33% of All U.S. Cancer Deaths Linked to Diet & Exercise

Many of us are motivated to work out and participate in boot camps to "stay healthy" but rarely do we think about what that means or what we're actually doing for our bodies beyond the physical look of them.  Read this article from Emory University's Tiffany Barrett to find out how you're reducing your risk of cancer when you're out yelling "hooah!"

33% of All U.S. Cancer Deaths Linked to Diet & Exercise

Studies consistently show that a good diet and regular exercise can reduce your risk of heart disease, but did you know you can also reduce your risk of cancer by eating well and regularly exercising? Our genes play a large role in whether we develop cancer (some cancer types more than others), but studies show, and our experts at the Winship Cancer Institute confirm, we can take action to lower our risk of developing many cancer types. By avoiding tobacco products, maintaining a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet and staying active, you can dramatically reduce your risk of dying from cancer.

I hosted an online chat on the topic of healthy eating during the holidays this week, and in it we covered lots of topics related to nutrition, health, exercise and wellness. Below are some of the most important takeaways from the chat for you to apply not just during the holidays, but year round!

Exercise: 

• Achieve and maintain a healthy weight. We may tire of hearing it, but maintaining a healthy body weight is essential to your health.
• As many as 1 out of 5 of all cancer-related deaths are linked to excessive body weight. Obesity is clearly linked with increase in several types of cancer, including breast, colon and rectum, edometrial, esophageal, kidney and pancreatic cancer.
• Regular physical activity is critical to your health and wellness. Physical activity can help reduce the risk of breast, colon, endometrial and prostate cancers.

• Adults should try to exercise for either 75 minutes per week at high intensity, or at least 150 minutes at moderate intensity each week. The latter equates to just two and a half hours of walking.
• Children should exercise one hour each day at moderate intensity, but 3 days a week at high intensity, and limit sedentary activities such as sitting, lying down, playing video games, watching TV, etc.

Nutrition:

Maintain healthy eating habits by emphasizing consumption of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. As I mentioned in the chat, all fruits and vegetables have protective and preventive cancer benefits. Here are some guidelines to consider when it comes to nutrition:

Continue reading . . .

'Tis the Season to Be Stressed: A Survival Guide

by Arianna Huffington from Huffington Post Healthy Living

The holiday season is upon us -- a time to lovingly connect with family, to relax, recharge and emerge happy, content and revitalized. Just kidding. In fact, of course, it's usually the complete opposite. But why is that? What is it about special occasions -- whether it's holidays or weddings or birthdays or even just dinner parties -- that fill us with such stress? Instead of leaving us recharged, the holiday season is more likely to leave us drained. Or "blorft," as Tina Fey calls it. "'Blorft' is an adjective I just made up," she writes in Bossy Pants, "that means 'Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum.'" Most of us have been there, felt that. And many will be blorft again this week, as the harried prep for Thanksgiving unofficially marks the opening of the Stress Season that will last through New Year's Day, when we can officially start feeling guilty about breaking the resolutions we'll make in response to the stress-induced overindulgence of the holiday season.

So that's why this is the perfect moment -- right before it all starts -- to slow down and reflect on why what should be a time of generosity, celebration, and coming together so often becomes a time of high anxiety. It's also a moment to focus on the steps we can take to truly enjoy the holiday season. Because it's not just enjoyment that holiday stress can take from us, but our health, as well. In the American Heart Association's journal, Circulation, Dr. Robert Kloner coined the maladies the "Merry Christmas Coronary" and the "Happy New Year Heart Attack" to describe the increase in cardiac problems during the holiday season -- so there's a lot more at stake than dealing with your mother-in-law's passive-aggressive compliments ("I didn't know you could do this with a turkey -- so creative!").   Get the rest from huffingtonpost.com  

Five Reasons to Run with Your Daughter

The author may have had daughters in mind but these reasons are great for ones for anyone to run!  From athleta.com

1. Running is about empowerment. Running does wonders for your body…sure. But the real wonder comes in how it makes a person feel. Running is feminism at its finest. When you run you OWN yourself, your body, your breath, your thoughts and your intention. Running with your daughter provides her with the experience of body ownership. I can make it run, leap, laugh, think and sweat. I am one with it. It’s mine. I own it.

