Thursday Tidbits

1. Fat and muscle weigh the same.

In the body, fat takes up a ton more room than muscle would dream, but, five pounds of muscle is five pounds of muscle, and five pounds of fat is five pounds of fat. Although it’s healthy to have more muscle, a little fat is needed to keep the body insulated!

5lb of fat and 5lb of muscle [Source]

2. The importance of taking a break.

When things are going 90mph, breaks are a savior! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC says, “Short breaks can help increase your concentration, alertness, and work speed.”  I know that I wouldn’t be able to function without a little me time! To refresh, I like to take a quick bath, read a book, or rest for 15 minutes or so, whatever time permits. Right now the book A Will & A Way is taking me away.

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What do you like to do when you take a break? What book are you currently reading?

3. Rice is always more fun dressed up.

In the mix: brown rice, chickpeas, carrots, peas, avocado, strawberries, and Bolthouse Farms  Creamy Honey Mustard Vinergerette Yogurt Dressing. Has anyone else tried any of the Bolthouse Farm Yogurt Dressings? They’re all so so good.

4. A throwback for Throwback Thursday

Meeting Cole Hamels before my senior year of high school!

A beautiful sunset to end the day

 

The colors were gorgeous and made me look forward to all of the summer sunsets that are to come!

Sources:

Five Minutes or Less for Health Weekly Tip: Take a Break. (2012, May 21). Retrieved March 7, 2013, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention : http://www.cdc.gov/family/minutes/tips/takeabreak/index.htm

Eating 4 Real

Today has been one of those I put the milk in the pantry instead of the refrigerator kind of days. Thankfully I caught myself and could blame it on Monday! I know I’m going to sleep well tonight! Anyway, today we celebrate and recognize Healthy Monday, which means it’s time for the Healthy Monday tip! Let’s go.

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Healthy Monday on Twitter

Healthy Monday Facebook

“March 4

Go the Whole Way

Don’t depend on multivitamins to cover gaps in a poor diet. These isolated vitamins and minerals

don’t provide the complex nutrient interactions of whole, unrefined foods. Unprocessed vegetables,

fruits, whole grains, nuts and beans contain the antioxidants, phytonutrients, fatty acids, fiber and

more that our bodies need to function at their best.

This week take one or two of your favorite processed foods and give them a whole foods makeover.

Choose whole grain rice and bread over white, make a fresh fruit smoothie or replace instant soup

with a batch of fresh vegetable soup. You’ll still be eating the foods you like while enjoying a nutritional boost!”

Whatcha’ think of today’s tip? I know sometimes it is hard to make a switch from processed foods and give them a whole foods makeover, especially in a college dining hall or workplace cafeteria, where there are not always whole food options. Are there ways that this can be manipulated? Would you choose organic if this were an option?

Four of my favorite clean eating ladies that inspire me to eat real each and every meal:

1. Registered Dietician Michelle Dudash exposed me to the wonderful world of healthy living blogs. I even won a more than generous California Raisins giveaway off her site. Her recipes are fun, fresh, and fabulous!

Michelle’s Quinoa and Black Bean Cakes with Cumin & Chile

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2. Whole foods guru Tosca Reno introduced me to clean eating as a way of life.

Tosca’s Eat- Clean Egg Salad

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3. Stiletto Chef Candice Kumai makes healthy foods hot. Who knew an avocado could be sexy?

Candice’s Simple Raspberry Lemon Zest Scones

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4. My favorite online celebrity yoga teacher Tara Stiles does the healthy in the kitchen too!

Tara’s Vegan Mac & Cheese

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I can’t not mention Tara without sharing one of her yoga practices!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh4vQZWTx10

This Week in My World of Wellness

Happy weekend, happy March, happy almost spring!

Journey Update:

On Wednesday of this week, I coached for the first time in my life! In the fall, I became a Matter of Balance coach certified to encourage older adults to not be afraid of falling. As an Intern, at my local Health Department, I shadowed one of the Health Department’s dynamic Public Health Educators teach a Matter of Balance class to the residents of a retirement center. I know I’m in the right field when I become excited talking about this. So, on Wednesday I met up with the same dynamic Public Health Educator that I shadowed. We’ll be working together and I cannot be more thrilled! She is so incredibly helpful and willing to help me grow in every way possible as a coach. I cannot wait to share what I learn about being a coach along the way.

A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls is a program designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase activity levels among older adults. You may know of an older adult that has taken a fall and as a result, broke their hip or experienced a life threatening injury. Matter of Balance is there to teach participants to:

• View falls as controllable
• Set goals for increasing activity
• Make changes to reduce fall risk at home
• Exercise to increase strength and balance

This nationally recognized program was developed at the Roybal Center at Boston University.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out MaineHealth’s website to learn more: http://www.mmc.org/mh_body.cfm?id=3498#mob

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Product Find:

On my way home from work this afternoon, I stopped at the grocery store to not only restock on some goodies such as sweet potatoes, yogurt (Fage was on sale $1!), and pumpkin seeds. They didn’t have any flax seeds…boo. Anyway, I stumbled across this bread:

Alvarado St. Bakery California Style Complete Protein Bread 100% Whole Grain made with organic sprouted wheat.

The nutrition stats are awesome! I’m really looking forward to my next sami. Has anyone tried Alvardo St. Bakery Bread?

Friday Night AKA Pizza Night:

I was really in the mood for tomato sauce and something with a nice zing. I had just bought sweet potatoes, and opted for a sweet potato pizza! I’m going to have to start calling my blog for the love of sweet potatoes pretty soon!

Sweet potato with Fage Non-fat Plain Greek Yogurt, tomato sauce, flax seed (there was still some on hand at home), a hickory smoked Primal Strip (these are delicious and a great vegetarian protein option!).

Cool tip to keep bananas fresh: Wrap the top of bananas with plastic wrap and they should keep 3 to 5 days longer. See more ways to keep groceries fresh longer.

Have an awesome weekend! 🙂