Tag

Health Rewards

Health Rewards

Vitality Responds to COVID19 with New Rewards

written by Stephen Morrison

It has been a week since being sent home from work for being in a COVID19 vulnerable group and on day one, I made a series of declarations. None involved Jason Momoa.

I would use the time to get fit and to write more blogs; I would complete some odd jobs around the house; I would be a better partner and step-father and I would make each day count.

What I did not do was make a plan, decide how I would accomplish all the above and most importantly, I was not confident that I could achieve any of the above.

What I did do was watch a season of “See” starring the fabulous Jason Momoa and develop an addiction for Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Netflix (I am going to watch Season 6 with wee Jack, so that has one positive outcome). I did manage to build a study desk (who actually builds these in the time suggested in the instructions) for wee Jack but any praise for that was countered by me rediscovering my love for chocolate in all of its forms.

Here’s a picture of Jason Momoa as regardless of your gender or sexual orientation, life is better with Jason Momoa.

Currently, I am the polar opposite of Mr Momoa but hopefully all that will change with the help of Health Rewards and Vitality who just tonight released news of how they intend to support members during this period of uncertainty and fear.

One of my lesser fears was that I would not achieve my Vitality Gold Status. Not only because my steps had reduced considerably, but because I would not be able to increase my Vitality Points via Health Reviews, gym visits and attendance at Weight Watchers due to COVID19.

With Vitality having made some questionable decisions over the past year in regards to member rewards, I will be honest and admit that I was not confident of them taking any significant action.

However, they have proved me wrong and have announced a range of new and temporary @home rewards and partners and a member status update that has not only erased my fears about my policy but also given me the basis of a plan to get fit and to also be a better partner and step-father.

Vitality New Rewards

Firstly, they have decided to support any members, such as myself, who are due to renew their policy in the immediate future with a guarantee of honoring whatever status level is higher between the current status and last year’s status. My Gold level is guaranteed!

Which does not mean that I will not try to earn Vitality Points, as Vitality have created some frankly brilliant ways for members to attain points and have added some impressive rewards.


Every Vitality Life and Health member will have access to 120 days of the OnePeloton App (with a RRP of £12.99 per month) and will be able to participate in both live and on-demand classes, including yoga, running, strength training, stretching, bodyweight cardio cardio and and cycling. There is no need for one of the Peloton bikes that we publicly mock and secretly crave and instead, a mat will do.

If one new fitness app is not enough, Vitality have made keeping fit and attaining Mr Momoa’s physique while you #stayhome even easier.


For members will also be able to use, for 12 months, the jennisfitness app (worth £9.99 per month) from Vitality Ambassador Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and earn 5 pts each day towards the maximum 40 points per week for participating in one of her fun and accessible 20 minute workouts. 

Vitality New rewards

Points can also be earned during COVID19 by registering key health metrics at home as part of a home-based Vitality Healthcheck.

Part of my plan to improve my fitness is to measure my baseline figures and the Vitality Healthcheck provides a very detailed report.

To help Vitality Members monitor their activity levels, a 50% discount on key Garmin and Polar devices will be introduced. As the proud owner of a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro and a Garmin Scale, this is a great reward.

With the much debated cinema reward currently unavailable due to cinemas being closed, Vitality have responded with a superb alternative. 

Members attaining 12 points in a week will be able to download a film each week from Rakuten TV while those managing to register the maximum 40 points each week will be able to view a second movie.

Vitality New rewards

With the whole family socially distancing, we will at least have some movies that we can watch together, possibly featuring a certain Jason Momoa.


For Vitality Health members and those with Vitality Life policies of over £35.00 per month, Vitality are helping us to restock our fridges and cupboards with healthy food by offering a 25% discount at Waitrose during April, May and June. 

With comprehensive cover that encourages and rewards an active lifestyle with a range of rewards including 50% discount at Runners Need, free Starbucks coffees, free Amazon Prime and up to 50% discount at leading gyms, Vitality has been a faithful friend to me. The announcement of Vitality’s new rewards have further enhanced it as a product.

These rewards and tools will become available from varying dates in April.