2. Running together is time together. The T.V. is off. The to-do list, cell phone, homework, housework and bills are at home. For thirty minutes, you’ve got the air around you, the sunshine, your feet, your breathing, your words, your voice and your hands should you want to hold each other’s. Running or walking together can satisfy that yearning you’ve both had to connect, love, share and just be… together.

3. Running is quiet. Do this. Don’t do this. Try this, Buy this. Eat this. Don’t eat this. Listen to this. Don’t say that. Lose Weight. Add these, Apply that to those. Take this. We are constantly hit by advertising messages that have, over the course of our “growing up,” replaced the “knowing and strength” of our own inner voice.  Running with your daughter provides an amazing opportunity to intentionally NOT talk–to just share the space, the time and the quiet. Who knows what your inner voice might tell you? “You’re beautiful just the way you are,” might actually be a phrase that makes its way back into your self-talk.

get the other two!

Before & After: Tess Thomas

Get ready to be inspired!  

Tess Thomas is a camper from Operation Boot Camp's Chastain Park location who has gone from a size 16 to an 8.   

How many Operation Boot Camp’s have you participated in?

6 in 3 years

What's your story?

I took my health pretty seriously this past Summer.  After having 2 kids over the last 4 years, I always picked up more weight and had a hard time losing it all.  This summer I was committed to getting back into the weight when I met my husband. After completing 4 boot camps, I have now lost 30lbs, lost 14 inches body wide and dropped from a size 16 to a size 8!

My run time has improved by 2  minutes and my flexibility and agility are at the best state it has ever been.  My cholesterol also dropped by 60 points!   Additionally, I have noted that I sleep better at night.  

For me waking up early to exercise is the BEST thing.  By 7am I am sweating and done with my exercise requirement for the day.  There is no chance  to make excuses after work to skip workouts.  

Lastly, through changing my eating habits ie, smaller meals every few hours, I have  eliminated  night time cravings. I feel fuller longer.

What is your favorite part of Operation Boot Camp?

The fact that it is always something new every day.  I like the surprise of not knowing.  I also think the instructors and the fellow campers are encouraging and nice.

Sit Down to Eat

For a while now I've been saying a habit I would like to break is eating in my car or while walking around my house or in front of my computer.  I want to actually remember eating my food and tasting it.  I can't tell you how many times I've jumped in my car with my breakfast of a couple of boiled eggs and an apple and later not remembered even eating them.
This is dangerous for a couple of reasons, and frankly just not fun.  Enjoying a meal means acknowledging what you're consuming: not just mindlessly putting something in your body while fighting traffic.  Being present while eating makes your more likely to recognize when you've had enough to eat and monitor healthy portions.  And frankly, you're worth it.  No matter how busy you are you are worth taking a few minutes to sit down and actually look at your food.  You are worth sitting down your fork between bites and recognizing the taste and consistency.  Sitting down for a meal helps force these important nuances.  I encourage you to take it a step further.  Turn off the tv.  Pour your water in a nice glass, take out a cloth napkin and really have a meal.  Whether you're at lunch in your office break room or at a playground with your kids.  Think of your meal times as a time to stop and be present-it will help your sanity and your waist line.

The Secret to Making Positive Life Changes

By Rod Stryker for huffingtonpost.com 

Over the years, I've lectured to tens of thousands of people on the subject of improving their quality of life. One of the main points I make is that an essential element of having more of the life you want is dedicating at least some time each day to clearing and quieting your mind.

After describing the practical, physiological, emotional, mental, and of course spiritual benefits of taking even just a few minutes a day to meditate or relax deeply, it's clear that most people are genuinely inspired to do it. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of people ever act on their inspiration. But these would-be meditators are not alone. The truth is that many of us don't apply ourselves enough to achieve the positive life changes to which we aspire: the desire to lose weight, exercise regularly, get organized, work less, get more sleep, enrich our spiritual life, spend less time on the internet, stop smoking, or possibly, yes, have a regular meditation practice. Why? Why is it that we so often fail to successfully make the changes we really want? The simple answer is: pain. It's all about pain.

More than three decades ago, when I was just starting to meditate, I found that I resisted it. Despite all the benefits it provided me, despite being aware of how much better my life was whenever I did it, I failed to do it consistently. Curious about how to overcome my resistance and convert my enthusiasm for it into a regular practice, I approached my teacher.

"What do you feel like when you don't do it," he asked.

"Not so great," I said. "I feel less clear, less inspired, less confident, less comfortable."

