Pledge to lose weight, help raise money for local food banks

For every pound you pledge to lose, 11 cents get donated to the food bank of your choice.

Check it out. Pay it forward.

Happy Thanksgiving

No long, drawn out, self-aware entry here. Just stopping to say how incredibly thankful I am for everything in my life. Any complaints or whining sessions are purely superficial, and just venting in the moment.

Life is good. I couldn't ask for anything more.

And thanks to all the family and friends who are always there for me. You're the best.

My Food Pyramid Results!

For the last week I have been keeping track of how many fruits and veggies I eat during the day. I wanted to see if I was meeting the recommendations of the MyPyramid site. I tried really hard to not change my eating habits this week, because I wanted to find out how I was doing on my own.

Here's a fun little graph a created to show visually how I did. 

Purple represents the fruit recommendation of 2 cups/day. 

Green represents the veggie recommendation of 2.5 cups/day. 

The peaches are how many fruits I actually ate, and the carrots are how many veggies I actually ate.

I love how this gives a visual of what my eating habits were over the week. 

Can you guess which day Matt and I went grocery shopping? Sunday

Can you guess which days I was at school all day and packed my own foods? Monday and Tuesday

Can you guess which days I ate at least one meal out (a whole other issue of it's own)? Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

So the verdict is clear I think. I NEED to eat more veggies. And, I need to work harder to eat we rounded all week long, not just the days that I spend all day on campus. Oh, and I obviously favor fruit over veggies.

--

Now, for the next week I am going to track how I do trying to even out the recommendations with my actual intake, and find more of a balance between fruits and veggies.

--

Did you know the fruit and veggie recommendations are now measured in cups/day, not "servings?" Did you know that recommended amounts vary based on your age, sex, activity level, and weight goals? To find out your recommended amounts, check out the MyPyramid site for yourself!

Examining MY "food pyramid"

As and MPH student, I spend every day learning about, talking about, and thinking about health. Recently I was using MyPyramid.gov for a work project, to look up the general fruit and vegetable intake recommendations.

Now we've all heard that Americans aren't eating enough fruits and vegetables. In 2005 about 33% of U.S. adults ate fruit two or more times per day, and about 28% ate vegetables three or more times per day.

I am not doubting that we need to eat more fruits and veggies as a country, I mean look at those around you. Very few people have a circle of family and friends in which EVERYONE eats and ideal diet. On the  other hand, I wonder how accurate these statistics are. Especially because there is so much confusion about how many servings of fruits and veggies you should be getting, and what a serving actually is.

As a student of health behavior and health education I am fairly well informed about healthy eating, but I am no expert. I don't have have a background in nutrition or dietetics. While my professional interests separate me from the general population, I was curious how well rounded my own diet is. I try to ensure fruits and veggies in my diet every day, but lately I have been noticing that I eat more fruits than veggies.

So I decided to look at my typical intakes, and see how they compare to the guidelines set forth by MyPyramid.gov. I am using MyPyramid because it is often used to teach students in school, and is known as the simple "go to" source for basic nutrition guidelines.

There is a feature on the MyPyramid site to enter your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level. A personalized recommendation list is then generated based on your current weight, or for losing weight if you are above the "healthy range" for your height and sex. Here are my recommendations based on my current weight.

Some time next week I will post how I measured up for the days that I tracked. I am going to work hard to not do anything different because of this, but to instead just stick to meals that have been typical to me recently.

Stay tuned for the results...I can't wait to find out myself!

I am terrible at blogging...

...let's see if I can change that, because it's a nice way to get thoughts out sometimes.

To recycle or to compost...

Over the last few years I have been taking steps to reduce my contribution landfills. I am by no means perfect and could still do better, but I try to do what I can.

Having an outdoor wedding and not renting plates and dishes presented a bit of a problem then. Here's an overview of the phases we went through on this topic...

Idea 1: use a large variety of mismatched dishes purchased at garage sales and thrift stores.

Plus: it would look cool, and be unique

Problem: it would take a lot of time to go buy them, wash them, get them all from the house to the tent, clean after the wedding, and with a buffet style wedding may not be ideal

Idea 2: Nicer looking plastic plates

Plus: fairly inexpensive, and we can stock enough for people to have multiple plates

Problem: I hate the idea of putting 300 plastic plates in to the garbage to sit in landfills. To recycle them we would have had to brought them back to Ann Arbor where we have free curbside, but at the time only #1 and #2 plastics were accepted

Idea 3: use 100% compostable plates, cups, and cutlery

Plus: I love the idea of these, and they make a bold statement. When bought in bulk, really not all that expensive

Problem: If thrown away, compostable products don't get a chance to break down in landfills. My mom has a brand new large composter we were going to put everything in

Then...the city of Ann Arbor revamped their recycling program! We can now recycle #1,2,4,5,6,7 curbside in a large bin. What timing!

