McKinley Grapevine

Good Morning Everyone!

If you have made the decision to quit smoking or are thinking about kicking the habit to the curb, please read this email carefully.  There are resources and incentives I want to make sure you are aware of that can help you succeed :).

McKinley Provides:

Find a cessation program that works for you and McKinley will reimburse you up to $300 per year!   That’s right, McKinley will pay for one smoking cessation program of your choice per year to help you kick the habit. In addition to traditional cessation programs, this benefit even includes non-traditional methods such as hypnosis and acupuncture.

This is how the program works:

• You must be tobacco free for 3 months to be eligible
• Submit your receipts to your manager for approval
• Done!

Cigna Provides:

One on One Coaching!

You and your personal health coach will design a plan of action and develop coping responses sure to help you quit. This program is available to Cigna customers only.

Medications:

Did you know that there are medications that can help you quit smoking?  McKinley’s prescription drug plan through Cigna covers several of these anti-smoking medications – many at no cost to you.  Check with your doctor to see if this method might work for you!

Whether you have been a smoker for 5 years or 25+ years, your body will start to experience the benefits of being smoke free within 20min of your last cigarette!  Every hour you go without a cigarette your body continues to heal!  Check it out 🙂

 

 

 

New Year’s Eve is here and so comes the New Year’s resolutions!  According to the Journal of Clinical Psychology at the University of Scranton, the top 10 New Year’s resolutions for 2014 were:

1. Lose Weight
2. Getting Organized
3. Spend Less, Save More
4. Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5. Staying Fit and Healthy
6. Learn Something Exciting
7. Quit Smoking
8. Help Others in Their Dreams
9. Fall in Love
10. Spend More Time with Family

45% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions but only 8% actually follow through with them.  I’m sure none of these statistics come as a big surprise to you but why is it that only 8% are successful with reaching their goals, whether it’s a New Year’s resolution or not?  My guess is the other 37% didn’t have a plan in place.  A goal without a plan is nothing more than a WISH!!  Your map to success is very simple (I said simple, not easy).  All you need are three important elements set in place:

1. A reasonable goal –

• Set a goal that will challenge you but is also within reach
• Your end goal may be to lose weight but that doesn’t mean you have to set a weight loss goal.  You could set a goal to run a 5K, attend so many fitness classes weekly, eat less sugar, eat more protein, drink more water or quit drinking soda.  All of these goals can result in weight loss without having to focus on the number on the scale.

2. A Plan of Action – Be Specific

• It’s important to break down what you want to accomplish in 12 months, 6 months, 3 months and monthly but more importantly, you need to breakdown what you are going to accomplish daily and weekly.  Track your progress daily and if you happen to mess up one day, don’t give up!!  Look back at the progress you’ve made and keep moving forward!

3. Accountability – MOST IMPOTANT!!  You are more likely to quit on yourself than you are to quit on a friend.

• Your accountability partner should be someone you truly respect and value.  Someone who can commit to walk with you on your journey, give tough love when it’s needed and someone you can receive that tough love from.
• If possible, choose someone you already interact with on a daily basis.  I would recommend choosing someone who is NOT your spouse or significant other.  It’s great to receive encouragement from your spouse or significant other but having that person keep you accountable can sometimes put unnecessary stress on your relationship :-).

As always, email me or call me if you would like help putting a plan together :-).  Be on the lookout for my email on Monday.  All of the info about individual quarterly challenges, 30 day team challenges, weekly sprints and a few daily sprints will be in that email!!  2015 is going to be a GREAT year!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

Yours in Health and Wellness,

Meredith

 

Good Morning Everyone!

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month we will be holding a company-wide “PINK OUT” on Friday October, 24^th 2014 (next Friday).  How do you participate?  Just wear PINK and lots of it next Friday, get together for a team photo and then email me your pics :).  I’ll send out an email next Thursday to remind you all to wear pink the next day!

Drew Canole, the author of fitlife.tv put together an article about baking soda and it’s healing benefits.  I encourage you all to read the whole article but just in case you don’t make time for it, I wanted to highlight part of it for you 🙂

Baking soda is an alkaline compound that can help regulate our body’s pH.  Why is this important?

In Drew’s article he points out, “Dr. Warburg has made it clear that the root cause of cancer is oxygen deficiency, which creates an acidic state in the human body. Dr Warburg also discovered that cancer cells are anaerobic (do not breathe oxygen) and cannot survive in the presence of high levels of oxygen, as found in an alkaline state.”

There is a Baking Soda and Lemon Tonic that can help prevent and help treat cancer!!  Here’s the recipe:

Baking Soda and Lemon Juice Tonic:

Prevent and treat cancer with Baking Soda and Lemon Juice Tonic! Patients everywhere, with the consent of their physicians, are warding off and destroying cancer with nutritious and alkalizing compounds like lemon and baking soda. Studies suggests that cancer can not thrive or even survive when our bodies are in the pH balance.

Author: Drew Canole

Ingredients

1 teaspoon baking soda (ALUMINUM FREE)

Half a lemon

8 ounces of purified water.

