Body Mass Index (BMI)

Yes I am dedicating a whole post to the Body Mass Index better known as BMI. Why you may ask...its important. Let me just start off by saying I think its so imperative that instead of saying I want to lose x amount of weight my goals is to achieve a certain BMI (this is still based on weight, but this allows me to have a range of weight I will consider versus and hard and fast number).

Let me just give everyone basic information about BMI and then we will get to why its important to health and minority health.

BMI Categories:

• Underweight = <18.5 (Thi can lead to health problems too!)
  
• Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
• Overweight = 25-29.9
• Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

The above BMI Scale information can be found here.

My goal BMI is <26 (As of right now my BMI is 32 which puts me in the obesity range! Shocked?). You're thinking that will still mean I am overweight right, but there are other factors to consider along with BMI (i.e. % of body fat, size of a person frame, physical fitness level, etc). Since I have a medium/large frame, as long as I am physical fit and active a BMI of less than 26 is a good range for me. If you have questions about weight loss or what's a healthy weight for you talk to your physician/dietician.

Why is BMI important? Just ask the CDC.

As you can see from the BMI scale I posted previously, BMI separates individuals into categories based on weight. These categories are a good predictor for the amount of body fat a person is carrying. In other words, its a screening method for risk factors that may lead to health problems. For example, obesity and overweight can lead to the following health problems; hypertension, Dyslipidemia, Type-2 diabetes, Coronary heart disease, Stroke, Gallbladder disease, Osteoarthritis, Sleep apnea and respiratory problems, and Some cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon) (information provided by the CDC). Any of these diseases look familiar? Thats because many of these diseases already affect minorities more adversely than the majority (Some of these diseases I discussed in my last post). This is exactly why I am taking this weight loss journey, not only does being overweight make individuals more at risk for diseases like diabetes, coronary heart disease but it's also linked to cancer, gallbladder disease, osteoartharitis, etc. Researchers and doctors are not even sure why being overweight and obese are linked to some disease. The fact is that being clinically overweight/obese (whether or not u consider yourself in this category) is not good for the body. So join me and others who are trying to extend our livelihood! Let's get fit together...Ok enough with the cheesy ending.

Until next time Know your BMI!

My Weight Loss Journey #2

Let me take a moment and backtrack. The point of this blog is to relay information about minority health, but its also to document all the ups and downs and the triumphs with trying to lose a substantial amount of weight. What I will try to is update every week on my success and failures and try to set better goals for the following week. Here were my goals for week 1:

Short Term
1. 2:30 min worth of exercising
2. At least 1 hour of very intense exercise and 1 1/2 hours of moderately intense exercise
3. No pork, beef, or alcohol in the diet
4. Avoid Fast food


Week 1:The day has come and gone! May 10 is the day I kicked off my new diet/exercise plan. Also starting this week is the Annual National Woman's Health Week and the Woman Challenge '09 (May 10-July 4). The good news is I was able to do about 30 min on the elliptical and I stuck to my no pork, beef, and alcohol. But I indulged in fast food a couple times. Over all I am happy, but I need to get more time in the gym. Its so important to maintain and track your goals. Losing weight is process and it going to take time and ton of work. You can't progress unless you know where you started and where you are heading.

Conquering the Numbers

As minorities we have just inherited the increased likelihood of being affected by many different diseases compared to White Americans. It was very shocking to me to find out various diseases affect minorities much more adversely compared to White Americans. From different types of cancers, to diabetes, heart disease, STD's/STI's, and HIV/AIDS minorities are affected more by these diseases than the majority of the population in the United States. Today I want to take a closer look at the what and why disparities in cancer exist among minorities.

According to the 2000 Census, the population was broken down as follows: American India or Alaska Native .9%, Asian or Pacific Islander 4%, African American 12.7%, Caucasian 81.1%, and Multi Racial 1.3% (This information was provided by the CDC ). From this data, you can discern that minorities account for 19.9% of the population, yet the incidence rates of cancer are high proportionate to the size of this population. For example African Americans have the highest incidence of cancer than any other population (607.3 per 100,000 provided by CDC) but only account for 12.7% of the population in the United States.