Join Vitality Today

As a Health Rewards Ambassador, I would love for you to join the Vitality Everyday Athlete Community and as an incentive, every new policy will receive a £75.00 voucher to use at Runners Need. With 50% discount on a pair of running shoes and 15% discount on clothing, it is a great opportunity to kit yourself out using your Vitality membership and to help you with your Government sanctioned daily bout of outside exercise.

Simply email the friendly and helpful team at Health Rewards on healthrewards@add.nocrm.io and they will contact you to discuss a Life or Health Policy that suits you and your family. Using this link does not cost you anything but it does provide me with an affiliate income that helps me to keep this blog going. 

March 28, 2020 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Feet For Life
Running

Tough 10, TrailFest & Rainbow Laces Competition

written by Stephen Morrison

Autumn is creeping upon us and it is one of the best times of year to pack in the pavements and to take your running off road. Trail running is becoming more and more popular with more and more events being launched to meet the demand and to showcase the wonderful spirit of the trail running community.

It is getting darker and colder, so I have decided to offer a free Trail Running themed competition for you all to enter and hopefully brighten up your day. 

Maybe it was my trailblazing Shite Runners blog or my efforts in the Hoka Highland Fling Relay, but I am delighted to announce that I have been selected to be an Ambassador for one such event.

That event is Tough 10 and it is the latest charity run from Cancer Research and also the event that I hope to mark my return to running in.

It will have been 10 months without running and I cannot think of a more apt race to make my return in. It has been a Tough 10 months.

Tough 10 is a series of, you guessed it, 10 challenging but fun 10K races across the UK which range from simply Tough for our southern softies in Essex (sorry to my Essex family, I couldn’t resist) to the Toughest in Edinburgh (where I will of course be running). Every event is located in an iconic region of the country and they are designed to appeal to the rough runner is all of us

Tough 10

The Tough Ten events are, you guessed it, tough.

Competition Prize 1

The Tough 10 events have no obstacles, other then the terrain and your mental and physical strength,  the odd chance of mud and some of the most stunning running routes that you are likely to encounter this autumn. The Tough 10 series kicks off this weekend in the Peak District before heading off London’s Epping Forest on the 23rd October and ending the 10 race series in the sumptuous surround of Margam Country Park in South Wales.

Only one event has sold out (well done Essex) and you can find and register for your closest Tough 10 event here. Why not recruit a team of Tough runners and make this challenge your introduction to trail running. At only £20.00 per entry it is also great value.

To celebrate my impending return to running, I am offering even greater value. For the cost of a comment, three of you have the opportunity to win entries to a Tough 10 event near you (or far from you, if you fancy exploring)

Competition Prize 2

And that’s not all!

On October 15th, Glasgow sees the return of the terrific TrailFest Trail Running Festival. Trail running legends and the trail running community come together to celebrate all that is great about running in the great outdoors.

Tough Ten

Glasgow welcomes back the Trail Fest

Speakers such us as Debbie and Marco Consani (the JOINT creators of Marcothon-before I start another debate) are joined by the almost human James Stewart, who ran an incredible 160 miles in 24 hours, and many other inspiring runners, including my fellow Tough Ten Ambassador Lucja Leonard. You can listen to their tales or hit the trails with special events and coaching sessions.

Tickets for this all day event cost £45, but one person can win a free entry, while two more can win one of the special and limited edition #RunDirty Buffs (as modelled by the one and only Ryan Scott).

Tough Ten

RunDirty but run warm with the Glasgow TrailFest Buff

Competition Prize 3

If the Tough Ten and Glasgow Trail Fest prizes are not enough, then allow me to put a little colour into your life. The colours of the rainbow, to be precise.

Sept 19-25 sees the launch of Stonewall Scotland’s Rainbow Laces campaign. A week when we can all show that running and sport are for everyone. Unfortunately, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia still rear their ugly heads in sports as well as in society and it is great to see running groups like the Glasgow Frontrunners and events such as the Jedburgh Three Peaks Ultramarathon offering inviting and friendly running environments for all.

 

Tough Ten

Rainbow Laces. Sport for All

And as part of Rainbow Laces you can buy, you guessed it again, rainbow coloured laces  to show your support. These can be bought here for the small sum of £2.99 but one lucky winner will win two pairs.

