The Wellness Word
April 2017
Can standing really affect my health?
We sit when we travel, when we watch TV, when we have meetings, when we work on big projects, and when we eat. That's a lot of hours of sitting! How many hours a day are you actually standing? Today, try and keep track of how many hours you stand. You'll be surprised of the results!
Standing, just like walking, burns extra calories, increases energy, tones muscles, improves posture and blood flow, and ramps up metabolism!
Spending an hour at the gym may not work in preventing 'sitting disease'. Studies show that being active in small bursts throughout the day is actually healthier than one small period of intense exercise. And for those who have a completely sedentary lifestyle, their risk of heart attacks are about the same as smokers.
So, how can we add more motion to our day?
- Park your car at farthest spot away from your destination. This adds in a few extra steps every day!
- Instead of emailing or calling a staff member, walk to their office. Seeing a friendly face is also a great way to break up the day!
- Stand up when you talk on the phone
- Set a timer on your phone or computer to stand up and stretch every half an hour. This is also a good time to drink some water!
- When watching TV, ditch the remote and walk over to change the channel. Or, you can have some active commercial breaks by standing, doing household chores, or exercising!
- When riding a bus or train, stand instead of sitting
- Consider making or purchasing a standing desk. There are some cheaper versions to purchase, or you can make your own by stacking boxes or books. Make sure the height of the desk is adjusted to fit your needs! See tips here.
February's Student Spotlight is Amara Hanson at SES!
Amara Hanson is a student at Stinesville Elementary in Mrs. Noth's 5th grade class. Although she doesn't currently participate in sports (she wants to try tennis), she lives a very active lifestyle and sets a great example for others. Amara is doing great things, and encouraging others along the way! She sets a great example for kids and adults! See below for some quotes from our interview.
"What foods do you like to eat? Do you like to try new foods? Do you eat school lunch, or pack your lunch?"
"I like to eat salads and vegetables. I like to try new foods, like Mexican foods. I eat school lunch."
"Do you exercise? What do you do?"
"Yeah, everyday at 4:30 I exercise for an hour. I do that everyday. I do planks, V sits, sit ups, push ups..."
"How did you learn about those exercises?"
"Going to Cardio Club."
"Did you learn anything else at Cardio Club? Do you use some of that knowledge at home?"
"I learned about vitamins and what they do for our bodies. When I'm running, I use the techniques that we learned at Cardio Club."
"Do you set goals for yourself, or track your progress?"
"I set goals for when I'm exercising, like doing 10 push-ups in a row. I also track my progress. I wear a FitBit and track my steps. I have 5,227 steps right now. I usually get around 10,000 a day."
"Do you think that you set a good example for others?"
"I think I do. I'm always trying to set a good example." **Check out her shirt**
"Is there anything else you want to add about how you're healthy or set good examples?"
"At first, I went to Cardio Club just to get some exercise, but now it's turned into bonding with friends just having fun while exercising"
CHAMPPS Team Spotlight - Health Education, Physical Education and Physical Activity, School Health Services
Each month we will start to highlight some of the initiatives of our wellness committee, CHAMPPS. CHAMPPS stands for Coordinated Health Advisory Members Providing Positive Solutions. CHAMPPS meets four times during the school year, and the last meeting for this year is on May 9th at the high school from 3-3:45 in C115A.
Health Education: We decided to work on creating a user friendly health page to our RBB website for families to be able to reinforce health education lessons at home. We have sent out the Wellness Word link to the P2P newsletter for parents to receive this information in addition to posting in on "RBB School Health Advocates" Facebook page. We are hoping to get health and physical education teachers to upload weekly lesson plans and resources. We would like to link this in the daily announcements for families to access.
Physical Education and Physical Activity: Our wellness policy claims that staff will not use or withhold physical activity (PE, recess) as punishment. Many studies show that this is detrimental to a child's confidence, likelihood of participating in physical activity later in life, and an increased chance of childhood obesity and the health affects that accompany it.
We would like to continue to provide resources for staff members including alternative punishments. See resources here. In the future, we would like to have create a team of staff members from each school to present at meetings and enforce policy. To help enforce this, we plan to make an information sheet about the effects of physical activity as punishment and provide it to all RBB staff and substitutes to keep in their classrooms.