Instructions

Mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda with half a lemon into 8 ounces of purified water.

Drink this first thing in the morning.

Make it a part of your everyday morning routine.

 

Click the link below to read the whole article:

– See more at: http://fitlife.tv/11-amazing-uses-of-baking-soda-miraculous-healing-and-cleansing/#sthash.lHmfhSGX.dpuf

 

Yours in Health and Wellness,

Meredith Mitchell

 

Good Morning Everyone!

Combat the cold and flu season with food!  That’s right, there are foods you can eat that will help support your immune system.  Below is a list of some of the foods recommended by Dr. Oz and Dr.Mercola with a brief description of their benefits.  You can click on the links below for more information 🙂

1. Kale, broccoli, cabbage and lettuce – Cruciferous vegetables such as kale, broccoli, lettuce and cabbage support your liver and immune function by boosting the liver’s ability to flush out toxins.
2. Avocados – Adding ½ cup of avocados to your diet is an easy way to support adrenal function and health and keep your immune system happy. Avocados contain essential amino acids, antioxidants and some healthy fats to help balance hormone production.
3. Ginger – According to Ayurvedic traditions, ginger warms the body and helps to break down the accumulation of toxins in the organs, particularly in the lungs and sinuses. 
4. Sage Extract – Sage extract works as an expectorant, which helps your body move mucus out of your respiratory tract and helps to calm your cough. As a good alternative to an over-the-counter expectorant, try a drop of sage extract in tea or hot water.
5. Mushrooms – Mushrooms strengthen your immune system because they are rich in protein, fiber, vitamin C, B vitamins, calcium, and other minerals.
6. Garlic – Garlic is antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal!
7. Coconut Oil, Water and Milk – Coconuts are an antiviral and is rich in lauric acid, which converts in your body to monolaurin which is known to strength the immune system.
8. Honeysuckle and Chrysanthemum  – You can drink this as a tea. They both are antiviral!
9. Turmeric – General immune system booster due to its high antioxidant capacity, and an anticancer agent as well; turmeric is five to eight times stronger than vitamins C and E, and even strong enough to scavenge the hydroxyl radical, which is considered by some to be the most reactive of all oxidants.

10. Cinnamon – Powerful antimicrobial agent—found to kill E. coli and many other bacteria; also has anti-inflammatory compounds.
11. Elderberry Extract – Used for its antioxidant activity, to lower cholesterol, improve vision, boost the immune system, improve heart health and for coughs, colds, flu, bacterial and viral infections and tonsillitis. Elderberry juice was used to treat a flu epidemic in Panama in 1995.

http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-elderberry.html

Dr. Oz:

http://www.doctoroz.com/slideshow/boost-your-immunity-naturally?gallery=true

Dr. Mercola:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/12/08/top-12-foods-for-healthy-immune-response.aspx

Don’t forget to sanitize the devices you use daily.  Take your phone for example.  You would have less germs on your face/cheek if you were to use your shoe as a phone as oppose to your actual phone.  Your phone goes everywhere with you so it only makes sense that your phone would be one of the most germ infested things you own.  I would recommend you sanitize the following DAILY:

• Phone and phone case (take the case off to sanitize)
• Tablet
• Computer keyboard and mouse
• TV Remote
• Door handles

Hi Everyone!

October is here!!  The look and smell of fall is everywhere – I LOVE IT :).

As many of you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Over the last year, several of you have requested we do some fundraising for breast cancer so…WE ARE!!

Breast cancer has affected many of us, maybe even all of us in some way.  Personally, this is something very near and dear to my heart as I lost my mom to breast cancer at the age of 5.  Thankfully, more and more lives are being spared due to the advancements in research, education and treatment.  Early detection is the key, so please encourage all of the women in your life to get their mammograms yearly :).

This year we will be doing a few different things to help raise money for breast cancer research.  Here are the ways you can get involved:

1. Monday Jean Day!!! – If you would like to participate, you will donate $20 to wear jeans every Monday in October.
2. Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk:

• When: Saturday October 18^th  @ 9:00am
• Where: Washtenaw Community College, 4800 E Huron River Dr, Ann Arbor
• How: Sign up by clicking the link http://main.acsevents.org/goto/teammckinley

1. Participate in our “Pink Out” on Monday October 27^th:

• How?  You can buy one of the McKinley Healthy Living breast cancer awareness t-shirts for $20 OR just wear any piece of pink clothing you have on 10/27.
• If you are going to order/buy one of our t-shirts, you must email me your t-shirt size by this Monday October 6^th.  The t-shirt sizes are men’s sizes.

How to donate and pay for your t-shirts:

• Click the link to donate online http://main.acsevents.org/goto/teammckinley (please email me to let me know if you are paying for your t-shirt by donating online)
• Donating with cash – hand your money into your community manager and they can make one donation at the end of the month.  If you’re at the corporate office, hand your money to Martina and we will make one donation at the end of the month.
• Donating with a check – make the check out to the “American Cancer Society” with “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” written in the memo line.

Thanks for your help everyone!

Yours in Health and Wellness,

Meredith