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Is it truly possible to have a happy AND healthy holiday season? Not to be a Scrooge but the holidays can be filled with extreme stress, weight gain and the spreading of colds and flu. Here are some important holiday tips to keep in mind during this most wonderful time of the year!

1. During this season of sharing and giving, please keep your germs to yourself!

• Washing hands regularly, with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds
• Keep a small hand sanitizer in your pocket or purse to use as needed
• Cough or sneeze into a sleeve or tissue
• Eat foods with plenty of Vitamin C to help build immunity to colds.

2. The hustle and bustle of this season leaves us with so much to accomplish in such a short period of time. Don’t let Midnight Madness shopping and sleep deprivation turn you into a Grinch.

In the quest for creating a culture of wellness in the workplace, it is imperative that senior level management take the lead.  From an early age, we are conditioned to follow the positive examples set by our parents, older siblings and teachers.  It is very difficult to get employees to “buy into” a wellness program if senior management isn’t also participating and showing improvement in their personal goals. 

 How can you expect employees to participate in a program that management doesn’t also participate in?  Just writing checks for screenings and incentives does not exhibit the type of commitment and example of leadership that employees expect. Management needs to be visible during the kick-off meetings.  Subsequent reminders and program updates should be sent from the emails of senior management.  If there are team challenges and competitions, there should at last one manager on each team. 

Individuals who tend to be out of shape tend to shy away from corporate fitness centers and gyms. They are very self conscious about their bodies and feel intimidated by muscle bound body builders and cute young girls in scant workout clothes. Now there are telephonic tools to aid in accomplishing fitness goals.

Many companies today have implemented wellness programs. Most start with a biometric screening and a self reported Health Risk Assessment. Through these screening tools, risks for future conditions are identified. The key component then is the Wellness Coach. The Coach reviews all of the data and makes an outbound call to the participant.

The Wellness Coach becomes “the personal trainer”. The process starts with education of potential risks, motivational interviewing techniques, assessment of readiness to change, goal setting and a customized program for achieving the fitness goals.

Have you ever lost some weight, only to find the pounds creeping back on just a few months later? Or tried to eat healthier, but found it too difficult and time consuming to read the food labels or cook?

Having a Corporate Wellness program in place can boost morale, improve health and fitness and increase productivity in the workplace. Corporate Wellness Programs help people overcome their physical and emotional hurdles towards achieving optimal health, by working with a wellness coach.
“A wellness coach is trained to help you break your goal into manageable steps, track your progress, and identify and overcome personal roadblocks," says Karen Lawson, MD, program Director for Health and Wellness at the University of Minnesota.

Wellness coaching is a growing industry. Dr. Mehmet Oz has said “Coaches are crucial in changing the culture of wellness in America. They help people define their health goals and devise a plan with achievable milestones for reaching those goals. They may work with individuals on behavior modification and other lifestyle changes”.

Keep your kitchen stocked with low-salt options, along with foods that are low in saturated fats, but rich in healthy unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids, to promote a heart healthy diet!
The foods listed here are all “top-performers” in protecting your heart and blood vessels:

• Fruits and vegetables. Choose a wide variety of different types and colors
• Whole grains. These include whole-wheat breads and pastas, brown rice, whole-grain cereal, and oatmeal.
• "Healthy" fats. Salmon and other fatty fish such as sardines, olive oil, avocado and nuts, provide omega-3 fatty acids.
• Walnuts, flaxseed, and soybean oils. These are additional sources of omega-3 fatty acids.
• Lean proteins. Include skinless poultry, lean cuts of beef, and beans.
• Low-fat dairy. Include skim milk and low-fat cheese.

Here are some examples of some simple and easy to prepare heart healthy meal choices:
 

An employer sponsored telephonic wellness coaching program has the potential to reach an entire employer population more than any other benefit program. Outreach can be a powerful tool in creating a culture of wellness. With information obtained from biometric screenings and health risk assessments, wellness coaches can contact participants to engage them in lifestyle coaching, disease management programs and also direct them to appropriate medical care. It can also serve as a means of steering patients to worksite clinics. 

Do you find yourself surprised when trying on your bathing suit for the summer? How about frustrated with the extra pounds you acquired this last winter? Aside from these cosmetic disappointments, belly fat poses a major risk to your health. Men must be especially vigilant since they are more likely to develop more fat around the waist. There is no single cause of belly fat. Genetics, diet, age, and lifestyle can all play a role.  Belly fat increases an individual’s risk of acquiring:  

Food is fuel that affects our energy levels and supplies the nutrients so your body can perform its best. "Certain eating strategies will definitely help you ward off fatigue," says Stacey Whittle, RD, a registered dietitian at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.Chances are, you are already eating many of the foods best suited for daylong energy. It's simply a matter of eating them at the right time, in the right amounts, and in the right combinations."If you watch your portion size and take time for that midmorning and midafternoon snack, you'll be surprised at how positively your energy levels are affected," Whittle says.

