Kate Cook - Kate Cooks Wellness Guide: Inspiring health choices for your well-being transformation

Part 1

Is your Wellness under threat?

We all have obstacles that stop us living our lives to their fullest. Whether your issues are health related, to do with your finances or just about making more time, read on to find out why its important to address them. Whether you spring out of bed with a smile on your face at 6 oclock every morning or find the daily routine a bit more of a struggle, start by taking our helpful quiz to discover what changes you might need to make.

Work out your Wellness score

Do you have good lifestyle, exercise and eating habits? Be honest now. We understand that its difficult to be good all the time and can seem quite dull. Rules about fruit and veg portions and BMI guidelines may not be sexy, but put all those dull recommendations together and you have the holy grail of Wellness, a recipe for energy and joie de vivre .

The truth is, its never to early to start listening to your body, and doing right by it. The aim of the following questionnaire is to encourage you to do some proper soul-searching about how much respect you have for that body of yours, and start thinking about what you can do today to boost your Wellness tomorrow and beyond.

Decide whether each of the statements below is largely true or false for you.

1. I get at least seven hours sleep a night at least five days a week.

2. When it comes to snacking, the fruit bowl holds more appeal for me than the cake tin I cant get enough of those antioxidants.

3. I exercise for at least half an hour three days a week.

4. I take a multivitamin/supplement every day.

5. I get lots of relaxation every day meditation, yoga, taking time out is really good for my stress levels.

6. My parents are still fighting fit, or lived to a ripe old age.

7. (Women) Im up to date with all my smear tests.

8. (Men) Im not too embarrassed to check my testicles regularly.

9. I get at least nine portions of fruit and veg a day.

10. I regularly give my liver a rest alcohol-free days are a must.

11. My body fat percentage is within healthy limits.

12. I try not to eat meat more than a couple of times a week and stick to fish or poultry.

13. I dont say no to the odd indulgence, but fortunately Im the kind of person who knows how to stop.

14. I always have my regular dentist check-up.

15. If I need to shift pounds, I tend to do it slowly and steadily Im not a binge eater and would never starve myself.

16. I drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day more when Im exercising or drinking alcohol.

17. I get plenty of omega 3 oils, such as those from oily fish, in my diet.

18. I get my blood pressure checked regularly and its within healthy limits.

19. I do everything I can to stay as healthy as possible.

Award yourself one point for each time you answer true to a question.

Score

1619 points

Top marks. Sounds like youre as au fait with good health and nutrition as a person can be. Youre probably vegan, teetotal and never binge on anything more decadent than alfafa sprouts. Dont forget that moderation is also a pretty good path to follow when it comes to health, those who border on the fanatical dont win many friends. But then again, you may live longer, so I suppose you get the last laugh

1016 points

Mr or Ms Average chances are your intentions are good youre eating well, exercising regularly-ish, and it appears you do strive to stay on the right side of healthy. As long as your good, healthy habits outweigh the bad, youll be winning. But remember, the key is to find a balance between saintly and sinful behaviour.

Under 10

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear got a deathwish or something? All that partying and indulgence may seem good for your well-being right now, but remember, its easy to believe youre immortal when youre a youngster. The truth is sooner or later youve got to wise up to the benefits of drinking plenty of water, getting those health checks done, waking up to the power of exercise, and welcoming into your lifestyle all those elements which will help keep you in rude health well into your twilight years. Read on concentrate and prepare to turn over a new leaf.

Most of us know the basics of what we should do to be well. Few of us do it. Thats just a fact. Unfortunately there are no short cuts if youre not addressing the basics. These include:

• eating enough good-quality food to provide your cells with energy and keep energy production strong and constant;
• drinking enough fluids to remain hydrated;
• sleeping enough to restore your body;
• learning how to relax;
• maintaining a sensible worklife balance;
• exercising enough to keep your lungs and heart functioning healthily and pumping blood to your cells, where it supplies the nutrients you need; and
• stopping the really bad habits such as smoking, binge drinking and drug taking.

Perhaps you used to have all this under control. Perhaps youre a mother who just hasnt time to eat properly or exercise, and are undergoing sleep disruption; perhaps work has got frantic over the last six months and youre so stressed you cant be bothered to look after yourself; perhaps your job demands a lot of travel if you travel a lot, its well-nigh impossible to take care of the basics unless you put some good systems in place and stick to them until theyre habits. The good news is that there are lots of short cuts that will help you and easy ways to get your basics in place. First of all though lets take a look at the most common problems that can affect your health and well-being.

A weighty issue (or, a weighty question)

Judging by the newspaper headlines screaming about some new statistic or research about obesity, youd think there was a moral obligation to be thin.

Often the subtext is that fat people get sick and are a burden on our medical resources. And then there are the images of super-slim models and celebrities that confront us in magazines and on our TV and movie screens. The underlying message here is that this is the way youre supposed to look, especially if you want to be happy and successful, not to mention being sexually attractive. There are more overweight than starving people on the planet and unfortunately thats not because weve solved the worlds hunger problems. Its enough to make you choke on your chocolate bar, isnt it?

Obesity is undeniably a growing problem in the Western world, due mainly to the over-consumption of the wrong kinds of foods and decreased activity levels. Experts warn of the host of health dangers to which carrying too much weight exposes you, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and, for women in particular (though not exclusively), fertility problems. Its not guaranteed that youll develop these kinds of health problems obesity just heightens your risk, which is of course why most of us just carry on regardless until something goes wrong. The chances are that if youre already suffering any of the conditions mentioned, your doctor has grilled you on your diet and suggested losing weight.

For the majority of us, slimming down is more of a preventative health measure or something we want to do for cosmetic reasons: i.e. we just dont like the way we look. This is fine, as long as it isnt interfering with daily life and manifesting itself as disordered eating (anorexia, bulimia, faddy eating and so on). If that is the case for you, please seek help through a doctor or therapist. Life is too short and too precious not to enjoy it to the full.

Working out if youre really overweight is easily done using the Body Mass Index calculation. The BMI is far from perfect, so it is not without its critics (partly because if youre quite well-muscled, youll be heavy, not fat, because muscle weighs more than fat) but you have to start somewhere! All you have to do is weigh yourself and record the result in kilograms. Then measure your height in metres. Then do the following sum :