Workplace Wellness

Workplace Wellness

Top 5 Reasons You Should Walk at Lunch

National Walk at Lunch Day is the perfect excuse to get outside after lunch and rack up some steps. Do it every day and the health benefits will rack up, too.

Two businesswomen walk, talk and drink coffee in the middle of a workday.
Workplace Wellness

8 Things You Should Know About the Flu Shot

The flu vaccine is effective, does not cause the flu, and affects children and adults differently. Here are some other facts to know in order to stay protected.

Flu shot during Covid
Workplace Wellness

How to Ease into an Office Routine in a Hybrid Workplace 

Many employees have gone from offices to working remotely, and someday be back again. We have tips for easing into a hybrid office workplace.

Corporate meeting and group work in company. African american woman manager in protective mask holding tablet, talking to workers keeping social distance
Workplace Wellness

Target All Five Senses to Feel Super Creative at Work

A few tweaks to your workspace can make 9-to-5 your most creative and productive time of the day.

Workdesk with decoration and copy space
Workplace Wellness

Sitting All Day for Work? Make Time to Move

Working out throughout the day helps with health, productivity, energy levels and much more.

Woman working at her desk
Workplace Wellness

10 Ways to Maximize Productivity When You Work from Home

If you’ve recently had to shift to working from home, you might be feeling confused or overwhelmed with your new work environment. These tips can help.

Workplace Wellness

Say “Ommm” to Your Workday: 3 Easy Yoga Poses to Relieve Stress

Yoga can help reduce some of the stress you feel in the workplace. You can even try some poses while sitting at your desk!

City Yoga
Workplace Wellness

How to Prevent Common Desk-Related Injuries

Sitting at a desk all day can negatively affect your back, wrists and eyes. Here are some tips on how to avoid common office injuries.

Female office worker stretching arms at her desk
Workplace Wellness

How to Avoid Sitting During the Workday

Here are some helpful tips on ways to avoid sitting during the workday and why you should.

Cropped shot of an attractive businesswoman working on her computer at her desk
Workplace Wellness

Trail Mix Mason Jars

Having healthy snacks at work, such as trail mix, can make long days feel not so long. Create your own mix to satisfy your hunger pains!

trail mix in mason jar
Workplace Wellness

Zucchini Pie

The leftovers from this delicious dinner recipe make for a great lunch later on in the week. It's fast, easy and the whole family will enjoy it.

zucchini pie
Workplace Wellness

Berry Oatmeal Muffin Cups

Set yourself up for a productive workday with a healthy, on-the-go breakfast.

oatmeal berry cup
Workplace Wellness

How Bad is Television, Computer Time for Your Health?

It’s little secret that sitting on your butt for long periods of time is bad for your health.

Messy desk with hand grip tool
Workplace Wellness

A Day in the Life: Are You as Fit as Your Mail Carrier?

In all kinds of weather, postal carriers need to be physically fit to perform their job duties. Find out how one Grand Rapids carrier does it.

Photo of a U.S. Postal Service mailbox.
Workplace Wellness

4 Empowering Apps to Keep You Healthy at Work

Stick to your diet, fitness and mental wellness programs while at the office with these must-haves.

Workplace Wellness

The Opposite of Group Motivation: Is Your Exercise Group Too Competitive?

Is your exercise group too competitive? Avoid sabotaging your personal fitness goals and find your motivation once again with these tips.

Women doing pilates.
Workplace Wellness

Experiencing Burnout at Work? Consider a Silent Retreat

Have you ever considered going on a silent retreat? Learn more about what a silent retreat is and the associated benefits.

Workplace Wellness

Time-Saving Hacks for Busy Parents

Rushed mornings, busy afternoons, and hectic nights can cause unnecessary stress for a family. Using these hacks can save you precious time!

Workplace Wellness

Goat Yoga: The Fitness Trend You Have to Try

The A Healthier Michigan team recently tried goat yoga. Find out why it’s a growing trend.

People practicing yoga on a farm with goats
Workplace Wellness

Annoying Co-Workers? Tips to Help You Cope

Sometimes you can’t get along with everyone, but there are ways to deal with pesky co-workers.

