Advocating For Your Personal Wellness

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We are switching it up here today on All Nutrition and bringing in a guest blogger, Meghan, for a collaboration with Balanced Wellness blog. As a Mayo Clinic trained health coach, Meghan aspires to create a platform where women and men, both young and old, can consume simple and honest health and wellness related content. And as a friend and old co-worker, I can vouch for her sincere passion and empathetic nature in her everyday and work life.

Over on Balanced Wellness you can find my blog post on Nourishing Your Body and Mind. I hope you enjoy both pieces!

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We live in a world filled with health advice and wellness tips. From quick fix diet cleanses to tips and tricks on how to be more organized, we are constantly bombarded with things that we should do, supplements that we should try and lifestyle hacks that will obviously improve our lives. With so much information being thrown our way on a daily basis, it is easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to advocating for our personal health and wellness. 

In today’s world, if you are looking to improve your health and make your wellness a priority, there are countless places to look for information and inspiration. At the start of 2020 I shared a blog post over on Balanced Wellness with my tips on how to make wellness a priority in 2020. If you are looking to make wellness more of a priority this year or are simply needing some inspiration, click here to read the full post. 

In brainstorming the ways in which we can truly make wellness a priority in our lives, I began to think about how this process has allowed me better advocate for my personal wellbeing. It is easy to forget all the different aspects of our lives that influence our overall health and wellness. I mean, if we feel fine, don’t have the flu and aren’t suffering with any body pains or aches, then we must be healthy, right?

As we begin to learn more about our health and take the necessary steps to better advocate for our wellness, it is important to recognize every aspect of our lives that have an impact on how we feel. While being knowledgeable about our health insurance policies and booking our annual physicals are both very important steps, there are so many other ways in which we can become better informed when it comes to our wellness. In today’s post, I will be breaking down some simple ways to better advocate for your personal wellness.

Get Inspired

When it comes to making your wellness a priority, as with all lifestyle shifts and behavioural experiments, the best place to start is to simply get inspired. Begin by finding your “WHY” and establishing the motivation you need to either begin a new chapter or simply change your way of thinking. Scroll through Pinterest, connect with like-minded friends and colleagues, explore local health food shops and fitness studios. Do whatever you need to do to get that tingly feeling when you feel so inspired that you can’t wait to get up in the morning and be the best version of you that you can be.

Ask Questions

Become an advocate by becoming informed. If there is something you are having a hard time dealing with or understanding, ask questions! When meeting with your doctor, counsellor, dentist, massage therapist or dietitian, prepare yourself ahead of time with a list of questions you’d like answered. Your health care providers are a valuable and credible resource when it comes to advocating for your personal wellness – be sure to utilize them.  

Stay Organized

Maintaining your own health records is a simple way to make your health and wellness a priority. It is rare for us to continue seeing the same family physician or specialist for our entire lives, which makes it hard to keep all our health records together. Advocate for your personal wellness this year by gathering your health records and creating an organized folder or document for you to refer to anytime you need it. And don’t forget to include any new updates throughout the year should you have any changes to your health.

Identify Your Support System

There is no better way to advocate for your personal wellness than to know where you can turn when you’re in need of support. Identify the support systems you have in place – a friend or family member you can rely on, a group or program you belong to, a co-worker or professional mentor who you can look to for advice or even a healthcare professional or clinician who you see regularly. We’ve all experienced it – life has a way of surprising us when we least expect it, often causing us to lose sight of our health and wellness goals. Identifying the support you have in your life will help to ensure you have a plan if any lapses or unexpected challenges arise. 

Set Boundaries

Finding balance and setting appropriate boundaries is definitely an ongoing and ever-changing process. For me, advocating for my wellness means ensuring that I am maintaining a healthy balance in my life. Being mindful of my daily routine, my responsibilities and commitments and how they are impacting my physical, emotional and mental health helps to ensure that I don’t fall into a rut or experience burn out. Getting to know your boundaries and limits and then setting realistic expectations for yourself based on those boundaries and limits is such a great first step in becoming an advocate for your personal wellness. 

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I hope you enjoyed this blog collaboration and a big thank you to Meghan from Balanced Wellness for writing such an important piece.