And Now Me!

This is, unfortunately, my last blog post but I have certainly enjoyed blogging these past few weeks. Nutrition and healthy lifestyle is something I'm very passionate about, though I don't want to give you the wrong idea. I am no extreme health nut- I love eating all different types of food, and I have my fair share of guilty pleasures.

I personally think that nutrition plays such a huge part in our national culture. It is cheaper to buy a full meal at McDonald's than it is to buy just an apple from the super market. Therefore, parents are more likely to buy their kids a meal from McDonald's because it is a larger quantity, even though they aren't getting anything nutritional out of it. Our need for immediate gratification and low budgets put a huge hindrance on our ability to have a full, well-balanced diet.

Once a week I see a nutritionist who has always emphasized the power of moderation, and thats the last idea I would like to talk to you about. Moderation refers to the quantity of food as well as the type of food you are consuming. It is perfectly okay to eat a variety of foods, anywhere from cake to fruit, but the key to staying healthy is therefore in portion size. Obesity isn't entirely the result of eating fattening foods, but rather overeating foods that would in any other instance be fine moderately. 

The best way to eat moderately is to be conscious of what is going on. In a super-sized society, we are often presented with more food than what we could ever possibly need. Be aware of your limits and stop when you are starting to feel full, and make sure if you lack one major food group in a particular meal that you make up for it in some other way that day.

Thank you again, and I wish you all "Healthy Living" :)

-Leigh

Eating with High Blood Pressure

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a serious problem that affects 25% of Americans. High blood pressure is the result of blockage in the arteries that causes excessive pressure on artery walls. It is commonly caused by too much sodium in our diets, which is hard to avoid, especially with the excessive amount of sodium used in much American food. According to the American Heart Association, everyone should limit their sodium consumption to 1500 mg a day. Hypertension can also be the result of insufficient consumption of calcium, potassium and magnesium.
Below are some recommended nutritional sources to increase Ca, K, and Mg levels!

CALCIUM:
Dried herbs, cheese, sesame and flax seeds, tofu, almonds, yogurt, and green leafy vegetables

MAGNESIUM:
Bran, cocoa powder (dark chocolate), almonds, cashews, molasses

POTASSIUM:
Spinach, baked potatoes, dried apricots, yogurt, salmon, avocado, mushroom, bananas

Hypertension can also be the result of stress. Review these tips for how to reduce stress!

• Eat regularly
• Eat healthy fats (omega 3 fatty acids)
• More fiber = high alertness and less stress
• Have healthy snacks with plenty of protein and fiber

A Day of My Life

So the end of this senior project health blog is coming, and this may be the very last post unless, I pick this up again at some random point in the future. As a result, I wanted to share a day in my life to show a real life example of living an overall healthy (still with room for delicious albeit not perfectly healthy food) lifestyle. One that I hope is easily applicable to your lives. 

Today I went into Boston and was able to take a couple of pics, so I'll use today as an example. This is sort of a closer look at my life, so hello and nice to meet you!

Although today was a Wednesday, I did not have to go to school (because of this project) and thus, today's schedule wouldn't fit for a normal week day activity, but more for a weekend sort of trip.

I woke up at 4 am this morning to send my sister off to the airport, and my dad came along. We breakfasted with a leftover bao zi and a hard boiled egg. I always start my day with a tall glass of hot water with some lemon juice freshly squeezed into it. For those of you who have no idea what a bao zi is, it is a Chinese steamed stuffed bun, similar to the filling you would find in dumplings.

Then, we said our goodbyes to my darling sister and my dad and I went off to go biking at 5:30 in the morning. It was slightly chilly this morning at 47 degrees, but dressed properly we were all set to go! We parked along the beautiful Charles River. (Photos from my iPhone)

The view from Cambridge's side near MIT campus. Isn't it beautiful?

 We got out our bikes, strapped on our helmets, and rode along the river bank and crossed the bridge back into Boston. Luckily, because it was so gosh darn early, there was hardly anyone else around and it was extremely peaceful.

We rode for about two hours with a rest stop at the Boston Commons in the middle where we sat and stifled our yawns. We later headed back to our car to go find a place to eat brunch.

With the help of Yelp, we found a cute restaurant in Somerville, MA called The Neighborhood Restaurant. The prices were great and the portions were generous as you might be able to tell from the pics. But above all, the food was delicious! I started with cream of wheat, OJ, and some coffee. Then tried a spinach and cheese omelet with some home fries. Needless to say, we left perked up from the coffee and recharged for the rest of the day. I'll use this moment to say that food is extremely important in maintaining your energy so as a result, if you're out and about all day it's fine to be more generous with your normal eating palate. You can make up for it later.

After eating, we left and explored Union Square Plaza so we could walk off some of the food. And along our way, we found this interesting painted wall and so we captured and celebrated our regained energy with a jump for joy!

Along our walk back to the car we found this:

I think it is definitely appropriate. Whenever you can, choose biking or walking over driving! It is not only healthier for the environment, but also great for your own health and fun to do.

On the way back home, I slept for half an hour and am now ready for the rest of the day. So remember, sleep is important too! Later for dinner I'll be eating lots of veggies and a little bit of protein. Then tonight, sleeping a nice good 8 hours of sleep hopefully.

Hope this helped give an example of how life can be lived healthily and can be achieved without any extra fuss. It truly is a fun and a happy lifestyle, so go out there and make the best of your life with proper fitness, nutrition, and equipped scientific knowledge! Cheers!