School Health Services: We want all key staff members to maintain certification for CPR and first aid. As of now, all health aides have been CPR certified, and we are working to get all substitutes certified as well. In addition, we want at least one office staff member per school to be CPR certified.
If you are interested in helping out with these initiatives, or would like more information, please contact Carlee LaRue at chearld@rbbschools.net. Our current members serving on this team are Carlee LaRue, Jennifer Walcott, and Robin Taft all from RBB, Jennifer Nanny from the American Heart Assocation, and Stacey Matavuli from IU Health.
Wellness Tip
The best way to prevent overeating is to portion control your meals and snacks. It's easy to watch TV and eat a bag of chips without noticing! Try portioning out cut up veggies, nuts, pretzels, and other snacks in Ziploc bags or portable jars. If you meal prep your snacks and meals, it makes packing much faster, and often healthier, in the morning!
Cheap and easy meal prep
Nobody has time or effort left at the end of the day to cook a nutritious meal and clean the dishes. Meal prepping is the way to go! Some people prep snacks and sides in containers (see above article), some prep baggies for a "dump" crock pot meal, and some cook enough meals for the whole week!
Meal Prep Carnitas Burrito Bowls
PREP TIME: 10 mins COOK TIME: 2 hours
For the Carnitas
- 1 pound pork loin (option to use chicken breast instead)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoons orange juice
- ⅓ cup lime juice
- 3 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- salt and pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup green chiles
For the Street Corn
- 1 can yellow sweet corn
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- ⅓ cup red onion, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup cojita cheese, crumbled
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- salt and pepper, to taste
Other Ingredients
- Black beans
- 4-8 cups Romaine
- Lime wedges
Instructions
For the Carnitas
- Place pork loin and minced garlic into your crock-pot and turn to high. Cook for 2-4 hours. Or turn to low and slow cook for 6-8 hours (for more tender pork!). Remove pork loin and shred with 2 forks. Place shredded pork into a large bowl and add in the rest of the carnitas ingredients and mix.
For the Street Corn
- Mix together all ingredients in a medium size bowl.
For the Cilantro Lime Brown Rice
To Assemble Bowls
- Place about 2 cups of romaine lettuce on the bottom of your bowl. Then add ¼ of the meat (4 oz.), about ¾ cups cilantro lime brown rice, ½ cup street corn, and ¼ cup black beans.
- Serve with fresh lime and more cojita!
http://fitfoodiefinds.com/2016/08/meal-prep-carnitas-burrito-bowls/
**Tip: when prepping food, try to put the "wet" ingredients at the bottom, so other ingredients like lettuce don't get soggy between prep time and the time that you eat your meal.
Hoosier Half Marathon and FTK 5K
April 8th, 2017 will be the 12th running of the Greene & Schultz Hoosier Half Marathon and FTK 5K. Indiana University and the City of Bloomington play host to a challenging race where participants will find 13.1 miles of rolling hills, and are rewarded with amazing views of campus, downtown, and countless Spring blooms. Challenging, beautiful, and rewarding! Hoosier Half Marathon Online registration ends at noon Monday, April 3, 2017. Visit http://www.hoosierhalf.com/ for more information.
5/1/16 - 12/31/16** $50.00
1/1/17 - 3/15/17** $60.00
**includes your name on the race bib
3/16/17 - 4/1/17 $65.00
After 4/1/17 $75.00
"For the Kids" FTK 5K Run
5/1/16 - 3/15/17** $25.00
**includes your name on the race bib
After 3/15/17 $30.00
"For the Kids" FTK 5K Walk - not a timed event
5/1/16 - 3/15/17** $20.00
**includes your name on the race bib
After 3/15/17 $25.00
Saturday, Apr 8, 2017, 08:00 AM
1000 East 17th Street, Bloomington, IN, United States
Health and Wellness Fair
The City of Bloomington Community and Family Resources Department is sponsoring a Health and Wellness Fair!
Saturday April 8, 2017 to celebrate National Public Health Week!
The Fair will take place from 9:00 am-12:00 pm during the Bloomington Farmers' Market, located at 401 N. Morton Street, Bloomington, IN.
There will be a variety of health related Vendors offering Educational Resources as well as Free Screenings!