Florida Trek Ramble
The Newsletter of the Florida Trek
Florida Trek 2008 - Issue 6 – March 2009
Exercise TV
You don’t usually think of exercise and TV as going together but Exercise TV is different. It’s
both a website; you can find it online at www.exercisetv.tv or if you have digital cable you can
find it is on video on demand (channel 1 on Cox Cable or press the on demand button on your
remote). The website has instructions on finding it on video on demand.
You can watch full length exercise videos for free on either the website on or video on demand
TV. There is a wide variety of workouts to choose from. Just in scanning the offerings I saw
yoga, Pilates, stretching and flexibility workouts, arms, legs, abs, upper body, lower body,
cardio, and core workouts. You can also view mini workouts, a shorter excerpt from the video
rather than the full workout.
Another option for free exercise videos is the library district. All you need is a library card and
you can check out up to 8 videos at a time to keep for up to 7 days. Go to www.aclib.us or the
library to check out their offerings.
And if you are a Netflix subscriber, not only can you put exercise videos in your queue and have
them mailed to your home, you can also watch some of them instantly on your computer. Go
to www.Netflix.com to find out more.
So the next time you turn on the television, don’t just sit there…..exercise!
Recipe for a healthy breakfast alternative
Thanks to Eliana Bardi for contributing this recipe
Spinach and Feta Omelet
Ingredients:
(For one portion, can be doubled or tripled for a larger omelet)
1 beaten egg (you can add a bit of milk and salt and pepper to taste)
½ cup fresh spinach, sliced
1x1 inch cube reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled
Pour beaten egg in a lightly greased small skillet and cook on medium temperature covered for
a few minutes (you can gently lift one side of the omelet to allow all of the egg to cook). Place
the sliced spinach and crumbled feta cheese top and gently fold omelet in half and cook for a
few more minutes. Voilá - this super easy and tasty breakfast is done!
Tips: spinach is currently in season and you can pick up a fresh organic locally grown bunch at
the downtown Farmer’s Market on Wednesday afternoons. This omelet is great served with a
side of turkey bacon and reduced fat biscuits.
Weight watchers points: omelet 3 pts, 2 slices of turkey bacon 1 pt
Page 2
2009 Employee Health Fair
The annual health fair is Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at the Savannah Grande Conference Center on
North Main Street from 9am until 2pm. If you haven’t been to the employee health fair you are
really missing out on a great opportunity to get free health screenings, and also to talk to
health professionals about your results.
This year’s Florida Trek program will end on Thursday, April 30; everyone who has trekked at
least 250 miles will receive an award at the Health Fair and will be entered into the drawing for
the bike donated by Blue Cross Blue Shield. Next year’s trek program will begin June 1, 2009.
Exercise and stress
Exercise is a great method of dealing with stress; nothing helps to calm you
down like a good run, a session with the weights or a vigorous walk. Exercise is
a healthy way to address and try to reduce your stress; it is a much preferable
choice rather than turning to food, chocolate (guilty), drugs or alcohol. Often
times these choices will just compound the problem, while exercise will have a
positive impact, it may not make your problems go away but it may make you feel better
equipped to deal with them.
When you exercise your body releases endorphins, the feel good byproducts of exercise which
can lead to a feeling of well being or even euphoria. Obviously if you are feeling stressed,
depressed, angry, worried, etc, being able to do something as simple as exercise to feel better
is almost magical.
Often times when people get stressed they neglect to find the time to exercise,
unfortunately this is precisely the time they should be making the time, even if it’s a few
minutes here or there to take a quick walk do a few yoga poses or run up and down the
stairs.
So don’t let stress overwhelm your exercise routine, make the time to continue to exercise and
get those endorphins flowing!
Mileage
The updated mileage totals are online, as is the most up to date weekly mileage table. Be sure
to look at the weekly mileage to make sure you are not missing any weeks
The current total is close to 80,000 miles! That is great, we are on pace to exceed last year’s
total of 86,000. So everybody needs to take advantage of the lovely spring weather and the
extra hour of daylight and go outside and be active and send in those trek miles.
You can view the total mileage online at
http://www.alachuacounty.us/government/depts/as/risk/fltrekmiles.aspx and weekly miles at
http://www.alachuacounty.us/assets/uploads/images/Admin/rm/weeklymileage.xls or on the
intranet under Risk Management. http://intranet.benefits.alachua.fl.us/