Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation

Small Steps Count

Written on August 30, 2010 at 12:19 pm, by Amy Heydlauff

Have you gone to the Real Age website, yet?  Are you familiar with Dr. Oz?  He & his partner do a good job of keeping us informed.  However, I could relate to this entry from one of Dr. Oz’s readers (tag name ‘goatcheese’) on the Real Age website (I edited to shorten):

Ease up Dr. Oz, Everything isn’t black or white. Some of us are stuck in a gray area that has to take baby steps. I am taking small steps and trying to change bit by bit but I don’t have the will power most of you have. Lighten-up!! Us slow-pokes are trying but give us credit for that. Nobody is perfect.

Goatcheese is right, of course, no one is perfect, but the small steps count.  As they say, you can move a mountain one teaspoon full of dirt at a time.

Tongue Trama

Written on August 24, 2010 at 12:57 pm, by Amy Heydlauff

My tongue is raw from all the tomatoes, peaches and raspberries I’m eating.  And I don’t care if it starts to bleed – August is the most amazing month in which to feed ourselves.  It is not only a feast for the tongue but also the eye and soul.  I understand why an artist would paint a still-life of fruit.  In real life the colors are magnificent. 

After work yesterday I went to the raspberry farm on North Territorial (Berry Hill Farm).  For almost an hour it was just me, the raspberries, birds and bees.  It was downright spiritual.  In the evening Mark & I hardly knew what to eat first.  Blueberries, raspberries, peaches and tomatoes are lined up on our kitchen counter.   

I wouldn’t trade fresh Michigan produce for all the potatoes in Idaho!

Village of Dexter Community Garden

Written on August 20, 2010 at 10:24 am, by Melissa Kesterson

Things are growing in the Village of Dexter!  Tomatoes, peppers, zucchinis and melons are thriving in the Village of Dexter community garden.

With the generous support of the Chelsea Area Wellness Foundation, the new community garden in the Village of Dexter opened this season on Dan Hoey road on property owned by the village.  The location was once a farm, lending a perfect atmosphere to the gardening experience.    Further making the gardening experience a pleasant one is perfect loamy soil in what was once a sheep pasture, easy parking, access to plenty of fresh water and close proximity of the garden to the  village’s downtown.

Village of Dexter community garden gardeners will be tracking their harvest this season, but the garden is flourishing with corn, tomatoes, and cabbages to name just a few of the crops growing in abundance.

Many individuals and families are working the soil in the 10 plots, but a few groups are growing for donation as well.  The Dexter Rotary club and Kiwanis have plots chock full of produce for donation. 

Like gardens everywhere the Village of Dexter community garden greatly improves access to fresh produce for everyone who gardens in it. Community is created by simply gardening alongside your neighbors, leaning over the  fence, chatting from one plot to the other, sharing successes and discussing concerns. 

People from many different walks of life garden in the  Village of Dexter Community Garden and while gardening is the common denominator that brings everyone together ,it is also the reason for the garden’s success this first season and in the “growing” the community garden is  sure  to experience in years to come!

Melissa Kesterson is the Garden Coordinator at the Dexter Community Garden.

Biker Grand-Dad

Written on August 13, 2010 at 11:32 am, by Amy Heydlauff

Shawn Lewis-Lakin is on our Board of Directors.  He recently missed a meeting to go on a camping and cycling vacation with his family; including his college age children, a brother and his 80 year-old father.  Yes, I said 80 year-old father. 

They almost cancelled the trip but Shawn’s Dad was heartbroken by the thought, so they found a way to bring everyone together in spite of conflicting schedules. Shawn’s Dad trained all spring for the 30-55 mile rides each day of the vacation and by gosh, he was going to ride them.

 Wow!

Chelsea Community Garden

Written on August 3, 2010 at 9:58 am, by Susan Morrel-Samuels

The mission of Chelsea Community Garden is to create an opportunity for Chelsea area residents to have garden plots within the city where they can grow fresh, organic produce.  The gardens also provide produce for the Faith in Action food pantry, which benefits low-income families and senior citizens.

The Chelsea Community Garden was initiated by a small group of people who came together in the winter of 2009. Now in its second season, the garden includes over 20 plots filled with vegetables and flowers. The Community Garden has prospered thanks to volunteer efforts of many area residents and the support of Faith in Action, which acts as a fiduciary, the City of Chelsea, and the Chelsea Community Foundation, ACO Hardware,and the Chelsea Garden Club.

