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Breaking bad, habits that is

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Not all habits are made to be broken. Good habits, like making your bed every morning, using manners and not spending more than you earn should be kept. But habits like stress eating, excessive drinking and nail biting, like it or not, are bad for you. Changing your habits is doable. Here’s how: 

  1. Identify Cues 
    Something has to trigger a habit, and a cue can be anything. Maybe stress makes you crave chocolate, or the sound of your alarm triggers you to hit the snooze button. Identifying cues helps you understand what puts your habits into motion. 

  2. Disrupt 
    Once you know the cues, you can throw bad habits off track. If the alarm cues you to hit the snooze button, put the alarm clock on the other side of the room so you’re forced to get up.  

  3. Replace 
    Research from 2011 in a Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin shows that replacing a bad behavior with a good one is more effective than stopping the bad behavior alone. The new behavior “interferes” with the old habit and prevents your brain from going into autopilot. Deciding to eat fruit every time your mind thinks “cookie” substitutes a positive behavior for the negative habit. 

  4. Keep it simple 
    It’s usually hard to change a habit because the behavior has become easy and automatic. The opposite is true, too: new behaviors can be hard because your brain’s basal ganglia, (the “autopilot” part), hasn’t taken over this behavior yet. Simplifying new behaviors helps you integrate them into your autopilot routines. 

  5. Think long-term 
    Habits often form because they satisfy short-term impulses, the way chewing on your nails might immediately calm your nerves. But short-term desires often have long-term consequences, like chewed up fingers. Thinking about the long term while trying to change some habits will help you remember why you’re working to change the habit. 

  6. Persist 
    Research published in Health Psychology Review has shown that what you’ve done before is a strong indicator of what you’ll do next. This means established habits are hard to break. But the good news is, if you keep at it, your new behaviors will turn into habits, too. Persistence works. 

With a bit of time and some effort, healthy behaviors can become second nature.

 

Genesis HealthCare System’s Health and Wellness content conveniently provides accurate and helpful information. Your health history and current health may impact suggestions provided through our Health and Wellness content. Although we hope this information is helpful, it is not a substitute for your doctor's medical advice. Before making any significant changes, please consult your doctor.

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Chew on this: foods to eliminate to feel better

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Submitted by aduranplazola on

How much do you really think about WHAT you're putting into your mouth? If you're like most people, not very much. Nutrition decisions matter when it comes to keeping us healthy and preventing chronic illnesses.

 

Genesis HealthCare System’s Health and Wellness content conveniently provides accurate and helpful information. Your health history and current health may impact suggestions provided through our Health and Wellness content. Although we hope this information is helpful, it is not a substitute for your doctor's medical advice. Before making any significant changes, please consult your doctor.

How much do you really think about WHAT you're putting into your mouth? If you're like most people, not very much. Nutrition decisions matter when it comes to keeping us healthy and preventing chronic illnesses.

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Can Rubbing Behind the Ears Help You Live Longer?

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Submitted by aduranplazola on

It can if you are rubbing the adorable head of your best friend who happens to be your dog. Numerous studies indicate caring for a dog can lead to a longer, healthier life. To make it easier for you, we gathered the information below. 

Knowing a wagging tail will greet you at home, can create feelings of joy, reduce stress and lower blood pressure. The health benefits don’t stop there. People who own dogs are 34% more likely to walk for the recommended amount of 150 minutes each week. Dog owners are also 31% less likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than people who do not own a dog.  

Still questioning if dogs can improve your health? For hundreds of years, animals including dogs have been used to help the sick and injured recover. These days, therapy dogs are a common sight and often visit hospitals bringing smiles to patients. Dogs are a companion that can make you feel happier, better and live longer.  

The real question is not whether you should get a dog, but what will you name it?  

For more health tips, visit the Health and Wellness section of Genesis.org and talk to your doctor.

 

Genesis HealthCare System’s Health and Wellness content conveniently provides accurate and helpful information. Your health history and current health may impact suggestions provided through our Health and Wellness content. Although we hope this information is helpful, it is not a substitute for your doctor's medical advice. Before making any significant changes, please consult your doctor.

