Mark your Calendars; the Summer Steps Showdown is coming soon!

On May 24th, sign-ups begin. On that date, you can go to NGoodHealth.com to sign up for the Summer Showdown Challenge.

The challenge will kick-off on June 7th and wrap up on July 12th. Make sure your activity trackers are synced and ready to go! Discounted fitness devices are available through N Good Health. Visit NGoodHealth.com and click on the “Get Your Fitness Device” button in the left-hand column. You must have a device synced to N Good Health to earn step points.

Weekly prize drawings will be available based off a daily step goal of 7,500 steps. Not only do you get entered into the weekly drawing, you can also earn one healthy action point toward completing step 4! 7,500 steps = 1 point, it’s a win-win!

The shoe trophy will be back and up for grabs. Will your facility hang on to the trophy? The facility team with the highest step average each week will get the traveling trophy and have their photo posted on Nsite. At the end of the challenge, the facility with the highest step average keeps the trophy and the bragging rights.

Spring Clean Your Diet With These 5 Tips

With the change of the season comes warmer weather, new foods, and of course diet fads and trends. Don’t fall for any diet that promises quick and easy weight loss to get ready for bathing suit season! The severe restrictions and temporary weight loss just isn’t worth it when you can learn how to make sustainable changes to diet and lifestyle that will last in the long term. Here are five simple ways to clean up your diet and get on the right path to looking and feeling your best:

  1. Make small changes to your diet.

Place an emphasis on making small shifts to your diet rather than radical changes which are often difficult to stick with. Think of a food habit you’d like to change and slowly ease into a new ritual by making a small shift.

  1. Swap multigrain for whole grains products.

The term “multigrain” is defined by a food containing a blend of two or more grains and often can contain grains from refined sources. These grains can include oats, barley, cornmeal, wheat, millet, flax and others. This should not be confused with whole wheat which is a grain of any cereal and pseudocereal that contains the endosperm, germ, and bran which retains all the important nutrients of all parts of the grain.

  1. Go green!

Many green vegetables like kale, spinach, and broccoli are some of the healthiest choices. A favorite springtime produce is asparagus which is full of fiber, folate, vitamin K, and iron. Add asparagus to your spring dinner routine with this recipe for Garlic-Parmesan Asparagus.

  1. Find hidden sugars in your favorite foods.

You may be aware that soda and candy are full of added sugar but you may not pay attention to the hidden sugar in your favorite salad dressings, sauces, or whole grain cereals. Although it would be easier to reduce sugar intake if the label listed it plainly as “sugar” but many foods list it on food labels under names like sucrose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, agave nectar, honey, dextrose, and evaporated cane juice.

  1. Eat fat.
    Try to include healthy fats in your diet like olive oil, nuts, and avocado. These fats can help you feel full and stay full for longer periods of time, therefore reducing you chance of grabbing those mid-afternoon snacks. Nuts are an excellent snack because they contain heart-healthy unsaturated fats, protein, and fiber. Just be mindful on the portion size, fat contains more calories than carbohydrate and protein so stick to one serving at a time!

Remember- one day at a time, one meal at a time. You got this!

N Good Health Success Story Spotlight: Barry Barmore

** Note: On the picture in our April newsletter, Mr. Barmore is listed as “Robert Barmore”. We apologize for the error and want to make sure Mr. Barry Barmore receives the recognition he deserves for being diligent when it comes to completing his N Good Health visit. Without his dedication to completing his N Good Health four steps, the story you are about to read could have turned out much differently. Barry- you rock!

This picture was taken in January 2020 at the Molly Johnson Foundation Ball & Auction; approximately 8 weeks after surgery.

In August 2019 my husband went to a new internal medicine doctor whom I had found for him on the Norton Healthcare provider search. This was to be his N Good Health visit. She found him to be in A-Fib and referred him to a cardiology group at Audubon for additional tests and imaging. Not only was he in A-Fib but he had a bicuspid heart valve and a large ascending aortic aneurysm that needed surgical intervention to prevent it from rupturing. In November his cardiac surgery team at Audubon hospital performed open-heart surgery to repair the aneurysm. a Maze procedure to fix the A-Fib and inserted an aortic clip to prevent clotting. Thankfully, the bicuspid valve was working properly and didn’t need intervention. Now, a little over a year later he is doing great and even has a big scar that is good topic of conversation!  Thank you Norton Healthcare for a great outcome.

