LoneStart, Social Networking, and Yes, Now Facebook – and Twitter

As we promote our message and wellness strategy, we continue to make new connections. We now have a business page on Facebook and a presence on Twitter, and invite you to interact and show your support for LoneStart Wellness by becoming a “fan” on our business page, and “follow us” on Twitter. We also have a “Find us on Facebook” link on our home page. (It’s embarrassing not to have fans or followers, so please add your name!)

The feedback we get from client organizations is that our strategy is a positive “nuts and bolts” approach, is turnkey, inexpensive and wasn’t a burden to administer. Our 63-Day Team Esteem Challenge has had the positive, though unintended benefit of creating a rare teambuilding opportunity for rank and file employees. These are benefits that go beyond the initial goal of wellness, yet address employee satisfaction and retention. This is part of the social impact and sustainability we strive to achieve. Are Facebook and Twitter the social networking tools that will make this happen? Probably not, but perhaps they will prove to be effective links. We invite your feedback.

When It Comes to Eating . . . Are You Average?

In our last post we talked about “mindful eating.” With that in mind, consider what the “Average American” eats. I was a little surprised myself. Maybe these stats will make us all a bit more mindful of what and how we eat.

The average American eats about 1,800 pounds of food per year, or about five pounds per day.

The average American eats:

• 64 pounds of beef per year
• 57 pounds of chicken per year (about 27 chickens)
• 50 pounds of pork per year
• 14 pounds of turkey per year
• 236 eggs per year
• 200 sandwiches per year
• 60 hot dogs per year
• Refined white sugar – 100 pounds
• Fats & Oils – 55 pounds
• Soda – 300 cans/bottles
• Chewing Gum – 200 sticks
• Ice Cream – 80 quarts
• Candy – 18 pounds
• Potato Chips – 5 pounds
• Other Snack Chips – 2 pounds
• Doughnuts – 63 Dozen
• Cookies & Cakes – 70 Pounds

The average American eats fast food seventy-two times a year, drinks 9 and a half pounds of coffee per year and eats about 35,000 cookies in their lifetime.

Now, here’s the thing about "averages." My favorite example: “If you stand with one foot frozen in a block of ice and the other foot submerged in a bucket of boiling water, (although why you would, I don’t know) on average your feet are quite comfortable.”

How do you measure up as an Average American? See anything on the list you might want to change? It is “food for thought.”

Mindful Eating

Mindfulness: the process of becoming aware of and attentive to the present moment. What does this have to do with wellness, weight loss, and good nutritional choices? Consider “mindful eating.”

Like mindfulness in general, mindful eating means becoming aware of the sensations of eating—in the present moment. The popularity of fast food, pre-packaged and pre-prepared foods, and drive-thoughs all point out that most of us are not very mindful when we eat of what we eat.

So how do you practice mindful eating? Ask yourself these questions—before you take the first bite. How does your body feel before you even put the food on your plate? Are you really hungry? Are you tired, in a hurry, nervous, depressed, happy or sad? Next, as you get ready to eat, engage your senses in appreciating your meal—how it looks, how it smells, and how it tastes and how it feels in your mouth. Finally, ask yourself how you feel after you’ve eaten the food. It seems like a lot of thinking just to eat a meal, but try it. You’ll probably find you eat slower and eat less, and appreciate what you just put in your body.

Conversely, you’ll probably find that one of the advantages of mindful eating (especially when you’re getting ready to eat something like a greasy piece of pizza to go) is that you might find you don’t actually want to eat it. So, don’t.

Try mindful eating. You might surprise yourself by how much more satisfying and pleasurable food—the choices and amount—can be. And let us know what you think.

Keep It Simple

Good health—and wellness information doesn’t have to be expensive, complex, hard to use or understand, or time-consuming. It can be effective and still be simple, and therefore, even more effective. But here’s a conundrum (I love that word).

