by admin | Apr 21, 2021 | COVID-19, Health & Wellness
COVID-19 vaccines are effective at protecting you from getting sick. Based on what we know about COVID-19 vaccines, people who have been fully vaccinated can start to do some things that they had stopped doing because of the pandemic.
We’re still learning how vaccines will affect the spread of COVID-19. After you’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you should keep taking precautions—like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces—in public places until we know more.
These recommendations can help you make decisions about daily activities after you are fully vaccinated. They are not intended for healthcare settings.
What You Can Start to Do
If you’ve been fully vaccinated:
- You can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart.
- You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people of any age from one other household (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together) without masks or staying 6 feet apart, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
- If you travel in the United States, you do not need to get tested before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel.
- You need to pay close attention to the situation at your international destination before traveling outside the United States.
- You do NOT need to get tested before leaving the United States unless your destination requires it.
- You still need to show a negative test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding a flight to the United States.
- You should still get tested 3-5 days after international travel.
- You do NOT need to self-quarantine after arriving in the United States.
- If you’ve been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms.
- However, if you live in a group setting (like a correctional or detention facility or group home) and are around someone who has COVID-19, you should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even if you don’t have symptoms.
What You Should Keep Doing
For now, if you’ve been fully vaccinated:
- You should still take steps to protect yourself and others in many situations, like wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. Take these precautions whenever you are:
- You should still avoid medium or large-sized gatherings.
- If you travel, you should still take steps to protect yourself and others. You will still be required to wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States, and in U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations. Fully vaccinated international travelers arriving in the United States are still required to get tested within 3 days of their flight (or show documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 3 months) and should still get tested 3-5 days after their trip.
- You should still watch out for symptoms of COVID-19, especially if you’ve been around someone who is sick. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should get tested and stay home and away from others.
- You will still need to follow guidance at your workplace.
What We Know and What We’re Still Learning
- We know that COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing COVID-19 disease, especially severe illness and death.
- We’re still learning how effective the vaccines are against variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. Early data show the vaccines may work against some variants but could be less effective against others.
- We know that other prevention steps help stop the spread of COVID-19, and that these steps are still important, even as vaccines are being distributed.
- We’re still learning how well COVID-19 vaccines keep people from spreading the disease.
- Early data show that the vaccines may help keep people from spreading COVID-19, but we are learning more as more people get vaccinated.
- We’re still learning how long COVID-19 vaccines can protect people.
- As we know more, CDC will continue to update our recommendations for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
by ckistler | Mar 4, 2021 | Health & Wellness
Do these promises sound familiar?
“When I have kids, I’ll never let them eat XYZ.”
“My kids will always eat whatever I put in front of them.”
“Our family will never eat out all the time.”
We’ve all said them at some point in our lives and, whether we’ve started a family or are still in the process of building one, we’ve probably all broken those same promises! We read the books. We talk to other parents. We watch all the educational programs. And, the truth we universally learn is that raising healthy kids is hard work! Between getting them to eat healthy foods and encouraging them to get enough exercise, it’s a full-time job. So, what can we do to make it simpler? Let’s get back to basics and look at 3 tips that can get our kids on track to healthy living.
- FOOD CHOICES—DON’T FEED THE ADDICTION
Perhaps the easiest way to help kids make better food choices is to control what food is stocked in your home. If your pantry is full of sugary (albeit delicious) foods, then guess what the little humans in your home are going to eat when they are hungry (or bored)? Sugar is addictive and so the habit of reaching for food filled with this ingredient a by-product of this addiction. Remove the sugar-filled food and like Ole Mother Hubbard, when they go to fetch a sugar snack, they’ll find the cupboard is bare. Replace the sugar-filled food with granola bars, low-fat chips, easily-accessible cut-up fruits and veggies, yogurt, etc. and they’ll learn to grab these healthier options when they are hungry!
- BE A ROLE MODEL—SHOW UP AND SHOW OUT
The folks under your roof tend to watch what you do. They watch what you eat and why you eat it. Be a role model for your people and make smart food choices regarding the type of food you put on your plate and how much of it you consume. If you are always eating high-fat, high-calorie, fast food then guess what they assume is the right things to eat? Did you know those eyes are also watching WHY you eat? If you use food to help you de-stress or when you are sad, they will follow your example. Do you assign your feelings of happiness to food? You will have kids who will think food makes them happy. Make sure that how you behave around food points those who are closely watching you towards healthy actions.
