Shelly's Shares: Know Your Numbers Before Symptoms Start

“Not medically necessary.” Those three words stopped Shelly in her tracks, because they were used to describe a preventive test she is choosing to do on purpose. If we wait until something is wrong enough to “count,” we’ve already lost time we can’t get back.

This message is a candid reminder to stay proactive with your health even when insurance, cost, or confusion makes it harder than it should be. Shelly talks through why prevention beats reaction, how many conditions can be spotted earlier than most people realize, and why self-advocacy matters when a lab result is slightly off or your body feels different. We also unpack the mindset piece: wellness is a day-to-day journey built on consistency, not perfection.

You’ll leave with a practical checklist of “know your numbers” basics like blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, and waist circumference, plus key preventive health screenings to stay current on: annual physicals, blood work, mammograms, colon cancer screening, skin checks, eye exams, dental cleanings, and bone density testing like a DEXA scan. Shelly also shares how she thinks about family history, second opinions, and paying attention to small changes before they become big problems.

If you want more energy, better longevity, and fewer surprises, start small and stay steady. Subscribe to Words of Wellness, share this with a friend who needs a nudge, and please leave a rating and review so more people can find these conversations.

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High quality, clean nutrition and beauty products: https://shellyjefferis.isagenix

Clean-crafted wine, free from chemicals & pesticides:
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JuJu Non-toxic candles & air fresheners:
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Coupon code for 10% off: ShellyJefferis

Thank you for listening to the Words of Wellness podcast with Shelly Jefferis. I am honored and so grateful to have you here and it would mean the world to me if you could take a minute to follow, leave a 5-star review and share  the podcast with anyone you love and anyone you feel could benefit from the message.

Thank you and God Bless! And remember to do something for yourself, for your wellness on this day! 
In Health, 

Shelly

Transcript

Welcome And Why Wellness Feels Confusing

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We can prevent that. That can be discovered years, years before it becomes full-blown into a disease where we have to take medication. And I don't know about all of you, but I want to take steps now. I want to know now what I can do so that I'm not faced with any of these diseases in the future. Do you get confused by all of the information that bombards us every day on ways to improve our overall health and our overall wellness? Do you often feel stuck, unmotivated, or struggle to reach your wellness goals? Do you have questions as to what exercises you should be doing? What foods you should or should not be eating? How to improve your overall emotional and mental well-being? Hello everyone, I am so excited to welcome you to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries and I will be your host. My goal is to answer these questions and so much more. To share tips, education, and inspiration around all of the components of wellness through solo and guest episodes. With 35 plus years as a health and wellness professional, a retired college professor, a speaker, and a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I certainly have lots to share. However, my biggest goal and inspiration in doing this podcast is to share the wellness stories of others with you. To bring in guests who can share their journey so that we can all learn together while making an impact on the health, the wellness, and lives of all of you, our listeners. The ultimate hope is that you leave today with even just one nugget that can enhance the quality of your life and that you will, we all will, now and into the future, live our best quality of lives full of energy, happiness, and joy. Now let's dive into our message for today.

Choosing Prevention Over Perfection

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Hi, my friends, welcome back to another episode of Shelly Shares. I am diving in today about a topic that I have spoken about for years and have been very passionate about, and I sometimes feel like I might preach about it. And it has to do with being proactive with our health, taking steps to be preventative, taking steps that will help us potentially prevent us from getting any illnesses or disease later on in life. Now, with that being said, I know there are no guarantees, but I always feel like whatever we can do that's in our power, we need to do it. And I talk about this often. And I also talk about the fact that it doesn't mean we are we are trying to be perfect in any way. It's never perfection, it's a journey, it's a day-to-day journey, and it's all about being consistent with our choices and making progress along the way, but it's never about perfection. And this came up the other day because I thought it was so ironic and I wanted to share. I have

When Insurance Won’t Cover Prevention

SPEAKER_00 3:19

been talking a little bit about some of the tests I've been having done, like blood work, my physicals, um, my physical, I didn't have plural, I didn't have more than one done, but just the different things that I've been doing that are just normal annual uh tests and physicals. And the crazy thing is that the other day I received a message from my insurance and I called them back, and they were basically letting me know that one of the procedures I'm going to be having done was already authorized, and I can go ahead and have it done. So when I called the place where I'm going for this particular procedure, one of the one of the tests I'm having done is is not a big deal. It's um it's kind of a small test. And what happened was, and I found this to be just so I was taken aback really. And I should know better. This is kind of how our healthcare, our health system, our insurance companies operate. But the gentleman on the phone told me that this one particular test I was going to be having done wasn't considered to be medically necessary, it's preventative, it's not medically necessary, so he wasn't sure if it would be covered. And I thought about it for a minute and I thought, how backwards is this? How backwards is it that we are trying to, I do, and I preach this all the time, to have your regular checkups done, to have anything that might be a little bit off that you want to have checked out, get it done because we want to take the steps now so that we can be our healthiest now, but also into the future. Do you know that certain diseases and illnesses like, for example, diabetes, we can prevent that. That can be discovered years, years before it becomes full-blown into a disease where we have to take medication. And I don't know about all of you, but I want to take steps now. I want to know now what I can do so that I'm not faced with any of these diseases in the future. And, you know, it just made me want to share that we have to still be proactive. We have to still advocate for ourselves and our health. Nobody else is going to do it. And the unfortunate thing is that certain procedures and tests might be a little bit pricey, and that discourages some people from having them done. And that truly, my friends, makes me sad because I feel like there are so many more things that we could do that could give us indications of our overall health and wellness and longevity that maybe we don't do because of the cost, because they might not be medically necessary and they might not be covered by insurance. Is it backwards or what? I just thought of this the other day when I had this phone call and I wanted to talk about it, and I don't know what the answer is, except I will continue to share with all of you and all of my clients and my students. I will continue to share the importance of taking care of our health now and into the future, and also being proactive with our checkups, with anything we can do to be preventative for future illnesses, because what we do now is going to pay off in the future. And again, I might sound like a broken record. I know I talk about this often, but I think I also am in the thick of it because I've been having my annual checkups done, and I've been having some various tests done that I don't normally do just because of my age now. I mean, I'm close to 60, so I have some additional testing that I'm having done because of my age. And I'll tell you what, I am going to have it done. And even one particular test isn't going to be covered, I don't think, but it's not, thankfully, it's not very, it's very, very minimal. It's not expensive at all. But I am going to do whatever I can to make sure I'm the healthiest I can be and get certain tests run to see what's going on, to make sure everything is clear.

