SMART START Newsletter Produced by Risk Management - Christina Kempf, Employee Wellness Coordinator May 12, 2014

In this issue: Free Mammograms Self-Care Webinar

Need Incentive to Quit? That Much?! Kale Shake

Anti-Aging Secret Healthy in No Time

Fighting Skin Cancer, Again Target Health Winners CCW / Health Advocate

Goal Setting Healthy Homemade Lemonade

Please share this information with staff who may not have computer access!

Free Mammograms It’s been a year since we launched the “You

Owe It to Yourself to Know” campaign. Have

you had your mammogram?

Screening mammograms for women 40 years

old and older, as well as other preventative

screenings, are now covered under the

Affordable Care Act for those with insurance.

That means there is no cost to you such as an

office visit fee or copay.

Many PCS employees have the summer off,

making it a perfect time to schedule your mam-

mogram and preventative screenings. If the

summer doesn’t work for you, screening mam-

mograms are covered year round. Regardless

of when you choose, make sure to keep up-to-

date on screenings. Screenings save lives.

If its been over a year since your last mammo-

gram and you are 40 or older or have a family

history of breast cancer, don’t put off this

important screening. Don’t give cancer the

opportunity to take hold of your life.

For more information and to learn how to do self

breast exams, to download reminder apps to

perform self exams, and for other info related to

breast health, visit

www.pcsb.org/lifesavers-breast .

Self-Care Webinar

We often think of self-care as selfish. We

put everyone else's needs ahead of ours

and promise ourselves our time will come.

But, unless we create time to focus on our

own needs, we won't ever do it and we may

burn out. In this webinar, you will identify

self-care practices that could be right for

you and learn how to adopt a regular, on-

going self-care practice so you can restore

our passion for life, maintain good health,

solid relationships and experience greater

peace of mind.

WHEN:

May 20th, 12pm – 1pm or 2pm – 3pm

To register for 12pm session https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/908049127

To register for 2pm session https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/203375575

If you are unable to participate during either

of these times, the archived webinar will be

available a couple days after the event.

See page 4 of the newsletter on accessing

the online courses.

This is hosted by Life Advantage and the

presenter is Cindy Loughran, a Professional

Certified Coach, this hour-long webinar will

feature a 45-minute presentation followed by a

15-minute question and answer session.  This

webinar is made possible by our Employee

Assistance Program, CCW/Health Advocate. 

Need Incentive to Quit?

Consider what happens to your body after you stop smoking:

20 minutes after quitting: Heart rate and blood pressure drop.

12 hours: carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal

2 weeks to 3 months: Circula-tion and lung function improved

1 to 9 months: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; regain normal function in lungs

1 year: Excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s

5 years: Stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmok-er 5 to 15 years after quitting

10 years: Lung cancer death rate is about half that of a person who continues smoking. Risk of other cancers decrease too.

15 years: Risk of coronary heart disease is the same of a non-smoker’s

That Much?!

Replacing 1 soda a day with water can yield a 16 pound yearly weight loss,

without exercise or any other behavior changes.

Kale Shake That Tastes Like Ice Cream

1 cup water (or coconut water or almond milk) 1 cup torn-up curly green kale leaves 1/4 cup chopped pitted dates 1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews, soaked (about 2 hours)

(You can also boil for about 10 minutes instead but that kills the live enzymes)

2 ripe bananas, fresh or frozen 1 tsp natural vanilla extract 1/2 tsp minced ginger 2 cups ice cubes (add ice slowly, use

less if you are using frozen bananas) Makes 2 servings Recipe from Tess Masters - ”The Blender Girl” Author and Food Blogger. If you try it, let me know what you think! kempfc@pcsb.org

FIGHTING SKIN CANCER,

AGAIN

By: Brett Fincher

I started tanning off and on when I was in college, and by

the time I was in my thirties I was visiting tanning beds

regularly. As a single guy, it gave me more confidence. I

felt like I was more attractive to women when I had a tan.

Five years ago, I noticed a spot on my chest that looked

suspicious. But no matter how many stories you hear,

you never think that you are actually going to be the one

who gets skin cancer. It took me almost a year to get the

spot looked at, and when I finally did, the news was even

worse than I imagined.

The doctor identified ten different cancerous spots on my

chest. I had to treat them with “chemo cream,” which is

not fun to use. It takes away your energy and makes you

feel really ill at times. You’re just exhausted and

nauseous the whole time you’re using it. After that, I knew

I would never tan again. But even though I learned my

lesson, I wasn’t done.

I’ve had to treat close to fifty cancerous spots on my body

over the last five years because of all the tanning I did.

