Wednesday,  May 29th
12:00 – 1:30 pm
Coe Room Memorial Union

Grow a bountiful and beautiful container garden with herbs! Participants will learn how to make newspaper pots and have the opportunity to transplant a basil seedling to take home. Listen as Kate Garland, Horticulture Professional from Cooperative Extension, digs into the basics of home gardening.

Master the ins and outs of storing fresh herbs, substituting fresh herbs for dry herbs and using herbs with different foods, such as meat, poultry, grains, or vegetables.
Kate Yerxa, Statewide Extension Education for Nutrition & Physical Activity from Cooperative Extension, will share tips on using herbs in everyday cooking.

About Colette

Growing up in Maine, Colette Thompson left the State after graduating from high school pursing her aspiration of becoming a registered dietitian (RD). Colette attended undergraduate school at Keene State College where she concentrated her studies in the area of dietetics. After receiving her undergraduate degree she completed a dietetic internship with Maryland State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. While working full time for Maryland State Department of Education as an RD, Colette enrolled in graduate school at Towson University and earned a Master’s Degree in health. Returning back home to Maine in 1998, Colette continued working in a field of public health concentrating her efforts on educating people of all ages about the importance of health and wellness.

In 2003 Colette moved with her husband and son to settle down in the small town of New Sweden located in Northern Maine. Her favorite pastimes include spending time with her family on her small family farm, vegetable gardening, knitting, reading, and cooking a wide assortment of wholesome foods raised or grown on her farm. Colette is passionate about health and wellness. She looks forward to working as a Health Coach with the University of Maine’s RiseUp Program.

See here for a printout of Colette’s bio.

Interview with Colette Thompson, UMS Health Coach

HealthyU wanted to know more about what wellness coaching is, what topics are covered, and how it is conducted. Colette Thompson provided us answers.

HealthyU: What is health coaching?

Colette: Health Coaching is a way to help a person manage his or her own health and wellness. It is a partnership between the employee and the Health Coach where the Health Coach encourages the employee to talk about what they want to change in one of the following areas: weight management, stress management, nutrition, or smoking cessation. Please note that physical activity is almost always discussed with a person during their health coaching session too. Although these four areas can and often do overlap, we focus on one area at a time; we focus on each individual’s unique problems, concerns, etc. Health coaching is about helping a person find his or her own answers to change. Individuals can have face-to-face or telephonic health coaching sessions.

HealthyU: How do I know if I need a Health Coach?

Colette: There are several questions on this handout (Am I Ready for Lifestyle Coaching?) that an employee should ask him or herself prior to beginning the process of seeking out a Health Coach.

HealthyU: How can a Health Coach help me?

Colette: A Health Coach will work with the employee to improve their overall health and wellness. A Health Coach is the indvidual’s personal supporter on the sidelines, their “cheerleader.” We listen and let the coachee talk. We ask questions like, “What would you like to change?” and “What is important to your health and wellness?” We give feedback and we work with the individual to set-up short-term goals.

More descriptions of what a health coach does are on Am I Ready for Lifestyle Coaching?.

HealthyU: What happens at my first coaching appointment? Are appointments in-person or over the phone? How long are appointments?

Colette: During the first meeting or phone conversation, the Health Coach will go over the following general expectations:

1. A Health Coach will meet with the individual in-person a minimum of once per year, and provide additional coaching telephonically. (This may vary according to individual and campus needs.)
2. To meet the needs of all participants, coaching sessions will typically be no more than twenty minutes in length.
3. If the member does not respond to their Health Coach after two voicemail messages, the member understands that their coaching status will be placed on hold until he/she reengages.
4. In order to earn 100 lifestyle coaching points, the member must be actively progressing towards their goal and engage in a minimum of 3 encounters with a Health Coach.
5. All encounters are confidential.

We complete an assessment in one of the following areas: weight management, stress management, nutrition, or smoking cessation. We work with the individual to establish short-term goals in the primary area assessed. We establish a time frame or actual date/time for the next encounter.

HealthyU: Is there a fee for Health Coaching?