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If I’m not sweaty, does my workout count?

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Submitted by aduranplazola on

You spend an hour in a spin class one day and an hour in yoga class the next. You sweat in one and not the other, so does that mean one’s a better workout? If you run three miles on a hot July evening and sweat profusely, and run the exact three-mile route in January and sweat half as much, was it less of a workout?  

Everyone has a different sweating pattern. Gender, age, fitness level and environment contribute to how much you sweat. Women seem to sweat less and start to sweat at higher temperatures than men. People tend to sweat less as they grow old and cannot take the heat as well as younger people. Our bodies, regardless of age or gender, produce heat and the more your muscles contract, the more heat is produced. If our body didn’t have ways of keeping you cool, we would overheat. 

“When you exercise, focus on how you feel, and stay hydrated. Sweating is the body’s way to cool off, not an indicator of the number of calories burned,” said Stephen Ulrich, M.D., family practice, Perry County Family Practice and Genesis HealthCare System medical director of WellnessWins. “It’s not uncommon for people with larger body masses to sweat more.” 

Heat radiates out of the skin if the air around you is cooler than your body. Think January run. Exercise produces heat, heat produces calorie expenditure, and you produce the same amount of heat whether exercising in a cold environment or a hot one. Just because you don’t sweat as much in a colder environment does not mean your exercise session was less productive. 

There are two key factors that determine an effective calorie burn: duration and intensity. When you're ready to do more, you can build on your routine by adding new physical activities. Increase the distance, time, or difficulty of your favorite activity or do your activities more often. For example, if you walk regularly for exercise, gradually increase the duration of your walk over several days to weeks by walking longer distances. You can increase the intensity by walking more briskly or up hills. 

Don’t stress about your sweat, just keep moving. Regular exercise, of any kind, with a balanced diet is a healthy way to achieve and maintain a healthy body. Talk to your health care provider before you begin an exercise routine.  

 

Source: Healthguidance.org, American Heart Association

 

Genesis HealthCare System’s Health and Wellness content conveniently provides accurate and helpful information. Your health history and current health may impact suggestions provided through our Health and Wellness content. Although we hope this information is helpful, it is not a substitute for your doctor's medical advice. Before making any significant changes, please consult your doctor.

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Want to Reduce Stress? Set Daily Goals

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Submitted by aduranplazola on

Do you ever feel stressed because there are too many things to do and not enough time to do them? Do you sometimes worry you’ll forget something important? Do you ever notice physical symptoms of stress, like a rapidly beating heart? 
 
Okay. Take a deep breath. We can deal with this. 

First, know this: it’s normal to feel these ways once in a while. But if stress starts dominating your every waking hour—or is starting to keep you up at night—you need to do something about it. 

The good news is, you can start reducing your stress right now by goal setting.  

Do the words “goal setting” sound daunting? Don’t worry. Goal setting doesn’t have to involve reassessing your entire life or take hours of planning to be helpful. 

In fact, making lists with your daily goals is one powerful, yet incredibly simple way of reducing stress. When you write your daily goals down in the morning, several positive things happen automatically—before you’ve even done anything on the list: 

  1. It takes the pressure off: you no longer need to worry you’ll forget something. 

  2. It allows you to see the “big picture,” so you can better decide which items you should tackle first. 

  3. It helps give structure to your day and more often than not helps you realize things aren’t as bad as they seemed. 

You don’t need to get goal setting apps or software, unless, of course, you want to—in fact, stepping offline and jotting things down by hand, on a small notepad can often be stress-reducing in itself. 

Then, when it comes time to take care of your tasks, stay realistic about the time it may take to complete them. Cut yourself some slack if you don’t get everything done. Remember, tomorrow is another day. 

Now, a final word to the wise: if you don’t deal with the stress you are experiencing, it could lead not only to more serious mental health challenges, but physical problems like heart disease, obesity and/or high blood pressure. 