"Great," he said. "Keep that at the forefront of your mind. The more mindful you are of the pain of not doing it, the less likely you are to not practice." I remember thinking, "That's it? 'Recall the pain of not doing it,' that's the secret to practicing regularly?" It took time, but I would eventually learn that my teacher had asked me to apply the critical element that determines practically all human behavior -- the desire to avoid pain. Our desire to avoid pain is why we find it difficult to start or sustain a new habit or achieve our goals.

Research shows that the pull or attraction for whatever we hope to do, have, or become is a far lesspowerful motivating force than our desire to avoid the inevitable pain we experience while we're in the process of achieving the things to which we aspire. Thus, for instance, if we want (but fail) to change our diet, even if we really, really want to, it is because we associate more pain with making the necessary changes to our diet than the pain we experience with the way we are currently eating. In short, as long as you identify change as being more painful than not changing, odds are that you won't change.  Keep reading. 

Real But Not True

When I read this article from the HuffingtonPost.com contributor Tsoknyi Rinpoche I was struck by the idea of acknowledging emotions but also acknowledging their place.  I've been thinking a lot lately about my reactions to things being under my control (pretty much the only thing under my control btw) and how I can use that knowledge to care less.  Let me clarify.  I still want to love and care for my loved ones but I don't want to care when they do something I don't think they should.  Because, it's none of my biz-nas.  I've been trying to figure out how to acknowledge that I feel upset by their choice but then be done with it; to evict the feeling of disappointment -which isn't my business to even have-from my bod.  I feel like Rinpoche's article helps me think of my emotions in a different way.  What do you think?  Comment below!  

Real But Not True

 by Tsoknyi Rinpoche for the huffingtonpost.com 

When very strong emotions -- like fear, anger, or jealousy -- come up, it's very hard to resist giving up and giving into them.

For example, several years ago I was traveling on a very small airplane between Pokhara -- one of the lowland regions in central Nepal -- to Muktinath, a remote site high in the Himalayas. I was traveling to oversee the rebuilding of a Buddhist nunnery there, which had fallen into disrepair. The plane was supposed to depart at 8:00 a.m. in order to avoid the high winds that almost always develop later in the day. But in those days, airplane travel in Nepal was an uncertain prospect at best, and planes often departed hours later than they were supposed to. Eventually we left the airport, 3.5 hours after the plane was scheduled to depart and long after the winds had begun to blow.

As we flew between two huge mountains, our tiny plane was buffeted up and down by turbulence for almost half an hour. The few other passengers on board were screaming and crying, sure they were going to die. I applied a little method I hoped might steady me a bit: Instead of focusing on the movement of the plane, I looked out the window and focused on one of the mountains. But I must admit I was infected by the same fear that gripped the other passengers. Although we landed safely, I prayed that there might be another way to get back to Pokhara -- by car or bus -- but the only route in those days was flying. On the return trip, crammed in the same small plane with foreign tourists, I sweated so badly my robes began to get wet. I clutched the armrests tightly, and though doing so made me feel a little better, a part of me knew that no matter how tightly I clutched, it wasn't going to help if the plane really crashed.

The fear I felt on that return trip, however -- and the fear I felt for many years later, even when I was traveling on large commercial airliners -- was real, in the sense that I was fully experiencing it. However, as I looked back on each subsequent experience, I had to admit that it wasn't true. That is, it wasn't grounded in actual, present circumstances, but instead was triggered by residual memories of a past experience.

This sort of experience, in which fear or some other strong emotion arises in a context that doesn't necessarily warrant such a reaction -- or perhaps to a degree that isn't warranted by the actual circumstances -- that I've learned to engage in a little conversation with myself: "Yes, what you're feeling is real. I recognize and honor that. But this fear is not based on true conditions."  Continue on huffingtonpost.com

Happy or Mania?

I'm an O Magazine subscriber and one of my favorite contributors is Martha Beck, a life coach.  Recently I was really struck by an article she penned in the February 2012 Issue titled "How to Find the Kind of Joy That Lasts."  As someone who can be annoyingly introspective, the title appealed to me immediately.  

happy holding Evie.

