Dancing and Dishes

My progress in this challenge has been quite an adventure thus far. I can only walk around so much (at an exercise pace), as pretty as my location is, and I hate exercise equipment. I was getting frustrated with my lack of motivation when I picked up last month's issue of Self. One of the articles concerned exercise routines based on personality. It came with a quiz, as magazine editors seem to love those more and more. My result was the more laid-back personality, one that does not care for gyms (DUH!), so they suggested an exercise I felt so stupid for not thinking of in the beginning: Dancing! I love dancing, from ballroom to Latin to swing to modern, so I could not believe that I forgot about it as a possible exercise. Facepalm for my own ditziness.

I am now enjoying getting more active and as I enjoy getting active, the longer I exercise. It also built up my confidence- this past Saturday, I went to a swing dance and was the girl making the rounds, asking just about every guy to dance with me and having a blast, and kept going for longer periods of time than I ever had before!

On to my forte of improving my health: food. It is also the area causing me the most trouble because the people around me (namely, my Dad) don't seem to realize that I'm trying to make healthier choices, even though I told them from the beginning. This started off as a problem because I didn't want to partake in high-calorie meals, but didn't want to hurt Dad's feelings when he cooks. So I turned to side dishes so I could cut down on the entree, but still eat enough that it would make Dad happy.

Then, as I was perusing the pantry, I came across the stash of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice. The different flavors could take any meal and "kick it up a notch." Now, when Dad makes hamburgers, I take one and a bag of Ready Rice (I love Spanish Style for beef!) and I have two meals, either one for lunch and dinner or a family dinner for Dad and me. I also add a good salad or steamed veggies to fill out the meal for myself.

If you want some ideas for Ready Rice, here are some of my favorite combinations:

Spanish Style mixes well with beef or chicken.

Butter and Garlic is awesome combined with chicken or shrimp.

Jasmine is better on the side just about any dish.

Hope you all are also making progress in your endeavors!

<3 Martha

It's Okay to Struggle

Everybody wants to have a perfect journey to increased health and fitness, but we all know that's not possible.  We will all miss an exercise day, stay up too late, or indulge in one too many donuts as they're sitting on the counter at work calling our names.  And I want everyone to remember that these things are part of the journey.  Don't let one mistake ruin your entire day.  Or if you're had a bad day, you can vow to make tomorrow better.  Even if you've gotten off track for a week or a month or more, there is always time to turn things around.

Don't worry about the box of Oreos you just polished off.  That's already happened--there's nothing you can do about it now.  Look instead to the present and to the future and do your best to make every day count, remembering as you go that mistakes are unavoidable.

Maybe you don't want to share your "failures" with others (they're not really failures if you learn from them and use your experience to get healthier), so perhaps by my sharing that I have partaken in a donut and bagel with cream cheese this morning after getting to work and having eaten breakfast at home, I'll have given you a little bit of reassurance that yes, other people do struggle sometimes, too and that I'm not alone in this.  I have plenty more struggle stories to share, too, if anyone ever needs an extra boost of reassurance after a particularly bad day.

Yours in LFS and Health,
Jessica Szweda
Section 67 Communication Chair

New Healthy Lifestyle!

So I have taken this opportunity to get serious about health and fitness. Being that I am a physical therapist, I should be in good shape and be a role model for my patients. So therefore, I have set some goals and made some decisions to rid my life of negative energy...particularly the energy that comes from deep fried and/or fast food. That's right, no more of that junk for me :) Not that I was ever a fast-food junky, but it seemed like a good place to start. I had already rid my life of caffiene before this challenge began, so I am on a role now! I have worked an hour long gym workout into my schedule 6 days a week before I leave for work, which by the way makes you feel great all day! Also I am proud to say that just in the past week I have turned down pizza, doughnuts, ice cream sundae, and have ordered a salad every time we have gone out to eat for either lunch or dinner :)

So, I am rewarding myself with a trip to half price books and a relaxing weekend at home reading! I hope you are all finding a new lease on life with this fitness challenge, I know I am!

Can't wait to hear everyone's success stories at Regionals!

P.S. Through Laura Z I have discovered a great new cereal that actually keeps you satisfied for more than 1 hour with just one bowl. Special K Protein Plus...it's awesome!

Amanda

Now They'll Sleep!

