Tag Archives: employee health

From workaholic to fitness enthusiast: living a healthier lifestyle

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When I turned 50, I joined a gym – it was a birthday present to myself. Many years of working long hours, commuting, and raising two daughters kept me from regular workouts. I figured at 50 it was well past time. I knew that no one at work was going to come into my office at 6pm and tell me to go home and take care of myself. I had to own it. I have belonged to a gym almost continuously since then though I’ve lived at 5 different addresses in that time.

I had another major milestone birthday last week. And I can honestly say I have never been as physically active as I am now. Go figure. Guess that’s what happens when you work less!

At a minimum, I walk a 1.3 mile loop late afternoon almost every day with our two dogs. I go to 4 classes a week at the YMCA if I register before there are wait lists. I play pickleball every day I can when the weather is good. And I’ve signed up with a women’s golf group to play 9 holes once a week when my schedule allows – I know this will be more fun and social than exercise.

If you are a golfer, you know that’s a humbling experience! From 2000 to 2012, I had periods where I golfed 9 holes once a week but never took lessons. In the past 10 years, I’ve golfed only a few times at charity outings. We moved to a planned community in late 2021 and our townhouse is on one of the two golf courses. We see a lovely but challenging par 3 hole from our deck – we see golfers tee off hoping to hit it over the junk and then we see them hunt for their ball around the green. This summer I decided it was time to get back into golf myself. Continue reading →

New year, new health goals, new tools

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On Tuesday, our new trackers arrived. I’ve used a Fitbit since late 2013 and still had the Fitbit One device. It served its purpose as a very basic step tracker. When it started getting less reliable during our January vacation, I decided it was time to up my game with newer tracking technology. Plus, I realized my device was discontinued a few years ago so forget about just replacing it. My husband, Tom, was ready to start more serious tracking as we focused on new health goals in 2022. He had recently downloaded a free step tracker app to his iPhone, but it was only useful if he always had his phone with him.

We carefully compared the different Fitbit devices reading specs and watching the videos. Doing the comparison shopping together on my laptop had me in tears laughing with him. Tom has never been athletic and hated gym class as a kid. We were doing the main feature compare between the Luxe and the Inspire 2. But we thought we should check out the Charge 5 before we called the question. Part way through the short video for the Charge 5, Tom said, “It’s scaring me, it’s like gym class on your wrist”. I told you, I had tears I laughed so hard at that. We each placed an order for a Luxe and the Premium Membership.

Once we had the devices charged and he downloaded the software for the first time, we quickly figured out the main features and how to navigate. We are constantly comparing our stats. I know that will wear off. But there is a new motivation in our house to get in better shape and get out walking longer distances each day. Continue reading →

Never too busy to take care of ourselves

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I have been impressed with my University of Vermont Health Network colleagues this summer on many fronts. Not the least of which is their level of physical activity. All summer I’ve heard about long bike rides, YourHealthYourChoicehiking, kayaking, mountain climbing and even a relay race overnight through the woods, called Ragnar.

They have motivated me to get back into my own workout regimen. Something I put on the back burner for three months. The last time I’d been to the gym was the week before I started this interim engagement in late May. I’ve been walking every night for 20-30 minutes but that is not the same as cardio and weight training at the gym. Classic story – you get busy and something must give. In my case, it was my workout routine.

Happy to say I started back at the gym two weeks ago and have worked it into my weekend and weeknight routine. Does it mean a few emails might not get answered some evening? Yes. But it’s critical to maintain balance and take care of ourselves – especially during busy periods. And especially when you are away from home in a hotel room each night where it’s all too easy to work until you turn the lights out for the night.

If one of my busiest colleagues who is routinely doing email very late at night can get up early and do a 20 mile bike ride before work, then I can make time to get to the gym a few nights a week.

We are about 60 days from our big Epic go live on November 1. It will only get more stressful and busier from here on, not less. As a leader, helping others maintain balance is best done if we too maintain balance in our lives. Continue reading →

Just breathe

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Our quarterly IT Town Hall was this week. It’s a chance to bring all staff together, welcome new employees, and recognize promotions and special individual accomplishments. Each IT leader highlightedcanstockphoto15842113 3 successes in their areas this quarter and their 2016 priority projects. I commented on the changes we’ve made: re-establishment of IT governance, process improvements to ensure a more stable production environment, and our new visual management board.

We squeezed all of that into the first half hour so we could get to our guest speaker, Dr. Francois Adan, Medical Director of UH Connor Integrative Health Network. She gave us something we could all use: techniques to manage stress.

In 50 minutes, through very compelling stories, we learned what seemed like relatively simple techniques. It’s all about breathing, mindfulness, positivity, and gratitude. Basic practices we can apply every day. With Dr. Adan’s engaging speaking and teaching style, it was a delight to learn from her.

So what did we learn? Continue reading →

Commit to a healthy workforce

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Last week I joined the second “Summer Walk” that the MHealthy champions in our IT department organized. It was a 1.5 mile round trip between our two main office facilities during the lunch hour. We had about 60 participants for each walk. What a great way to get some exercise, connect with colleagues and show our shared commitment to healthy living!

I wasn’t planning to do the walk when I first saw the announcements and flyers around our office. I expected that I had meetings during that time. But when one of the MHealthy champions reached out directly and asked me to show my commitment to healthy living, how could I say no?  It turned out that I could join them if I left a meeting 15 minutes early. I’m glad I did; literally “walking the talk”.

Our department is so committed that we were recently recognized as being one of the top performing areas, with 58% of employees participating in the University’s MHealthy Rewards program. More than 21,000 people throughout the University took advantage of the annual opportunity to review their health status, develop an action plan for improvement, and participate in helpful programs and services such as Active U, Weight Watchers, tobacco treatment, or stress-management programs. This is the program’s seventh year.

Our department’s MHealthy workgroup is developing new plans for activities and events to promote physical activity, healthy eating, and other positive health behaviors. The Summer Walks on the last Friday of each month are just the beginning.

They have also started a FitBit community for the department. Continue reading →

If not now, when?

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How often have you put off scheduling a doctor appointment or preventive test because you’re just too busy? Do you keep up your exercise routine when you’ve got a big project and key deadline looming?  Do you have someone who helps keep you honest on these basic “taking care of yourself” things?YourHealthYourChoice

Have to admit I’m not the best but I am turning it around. Learned many years ago I’m the only one who can take care of me. No one is going to come into my office and say go home, you’re working too hard.

I have a gym membership and dogs that need to be walked. And it’s gorgeous here in Ann Arbor these days so I love being outside.

But I’ve also learned
that I do best at taking care of myself when I’ve got people who keep me honest. Some ideas from my recent experience: Continue reading →