Anemia: The Key to Boosting Iron Levels

Anemia is a condition marked by low hemoglobin levels in the blood. Anemic people offer suffer from fatigue because their body is depleted of the oxygen levels needed to function properly. While there are many different forms of hereditary anemia, like sickle cell, the most common form is iron-deficiency anemia which is entirely treatable with a change in diet and iron supplements.

Bone marrow requires iron to produce hemoglobin, so when the body doesn't intake enough iron, the body cannot produce healthy red blood cells. Iron-deciency anemia can be caused by an iron-poor diet (common in youth and vegetarians), pregnancy, frequent blood donation, endurance training, and sometimes caffeine can negatively impact the body's ability to utilize iron. Children need 7-11 mg of iron a day, and women from 19-50 years of age need 18 mg (though they could potentially require more during pregnancy). Men and women over 51 years of age need 8 mg.

Here are some iron-rich foods to try to incorporate into your diet:

• MEAT AND EGGS
• Beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, pork
• SEAFOOD
• Shrimp, clams, oysters, tuna
• VEGGIES
• Spinach, peas, sweet potatoes, broccoli, collard greens, kale
• FRUIT
• Strawberry, watermelon, figs, prunes, raisins
• BEANS AND OTHER
• Tofu, beans, lentil

10 min Workouts and such

http://edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/pinterest-logo.jpg

Personally, I love Pinterest. For those who do not know what Pinterest is, it is a social media networking site where each user is represented by the pictures they love. You "pin" images of your favorite things to boards based on categories that you create and basically, it amasses everything you love in one confined place. Other than the fact that it makes me happy, it is also extremely useful.

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Through Pinterest, I have found many helpful tips for living healthily through other user's health boards. Such boards include fitness regimens that are of short time amounts and are extremely useful for when
one is on a tight schedule.

So today, I will show you a couple of these pins to get you started, then you can be off on your way exploring the wonderfulness of new things out there!

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http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b5/c0/27/b5c027b721e6562d8583a0bb2bee6570.jpg

And there are also inspirational ones, motivational ones, helpful ones, and just plain great old advice to be found.

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http://media-cache-ak1.pinimg.com/736x/d1/3b/4d/d13b4d1fd1cc38fa485ef4032a9f85b4.jpg

Hope this helps! and you learn to see the brilliance in Pinterest :)

Rest

Rest is one of the most important aspects to consider when undertaking a new exercise regime. It is great to run everyday and have the motivation to keep up with your goals. However, you need to create time for your own body to recuperate. Just as anything, if you use something too long, it eventually gets worn out. That's why it is important for you to learn how to take care of your body.

The frequency of rest days and the type of rest depends on the intensity of your workouts. If you simply walk everyday or have a light run there is no need to take off a day unless you have an injury. If in fact you do have an injury, one day of rest may not suffice. Of course if you do want to take a day off just because, that is always understandable and perfectly respectable.

However in general, if you exercise at a medium to hard intensity level, a day of rest a week is recommended. This is so that your body can heal and recover from soreness, and growing lactic acid in the muscles. On this rest day, if you are not that sore, you can simply go about doing your average everyday lifestyle. However, if you find yourself in need of some sort of exercise, just not demanding on the bones, yoga and stretching can help.

Check out the Yoga for You post to see basic yoga poses to help stretch common muscle groups used in exercise for inspiration. If you are going to stretch, make sure you properly warm up your muscles before stretching deeply. This is explained in the flexibility post.

Another great soother for a rest day is swimming. Swimming is an all around toning exercise for the body that  gives no harsh impact on the bones. Simply doing the backstroke and laying on your back is fine. Enjoy the break from your usual intense workout.

I tend to have medium intensity level workouts, therefore, on my rest days I still exercise, but it is light and fun. Walking, biking, or yoga are my go-tos. In general I prefer having a rest day on Sunday, so that I can start my week off with a nice workout on Monday and follow it through the rest of the week. However, with my busy schedule, it varies. Even though I may not be able to follow it, I definitely recommend having your rest day on Sunday if your schedule allows. Being able to start your week on the right foot makes it so much easier to maintain proper health.

Make sure you take a day of rest! It is for your own wellness.

A Diabetes Diet Plan

There are two types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1, or juvenile diabetes, is when the body doesn't produce insulin. Unlike type 1, type 2 is more commonly found in aged populations, where either the body doesn't produce enough insulin or simply ignores its presence. Despite popular belief, people at risk for diabetes can prevents its onset with a healthy lifestyle, and that starts with what you eat. There are many different methods for watching your diet including carb counting and glycemic index. However, studies show that the easiest and most efficient is the plate method.

The plate method refers to how we fill our plate at meal time to ensure that e are giving our body what it needs. Follow these easy steps when creating your plate:

Create an imaginary line down the center of your plate, and then divide one of those halves into a half (there are now 3 sections on your plate- 50%, 25% and 25%)

1. Fill the 50% with non-starchy vegetables
1. Spinach, carrots, lettuce, greens, cabbage, bok choy
2. Green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, tomato
3. Veggie juice, salsa, onion, cucumber, beets, okra
4. Mushroom, pepper, turnup
2. Fill one of the 25% sections with starchy foods
1. Whole grain products like bread and cereal
2. Oatmeal, rice, pasta, cooked beans
3. Potato, green beans, corn, sweet potato
3. Fill the last 25% section with a meat or meat substitute
1. Skinless turkey or chicken
2. Seafood (tuna, salmon, cod, shrimp, oyster, crab)
3. Tofu