Mike Miller

I find balance through exercise, playing music and expanding my extensive comic book collection. Just trying to be the best father and me I can be.
Food and Recipes

Mango-Peach Workout Recovery Smoothie

Hungry after a workout? This delicious Mango-Peach smoothie has everything you need for optimal recovery.

Smoothie
Prevention

Houseplants: Nature’s Air Purifiers

Houseplants are often chosen for their decorative nature, but research has shown that houseplants offer many benefits to our health.

Potted plant on table
Community

Fel3000ft: TEDx Detroit 2016 Artist in Residence {360 Photos Inside}

Fel3000ft is one Detroit’s preeminent artists and this year’s Artist in Residence for TEDx Detroit. Take a 360 degree at some of his work.

tedx detroit
Fitness

Filipino Seniors Dance to Stay Active and Young

Members of the Michigan Chapter of the Philippine Association of Medical Technologists (PAMET) gathered in a hotel ballroom to practice a special dance routine.

Philippine Association of Medical Technologists
Community

Dive In at the Michigan Sea Life Aquarium {Video}

This video from the A Healthier Michigan team lets you dive in at the Michigan Sea Life aquarium at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills.

michigan sea life aquarium
Fitness

Curling’s Rich History at the Detroit Curling Club

Team USA’s Mark Lazar introduces the A Healthier Michigan Team to the sport of curling at the historic Detroit Curling Club in Ferndale, MI

curling
Community

Must-See Video of the Famous Soo Locks

The Soo Locks pass an average of 10,000 ships per year, see a time lapse video of the boat tour we took through the locks.

Prevention

#HealthyMe: My New Glasses

I recently wrote about my decision to have my eyes checked out for the first time in a very long time, and the resulting need for glasses.

mmiller_glasses
Fitness

#HealthyMe: Hiking, an Unintentional Workout

My day hiking was more tiring than I'd anticipated.

man standing in a cave with a backpack
Community

Road trip? Stock your car with these 10 must have items

Whether you’re going cross-town or cross-country, it’s a good idea to make sure your vehicle is in top form before you set out on your summer adventures: check…

5152723899_f63b274585_o copy
Mind

Is procrastination keeping you up all night?

We all have that friend who’s the night owl. They stay up late and claim to battle with insomnia. Assuredly, some of them are legitimate insomniacs…

Insomnia
Fitness

#HealthyMe: My first 5K

I ran my first 5K last weekend: the BCBSM RifverFront Run/Walk. All in all, I think it was a success. When the prospect of the 5K came up, I jumped at the…

Mike_ScreenCAP_5K
Mind

Staying sane in the face of it all

I love my job here at BCBSM. Every day is different and I often get out of the office to see and do some pretty cool stuff. It’s still a lot of work though.

filtered_jazzmaster
Food and Recipes

Are you nutrient deficient?

Despite the abundance of food of America, there still is a serious problem with nutrition deficiency. Learn more about what can be done.

citrus
Food and Recipes

Wake up your mundane meals with miso

Keeping meals fun, fresh and interesting, especially during the hectic work week, is tough. Chicken, veggies and couscous on Monday, turkey tacos on Tuesday…

miso_soup
Fitness

Ready, set, …sick?

So there I was, all pumped up for the first week of #healthyme and I come down with a nasty cold. It crept up on me too. Monday came with a scratchy throat and…

IMG_9661
Food and Recipes

Fast food breakfast? Slow down before you pick up that sandwich!

Conventional wisdom has long advocated a hearty breakfast in order to fuel up for the day. The idea being that loading up on calories early on would sustain us…

ff_breakfast copy
Mind

Mood lighting: Light intensity affects our emotions

It’s no secret that lighting, whether natural or artificial, has an effect on our mental state. We’ve all heard of and experienced “mood lighting:” candlelit…

Food and Recipes

Funky breath? You probably have a remedy on hand

The three coffees you downed to stay awake in meetings this morning? Funky breath. That chicken shawarma you ate for lunch? Funky breath. Angel hair pasta with…

seal_breath
Mind

Feed your mind: Diet and exercise for the brain

The brain. It’s sort of ironic that the part of our body responsible for our memories, and literally every other function of the human body…

brain_display
Food and Recipes

Will an apple a day really keep the doctor away? The answer may surprise you

As if it’s not difficult enough to separate fact from fiction when deciding what to integrate into, or omit from, our diets; old wives tales…

6817538147_36008afb5f
Food and Recipes

Kale burnout? Try these tasty, nutrient packed alternatives

Kale, kale, kale, kale, kale. The beat of the kale contingent’s drum has been ringing loud and clear for quite a few years now and it only looks to be growing.

