Tis the Season (for Fruits and Veggies)
June 10, 2009
I love this time of year when fresh fruits and vegetables are in season — there is such a good variety to choose from and everything tastes so much better when it’s fresh picked. We just finished strawberry season but cherries and blueberries are in their peak and I’m eating my fair share.
The USDA recommends 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day for a balanced diet. Are you meeting this goal? If you are like many Americans, you are falling short of the recommended servings but with all the great tasting fruits and veggies available, it’s a perfect time to make a dietary change. Read the full article…
Hiatus is Over
June 10, 2009
Wow!! What a month it’s been — to all my loyal readers, I apologize for my absence this past month. I’m happy to say that my hiatus is over and I have a list of ideas to write about. I hope you are all doing well and finding ways to incorporate healthy habits into your daily routine.
During the month of may, I took a couple of weeks off to re-energize and eliminate stressors in my life. After that, my son came for a visit and brightened our house for a week. We don’t get to see him nearly enough. My dad also came out for a visit and it was a very special time as he had not been to see us since we moved to North Carolina.
The summer season is almost here and my herb garden is producing more than I can use. I’ve already taken one big bunch of dill and basil to the office to share with my co-workers. The pepper plants are coming along nicely but it will be awhile before we have any fruit.
I still struggle to get into a regular exercise routine but I ride my bike and walk when I can. The good news is that I’ve dropped a few more pounds and have maintained a healthy meal plan. 46 pounds lost so far and I feel better than ever.
I look forward to your continued comments and support.
Cheryl
Taking Care of Your Emotional Health
May 12, 2009
I’ve devoted a lot of time to talking about physical health in terms of diet, nutrition, and exercise but it is just as important to acknowledge the importance of emotional health. Our emotional health can be affected by many different situations:
- Stresses in our lives (family, work, financial, etc.)
- Relationships
- Physical health
- Disorders (depression, bi-polar, etc.)
With so much emphasis on physical well being and other concrete factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, etc., it is easy to overlook less tangible emotional wellness issues. That doesn’t mean that emotional well being is any less important however. In fact, left unchecked, mental/emotional problems can lead to very real physical ailments. Read the full article…
Not All Calories Are The Same
May 6, 2009
It’s no secret that eating excess calories leads to weight gain, but do you really know what a calorie is? A calorie is a measurement of energy (specifically heat energy).
One calorie is the energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.
Every food you eat has a calorie value associated with it however not all calories provide the same health benefit to our bodies. Read the full article…
Servings and Portions
May 2, 2009
The terms serving and portion are often used to mean the same thing, but they’re not. The difference is important because confusion around serving and portion sizes often leads to over eating.
Serving
A serving is a specific measurement of food that delivers defined amounts of key nutrients. Serving size is usually determined by the Nutrition Facts Label on a package or container of food. A serving size may be measured in cups, teaspoons, one or more units, ounces, etc. The nutrition label will state the size of a single serving, the nutrients for a single serving, and the number of servings in a package. It’s important to read nutrition labels carefully because manufacturers will often try to make unhealthy foods look better by disguising serving sizes. Read the full article…
Gonna Make it This Time
May 2, 2009
I was having dinner with my husband last night and out of the blue he said to me, “I think you’re gonna make it this time.” I had no clue what he was talking about. He went on to explain that he thought I was really going to stay healthy and keep the weight off. WOW! It felt so good to know that my healthy living commitment was noticeable to others, especially my husband who has seen me tackle every diet known to man over the past 20 years (and fail at all of them). Read the full article…
Healthy Doesn’t Mean Size 2
April 28, 2009
I am genuinely dismayed when I read time and again how people (mostly women) are starving themselves on some fad diet so they can “get skinny.” The sad truth is that skinny doesn’t equate to health. In fact many skinny people are very unhealthy and overweight people may be healthier than their skinny friends. Read the full article…
Breaking the Dreaded Diet Plateau
April 26, 2009
If you’ve been following my blog for any time now, you know that my husband and I have made a commitment to live a healthy lifestyle. Along with that has come a sizable weight loss; as of the first of April, I had lost 30 pounds.