Workplace Wellness

I Limited My Cell Phone Use for One Work Week and This Is What Happened

Hear from one of our A Healthier Michigan team members who decided to limit her cell phone use for a full work week. This is what she learned.

Workplace Wellness

What Your Body Language is Saying About You

Are nonverbal signals getting in the way of what you’re trying to say? Find out if you’re unintentionally sending the wrong message.

Workplace Wellness

Detroiters Cycle Into Summer with MoGo Bike Share

Detroit's wheels keep turning with the launch of the MoGo Bike Share program.

Workplace Wellness

2017 Detroit Riverfront Summer Event Lineup

The annual Live the Riverfront summer programming offers a variety of weekly events to encourage an active and healthy lifestyle.

Men and women doing moonlight yoga with glow sticks
Workplace Wellness

Three Easy Steps to Starting Your Workplace Wellness Program

Integrating healthy habits into workplace culture results in higher productivity, improved morale, lower health care costs and higher employee retention.

Workplace Wellness

Making Sport Social: Fun and Fitness Combine for Local Clubs

If you’re a social butterfly bored by the gym, sport and social clubs in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo might be just what you’re looking for.

GRSSC broomball
Workplace Wellness

Take a Deep Breath: 12 Seconds to a Calmer You

If you’ve got 12 seconds, you’ve got time to put your stress on notice. Here’s how to use deep breathing to relax.

deep breathing
Workplace Wellness

Overcome a Passive Disposition with this Simple Technique

Learn how to express yourself using the “assertiveness sandwich” technique.

overcome a passive disposition
Workplace Wellness

Pause the Rat Race: This Simple Mindfulness Technique Can Help

Learn how mindfulness can help you regain focus on stressful days.

pause the rat race
Workplace Wellness

Conquer Your Fear of Stage Fright and Boost Your Self-Confidence

Public speaking is one of the biggest fears for American adults. Overcoming this fear can help boost self-confidence.

overcome fear of stage fright
Workplace Wellness

The Pumpkin Spice Latte Blind Taste Test

We put the original Pumpkin Spice Latte up against a healthier version and had a blind taste test. Guess which one won?

pumpkin spice latte taste test
Workplace Wellness

Lansing: Join Roxy for Fitness Friday

Fitness Friday is a wonderful way to ease some of the workday stress. If you’re in Lansing, come join in!

Fitness Fridays in Lansing
Workplace Wellness

Stepping It Up: My Day on a Treadmill Desk

Would you consider working on a treadmill desk? Find out why I tried it out and why I’ll be trying to add a few walking work sessions into my week.

How to use a treadmill desk
Workplace Wellness

Love to Golf? Spend a Day at One of These 3 Courses

Whether you’re a beginner who has only just graduated from putt-putt courses or an advanced below-par sharpshooter, get out on a Michigan golf course.

Michigan golf courses
Workplace Wellness

Boost Your Fitness Level and Career: Join a Sports League!

Whether you work with a bunch of beginners or a group of intense competitors, here are a few suggestions for your office-wide summer sports league.

Join a sports league for professional success
Workplace Wellness

3 Ways Women Can Support One Another in the Workplace

Together, women can pull each other up as they climb the corporate ladder. Here are three ways to make sure you’re doing all you can for other women.

help women at work
Workplace Wellness

How To: 5-Minute Desk Exercises with Resistance Bands

Certified fitness coach Angelia Johnson discusses how to do simple exercises using a resistance band that can be performed virtually anywhere, even at work.

desk exercises with resistance bands
Workplace Wellness

Tips to Help Avoid the Office Bug this Winter

It happens like clockwork: once someone at work gets sick, soon almost everyone in the office has a cold. Here are tips to stay healthy at work this winter.

How to avoid getting sick
Workplace Wellness

Holiday Party Celebrates Health of Lansing Community

The holidays are coming to Lansing a little early with a Saturday event featuring healthy food, fitness, and a special visit from Santa.

