What is Exercise Snacking?

Have you ever heard of the term “exercise snacking”? In this episode of the Community Check-In, Janette Westman, wellbeing engagement consultant at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield talks about this fascinating concept that is meant to keep ourselves happy and healthy. Janette also touches upon some simple tips to filling our plates with healthy food and avoiding unhealthy temptations. It’s time for all of us to work together to improve our physical and mental health!

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome to excel Us Blue Cross BlueShields Community check In. Each week we
cover a specific topic featuring excel UsBlue Cross Blue Shield experts. You'll get
to know our team as we discussthe latest in healthcare, health education,
and community health. Find us atexcel Us BCBS dot com and follow on

(00:25):
Instagram and Facebook. I'm Jelomonico andwelcome to the check In. On this
episode, we're going to talk allabout snacking, just not in the way
you might expect us to. Wehave Jeanette Westman with us, a well
being engagement consultant at excel Us BlueCross Blue Shield As. She's here with
us today to talk about a fascinatingconcept that can help us keep ourselves healthy.

(00:47):
It's called exercise snacking. No,don't tune away, You're going to
widerly want to hear this conversation.Janet's also going to share some simple tips
that we can do to help usfill our plates with healthy food and avoid
unhealthy temptations. There are plenty ofthem out there. This community check in
is going to help us all improveour physical and mental health. Janette,
Welcome to the Community check In.It's good to have you. Thanks for

(01:08):
having me. Joe. Janette,for over thirteen years has worked as a
well being engagement consultant at Excellis BlueCross, Blue Shield. So what does
that mean. Well, she assistsorganizations in designing, executing, and evaluating
some targeted workplace wellness strategies that impactemployee health and engagement. Janette has a
master's degree in clinical nutrition a bachelor'sin exercise science. We'll get into that

(01:32):
a little later on, because Ididn't know there was such a thing.
And as a certified worksite Wellness practitionerthrough Wellness Counsels of America, that's a
nationally accredited wellness organization. Now,Janette, I actually think that I know
what you mean when you say exercisesnacking, and I think I actually might
do it every day. But forthose people who are not like me or
maybe no, what are we talkingabout? Could you please explain what you

(01:53):
mean when you say exercise snacking.Yeah? Absolutely so. Exercise snacking is
really an easy way to incorporate shortbursts of activity into your day, and
it actually helps combat the negative effectsof too much sitting. You know,
It's funny, our busy lifestyles oftenmake us feel as though we're on the

(02:14):
run, when in fact, mostof our time is spent sitting, whether
it's in the car or in frontof the computer or watching TV. Even
on days when we do squeeze inan hour long exercise class or walk around
the block, for example, weactually tend to spend the majority of the
day inactive, and so exercise snackingcan really just be simple activities like starting

(02:42):
your morning with a quick walk,or when you get together with friends,
go for a walk instead of acoffee break, have a walk break.
Things like that. And if youprefer to stay indoors, or sometimes it's
really cold up here and upstay inNew York, do some lunges down your
hallway, or see how long youcan hold a plank. You can't really

(03:02):
go wrong with exercise snacking if you'removing now. Of course, you may
want to check with your doctor beforedoing any new forms of exercise, just
to make sure that the activity foryou is appropriate. I do this.
I get up from where I sitduring the day, and I go to

(03:22):
an area in our offices and Ido laps like I see people doing them
all sometimes, and I pretend thatthe empty desks are like the food court,
and I just walk right by thembecause I'm on a mission. I'm
getting up and doing it. AndI found that starting this type of exercise
snacking for me was something I actuallylooked forward to, and if I went

(03:45):
too long without doing it, mybody started to react and I would feel
that I needed to get up andactually do something. So I guess my
body was telling me how important itis throughout the day to stop one thing
and start doing a little exercise snacking. I think that's a good point,
Joe. You're bringing to my mind. A body in motion stays in motion.

