Grains: Set the Story Straight

Posted on January 2, 2021 by Hollis Bass

Between low carb diets and the gluten-free craze, grains get a bad rap. Set things straight by teaching the truth about whole grains.

Whether you want to do a deep-dive webinar series, short Facebook or YouTube Live sessions, or a bulletin board display, we have the materials you need in our Whole Grain theme, including:

Downloadable presentations that come with plenty of handouts:
Grains – What You Need to Know PowerPoint show and Grains are for Brains 2-show PowerPoint set)
Posters that also come with PDF handouts:
Whole Grain Illustration poster and Go For the Whole Grain poster
Colorful tearpads with real photos of grains:
Go For the Whole Grain color tearpad and All About Whole Grains tearpad
Grain give-aways:
Go for the Whole Grain Bookmarks and Stickers

What to teach? Here are some catchy ideas to get you started:

Grain’s Anatomy: Teach the parts of a grain. Show how processing turns a healthy whole grain into a less-healthy refined grain.
Make Peace with Bread: Explain how whole grain bread can fit into a healthy eating pattern. Discuss reading labels to find 100% whole grain bread and appropriate serving sizes.
Name That Grain: Most people don’t know much about grains beyond wheat, oats, and rice. Show them pictures of less-familiar grains like quinoa, buckwheat, and farro and give tips on how to prepare them.
Start Your Day the Whole Grain Way: Whole grains are a natural breakfast choice. Talk about the difference between instant oats and steel-cut oats, how to prepare overnight oats, and low sugar whole-grain cereal options.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Whole Grain Banner 24" X 62" on Stand - Nutrition Education Store

Whole Grain Banner 24" X 67" on Stand

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Whole Grain Banner 48" X 36" - Nutrition Education Store

All About Whole Grains Tearpad - Color Handout Tearpad

$42.00 ~~$46.00~~

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Go For the Whole Grain Poster - Nutrition Education Store

7 Simple Steps to a Healthier Life

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Hollis Bass

When it comes to nutrition and health education, it’s best to keep your messages simple. People are more likely to remember and follow recommendations that are straight-forward and basic.

Our 7 Simple Steps poster provides a lot of information, but it’s broken down into specific steps that can be taken one at a time. Each step will save you calories. If you add up all seven steps, you could end up saving 500,000 calories per year.

The steps touch on: MyPlate, healthy snacks and beverages, breakfast, portion control, nonfat dairy foods, and exercise.

Use the 7 Simple Steps concept to help your clients, employees, or students move step-by-step toward a healthier lifestyle. While the steps are numbered on the poster, people can choose where to start.

Here are some ways you could use the poster and accompanying PDF handouts:

Create a 7 Simple Steps bulletin board display. The poster comes with a sample bulletin board layout. Adapt it to your audience, perhaps by focusing on a different step each week.
Offer a 7 Simple Steps virtual group session. Present the seven steps and get a discussion going using the questions listed below in #5.
Run a week-long 7 Simple Steps social media campaign. Present one step every day. Encourage followers to comment on how they could follow each step.
Take a 7 Simple Steps poll. Whether your audience is made up of social media followers or employees who see the poster on your bulletin board, let them chime in on which step they want to work on most.
Ask questions in your group or individual sessions:
- Which of these steps do you already do?
- Which could you start working on?
- What step do you want to work on first?
- How will you do it?

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

7 Simple Steps Save 500,000 Calories Poster

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What’s Your Word for 2021?

Posted on December 1, 2020 by Hollis Bass

This is the time of year when I usually start thinking about what word or phrase will be my theme for the next year. (I wrote about this concept last January – read it here.)

The idea is that instead of New Year’s resolutions, you choose a word or phrase that will be your theme for the year. You keep it in mind as you face decisions, challenges, and daily life.

Now, we know that 2021 isn’t going to be an ordinary year. Even with promising COVID vaccines, it will be months before life returns to any semblance of “normal.” So maybe for 2021, it makes more sense to choose a new theme each month.

Monthly themes are a great way to engage your clients, students, or social media followers. And we have PowerPoint shows to teach any theme – check out 12 Lessons on Wellness & Weight Loss and 12 More Lessons on Wellness & Weight Loss.

Here are some ideas to get you started, along with suggestions for PowerPoint shows from our 12 Lessons series.

January: Reset. With the holidays over, it’s time to start fresh.
- Teach goal setting with Getting Started: Learn to Set Realistic Goals PowerPoint Show.

February: Love Yourself. It might sound corny, but showing yourself some love is important to your health.
- Teach self-care with How to Manage Stress Without Overeating PowerPoint Show.