- INVOLVE THEM—PLAN, MAKE, MOVE
Make kids a part of the decision-making process for meals during the week. Children will be more likely to eat the food you place in front of them if they get to help plan out some of the meals. Make a “Family Favorites” list that everyone gets to contribute a couple ideas towards whether it’s favorite breakfasts, dinners, or even snacks. Next, ask the idea-generator to assist in making that food choice for the family. Having a hand in creating the meal gets you buy-in from your assistant. Finally, get everyone up and moving whether it’s to visit a new park after school, take an after-dinner walk, or go exploring on some local trails over the weekend. Move together and you’ll make memories as you do it!
You can start building healthy kids by following these 3 simple tips. By stocking your home with healthy food choices, being a food-behavior model, and involving your family in planning, making, and moving, you will find yourself on the path to success!
BONUS CONTENT:
Here are some useful links to help you take the first steps towards raising healthy kids.
Healthy Breakfasts
Healthy Lunches
MyPlate Kids
by ckistler | Nov 16, 2020 | Health & Wellness
The month of November has a central focus on the holiday, Thanksgiving. Linked with this holiday is the emotion of gratitude. We want to take a closer look at this emotion and see how it is linked to better health and give you some practical tips on how to increase the size of your gratitude bucket.
The Definition of Gratitude
The emotion of gratitude is defined as “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” We are familiar with the act of “thank you” to represent gratitude, but it also includes thinking on positive things that have happened during the day or your life, meditating on positive thoughts, and feeling grateful.
The Health of Gratitude
Beyond making someone feel appreciated, gratitude also has other benefits. In fact, there are physical health benefits associated with the act of gratitude. The Greater Good Science Center produced a list of benefits to gratitude.
For the individual:
- increased happiness and positive mood
- more satisfaction with life
- less materialistic
- less likely to experience burnout
- better physical health
- better sleep
- less fatigue
- lower levels of cellular inflammation
- greater resiliency
- encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom
In addition to these above benefits, psychologically, the act of gratitude has been shown to reduce toxic emotions like envy, frustration, resentment, and regret. Those who focus on gratitude have even been reported to visit the doctor less!
The Act of Gratitude
So, how do you practice gratitude in your everyday life? Here are some easy-to-do exercises to strengthen your gratitude muscles:
- Say thank you
- Keep a gratitude journal
- Write handwritten thank-you notes
- Think/meditate on positive thoughts
- Smile!
- Put sticky notes around your home and workspace to remind you to be grateful
By practicing gratitude, you are not only sowing positivity in someone’s heart, you are also reaping health rewards like lower blood pressure and decreased levels of stress and depression. This simple act, that we’ve all been taught since we were born (Moms always remind you to say, “thank you!”), has far-reaching benefits so start flexing your muscles of gratitude today.
by ckistler | Nov 10, 2020 | Health & Wellness
The month of November has a central focus on the holiday, Thanksgiving. Linked with this holiday is the emotion of gratitude. We want to take a closer look at this emotion and see how it is linked to better health and give you some practical tips on how to increase the size of your gratitude bucket.
The Definition of Gratitude
The emotion of gratitude is defined as “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” We are familiar with the act of “thank you” to represent gratitude, but it also includes thinking on positive things that have happened during the day or your life, meditating on positive thoughts, and feeling grateful.
The Health of Gratitude
Beyond making someone feel appreciated, gratitude also has other benefits. In fact, there are physical health benefits associated with the act of gratitude. The Greater Good Science Center produced a list of benefits to gratitude.
For the individual:
- increased happiness and positive mood
- more satisfaction with life
- less materialistic
- less likely to experience burnout
- better physical health
- better sleep
- less fatigue
- lower levels of cellular inflammation
- greater resiliency
- encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom
In addition to these above benefits, psychologically, the act of gratitude has been shown to reduce toxic emotions like envy, frustration, resentment, and regret. Those who focus on gratitude have even been reported to visit the doctor less!
The Act of Gratitude
So, how do you practice gratitude in your everyday life? Here are some easy-to-do exercises to strengthen your gratitude muscles:
- Say thank you
- Keep a gratitude journal
- Write handwritten thank-you notes
- Think/meditate on positive thoughts
- Smile!
