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!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
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!
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!
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!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
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.
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.
My weight loss journey
Well folks I really wanted to start outlining my weight loss plan and goals, but unfortunately I cannot at this time. I've been having some issues with numbness in my feet and legs. I initially thought I might have type 2 diabetes (I have quite a family history of type diabetes), but I monitored my own sugar levels and they were in range!!! I went to a podiatrist on Monday and it turns out I'm just too athletic for my flat feet. Jk but not really. My symptoms are the result of having little to no arch. Unfortunately I've been grounded from participating in any active sports/exercises until I get my orthopedic inserts for my shoes, which should take about 3 weeks. So until then no blogs on my weight loss journey : (
Friday, April 10, 2009
Hooray and We're Up!
Okay so clearly this is the very early stages, but I am happy to say I'm officially apart of the blogosphere! Anyone who knows me probably thinks this is out of character for me to start up and blog (as well joining twitter, myspace soon). I feel I have some really interesting things to say to the world.
So hopefully you can join me as I conquer my weight, conquer graduate school (Pirates Arggghhh), conquer a career and public health, and hopefully educate and help others!
So hopefully you can join me as I conquer my weight, conquer graduate school (Pirates Arggghhh), conquer a career and public health, and hopefully educate and help others!
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