Fall Health and Wellness Tips

Taking care of our bodies and staying healthy is something that is essential throughout the entire year. However, it can get a little more difficult when the weather changes, as it starts to get cold outside, the sun comes out less, and what we are able to do outside becomes more limited. Because of this, it’s even more important to ensure that we’re taking care of ourselves as best we can. In this article, we’ll share some fall health and wellness tips to help you stay healthy and safe.

The Top Health Tips for Fall

• Practice Good Hygiene – One of the top fall health tips is to practice good hygiene. This includes covering your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough, avoiding touching your face or eyes, and washing your hands properly. Practicing good hygiene is particularly important as the seasons change because we are more likely to spend increased amounts of time inside and our immune systems can be negatively impacted by the cold, thus weakening their ability to protect us from getting sick.
• Get Exercise – Exercise is one of the most important things for our bodies, as it can boost our immune systems and help prevent developing diseases, illnesses, and other health issues like obesity, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and more. However, it can be difficult to continue to get enough exercise each day once the cold makes exercising outdoors difficult. Consider coming up with an indoor exercise plan so you can continue to be physically active and healthy. This could involve joining a gym, doing workouts at home, or anything else that keeps you active.
• Take Vitamins – One of the biggest changes that comes with fall (and continues into winter) is colder weather and less sunlight. This can have a negative impact on our bodies by causing a vitamin deficiency. This primarily happens with vitamin D, as our intake can decrease drastically during colder months due to the fact that we are absorbing less from the sun. It’s important to supplement with vitamins to ensure you are getting enough of all the necessary vitamins and minerals.
• Get Outside – Even though the fall brings cooler weather and leads to us spending more time inside, you should still make an effort to get out and enjoy the outdoors (and get as much vitamin D as you can!). Just be sure not to push it too far, always make sure you are wearing warm enough clothing, and keep your outdoor activities to a manageable time frame.
• Eat a Balanced Diet – When it gets colder, it can be easy to want to curl up under a blanket, turn on the TV, and binge on both content and your favorite foods. While you should still enjoy your favorite foods in moderation, doing so over and over again is not healthy and should be avoided. Make sure to eat a healthy, balanced diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins to keep your body fit and functioning at its highest capacity.
• Get a Flu Shot (and Other Immunizations) – When summer turns to fall, it brings cold and flu season with it. Some of the reasons we tend to get sick when it is cold outside are those we’ve already mentioned, like weakened immune systems, increased time inside, and poor hygiene. Make sure you are prepared by getting the flu vaccine, getting the latest COVID-19 booster, and, as mentioned above, practicing good hygiene. It’s also a good idea to check your immunization records to see if you are due for any other vaccinations. Doing so will help you stay as healthy as possible, even if you do get sick at some point.
• Schedule a Check-Up – In addition to staying up to date on your immunizations, it’s also a good idea to schedule a check-up with your healthcare provider. We often avoid healthcare visits as long as we feel good, but preventive care and screenings are incredibly useful at catching health issues early on and making sure we stay on the right path going forward. 

For example, one of the ways that colder weather affects us is by increasing blood pressure because the cold can cause our blood vessels to narrow, requiring more pressure to pump blood through our veins. So, going in for a check-up and making sure your blood pressure is within the normal range can help you avoid potential risks later on. Even though it is fall and temperatures haven’t dipped too low yet, winter is right around the corner, so it’s a good idea to get checked out before the weather cools down too much.

At MyAlly Health, we understand the importance of preventive care and staying healthy year-round, and fall is the perfect time to do a self-check on our health. We offer many services to help you do just that, including immunizations and several other vaccinations at our clinic, like HPV, hepatitis A and B, influenza, meningococcal disease, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. If you’re interested in scheduling an appointment to get vaccinated, reach out to us today!

Additionally, we offer annual examinations, like physicals, wellness examinations, and mental health screenings to promote your overall health. You can also receive examinations like Pap smears to test for cervical cancer, and Gardasil vaccinations to protect you from HPV infections.

MyAlly Health offers confidential reproductive health services to women and men in the Grand Forks, North Dakota area, regardless of income or age. This includes preventive care, like getting tested for STIs, breast examinations, and pelvic examinations; determining the best birth control for you; and even getting vaccinated against the flu. The clinical services we provide are all performed by Nurse Practitioners and Resident Physicians. 

In order to empower and engage individuals in their well-being and reproductive health, MyAlly Health offers education, counseling, advocacy, and healthcare services. Find out more about what we do, help make a difference by donating to our cause, or schedule an appointment with us today!