Susan Morrel-Samuels is the Managing Director, Prevention Research Center of Michigan and is a member of the Community Garden steering committee.

Summer is Yummy!

Written on July 21, 2010 at 9:27 am, by Amy Heydlauff

Blueberries,
Pea pods,
Red potatoes,
Wax beans,
Summer squash of every shape and size,
Radishes,
Corn on the cob,
Basil,
Cucumbers,
Cherries, 
Raspberries,
Beets,
Summer is yummy!

Vitality is Alive at the Senior Center

Written on July 15, 2010 at 8:55 am, by carbour

The Chelsea Senior Center is a place of vitality. Did you know that we have a Laughter Club? This club is a group of seniors who meet weekly just to laugh. Laughter is a social interaction, a positive reinforcement, and clearly a healthy dose of medicine. Laughing exercises your lungs, heart, and diaphragm. It also helps in reducing stress which can lead to lower blood pressure.

Vitality comes in all forms and laughter is just one more way for our seniors to improve their wellness. The next time you have a chance to listen to a joke, or to tell a joke, jump in and give it a chance. You too will reap the benefits of laughter. 

Caroline Arbour is a student at Eastern Michigan Univertsity in the Graduate Certificate Program in Gerontology.  She is currently an intern with the Chelsea Senior Center where she oversees the program planning committee and works with senior volunteers.

Advice From Rug Rats

Written on July 2, 2010 at 1:22 pm, by Amy Heydlauff

The book Mindless Eating is making the rounds among members of the Board of the CWF.  There are some great points in the book.  But how about some tips from those less likely to be published?  Kids.

Children

1. Only eat when they’re hungry.
2. But they do eat when they’re hungry.
3. Stop eating when they’re full – they actually clamp their mouth shut & turn their head away
4. Eat with gusto. They look over, touch and smell their food (sometimes they stick things in their ears – not part of these recommendations).
5. Eat frequently, but not very much at one time.

Want to be like a kid, again?  You could start here.

Labels are Our Friend

Written on June 28, 2010 at 7:47 am, by Amy Heydlauff

Yesterday I was in the grocery store reading yogurt labels.  Did you know there is now yogurt for babies?  There is even a ‘pear & peas’ yogurt.  Pears & peas mixed into the same 4 oz carton of yogurt.  I couldn’t resist reading the label.  What I found was 14 grams of sugar.

Now, an entire cup of peas has 8 grams of sugar and a whole pear has 9 grams of sugar.  I seriously doubt an entire cup of peas & an entire pear found their way into the 4 oz yogurt carton.  That tells me there is added sugar in the pear & pea yogurt we’re feeding babies.  Why?

Once again I find myself thinking of my mother who simply smashed up some of the peas the rest of us were eating & fed them to my youngest sister.  No sugar added.

Contagion

Written on June 17, 2010 at 8:07 am, by APollard

I came into work one day about a month ago to find one of my staff sitting in her cube on a big red exercise ball.   After resisting the childish urge to kick the ball out from under her (she has a sense of humor), I asked her what prompted the chair replacement.  Apparently, her physician and physical therapist had recommended she use the ball to help with her back pain, improve her posture and strengthen her core muscles.  Then, because she is a very enthusiastic person, she kindly volunteered to take $25 of my cash and bring me in my own ball. 

 Since there are many days that I spend hours sitting at my desk, I thought getting a ball would be a fun and convenient way for me to do something positive for my own health, so I soon became the owner of a nice new red ball of my own.  I wasn’t alone…within the week several other workers had either purchased their own balls or found the lonely ball from the basement at home and put it back into action.  I walked in one day to find over half my staff in the Ann Arbor office sitting on green, blue, silver and red colored exercise balls while they took phone calls, engaged in analytics and conducted whatever work they had for the day.   They were also having fun and enjoying the novelty of their new chairs.  Some even went as far as wearing outfits that matched their balls on the planned picture day (after being instructed to the night before by one very peppy employee).

As someone who frequently engages in conversations, both at work and at the Wellness Foundation, about strategies for getting people engaged in contributing to their own health, I was particularly struck by the spread of the exercise balls.  The proliferation of the balls, I realized, was a small scale example of what we, at the Foundation, are trying to achieve on a larger scale, and the chain reaction provided a glimpse into one part of our strategy.   If it’s fun, easy and convenient, it may very well be contagious!

 Alison Pollard is Vice President of Provider Affairs for Bluecare Network and a member of the CWF Board of Directors.