Wellfie Wednesday Tip #84: Eat Healthy While Traveling

Happy Wellfie Wednesday! Welcome back! This week comes to you from Diana (@DianaKlatt), who is currently enjoying  some summer south of the equator. 

     A lot of people think of extravagant food and eating out when they think of traveling. This is a common thought because we think of taking a vacation in all aspects of our lives when we go on holiday. And then when we get home and back into our regular routines we tend to feel guilty. But we don’t have to live like this!

     It’s actually quite easy to stay on track when you are traveling, especially if you are traveling for longer periods of time. But how do you stop yourself from going out for every meal? Well, first of all it will be a whole lot cheaper to not eat out for each meal (which means maybe you can fit in some more travel places or stay in nicer accommodations!). The biggest thing you can do is to go grocery shopping! Airbnbs, hostels, hotels, couch surfing… these places all typically have kitchens that are available for use. Even if you are in a country where you do not speak the language, it is fairly easy to navigate grocery stores and farmers’ markets.

     By spending your money on local produce and groceries you are saving money for yourself, as well as making it easier to choose healthy foods. Also, by saving your "eating out" for nicer dinners, you are better able to see your actual nutritional intake and make sure that you are getting all the nutrients you need. Ultimately, this will help you eat healthier while traveling, save you some money, and stop the guilt of taking “time off” when you get back to your normal life.

     And plus, living like a local is fun! Thanks again for all of the #WellfieWednesday support, be sure to post your pictures this week and tag the WW crew members in your post (@TheFuelPhysio, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @AaronPerezPT, @DianaKlatt, @kuhnalyssa_spt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

- WW Crew

Wellness Wednesday Tip #54: GROUNDING BREAKING NEWS! #SCIENCE DISCOVERS #SECRET TO HEALTH & LONGEVITY

Happy Wellfie Wednesday! Welcome back!

That’s right! The cat is out of the bag. #Science has discovered 5 keys for health & longevity.

This is groundbreaking news! Ground breaking in the sense that we’re realizing this guy may have had it right long ago.

Hippocrates, Father of Medicine 460-370 B.C. 

And the major keys are *Drum Roll Please*

1.     Be physically active

a. “Walking is man’s best medicine” –Hippocrates.

b. The current physical activity recommendation for adults is 150 minutes of moderate activity, 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or a combination of both.

2.     Maintain a healthy weight

a. “Let Food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” –Hippocrates

b. It’s near impossible to outwork an unhealthy diet. While physical activity plays a role here, we cannot neglect nutrition.

c. What’s a healthy weight? In the study linked below, they measured waist circumference. Generally, the recommendation is for men to be less than 40 inches, and women less than 35 inches.

3.     Avoid tobacco use

a. “Smoking sucks for health.” –Not Hippocrates

b. Okay, I don’t have Hippocrates quote about smoking. I don’t think smoking tobacco was invented yet. We’ve known for some time though that smoking is bad for us. I did some searching and apparently U.S. physician Benjamin Rush wrote about the dangers of tobacco use in 1798. During the 1920s the first reports linking smoking to lung cancer appeared (link). 

4.     Limit alcohol consumption

a. “Everything in excess is opposed by nature.” –Hippocrates

b. In other words, drink responsibly. Maybe that’s not quite a direct translation. Nonetheless, many of us have probably experienced alcohol in excess being opposed by our bodies. Interestingly, moderate alcohol consumption (no more than 1 serving a day for women, and no more than 2 servings a day for men) may have some health benefits.

5.     Sleep well

a. “Sleep and watchfulness, both of them, when immoderate, constitute disease.” -Hippocrates

b. Keeping in line with the last quote, moderation is key.  I think it’s safe to say lack of sleep is more of a common problem than excessive sleep for most of our busy American lives. It is recommended adults get at least 7 hours of sleep per night.

     These 5 behaviors are really powerful. Together, they were able to prevent 80% of heart attacks in men (link). The effect was cumulative meaning each behavior was beneficial on its own, and together the benefits compounded. Unfortunately, only one percent of study participants engaged in all 5 behaviors.

     Therein lies the point. We know what the essential behaviors for health are. We’ve known some of them for quite some time (Shout out to Hippocrates). However, knowledge alone is not enough to change behavior. And behavior change is the name of the game. That’s the real secret. Stay tuned for more on that topic in future Wellfie Wednesdays!

As always, thanks for reading. Be well. And be sure to tag the WW crew members in your post (@PBernerSPT, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @AaronPerezPT, @DianaKlatt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

-WW Crew 

Wellness Wednesday Tip #52: Keep the Wave of Healthy Change Going! Happy 1 YEAR!

     Welcome folks! Happy Wellfie Wednesday! Today marks our ONE YEAR anniversary for starting #WellfieWednesday and boy are we excited to have made it this far. Since its’ start, we’ve seen hundreds of photo tags across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. What was once just two guys trying to spread a wealth of health information has turned into a greater team effort, and we are thankful for those whom have joined us.

     As a recap for those of you who may be recently seeing or using #WellfieWednesday, the initiative was basically started as a way to spread healthier habits, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. Every single push towards a healthier you is an important one. Our hope is that these Wellness Sellfies (the Wellfie) create inspiration or encouragement to start or continue healthy habits, creating a community of health, and steering this ship (your family and your community) away from chronic illness.

     We’ve been told our tips are refreshing at times, coming from the point of view of a “real” person vs those social media famed fitness experts. Normalizing healthy ideas for the average Joe or Jane, again highlighting the smallest change makes a difference. Check out our latest hashtag posts to Instagram and Twitter below this article.

     Our tip this week is simple. We want your help in continuing to spread ideas and inspiration to those around you. So choose that healthy habit, snap a picture, tag it #WellfieWednesday, and give it a post.

     For those of you who have been with us since the beginning, with the continued dedication to spreading our message, we thank you. For those of you just joining us, welcome! And a special thanks to GetPT1st for featuring us as their Wednesday social media posts. We hope to inspire others together. Because only together can we make a difference.

     Thank you! And be sure to tag the WW crew members in your post (@PBernerSPT, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @AaronPerezPT, @fitnerdaimee, @DianaKlatt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!

- WW Crew 

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