Springtime nights

I had the best evening in the universe last night. Lately I’ve been trying my best to eat only vegetables and fresh foods, and I was shocked at how well I did yesterday (oatmeal, apple, peas and corn, and some dried cranberries), so for dinner my friend Chris and I decided it was a good day to make homemade potato chips and a really good salad, and cupcakes for dessert.

So, I picked him up from school and we swung by my apartment to get some supplies, then we walked to his place and then to the grocery story to buy some cheese for the salad and potatoes. It was beautiful last night - 75 degrees, sunny, just perfect. Texas often sucks when it comes to weather, but sometimes it’s really, really good. And those are the days that you spend outside.

And also, making food with friends is amazing and excellent. We invited J and My Roommate to come along, and so we had a feast outside - homemade potato chips and fries, salad with blue cheese and sunflower seeds, springtime cupcakes, and white wine. It’s something you can only do when the weather gets warm.

I don’t mean to rub it in to everyone who doesn’t live in a) Texas b) California c) Florida, or d) Southern Hemisphere, but as soon as the weather gets warm, get your friends and go have a picnic outside. I mean it. It’s amazing.

March 19, 2009 @ 10:22 am . Comments (4)

Health — Tags: bliss, relaxing, well-being

Health myths

The other day I learned that we don’t actually need 8 glasses of water a day. Now, I had never really believed that, and honestly I found it rather silly so I’ve never been a water drinker (mostly juice, coffee, and tea - I don’t like the taste of water in general), but I started noticing how everyone had a water bottle. It was weird to me, and honestly I don’t like drinking too much because I hate having to run to the bathroom, but I went with it. People have done stranger things.

Anyway, then I read something recently that made me research this further. We don’t need eight glasses of water a day. It’s a “gross estimate,” “flat wrong,” and you only need a liter of liquid a day, most of which you get through food. In fact, it can be dangerous in some instances to drink eight glasses of water every day. And you can get your water intake through caffeinated or sugary beverages. For someone who isn’t used to caffeine, 1 cup of coffee == 2/3 cup of water. And if you are used to drinking caffeine, a cup of coffee is just like having a cup of water. Tea, juice, milk and caffeinated sodas all give you the same benefits of water. These all do not dehydrate you.

And yet despite all these studies everyone still spends thirty bucks and a chunk out of the environment buying bottled water every week. This is stupid. During my research I saw that people were struggling to drink eight glasses of water, and I saw people feeling guilty and bad about themselves for not hitting the mark. I couldn’t believe it - do people seriously guilt-trip themselves because they’re not drinking eight glasses of water a day? I couldn’t do that! I’d be going to the bathroom every thirty seconds.

They’ve shown that drinking isn’t even the most effective way to get water. It just passes right through your system. Eating vegetables and fruit is more effective because your body has time to absorb the water while it’s digesting. You are NOT walking around dehydrated. When you’re thirty, you still have plenty of time to drink before becoming dehydrated.

I just can’t believe this has turned into a nationwide phenomenon. It feels like that one time when everyone was doing the Atkin’s Diet. In fact, while we’re on depressed thoughts about our health, consider this article. It states that you have to exercise more than you think you do, eating more of something doesn’t help you lose weight, and your body and our culture are working against you. The only one I don’t agree with is number 8, simply because I know for a fact that losing weight can help with blood pressure and diabetes - the less you weigh, the less likely you are to have high blood pressure or Type II Diabetes, and furthermore, I feel like a lot of people use stuff like this as an excuse to not get healthy. They read it and say, “Oh, my lifestyle is justified,” when in reality they’re horribly unhealthy. It’s not about the weight, it’s about how likely you are to die.

I’m concerned, I really am. I’m worried about the health of the world and the health of the next generation. When I hear about things like childhood obesity and kids developing heart problems and diabetes and high blood pressure, I get so angry and upset. There’s so many myths we take for granted, and we don’t bother to research what’s actually going on. And the worst of it is we feel that if everyone is doing something, it’s more okay for us to do it too.

I want to see everyone get healthy and lose weight, for the sake of their future. I hope that this most recent wave of healthier foods on the shelves will help this.

January 27, 2009 @ 10:34 am . Comments (3)

Health — Tags: Future, Health, well-being

Have a Health Day

When you read this, I strongly encourage you to spend the next 24 hours having a Health Day. What is a Health Day? It’s a day where you focus on health - your health, physical and mental, the health of others, and the health of the environment. Sometimes when I’m in a funk I take a Health Day, where I focus really hard on just living really well. It really helps because even though it’s just for one day, it helps you to be more energetic and happy the next day. I’ve decided to share this after I’ve been noticing a lot of people in a winter depression.

So! Here’s what you do. You go through the categories and you choose at least one thing from each category to do in the next 24 hours. The more you do, the better. Then when 24 hours is over, you can blog about your experience or just post in the comments. If nobody does this, I’ll just get really sad and never bring it up again.

Your Health - Physical

• Go for a long walk
• Have twice as many fruits and vegetables than anything else
• Don’t eat any sugar (except natural sugar in fruits)
• Read up on diet myths if you’re trying to lose weight or get healthy, and then actually apply them to your eating habits.
• Spend an hour in the morning doing yoga or weight lifting or simple exercises like pushups and situps.
• Go to sleep before midnight. If you already do this, then relax with something non-computer related for an hour before bed, like reading a book.
• Add your own!

Your Health - Mental

• Start reading a new book.
• Take ten minutes in the middle of the day to close your eyes and simply not think about anything. If you realize you’re thinking about something, simply acknowledge it and stop.
• Forgive someone and forget about it.
• Draw a picture.
• Read up on interesting facts about Earth and science.
• Take the time to understand a concept or theory you never understood before.
• Find a diplomatic way to deal with an annoyance in your life.
• Add your own!

Others’ Health

• Compliment a stranger sincerely.
• Explain to a friend how much he or she means to you, no matter how awkward or fumbling it is.
• Pay for the person’s food in front of you in line. If you’re in a drive-through, pay for the person behind you.
• Call up a really good friend that you haven’t talked to in awhile.
• Give someone a hug.
• Buy someone flowers, such as your mother.
• Add your own!

Health of the World

• Recycle!
• Don’t buy anything for one day
• Turn down the heat by a few degrees (or the air conditioning)
• Hang up your clothes to dry instead of using a dryer
• Try to buy local if you go out for groceries
• If you can, walk or bike to work or school instead of driving or even taking the bus.
• Add your own!

My hope is that if we all take a few days to invoke some health into the world and into their lives, it will help everyone to just destress. After all, the best way to feel better is to do something nice for yourself or others. What do you think?

January 12, 2009 @ 10:09 pm . Comments (4)

Health — Tags: Health, living