What Makes You Smile?

For us, it’s family, dogs, significant others and the people we work with. We put together a video on all of the various reasons we flash our pearly whites. Why all the talk about smiling? Well, while we had much fun posing for the below video, our main objective is to spread the message of good oral health because October is National Dental Hygiene Month. We also found several compelling reasons to look more closely at oral health. According to the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP), oral health is linked to your overall health, including medical conditions like Diabetes, Heart Disease, Respiratory Disease, Stroke, and Pregnancy complications.  Research from AAP suggests that “periodontal disease may make it more difficult for people who have diabetes to control their blood sugar.” The AAP also states that “people with periodontal disease are almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary artery disease as those without periodontal disease.”

We think those are some excellent reasons to spread the message of regular dental care. That and the aforementioned reason of taking care of your smile for your family, dogs and significant others. So what makes you smile? Leave us a comment below or visit our website  to learn more about how you can take care of your smile.   

Cracking the Code on Wellness

Throughout the year, we have been profiling weight loss success stories. Today, we talk to Garrick Gibson about how he cracked the code on wellness. Here’s Garrick’s story told by Garrick himself:

Back in the summer of 2008, a close friend loaned me a documentary film. The premise of the film was how positive thinking and emotions can create life-changing results such as increased wealth, health and happiness. One of the notable concepts was a three-step process: Ask, Believe, and Receive, based on a verse from the Bible: “And in all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew 21:22)

Step 1 was a no brainer. But, step 2 was the hard part. “Believing” is much more challenging than it seems. Over time, I began to realize that I doubted myself. My doubts were conflicting with my goals; keeping me in a holding pattern of not receiving.

This stayed with me for two years and in 2010, I finally decided to set my goals to be out of the obese category on the BMI scale and to get my blood pressure under control. The difference this time around was that I worked on challenging my doubts and changing my belief system. I once heard a wise person say, “a belief is just a thought I keep thinking.” So, I started thinking more about being healthy and in shape and stopped focusing on my unhappiness with being overweight. To help me maintain my focus, I surrounded myself with people and things that inspired me. I created a schedule and started exercising consistently at the gym.

After losing some initial weight, I hit a plateau. So, I stepped up my game and hired a local personal trainer at Cross Training San Marco. For two days a week, they pushed me past my mental limitations. In addition to the cross training, I took up running 2-3 times per week. In the first four months, things moved surprisingly slow with my weight loss. But in May, I cracked the last piece of the wellness code. A co-worker recommended a body chemistry and blood nutrition diet book. Long story short, I learned what foods were toxic to my system based on my blood type, body composition and genetics. I found out which foods were canceling out my exercise. So, I wasn’t gaining weight or losing weight. Once I eliminated these foods along with gradually increasing my cross training intensity, the weight started melting off. I didn’t get comfortable there. In fact, I purposely put myself in the position of being uncomfortable. This forced me to pursue higher goals.

Weight loss and well-being starts in your mind, not your waistline. It’s not about dropping the excess weight. It’s really about dropping the excess emotional baggage of unworthiness and self-doubt we carry around in our minds. Once I overcame this, I surpassed all my goals. In 8 months, I lost 40 pounds, and my total weight loss to date is 65 pounds. Back in 2009, the longest race I had completed was a 5k (3.1 miles). In December of 2010, I shocked my family, friends and myself by completing my first marathon (26.2 miles). This is my story and I hope to continue maintaining my weight loss and pursuing higher health goals. 

Stuck in a fitness rut? Try these new routines!

Our team was in desperate need for some new workout routines. We tried the always fun LES MILLS™ programs at the YMCA, fiddled with yoga, had some serious fun with weights, but we wanted more.

We reached out to Maxwell Reeves, an Orlando-based National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) certified personal trainer. He put together great new moves for us, and we had to share. They are tough - tough in an I-can-feel-muscles-I-never-had kind of way!

Don’t believe us? Check out the first of his routines below:

1. Start with your feet together. Take a big step forward with your right foot to perform a lunge.  Push through your heel to come back to your original position.

2. Step out wide with your right foot, set your hips back, keep your left leg straight, and squat on your right leg.  Again, push through your heel to get back to your original position.

3. Now step back with your right foot for a rear lunge.

4. Complete the lunge complex by performing the movements with your left leg.

Have an idea for a work-out? Leave us a comment below and stay tuned for Part II of Maxwell's routine.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida goes Digital

As the world changes, we are all responsible for making our own complex health decisions. BCBSF is developing digital capabilities for the purpose of empowering you to take charge of this by putting the tools you need to manage your health at your fingertips. We've developed online tools, mobile technologies and social media programs to help you make decisions, stay better informed and connect with resources you need. Our goal is to develop resources that fit your lifestyle and are easy and convenient to access.

Have an idea for a new digital resource that would make your life easier? We want to hear about it!

Embrace a Healthy Florida

Did you know that in Florida, 33.1% of children ages 10-17 are overweight or obese? This means Florida has a higher percentage of childhood obesity than the national average which stands at 30.6%. A study from the New England Journal of Medicine shows that children who are overweight or obese are more likely than others to become obese as adults. A 2004 study commissioned by the Action for Healthy Kids show that overweight and obese children may also suffer from higher rates of depression, greater difficulty in peer relationships and poorer quality of life than their normal weight counterparts.

This is why partnerships like Healthy Jacksonville Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition and the BCBSF Foundation are important. This August marked the 10th anniversary of the coalition and was commemorated with the unveiling of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Foundation’s 2011 Embrace a Healthy Florida grant recipients for the city of Jacksonville.

To learn more, watch Susan Towler (Vice President, BCBSF Foundation) speak at the Healthy Jacksonville Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition's 10-Year Anniversary Celebration.

Fashion’s Night Out

If you are in Tampa on September 8^th, join us at the International Plaza and Bay Street for Fashion’s Night Out, an after-hours shopping extravaganza filled with live music, caricature artists, DJs, competitions and tons of shopping.

We, at BCBSF, are excited to be a sponsor for Fashion’s Night Out, where designers participate in an exciting, one-of-a-kind event in stores all over the globe from Manhattan to Milan, Atlanta to Australia. Led by Vogue Magazine and the Council of Fashion Designers of America, this year marks the first time the International Plaza retailers in Tampa will be representing Tampa Bay’s first official Fashion’s Night Out. So get out there and boost your local economy by indulging in a little shopping at the International Plaza and Bay Street!

Your Health on the Road

Here is a question for our members - if you are traveling for work or fun and need to see a doctor, what do you do? How many of us can really keep a complete list of our medications, drug allergies, etc. in our head? Or can remember the date of our last doctor’s visit, or even the doctor’s name?

Fortunately, MyBlueService is here to help. Your free, online member website gives you access to your health information anytime, from anywhere in the world. Here’s just a few of the things you can do on MyBlueService to help keep your family healthy and safe while traveling this summer:

·         Check out the online Personal Health Record – this is an ideal tool to access when you are on the road and have to stop by a new doctor. The Personal Health Record in MyBlueService makes record-keeping so easy. Quickly print your health history and a list of your medications.

·         Get details about past doctors’ visits, lab tests and more.

·         Store and maintain information on biometric tests.

·         Stay up-to-date on immunization shots.  

·         And have health information that you can get to easily, in one centralized, private, and secure location.

 To start your Personal Health Record:

·         Visit www.bcbsfl.com and log in to MyBlueService using your member ID and PIN.

·         Under the Living Healthy tab, click on Personal Health Record from WebMD®.