African Americans also have the highest death rate overall from cancer including the highest death rate from breast cancer. Hispanics and African Americans women have the highest incidence and mortality of cervical cancer. Asian and Pacific Islanders, one of the smallest populations, have the highest incidence of liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer and stomach cancer. From 1996-2000 American Indian/Native Alaskans women had the third highest death rate from lung and bronchus cancer. This information was provided by the Minority Health Awareness week 2005.

Although, medicine has not advanced to the stage where it can prevent cancer, there are certainly many ways you decreased your chances of being diagnosed with cancer. Adopting a healthier lifestyle by not smoking cigarettes, developing a good diet and exercise routine, and avoiding too much sun exposure can decrease your chances of developing various types of cancers. It may be surprising to some that obesity, lack of physical activity, and nutrition has been linked to cancer. Also be sure to know your family history because your chances of developing various diseases can depend on genetic and environmental factors. Be sure you are having a good conversation with you doctor or health care provider. The rate of death in African American Women with breast and cervical cancer are higher than any population due to the fact that these diseases are usually diagnosed in the late stages (Treatment at this point is usually too late)! This can be explained by the fact African American Women are less likely to received their regular checkups for mammograms and pap smear screenings. Also cultural barriers arise when trying to treat and provide adequate health care for other minorities. Consequently, all must take the necessary steps to improve their health to eliminate these health disparities.

More information can be found at here
Also here are Stay Healthy at Any Checklists for men and women provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Until next eat something with whole grains

Sacrifies, Know Your Worth

Okay my next post was going to be later this week, and I was going to hit you with some scary statistics form the Center for Disease Control (CDC)! Of course conversations via twitter (you can follow me @CDashMoney on twitter) with my awesome friends are always giving me inspirations for blogs.

I use my twitter account to as a social networking tool, and also as a tool to send out information I find about health. I retweet a lot of information about nutrition and health that pertain mostly to minority health but usually useful to everyone. Earlier this week, I tweeted about about adding flax or nutrition sprinkles to oatmeal or cereal (can even be added to ice cream) to enhance your meal (here is the tweet if you would like more info about flax seeds eating oatmeal for breakfast is good [RT @nutritionfood Try enhancing its nutrition by adding flax or nutritious sprinkles http://www.tinyurl.com/spri...)]. You can also find more information about flax and flax seeds here.

Immediate response from a friend was that sounds nasty! It got me thinking about the how people (i.e minorities for this blog) interpret food. I think we can all agree that most people want to eat food that tastes good, but do we as minority put less emphasis on trying to eat food that are a balance of healthy and tasty? Food is suppose to provide energy and nutrients to sustain us, and yes food is suppose to taste good! Which is more important make sure everything we eat is delicious or nutritious? Both I say, but we have to have a good balance of both. I know my friends that made the comments that my suggestions sounded too much on the nutritious side are semi-adventurous eaters willing to try new things, but adding flax or sprinkles seemed out of the question?! FYI they are also pills containing flax oils you can take as well.

So I thought hmm maybe they just need someone to let them know hey this isn't too bad you should try it aka a guinea pig. Hey I don't mind...so I think we are going to add another component to the blog here. So I am going to try not to just dish out all this nutritional tips without actually trying it myself in order to encourage others to do the same. Hopefully we can get some positive responses on many of these nutritional tips.

I do want to say that I am so willing to try things that are good for my health. With a family history of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and breast cancer I am willing to make the necessary scarifies for better health and longevity. I want to send that message out to my fellow minorities, because most likely you have a similar family history or as a minority you are more likely to develop these conditions I listed (I will post some shocking CDC statistics soon about this). Convincing others to join in my health revolution is another battle I am willing to undertake!