March: Keep Moving. Don’t let the dark days of winter get you down.
- Teach how to stay active with Exercise: Moving More, Losing Weight PowerPoint Show.
April: No Quick Fix. If the prospect of summer (and bathing suits) makes you desperate to lose those extra pounds, don’t fall for fad diets that promise a quick-fix.
- Teach no quick-fixes with Fad Diets Waste Time PowerPoint Show.
May: Keep it Real. Eat real, whole foods that don’t have lots of ingredients.
- Teach nutrient-dense, real food choices with Feel Full on Fewer Calories PowerPoint Show.
June: Lighten Up. Make your meals lighter and healthier.
- Teach healthy cooking with Lighten Up Your Cooking PowerPoint Show.
July: Healthy Away from Home. Don’t let eating out ruin your healthy habits.
- Teach strategies for healthy eating away from home with Dining Out the Smart Weigh PowerPoint Show and Fast Food Survival PowerPoint Show.
August: Size Matters. Something as simple as portion size can make a big difference in staying healthy.
- Teach proper serving sizes with Portion Control PowerPoint Show.
September: Snack Better. Get rid of packaged snack foods. Think fruits, veggies, and other real foods.
- Teach getting the most out of snacks with Smart Snacking PowerPoint Show.
October: First Things First. Make the first meal of the day a healthy one.
- Teach what makes a good breakfast with Start Your Day with Breakfast PowerPoint Show.
November: Think About the Drink. Extra calories, fat, and sugar hide in sodas, coffee drinks, and other beverages.
- Teach smart beverage choices with Don’t Drink Your Calories PowerPoint Show.
December: Check the Plate. Make every plate healthy with half fruits and vegetables. This will help you get through the holidays with zero weight gain!
- Teach how to build a healthy plate with Healthy Plate PowerPoint Show.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Get Their Attention with Food Photos

Posted on November 24, 2020 by Hollis Bass

It won’t be long until people start thinking about New Year’s resolutions. Ads for weight loss programs will show up in social media feeds. Health and nutrition influencers will tout their magic bullets.

When you stick to science-based recommendations, it can be hard to compete. How can you get your clients’ attention away from the flashy fads and quick-fixes?

We have just the answer! Our collection of MyPlate Food Photos can help you stand out while promoting a healthy, plant-based eating pattern based on the MyPlate concept.

Use these beautiful, professional photographs of real food to get your message across. Here are just a few ideas:

Inspire your social media followers with beautiful photos of plates that follow the MyPlate guidelines. Kick off 2021 by posting a MyPlate meal of the day for the first 15 days of the year.
Motivate your readers with a blog series on healthy choices from each food group. With our pictures, you won’t have to add many words to make your point.
Guide your students through the important topic of serving sizes with a presentation that features pictures of appropriate portions of real food.
Instruct everyone about what makes up a healthy eating plan with photos showing how many servings of each food group you need every day.
Remind your clients what healthy eating looks like by sending them pictures of real food in emails or text messages.

Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

MyPlate Food Photos

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Holiday Survival Tips & COVID-19

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Hollis Bass

Eating healthfully during the holidays is always a challenge. This year the pandemic is making it even harder.

Help your clients get through the holiday eating season with our Holiday Survival Tips PowerPoint show. The presentation addresses the reality of holiday weight gain and helps audience members make a plan to avoid it.

Here are three of the Holiday Survival Tips along with how they may need to be tweaked this year due to COVID-19:

Focus less on food and more on celebrating what the holidays are all about. This can be difficult if you’re alone or unable to get together with friends or extended family this year.
- Schedule phone calls and virtual gatherings so you’ll have something to look forward to besides eating.
- Keep your hands busy with knitting, crafts, adult coloring books, or puzzles – you can’t eat while doing these kinds of activities!
- Make up for missing events like tree lightings and holiday festivals by finding things you CAN do. Walk around your neighborhood to see all the holiday lights, for example.
Pay attention to exercise and sleep — two things that the holidays tend to interfere with.
- Make a plan to take a walk or do an exercise video at the same time every day. Text a friend to stay accountable.
- Avoid staying up later than usual or sleeping in. Stick to a consistent sleep schedule so you’ll wake up refreshed every morning.
- Put health-promoting gifts on your wish list, like a Fitbit or a subscription to the premium version of a meal planning or food tracking app.
Find ways to make traditional holiday dishes a bit healthier.
- Use less fat or sugar in recipes. Staying home means you’ll be in control of the big holiday meals, so make this the year you try a lower fat pumpkin pie or sweet potatoes without the sugary toppings.
- If there’s only going to be four of you for the big holiday meal, scale things down. Buy the smallest pies or cakes you can find. Bake smaller batches of things like your favorite holiday cookies. The goal is to NOT have lots of leftovers to tempt you.
- If you’re buying a meal from a supermarket or restaurant, make sure you know what you’re getting and adjust accordingly. Keep some extra roasted vegetables or salad on hand to add to a purchased meal.