Holidays come early to Lansing
Workplace Wellness

Tips for Dealing with Difficult People at Work

We’ve all gotten along better with some co-workers than others. But what happens when a person’s attitude or behavior starts to drive you crazy?

how to handle tough coworkers
Workplace Wellness

ArtPrize 2015: Many Hands Created Inclusive Artwork to be Displayed at Blue Cross

Artwork on display in the window of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s downtown Grand Rapids location celebrates an inclusive city.

artprize exhibit
Workplace Wellness

Free Detroit Riverfront Summer Events Roundup

This post describes several free summer events happening on the Detroit riverfront.

Workplace Wellness

What Is a Fit Park? Where to Find One in Michigan

This post talks about fit parks: what they are and where the idea came from. It also introduces the Detroit fit park and the equipment that will be there.

Workplace Wellness

Take a Nap at Work? It Could Save Your Company Lots of Money

More and more companies are encouraging their employees to sneak in some shut-eye at the office. Here’s how to convince your boss to do the same.

nap at work
Workplace Wellness

The Benefits of Taking a Mental Health Day

Taking a mental health day is becoming more common in the modern workplace, because a stressed employee negatively impacts performance and morale.

Woman looking out the window writing in journal
Workplace Wellness

Diabetes and the Desk Job: How to Beat the Odds

The majority of people spend their time at work sitting. Here’s how to fight back against the health risks of being too sedentary.

desk job and diabetes
Workplace Wellness

The Latest Trend for Keeping Employees Happy and Healthy

You spend a lot of time in the office. Here’s one way to make those hours healthier.

Add-a-fuel-bar-to-your-office
Workplace Wellness

The Importance of Mental Health Programs in the Workplace

Your office can be the place that causes you the most stress, but too often there are no programs in place to deal with mental health issues.

Workplace Wellness

5 Cheaper, Smaller Alternatives to Treadmill Desks

Being active at the office doesn’t just mean using a treadmill desk. Here are 5 alternatives to walking desks that are affordable and will fit in your cubicle.

alternatives to treadmill desks
Workplace Wellness

What Does A Healthy Workspace Look Like?

There are many ways to make a work environment comfortable, cozy and healthy all at once. Read this visual guide to see what a healthy work space looks like.

Workplace Wellness

Wellness Resolutions for Small Business Owners for 2015

When it comes to your business, prosperity and health are more closely connected than you might think. Here’s how to boost employees’ health.

create healthier employees
Workplace Wellness

5 Tips to Keep Devices From Being a Pain in the Neck at Work

The same posture rules you learned in elementary school apply to the work environment. Here are five tips to help prevent pain from mobile technology at work.

dont hurt your neck using your phone
Workplace Wellness

A Look Back at the AHM Team’s 2014!

Check out A Healthier Michigan’s highlights of 2014 and learn more about what we’ll be up to in the new year.

Healthy adventures in Michigan
Workplace Wellness

Trend Alert: Workplace Wellness Incentives that Actually Work

Promoting wellness at work is a wonderful idea, but it takes more than a few “Don’t forget your veggies!” posters in the cafeteria to be effective. That’s why…

How to make employees care about being healthy
Workplace Wellness

On Your Feet All Day? Take These Steps to Stay Well

You hear a lot about the health hazards of sitting at a desk all day long—that it can lead to obesity and a higher risk for serious diseases—but standing for…

How to care for your feet
Workplace Wellness

The guide to being happier at the office

On average, Americans spend around 7.9 hours a day at work – with a lot of people putting in way more than that. This means that if you’re not happy at your…

Be happy while you work
Workplace Wellness

BCBSM employee, Pamela, shares her #HealthyMe story

For Pamela McMyler, #HealthyMe is not a new path but a continued journey. She has lost almost 50 lbs since last June and is driven to lose even more. Here'

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Workplace Wellness

Don’t just sit, get fit!

Staring at a computer screen, sitting behind a desk all day, is where 86 percent of all Americans find themselves five days a week. If your job requires you to…

Healthy Me
Workplace Wellness

The #1 mistake most employees make

Hoping to score a big promotion this year? The smartest thing you can do is to turn off your smartphone late at night. It seems like the opposite would be true…

The top mistake employees make
Workplace Wellness

Three ways to create a healthier office space

Americans spend an average of 8.8 hours at work every weekday. And most don’t do anything to make their time at the office any easier on their bodies.

