Click on links to learn more!
Fresno County Wellness
April 2016
Exercise and Fitness
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Weight Watchers
Open House
Employee Benefits - Wellness
Phone: 600-1810
Email: wellness@co.fresno.ca.us
Wellness Resources Webpage
3
10
4 Mammograms 5
Mammograms
9 am-4 pm
9 am-4 pm
Plaza Bldg 16th Floor
Small Conf Rm
Crocker Bldg 1st
Floor Training Rm
11
12
18
24
A healthy BMI
(body mass index)
is under 25. Check
yours at kp.org/
calculators.
25
6
Mammograms
Mammograms
9 am-4 pm
13
20
14
Sneak in a workout
while you watch TV.
Jump rope, hulahoop, or have a good
old-fashioned dance
party.
27
Plaza Bldg 21st Floor
Training Rm
Mammograms
9
9 am-4 pm
Heritage Center
2nd Floor Conf Rm
15
16
WEBCAST:
Get Fit. Be Safe.
Go the Distance!
21
22
23
PLAY-BY-PLAY
FITNESS GUIDE
Plaza Bldg 21st Floor
Training Rm
26
8
Sat
2
9 am-4 pm
Plaza Bldg 16th Floor UMC Main Bldg 3rd
Small Conf Rm
Floor East Conf Rm
Weight Watchers
@ Work 12-1pm
FIND YOUR TARGET
HEART RATE
7
Weight Watchers
@ Work 12-1pm
CARDIO OR
STRENGTH
TRAINING?
1
Plaza Bldg 21st Floor
Plaza Bldg 21st Floor
Training Rm
19
Fri
April 6, 2016
@ Work 12-1pm
Weight Watchers
@ Work 12-1pm
HOW MUCH
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
DO I NEED?
17
Thu
28
29
30
It takes 21 days to
form a habit.
Exercise 21 days in a
row, and it’ll be
second nature.
Exercise and Fitness
Message from Dr. Ken Bird,
Fresno County Health Officer
Imagine for a moment there is a medication available that (when
taken daily) can:

Help prevent excess weight gain or maintain weight loss

Help prevent high blood pressure

Boost beneficial high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol
levels and lower triglyceride levels

Improve the amount and quality of your sleep

Enhance your libido

Strengthen your bones and muscles

Improve your mood
Now, imagine this medication has no side effects except possible
minor muscle soreness, initially, that resolves after a few days, and a
transient increase in heart rate and respiration while taking it.
Finally, imagine this medication is free and universally available, but
does require a little time to administer.
Of course we all know I’m talking about physical activity, and I’m
wondering why we are all not taking more advantage of this
miraculous medication.
Dr. Bird
(Continued on page 3)
Learning Resources:
When it comes to health and wellness, sometimes we want to do
better, but we don’t know where to start. To learn more about
exercise and fitness, review the April wellness calendar for links to
helpful articles and health tools. A special thanks to the Department
of Public Health staff for their collaboration in providing wellness
content.
Webcast: Get Fit. Be Safe. Go the Distance!
In this prerecorded webcast, Dr. Todd Weitzenberg of Kaiser
Permanente discusses how you can get the most out of exercise and
avoid injuries. He addresses the following exercise questions:





What is the best way to fuel up and hydrate?
How do clothing and shoes affect performance?
Should your warm-up include stretching?
Is there such a thing as too much exercise?
Exercise as we age - how does it change?
Listen to the webcast to learn how to maximize your exercise routine
and improve your health and fitness levels.
Fitness Playbook
Whether your goal is to get in shape for the first time or make
changes to your current workout, this play-by-play guide on getting
active by Anthem will provide you with the tools you need to
succeed. Features include: how to fit fitness into your daily life, a fourweek walking plan, a printable workout log, beginning and advanced
strength exercises, ways to mix up your workouts, yoga poses, and
tips to stick to your exercise plan.
Check out the play-by play guide and get started today.
Wellness News
Employee Wellness Survey
The Employee Wellness Survey has been emailed out to all staff and
is available through April 4, 2016. Please click here and take a
couple of minutes to complete the survey in order to provide
valuable feedback and suggestions regarding the wellness program.
Thank you in advance for your participation.
Message from Dr. Ken Bird, Health Officer
(continued from pg. 2)
For most of us it’s a matter of time and convenience. However, by
making minor changes to our routines, we can take small doses of this
medication throughout the day and receive all of its healthful effects.
Some of these minor changes to our routine to consider include:

Parking further away from our destination such as work, grocery
store, or favorite place to shop

Walking into an establishment rather than using the drive thru

Taking the stairs whenever we can instead of the elevator
Weight Watchers Open House

The Weight Watchers at Work program will be holding an Open
House on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 from 12 to 1 p.m. at the Plaza
Building, 21st Floor Training Room. Click here to learn more.
Taking a short walk on our breaks at work or, better yet, during
lunch

