Next up in our series, a lady who we first worked with in 2009. She had an extremely busy work schedule then and although the time pressures haven't changed much, her ability to get more done and do it well has gone from strength to strength.
- The biggest benefits of making your lifestyle changes?
Improving my wellness makes me feel better as a human being; energy levels are more under control as are my productivity and ability to achieve more; moods and emotionally energy is also more balanced.
- The date of the wellbeing programme you attended
2009 / 10
- The lifestyle changes you made during programme
Re-incorporated exercise into my life (on a regular basis) as opposed to “panic exercise” after gaining a few pounds.
Learned how to manage my energy levels.
- The lifestyle changes you made following programme
Continued exercise even if only a few times a week as it is a major factor in wellbeing (even on a physiological / psychological level) as it helps clear the mind and control stress levels.
Cut down on coffees per day and introduced teas, green teas especially more frequently into diet.
- The lifestyle changes that have stuck with you to the present day
During my very hectic work day, I now snack on apples, oranges, pears and nuts (instead of chocolate and crackers / cookies).
Every now and then I indulge but it is now 90/10 health/unhealthy snacks vs. the other way around. This has been a huge change for me.
When travelling, I find a way to do a 10 – 15 minute hotel workout. Something is better than nothing, especially when I know I am too busy to make it to the gym (which I hardly ever do when travelling).
- The secrets of your success with wellbeing
I used to be an extreme dieter and exerciser (meaning all or nothing - all chocolate then starve myself for days trying to undo the extra pounds). The yo-yo dieting and exercising wrecked havoc on my body and metabolism. I find it is better to exercise a 90/10 rule – try to be healthy 90% of the time and indulge 10% of the time. It is much more realistic and keeps me from depriving myself completely which then results in overindulgence.
- What advice that you received made the greatest impact on you?
The Wellness Award that I received sits in my office until this day. It is a constant reminder of what I have been able to achieve and keeps me focused, especially on those days when it is easy to be bad.
- Anything that got in the way of success with wellbeing
Because my career is very important to me, it is easy to fall back into old habits and to take the path of least resistance especially when under work deadlines; I have to remember at times that I might make mistakes and allow some room to not be too hard on myself when I do, but not to allow the one mistake to turn into a pattern of bad habits.
- When wellbeing is working for you, what are the key elements that make the difference?
Key elements are cutting out the bad snacks and substituting them for healthy snacks throughout the day (this is the highest risk bad habit area for me) as well as walking every other day which gets my blood circulation going.
Read the previous instalment of our Inspiring Wellness Success Stories series
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