Key takeaways:
- Bellator fighter Cat Zingano shares tips for how everyone can have a healthier new year.
- Learn how to balance mental health, self-care and your physical health.
Bellator fighter, Cat Zingano, is one of the toughest competitors in the ring and has partnered with us to knock out the stigma surrounding mental health and share her tips for both physical and mental wellness.
Cat continues to persevere every day, even after having lived through several tragedies. Among those, in 2014, Cat’s husband and trainer took his life after a battle with depression. To navigate the trauma of these events, Cat worked with a licensed therapist and practices several other wellness strategies. In addition to maintaining her own health, Cat also has a teenage son and prioritizes her role as Mom. She pushes herself physically, but also takes the time to work on her mental health because she knows how important physical and mental wellness are to finding the right balance for herself, her family and her ongoing career success.
Providence and Cat are moving into their third year of partnership and working together to remind everyone that IT TAKES WORK TO BE WELL. Visit Work2BeWell.org for free mental health tips and resources for teens, parents and educators. Also check out Cat’s 5 actionable tips below to make sure you have a healthy new year–physically and mentally.
5 Health Tips for 2022
- #1. Avoid Dr. Google. - Get your health info from credible sources, don’t just rely on and self-diagnose from social media and Google. Nothing you can find online replaces speaking candidly in a safe setting to your dr. And a lot of times it can actually make us feel worse.
- #2. Don’t delay care. If you have a medical issue or question that you can’t stop thinking about, get it off your mind now. A lot of unnecessary discomfort comes from the weight of not knowing or fearing finding out that something is wrong, so get it out of the way and find your answers so you can move forward appropriately. It may save your life or it may be absolutely nothing, but better for you and your loved ones to know.
- #3. Self-care is a priority. Practice self-care (give yourself a break, meditate, nap, etc); these past couple of years, let alone holiday season, puts a different amount of good or bad stress on everyone. Communicate where you’re at energetically and emotionally so people know how to treat you. Let them know to either bug and include you or give you some healthy space.
- #4. Connect with others. Make time to connect with positive friends and family, try to limit time and set personal boundaries with people or places that are more difficult or tend to bring you down. Be fair to yourself and others with gift giving as well -- it’s meant to be fun, not a platform for stress or judgment. Finances these past couple of years need leniency, so handle it gently.
- #5. Set small health goals. Find time for at least tidbits of better health effort. Make yourself proud by drinking a good amount of water, taking a walk, being active, filling up more on the nutrient rich foods, proper sleep and self-talk. If you’re feeling down mentally, physically, or emotionally, treat it like the flu. Lots of water, bed and rest until you’re ok and ready to proceed with your best foot forward.
Learn more about mental health services at Providence:
Providence mental health services
Swedish behavioral health services
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Related resources
Work2BeWell prioritizes the mental health of teens (providence.org)
Providence & iHeart Radio team up to talk about women's health
Processing and healing from grief (providence.org)
How to cope with grief after losing a life partner (providence.org)
About the Author
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