LiveWell Vermont

How many of you ever feel tired, bored or stress during the work day? What do tend to do to ease these feelings? Common strategies are eating or drinking sugary products or browsing the Internet. The next time you experience try one of the healthy strategies below to pump some energy back into your day. Hydrate: Dehydration can cause fatigue and headaches. Pay attention to your body's cues; are you hungry or thirsty? It's easy to confuse these signals, and misinterpretation often leads to overeating, which only makes you feel worse. Go for a long walk during lunch: You may feel like napping in your car, but a long walk will recharge you tenfold. If you get 45 minutes for a lunch break, that should allow you to walk at least 1 mile at a moderate pace. If you try it once you'll be hooked. It will get your blood flowing and provide for an unrivaled focus when you get back to work. Feed off others' positive energy: Some people just exude positive energy. It's...

Tired? Stiff? Perhaps you’re finding your work environment stale and stressful? If so, it may be time for a simple, yet effective, stretch break. Workday stretches not only lengthen the soft tissue, but also allow the body to recharge from worries. Stretching also alleviates stress-related tensions such as a clenched jaw and shrugged shoulders. Stretching allows us to reconnect to our breath. Deep breathing combined with stretching activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation and relieves the “fight or flight” stress response. In addition, chronic sitting promotes poor posture, which may eventually cause your soft tissues to adapt to the traditional “desk jockey” posture—a forward head tilt, rounded spine and internally rotated shoulders. Try the following stretches, which are easy to implement from the comfort of your office. You can even do them if you’re wearing workday attire! They target the desk-sitting muscles that greatly need lengthening...

Here are eight quotes to help you stay motivated, inspired and hopeful during difficult transitional periods in your life: 1. “We all want things to stay the same. Settle for living in misery because we are afraid of change, of things crumbling to ruins. Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation.” — Elizabeth Gilbert 2. “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.” — Thomas Edison 3. “I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again." — Eric Roth 4. "Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life." — J.K. Rowling 5. “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn." — Harriet Beecher Stowe 6. ‎"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect t...

Join us at one of our LiveWell Vermont Wellness Days! Onsite Biometric Screenings at 15 locations statewide! Know your numbers! Blood pressure Total cholesterol HDL Non-fasting blood sugar Body fat Grip strength               Wellness Drawings!          Healthy Snacks!             Learn about the NEW online wellness portal!              Sign up for a screening at mybluehealth.bcbsvt.com !          On your dashboard, click “Community” and “Event Registration”.              Haven’t registered an account yet? No problem!              Follow these instructions:         Visit: mybluehealth.bcbsvt.com      Select “Click here to sign up”      Create a username and password under “...

Spring has sprung and summer is around the corner, making it a popular time for setting and checking in on your weight loss and fitness goals. If you’re thinking about shedding the final pounds of your winter weight before summer is in full swing or you’ve signed up for an endurance race to challenge your fitness level, it’s important to make sure that your goals are SMART - specific, measurable, action-based, realistic and timely –- so you can successfully follow through on meeting your expectations. To help with setting and properly managing your summer health and fitness goals, it’s important to put the following four tips into practice. Tip 1: Check In with your Closet:  Now is a good time to pull out your swimsuits, sun dresses and shorts from your closet to see how they fit. The way your clothes fit can be a good indication of where you are in meeting your weight loss goals and it can help put everything into a better perspective than stepping on the scale. Tip 2:...

Are you looking to achieve optimal health? If so, include this pure and simple nutrient each and every day! What am I referring to? You got it...water! Before you stop reading and write this idea off, check to see if you're hydrated. Are you thirsty? Do you have dry mouth? Are you tired? Is your urine bright or dark yellow in color? Do your joints ache? Do you have a headache? These are all the initial signs of dehydration... Sadly, as many as 75% of adults suffer from milk, chronic dehydration, a condition that dramatically works against having optimal energy, the ability to exert yourself during exercise, weight loss efforts and overall health. Water is the most essential element, next to air, for human survival. The combination of two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen makes up more than two thirds of your body and is involved in almost all bodily functions. Here is a brief list of a few of the big ones: Regulates body temperature, preventing heat exhaustion Lubricates ...

Biking season is here! With the upcoming  Way to Go! Week, Bike to Work Day  and the National Bike Challenge it is all about getting around by our own power. Commuting to work by bike is fun and healthy but takes some planning before getting started. Check out the steps below to make your ride to work the best part of your day! Plan ahead . One of the reasons people don’t commute by bike, even if they have a bike, is that they don’t want to be sweaty. If your lucky and your work as shower facilities plan to leave your soap, deodorant, towels and other toiletries in your office or a locker so that you do not have to carry them. No shower? Baby wipes work great and can be left at your desk.    Drop your clothes to work ahead of time . You could pack them in a backpack, to wear on your back, but it gets your back sweaty. You could also put it in a pannier and carry it on a rack, which is a good option, but you might not want your clot...

PLEASE NOTE : Do not try these poses in a chair with wheels regardless of the demonstration photo. T he vast majority of us sit most of the day. In fact, only 20 percent of jobs include some sort of physical exertion, meaning the other 80 percent of jobs are sedentary by nature. These long hours spent hunched over computers, seated in meetings or making telephone calls have not only contributed to weight gain and poor posture, but are also responsible for our nation’s declining health. The benefits of practicing yoga are well known, however few actually practice it. Research shows that individuals who practice stretching regularly enjoy better overall health and increased immunity, which can make a huge difference when spending hours in an office environment where germs are abundant.  Yes, scheduling can be a challenge. Working an 8-12 hour day, managing family life and trying to run errands can make it seem impossible to add yet another "to-do...

The snow has melted and the sun is starting to shine which means two things in Vermont: 1) it's finally spring and 2) it's mud season. Hiking trails take a serious hit during this time of year, especially those at higher altitudes that are exposed to heavy spring rain and snow melt. When walkers trek over muddy trails, it can lead to soil compaction and erosion, damaging the trail and keeping it muddy longer. Help to preserve the trails this spring by sticking to recreation paths, dirt roads, and trails at lower elevations. Mud Season Hiking Guidelines : If a trail is so muddy that you need to walk on the vegetation beside it, turn back and find another place to hike Plan spring hikes in hardwood forests at lower elevations Avoid spruce-fir (conifer) forest at higher elevations and on north slopes before late May and from the end of October until frozen or snow covered Camels Hump and Mt Mansfield trails are closed from snow melt (now) until late May. Please do not hike...

MAY 2014   People-powered recreation and transportation for healthy and sustainable Vermont communities. IN THIS ISSUE.... Bike Walk Month Way to Go for Bagels Bike Commuter Workshops Vermont Bike Challenge Bike & Dine in BTV Bike Ferry Service Begins Learn-to-Ride Class Shelburne BikeFest Cargobikes Statewide Even More Great Events ...