And be sure to snap a picture of you and your laces and post them on social media with #RainbowLaces 

 

To win all of these fantastic prizes, Just enter below and follow the instructions  Every entry will be entered into a draw to win one of these fantastic prizes. Due to the dates of all of the events and the campaigns, you will have up until Friday 7th October to enter. This will allow you to enter almost all but one of the Tough Ten events.

To enter this fantastic free giveaway, just follow the instructions in this Rafflecopter

There are three ways to enter

  1. Tweet the campaign and then enter your tweet url in the box before confirming you have tweeted in the bottom right hand “I Twitted” box
  2. Follow myself (@howmanymiles_ ) and CRUK on twitter and enter your twitter handle (i’ll follow back) and hit the “I follow”button.
  3. Post the answer below and again hit that button on the bottom right of rafflecopter

All will earn you entries and the tweet can be done daily. It IS a bit complicated, but it makes selecting winners fairer and easier if I get lots and lots of entries. Plus it hopefully generates lots and lots of tweets about the Tough 10 events and #RainbowLaces.

Good luck with the competition and don’t forget to get out on those trails. A whole new world awaits and it beats pounding the streets.

September 20, 2016 11 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
HealthHealth RewardsJourneyObesity

All I Want For Christmas

written by Stephen Morrison

Is not to be worse than I am right now

Christmas tis the season to be jolly and to overindulge in a festive feeding frenzy. Normally, having spent the year running and training hard, I would accept this and enjoy a few weeks not worrying about the macronutritional content of mince pies and shortbread, but this year is different.

Having put on 40lbs this year, I do not want to exceed that. Since losing all my weight in 2011, I have yo-yo’d a little, putting on a few pounds in the Winter and quickly losing it come Spring.

However, I have never before gained this much and if you have read my previous blog, you will appreciate that my greatest fear is returning to a life less active.

So, I have decided not to wait for a New Year resolution. I am resolved not to gain any more pounds (of fat).

Instead, I will use the rest of December to prepare me for the year ahead. That does not mean that I will procrastinate over plans or spend a small fortune on new training kit (ok, I might still manage the latter). Instead, it means that I will use the next few weeks to devise and implement my new training regime.

It will consist of resistance training at Pure Gym, Shawlands; yoga at Bikram Yoga Southside and my daily active commutes to and from work.

Moreover, It will all revolve around a more structured and consistently adhered to diet. Although I will be using Weight Watchers to record my progress, receive and give support and earn Vitality points, I will not follow a diet plan

I will cut down on my intake of crisps, biscuits, bread, cheese, gums and chocolate. Basically, all the things that I love.

And, when I say cut down, I mean eliminate them from my diet. I am not a fan of any diet that eliminates any type of food, but the simple truth is that I eat far too much of the above and, unfortunately, I cannot currently trust myself to moderate my consumption.

One bite is never quite enough.

I am also going to try and improve my culinary skills, as one of the reasons that I eat too many ready meals and too much toast is that I cannot ready a meal, such as a roast.

So tonight, I have taken my measurements and taken stock of the journey ahead. The next few weeks will not reverse the damage done but they will put me back on the right path.

Three years on and I still do not know how many miles I have to travel, but I do know that it is #timeforme and time to just do it!

“Last Christmas, I lost all my weight and the very next year, I gained it all back” will not be a recurring theme.

Tomorrow, I’ll post my starting measurements and update you on Day 1. As always, your support and encouragemnt is much appreciated.

December 13, 2015 5 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Health RewardsJourneyPhysical Activity

I would walk 5 million steps

written by Stephen Morrison

I set myself a step count challenge at the beginning of the year. It was to walk at least 5,000,000 steps in 2015. As of today, I am delighted to proclaim that I’ve reached my goal!

5million 5 million steps might seem like a lot, but it all started with a few small steps and one step at a time. With new challenges ahead and a target of 7,000,000 steps for next year, it’s as good a time as any to reflect on and share the steps and changes that helped me lose 170 lbs and become more active. Steps that I will also need to read and heed.

I hope these steps help you as much as they have helped me.

