Pub. 7 2018-2019 Issue 4

Spring/Summer 2019 13 EAT WELL, LIVE WELL. Guidelines for helping you, your family or your dealership’s employees get healthier! Replacing unhealthy eating habits with healthier ones can be difficult, especially if unhealthy habits are all you have ever known. One key to making lasting improvements in your diet is to make changes in stages. Start with a small, simple change and stick to it for a week. After mastering one change, add another. Q: Why is it important to promote a healthy lifestyle to my dealership’s employees? A: In addition to the risk for serious disease, obese employees miss more work, may be less productive while at work and tend to have higher health care costs. The CDC estimates that obesity costs the United States $147 billion annually in medical costs, and that medical expenses for the obese are $1,429 higher per year than for those of a healthy weight. Targeting obesity in theworkplace is one of themost important strategies employers can take when they are aiming to improve employee health and lower medical costs. Q: Many people don’t know where to start. What are some ways to get started on a healthier diet? A: Here are some simple ways to start being healthier: • Eat breakfast. • Replace one sugary drink per day with a glass of water. • Eat one to two more fruits or vegetables each day. • Plan a healthy snack for each day of the week. • Switch to a low-fat version of one of your favorite foods. • Plan three meals and two snacks every day. • Plan as many home-cooked meals as you can, as they usually have fewer calories, more reasonable portions and cost less than typical meals eaten at restaurants. Q: I have kids and want to set a good example for them to live a healthy lifestyle. What can I do? A: Set an Example. Parents play a big role in guiding their children’s eating habits with the examples they set, the foods they make available in the home and the mealtime experiences that they create for their families. Offer healthy snacks such as fruit, low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt, frozen juice bars, applesauce, celery, apples with peanut butter, raw vegetables, graham crackers, fig bars or whole wheat crackers with low-fat cheese. Large portions contain too many calories. A good-sized snack for a typical adult may be a single-serving container of yogurt, but for a preschooler, two or three tablespoons of yogurt is enough. Q; How can I get our whole family to eat healthier? A: Make Eating Fun for the Whole Family. Family meals can be a time to monitor what children are eating and to reconnect with each other. Involve children in food preparation and clean up, and sit down with them when they eat. The idea is to build healthy lifelong eating habits. Some healthy eating tips include the following: • Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables — half your plate at each meal should be vegetables or fruit. • Beware of sweetened drinks — sodas and sports drinks are high in calories. Keep in mind that the calories in juice can also quickly add up. Q: We tend to eat out frequently. How can I eat healthier at restaurants? A: Choose food sensibly when eating out. Restaurants are often required to make nutrition information readily available — if you do not see brochures sitting out, or nutrition information listed on the menu, ask. Some healthy food tips when eating out: • Ask if you do not know what is in a dish or the serving size. • Eat the same portion size you would at home. • Ask for sauces, gravy and dressings on the side — or avoid them altogether. • Order foods that are not breaded or fried. • Order fruit for dessert. • Ask for substitutions, such as a vegetable instead of fries. • Ask for low-calorie versions of food. Vinegar, oil or a squeeze of lemon are all better than high-fat dressings or sauces. If your dealershipwould like information or flyers for living a heathly lifestyle, EPIC would be pleased to provide these to SDNCDA members. EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the United States and is the largest insurer of auto dealers in the state. “AskAlison” is a regular feature toour quarterlynewsletter. Alison McCallum has been in the employee benefits industry for over 20 years. She is a Principal with EPIC insurance Brokers and Consultants, the only CNCDA licensed broker. With this partnership EPIC offers unique services available to SDNCDAdealermembers at no cost. If you have questions or would like further information please feel free to contactme at (949)417-9136 or alison. mccallum@epicbrokers.com .