Food and Recipes

Behold the power of peppermint

The candy-cane is as iconic a Christmas-time treat as it gets. The mere image of one, its red and white twirls hanging from a tree or stuffed in our stockings…

candycanes
Community

Lansing kicks off the holiday season with Silver Bells in the City

Once again, as it has for the last 29 years, the city of Lansing celebrates the opening of the holiday season with the annual Silver Bells in the City event.

IMG_5094_small
Community

Smart ER: The Primary Care Perspective on Patient Education

Roughly 70% of all ER visits are cases where the patient could have been treated in a primary care practice (PCP) or an urgent care facility more quickly…

emergency_hospital
Community

Silver Bells in the City – That’s a lot of lights!

Every year for the past 29 years, the city of Lansing has held the Silver Bells in the City event to celebrate the holiday season. This year is no exception…

bowl_of_bulbs
Home and Family

Smart ER: A New Parents Perspective

I’m a new Dad. Nine months ago our daughter showed up and life as my wife and I knew it changed immeasurably. Doctor visits are both routine and frequent in…

baby_doctor
Food and Recipes

Herbs and spices add so much more than flavor to our food

Herbs and spices often go unused because the vast uses are unknown. Read this blog to learn some ways to incorporate them into your diet.

Spices
Community

Halloween Hazards: Don’t be haunted by ignoring safety

Halloween is here! With all the crazy costumes, parties, scary movies, jack-o-lanterns, and trick-or-treating for candy, it’s easy to forget to take a moment to…

halloween_decos
Mind

Sleep cleanses our brains at night (and is good for a whole lot more!)

New research indicates that our brains undergo a cleansing process to remove toxins while we sleep, including toxins believed to be responsible for Alzheimer’s…

sleep_guy
Food and Recipes

Is my water bottle safe? A Plastics Primer

There are many safe water bottles out there, but some pose health risks. Learn about water bottle safety and BPA effects with help from Blue Cross Blue Shield.

sippy_cups
Fitness

Awesome Michigan-made app alert: TempoRun

I’m not the most avid runner, but when I do run I prefer to have music. There’s nothing like hitting stride with one of your favorite songs; it helps keep your…

temporun_logo
Community

A Healthier Michigan’s A-Z Guide to Michigan Wineries: 2013 Upper Peninsula edition

So far we've served up a flight of wines from the East, the West, and the Central regions of Michigan. In this, our final installment of A Healthier Michigan'

Wine
Community

A Healthier Michigan’s A-Z Guide to Michigan Wineries: 2013 Central & Northern Lower Peninsula edition

Welcome to another installment of A Healthier Michigan's A-Z Guide to Michigan Wineries. Previous installments took us east and west, but this week we'

white_wine_splash
Community

A Healthier Michigan’s A-Z Guide to Michigan Wineries: 2013 West Michigan edition

We began our tour of Michigan's wineries on the eastern side of the state. For this installment of the A Healthier Michigan A-Z Guide to Michigan Wineries…

Red_vino
Prevention

It’s fall allergy season: Ugh!

It is important to recognize what happens to our bodies and allergies during the fall season.

Fall leaves
Community

A Healthier Michigan’s A-Z Guide to Michigan Wineries: 2013 East Michigan edition

We recently concluded the A Healthier Michigan A-Z Guide to Michigan Breweries series: East, West, Central & Northern Lower Peninsula…

white_wine_flight
Food and Recipes

Smart snacks in schools… finally!

Here’s some food for thought: The last time the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated snack and a la carte food standards in schools was 1979.

healthy_vending
Community

A Healthier Michigan’s A-Z Guide to Michigan Breweries: 2013 East Michigan edition

For the next several weeks ahealthiermichigan.org will be bringing you an all new series of posts featuring the breweries and wineries of Michigan.

flight_o_beers
Food and Recipes

Read this before you drink another diet soda

Soda, pop, soda-pop, soft drink, a “coke”: Wherever you’re from and whatever you call them, these terms are universal catch-alls for some of the most heavily…

diet_soda
Prevention

July is Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month

Arthritis is a condition of inflammation of the joints often caused by physical damage to the joint, infection of the joint, or as is commonly associated, age.

arthritis_hand
Prevention

June is Men’s Health Month – Going to the Doctor’s: Just do it!

June is Men’s Health Month. To kick things off we’re going to talk about one of the most common health issues men deal with, the doctor’s office.

doctorsoffice
Food and Recipes

Easy, healthy, carryout style Thai food at home

Thai food, once thought of as the spicy, more exotic cousin to traditional Chinese or Cantonese food served in countless carryout joints across the country…

thai_red_curry
Community

Buckle Up! It’s Click It or Ticket time

The highways and byways of Michigan are annually littered with the orange plastic barrels and cones indicative of the summer driving season in our great state.

buckle_up

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