The holidays and the pandemic make it easy to gain weight and hard to lose it. Probably the best tip we can give people this time of year is to aim to maintain their weight.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Holiday Survival: Keep Off the Pounds PowerPoint and Handout Lesson - DOWNLOAD

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4 Lessons to Lower Blood Pressure

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Hollis Bass

Are you looking for ways to teach your clients, students, or employees about high blood pressure? We have a comprehensive PowerPoint program for you: Four Lessons to Lower Blood Pressure.

No matter who’s in the audience, they’re bound to learn something new from our lessons:

Introduction to High Blood Pressure
Make the DASH
Cut the Salt
Get Moving to Lower Blood Pressure

The lessons can be used individually, or you can host a series of virtual sessions.

Here are some talking points to promote your blood pressure education efforts and motivate people to take action:

The silent killer: High blood pressure usually has no symptoms. That’s why it is important to get your blood pressure measured and do what it takes to get it under control.
COVID-19 point #1: The CDC says that adults of any age who have high blood pressure might be at an increased risk for severe illness if they are infected by the coronavirus. That’s a good reason to make an effort to get your blood pressure under control.
COVID-19 point #2: High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease. According to the CDC, heart disease puts you at an increased risk for severe COVID-19 illness. Just one more reason to take steps now to control your blood pressure.
More than salt: While cutting sodium in your diet is very important, that’s not the only thing. The DASH eating plan emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, lean proteins, and legumes, nuts, and seeds.
More than diet: Along with the DASH eating plan, regular exercise can help lower your blood pressure. And if you smoke, get help to quit.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

4 Lessons to Lower Blood Pressure PowerPoint Program

$69.00 ~~$99.00~~

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Take Steps to Keep Moving During the Pandemic

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Hollis Bass

Many people have changed their exercise routine due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some are streaming their favorite aerobics class instead of attending in-person. Others are purchasing home fitness equipment.

But even if we find ways to keep up our gym routine when the gym is closed, what about how much we’re moving in general?

Think about all the steps we aren’t taking because of the pandemic. If you’re working from home, you’re not walking from the car or bus stop to your office. You’re not taking the stairs instead of the elevator. If you’re doing curbside grocery pickup, you’re not walking around the supermarket.

That’s where counting steps can be useful, making it the perfect time for a 10,000 steps challenge! We have everything you need in our 10,000 Steps theme:

10k Steps Floor Sticker: No one will miss this bright, colorful reminder to work toward taking 10,000 steps a day.
10K Steps Banner & 10k Steps Exercise Poster: Put one of these in your waiting area or cafeteria to remind folks of the many ways they can move more every day.
10K Steps Wristbands, Pins, Bookmarks, and Stickers: These make great prizes – give one to anyone who writes on a sticky note how they plan to take more steps.

Here are three ways to engage your clients, students, or employees in a conversation about taking more steps throughout the day:

Make a plan to increase your steps now. It could look something like this:
- Step 1: Get a pedometer or a tracking device (like a Fitbit) or find out if your cell phone will work.
- Step 2: Track how many steps you’re taking every day for a week.
- Step 3: Make a goal to increase your steps per day by 1,000 (or more or less, just be realistic).
- Step 4: Track for a week and repeat, with the goal of getting up to 10,000 steps.
Brainstorm ways to keep your steps up even in cold weather. Do you need a warmer coat? New gloves or a hat? Boots?
Challenge a friend – at the end of the day, text each other about how many steps you took and what your goal is for the next day.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

What’s Simple But Not Easy?

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Hollis Bass

Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full. It sounds simple enough. But it’s not that easy.

To know when you’re hungry or full, you need to pay attention. You need to be mindful.

Unfortunately, the world is against mindfulness. But we have some great materials to help you teach it:

Mindful Eating PowerPoint focuses on learning to eat with intention, awareness, care, and thought. The messages are positive and health-promoting. Your audience will learn to slow down and enjoy their food.
Three Steps to Mindful Eating poster breaks things down into easy-to-remember actions:
- Before you decide to eat, ask yourself, “Why am I eating?”
- As you take each bite, savor the flavor of your food.
- Put your food on a plate and sit down to eat.

So much of mindless eating is due to habits. Recognizing these habits is the first step to becoming more mindful.