Until next time try some Flax!

Exam Week Nutrition

As a former college student, I can attest to the horrendous regiment I went through doing exam week. At my former college, exam week was predated by a so called Dead Week where no exams or assignments are allowed unless they were assigned on the syllabus at the beginning of the semester. Usually Dead Week, which should be the time most are studying for exams, was the busiest week of the semester (professors would assign things during dead week on the syllabus). Last week I had a couple conversations with a friend, who was how do I saw "pigging out" on fast food. I encouraged the friend to stay away from fried/and or fast food and try to seek healthier foods available at fast food restaurants. She responded with "If I am going to Bojangles and I'm going to get some fried chicken!"

But why is the first thing we let go when we are stressed is our eating habits. Does it not seem smarter to make sure we eat healthy and get all the nutrients you need in times of stress like exam time?! We are already getting minimum sleep and eating all hours of the day! At my respective university they also opened the dining hall much later, with even less healthy options later in the night (My fav exam time food was free pancake breakfast at 12am!). I can remember freshman year of college living off coffee and the snack machine to get through my first exam week.

Let's compromise! There are some healthy options at fast food restaurants. Before I go to any new place I always check to see if they have the nutritional info for their food. Many fast food restaurants are also conforming to healthier options (ex: Low carb options at BK/McDonalds, Fresco style at Taco bell). Other than checking restaurant website you can also find other websites with more nutritional information not found online. This website is a good tool for trying to eat healthy in or out: http://www.hungry-girl.com/. All of this may sound like too much work or a pain, but I guarantee the pros outweight the cons! Another useful tip is to keep healthy foods around you during exam time. Keep fruits, veggies, healthy snacks, and water around while studying. Take your vitamins! Also when you do eat your main meals try to eat foods that are filling.

Until next time eat something Green!

Starting Anew

Well yes it's been quite a while since my last post, but some times life brings changes that give you new incite. Since my last post I've decided to pursue a graduate degree, Masters in Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in Behavior Health to be exact, at the University of South Florida at Tampa!!! With this new decision brings a lot of planning and work to be done! In other words I've been slacking on my blog because of this new opportunity! Hopefully, this new opportunity will only make this blog even better. I hope to continue blogging throughout my MPH and beyond. I hope that a degree will only give me more credibility and more opportunities to reach out and help others!

As I mentioned before in my previous I will not be able to document my weight loss, training, diet, and etc until a few weeks from now, but I hope to layout my own plan and goals in the next couple weeks. Since the reason I started the blog was to document my weight loss journey and all the necessary planning that goes into that. For now, I will just blog about nutrition and health and other topics I feel are important to minority health. It so important to set goals in anything you do!! Staying on track and monitoring your goals until completion is equally important. I would like to say that http://sparkpeople.com/ is one of the best websites for anyone looking to lose weight, maintain their weight, stay healthy and fit, or looking for information on health! My member name is cds_85 if anyone would like to contact me on sparkpeople.

Another website that I want to talk about is http://www.womenshealth.gov/woman/woman-challenge/. The 2009 Woman Challenge starts May 10, 2009 and ends July 4, 2009, which kicks off the National Women's Health Week. The basis of the challenge is to encourage women to be more active. The goal of participants of the challenge is to commit to 2 hours and 30 min a week moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity. You can compete with other women participating by joining teams or individually. I'm currently trying to get my friends to join. The Challenge can be fun or competitive, whatever keeps you and your peers motivated!

Until next time eat something Green!

Women's Health

Ladies be sure to check out this website for the Woman Challenge 2009:
http://www.womenshealth.gov/woman/woman-challenge/

Basically the goal of this challenge is become more active for about 8 weeks. I Highly encourage all to participate. Inactivity and obesity has many health risks some which may be surprising (like certain types of cancers)!

I will continually post different websites which I think are insightful or provides pertinent info about minority health.