- Put sticky notes around your home and workspace to remind you to be grateful
By practicing gratitude, you are not only sowing positivity in someone’s heart, you are also reaping health rewards like lower blood pressure and decreased levels of stress and depression. This simple act, that we’ve all been taught since we were born (Moms always remind you to say, “thank you!”), has far-reaching benefits so start flexing your muscles of gratitude today.
by admin | Nov 10, 2020 | Health & Wellness
The month of November has a central focus on the holiday, Thanksgiving. Linked with this holiday is the emotion of gratitude. We want to take a closer look at this emotion and see how it is linked to better health and give you some practical tips on how to increase the size of your gratitude bucket.
The Definition of Gratitude
The emotion of gratitude is defined as “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” We are familiar with the act of “thank you” to represent gratitude, but it also includes thinking on positive things that have happened during the day or your life, meditating on positive thoughts, and feeling grateful.
The Health of Gratitude
Beyond making someone feel appreciated, gratitude also has other benefits. In fact, there are physical health benefits associated with the act of gratitude. The Greater Good Science Center produced a list of benefits to gratitude.
For the individual:
- increased happiness and positive mood
- more satisfaction with life
- less materialistic
- less likely to experience burnout
- better physical health
- better sleep
- less fatigue
- lower levels of cellular inflammation
- greater resiliency
- encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom
In addition to these above benefits, psychologically, the act of gratitude has been shown to reduce toxic emotions like envy, frustration, resentment, and regret. Those who focus on gratitude have even been reported to visit the doctor less!
The Act of Gratitude
So, how do you practice gratitude in your everyday life? Here are some easy-to-do exercises to strengthen your gratitude muscles:
- Say thank you
- Keep a gratitude journal
- Write handwritten thank-you notes
- Think/meditate on positive thoughts
- Smile!
- Put sticky notes around your home and workspace to remind you to be grateful
By practicing gratitude, you are not only sowing positivity in someone’s heart, you are also reaping health rewards like lower blood pressure and decreased levels of stress and depression. This simple act, that we’ve all been taught since we were born (Moms always remind you to say, “thank you!”), has far-reaching benefits so start flexing your muscles of gratitude today.
by admin | Oct 13, 2020 | Health & Wellness
In a world where viruses run rampant across the globe and healthcare costs are skyrocketing, there is an easy way for you and your family to stay healthy—preventive care services.
Preventive is defined as “used to stop something bad from happening.” Preventive care is care that thwarts off illness or disease thanks to regular check-ups, counseling, and screenings. When you subscribe to a health plan—regardless of whether it’s one offered by your work or one you purchase in the marketplace—most plans will include an array of preventive care services free of charge. So, where do you start with accessing these services? It’s easy!
Easy as 1-2-3
As long as you have subscribed to a health plan after 2010, those plan providers are required by law to offer basic preventive care services to you and those covered by your plan with no additional copay, coinsurance, or requirement to meet a deductible. By utilizing this free resource, you are setting yourself up for greater health success—and it’s as easy as 1-2-3!
1. Visit your doctor for annual checkups.
Annual exams allow doctors to identify disease earlier and manage chronic conditions closer. They also help your doctor to track any changes in your body over the years so that, should a disease or illness befall you, there is background data from your preventive care to refer to as they prescribe treatment. An easy way to remember to schedule these annual doctor appointments for both you and your family is to plan them around your birthday each year. This is also helpful for the doctor because as you age, you need additional health screenings so they can have those recommendations ready for you at your annual appointment.
2. Stay up-to-date on immunizations and boosters.
Just as an infant has an immunization schedule that the pediatrician follows to bolster the child’s immune system, so do older children and even adults. For instance, before children enter a certain grade in school, they may be required to have a meningitis booster. Tetanus shots are only good for 10 years so once a decade, you’ll need to get a booster for this disease which also may include the diphtheria vaccine and sometimes one for pertussis. As you age, you may need the shingles vaccine and other shots for prevention of pneumonia or the flu.
3. Follow a care schedule for additional age-related screenings.
Because you are visiting your doctor annually for regular checkups, they will likely alert you to any additional screenings they recommend. For instance, women ages 40-44 can begin getting mammograms to help detect breast cancer. After age 44, it is recommended they get this screening annually. If you want to be pro-active and keep track of these additional screenings yourself, there are tools online to do so.
MyHealthfinder is a site coordinated by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Simply enter your age and answer a few easy questions, and the site will cull a list of suggested screenings for you.
PublicHealth is another site with suggested preventive care services. They have created a lifetime care schedule, broken into age brackets, with lists of screenings recommended for each age by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Keeping you and your family on the right track for health and wellness is not hard! By follow these three simple steps for your health care, you can significantly affect your health in the future. It’s as easy as 1-2-3!
