Engage Yourself and Create Your Own Feedback Loop for Health and Wellness

Thomas Goetz: It's time to redesign medical data | Video on TED.com

How do we create personal changes that positively influence our future health and wellness? One of the things we need to do is to gain knowledge about our personal medical data. When you see your health care provider, ask questions. Don't just get a report, "Everything's fine. See me in a year." You have the right to be informed about your health and how the pieces of the puzzle fit together to make up you your current level of health. Ask questions. Get your data, request copies for your own records. The only way to make long-term positive changes is to understand your health information. How does your current health compare to optimal health? If you're out of ranges in specific areas, what is the significance of being out of range? What are your options for change?

A specific example of these questions and the feedback loop, as described by Thomas Goetz in his TedMed talk October, 2010, might be this. What is your weight? Is it defined under-weight, normal, over-weight or obese? How does this compare to optimal health of maintaining a normal weight? What are the significant long-term effects of where your current weight is at? Does your weight put you at risk for disease? Does your current weight keep you at lower risk for disease? What are your options? Should you stay at your current weight? Gain weight? Lose weight? Which one of these options best supports achieving optimal health? What actions are you going to take to achieve normal weight? When you develop and take actions to work toward a goal, you are engaging yourself.

For long-term success and optimal health, we must be engaged. We need to engage ourselves in changes that promote health and wellness. Once we know how our current state of health measures with optimal health and wellness, we can determine which action plans will make a difference and which ones we want to incorporate into our daily lives. Enjoy watching this video, learning more about different tactics and philosophies on making lifestyle changes, and use the concepts in this blog entry and the video to create your very own personal feedback loop for positive change.

By getting knowledge and creating your own feedback loop for positive change, you can make a difference in your long-term health and wellness.

Yours in health,
Michelle
mlinrn@gmail.com

Tribute of Thanks to Jack LaLanne

Wow.  I’m not sure if you have heard this news or not, but I just read that Jack LaLanne passed away today.  He was 96.  What a great example and inspiration for us all.  He was a very strong proponent of a healthy lifestyle long before it was ever in fashion to watch one’s diet or exercise.  The disciplines of a healthy diet and routine exercise surely helped him live a healthy and active life to the age of 96.  “It's a lifestyle, it's something you do the rest of your life," LaLanne said. "How long are you going to keep breathing? How long do you keep eating? You just do it."

No matter how young or how old we are, it’s never too late to make changes that will impact our health.  So, as the Nike ad says, Just do it.  Eat better and exercise often.  Little things can make a big difference.  Even if we have existing conditions or genetic risk factors that may predispose us to disease and illness, our lifestyle and daily habits are very important contributing factors for our long-term wellness and quality of life.  Regarding exercise, LaLanne said this, "The only way you can hurt the body is not use it.  Inactivity is the killer and, remember, it's never too late."

We should all take a moment in our day to remember and thank Jack LaLanne for the ongoing dedication he had through the years teaching and reminding people of the importance of good dietary choices and exercise.

I’d love to hear from you about your inspiration for healthy diet and exercise.  What is your favorite workout?  What’s your favorite new healthy recipe?  Let’s share together and let the variety of responses give us all continued support and motivation to make lifelong healthy lifestyle choices.

Yours in Health,

Michelle

mlinrn@gmail.com

One More Day Left, Be Sure to Get Your Votes In.

Be sure to cast your votes for the online surveys before the surveys close.

Also, feel free to send in your health and wellness questions.  I'm looking at starting a Question and Answer section.  For anyone interested in guest writing, I'm also considering showcasing guest blog entries.  Feel free to send me a message at MichelleLindwall@gmail.com.  Please include Q and A or Guest Writer in the subject line.

Let's get healthier in 2011.

Yours in health,
Michelle

To Lose Or Not To Lose?

Did you know, for every pound you lose, that's four pounds less pressure on each knee?  Lose 10 pounds and that is 40 pounds less pressure on each knee.  Did you know, there are approximately 1 million knee replacement surgeries done world-wide each year?  Half of those surgeries are done in the US.  At the cost of approximately $33,000 each, that is equivalent to $16.5 billion USD.

Contact me about joining the Lean Team.  Losing weight is beneficial for all areas of your health including joint health.

Happy New Year

     Hello there and welcome to my Health and Wellness Blog.  I look forward to the new year as I embark on creating this blog to help other people.  In my 15 years experience as a health care practitioner, I have witnessed ill effects on patients' health from many different contributing factors.  Although we cannot prevent all disease and illness, our lifestyle is one of the contributing factors to illness that we have the most control over and potential to change.  From the early years in my career caring for post-op Open Heart Surgery patients, I have firmly believed in disease prevention and the importance of taking steps to modify lifestyle factors to promote wellness.

     In as many times as I've said prevention is key, I've always asked, but who's going to pay for prevention?  Well, we all are paying one way or another, now or later in sickness or in health.  The time, however, is now to get informed and take control of your health.  I look forward to helping you learn about health, wellness and disease prevention.  What things we should do to promote wellness?  What things are fads versus what truly has value for the long-term?  What things should we watch for to protect our health?  What puts us at risk for different diseases?  What things can we do to counteract our predisposition to diseases?  I look forward to answering these questions and more throughout the year.  So follow along.  Here's to promoting the best of our health and wellness.  Let's make 2011 our best year yet!