After reading it there were a number of things that stuck with me and I found very helpful.  She first pointed out that our culture-and specifically the media-creates the expectation that when we're happy we're jumping up and down, screaming, moved to tears etc.  For example people are way too happy about new sandwiches at McDonalds, or 2 for 1 appetizers at Chilli's.  Seriously, watch them next time, have you ever been that happy about anything?  Beck points out that these ads actually demonstrate manic euphoria:  "everything I'd seen during the broadcast suggested that the ideal emotional state is one of intense, manic euphoria, and that we should all feel that way almost all the time."


So this was realization one for me:  crazy mind-blowing jumping up in down isn't happiness.  Moreover, it shouldn't be the goal and certainly not the ruler to which I measure my emotional state.  Not to say I should never get so excited that I'm jumping with joy-I just need to acknowledge the difference and not let getting my mind blown the way I determine if I'm happy or not.   


So let's talk about the experience you feel when it is this manic euphoria.  Like, the Gators winning a National Football Championship the same year they won the National Basketball Championship, for example.  I was in Gainesville and one of the hundreds who flooded the streets, climbed palm trees and light poles chanting our fight song.  Beck calls this mania and says it triggers our neurological fight-or-flight mechanism and after such an emotional flood to our system we then experience a crash.  She actually uses the example of those soccer games in Europe where the winning team's fans get totally cray cray and end up trashing the place and turning violent.  Our fight or flight system predisposes us to violence.  When fight or flight is "on" relaxing and connecting are "off."  True joy or happiness isn't full of emotional extremes, it's peaceful.  Thinking of times when I felt happiness memories of hanging out with old friends and laughing, Sunday afternoons naps with my wife or holding my niece or nephew came to mind.  I was happy in all of those moments, those peaceful, idyllic moments that weren't complicated.  There were no highs and lows, that's true happiness.  So, how do I cultivate happiness like that?  How do I make more memories like this and lead a fulfilling life?  (I warned you, annoyingly introspective.)  


I, like most people, get frustrated sometimes when the advice is to "be here now."  That sounds awesome, sign me up.  Now how do I do that?  Because I've tried.  I usually get distracted.  Beck says it can be simple, "create something" she advises.  When we create dopamine is released.  When we're creating we are much more "in the moment" and less concerned with finding the manic highs.  Our bodies and mind are satisfied.  Mmmmm dopamine, so satisfying.  If you think of a time that you were cooking, or crafting, or making up a workout it was probably easier to be in the moment.  Easier to keep your thoughts in the present moment instead of what you need to do in 3 hours.  Practice by creating more and more frequently.  Hooray for bedazzlers and glue!  


After reading Beck's article I realized I had been comparing or judging (you know, judging, it's always a good idea) my emotional state against the ads, the rom-coms where it all works out in the end, moments of mania.  Recognizing the mistake made me feel, free and dum dum duuuum drumroll please, happy.  Getting a more accurate idea of happiness I realized that, frankly, I'm typically pretty happy.  So, set yourself free!  Let those moments after boot camp when you're tired and stretching as the sun is rising be your ruler, not the winner on The Price is Right.  


That's just, like, my opinion man read the whole article HERE.  

I'm tellin' all y'all it's sabotage

There are weeks when eating well is easy.  Weeks that I even ask myself ”what’s the big deal about eating well?”  But then there are weeks that I don’t feel like I can get it together.  I feel like eating well is completely out of my control.  As if eating cookies for breakfast is just happening to me, because that’s how it feels.  So, what’s the difference between eating well and not?  About 3 hours.  That’s it.  That’s the difference.  The hours are spent over the day, usually on Mondays.  One hour is spent grocery shopping and driving there.  I can go through a Trader Joe’s like it’s Supermarket Sweep and I know the cashiers that can get it done and the ones that are super slow.  I get mostly the same things every week for lunches for Melissa and I, the shopping list usually looks a lot like this:

• 2 dozen eggs
• Fuji Apples
• Sweet Potatoes/Brussels Sprouts/Butternut Squash
• Onions
• Mushrooms
• Grapes
• Chicken Breasts
• Applegate Farms Smoked Turkey Slices
• Electrolyte Water
• Tuna Fish
• Spinach or other bagged greens
• Kale
• Avocado
• Canned tomatoes
• Salsa
• Frozen fish

The other 2 hours are spent making the following:

Hard Boiled Eggs

Egg Frittata Muffins with sauteed onion and mushrooms

Kale Salad

Roasting which ever rootish veggies I got

Tuna salad (I make a Mediterranean version with roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts and black olives)

Crock Pot Mexican Chicken Soup (this is where the tomatoes and salsa come in)

That’s it.  That’s what makes the difference in me eating well. If I have all those pre-made snacks in our fridge it’s easy.  Melissa and I do pretty well with dinners.  We like cooking together and usually make a fish dish of some sort and incorporate veggies pretty easily.

