LiveWell Vermont

Much like the other areas around the Wellness Wheel, financial wellness looks different for different people!  Finances are the #1 stressor for around 73% of Americans, according to a study done in 2021.   Managing finances can give you better control of overall stress! While individual goals may differ, we can organize financial wellbeing into 3 goals: 1. Managing day-to-day finances Balancing your income and expenses to pay for day to day necessities like housing, food, clothes, utilities, etc Setting and sticking to a budget can be helpful for day-to-day expenses  2. Setting and achieving long and short-term goals Getting ready for a big purchase (buy a house or car, saving for retirement, planning for vacations or college) Paying down debt 3. Protection for emergencies Having savings for a rainy day Being prepared for a serious illness or injury, an expensive repair, or loss of income For more, visit https://www.prudential.com/financial-education/financial-wellne...

January is a great time to start a pantry inventor y habit! Now, before you go wild on Pinterest, remember: you don't have to aim for an instagram-worthy #pantrygoals setup to get the benefits of a pantry inventory! WHY: Taking regular inventory of what pantry staples, fridge foods, and freezer goods you have on can help with: -reducing food waste (financial and environmental benefits!) -staying on top of what groceries you need  -giving you ideas for upcoming meals, or helping create meal plans -reduce stress by becoming more organized! WHERE:  -Fridge -Freezer -Pantry HOW: Make these steps work for YOU! Feel free to delete steps, insert steps, or rearrange the order.  1. Start with freezer, pantry, or fridge. 2. Take all food out and line it up on the counter. 3. Check dates- but remember that smell is a more reliable measure of a food's freshness than the date stamped on the container! 4. Sort into keep, donate, compost, and trash 5. Take a moment to wipe down shelves,...

  Nutrition We hear all the time how important it is to eat right. But what does that mean? There's so much conflicting information out there about what diet is best.  While there is no one way of eating that is healthier than others, we  can arrange healthy eating into a simple mantra: balance, variety, moderation, adequacy.  Balance                 Eating a balance of important nutrients is essential to good health! One way we can look at balance in our meals is to use the healthy eating tool The Plate Method. There are several iterations of this idea from USDA , Harvard , The American Diabetes Association , and even a set of culturally relevant versions from The Institute for Family Health . Basically, the idea is the same for all of them. Take your plate, about 9 inches across, and divide it in half. Half the plate should be filled with mostly vegetables and some fruits. For the other ...

While exercise does cause your body to require more energy consumption, it shouldn’t be used to create a deficit. Your calorie deficit should be created independent of exercise. It should be based on your sedentary Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) and then you should add your exercise burn into the equation. This is because exercise isn’t always possible which means that during days or periods of inactivity you could be eating too much since you haven’t learned how much to eat to lose weight in the absence of exercise. How many calories will I burn per day? The amount of energy you burn per day when exercising is dependent upon your weight, height, the intensity of the workout, and time spent doing the activity. Click here to try the calculator !

Physical  What does Physical Wellness mean to you? What do you do to maintain the body you live in? Stay Active  Exercise can improve your mood and energy. It can also prevent fatigue and boost confidence!  How much exercise do you need?  It's important to check in with where you are currently before you set your goals. Check with your doctor if this is the first time you'll start exercising, or haven't been exercising for a while. A good goal to work up to is the AHA guidelines of 150 minutes per week . That shakes out to about 30 minutes, about 5 days a week.  What type of exercise is best? Without question, the one you enjoy most ! With gyms and studios closing, many places are offering free, virtual classes! Search YouTube for your favorite class type or check out the following! Design your own workout - AHA Free Online Yoga Classes: Do Yoga With Me Core Power Yoga Yoga With Adriene Eat well Eating adequate amounts of nutritious food is important to take ca...

Instead of setting New Year's resolutions, try choosing One Word as your intention for the upcoming year!  As we move into the New Year, many people set New Years Resolutions. While this works for some, the majority struggle to stick with it beyond February! We recently discovered a concept that switched our thinking away from setting a New Years resolution and towards something much simpler, more forgiving, and for us, more effective. We chose a #OneWord to guide us through the year ahead.  The theory behind identifying a single guiding word is that it points us towards the type of person that we want to become. And unlike a resolution, a single word can’t be broken. Choose a word that resonates with you and the 2022 version of yourself.  Here are a few examples of some celebrity #OneWord selections of 2021. Kanye West chose ‘Beautify’ last year, Rihanna chose ‘Faith’ and Beyonce chose ‘Surrender’. If you are still looking for inspiration,  t ake the What’s You...

 Explore the Wellness Wheel!  This year, we are focusing on making progress on our wellness and we'll be using the Wellness Wheel to help us figure out where we want to grow. To help guide you around the wheel, we'll be highlighting one area each quarter by bringing you challenges, webinars, and education about that topic.  Keep in mind- you can earn points in any section during any quarter! Over the next 6 weeks, we'll be introducing each of the Spheres of Wellness. Think about these questions as we explore each circle! In which of the areas: -are you already excelling?  -do you feel most motivated to make progress? -are you comfortable where you are? -are not a priority to you?

Do you use the New Year as an annual health seminar with yourself? In the past, have you hosted your own personal white board session, creating resolutions and brainstorming all the ways you wanted to improve in the coming year. Maybe these sessions included exercising daily, losing weight, dining out less, reading more high-brow literature, analyzing business trade publications weekly and drinking less soda. Who doesn't love the idea of a fresh start? Who has made it past January with this same attitude?? According to  Forbes , Only 8% of people actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions. Here’s to 2022 – a few tips and tools to help you stick to your New Year’s Resolutions.  Also, check out  “Happiness through Hardship” – The Podcast   where authors and wellness experts share inspirational stories and a ton of healthy living tips. Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2zidDGw Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3imO7An Stitcher: https://bit.ly/2WOsaTl 1. Set a goal and come up...