(04:10):
So the more you do that,the more your body will be really
receptive and want to do that.And conversely, if you're not doing it,
yeah, in the beginning, youmight not feel like standing up and
walking around the office, but yourproof that the more you do it,
the more you do want to doit. Your body naturally loves to move,
and it really is kind of importantthat we do this. Exercise can

(04:33):
often seem like this giant, herculeantask. I have to do it somewhere,
I have to go to a place, or I need to carve out
hours in order to be able toget benefit from this exercise that I am
doing. But talk about the importanceof just these little exercise snacks next.
Are not big meals, they're smallmeals. And what is it really doing

(04:57):
for our bodies when we get upand actually do something instead of just sitting,
let's say, in front of ourcomputer all day. It has tremendous
health benefits. I mean it helpingwith mental clarity, it's helping with blood
flow. If you're feeling tired midday, A lot of people jump for that
caffeine, but sometimes we're just lowbecause we haven't been moving. So why

(05:20):
would our bodies feel active if we'resedentary. So if we just get up
and get that blood flowing, itcan actually rewake you up and reinvigorate you
for your day. This is acommunity check in and Janette Westman is our
guest this week, a well beingengagement consultant at Excellis Blue Cross, Blue
Shield. Before we move on andtalk about the food we eat, we're

(05:41):
going to stay on exercise snacking forjust a little bit. You talked with
us just a bit about the approachincorporate physical activity into our day, the
cumulative effects of exercise. Sometimes that'swhy people may have a barrier or perceived
they have a barrier to do longterm habit changing and habit forming when it

(06:03):
comes to exercise, because a littlebit isn't going to help me, or
boy, I'm really not noticing anythinggoing happening with my body. I don't
maybe necessarily feel different. What doyou like to talk with the community members
you work with and your clients thatyou work with about how done consistently the
results can reveal themselves. Yeah,this may sound a little cliche, but

(06:28):
every little bit helps in the exerciseworld. Even if you stand up and
walk for ten minutes every day,your body will love you for it.
And that's really it. Ten minutes, five minutes, do what you can.
Don't feel overwhelmed by Oh I gotto drive to the gym, I
have to do an hour class.I mean that's daunting in itself, just
thinking about how you can fit thatin. The whole approach of these exercise

(06:51):
snacks is you can do them anytime, anywhere. And you also mentioned something
I want to come back to,and that's about consulting with your healthcare team
before starting anything. It is alwaysa good idea in just for clarification to
make sure you're getting the right informationabout what your body can handle, because

(07:13):
everybody and every body is different,so what may work for someone or not
cause harm or injury to someone mightnot be the exact place you want to
start your exercise snacking routine. Ithink that's a great point. I think
nowadays, in the days of socialmedia, we're often looking to other influencers
for tips and tricks, and Ithink that serves a purpose to a certain

(07:36):
extent. But also be mindful thatwe're all different. We all have different
fitness levels, abilities conditions, andabsolutely your own doctor would be the best
place to start. Now you talkedabout we could just go down a rabbit
hole of influencers and what people seeonline as opposed to what that they should
actually be doing. And of coursehaving that consultation with your healthcare team is

(07:58):
the perfect place to start because you'regetting information that is designed for you and
not broadly shot out on social media. But what social media can often do
is give us a mental picture aboutwhat we should be doing, the results
we should be seeing. How doyou work with your community members and your
clients to kind of balance that physicaland mental game, because it's both sides

(08:20):
that have to be in balance inorder to have this type of physical activity
really be beneficial for you because it'san emotional journey as well as a physical
journey. Yeah, it is.And it can be very discouraging to compare
yourself to others, especially on socialmedia, if they're doing the same exercises
with you and seeing different results.And let's be honest, we are all

(08:41):
our own worst critics, especially whenit comes to body image and outcomes success
of exercise. And I think it'sjust important to remember that we're all on
a different health journey and we don'tknow what those other people are going through
either. For example, high cholesterol, you can't see it right, It's

(09:03):
something inside of you. So eventhough somebody could be perceived as healthy,
you don't really know. And that'swhy it's important to just pay attention and
focus on yourself and your own healthgoals. I'm a good as you're talking
right to me. You're talking rightto me, Janette. This is Jeanette
Westman, a well being engagement consultantwith Excellis Blue Cross, Blue Shield.
So when it comes to exercise snacking, see I told you it was going

(09:26):
to be a method of snacking.You might not have thought existed But now
we're going to talk about food,because exercise is just half of it.
We have to fuel our bodies tomove our bodies, eating healthy foods,
fueling our body with as good nutritionas we can. It's very important.
But some of us feel that beingable to do that in the current conditions

(09:46):
that we're in right now is goingto be cost prohibitive and it's going to
be a barrier that is going toprevent us from getting the right kind of
fuel. So let's talk about waysthat we can start maybe planning different to
be able to have those resources availableto us when we need them. Yeah,
absolutely, Joe. I mean fillingour plates with healthy food and avoiding

(10:07):
those unhealthy temptations can absolutely be challenging, even for me, especially nowadays we're
seeing the prices rise at the grocerystore. So the key is to really
set yourself up for success. SoI always advise people to use the four
p's when grocery shopping, and that'splan, purchase, prep and plate.