If you're like me, you often don't get enough sleep for a wide variety of reasons. You're out all night and have to get up for work the next morning. You have to cram for an early exam. Or, if you're even more like me, sometimes stumbleupon, facebook, cracked, or sporcle get the best of you, and you wind up staying up half the night to learn about the world's most disturbingly evil birds or the six animals that kill nature's scariest creatures for fun (and yes, the Golden Eagle makes BOTH of those lists, people).

As part of the continuation of my personal pledge toward health and fitness in honor of National Service Week, I've realized that getting more sleep is one of the most important things that I can do to start feeling better. According to a Harvard health study, "more people are sleeping less than six hours a night, and sleep difficulties visit 75% of us at least a few nights per week."  That certainly sounds like me, in addition to the fact that when I don't sleep six hours I wind up sleeping eleven just to make up for it.  But what are these awful sleep schedules and tactics actually doing to me, and how are they affecting my health?

Turning now to WebMD (or the favorite hangout of hypochondriacs), the short term effects of sleep deprivation are startling enough - decreased performance and alertness, memory and cognitive impairment, and a general reduction in your quality of life.  But it's the long term effects that are even more alarming, a long list of possible illnesses that includes high blood pressure, heightened risk of heart attack or stroke, psychiatric problems, and attention deficit disorder.  So yes, improving your health this year by simply sleeping more regularly and fully can prevent you from being the poster child for next  year's National Service Week Theme, "Fighting Against Diseases."

Another astonishing effect of sleep deprivation is obesity.  According to the National Sleep Foundation, discharges for children with sleep apnea in the United States, a condition that is often directly correlated with obesity, have increased 436% in the past twenty years.  Sleep apnea can lead to exhaustion during the day, which makes it much harder to sustain an exercise program.  Glucose levels for sleepers with sleep deprivation were also shown to be much lower than those of normal sleepers, which can lead to imbalances in hormone levels that can affect weight gain and overall health into the future.  In a sleep study conducted by the foundation, eleven healthy young adults were only allotted four hours of sleep for six nights, and some of their glucose levels dropped to diabetic levels.  It's absolutely amazing what getting a good amount of sleep each night can do for your health, and your fitness!

With that, my advice is this - when you start to get tired, don't try and fight it.  I know that there have been times when I have powered through exhaustion for no good reason and have stumbled upon my "second wind," but a second wind can be a dangerous thing.  Regulated sleep is vital to sustaining your body, and while we are all still young, it's important that we take care of it.  Also, get some regular exercise during the day - this will help you be able to fall asleep faster at night.  Lastly, a sound machine can be extremely beneficial for those of you who, also like me, often have a wandering mind at night thinking about the seventeen other things that you can do besides sleeping.

Now sleep, my pretties.  Now you'll sleep.

A Delicious Alternative Brownie Mix

If you are like me, you love chocolate desserts like brownies, but when you are trying to eat healthier, it's hard to indulge without guilt. When I was walking through a Kroger one day, something caught my eye in the baking aisle. I was just going to get corn meal, but when you pass by a ton of red baking mix boxes and suddenly a pink one appears, you stop and take a look. It was this brownie mix with a cute little piggy on the front called No Pudge! Brownie Mix. I scoffed a bit because I know that low fat (or fat free as this mix is) usually has a ton of sugar in it to add flavor. This mix had about the same amount of sugar as regular brownie mixes (22 grams) so I was impressed. Then I looked at the preparation instructions because other low fat brownie mixes called for enough oil to make a dessert that hurts. This is where I was truly shocked and amazed: the only thing you use along with the mix is vanilla yogurt! Yes, this adds a bit of sugar, but it also adds a little calcium and no fat, depending on the yogurt.

Of course I wanted to try this stuff out, so I bought a box and a tub of Stonyfield Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt (my favorite!) and got to mixing and baking. The first thing I noticed was the batter was super thick, a lot thicker than regular mixes, and hard to stir and spread in the pan. Then again, this is yogurt and not oil, so it would be thicker. I tried some of the batter in the bowl and it was quite yummy and gave me high hopes for the baked version. Those hopes were met! They were just about as good as a Betty Crocker brownie. (BC has Hershey's chocolate, so it IS hard to beat.) I would definitely recommend this mix to any brownie lover who wants to have a less guilt-laden treat.

Notice that I said "treat." With the sugar content, this is still a treat and should be treated as such with controlled portions. I know that it is hard to control the portions with "low fat" or "low calorie" labels, but those desserts must still be viewed as desserts, not freebies. What I do to control my portions is to put single portions in little baggies so I'm not as tempted to eat half the pan of brownies or whatever food I made.