At work
Workplace Wellness

Vending machines: 7 healthy snacks you won’t regret

When afternoon hunger hits at work and you forgot to bring some fruit from home, the vending machine is usually your only option. But while most snacks found…

Healthiest snacks in the vending machine
Workplace Wellness

The easy secret to healthy snacking at the office

Time: 4 p.m. Location: Your desk Stomach: Growling When afternoon hunger hits at work, and it always does, it can be tough to resist the siren call of the…

Simple ways to snack healthy
Workplace Wellness

5 ways to de-stress at work

Everyone experiences stress at one point or another in their jobs. Here are five ways to quickly go from riled up to relaxed in a flash.

Workplace Wellness

Create a brown-bag-it habit

As most people know, eating out on a regular basis can hurt your wallet (it will cost you nearly $2,000 a year) and your waistline. That’s because even the most…

Create a brown bag it habit
Workplace Wellness

Health risk assessments: The first step to making better lifestyle choices

Old habits, especially the bad ones, die hard. But the hard truth is that many people need to change their lifestyle behaviors in order to get healthy.

Pen & paper
Workplace Wellness

Seven habits of successful wellness programs

Although there’s considerable evidence that health and wellness programs reduce costs and improve employee productivity, other research has raised questions about their effectiveness. So what makes some programs flourish while others wither? More importantly, what should your company do to get optimal value from your health and wellness efforts?

Number 7
Workplace Wellness

Did you hear the one about laughter being good for your health?

Discover how laughter has both psychological and physiological benefits.

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Workplace Wellness

Don’t just sit there. Yoga while you work!

Doing yoga at work is one of the best ways to exercise in your office. Learn how to exercise at your desk with easy yoga moves from Blue Cross Blue Shield.

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Workplace Wellness

Banish the blahs! Five food tips for all-day energy at work

Blue Cross Blue Shield covers five tips for choosing energy foods to get you through the day. Discover the best foods for energy and brain power today.

Workplace Wellness

How to cut down on coffee in the office

Here are some healthier alternatives to drinking coffee while you're at the office.

coffee steam
Workplace Wellness

How-To: Relieve Vision Pressure at the Office

Work is becoming an increased source of stress for most Detroit residents, with more than 35 percent of people in the Motor City saying their stress has…

vision pressure
Workplace Wellness

Five Northern Michigan counties participate in Live Healthy Live United 365 Challenge

As our country makes strides towards preventative healthcare and wellness initiatives, a common theme arises: workplace wellness programs work.

Our_logo_grey_365
Workplace Wellness

Football fans: Use the workplace for preseason training

Ready for some football? It’s a great time of year for all fans in Michigan. Glorious fall weekends await and your favorite team – whether pro…

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Workplace Wellness

How the Farbman Group cultivated a culture of workplace wellness

When a job requires sitting the majority of the workday, it can be difficult for employees to remain active and motivated to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Jennifer Cooper, trainer and owner of Healthy 4 Life, focuses on movements that target multiple muscle groups during Farbman Group's fitness program at Bingham Center in Bingham Farms, MI.
Workplace Wellness

A new dad’s guide to staying awake at conferences

Conferences can be viewed in two ways, either they are a great excuse to party for a few days or they are excellent ways to learn and network within your…

Workplace Wellness

Step away from your desk to preserve your health, after you read this post of course!

An avalanche of e-mails, meetings, and projects doesn’t just mean another day at the office, but that you’re going to be parked at your desk for a long time…

Workplace Wellness

Ask the dentist: Should I brush my teeth at the office?

What’s on your check list of office tasks tomorrow? Staff meeting? Client call? Brushing your teeth? If you’re like the majority, you likely left the last one…

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Workplace Wellness

7 Healthy Snacks to Help You Stop the Slump

Try some of these ideas to help stop the slump at work or at home. They can be enjoyed by adults and children alike.

