The wellness noise is louder than ever.
There is more “healthy stuff to do” and more “experts” out there than ever before coming from social media, gyms, family, friends, magazines, influencers, commercials and more. This can leave you feeling very confused on what approach to take, with little time to discuss a plan with your healthcare provider. The reality is, you are unique, your goals are unique and the strategies that you use to achieve your goals need to be customized and tailored to you.
Do any of these sound familiar?
- Your neighbor is having great success with intermittent fasting and you’re trying it but the scale isn’t budging and you’re more tired than before.
- You’re uncertain if you should switch to a vegan, keto or the Carnivore diet
- You’re wondering if a cleanse or detox might help
- You are restricting calories but still not losing weight
- Your current exercise routine isn’t giving you the results you’d hoped for, even though it works well for others.
- You’re thinking about starting supplements but don’t know where to start or about their quality
- You were told at your annual physical to move more and eat less but no one has actually taught you where to start based on your personal goals and habits.
- You see and hear commercials for injectable weight loss medications and you’re giving it serious thought because what works for everyone else just doesn’t seem to be working for you and you don’t know what else to do.
Healthcare has changed.
At WellWay, we believe that primary and specialty care is important, but the healthcare landscape is not what it used to be and is ever evolving. We’re here to compliment the work you’re doing with your physician.
Here’s how healthcare is changing:
- A personal relationship with your primary care physician is the exception, not the norm
- Providers often focus solely on assessing your current state rather than working with you to set both short and long term health goals.
- According to a recent JAMA article, the average duration of a primary care visit is less than 20 minutes, with a median of just 18.9 minutesAssociation of Primary Care Visit Length with Potentially Inappropriate Prescribing
- Labs tests are typically conducted annually, and attention is only given to results that are out of range, when they’ve already become a problem. Moreover, these results are frequently shared through a portal without adequate explanation, leaving you to interpret them on your own.
- The quick fix treatment is usually medication management instead of reviewing lifestyle assessment and modification
- Compensation for primary care physicians tends to be lower than those in specialty care, leading to a shortage in PCP’s.
You are unique.
Research supports that you need an individualized approach to wellness.
Let’s take a look at a study (Study link) that assessed what happened when a group of people who weren’t exercising participated in an exercise protocol for 20-24 weeks.
The study looked at the strength outcomes of 283 untrained subjects (i.e. people who weren’t currently exercising) that were given the same exercise prescription over 20-24 weeks.
Surprisingly, not everyone had positive outcomes:
- 14% were super responders (they exceeded the expected strength outcome)
- 56% were normal responders (the strength outcomes were as expected)
- 30% were labeled as “genetic non-responders” (they actually got worse instead of stronger).
At first glance, it might seem that the 30% were just doomed – destined not to benefit from exercise. However, the true takeaway is more encouraging: our individual differences play a significant role in our health outcomes. This study demonstrates that while some strategies may be highly effective for one person, they might not work for another.
Your health plan should be as unique as you are, tailored to your priorities, values, genetics, environment, metabolism, hormones, brain, personality, past experiences, gut microbiome and much more. All of those things are why what works for your neighbor might not be working for you. There are so many medical and wellness claims out there, but there is no “one size fits all” answer when it comes to health.
Stress comes in many forms.
At WellWay, we place a big emphasis on understanding your health status by assessing how you are currently responding to your environment – do your stressors promote growth, or do they hinder your ability to achieve your goals? I’t’s important to recognize that stress stems from more than just mental and emotional sources. Your body’s response to stress is unique, and stress can originate from six primary categories: physical, chemical, electromagnetic, nutritional, mental and thermal. Stress can be therapeutic and a driver of change, or it can be detrimental. The dose determines the effect.
Through our comprehensive assessment process, we can identify how you’re currently responding to those stressors.
- Optimally balanced: You experience the right amount of stress from the appropriate sources, which aids in advancing towards your goals
- Overflowing: Too much stress from the wrong sources is harming your health and making it harder to achieve your goals
- Insufficient: You are lacking enough stress from the right stimuli to get you to your desired outcomes (this does not mean you might not “feel stressed,” but that you need new, novel stressors)
We often help people establish goals that they hadn’t previously considered based on our data-driven insights. For example: your goal is to sleep better, but we uncover that we need to address your gut health because it is likely the cause of your daytime fatigue and fogginess.
