In a world of quick fixes, temporary solutions and unrealistic recommendations, it’s nice to see health and wellness advice shift towards positive and practical solutions. Today marks the official start of the 19th annual Healthy Weight Week, with the goal being to “celebrate healthy diet-free living habits that last a lifetime.” During the week, people are encouraged to "improve health habits in lasting ways: to eat well, live actively and feel good about themselves and others." With a mission and goal so closely matched to our own healthy lifestyle approach, here's how Dairy Council of California is supporting wellness now and well beyond Healthy Weight Week.
Talking the Talk
We are fortunate to be able to educate millions of Californians each year by partnering with schools, health professionals, workplace wellness coordinators and community leaders. I can speak for the rest of our staff when I say that each one of us personally believes in the value of nutrition education, optimal wellness and positive ways to create healthy habits. But like most people, we also need daily motivation and inspiration to stay on track with our own personal health and wellness goals. As a way to mirror the work we do to improve the health of those in our communities, we make it a priority to promote wellness within our work environment as well.
Walking the Walk
Healthy Weight Week marks the beginning of our very own workplace wellness
challenge- The 1000 Minute Club. For the next six weeks, Dairy Council of California staffers are all tracking the total minutes we engage in physical activity. With just 30 minutes per day, most days of the week, we can accomplish our individual goals of 1000 minutes of activity. Throughout these six weeks we are encouraging one another to go on lunchtime walks, share our own favorite new exercises (my favorite is Pilates and office yoga) and offer support.
It’s amazing how a simple office wellness challenge really brings everyone together and helps us better achieve our personal health goals. Because our workplace wellness program is such an important part of our organization, we offer a free online workplace wellness toolkit to help others effectively implement or improve their own wellness programs.
Join us!
Are you an educator, a health professional or wellness leader? You have the power to help people lead healthier lives! And we want to make that as easy as possible. That’s why we offer a wide array of resources to teach children, adults and parents how to make better food choices and engage in more physically activity. Best of all, our nutrition education resources focus on positive, small, realistic steps that lead to lasting results.
How do you plan on celebrating Healthy Weight Week?
Ashley Rosales, RD
Ashley Rosales, Registered Dietitian
About me:
Ashley Rosales, registered dietitian, received her B.S. in Clinical Nutrition from UC Davis and completed the dietetic internship program at Napa State Hospital. She has a professional background in nutrition for the elderly and has worked in both the clinical and community setting. However, she has found her true calling working in the field of nutrition education where she can empower others to make the best food and lifestyle decisions for their own optimal health and wellness.
Ashley’s fondest childhood memories took place in the kitchen helping her mom and grandmother cook, or around the dinner table sharing laughs with family and friends. As a wife and new mom she loves keeping the family mealtime tradition alive by preparing delicious and nutritious meals at home and she is inspired to help others do the same. She strongly believes that no matter what challenges families are faced with, such as limited time, lack of skills or even economic resources, they can find unique ways to share in a home cooked meal and reap all of the wonderful benefits of family meal time.
Her favorite quote: “We are indeed more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us be much more than what we are.”
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