Healthy Lifestyle Choices with Walgreens Balance Rewards

My husband had open heart surgery as a child and it’s been almost seven years since I had heart surgery.  It’s not something I’ve ever talked about here but that doesn’t mean it makes me uncomfortable.  As you can imagine, since we were both born with heart conditions, making healthy lifestyle choices is very important in our home.  Luckily our daughter has a completely normal and healthy heart but we are doing our best as parents to be good role models for her to make healthy choices too.

My entire childhood and early adulthood I suffered from severe migraines and occasionally passed out.  My local small town doctor told my parents I probably passed out because I locked my knees while standing.  Unfortunately it seemed every time this happened I was in fact standing and therefore, I always received a stern, “don’t lock your knees,” after my parents made sure I didn’t seriously injure myself after falling down.  Eventually I moved away from home for college and pursued different treatments for my migraines.  I was absolutely terrified by the idea of passing out at school.  Aside from the potential for real injuries, I was mortified by the humiliation of having to be “that girl” in college.  Then my fear turned into reality.  I passed out while standing as a bridesmaid at my best friend’s wedding.  I’m pretty sure almost everyone I had known my entire life was present, including my husband (we were engaged at the time) and my parents.   

 me and my childhood BFF at her wedding, 2005

This happened just before the ring exchange.  My husband came running up the middle aisle and literally caught me before I hit my head on a pew in the church. The other girls in the wedding party formed a line in front of me and the wedding continued as if nothing had happened.  I woke up sitting behind the other bridesmaids with my husband next to me.  I asked, “what are you doing up here?”  Then I realized why he was there.  OH NO, DID I REALLY JUST PASS OUT DURING THE RING EXCHANGE AT MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING?  Yes.  I wasn’t hurt and luckily it’s something we can all laugh about now.  

Following that experience I went to see a cardiologist at my husband’s request.  I was determined to figure out why this was happening to me.  At my very first cardiology appointment I was diagnosed with an Atrial Septal Defect, a hole in my heart that should have been diagnosed at birth.  I had a relatively easy procedure to fix it and I haven’t had a migraine or passed out since.

With our heart histories we do our best to make healthy choices.  One of the easy things I can do is avoid salt in the kitchen.  I never use salt.  Literally, never.  It’s always left out of recipes when I’m cooking at home and it’s never added to our table setting.  Our four year old daughter wouldn’t recognize salt if she saw it.  We also keep heart healthy snacks on hand.  This week I was very excited to see the Walgreens Buy one get one free sale on almonds.

With six servings per can this was a great deal!

Did you know you can be rewarded for purchasing items that contribute to your healthy lifestyle at Walgreens?  Additionally, you can use their new Steps with Balance Rewards to track your personal goals.  Earning points is easy and you start from the minute you sign up.

I registered online and the program benefits were automatically linked to my Balance Rewards account.

While you’re on the site, you can also enter the Steps to Win Sweepstakes! You have a chance to win daily instant win prizes and a grand prize.  The daily prizes are super!  Sadly I haven’t won yet but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop trying.  Every day you play you get entered to win a trip to the Biggest Loser resort of your choice.  The sweepstakes run until May 31st.  

Getting started on your journey to a healthy lifestyle and saving money using Steps with Balance Rewards is easy.  You can also connect with Walgreens on Twitter and Facebook.  If you’d like to see more photos of my shopping experience, take a look at my Healthy Lifestyle Choices with Walgreens Balance Rewards #BalanceRewards #cbias #socialfabric Google+ album.

If you’re looking for more fun, stop by the Aisle Share FUN page.

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Walgreens but all opinions and ideas are my own. #BalanceRewards #cbias #SocialFabric