Energy In…

The habits and lifestyle choices we make for ourselves can also impact the health of our families. If individuals become aware of their own “at risk“ factors, they can start making their own lifestyle changes, thus impacting the health of the entire family. A corporate sponsored wellness program, which includes a biometric screening and wellness coaching, can be a major tool in informing and educating participants, which can also translate into healthier lifestyle choices for the entire family. The wellness coach can sit down with the entire family and discuss strategies for lifestyle changing. Engaging the children as well as the parents can be a powerful step in changing the behaviors of the family.

In a recent government funded study it was determined that 20% of young adults are likely to have high blood pressure. Diet, obesity, and sedentary lifestyles appear to be the key reasons, according to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill researchers. They tested 14,000 people between the ages of 24 and 32 and found that one in five had high blood pressure (140/90 or higher).

Because many times people are symptom free, they have no idea that they have high blood pressure.
Further, many people have no idea what their blood pressure is until it is measured. An employer does a disservice to his employees if he leaves out the blood pressure check from his biometric screening event. The health fair is an excellent opportunity to reach the most people in a single location. Because it is convenient, employees tend to have their blood pressure checked using either a cuff and gauge with a stethoscope or an automatic blood pressure machine.

It is amazing how many people we see at health fairs that have no idea what the blood pressure numbers mean and how they impact their risk for future disease. We often hear the phrase “I’m watching it!” Does this mean they are watching their numbers slowly creep up?

Normal Blood Pressure:

Systolic (top number) 120; diastolic (bottom number) less than 80

Everyone — regardless of age or health — can benefit from keeping a watchful eye on salt intake.Too much salt can lead to many health conditions including high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack and kidney problems.

Our modern diet makes lack of sodium nearly impossible. On the contrary, many people eat about doublethe amount of sodium as they should eat. And when it comes to sodium, too much of a good thing is definitely not better.

According to the American Heart Association, 1,500 milligrams of sodium is the ideal daily goal for African-Americans, middle- and older-aged Americans, and people with high blood pressure. The rest should aim for less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day -- the equivalent of about 1 teaspoon of salt.

Here are some tips for “holding the salt”

• Take the saltshaker off the table, and try not to add salt to foods you prepare at home.
• When you’re comparing nutrition labels on products at the grocery store, make sure you check the sodium content.

“More than 40% of Americans have one or more chronic conditions, and people with chronic diseases account for 75% of health spending in this country. About 58 million nonelderly adults have at least one chronic condition. About 60% of people with chronic disease are working-age adults,” according to a recent study published in Health Affairs.

Hypertension, diabetes and pulmonary conditions, such as asthma, are contributable to high dollar claims in an employer’s benefit plan. Many of these patients tend to be non-compliant: not taking prescribed medications, lack of adherence to doctor’s orders, and self denial (believing that I am not like the rest of the people that have this disease). Patients also tend to use lack of time or lack of financial resources as excuses not to take preventative measures to prevent future progression of their disease.

Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in women of all major racial and ethnic groups in the United States affecting one out of every eight women according to the National Cancer Institute. The American Cancer Society recommends monthly breast self exams, checking your own breast for any lumps or changes in the breast or underarm area. A clinical breast exam should be performed by your health care professional at your scheduled appointment annually, by your primary care physician or OB/Gyne physician.

Sometimes breast “cells” become abnormal and grow faster than normal healthy cells. These fast growing extra cells can forms clusters or masses known as tumors. Some tumors are considered “benign” or not cancer. Other tumors are”malignant” meaning they are cancerous and have the ability to spread or “metastasize” to other parts of the body.

A screening mammogram is used to detect breast changes in women who have no signs or symptoms or observable breast abnormalities. The goal of the screening mammogram is to detect breast cancer before any clinical signs are noticeable.

“Your metabolism is basically a series of chemical reactions that take place in your body,” says Trent Nessler, PT, DPT, MPT, managing director of Baptist Sports Medicine in Nashville. “Staying hydrated keeps those chemical reactions moving smoothly. Being even 1% dehydrated can cause a significant drop in metabolism”.

Most people don’t drink enough water during the course of an average day. They aren’t really aware of how much water they are drinking and most people aren’t drinking enough water. Dehydration is a very common problem, and you don’t even realize the impact.

Here are some tips from the experts for proper water consumption: