Bupa have gone and created another very useful and easy to understand (for those of us who prefer health tips in plain English anyway) health section on their website dedicated to the festive Christmas season. It is called the Bupa advent calendar.
Bupa’s advent calendar is there to help you find find healthy and stay healthy over the season that so many of us tend to just lose our minds over. When Christmas season arrives, everyone seems to relax a lot more than normal and whilst I think this is a great thing as the more fun we have the better, but what people don’t always realise is this fun at Christmas can come with a price. Plus the after effects can last well into the New Year. This is not always what everyone thinks about, especially in a moment of madness with your boss for example.
Let’s take health tip on day 13 of the Bupa Advent Calendar for example as a good start to my point:
I think this is something huge that everyone needs to remember over this time of year when everyone is going to be drinking more than normal. Especially at Christmas parties…
Firstly drinking gives you that extra confidence you would not normally have when sober. This can lead you into doing and saying some awful things to your boss for example, like how much of a tyrant he you think he is, or even worse kissing your boss, or sleeping with him. (Eish.)
The aftermath for both situations is likely to not be good – and will leave you feeling embarrassed to say the least. Worse yet – fired in the New Year especially if you opened up to him about how you don’t like working for him and threw a few profanities in their for good measure.
Why not have a look at the effects of alcohol on your body if you wish to learn more on that note. It’s always good to equip yourself with information about what you are actually doing to your body when you drink.
- Alcohol calculator
- Binge drinking
- Health risks of drinking
- Sensible drinking
- What happens when you drink
The above links can be found on the Bupa site if you explore a little.
I think there is a misconception still that when it comes to private health care getting any help or information is always costly. But not the Bupa website, it is free for all to use. The feeling I get from this new section is that they genuinely care about your health. Hence the reason they invested so heavily into their new Advent Calendar health information campaign.
One tip I am going to try to keep to this December is the following:
Give fit-friendly gifts
18 December 2012
As Christmas is a time of indulgence, why not ask for or give a healthy gift, such as a new pair of trainers, a bike or a healthy eating cookery book to help you or your loved one stay fit and focused into the New Year?
As a nutritionist, I try to bear the above tip in mind when buying people gifts as it is, all year round. But I think Christmas may be the best time of all to encourage people to start living a healthier life. Simply because it is nearing the New Year, which means a fresh start and people try to write out their new year resolutions too. Getting healthier is usually on most people’s resolution list, or losing weight etc.
But what actually stops people trying to get healthy can simply be not having the right tools. I.E. say your mum wants to start jogging to keep fit but does not because the only thing stopping her is not having the right pair of running shoes (which are vital for keeping your joints healthy in years to come). So the answer is to get your mum a voucher for a sports store.
There are many great healthy and fit friendly gift ideas for people of all ages too. Check out the following:
Kids – a dancing class
Teenagers – pilates, kick boxing, karate & boxing class vouchers
Adults – all of the previous ones, plus swimming (a membership for a community centre), a treadmill, a healthy recipes cookery book, a new knife set, a juicer, a blender (for making delicious healthy smoothies), a smoothie recipe book, and of course a voucher for a consultation with a natural nutritionist to iron out those little health niggles. Ahem.. such as myself?
Did you know the biggest current drain on the NHS is obesity related health disorders? So, it is vital we all address our weight and try to get down to our healthiest weight as soon as possible.
I think all that is left to say is you should really go to their site and check out the rest of the advent calendar health tips Bupa have set out in their new campaign. There are a variety of tips on the calendar. So you can visit the advent calendar each day to get your daily manageable dose of health information and even share it with your friends and family whilst you are there to inspire them too.
But please do come back though and let me know (and the readers) what tips you found most useful and which ones you are going to try your best to stick to this festive season.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
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