Lab Results, Follow-Ups, And Peace Of Mind

SPEAKER_00 8:31

I think I shared recently that I was having, I often have my with my annual physical and my blood work, I have over the last probably two or three years come back with um kind of a low uh white blood cell count. And then my doctor will have me come back and have it rechecked like a couple weeks later, and then it's normal. This has kind of been the routine. So I went recently to a hematologist to kind of look into it further, and he said, My blood work, everything looked great. So, again, this is an example of what I'm talking about. If you have something that might be a little bit off, and again, it might happen once and it's kind of like maybe not a concern, but if it's happening more than one time, maybe you want to look into it further. And I want to encourage you all to do so. And here are some of the things I want to encourage you to do. I want you to know your numbers. I want to encourage you all to stay current with your annual physicals, stay current with your blood work, your blood pressure. We should all know what our blood pressure is. And I know mine. Mine has been consistently the same for years. So when I recently had it come back a little bit higher, I went, well, that's weird. And so the nurse said, Is that not what it normally is? And I said, No. And so she said, Okay, let's take a moment, we'll take a break, and we'll recheck it. And then we they rechecked it and it was it was lower, it was back to kind of where it normally is. So again, you know, sometimes it's the system, it's the computer system nowadays that might be a little bit off. But the point of the matter is know your blood pressure, other numbers, your blood sugar, your cholesterol, your triglycerides, your waist circumference, your bone density, a DEXA scan. I just had that done to have my bones checked, and thankfully everything came back great. Mammograms, colon cancer screenings, skin checks, eye exams, dental cleanings, and again, other age-appropriate screenings. I want to encourage you all to have all of this done and know your numbers because again, we must be proactive when it comes to our overall health. We must be advocates for ourselves, for our families. And knowledge is empowering when you know your numbers and you know where you normally are and you know where you need to be to be healthy, and I want to say in the optimum range, that is that is huge. That is huge. Again, it's empowering to know all of that. Then you can always be advocating for yourself. So I just wanted to share this message with all of you, and again, it was just one of those kind of moments where I thought, wow, this is so backwards. Here I am, I am being again proactive. I am getting certain things done to make sure everything is in the healthy range at this stage of my life. And to hear those words where he says it's not medically a necessity, it's preventative, so therefore it's not covered. My friends, we need to somehow change that. And I don't know what the answer is, I really don't. But again, I want to encourage you all to just advocate for yourselves, advocate for your for your health, and you know, ask questions, seek second opinions if you need to. And if something changes in your body, don't ignore it. Even if there's a slight change or if there's something that feels off, I always say it's better to be safe than sorry. So don't ignore any signs that your body gives you. Know your family history. That's important. And and I have to be honest, that that is always kind of a little bit of a in my head kind of, you know, um a negative voice in my head sometimes because my family history is not the greatest, even though I know genetics, genetics plays such a very small percentage of our overall wellness and our longevity. But we still have to take steps and we have to still factor in any of the genetics and the family history. So know your family

Daily Habits That Change Your Odds

SPEAKER_00 13:25

history. Um, but just remember that it's it's your it's your daily habits, the consistency of what you do every day for yourself and your overall wellness and your longevity, that's what's going to pay off your daily habits. I can't emphasize that enough. So, again, like I always say, progress over perfection. You do not have to do everything at once. Just be aware of what's going on with yourself, with your body. You know, focus on one thing at a time, one healthier meal, one workout, one walk, one doctor's appointment, um, one earlier bedtime scheduled. All these small steps add up. And I just want to share, just in closing, that you know, prevention, it's not about trying to live forever. And I always talk about this. Yes, I want to live for a really long time, but it's about living with energy and vitality and joy. It's about increasing our odds so that we can live, but live well as long as we're here. So the choices we make today become our health and how we feel in the future. So your future self is counting on the decisions you make today, my friends. So keep that in mind. And on this day, with that being said, take care of yourself. Do something for your wellness and longevity. Get those annual checkups done, know your numbers, and be proactive, my friends. With

Closing Thoughts And How To Support

SPEAKER_00 15:07

that being said, have a beautiful, blessed rest of your week, and we'll see you next time on Words of Wellness. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. I hope you gained value and enjoyed our time together as much as I did. And if you know someone who could benefit from today's episode, I would love and appreciate it if you could share with a friend or rate and review Words of Wellness so that more can hear this message. I love and appreciate you all. Thank you for listening. And if you have any questions or topics you would like me to share in future episodes, please don't hesitate to reach out to me through my contact information that is shared in the show notes below. Again, thank you for tuning in to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelley Jeffries, and I encourage you to do something for you, for your wellness on this day. Until next time, I hope you all have a healthy, happy, and blessed week.