Gift-giving at the holidays can be difficult. This year, rather than one more trinket or knick-knack, make 2022 the best year yet with the gift of health.
Whether you’re shopping for a loved one, or looking to show a little love for yourself, it’s never the wrong time to get a healthy start at the Intermountain LiVe Well Center in St. George.
“With the resources we have available, we can help people learn and understand the gaps in their individual health,” said Allen Christensen, health promotion and wellness operations manager for Intermountain Healthcare. “They may be thinking ‘I want to eat better and exercise more’ but with data gleaned from our health assessments, they can strengthen the focus of their goals and achieve a more positive outcome.”
One of the assessments available at the LiVe Well Center is the Body Composition, featuring the industry’s gold standard Bod Pod to determine the balance of fat and lean tissue in a person’s body. Another test determines the person’s resting metabolic rate, or the number of calories their body needs to function while at rest.
“These are really great entry points to learn more about your body and how to make improvements,” Christensen said.
In addition to the information provided by these and other available health assessments, the LiVe Well Center pairs that knowledge with consultations with exercise physiologists and dieticians to further tailor each individual’s health and wellness program.
“People often focus on broad goals, which can motivate a person to change, but too often we don’t know the path to take to really find success,” Christensen said. “Clients at the LiVe Well Center really benefit from the personal prioritization we can provide.”
Some of that personal prioritization comes in the form of small group personal training classes that combine the impact of personal training with a small group of fellow exercisers to provide support for one another.
“The individuals in these classes often become good friends,” Christensen said. “If someone misses a class they can check in with them and it becomes another level of accountability.”
Another popular offering is an emphasis on mindfulness-based stress reduction.
“Stress can impact so many aspects of a person’s overall health,” Christensen said. “This program offers guided meditation, gentle stretching and mindful yoga, group dialogue, mindful communication exercises and more.”
For those who are on the fence about gearing up for a healthier lifestyle in 2022, Christensen said that no matter how well you’re doing, everyone has an area in which they can improve.
“Sometimes things look good on the outside, but internally there are things that need to be addressed,” he said. “This is a great way to be proactive about that.”
Giving incentive for healthy living as a gift, well, that’s just another way to show someone you care.
“If you don’t make time for your wellness, you’ll be forced to make time for your illness,” Christensen said.
To find out more about all the programs, assessments and tools available at the LiVe Well Center in St. George, call 435-251-3793 or click here.
This Live Well column represents collaboration between healthcare professionals from the medical staffs of our not-for-profit Intermountain Healthcare hospitals and The Spectrum & Daily News.

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