Community Health Coalition January 2024 Health Tip: Cheers To Your Health!

 A Message From Community Health Coalition Executive Director

January is the start of a new year and a time to make new resolutions and promises to ourselves. If you are like me, some of those resolutions, promises, and commitments fall short before February begins, especially when taking care of ourselves. Does that statement seem familiar? It should be because I wrote the same thing last year! Trying again in another year is STILL ok! Falling short and reassessing is ok. Not trying is not ok. Most of us know eating healthy and exercising are keys to good health. However, we often push it aside when life throws us curve balls we aren’t ready to catch or didn’t see coming. Nevertheless, you must remember to take care of yourself through it all! 

Let’s do something different this year!

Challenge yourself to make small changes that could significantly impact your health in 2024 and beyond. 

Reducing Carbohydrates.

Reducing white bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and sugary drinks (soda and fruit juices, sports drinks, etc.) can lead to up to 15 lbs of weight loss or more in one year. For those who may be diabetic or pre-diabetic, the reduction of carbohydrates (complex sugars) and sugary drinks is vital to reducing and keeping your blood sugar at normal levels. 

Practice Meatless Mondays or Vegan Fridays!

Eating a plant-based diet even once a week has health benefits, for example, reducing cholesterol and blood pressure and aiding weight loss. 

It is so essential to free your mind!

A healthy mind is part of a healthy body! Identify the stressors in your life and get help navigating, reducing, or removing those stressors. 

It is absolutely OK to get and ask for help and support! 

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline – Dial 988 – available 24 hours a day 

Break up with your salt shaker!

I absolutely love flavorful food, and you can have it without using a lot of salt. Lowering salt consumption can lower your blood pressure and reduce your risk for high blood pressure and heart disease.

Here are a few tips to help reduce salt intake:

1. Taste your food first before you shake the salt. You might like it! 
2. Reduce the amount of processed and pre-packaged foods in your diet. Prepackaged and canned foods can sometimes contain a lot of salt. 
3. Go old school and cook from scratch. You can limit the amount of salt when you cook from scratch, you know exactly what is in it!

I hope you didn’t think I would end my message without mentioning exercise. It is part of being healthy, and let’s face it, we have to do something, so start somewhere. I need to do better! If you love to dance, move, wiggle, walk, shimmy, and wave your arms like you just do care, do it! Download or play your favorite song and move! Make it your goal to move every day. Exercising helps strengthen muscles, reduce weight, and release endorphins that help reduce stress.

Lastly, Let me end with the ABC, DEF, GHI, JKL’s for health:

Always advocate for yourself and your well-being.

Be Kind to yourself, and don’t judge yourself so harshly.

Covid-19 vaccination is STILL essential to keeping you healthy. Get vaccinated or your booster!

Don’t eat too late in the evening or skip meals. Keep that metabolism going!

Eat healthier and start exercising!

Forget about smoking/vaping, and stop if you do! There’s nothing healthy about it!

Get outside and get active!

Have your list of questions and medications when you visit your healthcare provider.

Invest in you! 

Join a group for whatever you love to do!

Keep going!

Listen to your body and act!

Click on the links below for more information about Community Health Coalition, knowing your numbers, vegetarian recipes, and exercise tips! 

Exercises you can try

Know your numbers

Soul food vegetarian-style recipes 

Executive Director of Community Health Coalition Dr. Ruth Gilliam Phillips,  affectionately called Dr. Ruth, received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Morgan State University and her Doctorate in Podiatry at the Temple School of Podiatric Medicine. 

In 2020, Dr. Ruth became Executive Director of Community Health Coalition to continue founder Dr. Elaine Hart-Brothers’ compassionate and visionary leadership legacy. In addition to her role at the Community Health Coalition, Dr. Ruth serves on the National Our Health Matters Task Force for Jack and Jill of America Incorporated, the Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Governor’s Task Force, the American Heart Association Triangle Board, the American Cancer Society Central and Eastern Northern Carolina Board, the Diabetes Research Foundation Board and the American Cancer Society Advisory Board.