Starting My Happy, Healthy New Year with Help from the Walgreens Mobile App #cbias

Layers are a MUST for January outside exercise in Minnesota

It's a new year and a new chance to get off to a healthy start.  While I don't make resolutions, per se, I do feel a renewed sense of starting with a clean slate to live a more healthy life.  A big part of that is to make time for exercise and keep moving!  But, I find one of the big obstacles at this time of year is the weather!  Walking is my #1 source of exercise not only because I enjoy being outside and seeing things while I exercise, but also because my dog, Toby, loves it too.  (Not to mention that it's also good for him.)

Toby is always ready to go outside for some exercise

So, at this time of year when temperatures can dip down to the single digits, exercising outside means bundling up.  And I mean bundling up a LOT!  Shirt, hoodie and parka, pants with thermals underneath or snowpants over….the whole nine yards.

But, even though I can be prepared for the temperature, there are other hazards like ice!  This is the nice pattern I made on the light snow covering a layer of ice this morning when I almost wiped out.  That scary slip, combined with the 7 degree temperature, cut our walk VERY short.

These are my slipping and nearly wiping out tracks!

So that meant I had to change plans and exercise indoors instead.  While it was nice and toasty warm, I did have to deal with another obstacle.  Toby still wanted to be part of the routine and he was NOT helpful!

Toby, the wannabe trainer.

So, even though I had to face a lot of challenges in my goal of exercising for health, another part of my wellness quest is made easy thanks to Walgreens.

So many features on the Walgreens Mobile App

I am a bit disappointed in myself for not doing it earlier, but I just downloaded the Walgreens Pharmacy App this week.  This thing is just chock-full of features.  You can see a picture of the home screen and much of what it offers above.

The Walgreens Mobile App can make achieving your healthy goals easier by letting you refill prescriptions, giving you reminders of when to take your medications and much more.  I used the app to check the weekly Walgreens flyer on my phone and then I headed out of the house for a Walgreens healthy shopping trip.  You can see the Google+ story of my  trip in pictures here.

While in the store I saw reminders of the Walgreens Balance Rewards program.  If you're not yet a member, it lets you earn points just for shopping, plus you get extra rewards for buying selected items, filling a prescription, participating in the Walk with Walgreens program and more.  Just save up as little as 5,000 points and you'll get a $5 reward to spend in the store!

On my shopping trip I stocked up on a few items to help promote my healthy new year plans. While I already mentioned some of my exercise obstacles, another one is that with the extreme dryness we have here in the winter, I often wake up with a sinus headache, which makes me want to skip the exercise. The one thing that helps is Advil Cold and Sinus, or even better, WalgreensWal-Profen brand, which contains the same medicine, but is WAY cheaper.  It's my go-to relief during winter dryness AND allergy season.

My Balance Rewards card right on my iPhone!

When it was time to pay for my items, I pulled out my handy iPhone once again to access the Walgreens app and my very favorite feature: My Balance Rewards card displays right on my phone!  The cashier just has to scan my phone screen and -BAM- I get credit for my reward points.  Isn't that easy?

Now it's time to get on with a #HappyHealthy New Year!!

For more information you can visit the Walgreens web site, Walgreens on Facebook and Walgreens on Twitter.

Disclosure: 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 #cbias #SocialFabric