Welcome to WellQuest 2014!

Welcome to the WellQuest Challenge! This is the site where we will house all of the challenge updates, and where you'll come for weekly Wellness Wisdom updates. We hope you'll use the site frequently and enjoy it. First a few answers to some frequently asked questions!

Q: When do we get our first massage?
A: Body Wisdom is offering 20% off of massage therapy for WellQuest Challenge teams. To schedule a massage, contact Body Wisdom at 850-224-BODY and tell them you are a WellQuest team member to receive 20% off the usual fee of $70.

Q: How do we get wellness coaching? 

A: To take advantage of the wellness coaching benefit of WellQuest, all you have to do is check your email! You should have started receiving the Daily Dose message each morning, and I'll be sending weekly Wellness Wisdom messages that will include videos and more to motivate, educate, and hopefully inspire you to implement holistically healthy behaviors into your day. Leave  comment on this post to let us know what topics you would like to see covered.

Q: When do we meet with our nutritional counselor/dietician? 

A: We have offered nutritional guidance in past years, but we do not have a nutritional partner this year. Ask at your gym for guidance with nutrition choices to best meet your goals, check out MyFitnessPal for an easy way to track meals, and attend one of the WellQuest Challenge education events, which will be scheduled soon.

And now, your Wellness Wisdom for the week: Creating Sustainable Change

Real change requires real change. But, sustainable change requires a little more than that! It begs for consistent progress, not perfection, as we work towards making new habits part of our daily lives. By traveling along a healthy path, stopping only occasionally to detour off course, we will one day turn and realize that what was once challenging is now easy, and what once seemed unattainable is now in our hands.

Here are just a few to create sustainable change one habit at a time. We're going to work on these and more over the next 90 days, so stay tuned!

Define and then imagine success. What your mother imagines for you may not be what you want in life. What your friend celebrates as a health goal may not be important to you. Define what success means for you: to lose weight? Compete in a fitness event? Live stress-free? Eat more healthfully? Then, start visualizing yourself at that goal.  When we can dream it, we begin to believe it, and then we can achieve it.

Take baby steps. Healthy bodies are not created overnight. They take time, care, and sometimes a lot of patience! Doing just one thing every day to be healthier than the day before can yield powerful results.

Focus on progress, not perfection. No one is perfect, nor should we be expected to be. But that doesn't mean we can't get a little closer to it every day. The goal of sustainable wellness is making a progress towards a healthier version of ourselves, not having "perfect" days or throwing in the towel because one meal goes awry or a workout gets missed. No, we will be working on making progress in a race with no finish line!

I am really looking forward to being your wellness coach for the next 90 days, and I welcome your feedback, questions, and suggestions. What do you want to learn about? How can I help? Leave a comment and I will respond. I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next time, get out there and get healthy!