Author Archives: Hollis Bass

Two-Pronged Approach to Healthy Retirement

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When planning for retirement, most people don’t think about healthcare expenses.

Yet, healthcare expenditures increase dramatically for people age 65 and older. We’re talking an average of $12,411/year compared to $5,644/year for someone age 18-64.*

Medicare helps, but it doesn’t cover all medical costs. And some medications and procedures may not be covered at all, leaving retirees with unexpected medical bills.

The answer? Take a two-pronged approach to retirement planning:

  1. Take care of your money: Consult with a financial planner to learn how to plan for retirement by saving and investing your money.
  2. Take care of your body: Consult with a registered dietitian and other health professionals to stay as healthy as possible, which could help you avoid high healthcare costs during your golden years.

Our Men’s Health Bootcamp and Women’s Health Bootcamp PowerPoint shows are perfect for teaching your clients, students, or employees how to take care of their bodies for a healthy retirement. Each covers common diseases for American men and women, including causes, symptoms, and prevention strategies for each condition.

These Bootcamp presentations are versatile, so you can use all or parts of each one depending on your audience. Here are a few ideas:

  • Partner with a financial planner to offer a bootcamp-themed webinar series on healthy retirement, from both a financial standpoint and a health standpoint.
  • Plan a series of social media posts or emails about taking care of your body now for a healthy retirement.
  • If you work with teens or high school students, find out if they take a course on budgeting or personal finance. See if you can incorporate some of the Men’s and Women’s Health Bootcamp PowerPoint shows into discussions on retirement planning.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

*Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Mean expenditure per person by age groups, United States, 2018. Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Generated interactively: May 2021. https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepstrends/hc_use/.

 

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Let’s Talk About Sleep!

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Nutrition and wellness educators talk a lot about eating right and staying active, but we can’t forget about the importance of sleep. Inadequate sleep is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, elevated blood sugar, high blood pressure, heart disease, mental distress, and even early death.

Here are some ways to incorporate some sleep education into your work:

  1. Raise awareness about the importance of sleep by creating a bulletin board display that centers around our Sleep Right poster.
    • In addition to listing the benefits of sleep, this poster explains how nutrition and exercise can impact sleep, and gives hours of sleep recommendations by age group.
  2. Assign your students or clients (or yourself!) some homework:
    • Read the popular book, Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD.
    • Watch Matthew Walker’s TED Talk – Sleep is Your Superpower.
  3. Invite a sleep expert to talk to your weight management group or other audiences. An expert can provide valuable information about sleep disorders such as sleep apnea.
    • Obesity can cause sleep apnea and a healthy lifestyle can help prevent it.

Remember to get those important ZZZs yourself!

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

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Learn to Love Vegetables

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Americans do not have a good relationship with vegetables.

Almost 90 percent of us don’t meet intake recommendations for vegetables (2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines). And even more of us fail to eat enough from the five vegetable subgroups: dark green; red and orange; beans, peas, and lentils; starchy; and other.

Yet, plant-based eating is a hot topic. There’s something wrong here!

How can we help our clients or students learn to love vegetables? It starts with the basics – how to select, store, and prepare different veggies.

If your students or clients can’t work with veggies hands-on, the next best thing is our Building a Plant-Based Eating Pattern: Vegetables DVD.

This DVD offers an unbelievable amount of material – everything from the nutrients and health benefits of different veggies to their flavor profiles and culinary uses. But my favorite parts are the cooking demos that show kitchen hacks for preparing all types of vegetables to perfection.

You can use the cooking demos on this DVD all year long to show your clients or students how to prepare what’s in season. One demo shows how to use roasted tomatoes, onions, and peppers to make a marinara sauce that’s served over zucchini noodles – perfect for the summer farmers market season. Other demos show how to prepare veggies like artichokes, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, and more.

Even the best home cooks (and the most seasoned registered dietitians!) will learn something new from these fun segments that show how to use every part of plants and learn to love vegetables.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

 

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Vacation Right, Vacation Light

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It seems like everyone in America is taking or planning a vacation – or at the very least, talking about how much they want to get away!

Whether it’s a road trip or a cross-country flight, vacations tend to interfere with healthy eating and exercise habits.

Our Vacation Light materials are just what you need to help people keep their vacations as healthy as possible. In a light-hearted way, they show the difference between an Eat a Lot/Sleep a Lot vacation and an Eat Smart/Exercise Your Heart vacation.

Here’s a 3-step plan to teach students, clients, or employees about taking a healthy vacation:

  1. Create a bulletin board display using our Vacation Light poster.
  2. Plan a series of social media posts with Eat Smart/Exercise Your Heart vacation tips.
    • Use these posts to promote step 3.
    • Ask your followers to leave a comment about how they keep their vacations healthy.
  3. Teach a webinar using our Vacation Light PowerPoint show.
    • Have attendees set one goal for their vacation (eat a healthy breakfast daily, track my steps, snack on raw veggies, etc).
    • Invite attendees to report back when they return from vacation.

By Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

 

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Spring Has Sprung!

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Spring is in the air!

Farmers markets are opening back up. We’re moving on from hearty soups and stews and looking forward to light, fresh salads and grilled vegetables.

Now is the time to plan some education and engagement to get your clients, students, or employees excited about the new bounty of healthy produce that will be sprouting up over the next few months.

Here are three ideas to get you started …

  1. Real Food Grows:
    • Real, unprocessed food is especially easy to find this time of year at farmers markets, roadside stands, and your supermarket.
    • Add some recipes to our beautiful Real Food Grows poster for a display they won’t be able to pass up.
    • Offer a Real Food Grows sticker to anyone who shares a tip on their favorite place to buy fresh produce.
  2. Farm to Table:
    • Use social media posts or your newsletter to point clients toward the nearest farmer’s market and show them how to find out what’s in season (here’s a handy online guide by state).
    • Encourage clients to take a picture of their favorite farmer’s market or farm stand, or a healthy dish they make with locally-grown produce. Choose random winners to receive a Farm to Table notepad or wristband.
  3. Fruit & Veggie Fun:
    • Play our Name That Fruit and Veggie PowerPoint game with your group or class.
    • Turn the game’s content into social media posts for spring and summer.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

 

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Gentle Nudges to Healthy Change

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The American Psychological Association recently released the 2021 Stress in America poll. No surprise – the past year has been hard on us.

The pandemic has had a negative impact on:

  1. Physical activity
  2. Weight
  3. Sleep
  4. Stress
  5. Alcohol intake
  6. Mental health

As people get vaccinated and begin to think about life after COVID-19, many will be ready to make changes to do things like lose weight and start exercising again. Some will jump right in, but others may benefit from a slower, more mindful journey back to healthy habits.

Here are three ideas for gently nudging your clients or students toward a healthy eating pattern and lifestyle:

  1. Mindfulness and mindful eating:
  2. Motivating affirmations:
    • Empower your clients through short sessions on the affirmations from our I Am Motivational Health poster:
      • Self-care (sleeping enough, forgiving a setback)
      • Healthy eating (eating mindfully when hungry, loving fruits & veggies)
      • Physical activity (moving more, exercising consistently)
      • Attitude (not giving up)
      • Intention (planning and working to success)
  3. Positive transformations:
    • Adopt the beautiful butterfly from our Change It Up theme as your mascot.
    • The butterfly can be a visual reminder to clients who are working to transform their lives by eating healthier foods and being more active every day.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Change It Up Poster - Nutrition Poster - Motivational Poster - Nutrition Education Store

Change It Up Poster - Nutrition Poster - Motivational Poster

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I Am - Motivational Health Poster - 18" x 24" Laminated Poster - Nutrition Education Store

I Am - Motivational Health Poster - 18" x 24" Laminated Poster

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Mindful Eating PowerPoint Show - Nutrition Education Store

Mindful Eating PowerPoint Show

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Mindful Eating Poster - Guide to Mindful Eating - Nutrition Education Store

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5 Steps to a Healthy Dietary Pattern

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Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do away with the word diet and replace it with a healthy dietary pattern?

Rather than focusing on individual nutrients, foods, or food groups in isolation, a dietary pattern refers to what we eat and drink over time and how this affects our health.

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that we follow a healthy dietary pattern at every stage of life.

Take your group, class, or individual clients through five steps to discovering a healthy dietary pattern that works for them:

  1. Use our DGA Healthy Eating Patterns poster and handout to discuss the concept of a healthy dietary pattern. Talk about how eating patterns differ from diets, especially fad diets.
  2. Show participants how to enter their age, gender, height, weight, and activity level into MyPlate Plan. This free tool gives them personalized recommendations that will form the basis of their healthy eating pattern. Bonus: MyPlate Plan is also available in Spanish!
  3. Have participants make a list of foods they like for each food group in their MyPlate Plan.
  4. Help them identify whether the foods they listed fit into a healthy eating pattern. In other words, are they nutrient-dense and lower in fat, sodium, and sugar? Our new 2020-25 Dietary Guidelines PowerPoint show is a great resource for teaching this information.
  5. For the foods and beverages that don’t fit into a healthy eating pattern, help participants identify healthier options that are more nutrient-dense and lower in fat, sodium, and sugar. Emphasize that they don’t need to make these changes all at once!

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Use the code 2021-SAVE-15 to get 15% off new products in the Nutrition Education Store this week. 

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How to Change Up a Step Challenge

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Step challenges appeal to kids and adults, making them a popular way to encourage people to be more active. Spring is a great time to start a 10,000 Steps a Day Challenge – everyone’s ready to get outside!