Workplace Wellness

5 After Work Ideas to Keep You Happier at Your Job

Work life balance is something that everyone strives for but sometimes it seems like there are just not enough hours in a day to get everything done.

Workplace Wellness

Seriously, have some fun at work

Remember as a kid and spending hours a day playing with your friends? Now compare that experience with a typical day at your workplace. Notice any difference?

Workplace Wellness

Are you ready for the retirement wave?

A little less hair, a few more laugh lines. You see the signs every day, but not their implications: With each passing year, more and more employees are getting…

Workplace Wellness

How employers plan to control health costs in 2013

Some good news/bad news for employers. On the bright side of the ledger, your strategies for health care cost control are working. The Kaiser Family Foundation’…

Workplace Wellness

Health reform myths and misconceptions

Ignorance is definitely not bliss in the business world. But what’s even worse is being misinformed. Whenever you think you know something that turns out to be…

Workplace Wellness

Giving employees a better “shopping” experience

More than half of all American consumers bought something online last holiday season. And retailers went all out trying to make the shopping experience simple…

Workplace Wellness

Need talent? Don’t forget to leverage your wellness program

Your employees understand you’re concerned about their health and well-being. But what about potential employees whom you would like to join your team?

Workplace Wellness

Finding the right work/life balance

“My work is my life.” How many times have you heard a Type A business owner proudly and defiantly make such a comment? Of course, running a business is not a 9…

Workplace Wellness

“Keen” cuisine: How to increase mental productivity and self-control

We all know productivity requires both energy and control. A manufacturing plant needs power to operate and process controls to ensure efficiency. Your car won’…

Workplace Wellness

Choosing a health plan: Five mistakes your company needs to avoid

Does your company want to be an employer of choice? What new options are available to limit your cost exposure? Is increasing worker productivity one of your…

Workplace Wellness

Six ways to boost employee morale

It’s an established fact: Healthier employees = happier, more productive employees. As we wrote in an earlier post, research from the Michigan Journal of Public…

Workplace Wellness

Five trends in wellness program incentives

Sometimes, we all need a little push to get motivated. To be honest, some of us need a big shove. Especially if we’re trying to change our behaviors. That’s why…

Workplace Wellness

How to fend off unhealthy “snack attacks” at work

Guess what’s replaced baseball as the national pastime? Snacking. We all do it, most of us more often than we like. Snacks currently provide about 25%

Workplace Wellness

Health plans should be as flexible as your business

As employers we all know, health plans and their benefits are like hats, suits or dresses: One size doesn't fit all. Just as your business must adapt to the…

Workplace Wellness

Have a heart healthy day in the office

February is Heart Health Month and a perfect time for a reminder that we all need to treat our hearts with a little TLC. Kick-off healthy eating habits with…

Workplace Wellness

Employee fatigue costs companies $136 billion each year

You might be familiar with this famous quote from NFL Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi: “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” But were you aware employee…

Workplace Wellness

Part 1: Defined contribution health plans: Are you up to speed on the next big thing?

Economist Peter Orszag, the former Director of the Office of Management and Budget, writes in Bloomberg Businessweek that, over the next decade…

Workplace Wellness

What’s hot in 2013? Health and wellness

Businesses of all sizes are seeing the light: Healthy employees mean higher productivity, lower health costs, better morale and a healthier bottom line.

Workplace Wellness

Healthy eating at the office is easier said than done

We live in a society that is constantly on-the-go and we often don’t spend the time to take care of ourselves, especially during the work day.

Workplace Wellness

Health reform made simple: The 3 big things you need to know now

Employers across Michigan have told us that, when it comes to health reform, there’s TMI (Too Much Information) and TLT (Too Little Time) to figure out what it…

Workplace Wellness

Will a healthy work environment lead to healthy employees? You bet it will

I’m sure you will agree with me, it is wonderful to work in a healthy environment instead of an unhealthy one. I know what it’s like to work in an unhealthy…

Workplace Wellness

Preparing for health reform? Don’t forget the benefits

Costs, costs, costs. That’s practically all you read about concerning health reform. But as businesses ready themselves for the upcoming changes precipitated by…

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