Whether you’re teaching a class or sharing on social media, add in some levity as you help people figure out what habits keep them from eating mindfully. Everyone is bound to see themselves in at least one of these mindless eating scenarios …

Drink soda/diet soda like water: When you’re thirsty, you grab a soda. When you’re tired, you grab a soda. When you’re eating chips, you grab a soda. When it’s 3pm, you grab a soda. You get the idea.
See-it-eat-it: You never pass by a candy jar or pan of brownies without taking “just one” or “just a sliver.” But these ones and slivers add up and you don’t realize it.
The sign made me stop: You have no intention of stopping at Starbucks or McDonald’s, but you see a sign and end up turning into the parking lot.
Clean plate club: Even if you’re full, you clean your plate and maybe even the plates of those around you.
Eat by the clock: If it’s noon, it’s lunchtime. Even if you’re not hungry, you eat. Because it’s lunchtime.
Hand in the bag: You eat out of the bag of candy or box of crackers. When you reach in and nothing’s left, you’re surprised. You don’t remember eating that much.
Multi-tasking: You eat while you read, watch TV, or scroll. Before you know it, you’re at the bottom of the bowl and you don’t remember a bite.
Eat while driving: You eat and drink while trying to drive, focusing more on not spilling than tasting the food.
Speed eater: You always eat fast. You can’t tell when you’re full. You don’t enjoy the taste of the food. It’s all just a blur.

Be sure to share your own mindless eating habit(s) so people will know that even dietitians aren’t perfect :-).

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Picture Healthy Eating

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Hollis Bass

We’re seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic. People have been stressed out since March and now face a winter warning of coronavirus and flu.

Our clients, students, and employees are probably tired of being told what to do and what not to do. Do they have the capacity to follow a new diet or make big dietary changes? Maybe not.

That means we need to be creative and sneak in our message where we can. Instead of ramming diet restrictions down their throats, think about being more subtle.

How about using beautiful photographs of real food to convey the healthy eating message? Check out these items:

What’s on Your Fork? According to this poster, it’s mouth-watering bites of fresh, nutrient-dense foods.
Fork Photo Walloons. These wall decals shaped like balloons feature eye-catching photos of asparagus, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, whole wheat pasta, salmon, and a strawberry. When a picture says it all, no words are necessary!
Fork Stickers. Let people take home a little reminder of what healthy food looks like. Again, no words needed.
Choose Wisely Poster. More beautiful color photos of fruits and veggies, with the message: “You need fuel. Choose wisely.”

Everyday, people see pictures of fake food on billboards, online, and on TV. Let’s fight back by posting beautiful photos of healthy food on the walls of our offices, hallways, and cafeterias, on our social media pages, and in our classrooms.

These positive, subliminal messages might be the gentle reminder everyone needs to get back on track with healthy eating.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Fork Photo Wall Decals - "Walloons" Set of 8" Wall Decals - Set of 6

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Fork Stickers 2" - Pack of 100

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What's On Your Fork? Poster - Nutrition Poster - Motivational Poster

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Diabetes Education – One Size Doesn’t Fit All

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Hollis Bass

When it comes to nutrition education, one size doesn’t fit all. This is especially true for teaching people about diabetes.

As educators, we have to think about who we’re teaching:

Are they newly-diagnosed?
- There’s a lot to learn.
- They may be in denial, scared, motivated, overwhelmed, or all of the above.
Are they “veteran” patients?
- They may think they know everything, but their numbers show otherwise.
- Good habits can slip during times of stress (or a pandemic).
- There’s always something new to learn.
Do they have pre-diabetes?
- They may be motivated to do what they can to avoid or delay diabetes.
Are they caregivers or family members of someone who has diabetes?
- They may want to learn all they can to help their loved one.
- They may resent having to make changes to accommodate the person with diabetes.

We also have to consider things like motivation level and learning style. So you can see that one size definitely does not fit all!

Our 12 Lessons of Diabetes Program can help. We’ve put together a dozen PowerPoint presentations that can be used in different ways depending on who you’re teaching and what they need to learn. The 12 topics are:

Diabetes basics
Goal setting
Know your numbers (A1C, blood pressure, cholesterol)
Weight management
Exercise
Healthy eating
Importance of breakfast
Diabetes plate
Carb counting and label reading
Food shopping
Snacks
Sugar substitutes

You could use the program to offer a 12-part series. By the end, your clients will learn everything they need to live a healthy life with diabetes. Presenting information in “chunks” makes it less overwhelming. In between sessions, there’s time to digest the information and put it to use in the real world.

For clients who don’t need the entire program, you can pick and choose which sessions will be most beneficial. If they are resistant to learning, letting them choose what to cover might help.

Most importantly, the information in our 12 Lessons is always presented in a light-hearted, positive, and supportive way.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

12 Lessons of Diabetes Program on Flash Drive

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