Thanks for Reading – by Lydia!
May 30, 2012 by KathyG · Leave a Comment
Alright everybody, we all knew this day was coming, and now it’s here: this will be my last NuVal at Sartell High School blog post. Very tragic.
But you know what’s not tragic? NuVal’s impact at Sartell! I would say it is the very opposite of tragic!
To support this statement, I asked some of the people in my lunchroom how NuVal impacted them, or how they’ve seen it work, and below you can see how they answered.
Finally, I would just like to say what a great time I’ve had doing this blog, and how glad I am that you are reading it right this very moment! Not only has the blog inspired me personally to be healthier, it’s made me realize what an impact I can have on my community. So thank you for reading 
Bye!
Lydia
Wrap-up NuVal® Trade Up Competition – by Lydia!
May 23, 2012 by KathyG · Leave a Comment
Hello! So my next post will be my last (and also on my last day of high school!) so I’m going to do some wrap up of our NuVal® trade up in the lunchroom competition! I thought I would practice my interviewing skills and who better to talk to than the mastermind behind the competition, Mr. Schulte?
Lydia: So, how many people competed in the lunchroom and what did they win? Mr. Schulte: There are 46 people that won $5 gift cards out of 284 participating. We had one grand prize winner, Kellan Cameron, who won the Kindle Fire. Lydia: What were some trade ups that you saw students make? Mr. Schulte: Typical trade ups that were made were from 1% to skim milk, apples for applesauce, a lot of times people picked the healthier of the two entrees, sometimes it was unintentional until they got to the board and realized that the choice they made was actually a trade up. That was kind of beneficial too just because they realized, “Oh, I made a decision that I wanted and it was healthier for me.” Lydia: Which happened more often, intentional or unintentional trade ups? Mr. Schulte: It really varied, but multiple times kids were making at least one trade up, which was beneficial. Lydia: Who ran the competition besides you?Mr. Schulte: We put a bunch of senior students on it to encourage people to sign up and it really became an educational opportunity. Lydia: Well it sounds like a really positive things, were there any snags?
Mr. Schulte: It worked great when we had it manned–or womanned– or had people there to help with the boards, but as soon as we took those people out and kind of let it fly on its own, it struggled a little bit, partially just because of the time it took to write two numbers up on the board, and students only have a 22 minute lunch. We could find ways to be more technologically savvy with it–maybe texting? Lydia: Do you have any final thoughts about how NuVal® has worked out thus far at Sartell High School?
Mr. Schulte: I feel like the students are pretty conscious of their choices and pretty aware of how the NuVal® scores factor into that. It reminds them that there is a healthier choice. I think they just embrace it, they say, “Hey that fits what I’m doing and I’m glad I’m making the healthy choice.” There you go! I hope you enjoyed my reporting!
Lydia
P.s. Check out the video “I Don’t Care”. It’s that easy!
Whittle Down Choices with NuVal – by Lydia!
May 16, 2012 by KathyG · Leave a Comment
This Sunday was Mother’s Day, so my sister, Kathryn, and I got proactive and made my mom dinner! Since Kathryn doesn’t eat meat, we had to get a little crafty with the food choices and we settled on bruschetta
, which is super easy to make! (It also tastes pretty good too!)
We headed off to Coborns grocery store armed with an internet recipe, and used NuVal to help us whittle down our choices! For example, there were several brands of balsamic vinegar, and we didn’t know anything about them, so we used NuVal to help us decide! I have recently taken up the practice of using NuVal as the tiebreaker for foods I’m stumped about, it’s a really easy way to trade up!
The recipe called for 2 kinds of tomatoes – fresh and sun-dried. Fresh tomatoes didn’t stump us, they have a high NuVal score of 96 – but the sun-dried tomatoes were a bit of a surprise dropping to a 56 (still not bad!)…here’s more proof that fresh is always best! Garlic scores a 91 and olive oil scores an 11 (low but definitely higher than other oils). Overall – I’d say this was a healthy dinner choice!
So enjoy the video and if you want to take a look at the recipe and give it a try, click here!
Lydia
Is Food Healthier Abroad? – by Lydia!
May 9, 2012 by KathyG · Leave a Comment
Here I am on Prom Night!
Well, I thought it would never happen, but I’ve decided on a college and as it turns out, I’ll be studying abroad in England for the first year.
That got me thinking, what will the food be like in England? Healthier? Less junk food? More tea? I wish there was a NuVal app on my phone I could take to the UK with me!
So, I did a little research, the websites did say that generally, people in England are very accommodating to diets, and there are a lot of vegetarians! Another website said “People in England eat more fruit and vegetables and less salt and fat, reducing heart disease and some cancers, say Oxford University experts.” So that’s really promising!
Also, tea is a huge deal over there, so I went to the NuVal website and saw that I can trade up from Coca Cola (1) to Arizona Diet Green Tea with Ginseng (35). I’m not sure if they drink a whole lot of iced tea over in Britain, but that’s a promising trade up!
One thing I will miss is the Minnesota apples in the fall, especially honey crisp apples. I suppose I could just eat applesauce, but the NuVal website informs me that Mott’s Plain Regular Original Applesauce is a 4 while fresh apples are a 96. Maybe my family can mail me a few honey crisps? They might end up as applesauce in transit though…
Anyways, I’m looking forward to trying new things and hopefully staying healthy!
Lydia
P.s. Watch my “Stalker” video and trade up for health!
Health is in the Air – by Lydia!
May 2, 2012 by KathyG · Leave a Comment
My high school play “Little Shop of Horrors - plant eating a snack! (Don't worry, Ivy's okay!)
I feel like I say this on every post, but my GOODNESS have I been busy!
The high school play “Little Shop of Horrors” just ended, and I was a lead! The play went really well, and it’s kind of funny how it relates: it’s all about an alien plant who eats people, and my favorite NuVal® saying is “the closer to nature, the healthier,” except this time nature is eating the people. That’s kind of macabre now that I read that sentence. Oh well!
The musical was a hilarious! On Saturday we had two shows, so in between the whole cast and crew scattered to find food. I went to Val’s (burger joint), which may not be the healthiest, but keeping NuVal® in mind, I made sure to order extra vegetables for my burger! I was impressed by other members of my cast who selected Subway® because they said it was healthier. Way to trade up!!
I think that “it’s healthier” mood has really been pervading the school lately. With the spring weather, people are starting to go out and exercise more and healthiness seems to be a theme in a lot of conversations. One of my friends told me just yesterday he was trying to eat healthier so he could be his best in track. This is all very encouraging! Health is in the air!
Yours, LydiaP.s. Watch my latest video! Enjoy!
