Your own insurance policy for yourself

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." ~ Winston Churchill

I believe in creating our own destiny, naturally I include health as a part of this. If you suffer a heart attack after years of watching TV all night and eating bacon and donughts for breakfast you have created your own destiny.

Living a healthy lifestyle is not "guaranteed to make you lose 20 lbs" or "guaranteed to make you feel 10 years younger" Living a healthy lifestyle is a way to control your own destiny. The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life. Living a healthy lifestyle will not guarantee that you do not get cancer and it is not guaranteed to ensure recovery from illness. But it is a way to insure that the likelihood of illness diminishes and that the chances of recovery improve. I think of a healthy lifestyle as an insurance policy for myself, although I know there is no guarantees, I am doing everything in my own power to prevent disease and aid recovery.

With all the talk in the media about uninsured individuals I believe it is time to change our train of thought. People have the ability to make healthy choices and use those choices as insurance for their future health. Why not change our focus from that of curing illness to that of preventing illness entirely?

Review of In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto

I have finished reading the book In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan and I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to improve their dietary health.

This book is not a book about diets or dieting, the only recommendations are to eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Pretty simple if you ask me. The book gives history of how food has been reduced to it's individual nutrients (fats, carbs, vitamins) by the scientific community and by food manufactures themselves. This was done mostly for monetary gain and as a result processed foods are able to make health claims on foods that are really only "edible food-like substances." The book makes recommendations to help consumers make wise food choices and the recommendations are, in my opinion, realistic and attainable, 2 qualities that lack in most diet books.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in improving their health through food and I would recommend this book to foodies like myself who just like reading about food.

What is your BMI?

Using a BMI (Body Mass Index) chart is a great too to help you get an idea of where you stand health wise. The body mass index is defined as a measure of someones weight in relation to height. Tools for calculating BMI can be found doing a simple google search under BMI. The reason this tool is so important is because it gives you a clear picture of where you stand health wise.



A BMI below 18.5 is underweight



A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 are considered normal weight



A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight



A BMI above 30 is considered obese.



I believe knowing where you stand on the BMI chart is an important factor in determining your overall health status. People in the obese category have a much higher risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, liver disease, arthritis, and breathing difficulties.



Certainly none of these diseases will help you live an active lifestyle in old age and they are often the cause of many people being forced to live in a nursing home.



I don't want anyone to be forced to live in a nursing home and I don't think anyone wants that for themself so calculate your BMI and see where you stand. From there you can either pat yourself on the back or commit to living a healthier lifestyle by exercising more and making small changes to your diet.

Geocaching for fun and fitness

I always find myself on a quest for my next great adventure, I find that as soon as one adventure is complete I must go and search for my next adventure. I have wondered if other people are like this and I know for certain kids are like this so I thought this may be a helpful post for parents who are looking for ways to be fit and have fun with their kids at the same time. Geocaching fits this description perfectly, it can be used as a way to have fun and exercise while searching for geocaches. I discovered geochaching while looking for an adventure. Little did I know that on this particular adventure I would find some treasure as well.

Geocaching (as taken from geocaching.com) is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

This sport appealed to my sense of adventure on so many levels; first, I could get my fiancée involved because he likes to “geek out” and geocaching involves the use of computers and GPS. He was all over that which was a huge help to me because I am technologically remedial.

Second, this sport requires being outdoors, being outside really appeals to my sense of adventure, I feel more free and more fit when I am active in the outdoors.

Third, kids love this too, it is a fantastic way to engage your whole family in exercise and activity. Children that love technology and computer games will be hooked by the use of GPS and having their own real life game to play. Smaller children will love finding the hidden treasures.

Fourth, finding treasure, that is just cool, I mean that makes me like a modern day pirate right?

The geochaching community is large and is constantly growing, chances are there are multiple caches hidden all aver your neighborhood at any time. You can even get started by hiding your own cache filled with your own treasures.

