National Nutrition Month® is an annual nutrition education and information campaign

created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The campaign, celebrated each year during

the month of March, focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and

developing sound eating and physical activity habits.

Did you know that the meals we serve here at the Center are designed to meet 1/3 of your

daily nutritional requirements? We take great care to ensure that each day and each week, we

serve food that enables you to receive the nutrition that you need to get and stay healthy!

Our meals consist of protein (3 ounces), vegetables and/or fruit (2, 1/2 cup servings or 3, 1/3

cup servings,) bread or alternate (1 serving) Butter or Fortified Margarine (1 teaspoon),

dessert (1/2 cup) and milk (1 Cup). We work very hard to ensure you have a healthy, tasty

variety of food that meet these requirements. We always welcome your feedback and

suggestions on our meals.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends using this month to explore the

following thoughts:

1. Discover the benefits of a healthy eating style. Eating healthy really means understanding

what your body needs in terms of nutrients and vitamins—in other words, fuel for you!

Eating healthy will give you more energy, help you to fight off illness and even help you find

a sense of happiness!

2. Choose foods and drinks that are good for your health. Limit your intake of sugary drinks

or caffeine and make sure you drink enough water.

3. Include a variety of healthful foods from all of the food groups on a regular basis. Use the

MyPlate example to get the right types of food and make sure you vary the types of food you

eat. Check out the information in the Old Dogs New Tricks section to learn more about

MyPlate.

4. Select healthier options when eating away from home. Skip the cream based soup in favor

of a salad with vinegar and oil dressing.

5. Be mindful of portion sizes. Eat and drink the amount that's right for you, as MyPlate

encourages us to do. Most restaurants serve portions that are larger than recommended.

Split entrees with a friend or ask for a to-go box!

6. Keep it simple. Eating right doesn't have to be complicated.

7. Find activities that you enjoy and be physically active most days of the week. Being

physically active doesn’t mean running miles every day. Turn to the Stay Fit section to find

more information about being physically active!

Happy Eating!

Margaret Gray Center News March 2019

Page 2 March 2019

Our birthday celebrations are the 3rd Thursday of every

month.

The following folks will celebrate birthdays this month. We’d

love to see you at our birthday celebration on Thursday,

March 21.

Jim Thomas March 1st

Alma Walls March 4th

Carl Fredrickson March 4th

Terry Evans March 5th

Ethel Bernaur March 6th

Meredith Stephenson March 10th

Sharon Dothage March 15th

Doris Claypole March 16th

Alvin Dunkle March 18th

Deloris Bush March 20th

Carroll Dye March 22nd

Deborah Cook March 23rd

Susan Peek March 26th

Nancy Riggle March 27th

James Donely March 28th

Carly Davidson March 28th

Paula Carrender March 31st

Birthdays of the Month!

Brain Teasers!

This is called a lateral thinking puzzle. These types of puzzles have

been around for many years in one form or another and they are a great

way to encourage discussion, thinking and creativity. Good luck! The

answer is at the bottom.

If a year has 365 days and a leap year has 366 days, then according to time, how many

days in a year would have 24 hours?

On Sunday, March 10 at 2:00 a.m. we move our clocks ahead 1

hour. You might want to do this before you go to bed on Saturday

night! If you forget, you will be really late for church or other

events on Sunday!

This is also a good time to change the batteries in your smoke

detectors too. And if you keep a bad weather kit in your house or

car, change out the water and snacks you have in them. Enjoy the

change!

Answer: 363 days. When daylight savings time starts, that day would consist of 23

hours of time, because the clock advances an hour and when the daylight savings

time ends, that day would consist of 25 hours of time, because the clock goes back to

the standard time

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Learn something new every month!

Then on Saturday, March 16 Lexington

will host its annual St. Patrick’s Day parade.

The parade this year starts at 2:00pm and is

sure to have many great participants. Who

knows, you might even

see something like this!

Here’s a challenge—

attend the parade and

take a photo of what you

think is the best entry in

the parade! We’ll share

next month!

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

has developed the MyPlate concept to help you

understand and learn more about how to eat healthy.

Everything you eat and drink matters. The right mix can help you

be healthier now and in the future. This means:

• Focus on variety, amount, and nutrition.

• Choose foods and beverages with less saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.

• Start with small changes to build healthier eating styles.

• Support healthy eating for everyone.

Eating healthy is a journey shaped by many factors, including our stage of life, situations,

preferences, access to food, culture, traditions, and the personal decisions we make over time.

All your food and beverage choices count. MyPlate offers ideas and tips to help you create a

healthier eating style that meets your individual needs and improves your health.

The USDA recommends making small changes rather than completely overhauling your

entire eating pattern at once. Start by making a commitment to make half of your plate full

of vegetables. Vary your veggies so you don’t get bored eating the same thing. Fresh, canned

or frozen vegetables are fine. If you do use canned, rinse them off to keep the sodium levels

down.

Learn more about how to use the MyPlate guidelines to help you eat healthy. Go to

www.choosemyplate.gov … your body will be glad you did!

Center Tidbits St. Patrick’s Day this year

falls on Sunday, March 17.

Begin your weekend

festivities right here at the

Margaret Gray Center!