• Small Steps. The first step is to make them small. Don’t try to alter your lifestyle overnight. If you are overweight and inactive you probably took some time getting there. Getting away will also take time. By making small and independent changes you can assess what works for you while not overwhelming and overloading yourself physically or mentally.

• More Steps. Walking more was key to getting me more active. You can get started anytime. I use a Garmin Vivofit (and my beloved Garmin 620), but many smartphones are now equipped with step count apps and a simple pedometer works just as well. Start by simply walking more short journeys. Try taking stairs rather than lifts and escalators and bouts of purposeful walking which can be 5 mins rushing to work or trying to keep up with a five year old. My personal favourite is trying to get to a public toilet. Which ties in with the next step.

• Drink More. Not more beer or wine, unfortunately, but water. It can help with satiety and can increase your metabolism, although this is arguably insignificant. It might be a myth, but the sage advice of drinking first when feeling hungry helped me and led to more purposeful walking. If plain water isn’t your cup of tea, have a cup of unsweetened green tea or mix it with some squash.

• Eat Squash. This, pumpkin and other high in fibre alternatives to traditional starchy foods like potatoes. Potatoes themselves aren’t that bad, according to nutritionists. It is mostly what we do with them. Like frying them and covering them in ketchup. Same for pasta and rice. Often it is a case of what we add to them and how large a portion we have.

• Don’t Go Large. My gran taught me to clear my plate, but one lesson I learned was to go small. Smaller portions and smaller plates. Also don’t be afraid, when you feel full, to stop.

• Stop. When you start exercising more it can be addictive. It releases endorphins that often make you feel euphoric and unstoppable. We enter a boom and bust mentality. We over train and struggle to maintain which can lead to injury and to us giving up, especially when our losses become less significant.

• Involve Your Significant Other. A hard lesson I learned was that it is important to ensure that you balance your desire to get healthier with your responsibilities as a partner or parent. Combine both. Go for family walks, play in the park with the kids. You might be surprised at how much fun it is.

• Have Fun. Often I am asked what the best activity for weight loss is. I love running, not because it’s a fat burner, but because I enjoy it. I enjoy races and I enjoy challenging myself. I also enjoy lifting weights, kicking pads and striking balls. I do what I love, and love what I do. The exercise or activity that will get you fitter and leaner is the one you will enjoy and the one you will do, consistently.

• Be Consistent. It is easy to get overwhelmed by early success with later smaller losses and even plateaus undermining your confidence. If you maintain your new adopted behaviours you will succeed. Stay the course, don’t give up. Don’t fall asleep on the job.

• Sleep. Obesity is often linked with lack of sleep. Causality or correlation, I don’t know. What I do know is that when I am up late, I eat more and I eat more junk. When I am tired, I exercise less, I have less self-control and stress more.

• Don’t Stress, Be Happy. One of the by-products of stress is cortisol. This can lead to increased insulin production and is often linked to the accumulation of abdominal fat. Try to eliminate or remove elements from your life that bring you down. Unclutter and spend more time on you and less time playing games on social media.

• Use Social Media. There are many great groups and people to inspire and support you. Without boring friends with pictures of salads and accounts of your latest run (guilty of both), you can get accountability and share and try new ideas.

• Try new activities and become a try athlete. Variability can make your training more fun and more productive . Set yourself challenges that will help you reach your goals.

• Set Goals. Identify why you want to lose weight or get more active and make a plan with short term and long term goals, making them attainable but stretching, realistic but challenging and specific but flexible. Your goals will change as you change and you will reap the rewards.

• Reward yourself. Consider schemes such as Vitality or Bounts that reward you for being physically active or simply treat yourself to a new pair of jeans to show off your progress.

• Show off. Be proud of your success and don’t dwell too long on your mistakes. Most weight loss journeys encounter bumps and detours before we reach our destinations.

My final tip is not to wait. Not for January or even until Monday. What steps can you take now to make 2016 and beyond healthier and happier for you and your family?

November 13, 2015 2 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Health RewardsJourneyPhysical Activity

Health Rewards, Rewarding Health

written by Stephen Morrison

Instead of fat shaming and lamenting the cost of inactivity and obesity, let’s encourage and reward those who are active and those who want to be active. Let’s give them the tools, show them the way and let’s reward the journey.