Standing and stretching at our desk or during long meetings at work

Planning fun activities with our family to get moving

Taking evening walks with our spouse, friends, or children

Bicycling or walking to work or when running errands

Finding a physically active hobby to replace our TV watching, video
gaming, and web browsing
Mammogram Screenings
Mammogram screenings will be held April 4-8, 2016. Click here for
more information.
Walking Works! Challenge
Mark your calendars for the fifth annual “Walking Works!”
Challenge scheduled for May 9-13, 2016. Check your email in the
weeks to come for more information about this exciting event.
Share Your Wellness Story
Do you have an inspirational story to share about health and
wellness? Have you overcome health challenges using diet, exercise,
or other lifestyle changes? What do you do to stay healthy? What
does wellness mean to you? Share your story and inspire others!
Contact wellness@co.fresno.ca.us to submit your story.
The benefits of physical activity are ours for the taking, regardless of age,
sex, or physical ability. These benefits include reduced risk of stroke,
diabetes, depression, certain cancers, arthritis, and falls (just to name a
few).
Let’s act now to improve our health and well-being.
My WellnessStory
Story
Wellness
Diasha Goins, BSW, Peer Support Specialist,
Department of Behavioral Health
I thought, “How can things get worse than this?” I
was weighing the most I have ever weighed in my
life; my confidence level was pretty low; I didn’t
feel comfortable in my body anymore; and I was
in a desperate state of finding something that
would work. My energy level began to plummet.
The fact that I was a mother with a teenage
daughter who was very active with extracurricular activities; I was a student who was also
extremely involved on campus; and the fact that I
was employed gave me the “have to” to get out
of bed to join the world. I tried everything! I
became a vegetarian, a vegan, and I began asking
people to coach me. However, there wasn’t
anything that seemed to be sticking. I knew I
needed a constant; a method that I could stay
consistent with.
At 240 pounds, I was fearful - afraid that people
were judging me everywhere I went. I felt guilty,
and I resented myself. All these negative emotions
were once so very distant in the life of this exprint model that once had an exhilarating life in
Southern California and was always complimented
on her shape. Yeah her!! At one time, she was so
proud of her hourglass figure and that great smile.
All that confidence and esteem was lost. I can
recall a time where I was visiting my sister, and
the first thing she said when I approached her
was, “You’re on your way Sis!” I replied, “On my
way to what?” She then responds with this huge
smile on her face, “On your way to being fat!”
I then decided that I was not going to be this way
any longer.
Surprisingly, one Sunday morning, I got a call from
a friend asking me to go running. I laughed
because there was not one thing about me that
said I could run. And yet, I went with him to
“walk” while he ran, and the awesome part about
it was he ran the entire time, but he never left my
side. The following week he took me to a free
local fit club where I saw people of all sizes
working toward the same goal, a health and
wellness upgrade.
The health coach explained to me that in order to
reach my goal I would have to find out why I
wanted to lose weight in the first place - that it
needed to be something that would guarantee my
progress. I told him that I wanted my smile back. I
noticed, when I viewed pictures, which I’d taken
with friends, I was the one that looked least
confident. I always had an expression on my face
that portrayed fear. In fact, I was afraid. I was
afraid of how awful my part in the photo would
be. I wanted my smile back.
I continued to attend the fitness group three
times a week. The coach introduced me to the
Herbalife Nutritional program, and I lost ten
pounds in one week. I slowly started noticing my
body change, and that was what I needed. I finally
had a means to an end. I worked out twice as
hard as prescribed, and I was very specific about
my nutrition plan. I eventually became a health
coach so that I could help change another
individual’s life the way mine was changing, and
my energy levels were through the roof.
That was two and a half years ago, and I have lost
a total of 76 pounds in all! I am in the best shape
of my life, and I continue to coach and teach
people about the importance of staying fit. I am
now a runner with my own free walk/run fit club;
I’ve run a tennis club and a boot camp. Today, I
am confident. I am unafraid, and I have been
intentionally striving to continue bettering myself
each day in the healthiest way possible.
During this time, I also worked very diligently on
my way of thinking. I didn’t want to have the fat
girl mentality that I’ve heard so much about. So I
intentionally became aware of who I was at that
exact moment. Meeting myself where I was took
me to places I’ve never been. Even before I gained
all the weight, I never knew this secret. I was the
one who would say things like, “When I… I will…
When I lose 50 pounds, I will go swimming.
When I lose 40 pounds, I will take more photos.”
Why not now? I had to change my way of thinking
into mindful thinking and learn to live in the now.
So that is where I live today. I am not perfect at
it, but thank goodness I am not where I once was.
Congratulations, Diasha!
Share your wellness story with us too!
See page 3 for more information.