Simple Ways to Exercise More

Today's blog is by a student intern from Texas State, Lindsay Smith.  We love having students post here because they always bring a fresh perspective and new ideas!

When it comes to being healthy, the truth is that you cannot just eat better and expect huge results. Incorporating exercise into your daily routine helps boost your metabolism, and therefore be a healthier person. You don't need to join an expensive gym or buy your own work-out equipment in order to partake in exercise! Instead you should bring in different kinds of movements into your daily routine to help boost your activity level. Small changes like walking your children to school, always taking the stairs wherever you go, and taking your kids outside to play with them will help in more ways than you think.

Don't want to do this alone? Invite the entire family along! One of the greatest things my family did when I was younger that kept all of us healthy was creating family Olympics. We would play a few games in our backyard every Saturday in order to get physical activity and to spend time together as a family. Another idea is to take a family walk or bicycle ride after dinner every night to get the body moving. So why should you put in this small effort and make a change? Well exercise not only aids in weight control, but it improves mood, boosts energy, and helps reduce the risk of a variety of diseases like type 2 diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. So my advice to all is get moving!

Ways to Enjoy More Fruits and Veggies

Today's blog is from an awesome student intern studying nutrition at The University of Texas, Nikita Prabhu.

Getting enough sources of fruits and vegetables can be a difficult task at times, and making creative
meals that you and your family enjoy can be just as hard! Here are some quick fix meal and snack ideas
to help you enjoy more fruits and vegetables in your daily routines:

-Use variety when using vegetables as pizza toppings. Try broccoli, spinach, green peppers, tomatoes,
mushrooms and zucchini.

-Make a breakfast smoothie made with low-fat milk, frozen strawberries, and a banana.

-Try crunchy vegetables instead of chips with your favorite low-fat salad dressing as dip.

-Keep cut vegetables handy for mid-afternoon snacks, side dishes, lunch box additions, or a quick nibble
while waiting for dinner. Ready-to-eat favorites: carrots, celery sticks, cucumbers, snap peas or whole
radishes!

-Wake up to fruit. Make a habit of adding fruit to your morning oatmeal, cereal, or yogurt.

-Make fruit your dessert: slice a banana lengthwise and top with a scoop of low-fat frozen yogurt.
Sprinkle with a tablespoon of chopped nuts!

What are your favorite ways to eat more fruits and vegetables?

Hyperactivity and Foods: My Orange Soda Story

Disclaimer:  Most of the "research" for this blog post is from watching my daughter act like a total crazy the other night.  But, I still think there's something to it...

So, as a special treat I took my daughter to see the Chimpanzee movie in the theater this week.  And, I guess I was in an extra special mood because I let her get a kid's size popcorn AND soda at the theater.  I even let her choose the soda.  And she chose Fanta, you know, the super orangey stuff, which I had never given her before (on the rare occasion she gets soda, it's usually Sprite).

We had a great time and later that night she went out to dinner with my hubby and her grandma while I stayed with our son in the NICU.  I wasn't there, but word on the street (or from my husband) was that he's never seen her act so out of control.  Don't get me wrong, our daughter is not the sit-quietly-with-an-angelic-expression-on-her face type, but she knows how to behave at a restaurant.  But this night involved constant high pitch screams and multiple time outs in the parking lot with daddy.  It wasn't one, big, naughty thing, but just constant super, super hyper behavior.  Like she just lost any ability to control herself.  And I'm pretty sure that the orange soda had something to do with it.

Most parents with kiddos who struggle with hyperactivity (ADD, ADHD) will tell you that they notice increased issues following the consumption of certain foods.  And this can happen in kiddos who don't have ADHD as well (like mine).  Most of the time, the culprits are additives in highly colored, processed foods (aka orange soda).  So, it's worth keeping an eye on what you're kiddo is eating and noticing if certain foods affect their behavior.  Here's a list of additives to keep an eye on:

• Sodium Benzoate
• Yellow No. 6
• Yellow No. 10
• Yellow No. 5
• Red No. 40
• Some kiddos have a hard time with artificial sweeteners

How about your kiddos?  Do processed/colored foods affect their behavior?