This is a message that I regularly share via my Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine posts and the reason why I am delighted to be a Brand Ambassador for Health Rewards.

Health Rewards are one of a new breed of businesses who are recognising the need for a different approach. Bounts is another wonderful app that I use and you can read all about it here, at the blog of my friend and fellow National Fitness Day ambassador, Mollie Millington.

But first, let me tell you about Health Rewards and Vitality. As a Brand Ambassador, I will, of course, be proclaiming how good it is (and it is), but I will also share my thoughts on how it could be improved. Yes, this could be the shortest lasting ambassador role ever.

Vitality is a life and health insurance policy that rewards an active and healthy life. It does so by giving free cinema tickets, coffees and iTunes along with substantial discounts on Virgin Active gym membership, running shoes from Sweatshop, bikes from Evans Cycles and even flights with British Airways and Spa weekends. The video below explains more.

I’ve been using the cinema reward for the past few months and I’ve saved several hundred pounds. I have also had to endure Minions, Inside Out and a few Marvel movies with the boys. I say endure, but as a fully-fledged man-child, I am secretly delighted. As are my boys.

To get the cinema tickets, I have to accrue 9 Vitality Points (more about them later) in the previous week and download codes from the Member Zone which I then copy into Cineword’s website. I can get any combination of standard seats for each member of my family, including a double bill of 15 movies, when the boys were away. The process is seamless and the value more than pays for the cost of the policy. If you are a single adult, you get only one ticket each week and you will need to benefit from the other rewards to make the policy pay.

The other reward that I have used, to great effect, is the Sweatshop 50 % discount. You can shop instore, but I simply emailed Sweatshop the product code of the shoes I wanted, along with my Vitality details and they sent me a discount code, which I then used on their site. Another £65 saved (I like expensive running shoes) and with each member of my family getting a pair each year, it’s another chance to save some considerable cash…..which I will no doubt just spend on more running shoes (well, I do have to use my Bounts vouchers).

I have also received monthly iTunes downloads and this has been disappointing. The site says that the rewards vary from a single song download right up to £20 credit. Can you guess what I have received each month, for the past four months? Yep, single song downloads.

Another reward is free Starbucks coffee, in participating Starbucks (always check first). It’s only one per week per adult (no caffeine for the kids) and as I don’t drink coffee I am building up credits. It seems that you can use more one Starbucks credit per visit, so I’m looking forward to sharing my rewards with friends.

I have yet to use the Evans Cycles discount, but I am looking forward to adding to my bike collection as I train to be a triathlete and I will report back on the other rewards as and when I use them. I do like my gadgets and a new Garmin or Polar at 50% off is tempting. The range of trackers and watches are good, but not brilliant and the pre discount RRP is off the current market prices. With a 50% discount you can still get an excellent Garmin Vivofit 2 or Garmin 220 Forerunner for a great price.

And you really have to. To activate most of the rewards you have to earn Vitality Points. You can earn points from getting health checks, stopping smoking, losing weight, running at parkrun (need to get them to add Great Run Local) and recording steps or your heartbeat.

The two latter ways require an activity tracker or a heart rate monitor and you can gain a maximum of 40 points this way each and every week. Given that you can earn 10pts from walking 14,000 steps, I do wish I wasn’t limited to 40 each week as it would mean a quicker rise to the higher levels of Vitality (it goes from Bronze to Platinum) and greater discounts on certain rewards. More importantly, it could encourage people to be active every day.

However, as a Vitality customer, I am more than happy with my policy and I couldn’t think of a better broker to be involved with than Health Rewards.

 

Health Rewards do not just sell insurance policies and they are not just helping me become a triathlete, they also support athletes, sports clubs and communities across the UK and they take extra steps to help you take extra steps. Each day they have personal trainers, nutritionists and psychologists providing advice and answering questions via live video. They are building a community and are investing in their policy holders.

That’s the kind of business I like doing business with.

And, if you want to get rewarded for being active AND get yourself a free Garmin, simply call 0800 881 8666 and quote SM when you take a policy. Get active, get rewarded and get Vitality.

August 16, 2015 0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest