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Real Life Challenge: Stick to your healthy habits—Advice from University of Utah employees

Over the past six weeks of the Real Life Challenge, 2,625 University of Utah employees worked on improving their overall health and well-being by practicing and posting small, daily habits. By posting completed habits, we held ourselves and our coworkers accountable, tracked our progress, and made healthy habits our norm. Now the biggest challenge is sticking with it. Sustaining change is not an easy task, so we asked your fellow employees at the University of Utah what has helped them stick with new habits in the past. Here’s some of the advice that they shared:

• “Start small. Little changes will add up.”We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. It’s tempting to take the all or nothing approach, but for most of us, it usually doesn’t work. 10 minutes of activity, 1 cup of vegetables, and 5 minutes of meditation is always better than nothing at all.

• “Have something visual that helps you see how you are progressing.”With everything going on in our lives, it’s easy to focus on what we didn’t get done, versus what we did accomplish. When you set a goal, keep track of every day that you follow through with it on an app, calendar, or planner. Being able to look back at your progress will force you to recognize your achievements and empower you to keep pushing forward.

• “Keep at it. It’s a lifetime journey, and not a sprint.”This is a great reminder that healthy shifts take time. We go through phases throughout our life, when making the healthy choice is sometimes easy and other times difficult. This is normal and okay. We need to be patient and constantly remind ourselves that there is no shortcut to achieving health and well-being.

In summary, start small, recognize your progress, and keep at it. Achieving health and well-being can be tough at times, but the reward is invaluable and we’re all in this together. Be well, U of U.

For more information about the Real Life Challenge, click here.

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SCARY DISEASES TO AVOID THIS FALL

It’s that time of year when you can find plenty of scary creatures roaming the streets, from ghosts and ghouls to witches and zombies. But there are also things lurking in the places where children learn and play that can be even scarier. Protect you and your kids from the germs, bacteria and viruses that cause some pretty frightening illnesses.

Read the full story here.

TREATING HAND, FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a virus that can cause rashes on the hands and feet and sores in the mouth—and can sometimes be mistaken for the strep throat infection. Pediatrician Dr. Cindy Gellner tells you how to distinguish the virus from strep throat and other similar illnesses. She also provides tips for treating the virus and how to help your child stay comfortable through their symptoms.

Listen here.

For more expert health news and information, click here.[/bs_well][/bs_col][/bs_row]