HEALTH+WELLNESS
How Healthy Are You?
Do you keep meaning to join the gym, cut out sugar, go to bed earlier but
never quite get round to it? Do you find yourself saying ‘I’ll start being more
healthy next Monday’? When was the last time that you carried out a self
audit on your level of health?
Jessie Pavelka suggests that NOW could be a
good time to look at your health habits and he
has devised some simple but thought provoking
questions that may well highlight some issues
that you need to face and fix.
So grab a mineral water, sit down in a quiet place
for five minutes and answer these questions with
complete honesty and integrity.
In an average day, how much water do
you drink?
a. None
b. 3 glasses
c. 8 glasses
You are off into town for a day’s shopping.
You decide to take the car. Do you:
a. Park in the middle of the town in the multistorey car park and pay top price car parking
tickets?
b. Choose the supermarket car park nearby and
limit your time to two hours to achieve free
parking?
c. Leave the car on the outskirts of the town in
a free, unrestricted parking area and walk the
half mile into the town?
You have just completed the week’s grocery
shopping. There is a queue at the checkout.
As you wait, you study the contents of your
trolley. What do you see?
a. Fizzy drinks, white bread, processed ready
meals, boxes of cereal, crisps.
b. Brown bread, frozen chips, tins of baked
beans, muesli, apple pies, semi-skimmed milk,
peanuts.
c. Almond milk, avocados, chicken, salmon,
walnuts, organic fresh spinach.
If you have a half hour of ‘me’ time, what do
you find yourself doing?
a. Watching Jeremy Kyle on catch-up.
b. Playing Candy Crush.
c. Enjoying some guided meditation.
How would you describe the health habits of
the people you associate with?
a. A lot of my friends smoke and drink most days.
b. A lot of my friends are sporty but live off
takeaways.
c. A lot of my friends make time to exercise and
take an interest in their eating habits.
86
It is nearly shopping day and the fridge is
looking pretty sad. You have four eggs, some
spinach, some yoghurt, a red pepper and two
apples. Do you:
a. Shut the fridge door and ring for an Indian
takeaway?
b. Borrow some bread and have beans on toast?
c. Make a four-egg spinach and pepper omelette
followed by baked apple and yoghurt?
On an average day what are the eating
patterns in your home?
a. You and your family eat at different times of
the day with your plate on your lap in front of
the TV.
b. You eat at the same time, but in front of
the TV.
c. You sit as a group/family at the table at le