I have done research on every product (cups, plates, bowls, and cutlery) to make sure that we are getting the best deal, with plastics that can be recycled. Next to every trash can at the wedding there will be a very clearly labeled can for plastics - which we will hose off before putting in our recycling bin. There will also be some table signage to get the idea in everyone's mind before they walk up the cans.

So in the end, recycling won! I love the idea of the compostable items, but given the cost and number of people we will be feeding, this is just a better option for us right now.

If compostable products could break down in a landfill I would be on board, but right now they are mostly a marketing scheme. They are still made of more natural materials that are not harmfull to the environment, but the packaging is a little misleading.

I have put almost as much time in to researching this as I have a lot of the other details. I think I was annoyingly obsessive about it at times, but I think I have landed on the most informed decision I can.

Couch to 5K + South Beach

On monday there were exactly 2 months to my wedding. My lovely bridal shower (see above pictures) had been that weekend, and all this had me thinking about my hopes to shape up before my wedding.

Overall I am fairly comfortable with my body. I definitely have some work to do, but logically I know I'm not as out of shape as I feel most of the time. I ordered my wedding dress in a size that just barely fit in February, when I was still actively losing weight. This meant that I would have to lose at least a few pounds to feel comfortable in it. As of last weekend, I had not lost those few pounds yet. Late Sunday night I decided to give myself a strict plan to follow. Here's what I'm up to...

Couch to 5K (C25K)

C25K is a program that trains people who are not physically active to run the length of a 5k race. Now I have been working out pretty regularly since January, and I am in shape enough to run a 5K, not fast but I could do it. So why I am I doing this program?

Exercise induced asthma. I have had a growing suspicion that I had this, and my allergist confirmed it. I have an inhaler to try, and it has helped in some small ways. Whenever I used to end a run I would come home and cough and wheeze for 10-15, which is not normal. My inhaler has solved this problem, but it has not solved the issue that bothers me the most. My aerobic stamina while I run is a joke. I have a hard time running slow enough for my lungs to be able to keep up, and once my lungs are pushed to their limit, I can't breathe and I have to stop and walk. After that point, each time I run my lungs last less and less time.

It's so frustrating that there was about 2 months where I didn't even want to run. Thinking about running made me feel like my chest was being squeezed, and I knew I need to a way to get past this feeling. I had read about Couch to 5K a few times for various reasons, and I finally decided to use it to try to train my lungs. It starts the first week with intervals of 60 seconds of running, followed by 90 seconds of walking. Each week you progress to increase your endurance, and there are 3 work-outs a week. I am using podcasts that someone made to go along with this program. He uses upbeat music, and tells you when to walk and run. It's pretty neat.

So far I like it because of the structure, 3 work-outs a week is easy to commit to. Also, the short intervals allow me to get a decent pace going, followed by a guaranteed recovery period. I plan to ask my allergist for a different inhaler next time I go, because I don't think this one is doing enough, but in the mean time using this plan will help me get some good work-outs in before my wedding!

The South Beach Diet

Now, as a health educator I am the first to say, diets don't work. You need to instead focus on portions and healthy eating, along with exercise.

But, I am human (and American). I eat fairly healthy on a regular basis, and I can tell a huge difference in how I feel when I am eating right and when I'm not. I also like a challenge though, and sometimes challenging yourself is a good way to bring long term small changes.

I had never looked in to the South Beach Diet (SBD) before, because like I said, I really don't believe in diets. Some people I work with have used it though, and when I looked it up and started reading, I was intrigued, and wanted to give it a try.

It starts with a 2 week diet of all vegetables, protein, and small amounts of dairy. After those 2 weeks you start to add some carbohydrates and sugars back in to your diet, and so on.

There are critics that say you gain the weight back, but seriously. Talk to any bride 2 months before her wedding, and she will say, just get me through that day.

Today was my third day of the strict first phase, and so far I doing good, and I am still enjoying the challenge. I think I am cheating a little though. I had 3 servings of dairy today instead of 2, and I am having one dove milk chocolate Promise each night for dessert, and I am not supposed to have any sugar. Sue me.

So, that's what I'm up to right now. Interning, wedding planning (really coming along), and dieting and exercising.

How are you? How has your summer been?

(The pics below are from a walk my friend Allison and I take Tuesday nights. This week we started in the Arb, walked to Gallup Park, and then through Furstenberg Park, and then back. It was a 2 hour walk, and it was amazing outside!)