Being Healthier

Running and Training

August 30, 2010 bhealthy No comments

Monday August 23rd 2010: 6 Mile Lake Run at Sunset! Gorgeous

Wednesday August 25th 2010: 6 Mile Trail Run with branches like this…

I had company on the trail.. this was before the run

this was after!

I was solo on Sunday August 29th 2010: 9 mile Lake run..long run for training!

9 + miles, 1 hr 23 minutes…

makes me happy and tired. Fun news: There was a flasher on the trail and the cops caught him.

Monday August 30th 2010: Cross Training Elliptical & YOGA !

Training Runs, Uncategorized Polar, Running, Training

If you wrote a letter to yourself, What would it say ?

August 29, 2010 bhealthy 4 comments

Dear Being Healthier,

I would like to apologize about the way I have treated you in the past. Sometimes I exercised you way too often or too much or just skipped it all together. Sometimes I overwhelm you, Mind, with so many thoughts at one time and so many different ideas with school and work that push you to your potential.

I have learned to like you, Body, whether I lose weight or not. I have learned to admire you, Mind, whether I scored a 100 on an Exam or a 65. I push you both always to be healthier, sometimes requiring early morning workouts, late evening runs that go on forever, or 6 hour study sessions at times.

I try now more than ever when I can, to give you time to rest and I know I haven’t always. Your strong legs take me anywhere, you continually reach above and beyond your potential. Today, I thank you for all that you have done. I hope that I can stay as healthy, intelligent and positive as I am today when I am 100 years old.

Thank you,
Being Healthier’s Soul

Soul none

National Childhood Obesity Awareness

August 25, 2010 bhealthy No comments

September 2010 marks the first National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. In the past 40 years, obesity rates in the U.S have been soaring for youth ages 6-11 years. Statistics are nothing short of alarming when opportunities are present each day to change them!

Healthier Kids, Brighter Futures is encouraging everyone to get informed, get connected, and get involved to help reduce the incidence of childhood obesity, which increases the risk of comorbidities such as high cholesterol, type -2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Check out Healthier Kids Brighter Futures !

My focus at The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education program has been largely targeted towards improving the curriculum we have for youth, ages 6-11+ . One of the most fun projects I have been working on is developing kid friendly recipes, using limited resources and minimal preparation. I hope some if not all get approved for the future cookbook and adapted into our programs!

As September arrives, the weather cools down and leaves will change soon. I hope this new campaign is successful at changing the awareness of this epidemic and brings a brighter future for our youth. It is not an issue that just affects these children, it affects the health of our country all together.

Have a great weekend everyone!

News in Nutrition Childhood Obesity, Public Health, September

Healthy Families Healthy Communities

August 25, 2010 bhealthy No comments

The Healthy Families Healthy Communities development team had a meeting to gather feedback for the principal curriculum writers ( Yes I am one of those!!). One of my roles has been to create recipes, test recipes, and edit current recipes. It seemed like a perfect idea to test recipes at this meeting on Tuesday!

Here is the spread:

Two dipping sauces/dressings: Honey Mustard and Sweet Thai Chili with fresh cucumber, broccoli, carrots and celery. Two fruit dips: Cinnamon Yogurt Dip and Pumpkin Dip with freshly cut strawberries, local peaches, apples and cantaloupe. In the middle is a Butterbean Hummus, which was the winner of the day, to test with whole wheat pita bread. Butterbeans are a local crop too!

On the other corner was Pumpkin French Toast! I developed a Pumpkin French Toast recipe in 2008, which is a recipe that could be perfect for our new program and new cookbook! It adds a veggie serving, taking away the yolk but leaving the batter with a great consistency. Oh and the aroma it creates is phenomenal! The flavor is awesome too as long as you use some pie spice/nutmeg/cinnamon!

Because tasting recipes is serious business, I had to create a survey that would provide measurable results.

I was so nervous as everyone had started eating and testing without a word. My heart was racing and I was afraid no one would like anything! I finally had the chance to sit down and try them myself!

The top two are the Sweet Thai Chili and Pumpkin Dip. On my plate inside the cup was Honey Mustard, fruit and veg all around.

Everyone loved the Hummus, Honey Mustard, Yogurt Dip, and Pumpkin Dip! We have to tweak the other recipes with just minor changes, add nutmeg to the french toast and a little sugar…etc. Overall it was a success! It was a long meeting too!

We worked on the curriculum for the lessons and viewed my knife skills video that arrived that day!! Again, my heart started racing because I hadn’t yet seen the final copy! Phew! I will post it to my site asap!

Have you ever been nervous when debuting some of your work?

Have a great Thursday!

EFNEP, Recipes, Uncategorized EFNEP, Family, Healthy Families Healthy Communities, Recipes

Wood Grilled Salmon Served on a Desktop

August 23, 2010 bhealthy 1 comment

One of the best parts about working as an extension of management at a polished casual fish restaurant is getting free dinner, which turns into a free lunch ! Even though I ate out of my to-go containers on a desk at work, the flavor of this food was fantastic!

I had Norwegian Salmon, topped with our signature Spinach, Bacon Gorgonzola topping. Our summer side of Ripe Tomatoes with Basil, Feta and Balsamic is almost off our menu. I had not other option but to grab those tomatoes as one of my sides and good ol’ Steamed Vegetable Medley as my other side.

All morning I looked forward to lunch while I worked on developing recipes, with tags and tips for the new program at EFNEP! I will be going grocery shopping for our meeting tomorrow this afternoon. Today I am really loving both my jobs!

Uncategorized Lunch, Salmon, Vegetables, Work