Take the Self-Care Day Challenge

It’s time to take your health into your own hands and what better time than just in time for International Self-Care Day?

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about self-care. As our lives get busier, prioritizing self-care becomes increasingly important. Many of us think of self-care as practicing yoga, a day at the spa or even spending quality time with friends. While these are all great ways to relax, there is much more to it!

Self-Care is Empowering

The concept of self-care is about empowering individuals, families and communities to practice healthy habits, prevent disease and cope with illness or disability to achieve optimum health. Taking better care of ourselves by utilizing the products available to us not only helps Canadians lead healthier lives, it also alleviates strain on our healthcare system! Making a commitment to practice self-care has so many benefits.

The short and sweet version of self-care is to:

• Make healthy lifestyle choices like getting your exercise in and eating healthy
• Use the tools you have to diagnose and treat symptoms
• Make smart healthcare choices by choosing the right products and medicines to treat your symptoms. 
• Self-treat and monitor minor ailments
• Improve your health literacy and access the right tools to enable better self-care

Better Self-care for a Better Life

That’s why Bayer, a global health products leader, is working to educate consumers on how Better Self-care for a Better Life can make a difference in the quality of life while improving healthcare sustainability.

Last month something clicked for me and I  started working on dealing with bad choices I was making so that I could start living a healthier and more fulfilling life.  As expected, the moment I nixed one bad habit the weight started piling on.

I finally committed to signing up for an online exercise program with coaching and meal plans. I put my money where my mouth was and am finally putting myself first. No excuses. 

And I wanted to quit. On day one when I tried to keep up with the exercises, on day two when my legs were jelly, on day three when I couldn’t bend over without wincing in pain, basically every day but I knew that I needed to do this to be a good example for my kids.

So that means my mornings are spent working out in my living room while the kids play beside me. They watch as sweat pours down my face, they hear me grunt as I try to get that last rep in and sometimes they even try to join in on the workouts. I am done being embarrassed about how I look while I workout and pretty excited about how I feel because to be honest with you I feel pretty amazing lately. Not just from working out but from not giving up. 

Wih my newfound excitement about working out, I’ve had to take some steps to protect my body from getting hurt. Just like I warm up as a preventative measure I also put Dr. Scholls Active Series replacement insoles into my shoes to keep my feet (and body) safe. 

This Active Series from Dr. Scholls are specially made to offer full foot protection. The ball of food padding improves cushioning and helps distribute pressure through the push-off, arch reinforcement supports the foot (especially for someone like me who suffers from flat feet, and the deep heel cups absorb the impact of all my steps, jumps, hops and skips. 

All those moves are subjecting my feet to shock impact of 2-3 times my body weight and these insoles help by reducing shock by up to 40% and can help alleviate pain from sports-related injuries, including shin splints, runner’s knee and plantar fasciitis. Plus, DryMAX^™ technology in a 3-D weave top clot helps to eliminate odour making sure my shoes don’t stink up the whole house.

In support of International Self-Care Day on July 24th , I challenge you to share your self-care practices with me. To help get you started, Bayer has created a self-care calendar with one tip for each day of the month. (Download yours here) 

Giveaway

I will also be giving away ten $15 Amazon gift cards so you can purchase your favourite self-care products! This contest is only open to Canadian residents (no Quebec) and will run until midnight EST on July 24, 2018 — International Self-Care Day!

To enter, all you have to do is share how you practice self-care, tag @homewithaneta (Twitter, Facebook or Instagram)and use #SelfCareDay for your chance to win! You can enter daily as long as you mention a new way you are taking care of yourself. Maybe mention some of the products that are helping you do so from the Bayer sale here! So, how do you practice self-care?

Aneta Alaei

Aneta is a Toronto-based mom of four that loves a good meal, great company, and learning something new. In her free time, you can find her trying to keep yet another plant alive.

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