While I love the fact that my body size is shrinking, my ultimate goal is to be healthy not skinny. For me, being healthy means that my blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, lipids, etc. are all in the healthy range. To get there, I have been focusing on a healthy eating plan and regular exercise. A great side benefit of this healthy lifestyle is a shrinking waistline. Read the full article…
Be a Good Role Model
April 17, 2009
When my son was young, I had a bad habit of yelling at other drivers who did stupid things. My common rant went something like, “You stupid idiot, why don’t you use your turn signal,” or “You stupid idiot, move over to the slow lane.” No matter the issue, I always started with “You stupid idiot.” One day, when Justin was about 8 years old, I was watching as he and a friend played in the living room. It wasn’t long before Justin got upset with his friend and yelled at him, “You stupid idiot.” The words hit me like a slap in the face. I was his role model and I had inadvertently taught him that the way to express frustration with someone was to call them names. Read the full article…
Why is this news?
April 13, 2009
I just read an article on WebMD about the benefits of a diet high in fruits, nuts, and vegetables and low in fatty, processed foods (Not All Diets Pass the Heart-Healthy Test) and wondered “Why is this news?” Don’t we all know this stuff by now?
Don’t get me wrong, the article was great, but I am amazed that we Americans still don’t get it. Our diet is chock full of fast food, sugar, fat. Why is that? The answer, in one word is convenience. We’ve grown accustomed to a life of hectic schedules and instant gratification. It takes too much effort to plan and cook healthy meals. Read the full article…
The Skinny on Diet Soda
April 1, 2009
I had a conversation at work yesterday that opened my eyes to another lifestyle change I’ve made without even realizing it. I hardly ever drink diet soft drinks any more. There was a time when I used to drink 5-7 diet cola drinks a day. I didn’t care if it was Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke, as long as I got my fix. Read the full article…
Permission to Indulge
March 30, 2009
Adopting a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean you can never indulge in a yummy dessert again. In fact, it means just the opposite — a healthy lifestyle means that you learn how to work all sorts of foods into your eating plan (notice I didn’t use the word ‘diet’). Read the full article…
Tips for Healthy Living
March 26, 2009
I’m a firm believer, and living proof, that you do not have to make major changes in your lifestyle to get big results; even small changes will help you improve your health, lose weight, or whatever your goal is.
It’s much easier to make small, incremental changes than it is to turn your life upside down and try to change everything at once.
When you try to change too much at once, you are bound to fail; but take baby steps and soon you will be running toward your goals. Read the full article…
80/20 Rule of Eating
March 22, 2009
The 80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle) states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. This principle is widely used in business but it can also apply to your eating habits.
80% of the calories you consume most likely come from 20% of the foods you eat. Read the full article…
Plan to Eat and Eat the Plan
March 19, 2009
If you’re anything like I was, you hate the thought of having to plan your meals in advance. I used to tell myself I just didn’t have the time to plan ahead and for heaven’s sake, how did I know what I would want to eat 3 or 4 days from now. Sound familiar? Not only did I not want to plan ahead, I didn’t want to have to cook at home every night. I always admired my friends who could be that organized but it wasn’t for me. Read the full article…
Oatmeal doesn’t have to be boring
March 14, 2009
When I made the decision to change my eating habits, I knew I couldn’t go back to another boring diet or I would fail miserably. You see, that’s the problem with “diets” — they are boring and simply not sustainable in the long term. In fact the word itself implies short term change. I always hear people say “I need to go on a diet” — the only thing I ever wanted to know was “When will this diet end?” It was never about changing my life, it was always about getting through the latest diet so I could get back to eating the things I liked. What I needed now was a new way of life that I could stick with and enjoy. Read the full article…
Unhealthy - How I Got There
March 14, 2009
As children and young adults, we don’t think much about how fragile our bodies really are and how diet, exercise, and stress affect us in the long run. Then, one day we wake up middle-aged and realize that we haven’t treated our bodies very well. We can’t go back and re-do our early years but we can take steps to ensure our remaining years are relatively healthy ones. Read the full article…