If you’re looking for additional ideas to maintain your positive mental health, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recommends the following: 

  • Getting professional help if you need it 

  • Connecting with others 

  • Staying positive 

  • Getting physically active 

  • Helping others 

  • Getting enough sleep 

  • Developing coping skills 

 

Source: https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health

 

Genesis HealthCare System’s Health and Wellness content conveniently provides accurate and helpful information. Your health history and current health may impact suggestions provided through our Health and Wellness content. Although we hope this information is helpful, it is not a substitute for your doctor's medical advice. Before making any significant changes, please consult your doctor.

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Caffeine: A Blessing or a Curse?

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Submitted by aduranplazola on

Full disclosure, we are among the many who enjoy caffeine. It brightens our day and enables us to like mornings. Despite our love of energy in a cup, we will present an unbiased representation of the facts. We just hope we don’t regret writing this piece because we learn we should give up caffeine.  

Take the quiz below to test your caffeine knowledge:


 

 

Genesis HealthCare System’s Health and Wellness content conveniently provides accurate and helpful information. Your health history and current health may impact suggestions provided through our Health and Wellness content. Although we hope this information is helpful, it is not a substitute for your doctor's medical advice. Before making any significant changes, please consult your doctor.

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The A, B, Cs (and D, E and Ks) of vitamin supplements

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No matter who you are, and no matter what your age, your body requires 13 different vitamins for overall health and to promote proper functioning. These include vitamins A, B (which include the vitamins thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, B-6, B-12 and folate) C, D and K.  

 

All these vitamins have specific jobs — and if you don’t get enough of them, you could develop issues. For example, not enough B-12 could make you anemic. Not enough vitamin E could lead to issues with your nervous system. And shorting yourself of vitamin D could cause bone abnormalities. Is a vitamin supplement the way to avoid these problems? 

 

The supplement aisle at most supermarkets is bursting at the seams with an enormous variety of single vitamins and multivitamins, from A to Z. Capsules. Powders. Gummies. Tablets. Some for men, some for women. Some for pregnant women, some for children and some that include minerals as well.  

 

Frankly, it’s overwhelming. 

 

Do you need to purchase a cupboard full of vitamins? Or will a single multivitamin do the trick? How can you be sure your body is getting all the vitamins it needs in the first place?  

 

Take a deep breath and put your mind at ease. According to the National Institutes of Health, if you eat a well-balanced diet and get enough exposure to sunlight, you should be getting all the vitamins your body needs. (Your body also produces vitamins D and K on its own.)  

 

Not sure if your diet would make the cut? According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), a healthy diet should: 

 

  • Focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products 

  • Include lean meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts 

  • Low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt and added sugars 

 

If your diet seems like it’s falling short, here’s a tip. “Take the money you could be spending on supplements and purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables instead,” said Sarah Brauning, a registered and licensed dietitian with Genesis Diabetes & Nutrition Education. “You’ll still get the vitamins you need, and you’ll get to enjoy the taste as well.”   

 

Finally, consider your overall wellness. For example, do you have an existing health issue, such as anemia? Are you overweight or obese, which might mean you don’t get the proper nutrition from your diet? Then you might benefit from a vitamin supplement. If that’s the case, save time and spend your money wisely by first asking your doctor about the type of vitamin supplement that might be right for you.

 

Genesis HealthCare System’s Health and Wellness content conveniently provides accurate and helpful information. Your health history and current health may impact suggestions provided through our Health and Wellness content. Although we hope this information is helpful, it is not a substitute for your doctor's medical advice. Before making any significant changes, please consult your doctor.

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Beat your workout boredom

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Submitted by aduranplazola on

We all know the importance of exercise. The benefits are more than physical, they’re emotional too. Research by the National Institute of Aging shows that physical activities can help reduce stress, improve your mood and help you sleep better. Why wouldn’t we want to exercise on a regular basis? Because sometimes, it’s boring. 

Staying motivated for fitness can be a struggle but keeping active is crucial to maintaining long-term health for your heart and body. How do you stay motivated to keep moving? Recognizing that you’re bored with your routine is a great first step.  

Find ways to exercise that fit your personality. If you’re a social person, do something that engages you socially – take a group dance class, join a recreational sports team, or start a walking group with friends. Connecting with your friends is a great way to stay motivated, and they can make you accountable to continue exercising.   