 

It's A Boy!

I've been very absent from writing blogs this month because we have a new baby!  Asa Peter Dusan was born April 27th and he's been in NICU ever since.  He's doing well, but, needless to say, I've been a little busy.  For more about Asa's story, click here.  


Have a great week!

Thinking Twice About Diet Sodas

Many people down multiple diet sodas daily to avoid gaining weight, stay full between meals and get a caffeine-induced energy boost.  For many years, many people have seen diet sodas as the perfect way to get what they want without all of the sugar and calories.  But, these drinks may be causing more damage than we realize.  If you're an avid diet soda drinker, I strongly encourage you to read this great article by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.:  Diet Soda Depletes Calcium and May Increase Heart Attack Risk. 

For those of you who want the cliff notes version, here it is:

• Studies show that Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) concentrations rise strongly after drinking diet soda.  PTH increases blood calcium levels by releasing calcium from our bones.  Over time this can greatly affect bone mineral density.
• Women who drink diet soda excrete more calcium in their urine than those who don't.
• The intense sweetness of artificial sweeteners may confuse the body and lead to increased appetite and weight gain.
• Diet soda consumption has also recently been linked to kidney disfunction and an increased risk for heart attack and stroke.

The bottom line:  An occasional diet soda is probably fine, but regular, high intake may be problematic.

Corn Salad Recipe

It's getting to be that time of year for lighter meals and lots of fresh produce.  One thing I absolutely love to make is fresh corn salads and salsas.  All you do is boil a few cobs of corn and when they cool, remove the kernels.  Or even better, cut the kernels off some leftover grilled corn. You can use these fresh corn kernels to make lots of great side dishes and condiments.  Here's two of my favorites:

Corn, Tomato & Basil Salad

Fresh Corn on the Cob
Cherry Tomatoes, halved
Fresh Basil, cut into ribbons
Olive Oil, to taste
Balsamic Vinegar, to taste (just a splash or two)
Fresh ground Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

Fresh Corn Salsa

Fresh Corn on the Cob

Tomatoes, chopped

Jalapeno Pepper, diced

Bell Pepper, chopped

Green onion, chopped

Fresh Cilantro, chopped

Olive oil, to taste

Lime Juice, to taste

Fresh ground Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

 
A couple hours (or a day) ahead of time, cook the corn in boiling water (or use leftover corn on the cob).  Cut the kernels off the cob and cool in the refrigerator.  Combine the cooled corn, with the remaining ingredients and stir to combine well.  Enjoy!

My Snack Box

For many of us, eating is less about what we know and more about how we live.  I’m a Registered Dietitian, which means I know a fair amount about healthy eating.  I can pretty accurately guess the calorie counts of most foods, know all of the tricks for healthy cooking and can spot trans fats from a mile away.  And I definitely know that swinging through a drive-thru on a whim for an order of fries and a coke is not the best healthy eating strategy.  However (and this is a smidge embarrassing) I’ve found myself doing that very thing on more than one occasion.  So, what gives?  How does a person who makes her living telling other people how to eat find herself grabbing for fried foods and a soda? 

I figured out a while back that eating healthy is about more than just our knowledge.  We have to plan for healthy eating.  And when we’re running around stressed and skipping meals, we set ourselves up for failure.  You see, our bodies know when we need food and if we’re ignoring this fact (like skipping breakfast or lunch), our bodies will start screaming with hunger at us.  And when this primal sense of hunger takes over, our food knowledge goes out the window.  We simply grab for whatever will satisfy us quickly…which usually looks like something that comes through a drive-thru window.

After figuring this out about myself, I came up with a rather obvious solution that has honestly changed my eating habits.  It’s a box full of snacks that I keep in the trunk.  I’ve named it the “snack box” (ingenious, I know).  I load this box with healthy snacks like freeze-dried fruit, nuts and kashi bars to grab when I’m hungry throughout the day.  This keeps my panicky, stuff-french-fries-down-my-throat hunger away and ensures that I stay fueled on healthy foods.  It’s so simple, but it’s often the simple changes that make a lasting impact on our health.

What do you do to keep the crazy munchies away?