(10:30):
The first one is plan, planyour meals for the week, obviously taking
into account what items are on salein what you already have in your kitchen,
because that will ensure a more productivetrip at the store, purchase.
When grocery shopping, stick to yourlist and try to avoid those impulse purchases.
Now, the best way to tryto avoid those impulse purchases is to

(10:52):
never go to the grocery store onan empty stomach, because several items will
end up in your cart and youget home and you don't even know how
they got there. So always goto the grocery store with a full stomach.
That can really help, especially keepingin mind that one image you want
to think of as you're perusing thegrocery store is that your shopping cart is

(11:16):
your stomach, and everything you're puttinginto that shopping cart is going into your
stomach. Likely, so are youintroducing healthy foods into your grocery cart,
and therefore, are you introducing thosehealthy foods into your home, Because at
the end of the day, you'rethe gatekeeper for what comes in and out
of your house if you're the groceryshopper of the family. Two more piece

(11:39):
prep A little preparation can go areally long way, especially when trying to
stretch the dollar, but also ensuressome healthier options are readily available because it
can be tough when you're hungry andyou just want something quick. If you
don't have healthy food prepared, you'reunlikely to go for healthy food. So

(12:00):
try prepping overnight oats for example,for just a quick grab and go breakfast
snack, or cut up some vegetablesahead of time. Carrots, celery,
broccoli, all of those are quicksnack, faster to meal prep and eat
them with some hummas on the sideor some peanut butter. That's just a
quick, easy thing to do toadd some healthy food. And then lastly,

(12:22):
plate what do you put on yourplate matters load it with vegetables.
I'm not a big fan of restrictingpeople and saying, oh, you can't
eat this, you can't eat that, but more talking about what you can
eat and focus on those things,because if you add more healthy foods,
naturally, the less healthy foods willhappen less. So keep that salad and

(12:48):
those vegetables on your kitchen table whenyou're having dinner, because when it's time
to go for seconds, you're morelikely to grab the food that's in with
arms length than what's in the roomnext door. I want to go right
back to the beginning of your listbecause I found this online recently, and
it is kind of it encapsulates whatI feel as a person. It said,

(13:09):
who knew the hardest part of beingan adult is figuring out what to
cook for dinner every single night forthe rest of your life until you die.
Sometimes that can be one of thebiggest barriers that people have. I
don't know what to make, Idon't know what to do, I don't
know how to start. I'll justget what's convenient, and that can be

(13:31):
the start of a snowball effect thatgets you further away from just having some
control. Like we talked about withexercise snacking, you can be in control
of how you balance that in yourday by stopping what you're doing, setting
an alarm, getting up, doingsome moving. Get us in on that
planning part and let us know thatit's not daunting, because some people might

(13:54):
think like this, the hardest partof my day is just figuring out what's
for dinner tonight. Absolutely, Joe, I can relate to that too,
Even though I have a degree innutrition, it can be difficult. We
are torn and pulled in so manydifferent ways in our day, and meal
prepping and planning is sometimes on thelast of our list. So one suggestion

(14:15):
would be to have a set dayof the week for certain food item,
For example, taco Tuesday. Tacosare and can be a healthy dinner option.
They're quick and easy. Make ataco bowl, make a taco salad
with fresh beans, brown rice salad. That's a great idea. Maybe Wednesday

(14:35):
is breakfast for dinner, so nowyou know every Wednesday you're making a nice
scrambled omelet with some fresh veggies,so you don't really have to think about
it seven nights a week. Maybeyou're only thinking about it three or four
nights a week. And it's oftengood to remember that even if you do
have those set standards, you kindof repeat yourself. That's a good way

