’s note, meant I had to go see the doc. Yay for Z-Packs! Sorry Mucinex, you just weren’t cutting it. Sadly, as soon as I started feeling better, I got word that my grandfather had passed away and I had also put in my 2 weeks notice as I had gotten a MUCH better paying job (like $4/hour more better paying job). Needless to say, it took much longer to heal than expected. Plus I had gotten my fiancé sick (he NEVER gets sick like that) so I knew that this was something I would HAVE to go to the doctor for.

 

Heading to the doctor at least 2x a year is optimal. Every 6 months, get a check up to make sure your awesome body is running like it should. Think of it as preventive maintenance: every 6 months, go get a checkup to make sure everything is functioning normally. I know insurance right now is a super pain in the ass (trust me, I TOTALLY get it!), but in most cases of any type of disease, if you can catch it early, the better it is to remove that burden from your life.
I will confess, I am EXTREMELY guilty of this. I Hate the doctor. Let me alliterate:

I. Hate. The. Freaking. Doctor.

And Their Offices. And Their Hospitals.

*No offense to those who are in the medical fields. I have nothing but mad respect for you.*
I don’t go unless it is necessary (like I haven’t shaken off a case of Bronchitis in let’s say 3 weeks or my body decides to rebel and pull a large muscle). I try everything that I can unless I am completely and utter miserable or if missing out on work. I work at a hotel at the front desk. I HAVE to be able to talk to people. I don’t have the option to just sit in a cubicle and type all day and be left mostly alone to my own devices. #realitycheck haha.

However, I know that some of the issues I’m currently experiencing could probably be either A) solved or B) at least answered to Why if I would just make the appointment. Honestly, why don’t I? A) Time constraint, B) Money – even though I have insurance through work, there’s still the co-pay AND whatever else the insurance won’t cover (I’m gonna need a few tests run, mostly bloodwork). I simply can’t afford anymore bills right now C) Honestly, I’m kinda scared – mom has some major illnesses – Fibro, Lupus, Bamboo Spine, Pre-Diabetic — she’s gotten thru these battles since 2001 and some more recently and she’s such a trooper to be in major daily chronic pain with some of them not ever getting better/be in remission. I don’t feel that I’m as strong as her and that I won’t be able to handle it nearly as good as she does. Mama didn’t raise a quitter, but it’s just my anxious mind speaking all kinds of negativity to me – it’s a work in progress yo.

Mamma didn't raise a quitter. Click To Tweet

 

But even if you don’t go the doctor, being prepared knowledge wise and supply wise is important. Let me ask you a few more questions.

Do you know what your blood type is? Do you know your spouses’, your kids’, or your parents’ blood types? (Confession: I don’t know any besides my fiancé’s)

Do you know what if and what kinds of diseases run in your family? This is important for your health, your kids’ health and your grandkids’ health. (This is I do about.)

If you had a medical emergency right now, do you know if you/the other person involved have insurance and if so, what’s covered by your provider? Do you know your doctor’s number and office hours? What’s the nearest hospital or the nearest urgent care? What kind of allergies do you/the other person have? What kind of medicines do you/the other person take? What’s your pharmacy?

If it’s a non-medical emergency, do you have a full first aid kit or do you just have band aids and will have to wing it or take a trip to the store?

 

While it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen, it’s not like you’re expecting for yourself or someone else to fall down (ok, maybe you do haha) or get a cut or break a leg (figuratively or literally in this sense), being prepared for it makes it [seem like at least] less of an emergency. Between my fiancé and I, we’re pretty covered. With him being former military and I being a klutz + the prepared type, we have almost everything we could need. For the most part, our biggest concern is making sure the medicine is still good when we take it because we stocked up. We have band aids, wraps, cough drops, cold/flu meds, vitamins, stomach related meds, his daily meds, peroxide, rubbing alcohol, tape, heat wraps… it goes on and on. Of course we do this to be prepared and make what could get ugly not so ugly. I’d rather spend $100 every couple of months or so then spend $1000 or more a year to go to the doctor or the ER.

 

So knowing your medical history (and your family’s) and being stocked up on supplies, what else can you do to be prepared for your health? Think about these:

• Use a log or journal to keep up with your nutrition and exercises. Don’t cheat and don’t under-guess nor exaggerate your nutrition or exercises. If you ate that extra slice of cake, log it. If you only did 5 reps instead of your normal 10, log it. Be honest with yourself and your plan. Allow for the hiccups and carry on. One slice of cake extra is not going to throw your entire plan off whack.
• If you don’t want to write it down or if you want the extra accountability, use apps on your phone to keep you on track. They’re out there. Look at a couple. Find one that you think YOU will actually use and try it out. If you don’t like it, there are others to choose from. Don’t get discouraged.
• Look up workouts and try them out a few times. Write down how you feel after them. You’re supposed to feel a little tired after a workout. Otherwise, it’s doing you no good. On the other hand, if you’re dizzy and nauseous, you’re gonna wanna look at what you did, how many and for how long and then scale it back. You may surprise yourself what you might enjoy.
• Hit the gym when you say you’re going to or do the exercise you’ve planned in the time you’ve allotted. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get to it at the exact hour you designated. Life throws you curveballs. You might have to stay work late one day and it throws your time off. You get sick and decide to not do strength training at the gym. Allow for flexibility.
• Should you not be able to do what you wanted to, try to do something. Not able to hit the gym today? Walk around your neighborhood for 30 mins. Do you usually run and it’s raining cats and dogs out there? Aim for yoga or a workout on a DVD or on YouTube.

Doing something is better than nothing when it comes to being healthy. Click To Tweet

 

Take some time this weekend to reflect about where you are on a health scale (and be honest with yourself). What do you need to do to make sure you’re in good health and prepared for whatever life throws at you? Would you be prepared right now?

 

Let’s get healthy together and shine bright.

<3 Jenn