Well News

Qualifying year 2015 is starting! -

All spouses and new hires will need to complete Wellness qualifiers in 2015.

Contact the Health Advocates to initiate that process. 252-5588

Visit our Well-

ness Share-

Point site on

the BCC Portal

for contact in-

formation,

class sched-

ules, and help-

ful links and

tips to get you

into the Pre-

mium Plan:

well-

nessweb.collier

gov.net

COLLIER COUNTY BCC

Deadlines for Qualifying Year 2015:

2/28/15—All blood draws and Health Risk Assessments (HRA)

5/31/2015—All initial Advocate and Wellness Educator appointments

9/30/2015—All other qualifiers

Weight Loss Story

Special Points of Interest

If you would like to contribute

to our monthly Wellness

Newsletter please contact

Leslie Deason at ext. 8915 or

LeslieDeason@colliergov.net

NATIONAL NUTRITION MONTH

March Fitness Calendar Is Now Available

Did you know March is National Nutrition Month. The Acad-

emy of Nutrition and Dietetics sponsors a theme each

March. This month’s theme is “Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle”

which is focused on consuming fewer calories by making

smart choices and increasing daily exercise to reduce

chronic diseases. To celebrate we are offering two classes

THIS MONTH ONLY:

Power Up with Breakfast

Five Rotisserie Chicken Meals

Visit Go sign me up to register!

Quinoa Stuffed

Peppers

Recipe

This year’s Health Benefits

Expo had a huge turn out!

Employees are afforded the

opportunity to complete all

health screens for the year!

Relieve Stress

2015 Health Benefits

Expo

Losing weight is a challenge

for most of us. Read Jolen’s

story for some authentic

motivation!

Stress is unavoidable no matter how hard

we try. Learn some healthy alternative

methods to relieving stress !

A healthy take on a classic recipe. Substi-

tute quinoa, and black beans for a meatless

option.

Heart Healthy Fats

Learn about the difference between monoun-

saturated, polyunsaturated fats and how to in-

corporate them into a healthy diet!

Paddle Fit Yoga

1.) Off the Cuff - Blood Pressure Program - $50HB

Blood Pressure < 130/90

2.) Sugar Busters - A1C Management Program - $50HB

A1C < 5.7%

Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes A1C < 7%

3.) Re-shape Your Frame—Body Composition Program - $50HB

Maintain a BMI < 25 BMI 25-29.9 then lose 5% BMI is > 30, then lose 10%

Waist Circumference Women < 35 inches Men < 40 inches

Percent Body Fat Women < 31% Men<24%

For most of us, our lives are jam

-packed full of responsibilities

and obligations that result in

time constraints that can contrib-

ute to stress and anxiety.

Weather you are working multi-

ple jobs, have family or social

responsibilities, all of this can

add up and lead to unhealthy

levels of stress. It is important to

identify stressors so that we can better manage them in our

life. Once we identify what causes us stress, then we can

evaluate what we do to cope with that stress. Some coping

techniques that unhealthy include: overeating, drinking too

much, procrastinating, or zoning out for hours watching

TV. There are however, some healthier ways to deal with

stress. First it is important to avoid unnecessary stress.

Learning how to say no, is important because it helps to

prevent an over-packed schedule. If you’ve already tried

working things out with a difficult person, avoid that per-

son or limit the time spent with them to reduce unneces-

sary stress. By creating a peaceful environment to wind

down at the end of a busy day you create an environment

that improves stress levels. Other ways to relieve stress

include, expressing your feelings instead of bottling them

up, managing your time better, and focusing on the posi-

tive. Try to set aside time to relax and connect with others.

Making healthier lifestyle choices such as exercise is a

great way to alleviate stress. Reducing caffeine, sugar,

and alcohol can play a huge role in developing healthier

habits and improving sleep which can all impact stress.

Relieving Stress in Your life

Fat is an important nutrient for our bodies. Our body needs

fat to produce hormones, keep organs insulated and absorb

fat-soluble vitamins. Healthy fats can be apart of a healthy

diet. The types of fats to include in your diet should come

from monounsaturated fats such as olive oil, canola oil,

peanut oil, safflower and sesame oil. Other sources include

avocados, peanut or other nut butters, nuts and seeds. The

other type of fat to include is polyunsaturated fats. Food

sources that provide these fats include: soybean oil, corn

oil, sunflower oil as well as fatty fish like salmon, mack-

erel, herring and trout. Other sources include: walnuts, sun-

flower seeds, tofu, soybeans (edamame). The types of fats

that are harmful to our bodies are called saturated fats,

foods that contain saturated fats are fatty beef, lamb, pork,

poultry with skin, beef fat (tallow), lard and cream, butter,

cheese and other dairy products made from whole or re-

duced fat (2%) milk. The American Heart Association rec-

ommends about 13 g of saturated fat or less per day. Trans

fats are also considered detrimental to your health, which

are produced when food manufacturers add hydrogen bonds

(hydrogenation) to other wise healthy fats. This is done to

add texture, taste, and shelf life to foods (good for food

companies bad for our health). Trans fats can increase

LDL cholesterol levels and is associated with a high risk

for heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. Avoiding

foods like doughnuts, baked

goods, cakes, pie, biscuits, fro-

zen pizza, cookies, crackers,

margarine. Make sure to read

the food label and look for par-

tially hydrogenated oils.

Results-Based Healthy Bucks 2015!

