Dale is a regular customer and credits Smart Cow with helping him to make healthier choices on his road to fitness

At 300 pounds, with high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes, Dale Juedes was given a bleak warning by his doctor: “If you don’t start doing something now, you won’t live to see your 45th birthday.” It was the wake-up call he needed to put his old habits behind, and start the challenging journey to a healthier lifestyle.

“Coming off a diet where I ate over a pound of bacon per day and ate fast food over 15 times per week was beyond difficult, so I started out slowly,” said Dale. He began by making better food choices, and then moved on to beginning an exercise program. At first, it was a simple walk around the block. Soon he was walking a mile per day, and he began to feel more awake, alert and energetic.

“One day I decided to clean my garage and saw a bike hanging from the rafters. I had simply forgotten I even had a bike. I pulled it down, dusted it off, filled the tires. That’s when my life really started to change,” said Dale.

The more he pedaled, the faster the weight rolled off. “My bike became my heroine. Soon I no longer needed the pills that once kept me alive.” After eight months of better eating, walking and biking, Dale no longer had Type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure. His weight is now a number he can be proud of.

In his process of searching for healthier food choices, Dale found Smart Cow Yogurt Bar. “I can’t give in to the cravings I still get to this day,” he said. “Smart Cow has now become one of the largest contributors to my personal success. The nonfat, no-sugar-added yogurt, plus fresh fruit make me feel good about eating it because I know it’s the right choice. On days that I’m not biking, or even days when I get that itch to give in to the fast-food temptation, I rush to Smart Cow and create my own non-guilty treat.”

This journey has led to another great adventure for Dale. He developed a mountain biking team, Trail Vipers, to keep the motivation going. Men, women and youth form a team that rides and competes together throughout Wisconsin. Dale invited Smart Cow Yogurt Bar to be part of this journey as an honorary sponsor. “Smart Cow has a mission of being part of something good,” he says, referring to the company’s commitment to regularly support neighborhood schools. “Through frequent visits for yogurt, and being part of their better good, I invited them to be a part of my journey as a thank you for introducing a healthy choice into my diet, and now into my everyday life.”

To learn more about Trail Vipers, click here. To see Dale’s story as published by the Green Bay Press Gazette on May 1, 2013, click here:

Claire, Sage and Lily, burning up at Smart Cow, Castle Rock

Three creative 8th graders from Rocky Heights Middle School show their tech-savvy skills in this video they created for a school project in which they were challenged to create a parody video. Since they all love Smart Cow Yogurt Bar, it was easy for them to choose their topic.

They choose a song – Burning Up by the Jonas Brothers – then rewrote the lyrics. On a weekend afternoon, they spent three hours at the shop, filming and creating their masterpiece. And then came a lot of editing. Take a look, it’s quite impressive!

Click here to watch “Burning Up for Froyo” on YouTube:  http://youtu.be/Q2puWiRC-Ys

Our nation and many states face continuing challenges in delivering a high-quality education to all students, according to Quality Counts, the annual report card published by Education Week. The nation receives a C when graded across the six distinct areas of policy and performance tracked by the report, the most comprehensive ongoing assessment of the state of American education.

Here’s what Quality Counts says about Colorado and Wisconsin:

• When adjusted for regional cost differences, Colorado spends $2,510 less per student than the national average. Wisconsin spends $118 more than the national average.

• Colorado invests 3.1% of total taxable resources on education, ranking 46th in the nation. Wisconsin invests 4.0%, ranking 22nd. The national average is 3.9%.

• Though Colorado ranks 43rd in the nation for per-pupil spending, it ranks 10th in achievement. Wisconsin ranks 23rd in per-pupil spending and ranks 14th in achievement.

It’s interesting to note that the four states that rank highest in achievement are in the top 10 for funding.