With Fall upon us and a nice chill in the air it's time to get ready for holidays. Everyone is pulling out their decorations from storage, putting grocery lists together, and preparing for gatherings of friends and family. It also happens to be squash season and the king of all squash is our friend, the pumpkin. You are most likely going to be inundated with pumpkins this time of year - Jack-o-lanterns, pumpkin bread, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, and pumpkin ice cream are just a few things you might be surrounded by.

The cool days of Fall are now upon us and that means one thing to me - chili season. I love chili in all of it's traditional formats. Meat, beans, tomatoes, and strong flavors of cumin and dried chiles are what I consider to be key for a delicious bowl of red. Lately however, I've been leaving out the meat to make the dish lighter and I really haven't missed it.

Severe gum disease can cause your gums to start pulling away from your teeth. You may also form pockets between your teeth and gums and develop infections, cavities and even begin to lose your teeth. Poor oral health can lead to heart disease, kidney disease and even stroke. Many people may be surprised to know that gum disease and oral health can be negatively affected by having diabetes. On the flip side, poor oral health can lead to poor glucose control and eventually diabetes. Essentially, understanding the link between diabetes and oral health can help a person maintain proper oral health. This is necessary in order to stay healthy and keep diabetes at bay or under control.

The dog days of summer are officially over and I'm not missing the heat at all. I will, however, be missing all of the fresh local produce at our farmers market on Sundays. It's such a great experience to go buy locally grown and produced products from small farms and purveyers of goods and it's become a staple of our spring and summer. Aside from the excellent prices, quality, and sustainable methods, it's great to meet the actual people that are producing your food and who take pride in bringing you their best. To read further about our love of buying local, check out our recent blog post.

Nudge is here to help make wellness easy, fun, and effective for your organization. In our continuing series of articles to help you roll out an effective wellness initiative, we've covered 5 important topics including:

It's starting to get cold outside and that means one thing - rich, hearty soup season. There are few things better than sliding your chair up to a warm bowl of great soup when it's cold outside. I like all types of soups and creamy soups are some of my favorites. Chowders, broccoli cheese, potato, and cream of just about anything are always top of my list. These soups are certainly tasty but they're also incredibly fattening. Usually cream soups contain - you guessed it - heavy cream along with butter, cheese, bacon, and other thickeners such as flour and corn starch.

I'm always trying to find new ways to work healthy vegetables in my diet and recently I've grown to love brussel sprouts. When prepared right they have a complex flavor and are very hearty and filling. In fact, I've found myself choosing this high protein and low carb vegetable over potatoes, which are carb heavy and loaded with calories.

Last week we learned a how to categorize your wellness audience by creating personas. This is a key step in any wellness initiative which enables you to craft a relevant program and communicate it effectively. Now that you've correctly identified your audience and you have an interesting wellness plan formulated, what next?

Despite research showing the importance of eating breakfast, many of us are still skipping the most important meal of the day. About 18 percent of males and 13 percent of females between the ages of 35 and 54 are breakfast skippers, according to a 2011 study by the market research company NPD group.

If you want to successfully Nudge wellness, you’re going to need to motivate your audience to change their behaviors. Your initiative needs to be smart, appealing, inspiring and accessible to really make a difference. The only way you will be able to accomplish this is to first know your audience.