Colette: Health coaching is a free UMS benefit open to all employees and their spouse or domestic partner.

HealthyU: How does a person begin the coaching process?

Colette: To begin the coaching process, a person will need to complete a 5 minute general assessment over the telephone with the RiseUp Outreach Coordinator (855-274-7387). This information is gathered for the RiseUp Health Coach and is not shared outside of the program. Once the general assessment is completed, the person is set-up with a Health Coach.

Cutler Health Center has additional biometric screening appointments in the month of March.  Biometric screening appointments are now available through March 26, 2013.  To schedule your screening, go to umaine.edu/biometrics.  Please be advised that these will be the final biometric appointment offerings available at Cutler Health Center.

UMaine Supports GoRed for Women!  Friday, Feb. 1, 2013

Kim Dao, HealthyU’s Valentine’s Day Dark Chocolate Recipe Winner

Cooking is something that Kimberly has been doing for years with her family and credits her mother with having instilled in her a love of crafting delicious dishes. Her close-knit family, including a brother and cousin who both attend UMaine, are somewhat competitive in their culinary creations, driving Kimberly to continually be on the lookout for new recipes. She scours the Internet, flips through magazines, or gleans ideas from those around her. If an idea sounds intriguing, she gives it a try.

Her delicious creation of dark chocolate crepes came about after some experimentation with a variety of different recipes she found online. She did not always have all the listed ingredients and so would compensate with what she had on-hand. She tweaked the recipe until she found the proper consistency to create a crepe that was not too thin or too thick. The result is the delectable, mouth-watering recipe we have selected to be our contest winner.

Although she says that her biggest passion is making desserts, Kimberly’s goal this year is to focus on breakfast foods, which is what she considers crepes to be. She prefers to use simpler toppings such as freshly sliced bananas and strawberries topped with a swirl of whipped cream or a dusting of powdered sugar. Kimberly recommends filling crepes with custards for an extra-special treat. Occasionally she likes to add variety by adding espresso powder to her mix to create a mocha-flavored crepe. Kimberly recommends spreading Nutella on a crepe with a layer of fresh fruit, which we think sounds absolutely delicious.

Try Kimberly’s dark chocolate crepe recipe, a perfect breakfast treat or a great dessert for your special someone.

Recipe:

Dark Chocolate Crepes:
Created by Kimberly Dao

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
½ cup milk
½ cup water
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons melted butter
3.5 tablespoons of dark cocoa

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth
Let sit in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (over overnight)
Lightly oil pan on medium heat
Pour about ¼ cup of batter onto the heated pan
Cook for 1-2 minutes until some bubbles form
Flip and continue to cook for another minute or two
Remove from heat, plate and top with freshly sliced fruit
(strawberry or banana) and powdered sugar or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Valentine’s Day Sunset Snowshoe Walk

Thursday, February 14th

3:45pm – 5pm

Meet at the Rec Center dresses for winter activity

Enjoy a sunset-lit walk led by Jeff Hunt, Director of the New Balance Student Recreation Center, through the DeMeritt Forest Trail System. Please bring your snowshoes, if you have them, as tour is limited to available equipment.

Please note:  This event may be cancelled due to poor trail conditions.
Visit the HealthyU website or FirstClass for up-to-date information.

HealthyU is encouraging everyone, men and women, to wear red on National Wear Red Day, February 1.  Email a group photo of  you and your colleagues wearing red to Joanna Rosebush (joanna.rosebush@maine.edu) on February 1st.  Please list everyone’s name in the email. One lucky person will be selected to win a gift basket from the MarketPlace.

This is a fun and positive way to spread awareness about heart disease. For more information about heart disease or the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women campaign, visit GoRedForWomen.org.

To print a poster to remind your department, building, or office to wear red on February 1st, click here. If you would like to distribute Go Red pins to your coworkers contact Joanna at 581-4058.

Are your biometrics for 2013 done? Biometric screening appointments are available at Cutler Health until February 28, 2013.  If you want to schedule an appointment, visit umaine.edu/biometrics or call Cutler Heath at 581-4179.