Springing into Change
Are you suffering a post-winter slump? Does your activity level need a lift? Did you opt for the couch rather than the slopes these past winter months?
If you answered yes to any or all of these, you may be in need of a remedy that will provide you the energy boost that you’ve been lacking. Did you know that a mere 30 minutes a day of activity has been proven to increase your energy levels, improve your memory and help you sleep more soundly.
Here are some quick ideas to incorporate into a busy college lifestyle and help you spring back into a healthy you while at school:
1. Grab your sneakers and go explore. There are maps provided by Campus Recreation for students to explore the college woods. If this type of activity interests you, check out their trails!http://campusrec.unh.edu/index.cfm?id=90A283AF-003D-7C62-B3DE7468C1041CFD
2. Organize a group of friends to throw a frisbee or play basketball outside (or even inside, just play!)
3. Go for a walk along the beach.
4. Ditch the bus as your source of transportation around campus. Rather, hop on a bike or walk to and from class.
5. Sign up for the intramural teams that are offered on campus. For spring, Campus Recreation offers Intramural Soccer, Intramural Floor Hockey and Intramural Softball. Who knows, you could meet a whole new group of friends while trying something new! http://campusrec.unh.edu/index.cfm?ID=64C90BA5-FF84-832D-1D49C62B4D505888
Remember that achieving fitness and optimal health isn’t a race. It takes dedication, time and trial and error to find what active lifestyle works best for you. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Also, it is important to keep in mind that achieving 30 minutes a day does not necessarily mean all 30 minutes must be reached all together. Take a brisk twenty-minute walk during lunch and one ten-minute walk post-dinner. Or, throw a ball around with some friends when the weather permits and then walk around campus together.
People often have a misconception that you have to intensify and alter your lifestyle dramatically in order to become fit. However, every little step counts when it comes to achieving a healthy mindset and lifestyle and the choice to take the stairs rather than the elevator will truly makes a difference in the long run.
Take the challenge to incorporate healthy habits into your day, and see your body, mind and attitude change alongside the incoming spring season.
Prevention is Crucial for the Young
It’s time that we become models. Not that we see on magazine covers or strutting down the runways. I mean models for children who look up to us and observe and then mirror how we act. What we hear and see through the media about body image is often flawed. Most of what we hear is solely opinion based and can often be the start of a person developing problems with self-acceptance.
The website www.BodyImageHealth.org is an educational site revolving around the often sensitive subjects of obesity, eating disorders and our overall health. It is directed towards professionals, teachers and parents in an effort to prevent children and adolescents from developing body image related problems. They stress the point that “a culture is formed by the stories that it’s children are told. ” This meaning that children are greatly affected by what they observe from their role models and that even the smallest observations can effect a child’s future immensely.
We all need to be more conscious of our word choice and how other people could interpret what we say. Let’s try to help each other love ourselves just as we are and hope to teach our children that nobody is perfect.
Quick Tips from The Professionals
I admit that I’m impatient. In fact, I think that it’s our upbringing as American’s to crave quick and easy fixes to problems that can take years to develop . Whether it’s resorting to quick-fix dieting, popping weight loss pills or endlessly searching the internet for quick and easy exercises, people take many various measures to obtain the ‘ideal’ body. Not many want to actually take the time to implant permanent changes to their lives and some simply just don’t know where to begin.
The American Dietetic Association strives to help people reach an overall healthy state of being. Their website www.eatright.org offers advice in various topics ranging from proper nutrition, exercise specific to a person’s lifestyle, prevention of health-related illness and healthy weight management tips.
I’ve found that this website is specifically useful for people who are like me- impatient. It is organized into several easy-to-navigate tabs specific to the broad range of health needs people seek help for. For example, I was in a hurry today to get to class, but wanted a quick energy-boosting snack to help get rid of my mid-day slump. I simply went to the site and navigated to the Food and Nutrition Topics tab. Wah-lah! There were several sub-categories at my fingertips that I was able to quickly scan through to get an answer. Twenty minutes later I purchased a small pack of almonds and a banana in the local store without having to think twice about my decision.
I advise you to take the few minutes out of your day to poke around the website. They provide great tips to achieve overall health and wellness in a widespread of areas. After all, you have nothing to lose and so much to gain.
Looking Further Than Skin-Deep
I’m laying on the lawn outside of the library and simply observing life passing by me. People come in many shapes and sizes and much of who we are can’t be seen solely through our exterior. It’s our life experiences that mold who we are, our personality and our ways of life not our image.
I struggled with my personal body image for much of my adolescence and it was not until recently that I’ve become comfortable in my own skin. Since I’ve embraced my image, I’ve noticed that my confidence has grown as well, and my willingness to try new activities has also increased. Overall, I’ve noticed a great improvement in my life and I honestly believe that it has much to do with accepting my self as is.
So, I could just sit here on the lawn observing people’s pass me by without taking into account what they’ve been through in their lives. However, I wouldn’t actually know who they are as a person until I took the time to get to know them beyond their looks.
How Does She Do It?
We all know or have heard of Tyra Banks. She’s the icon of glamorous, curvy, intelligent and confident and strives to help women of all ages and backgrounds become comfortable in their own skin. Whether it’s through her talk show The Tyra Show or her reality television series America’s Next Top Model, she broadcasts her knowledge and thoughts about a wide spread of topics ranging from fashion all the way to eating disorders.
In a short interview with Jessica Kumari that you can watch , Tyra gives top advice on being confident in your own skin. She says that we first must get strength from within and stop comparing ourselves to others.
With that said, I personally believe that everyone has something to contribute, something unique and something to be proud of. It’s a matter of finding what it is that you have to offer. We must first learn to love ourselves before trying to please others.
Body Image and Wellness
First off, what is wellness? As defined in class, wellness is a positive component of health. It is the freedom from illness and disease and provides a person with a high quality of life and an overall sense of well-being.
However, what is wellness in relation to body image. For me, it’s everything. But wellness is a broad term and is often difficult to understand when taken out of context. To me, in order to obtain ‘body image wellness’, one must first have a positive relationship with their body and mind. Oftentimes, people take their bodies for granted and don’t appreciate what it can do and provide as a whole. Next time you look in the mirror, instead of pin-pointing flaws that make you unhappy, point out one or two aspects about yourself that you are happy with or that make you unique. By doing this, you are essentially taking steps closer to achieving wellness. Bodies are meant to be different, and by accepting ourselves, we will be in a better state.
I was looking through the University of New Hampshire Health Services website and came upon a link that provides twenty ways to love ourselves. Take a look and try to incorporate one or two into your day-see if you notice a change! http://www.unh.edu/health-services/ohep/pdf/nutrition_ways-love-your-body.pdf
Fiber for a Fitter You?
I stumbled upon a video that I wanted to share that suggests increasing the use of fiber as a main focus if you’re trying to shrink your waist. This is not the first time that I’ve heard that fiber must be used in one’s diet in order to gain maximum weight loss benefits. However, not all of us are fully aware of which foods contain the highest amount of fiber. Here in this video, Dr. Marie Savard outlines different foods that one can consume throughout the day to reach the recommended goal of consuming between 25-30 grams of fiber per day.
Take a look at this video and see for yourself what you should reach for next time your tummy growls. I don’t know about you, but that granola she makes sure looks tasty!
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Recipes/video/stay-healthy-eat-fiber-9976340
