For Your Well Being 
Barbara Christenson, Speaker Services, Publisher 
mailto:barbarac@easystreet.com

Published every other Thursday
December 2, 2004, Vol. II Issue 25 

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               In This Issue: Celebrating Sell-Outs 
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Dear Friends,

Happy One Year Anniversary to me and to you! This issue marks our 
first full year of publishing "For Your Well Being." We wouldn’t be 
successful without you, our readers! Thank you to so many of you who 
have written grateful and encouraging words, and especially to those 
who have inquired and booked speakers you’ve read about here. 
There’s much more good stuff coming. I’m excited about sharing it
with you.

I have been describing various formats for events, primarily about 
women’s health, and I hope you are getting as much enjoyment out of 
reading these descriptions as I have had writing about them. I think 
it’s fascinating to learn how the events evolve and it’s encouraging 
to hear that so many of these annual events are sell-outs.

If in the thinking stages of creating an event, you’re in luck! At 
least that is my intention. You don’t have to re-invent the wheel 
where others have blazed a trail! In this issue, we’re featuring The 
Medical Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in their seventh year of 
their sell-out program, "A Day Just for Women."

So, a little bit of celebration, some event/speaker ideas, a little 
holiday cheer, along with the news, which isn’t news to me, that a 
dog can be not only your best friend, but your weight loss partner 
as well.  

Yours truly,
Barbara 

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                       A Day Just for Women
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Seven years ago the leaders at the Community Wellness Center for The 
Medical Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky, decided it was time to 
create an event featuring women’s health and host a day-long conference
for the community. 150 women attended the initial conference where they 
featured one keynote speaker and several breakout sessions throughout 
the day. 

"A Day Just For Women," now an annual event, attracted a capacity crowd 
of over 460 women in October this year. Linda Rush, Director Community 
Wellness, shared with me some of her conclusions about the elements of 
success. "For the last few years," she said, "I feel like we’ve honed
in on a formula that works. We bring in two keynote speakers and we 
have them each speak twice, with variations of their topics in the 
morning and afternoon. We like to have one to give us specific health 
and wellness information with motivational inspiration, and the other
to bring us humor, motivation, and inspiration for everyday life and 
positive emotional health.

"Our goal is to give women in the community an opportunity to come 
together, to hear inspiring messages from quality speakers on both 
physical and emotional health, to participate in screenings, massages, 
and to give our hospital services exposure. And our participants get 
to peruse the goods and services of 40 exhibitors," she said. Tickets 
for the day are $35, including continental breakfast and lunch. 
Corporate tables for 10 at $300 can be reserved and CEU’s are offered 
for nurses.  

This year, the healthy focus speaker was Fern Carness, a breast cancer 
survivor, health promotion crusader, former cardiac nurse, author, 
dragon boat paddler, grandmother, and outspoken advocate for women’s 
health. For her presentations she picked two of her favorite topics, 
"Ladies, It's Your Body, Take Charge," and "Breast Health: What's New 
and What You Can Do."  

"Following the conference," Linda told me, "one participant shared that 
she too, was a breast cancer survivor who had a mastectomy 8 years ago. 
She had never had the courage to go to be fitted for a prosthesis until 
hearing Fern's presentation. Fern gave her the courage to do this for 
herself."

Sandy Queen, who is a teacher, health educator, author and all round 
very funny lady, brought her sense of humor to the day with her topics, 
"Lighten Up," and "Women and Aging: Funny You Should Ask!" What’s 
unique and special about this event is that Fern and Sandy have known 
each other for eons (Well, I already did identify Fern as a grand-
mother, so now you know that Sandy is one, too!) In Bowling Green 
they met at the local Cracker Barrel restaurant, and, in Cracker Barrel 
style picked out at least one dust collector doo-dad from the gift shop 
before dining and settling down to the business of collaborating on 
their messages for the next day. 

"Sandy and I were able to poke fun at each other as I professed to be 
funny and she declared her ‘content’ was clinically relevant," Fern 
said. "All in all, I think the net results are improved when the 
speakers are familiar with each other's work. We can play and work 
together."

"Much thought is given to speaker selection," Linda said. "We work 
directly with speakers or through speaker groups like Barbara offers. 
We review videos, check references, phone the speakers for interviews, 
etc, to make sure we have just the right speakers. Our budget limits 
lead us to being very creative in getting high quality speakers with 
somewhat limited funds. Barbara understood the parameters in which we 
were working and went to work finding just the right fit for us. That 
was a tremendous help to me as the event coordinator. The follow-up 
throughout the process was excellent. Thank you Barbara!" Thank you, 
Linda!

The hospital promotes the event through media interviews, press 
releases, newspaper ads, and a quarterly newsletter that is published 
by the hospital wellness department. Linda told me that they originally 
developed and mailed a brochure to the 20,000 plus Women's Center 
members. This year a full page ad was placed in the local newspaper 
instead and they had a sellout crowd (460 attendees with over 80 on a 
waiting list). 

Sandy said that one woman told her that she had just gone through a 
divorce, a major health emergency and a job relocation, and this day 
made her feel like she had hope to continue. As Sandy said, "Hearing 
something like that, it doesn’t get much better than that!"

