How seriously do you take your health? Do you eat whatever you want without thinking? Do you exercise?
Picture by Igal Koshevoy
National Women’s Health Week is May 9-15, 2010. Be sure to put these dates on your calendar. It is a weeklong health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH). The theme is “It’s Your Time” and encourages women to take steps to make their health a priority and take steps for a longer, healthier, and happier life.
There are some steps that you can take. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health, you should:
- Getting at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both each week
- Eating a nutritious diet
- Visiting a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings
- Avoiding risky behaviors, such as smoking and not wearing a seatbelt
- Paying attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress
Recently I realized that after I changed jobs almost a year and a half ago, I wasn’t walking as much as I had in my previous job. Everything is central to my desk… All I have to do is roll my chair to get to the copier/printer/fax. The outgoing mail is placed in a basket on my desk. The postage machine is on my desk. The file room is not that far from my desk. So I started using a pedometer to see how many steps I was taking in a day. I was SHOCKED!!! 960 steps in a day was all I was taking. There is not a lot I can do about rearranging things to make the distance farther to walk but there are a few things I can do throughout the day. I’m making a more conscious decision to get up and take more steps and walk more around the office. There is a long hall outside our office and I’ve started walking down the hall and back a couple of times a day. Also at night I’ve started walking around my neighbor for at least 20 minutes.
GE’s Healthymagination also encourages people everywhere to take small steps to make healthy changes in their lives. There is an interactive map that encourages people to make simple pledges about what they can do to have a healthier life. Simple changes that can have a big impact on your life. If you haven’t heard about this, check it out at Better Homes and Gardens and make your pledge to make changes to lead a healthier life.
Till next time,
JT Locke
The Frugal Housewife
About The Frugal Housewife
I only eat twice daily and may be once and sure i am not eating whatever. I am from persons who don’t have breakfast and sometimes i don’t have my dinner so that makes it a meal or two per day, may be that is wrong for my health but it is how my life style going.
I have a weekly workout schedule (select days which I work out, i.e. Mon, Wed, Fri) which helps me to schedule everything else around my workouts.
I try to go to the gym 4 times a week, for real I only go like once a week….. you know work, gf, friends. It ain’t easy to make time for the gym is it?
My health is very important to me, especially since heart issues run in my family. I try to incorporate fruits and veggies in all my meals, and since my husband has retired I can “control” what he eats now. Exercise…sometimes I just don’t feel like it. But I force myself to do something. Hubby and I walk 3 miles at least 5 times per week.
It’s nice to be reminded about Women’s Health Week. The only thing I should work on is getting into some moderate and vigorous activities. Sometimes I think about getting up early and do some short strides at the backyard, but I always fail to do it the next day. I’m looking forward in participating on the upcoming Health Week.
Bernice
I haven’t been able to take as good care of my health as I would like to, these past few months. Work and family has taken up a lot of time so I just occasionally manage to go to the gym but mostly stick to home workouts. I do study up on health guides a lot, so I can control better what I eat.
Till then,
Jean