What’s New

Heart Healthy Fats

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F Line a baking

sheet with tin foil

2. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over me-

dium heat. Add onion, carrot, and sauté

until the vegetables are soft, about 8 min.

Add the garlic and sauté for 2 min stirring

frequently. Add the quinoa, 1 1/2 c water

and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low,

cover and simmer for 20-25 min or until all

the liquid is absorbed. Cut the peppers in

half lengthwise, trim the stems, and scoop

out all seeds and membranes. Arrange the

peppers cut side up on the baking sheet,

and mist the peppers with oil spray. Bake

for 15 min and remove from oven.

3. Add the black beans, tomato sauce, chili

powder, cumin, paprika, and oregano to

the quinoa, mix thoroughly. Stir in the ci-

lantro. Divide the quinoa mixture evenly

between the six pepper halves. Bake the

stuffed peppers for 25 min. Top the pep-

pers with cheese during the last 5 min.

The annual Health Benefits Expo pro-

vided a unique opportunity for em-

ployees to come in and get all of their

health screens done at once. We were

lucky to provide a bus for mammo-

grams, we also had vendors that spe-

cialized in vision screening, blood

pressure screening, and blood sugar

screening. It can be hard for some of

our employees to see a specialist or a

doctor with such busy schedules. The

health benefits expo is an opportunity

for our employees to access these

health care professionals all at once.

Employees were able to visit with the

various vendors that work in our net-

work to provide the highest level of

healthcare. We also provided break-

fast, healthy snacks, and lunch to

those that attended. Each year around

the end of January we will offer this

health expo. If you missed it this year

make sure to mark your calendar now

for next years!

Heath and Nutrition Tips

Collier County BCC

Recipes and Nutrition Info

Quinoa and Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion diced

2 medium carrots diced

2 cloves garlic minced

3/4 c dry quinoa

3/4 tsp kosher salt

3 large bell peppers

1 15 ounce can black beans (rinse

and drained)

1 8 oz can no salt added tomato

sauce

1 tsp chili powder

3/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp dried oregano

2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

3/4 c reduced fat cheese

Calories: 260 Protein: 12 g

Fat 8 g

Carbohydrate: 36 g Fiber 9 g

2015 Health Benefit Expo

For this recipe visit: Joybauer.com

Testimonials and Updates

Weight loss Success Story

Jolen Mayberry

Jolen has worked for the country for about 12 years in the

Parks and Recreating Department. She experienced a lot of

stress from her job and developed unhealthy habits over the

course of five years that led to weight gain. She was able to

switch jobs which helped a lot with reducing stress. During this

time she was attending the Wellness Programs to earn healthy

bucks. She initially was only interested in the healthy bucks,

but as she began attending

more classes she realized that

she could implement some of

these lifestyle changes into

her life. With a little help

from a book, Eat to Live, by

Joel Furhman, and the help

from the Wellness program

she was equipped with the

tools she needed to start to

eat healthier and exercise. Eat

to Live encourages a plant

based diet and encourages a

healthy lifestyle one that you

can maintain later on in life.

She began her exercise regi-

men by walking on the tread-

mill 3 times a week for only 30 minutes a day. The other days

she began a strength training program using the machines at the

Parks and County Recreation Fitness Center. She was able to

change her style of eating and now she enjoys an occasional

GO SIGN ME UP

Don’t forget to sign up for qualifying education, wellness one-on-one appointments, and classes to receive

all healthy bucks! If you are unsure how to do so please contact one of us in wellness and we can walk you

through the process. We also have circuit training, zumba, yoga, and pilates available for both qualifying

and healthy bucks!

MedCenter 239 252 4257 For any questions please contact wellness

Health Advocates 239 252 5588/ 5590 239 252 6092 or 239 252 8915

We were very

fortunate to

offer a new

healthy bucks

class in Febru-

ary. Cassie

Puhl, a certified

Yoga and Pad-

dle Yoga in-

structor provided a demonstration on the amazing benefits of

adding paddle boarding and yoga to your exercise routine. Pad-

dle boarding has been around for years and now it is a main-

stream sport. The benefits of going paddle boarding include

improved balance, cardiovascular health, stress relief, and even

weight loss. Adding the dimension of yoga even furthers its

health benefits. Paddle boarding is a safe, low-impact activity

for all ages and fitness levels. When choosing a place to rent

paddle boards make sure they fit you for your height and

weight to a board and paddle that is suitable for you. Cassie

Puhl teaches at Sweetwater Paddle Sports located in Bonita

Springs. If you’re not ready for paddle fit yoga, you can start

by going through a paddle board class to become more familiar

with the paddleboard and gain some experience. Wellness is

teaming up with Sweetwater Paddle and Cassie to offer you

$50 Healthy Bucks to attend a class on a Saturday to be

determined this upcoming Spring! Make sure to keep on the

lookout for this wonderful opportunity!

Paddle Fit Yoga

The month of February was dedicated to walk-

ing club! We were able to get in approx 6000

steps during our lunch hour! It is recommended

to obtain 10,000 steps per day to reduce

weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure. We

now have signs up that designate a 1 mile ra-

dius. If you can get out and walk during your

lunch hour those steps can add up and help you

towards your goals of improving health!

Walking towards better health

Kris VanLengen attended the paddlefit demonstration and he

is already a master at the indo board, which is supposed to

simulate the feeling you get while on the paddle board.