And that’s why we do what we do, isn’t it? For more information about 
Fern or Sandy, email me or call 503-699-5031.  

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              Holiday Cheer: Tasty Meals Without Weight Gain!
                         from Elizabeth Somer, RD
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Uh Oh. Here come the Holidays and you know what that brings: sugar-
coated desserts, fatty soups, egg nog drowning in heavy cream. 
Basically enough fat and sugar to block the arteries of every one of 
Santa's elves, not to mention the extra calories that cling to your 
hips, making that little black dress too snug by New Year's Eve. While
the rumor that we gain seven pounds during the holidays is way too
high, the one pound we do gain tends to stay put throughout the year, 
according to a study from the National Institutes of Health. Taken over 
20 holidays, that could amount to substantial weight gain. To help you 
manage the holidays, Elizabeth Somer, Registered Dietitian and author 
of "The Food & Mood Cookbook" has some easy tricks of the trade to cut 
fat, sugar, and calories, without sacrificing one ounce of taste. 

"It's a myth that food must be dripping in fat to taste good," 
she says. "You can cut fat and never even miss it. Better yet, it 
doesn't take any more time to prepare low-fat foods," For example,
she continues, you may know to remove the skin from chicken before
cooking, use broth and wine for sautéing instead of oil and use
broth instead of butter in your stuffing. But did you know the 
second trick: to use cornstarch and broth instead of butter and 
flour for a roux when making creamed sauces. 

You also might not know that you can use potatoes instead of cream 
to make a rich and creamy soup, or that you can use baby-food prunes,
applesauce, or apple butter in place of all or part of the fat in 
baked goods such as breads and muffins. Elizabeth also recommends 
using kitchen gadgets, such as a fat-separator cup to separate the
fat from the liquid in turkey drippings. Finally, take advantage of
the fat-free products on the market, from fat-free half & half, 
cream cheese, and sour cream to fat-free whipped toppings and
evaporated milk. 

What about the sugar rush during the holidays? Elizabeth says there
is no reason to cut out sweets, just because you're cutting back on
sugar. You often can cut sugar in recipes by up to one-third without 
altering the taste. 

Several of the recipes in her "Food & Mood Cookbook" fit the bill of
being easy to prepare and taste great without the extra fat, sugar,
and calories. To order the book, visit Elizabeth’s website, 
http://www.elizabethsomer.com

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                People + Pets = Weight Loss Success
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We knew it all along. Now an official study has confirmed that people 
with their pets can succeed together in fighting the obesity epidemic.

This first-ever study, combining people and pets in a weight management 
study, was done by Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Hill’s Pet 
Nutrition, the maker of Science Diet and Prescription Diet brand pet 
foods. It’s called the People and Pets Exercising Together (P-Pet) 
study. 

With 60% of Americans overweight or obese, and 30 million cats and dogs 
in the U.S. overweight or obese (25% of the pet population), the people 
at Hill’s Nutrition saw a parallel; they wondered if the good old buddy 
system would work with pets.

The study consisted of three groups of overweight participants: a 
dog/owner group (36 people and their dogs), a dog-only group (53 dogs), 
and a people-only group (56 people). The purpose of the study was to 
compare the efficacy of weight loss programs for dog-only and people-
only groups to that of a combined dog/owner weight loss program for 
both weight loss and weight maintenance. 

Results of the study show that companion dogs can serve as social 
support for their owners for weight loss and weight maintenance. The 
P-PET program has proven to be a safe, effective, and enjoyable way for 
people and pets to lose weight and maintain weight loss. 

To get all the details, go to: http://www.petfit.com/ppet/study.asp
Better yet, leash up if you have a dog, or, if you don’t, get one and 
start walking! The rewards are many, including lots of welcoming barks 
and licks. Goldfish won’t get the job done.

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                  Shopping Tip: Females for Femail
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Have you heard about Femail Creations, a very cool resource for gifts
to celebrate and inspire women? I love it when girlfriends share their 
discoveries with me. So I’m delighted to share this one with you. I 
looked them up on line and then ordered their paper catalog (can you 
imagine that? I ordered a catalog!) and I’m having fun simply reading 
it. It’s brimming with creativity and unique gift ideas. 

Lisa Hammond is the energy behind this company that supports and 
encourages female artists. She wrote a book about her journey, "Dream 
Big." The company is also committed to making a difference in the 
lives of women and children and to leave the planet a better place.
In every edition of the catalog, they feature a "Making a Difference" 
charity and donate a portion of their proceeds to that group. 

Check it out at http://www.femailcreations.com

Until next time, be good to yourself, shop well, for your well being
and those you love.

Yours truly, 
Barbara

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                      ABOUT OUR SERVICES 
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My vision for Speaker Services is to be a connector for speakers I 
know, love and believe in, with the audiences who will be inspired, 
motivated, and transformed by their perspectives, knowledge, empathy, 
compassion, information and, most importantly, capacity to enjoy the 
process, laughing at themselves and with you along the way.

You’ll find many of our speakers on our website. 

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Or please call anytime and let us assist you: 503-699-5031
Speaker Services, 16491 SW Lake Forest Blvd, Lake Oswego, OR 97035
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