(14:56):
to know that you maybe can putsomething in the back back of your head
instead of it being right up herein front, and you don't have to
stress so much about it. There'senough stress with everything else that's going on.
Having some set guidance and sort ofguardrails that you can put up for
yourself is a good place to startto know that, all right, every
week, I've only really got tothink about a couple of nights because we

(15:18):
know that we got a Tuesday whenis covered and Wednesday's covered, and maybe
on Friday we're going to do somethingthat's a little bit more on the fun
side. But again, it's havingthe plan and that becomes part of the
routine, and that goes to themental game as well. When you have
those routines and you start to buildthem, don't they start to become easier
over time? They really do.And I think something people have this expectation

(15:41):
that they're just going to naturally knowhow to cook, They're naturally going to
know how to plan and grocery shop. This is a skill and it requires
a little bit of self education,but it's available. You can learn how
to meal prep, you can learnhow to cook the basics, and once
you have developed those gills, guesswhat, it turns into a habit.

(16:03):
And then as you know, likeyou're walking around the office all the time,
habits are sustainable. And I lookforward to, especially during the winter,
Sundays, because Sunday is my cookingday and it's when I prep meals
so that I know I have thingsfor the week. Now, the other
side of that is costs, andsometimes we wind up getting into the position

(16:26):
where we're not planning. Maybe adequately, and you're going to the grocery store
several times a week and that canreally start to add up as opposed to
making one trip that gets you fora larger period of time. So how
do we do our peas or fourpas there? And also the big sea
cost. Yeah, good questions.So I think of really two main principles

(16:48):
when it comes to trying to keepfood costs down, and that's one,
try to extend the life of yourgroceries. And then two, go for
less expensive options when possible. Sofor example, trail mix. It's a
nice, somewhat healthy snack, butit can be a really pricey item,
so instead try to buy those ingredientsindividually, some nuts, dried fruits,

(17:14):
pretzels, popcorn, and create yourown trail mix. So that would be
one tip. And then in termsof trying to extend your food you know,
fresh produce can go so quickly andyou want to have that fresh produce
on hand, but it can gobad quick, so make sure you're storing
your produce correctly. For example,if you buy some asparagus, don't leave

(17:37):
it in that plastic bag that youget from the produce aisle. Get it
out of that bag, put itin a little bit of water, and
stick it up in your fridge.Just like it's shit. It's stored at
the produce aisle store it at yourhome the exact same way. One more
thought is your freezer. So yourfreezer is really your friend when it comes

(17:59):
to really extending the shelf life ofyour healthy food, especially when it comes
to saving money. So you canfreeze pretty much anything. You can free
leftovers, You can freeze tomato,sauce, bananas, cooked rice. I
sometimes throw a frozen banana in myoatmeal in the morning, or whip up
a smoothie. And you know,when you think about going to the grocery

(18:21):
store and keeping costs down, Contraryto common belief, actually shopping the inner
aisles is encouraged because you will findless expensive options with a longer shelf life,
and they're often packaged in bulk.So not only are those inner aisles
have some healthy options, but thingslike oats and canned vegetables, peanut butter,

(18:44):
brown rice, those are all greatoptions that are found in those inner
aisles of the grocery store. Sokeep that in mind. Frozen and canned
vegetables, those are great options,and in fact their processed at peak freshness,
which means they can have more nutrientsand fresh vegetables that are past their
preying. Janet Westman as a wellbeing engagement consultant at excellis Blue Cross Blue

(19:06):
Shield and she has our guest thisweek on the Community check In. We're
talking about exercise, snacking, healthyeating, basically some ways for you to
come up with some good habits andsome good things that you can be doing.
And they don't need to be gigantic. They can be small things getting
up, taking a walk during theday, planning, prepping, preparing,

(19:26):
plating, everything that you do inmeal prep for your family or just for
yourself to kind of take the stressaway from how we fuel our bodies.
It doesn't need to be daunting.It can be slow. Oh here's a
quick tip for you for that smoothie. Making frozen rice cauliflower instead of ice
as a base to make your smoothiewith and then add your fruit to it.