And that is all from the tanning that I did prior to the first

spots. I have not been in a tanning bed in over five years,

but the cancerous spots still keep showing up. I see my

doctor every six months, and I always ask him why the

spots keep coming. He says that is just how much

damage I did back when I was tanning.

Most of the spots have been on my chest and back, but I

recently had one bout of spots on my face. There were

six spots all at once. The chemo cream I had to use

made my face look horrible. It was so embarrassing! A lot

of people asked if I had been in a motorcycle wreck; it

looked like my face had been dragged across asphalt.

I pray to God that I will not find any more spots, but I

might not be so lucky. Skin cancer is not a joke. Between

the chemo cream, getting spots frozen off, waiting for

them to be sent off to ensure it is not more serious than it

seems… it is horrible.

Take care of your skin. Don’t use tanning beds. Use

sunscreen when you are in the sun. If you want to look

tan, go and get a spray tan. I promise you, it is not worth

lying in that bed to try and look good when all you are

doing is killing your skin.

Looking for the Anti-Aging Secret?

75-year old Ernestine Shepherd seems to have found it.

CNN link

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/health/2014/04/30/pkg-firfer-md-77-year-old-bodybuilder.cnn.html

BBC link

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18346128

Healthy in No Time

Many health behaviors that have both an immediate and long term affect on your health take five minutes or less. A healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to take a lot of time.

Wash Your Hands: Frequent hand washing and absolute-ly before each time you eat. Also, keep your hands away from your face.

Brush and Floss Your Teeth: Brush twice a day for 2 minutes, floss once a day.

Schedule Your Screenings and Exams: Annual exams (including lab work), plus age-appropriate screenings, such as colonoscopies, mammograms, etc.

Pack Your Lunch: Save money and eat much healthier by packing your lunch. Plus, you may have time for a walk at lunch since you save time from driving to go eat or standing in a line waiting for food.

Take Some Deep Breaths: It only takes a few minutes to relieve anxiety and stress with deep breathing. Slowly push your stomach muscles out as you inhale and pull them in as you exhale.

Apply Sunscreen: You are exposed to the suns rays all year long. Protect yourself with at least a sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15.

Get Moving: It may only be 5 minutes we are talking about but even 5 minutes of activity is better than no activity. Movement affects body, mind and spirit.

Lisa Davis - Coachman Service Center

Brenda Vlach - Dixie Hollins Adult Ed

Sue Foster - Tomlinson Adult

Meet the Target Health Winners!

Getting an annual exam paid off BIG ($250 in gift cards BIG) for these PCS winners. They simply went to their annual exam appointment, had the Target Health Exam form signed, submitted the form and became $250 richer after the April 1 drawing.

Talk about easy!

The next drawing will take place July 1. Go to www.pcsb.org/lifesavers-prevention for details and to print the Target Health form for your chance to get YOUR beautiful

face on this page. Ten winners drawn each quarter.

Joyce Hefty - Sawgrass Lake Elem.

Tanya Le - Cross Bayou Elem.

Melissa Lenges - Northwest Elem.

Pam Simone - Boca Ciega High

Claire Watson - Clearwater Fundamental Middle

Steve DiStefano - Northwest Elem.

Van Thi Dang - Forest Lakes Elem.

Healthy Homemade Lemonade http://healthyblenderrecipes.com/videos/how_to_make_lemonade_using_the_whole_lemon

Goal Setting

Whether you want to start exercising, get more sleep, eat more nutritious foods, etc., you need to start with SETTING a goal in order to REACH your goal. Here are some tips on how to get started.

1. Define your goal in a specific and measur-able way. (Instead of “I want to lose weight” your measur-able goal might be “ I want to lose 20 pounds”).

2. Break your goal

down into a plan of action. You can’t lose 20 pounds all at once but losing 1-2 pounds per weeks is safe and reasonable. Your plan of action to reach that goal might be:

Limit sodas to 1x/day Increase water to 6

cups per day Lift weights 2x/wk Walk 5x/week for 45

minutes at brisk pace Pack healthy lunches Incorporate fruit as

dessert Always park in the

farthest parking spot at work, grocery, shopping mall, etc.

3. Set a timeline. Be realistic. For exam-ple, a 20lb. weight loss should take be-tween 2.5-5 months when done in a healthy and safe way.

4. Execute and Work Your Plan

5. Review Your Goals Daily. Make adjust-ments if necessary.

6. Celebrate success!

Note the Quote

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” ~Albert Einstein

“People are not lazy, they simply have impotent goals..that is..goals that do not inspire them.” ~Anthony Robbins