Our 10K Steps theme has everything you need to run a step challenge in a school, workplace, or with clients. Make your step challenge unique, fun, effective, and educational for everyone with these five ways to change up your step challenge:

  1. Credit for every step: Some people don’t have a pedometer or fitness tracker, forget to wear it or carry it, or get frustrated because their favorite activity (maybe cycling or yoga) doesn’t show up in their step count.
    • A solution? Use an activity conversion chart (like this one) to convert minutes of activity into steps.
  2. Learn what more steps can (and cannot) do: Throughout the step challenge, focus on the many health benefits of moving more. Be up-front about the fact that taking 10K steps/day is not going to burn off indulgences like sugary beverages and junk food.
    • Our How Much to Work it Off? poster shows that exercise (or taking more steps) alone won’t help you reach weight loss goals. What you eat counts!
  3. Customize the challenge: 10K steps/day may not be realistic for many folks and it may be too easy for others. Let them know that taking more steps this week than they did last week is what counts.
  4. Create accountability: Set up a Facebook group or group text chat so participants can share their goals, motivate each other, and stay accountable.
  5. Generate excitement: Promote your step challenge everywhere with posters, banners, social media posts, and fun incentives (like wristbands and stickers).

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

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Fruits & Veggies: Let the Games Begin

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With spring just around the corner, more fruits and vegetables will soon be in season. Plan now to get your clients or students engaged and excited about eating more fresh produce with our Fruit and Vegetable Challenge Kit.

The Fruit and Vegetable Challenge Kit includes everything you need to run a friendly competition. There are five weekly themes, buying and preparation tips, recipes, health benefits, and beautiful color photos of fresh fruits and veggies.

Here are some ideas for using the Challenge Kit with different audiences:

  • In the classroom, students can:
    1. Complete the weekly fruit and vegetable theme challenges.
    2. Check and compare fresh produce prices online.
    3. Research what fruits and veggies are in season where they live.
    4. Create social media posts that promote a fruit or vegetable.
  • In the workplace, employees can:
    1. Sign up for the fruit and vegetable challenge.
    2. Compete within or between departments.
    3. Learn about local community-supported agriculture (CSAs) and farmers’ markets.
    4. Vote for the fruit or vegetable of the week.
  • In individual nutrition counseling, clients can:
    1. Choose a fruit and vegetable challenge to complete.
    2. Chart their own progress at home.
    3. Try new recipes featuring seasonal fruits and veggies.
    4. Choose a fruit or vegetable color photo to use as a screensaver.
  • In virtual group classes, participants can:
    1. Meet online weekly for a 5-week fruit and vegetable challenge series.
    2. Compete in groups or individually.
    3. Cook/prepare along with the instructor in virtual food prep demos.
    4. Share progress and questions in a group text chat or Facebook group.

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

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5 Activities for Healthy Shopping on a Budget

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We know eating healthfully doesn’t have to be expensive, but food shopping when you’re having trouble making ends meet can be overwhelming. Sometimes it’s easier to toss the cheap, processed food into your cart.

Help your clients or students learn to stretch their food dollars and purchase healthy food. I like the Healthy Shopping on a Budget PowerPoint because it provides practical information about low-cost choices in each food group. It also includes a collection of recipes that are inexpensive, easy to prepare, and tasty.

Here are some activities you could use along with the Healthy Shopping on a Budget PowerPoint:

  1. Track food spending: Have participants keep receipts for every food and beverage purchase they make over the course of a week. What stands out? What are they spending most on? What lower cost choices could they make?
  2. Learn about low-cost protein: Fancy plant-based burgers and sausages are all the rage, but they are expensive. Discuss budget-friendly cuts of lean meat, fish, chicken, and beans. Do a cooking demo using dried beans, a whole chicken, or other protein sources people may not know how to prepare.
  3. Take advantage of every resource: Find affordable farmer’s markets, including ones that accept SNAP benefits. Many states have programs that double SNAP benefits when you buy fresh produce. Don’t forget about WIC’s Farmers Market Nutrition Program, the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, and USDA’s Farmers to Families.
  4. Make a master list: Participants make a list of healthy items they typically buy, then print out copies to keep on the refrigerator. Circle items you run out of and take the list when you go shopping. Get this started with fun giveaways like our MyPlate Shopping List Notepads and Go Shopping with MyPlate Tearpad.
  5. Brainstorm barriers: Is there a full-service supermarket nearby? Do participants have transportation to get to a store that sells fresh produce? Is the closest supermarket a mega size monstrosity that is hard for an older person or someone with a disability to get around?

Any of your students or clients could be experiencing food insecurity, no matter where they live or how they dress. This makes healthy eating on a budget an important topic to cover!

Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

 

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