We’ve had feedback from a few prospective clients who say our workplace wellness program is “too simple.” Some even say, “it doesn’t cost enough to be effective.” Can this be true?

In marketing there’s a fine line to be walked when pricing a product or service. But, when we started LoneStart Wellness our idea was to provide an effective, positive service at a price that would eliminate barriers to participation and provide participants with the necessary tools to achieve their wellness goals. Sure, we have to make a living, but at the same time, we want to make a difference.

Here’s a question: Why would you pay five or ten times more for what might very well be a less effective, and more difficult to implement and sustain solution? Are you looking for value, or “perceived” value? If you have a good answer, let us know—we’d love to hear it.

Picture This

We all know that eating less means fewer calories, and that how much we eat can be as important as what we eat. We also know in our big world that the “bigger is better” concept results in overflowing plates of food in many restaurants, and with oversized portions and all-you-can-eat buffets, it’s easy to eat too much.

We’ve posted portion control hints before, but these from AARP are really easy to visualize.

So, what should your plate look like? Following are just a few recommended portions and how to visualize them.

• ½ cup cooked rice, pasta or mashed potatoes: Visualize ½ of a baseball
• 1 cup cereal: The size of a fist
• ½ cup fruit: The size of an egg
• 3 oz. grilled or baked fish: The size of your checkbook
• 3 oz. meat or poultry: A deck of cards
• 2 Tbsp. peanut butter: A Ping- pong ball
• 1 teaspoon of oil or salad dressing: The size of a thumb tip

These are just a few ideas, but by visualizing what the serving should look like before you “dig-in,” you’ll find you might actually bite off less than you can chew.

Good News About Trans Fat

You don’t usually see the words “Trans Fat” and “Good” in the same sentence. But, in this case, it really is about good news. The amount of trans fat in our food has declined by 50 percent since 2005 (Center for Science in the Public Interest). Both food manufacturers and chain restaurants are beginning to switch from the use of partially hydrogenated oil (the only source of artificial trans fat) to healthier oils. If we can eliminate trans fat from our food supply, we can save an estimated 50,000 lives per year.

In case anyone reading this blog isn’t familiar with trans fat or partially hydrogenated oil, artificial trans fat is more dangerous on a gram-for-gram basis than any other fat in food. Like saturated fat, it raises LDL, the "bad" cholesterol that promotes heart disease. But unlike saturated fat, it also lowers HDL, the "good" cholesterol that guards against heart disease.

As for trans fat bans in restaurants alone, we’re now at about 20 percent. That leaves 80 percent to go, and that’s a big number. The number we want to hit is “zero”—as in zero trans fat.

Are you shooting grizzly bears with a slingshot?

David toppled Goliath with a slingshot. Were it only so easy as we tackle the issues of weight loss and wellness. But with a slingshot? Sometimes it seems that way. It’s a huge issue, and we’re tossing pebbles, trying to get attention. Take aim. Wellness is an abstract concept—for which there is a real need. But the definition presents another story.

We are all concerned, or should be, about the problems of overweight and obesity, the chronic health issues those conditions lead to, and the impact they have on each of us as individuals and in the workplace. (As an example, based on national statistics, if you’re an employer with 100 employees, you’re very likely spending around $5,800 a month on medical, prescription, and lost productivity costs due to conditions of overweight and obesity.) Still, even small changes make a big difference.

With its “fix-it mentality” society has largely ignored prevention and personal responsibility. But, now it’s time to move from “sick care” to “wellness care.” For too long too many of us have counted on the fact that if—and when—we get sick, “the doctor will fix it, insurance will pay for it.” Yet, in reality, we all pay for it. And in the truest sense of the word, reality, there is a finite amount above which we, and society, can no longer and are no longer willing to pay. We are reaching that point, and we are reaching it fast. There’s no turning back, wellness is no longer an option—it’s a business imperative.

If you don’t think so, why not? We’d really like to know.