I’ll bet you’ve heard of the ANA, the American Nurse’s Association? Let me share with you, an exciting initiative they started about a year ago. Something called Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation. Nurses should be the model of health, right? We should ooze health- eat, sleep and breathe healthy options and choices – we should live by healthy example for the world to see… lol. Maybe in a perfect world…. Truly though, we as Nurses are often among the first healthcare providers patients see when they enter the healthcare system- in wellness and illness- and I do believe we should set a good example of health, to practice what we preach. Being coached on a cardiac diet from a nurse who is morbidly obese herself is a clouded message, one that could be difficult for a patient to actually take seriously. It’s without a doubt hard to deliver a message with passion and fortitude that you truly don’t believe in.
Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation is tackling that head on. It is and interactive, fun, community setting for nurses to grow and learn about their own health and wellness, all the while supporting each other. Along the way there are wellness challenges- ways to improve yourself, from diet, exercise and sleep and mental health. All wonderful ways to help each nurse be his or her best self.
This is where YOU come in. This week the Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation Challenge that is kicking off is all about produce! Fruits and veggies… plant based eating! In the coming weeks I challenge YOU to increase your servings of plant based foods in your day. According to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid, we should be getting between 5-9 servings of produce per day. How do you stack up? I know I could do better. So let’s do this! Start slow, and make it fun! Maybe increase by just one a day, maybe by one a meal, you decide what you can do. I’ll be doing this and of course sharing some pictures of it as I go on the OpportuKNEEty Knocks social media pages.
This time of year it seems “everyone” is on the healthy eating bandwagon- so join the fun! Get to your local food store, pass over the 80% Christmas candy, skip by the “JUST IN” Valentine’s Day chocolates, and go straight to the produce department. See of you can find one “new” veggie you don’t regularly prepare- or if you aren’t feeling that adventurous, one old standby you just haven’t eaten in a while. Grab and go! If you feel compelled to share your culinary creation, tag me! I’d love to see how you are “Powering Up with Produce!”
Be Well!
-Laurie