Geocachers are very respectful of the environment and practice a chache in trash out philosophy. Geocaching.com has also partnered with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy to protect America’s irreplaceable rail corridors by transforming them into multiuse trails.

Try geocaching today with your family visit Geocaching.com to learn how to start, if you do not have access to a GPS unit or are unable to obtain one visit letterboxing.org to find letterboxes hidden without the use of GPS. Geocaching is a fun sport in which you and your family can compete with other geocachers or you can do it for fun at a relaxed pace. You and your family will have the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, bond with each other, and share a sense of comraderie with the Geocaching community at large. So I recomend Geocaching as a way for fit mommies to stay fit, have fun, and set out on their own adventure.

Sugar, so sweet but so much of it is a bad thing

I wanted to let everyone know I have a addiction to sugar that I am continually trying to overcome. My sweet tooth is dangerous, recent studdies have found a link to increased sugar consumption and cancer growth. I personally have found the more sugar I eat the less energy I have.

I searched google and found that the recommended daily intake of sugar is only 40 Grams. I say only because I walked through the grocery store and was shocked to find that most of my favorite foods had 10 grams or more per serving. I routienly eat about 2 serving sizes of everything so I took a guess that I was taking in about 300 grams of sugar per day! Many foods I thought were healthy in fact were not (read the nutrition labels and ingredients). My favorite strawberry yogurt had 27 grams of sugar alone! That was almost 75% of the recommended daily intake by itself.

I have been trying to adjust my intake of sugar to more reasonable proportions, which is difficult because sugar is my drug of choice. I experience withdraw if I go a couple of days without eating something sweet. I also have a huge addition to having something sweet after dinner, it doesn't matter how much I had or how full I am, I need dessert.

I am finding a solution to this problem by eating lots of fruit and reading the nutrition labels on foods from the grocery store. Fruit does have sugar in it but is good sugar and therefore I can pig out. I also want to note that nutrition labels group all sugars together so a serving of grapes may read 40 grams of sugar but again its the good of sugar so it does not count. I have begun to read the ingredients to learn wether or not a product with added sugar is healthy. For example, a nutrition label for a grape will read sugar 40 grams but the ingredient list will read: Grape. The strawberry yougurt label reads 27 Grams of sugar and granulated sugar is listed as a ingredient. Thats the key, added sugar is bad.

So I will continue to read my labels, avoid added sugar, and fight the sugar monster within. I do still allow myself my 40Grams of added sugar because to cut out sugar entirely is ludacris. (So many cheese cake flavors, so little time). I also minimize my serving sizes and eat sweets slow so I can enjoy a sweet flavor and satisfy my cravings at the same time. My personal recoendation to everyone is to avoid added sugars as part of the diet portion of a healthy lifestyle. If you are like me it will be a challenge but you will experience a increase energy and you will reap loads of benefits long term.

motivation

"Those who do not find the time for exercise will have to find the time for illness" -Earl of Derby

You ar never to old to compete

I recently came across information on the 2009 Summer National Senior Games I mention this because I am planning to compete in these games in another 22 years. I am planning this very long term goal as a way to keep myself motivated to exercise every day and to make good food choices. I want to be strong enough at 50, 60, and 70+ years to compete in these games, I know I will not be able to do that unless I keep active now.
My vision of the future includes my children getting mad at me because I am what they will consider "too old and wrinkly to be running around in running shorts." Ha! I know already that I will show them.
I wish this for everyone, I would like for everyone to think about their vision for the future and the decisions that will need to be made as they age. I hope that no one ever has to make the decision to live in a nusing home or even worse have that decision made for them. So focus on your future and mabye you and I will be competing in the 2030 senior games.
If you are 50 years of age or older you can compete in the 2009 Summer National Senior Games now. This is a fantastic opportunity to start living a healthy lifestyle so you can train to compete in these games. There are 18 medal sports and 7 demonstration sports so go ahead and Go for the GOLD!