Back to the product- you can find more information about No Pudge! here. It has a map where you can click the state you're in to find out where it's available, FAQs, a bunch of recipes, nutrition facts for all of the flavors, and an online shop if you don't feel like going to the store to buy the mix.

I hope at least some of you found this useful.

YiLFS,

Martha

Support Systems

One of the easiest ways to stay motivated on your journey toward increased health and fitness is to maintain a strong support system.  Having someone to hold you accountable can do wonders for achieving your goals.  I have personally found this be true over the past several months in particular.  When I got it into my head that I wanted to run a half-marathon (and actually run the entire thing, no walking), I knew I was in for a challenge.  I immediately started a blog and shared my goal with lots of friends and family.  I knew that if other people were expecting me to accomplish my goal and were checking in and cheering me on along the way, my chances of success would be tremendously greater.  I ended up getting additional support through a trainer at a small gym, and she also helped me plan my long run progression so I'd work my way up to 13.1 miles safely.

It's up to you to decide just how much support you need, but I say the more the better!  Via Erin Whitehead, Health and Fitness Writer for SparkPeople, here are some tips for staying motivated:

• Give yourself a pep talk
• Find some virtual buddies
• Surround yourself with success
• Pat yourself on the back
• Challenge yourself
• Commit to weekly check-ins
• Get involved
• Use your pet as a workout partner (probably doesn't work well if your pet is a fish or an iguana)
• Call on your co-workers
• Journal
• Pay yourself
• Reward yourself for meeting weekly goals

Some of these tips are kind of vague by the heading alone, so visit the full article at http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/motivation_articles.asp?id=1645 for more details.  My favorite tip is to find virtual buddies!  That's kind of what we're trying to do for you all with the National Service Week Challenge and the resources available on this blog, the accompanying Facebook page, and the Section 67 website.  Just that most of us are IRL (in real life) buddies, too!  If you need a stronger support system to help you reach your health and fitness goals, let your brothers help you!  Start posting your own accomplishments, goals, questions, and challenges on the Facebook page.  Or start a blog of your own, and make sure to let us know so we can follow it!  Start taking the steps you need to start a healthier life today and hopefully for the rest of your life.

Yours in LFS and Health,
Jessica Szweda
Section 67 Communication Chair

I Want To Ride My Bicycle!

In yesterday's post, I mentioned at the tail end that I had been inspired to hop on my bicycle and go for a bicycle ride.  I think this bike ride is a great opportunity to talk about a few things related to exercise (including that people like to gawk at bicycle riders from the insides of their climate controlled cars).

1. Don't push yourself too hard.  I was determined to go big or go home, so I started out on the local bike trail and managed to get myself into a bad situation when I got a few miles away from home and the seat on bicycle started to slip down, making it almost impossible for me to pedal without a great great deal of effort.  When you're first starting out, take it easy and ease into your exercise.  Only fools rush in.
2. Make sure your equipment is working well.  My seat wound up sliding down a total of six inches before it got done sliding and I wound up looking more like I was riding a Big Wheels than a bike.  If I had taken the time to thoroughly check my seat before I'd left, I wouldn't have had to have my mother come pick me up and take me home in her car.  Yeah, that happened.
3. Drink lots of water.  I thought I was the big man on campus and wouldn't have to use all the water that I brought with me, but let me tell you, I used every drop.  The key to healthy exercise is remaining hydrated.
4. Music is a great way to keep motivated while exercising.  When the going got tough and I wanted to stop, another song (yes, Lady Gaga) would come on and it would give me the burst of motivation that I needed.  Choose songs that will move you, that are high energy and have motivational lyrics.  I like "The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga, a.) because I'm obsessed and b.) because really that's what exercise is, you standing on the edge of glory and going for it.
5. While your knees may hurt, exercise may make you feel better in the morning.  I'm one of those people that has a really hard time sleeping, but I've often attributed that to everything under the sun, without accepting that a lot of the reason I can't sleep is because my body simply doesn't get enough physical activity during the day.  My bike ride took a lot out of me, but last night I slept like a baby and when I woke up this morning I felt great and had a bowl of oatmeal.  Finally a thorough night's sleep!
6. Lastly, never forget that health is not just physical, but encompasses so many other things.  I would never have gotten home if my mom hadn't picked me up, and part of being healthy is having people in your life who care about you and will (literally or figuratively) pick you up when life gets you down.  You, of course, always have my support and the support of all of Section Staff as you move your way to better health!

That's all for now, folks!  You can do it!

Brotherly love,

- Brandyn