(19:51):
It is delicious, quite honestly.Add you get an extra vegetable in
there too that you don't even realizethat you had. I like that,
Joe going to take that with me. Try that. It's it's it's Cauliflowers
as an absolutely wonderful vegetable. Allright, in a few minutes that we
have left here, I do wantto talk about some resources that Excelist Blue

(20:11):
Cross Blue Shield has for community memberswho may As we've mentioned, some of
this can be a struggle and wecan put up barriers when it comes to
or have barriers when it comes tobeing able to get our plans started.
So let's talk directly to those peoplethat want some help with their health and
wellness. What do we where dowe want them to go? Yeah,

(20:33):
So for starters, I recommend ExcelistBlue Cross BLUs Shield members they can find
fitness and well being resources directly bylogging into their online account or via the
Excels Blue Cross Blue Shield mobile appunder the Health and Wellness tab. A
couple other ideas is you can alsofind tips at EXCELISBCBS dot com slash preventive

(20:53):
Health. There are some helpful resourceson health dot gov surrounding all sorts of
wellness topics like fitness and nutrition,a lot of the hot topics that we're
talking about today. A couple otherideas. You can also access physical activities
physical activity of resources for people withdisabilities on the CDC dot gov website.

(21:17):
So just a couple of resources therethat excels Blue Cross Bushield members and others
can explore. Hey, before wego, I did want to ask just
for my own personal knowledge about howyou've been doing what you do over these
last few years. The workplace isdifferent now and sometimes having those people that

(21:37):
we would see every day, orthose opportunities to get up get out of
the house because a lot of uswork remotely and buy ourselves Now, has
that changed your approach or are youfinding new opportunities to help people with their
exercise, snacking and healthy eating andmeeting them where they are right now?
I think it's a ladder, Joe, I think eating members where they are.

(22:00):
You know, we have found somenew opportunities with folks working from home.
For example, if you're on awebinar or a virtual call, you
can either take that standing or goingfor a walk, And when you were
in the office, it's likely thatneither of those two things were an option.
Also, setting reminders in your calendarso that you're not just focused on

(22:22):
your work for eight hours a day, but you actually get a pop up
every sixty minutes that says move forthree, and that would be a good
thing to think about. Sit forsixty, move for three, because at
the end of an eight hour day, hey, you just got twenty minutes
of activity. You wouldn't have ifyou didn't do that. And don't hit
the snooze. There should be nosnooze on that alarm if it says so

(22:45):
get up because your work. Let'sbe honest, it will still be there
when you come back. And it'sonly three minutes and you're taking a walk,
all right, ninety seconds that wehave left for this week's show.
Last question, why is checking inwith the community on exercise, snacking and
filling our plates with healthy foods sovital to excel as Blue Cross Blue Shield's

(23:06):
mission. Well, our mission isto help our members live healthier and more
secure lives at Exceles BlueCross Blue Shield, and so we're always eager to share
practical tips that are going to helpimprove the health and well being of our
community. And also it's personally importantto me because I have found that small
changes like exercise snacking can help youstand track and make a big difference.

(23:30):
Otherwise it can feel overwhelming to tryto completely overhaul your diet or start exercising
for an hour a day if you'venever done that before. But building small
healthy habits into your daily routine canadd up to make a positive impact on
your overall well being. It's reallyabout building movement naturally into your day,

(23:52):
and when it comes to healthy eating, it's about setting yourself up for success
by planning ahead, which can helpyou make the healthy choice, the easy
choice, and you might find outthat you will like it. You might
find out that you enjoy doing thatphysical activity, you enjoy spending more time
in the kitchen, maybe expanding yourpalettes and bringing new fruits, vegetables,

(24:14):
proteins and other good things into yourdiet. You never know until you try.
Jenet Westman is a well being engagementconsultant at Excellis Blue Cross Blue Shield,
and she has been our guests thisweek on a community check in.
As somebody who exercise snacking every day, I do it myself and I feel
better for it. Jenett, thankyou so much for spending some time with
us on this week's community check in. Thank you for having me. Joel,

(24:34):
thanks for joining us on Community checkin. A presentation of Excellis Blue
Cross blue Shield at iHeartRadio. Podcastsof community check in are available on the
iHeartRadio app or wherever you find yourfavorite audio content. For more ways to
stay safe, healthy, and educated, visit excelis bcbs dot com and follow

(24:56):
on Instagram and Facebook