Healthy Lifestyle Resources
Staff Meeting in a Box
Need staff meeting ideas? Welcome to our Staff Meeting in a Box! Each month, we provide a full staff meeting worth of materials on a particular topic, taking all of the planning off of your shoulders!
This month’s topic is adequate sleep. By clicking on the link below, you will be directed to our online platform, where you will have access to a 10 minute video, created by Carol Hurst, as well as several downloadable resources and activities for your staff!
Wellness Tip of the Month
A healthy lifestyle is not just about physical health, but both physical and mental. Harvard trained Positive Psychologist, Shawn Achor, mentioned the following techniques when striving for happiness. Pick 3 of the following 5 things, and focus on them for at least 21 days.
- Write down 3 thing a day that you are grateful for
- Journal at the end of the day about a positive thing that happened to you that day
- Exercise for at least 20 minutes a day, 4-5 days a week
- Meditate
- Perform one random act of kindness
In addition, it is recommended that the following are avoided in order to get better sleep at night; which is essential for happiness and high performance:
- Avoid eating at least 2 hours before going to bed
- Consume only small amounts of alcohol prior to bed (ex. 1 glass of wine is fine)
- Drink plenty of water before going to bed
Employee Handbook Tip of the Month
When addressing food and drink in the workplace, consider encouraging water consumption and healthy food choices. Staying hydrated is essential for cognitive functioning.
In addition, consider giving every employee an OSHA compliant drinking container so that they can keep it close by (never in high-hazard areas) and stay hydrated.
The leadership team should discuss a commitment to cater in healthy food options for staff meetings, and outlining all of this in the employee manual.
When onboarding an employee, and starting their employment with this information, you increase the likelihood they will buy into the value of a healthy lifestyle.
Tips to Help Live a Healthy Lifestyle
Book Review/Recommendation
Title: The Wellness Journal for Veterinary Team Members
Improving emotional maturity is hard without a structured path. Daily dramas can take over and direct our actions. Having pointed questions for self-examination of empathy and appreciation of others keeps this at the forefront instead of lost in the daily grind. A regular commitment, whether daily or weekly, encouraging the task of pulling these details from the mind creates an awareness and is the first step to change and growth.
This Wellness Journal offers direction to remind Veterinary individuals of the little things that make us smile, track the things we have to be grateful for and bring areas of concern into focus. The day to day stresses can make it difficult to see progress but the weekly layout of the journal gives reference for growth. By having each weekly section dated, we can flip back and see that some things will always be there but also where progress has been made which could be overlooked without such a tracking tool.
The outlined queries for drilling down to stressors is the perfect opportunity to take a step back and search for solutions without the overwhelming feeling that these things are personal attacks. The variety of encouraging quotes in each week offer a little boost that is likely missing in a day of patient, client, coworker, and personal chaos.
– Debbie Hill, CVPM SPHR SHRM-SCP CCFP
Vet Med After Hours Podcast
Episode 27: “Avoiding the Overwhelm”
Recipe: Healthy, Hearty Breakfast Skillet
Ingredients:
- 1 can of cannellini beans, drained
- 2 cups of spinach
- 1 orange or yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium sized potato, diced
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 medium sized carrot, diced
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- Fresh herbs (personal preference or what you have on hand)
- Salt/pepper to taste
- Side of salsa
Directions:
- Heat skillet over medium heat. Add in 2-3 tbsp of olive oil.
- Add diced potatoes, carrots and salt and pepper. Cook until crispy on the outside or almost soft (about 5 minutes).
- Add in onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cook 2-3 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add in beans and herbs. Cook a few minutes until all ingredients are soft and fragrant.
- Last, add the spinach and cook until desired softness, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Optimal is slightly wilted.
- Serve with salsa on the side.