Do YOU have a story to share?  Please send your wellness success stories to N Good Health by reaching out to Lacey Nelson at [email protected] with the subject line “Success Story”. You never know who may hear your story and get inspired to make their health a priority!

Three months left to finish your 4 steps for your chance to win!

N Good Health participants that complete all 4 N Good Health steps by June 15, 2021 will be entered to win prizes. There will be 30 winners!

So, finish completing your steps and schedule your N Good Health physical now. More than 30 prizes are up for grabs!*

You can schedule your N Good Health physical through your MyNortonChart account. The final deadline for completing the 4 steps to earn wellness credits is Sept. 15, 2021. **

Prizes Include:

1) Free health insurance for 2022

2) $910 in cash (10 winners)

3) Pick a prize (15 winners). Some of those options include:

  • Free lunch every payday
  • YMCA family membership
  • Monthly Green Bean Delivery
  • Hot air balloon ride for two
  • Tickets on the Town (Churchill Downs, Louisville City FC, Louisville Bats)
  • Bike to Beat Cancer Family Ride registration
  • Festival of Trees & Lights family tickets
  • Planet Fitness Classic Membership
  • Norton Sports Performance membership

*Some prizes are based on availability.
** New hires get 180 days from their hire date to complete their 4 steps. 

12 ways you can achieve 7500 steps today

Walking is the easiest form of exercise and is something most people can do, regardless of their level of fitness.  Increasing the amount of daily walking to 30 or more minutes has significant health benefits like lowering blood sugar levels, decreasing waist circumference, improving mood and lowering blood pressure. 

We know it’s good for us so let’s talk about how to incorporate it into our days.  Remember, one of the N Good Health Healthy Actions is to walk 7500 steps daily to receive one point towards completing step 4.   When all 4 steps are complete you can earn $910 in wellness credits.  Using an activity tracker (available for a nice discount at www.ngoodhealth.com) or an app on your phone, set aside a day or two to establish a baseline to see how many steps you typically cover in a day.  Everyone is different so if your baseline is 2000 steps, trying to shoot for 7500 steps tomorrow may feel daunting and could possibly lead to injury.  Set reasonable goals and progress slowly to your ultimate target of 7500 daily steps.  If you are already achieving a minimum of 7500 steps daily, think of what level you would like to reach and start increasing your steps by 10 to 20% each day to reach a higher goal.  

Here are some ideas to increase your daily steps:

  1. Park your car far from the entrance of work or the store
  2. After loading your groceries in the car, walk your cart all the way back into the store instead of parking it in the corral
  3. Schedule a “walking meeting” with an associate and take a clipboard or small notebook to take notes on if needed
  4. Walk to your coworker’s desk to ask a question instead of sending an email and stroll to the printer to pick up your copies
  5. Pick the restroom or water fountain that is farthest from your work station
  6. Enjoy a pre- or post-dinner walk around the neighborhood
  7. Put on your favorite tunes and shake your groovy to the beat of the music
  8. Walk along while the kids ride their bikes or walk around the field while they play their sport
  9. Meet for a coffee/drink date and take it for a walk
  10. Volunteer at a local animal shelter/veterinarian/doggy day care and walk dogs for them if you don’t  have your own dog to walk
  11. If you ride the bus, get off a stop early or get on a stop later
  12. Walk around the house during commercials if you watch television

Looking for a change of scenery?  Explore the many parks and trails Louisville has to offer.  Maybe pick one from this list to visit each weekend.  Get creative, break any sedentary habits and enjoy the health benefits of walking each day.

Reducing Stress and Building Resilience

During the month of April, learn how to cultivate mindfulness, positivity and simple everyday techniques to become more resilient to stress.

This four week workshop found in your N Good Health account will show you how you can cultivate mindfulness, positivity, and simple techniques to become more resilient to stress. Identify those aspects of your personality that impact how well you cope with stress. A variety of articles and videos will help you understand how personality and stress are related.

Week 1: Personality Discovery

Week 2: Creating Resilience

Week 3: Cultivating Mindfulness

Week 4: Stress Management in Practice

To access the workshop, participants will need to log into their N Good Health account, click on “Wellness Workshops” and find the workshop “Reducing Stress and Building Resilience” and click “Add”. Complete each week’s information, every week for four weeks.

