A week of Appointments and Learning

In the past week I have seen three different health professionals as part of my healthier me campaign 2012 (unofficial title get your butt into gear Nat). Over the course of these appointments I have learnt several things about myself and my body, some are very obvious and others made me go 'why didn't I think of that before'.

I have learnt lots but here are the keys things that have stuck in my mind from the appointments with the Nutritionist, Chiropractor and Dentist:

• Having four babies in four and a half years isn't the best way to look after your back, it means your pelvis goes out of whack and one leg ends up an inch shorter than the other (fixable, but not the best).
• When you brush your teeth with an electric toothbrush your toothbrush shouldn't be parallel to your teeth, but at a 45 degree angle towards your gums, otherwise you start to take off the enamel.
• For kids that grow up on farms drinking rainwater they need to use fluoride toothpaste and be brushing their teeth with it for about two and a half minutes twice a day (not swallowing the toothpaste) thus enables them to get some fluoride which they don't get like town kids.
• For me, I am eating the right foods but some days I'm not balancing out my day with all the major food groups, so I have to mix up my diet a bit, including planning dinner based around what I had for breakfast and/or lunch, who knew your meals had to be so co-ordinated?!
• My girls have only about a 15 minute tolerance for appointments before they loose it and start dancing and running around the room, or fighting. Hot chips as a reward work wonders for keeping them calm an extra five minutes (not good to say in front of the Nutritionist though).
• Exercise is no longer avoidable, it's a necessity, to reach my goals of where I want to be (women's boot camp is booked for term one).
• With a soda stream in the house I can easily drink 3-4 litres of water a day (hooray!)
• I hate getting on the scales to be weighed, I find it humiliating, frustrating and demeaning (especially when the person weighing you is a size 10). I did already know this but to have it reinforced was not a pleasant experience.

The Muddy Preschooler and the Muddy Pixie at the Chiropractor

Our household has already started to implement some of the changes suggested by the Nutritionist, and I'm excited about trying some more of her ideas around menu planning and especially excited about trying some new recipes.

I'm not so excited about going back to the Chiropractor, it's the anticipation right before she cracks my back that I can't stand!

As for the dentist, I got given the all clear for another 12 months. Now to make my appointment for the naturopath and make sure my shoes fit for boot camp, then we'll really be on a roll!

I really enjoy learning new things, especially if they're things that are going to help me achieve my goals for a better me. I have tried Internet advice etc before, but for some things there's nothing like sitting down face to face with someone and really nutting out a problem til you reach that light bulb moment of 'That's what I need to be doing!'.

How do you occupy your kids at appointments?

Have you been making plans for a healthier you too?