What makes you unique:
Beyond genetics, a multitude of factors contribute to your unique ability to achieve your goals.
Here are just a few examples:
Blood Sugar Control:
Research indicates: Blood sugar control has a big impact on weight management and can be influenced by:
- Physical activity levels
- Genetic predisposition
- Stress levels
- Certain foods can spike blood sugar in some, but not others
- Medications
- Illness and injury
- Hormonal changes
Takeaway: Strategies to effectively balance blood sugar will very from person to person
Environmental Impact:
Our environment and the way in which we live is unique:
- Working hours
- Family life
- Support system
- Exposure to environmental toxins and personal care products
- Hobbies
- Home environment
- Work environment
Takeaway: The plan you use needs to be realistic and specific to you and your unique environment
Resting Metabolism Varies:
Your resting metabolism is unique and dependent on:
- Genetics
- Lean mass
- Hormones
- Gender
- Exercise and daily activity
- Underlying medical conditions
- Gut health
- Age
Takeaway: Your metabolic and caloric needs are distinct. Even if someone shares your gender, height and weight, your caloric requirements can differ due to the unique wats your body processes energy.
The solution:
At WellWay we want to help you navigate the wellness noise using your personal health data, ongoing reassessment and a personal Wellness Advisor to identify the right approach for you, using resources within and outside of WellWay. No matter what strategies, resources, or goals you have for yourself, staying more engaged in your health data will ultimately help you know if you’re on the right track, but also help you identify and stay ahead of any potential health risks before they become a bigger problem.
At WellWay, we have three Core Beliefs:
- Everyone deserves a Wellness Advisor:
- For recommendations that compliment the work you’re doing with your healthcare provider, helping with accountability and support more than once per year
- To help open your eyes to other areas of health that may need to be addressed that you haven’t thought of yet
- To help you review your health data in terms that you can understand and assess lab results proactively, before they become an issue
- To help you pivot if goals and priorities have changed
- People should be engaged in their health data more than once per year
- This gives the potential to identify areas of concern before they become a bigger issue and creates more consistent awareness and accountability, allowing for a higher success rate of goals
- Lab testing and re-draws for markers of concern allow you to see if what you’re doing is working, or if you need to switch gears
- Regular reassessments that:
- Assess body composition changes beyond the scale
- Review symptoms to see if they’re getting worse or improving through a symptoms questionnaire – we know weight is often not the number one priority
- Everyone deserves a plan personalized to them
- You and your goals are unique – your action plan should be too
- At WellWay, we offer a lot. We know that not everything we offer is right for you. We offer the Complimentary Custom Health Plan appointments with focus areas in:
- Nutrition and Supplementation
- Exercise and Movement
- Lifestyle and Recovery
- Lab Testing and Referrals
Conclusion
There is a lot of wellness noise and we want to help you navigate it. We will spend three hours with you throughout your Custom Health Plan experience to collect data and learn more about you, your unique background, goals and current lifestyle habits in order to provide you with a plan that’s unique to you.
Your plan might include recommendations for lab testing to help us dive deeper into symptoms you’re experiencing. We may recommend restorative services to help you bring your cup back into balance. Recognizing your primary reason for joining WellWay – fitness – we’ll encourage you to follow the therapeutic exercises designated by our Exercise and Movement Specialists. We care about you and your goals and want to see you succeed not just in the short term, but the long term as well. We are here to support you no matter where you are in your health and wellness journey and can meet you where you are. It’s important to be engaged in your health data more than one per year and you deserve a wellness advisor, who will help guide you through the noise.
If you’re interested in getting scheduled for your Custom Health Plan appointments or learning more about our services, please stop by the Health Services Desk to visit with the Health Services Coordinator at your location. You can also call or text your Health Services Coordinator:
Babcock Ranch, FL: 239-946-2816
Cape Coral, FL: 239-341-6020
Liberty, MO: 816-608-6394
Plymouth, MN: 612-662-4728
Visit our website to learn more: www.wellway.com