Earn 10 Healthy Actions points upon completion and get entered to win a wellness basket! To get entered to win the wellness basket, you will need to complete all of week one content by April 30th. A winner will be chosen May 5th.

Tantalize Your Taste buds with Latin American Cuisine

When putting together a meal, it’s always a good idea to
“personalize your plate.” This means you should strive to include your favorite foods from a variety of food groups so you can ensure you are getting all the important nutrients your body needs.  Experimenting with new dishes can be both fun and flavorful. Take Latin American dishes for example. Traditionally, a Latin American diet is filled with whole grain corn, fresh fruit and vegetables, beans, rice, herbs and spices and is combined with a strong emphasis on family life that helps to support good health. 

These foods are just a few examples of dishes from Latin American that can be incorporated into a healthy meal plan:   

Breakfast:

  • Scrambled egg with tomato, onion and peppers in a corn tortilla or arepa with cheese
  • Beans and rice, with sliced tomato and cooked egg and plantain

Lunch or Dinner:

  • Tamales filled with cheese and chicken or beans, served with tomatillo salsa and zucchini
  • Pumpkin and quinoa soup with white beans
  • Pupusas (masa corn cake filled with cheese, beans or meat) with salsa and curtido (a type of cabbage slaw)
  • Fish tacos with avocados and salsa, sautéed chard and pineapple
  • Ropa vieja (shredded beef in a spicy tomato sauce) with rice, black beans, collard greens and avocado
  • Soup or stew with hominy topped with shredded cheese, lettuce and radish and served with a side of fresh fruit
  • Bean and cheese empanada (stuffed pastry) with a mango and jicama salad
  • Arroz con Pollo (seasoned chicken and rice) with a side of peppers, tomatoes, and
  • chayote squash
  • A cup of sancocho (meat and root vegetable stew) with green salad and yogurt and berries for dessert

Snacks:

  • Raw vegetables dipped in guacamole
  • Fruit smoothie made with milk

N Good Health’s new challenge is here: Join Spring Into Fitness today!

N Good Health is proud to introduce a new challenge which is focused on physical activity: Spring into Fitness. The 4 week challenge, focuses on 30 minutes of physical activity each day during the challenge. The goal is to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Whether you are a walker, a swimmer, participate in yoga, etc; this challenge really is for everyone!

How do I sign up?

Sign ups are open NOW! To sign up, simply login to your account on NGoodHealth.com, then select the green “Sign Up” button in the challenges section. You would then choose “Create a team.” This is an individual challenge, so you are essentially creating your own “team of one” and naming it whatever you like. 🙂 The challenge runs from April 5th to May 3rd.

How is my activity tracked?

Some devices that track physical activity and sync to N Good Health will automatically sync your physical activity once your activity is complete. If not, that is ok. You can manually enter your physical activities into the challenge section or under “My Tracking Tools” in your N Good Health account.

How can I win prizes?

Weekly prize drawings: Participants who meet their exercise goal of at least 30 minutes of activity each day, will be entered into a raffle and have a chance to randomly win $50. Five participants will win each week!

Questions?

Call (502) 629-2162 or submit a service request by selecting N Good Health under Departments on Nsite and clicking “Contact Us”.

National Dress in Blue Day is Friday, March 5th

Blue is the color of the day on Friday, March 6, to raise awareness for colon cancer, the second most deadly form of cancer among men and women in the country.

When you participate in National Dress in Blue Day, you show your support for colon cancer screenings, which can save lives. Colon cancer is highly treatable when it’s caught early, yet one-third of adults are not getting screened as recommended.

If your scrub color or uniform does not allow you to wear blue, there are other ways for you to show your support, including:

• Wear a blue ribbon on your scrubs or badge.

• Recognize a colon cancer survivor.

• Encourage your friends and family to wear blue.

• Learn your risk by taking an online colon cancer risk assessment.

If you’re age 50 or older, Norton Healthcare has made it simple for you to schedule your colonoscopy. With weekend appointments available and at-home colon cancer screening tests, why wait?

Visit NortonHealthcare.com/Colon to schedule your appointment today.