We’re kicking off the holiday

celebrations with corned beef and cabbage for

lunch on Friday, March 15. For

entertainment, Dan Lloyd will be with us

again singing his best Irish songs! You can

join in with him if you’re feeling especially

Irish!

811 C South Business 13

Highway Lexington, MO 64067

Phone: 660-259-2025 Fax: 660-259-2453

Email: “lexington@goaging.org”

Our mission is to provide resources and services that empower people to

create healthy aging experiences. We strive to provide an atmosphere that

is safe, comfortable, friendly, and well—equipped to meet the needs of the

senior citizens in our area.

THE MARGARET

GRAY CENTER Margaret Gray Center

We are on the web! Find us at

www.goaging.org

“Like” us on Facebook!

Coordinator’s Corner

Special

Dates

Fridays

1pm-4pm Bridge 2nd and 4th

Thursday—Pitch

Biscuits & Gravy is

back! Join us on

Thursday mornings!

March 13—4Life Board

Meeting March 14—Nutrition

Education March 17 St. Patrick’s

day! March 19—CSB

Meeting March 20—Spring

Begins! March 21—Birthday

Day

See the Activities Calendar

for more details and

normally scheduled events.

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Who’s ready for spring??? It’s been a busy month here at the

Margaret Gray Center starting with

“Wear Red Day”.

We have had several health screenings and speakers.

HCC came and did blood glucose and pressure checks.

Also every birthday day we are lucky to have Kelly &

Kristin from Beacon of Hope Hospice come and check

blood pressures.

We also had a fun Valentine’s Day,

Krista from Riverbend and Courtney

from Asana Hospice came and brought

prizes that they handed out for

answering health questions correctly.

Coming up in March we have Hoops

for Seniors on the Saturday the 23rd at

the Lexington Middle School. It’s our

first year for this and we hope to make it an annual

event. Please check with me for details. On April Fool’s

Day we will have Trivia here at the center starting at

6:30p.m. along with other games if you choose. The

theme for trivia will be Entertainment, which covers so

many different areas I can’t wait to hear the questions.

It’s fun because things you know by accident could score

your team some points.

Here’s hoping all the snow and ice are gone for this year

and everyone has a great month!

Candy

March 2019 Stay fit…for lie

Fun, Good Food, Regular Activity & Learning How you live can change how you age!

FITNESS CLASSES… around the County

Silver Sneakers : HIGGINSVILLE 10 am Mon & Thurs. ODESSA 10:15am Tues & Fri Tai Chi:

Concordia 10 am Wed & Fri.

Stay Strong : HIGGINSVILLE 11 am M –W - F Peppi : LEXINGTON 9 am Mon & Fri

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Getting and staying fit is finding a balance of nutrition and exercise that

works for you, because honestly, if your plan doesn’t “work for you” it isn’t

going to do you a bit of good because you’ll abandon the plan before you see

any real benefits!

So here is some information from Health Facts—Be Physically Active (see

the link at the bottom of the next page) that may help you develop a fitness

plan that works for you.

Many people feel they don't have time for regular physical activity, or

they're too tired. But being physically active every day, along with eating

healthy, is one important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Increasing your

heartbeat, strengthening your muscles, and increasing your flexibility

contribute to physical fitness. Being physically fit has a number of health

benefits in both the short-term and the long-term.

Research shows that regular physical activity can promote psychological

well-being and aid in reducing feelings of mild to moderate depression and

anxiety. On a day that you're feeling a bit tired, down, or stressed, consider

taking a brisk walk—it can help you.

Leading a physically active lifestyle can also help maintain a healthy weight

and prevent weight gain. Expending calories through physical activity can

help balance the calories you take in as food. Just remember, don't

counteract all the physical activity you do by eating a lot of unhealthy foods.

People with higher levels of physical activity are at lower risk for developing

chronic disease. Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of chronic

diseases such as high blood pressure, stroke, coronary artery disease, type 2

diabetes, colon cancer, and osteoporosis.

Different intensities and types of activity provide different benefits.

Generally, if you are able to talk while performing the physical activity, it's

moderately intense.

But if you're breathing hard and it's hard to hold a conversation, the activity

is vigorously intense. Vigorously intense activity burns more calories per unit

of time.

For most people, moderately intense physical activities include:

• Walking briskly

• Doing yard work

• Scrubbing the floor

• Actively playing with children

• Biking at a casual pace

For most people, vigorously intense activities include:

• Jogging or running

• Swimming laps

• Jumping rope

• Rollerblading/in-line skating at a brisk pace

• Playing sports such as basketball or soccer

Cross-country skiing

Still need some help developing a plan for eating healthy and becoming

physically active? Well, guess what—the Center is a terrific place to start.

As we mentioned on the front page, our meals are designed with you in mind!

And we have a host of activities that you can participate in that will help you

become physically active. And we can help you find activities even if we don’t

do them at the Center. For example, if you want to start walking, we can

help you find a partner to walk with. Having a workout partner helps keep

you on track. Don’t know where to walk or work out? We can help you with

that information too.

March is the month to get started. Spring is in the air, the days are staying

lighter longer—it’s a great time to get motivated!

Spring: A lovely reminder of how beautiful change can truly be!

(Link to more information https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/toolkit/

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