Cross-training, which means doing a variety of different exercises or activities, is another good way to keep exercise boredom at bay. For example, you may want to alternate between walking, swimming and strength training. Cross-training also reduces the risk of injuring or overusing one specific muscle or joint. 

Set small, new goals, find an exercise partner or even try exercising at a different time of day.  Enjoy the new activity, and whatever you do, don’t give up.

 

Genesis HealthCare System’s Health and Wellness content conveniently provides accurate and helpful information. Your health history and current health may impact suggestions provided through our Health and Wellness content. Although we hope this information is helpful, it is not a substitute for your doctor's medical advice. Before making any significant changes, please consult your doctor.

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Why we encourage COVID-19 vaccines

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Less severe, less sick, less likely to spread

In August and early September, Genesis HealthCare System saw a staggering surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations, 75% of which were unvaccinated community members. There has been a 3,000% increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in recent weeks, with nearly one-fourth of those patients ranging in age from 18-45. The statistics prove younger people are not immune from getting COVID-19 and can become very sick from it.

According to the CDC, vaccines reduce a person’s risk of contracting COVID-19, including the Delta variant. Vaccines are highly effective against severe illness. Experts continue to monitor and evaluate how often unvaccinated people are contracting COVID-19, how severe their condition is, and how likely a vaccinated person is to spread COVID-19 to others. Data show that vaccination often make symptoms less severe in people who are vaccinated but still get COVID-19.

mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have shown to provide protection against severe illness and hospitalization among people of all ages eligible to receive them. This includes people 65 years and older who are at higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19.

Vaccines work by stimulating your immune system to produce antibodies, exactly like it would if you were exposed to the disease. After getting vaccinated, you develop immunity to that disease, without having to get the disease first.

mRNA vaccines, such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, work differently than other types of vaccine, but they still trigger an immune response inside your body. While this type of vaccine is new, research and development on it has been under way for decades.

In contrast to mRNA vaccines, many other vaccines use a piece of, or weakened version of, the germ that the vaccine protects against. This is how the measles and flu vaccines work. When a

weakened or small part of the virus is introduced to your body, you make antibodies to help protect against future infection.

All COVID-19 vaccines are free from metals and will not make you magnetic, including the site of the vaccination, usually in your arm. None of the vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. contain a live virus.

For more information about vaccines and how Genesis is responding to COVID-19 click HERE.

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Are Beards Good for Your Health?

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Submitted by aduranplazola on

Facial hair comes in all shapes and sizes from a two-day stubble to a wild and woolly bushel of hair that makes you believe in sasquatch. Today, we reveal the truth between myths and facts of whether beards impact your health.  

Do Beards help prevent throat illnesses? 

Similar to nostril hair, a thick beard can help catch and prevent nasty floating germs and allergens from entering your nose and mouth. However, the longer germs or allergens remain on a beard, the more likely you are to inhale them. Whereas sneezing gets rid of particles trying to enter your nose, washing your beard is the only way to avoid eventually breathing them in.  

Do beards prevent acne and ingrown hairs? 

Although most people may not consider acne and ingrown hair serious health concerns, they can be uncomfortable, and nobody wants a zit during a big moment in life. Shaving frequently can irritate skin and cause acne or ingrown hair. Growing a beard can prevent this and cover up unsightly blemishes. 

Beards make you look older … or younger? 

Some people may think a beard makes you look older. However, having a beard can help protect your skin from sunlight and reduce your face from aging and wrinkles. So, while a full bushy beard might make you look older today, you will appear younger tomorrow if you shave.  

The final cut

So, are beards healthy? Like most things in life, this is not a yes or no question. There are benefits to having a beard if you properly care for it. In the end, it comes down to personal preference. If you go for the mountain man look, please keep the crumbs cleaned out of your beard.

 

Genesis HealthCare System’s Health and Wellness content conveniently provides accurate and helpful information. Your health history and current health may impact suggestions provided through our Health and Wellness content. Although we hope this information is helpful, it is not a substitute for your doctor's medical advice. Before making any significant changes, please consult your doctor.

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