Your Winter Wellness and Your Benefits

This holiday season, we’re grateful for our health benefits. The winter presents a host of obstacles to our physical and mental health, and it pays to be prepared. A healthy foundation is the key to a winter of wellness and a happy holiday season. Check out these five tips!

Make Preventative Care a Priority

The best offense is a good defense — especially during flu season. According to the CDC, as many as eleven percent of all people in the United States deal with the flu every year. Getting your flu shot is fundamental to setting up a health foundation for the winter months, especially as the holidays approach.

In fact, preventative care of all kinds helps keep you and your family healthy. So, take advantage of those benefits and don’t skip your vaccines, health screenings, and wellness visits.

Get a Head Start on Your New Year’s Resolution

Everyone loves to start the new year with a resolution to be their healthiest self. That can include your annual health check-ups. As the year comes to a close, go ahead and make those vision and dental appointments so you can start the year on the right foot.

Your benefits are there for exactly that reason. So you can proactively keep up with your health and wellness and be at your best.

Practice Winter Wellness

Who wants to go for a run when it’s cold and dark outside? And, who can resist all of the comfort foods of the season?  The winter presents a very unique challenge to our health and fitness because it’s a time of year when it’s very easy to fall into bad habits and behaviors.

Your wellness starts with you and the little choices you make, every single day. Build up your immunity by getting plenty of sleep. Bring the gym to your living room with yoga or other body weight exercises. Finally, chase off those holiday carb cravings by adding more protein and Omega 3s to your diet, and mushrooms which are a natural antibiotic that boosts the immune system.

Take Your Health into Your Own Hands (Literally!)

With the winter comes the holiday season and all the rushing about that it entails. From mid-November on, families everywhere are constantly on the go … and likely at risk for getting sick.

The best strategy to fight off the seasonal illnesses is in your hands and in your pocket! For on the go health, combine the benefits of washing your hands and utilizing telemedicine. The CDC reports that regularly washing your hands can reduce the risk of respiratory illnesses like the cold and flu by as much as twenty one percent. Suppose your best efforts fail and you’re still feeling under the weather? Reach into your pocket and connect with your doctor to get the care you need while on the go.

Fight Back Against SAD

SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder is a common occurrence that impacts many Americans. In the winter, the decrease in sunlight levels and the cold weather have a tangible impact on our mental health. An estimated nine million Americans experience changes in their mental health that are chronically impacted by the changing seasons.

Some tips for fighting back include upping your Vitamin C intake (also a great hack for boosting your immune system), indulging in herbal teas and meditation, and getting good sleep to help your body adjust to the rhythm of the season.

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