One of the things that is important about my snacks are portability.  I work from home but also spend a lot of time at Atlanta Kick in the morning and I need something to grab on the way out the door.  Don’t let being unprepared sabotage what can be an easy week that you feel good about or a week lost in packaged foods with 31 ingredients.

What Happens In Your Body When You Eat Top Ramen

If you've ever wondered what happens when you eat ramen from the store versus something homemade congratulations, that day has come!  Read this article by Briana Rognlin and watch the video below explaining this interesting story.  The best line from the video?  "Top Ramen is made to survive armageddon, while homemade noodles are made to be eaten."

Enjoy!


What Happens In Your Body When You Eat Top Ramen

Most of the time, we hear about avoiding processed foods because they’ll make us fat. But a new video of what happens in your body when you eat Top Ramen and Gatorade vs. homemade noodles and drinks gives us a whole new reason to avoid it: We can’t even digest it properly.
TEDxManhattan 2011 Fellow Stefani Bardin‘s video, below, shows what happens in your body when you eat processed foods vs. homemade versions of similar foods, using a tiny “M2A” (that stands for Mouth to Anus, and it’s trademarked, mind you) LED/camera capsule. The project looks at two subjects eating two similar meals: one composed of processed foods (gatorade, ramen, and gummi bears); the other of homemade versions (hibiscus drink, homemade broth with noodles and gummi bears made of juice). What happens to the foods is drastically different; possibly because, as Bardin puts it, Top Ramen is made to survive armageddon, while homemade noodles are made to be eaten.

Warning: It’s best to watch this video after you’ve eaten your breakfast.

See the video.  

How I Kicked The Diet Soda Habit (And How You Can Too)

by Laura Schocker reposted from the HuffingtonPost.com 

As a health editor, I really do try to practice what I preach. I walk up escalators. I don't smoke. I get off the subway a few stops early to get more exercise in each morning. And I try not to drink my calories (unless it's a glass of wine -- that's healthy, right?).

I thought that was enough. But over the past year, I've learned that Diet Coke, my calorie-free drink of choice, may be doing more harm than I thought. A study last summer presented at an American Diabetes Association meeting suggested an association between diet soda and a wider waist. A second, unrelated study found that aspartame -- the artificial sweetener found in most diet soft drinks -- raises blood sugar in mice prone to diabetes, with possible implications for humans as well. And just yesterday, we heard word that a diet soda a day is linked with an increased risk of stroke and heart attack (findings that were also presented last year at the International Stroke Conference).

"They may be free of calories but not of consequences," Helen P. Hazuda, Ph.D., an author on the first study and a professor and chief of clinical epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio's School of Medicine, said in a statement.

Uh oh -- my "light" choice has turned into a vice.

While I've long suspected that a bottle full of chemicals is likely not as healthy as a glass of pure H20 (the ingredient list, including aspartame, caramel coloring and phosphoric acid, was a tip off), I've never considered it to be a real risk.

Keep reading . . .

Sitting and Watching

‘No matter what gets in the way or which way the wind does blow… I’ll just sit here and watch the river flow.’ ~Bob Dylan

Post written by Leo Babauta.

Have you ever felt that we are rushing through life, that we get so caught up in busy-ness that life is passing us almost without notice?

I get this feeling all the time.

The antidote is simple: sitting and watching.

Take a minute out of your busy day to sit with me, and talk. Take a moment to imagine being in the middle of traffic — you’re driving, stressed out by the high amount of traffic, trying to get somewhere before you’re late, angry at other drivers who are rude or idiotic, completely focused on making your way through this jungle of metal on a ribbon of asphalt. Now you’ve gotten to the end, phew, you made it, wonderful, and you’re only a few minutes late … but did you notice the scenery you passed along the way? Did you talk to any of the other people along your path? Did you enjoy the ride?

No, probably not. You were so caught up in getting there, in the details of navigating, in the stress of driving, that you didn’t have time to notice your surroundings, the people nearby, or the wonderful journey. This is how we are in life.  Keep reading . . .

55 Ways to Take Care of Yourself When You're Busy Busy Busy

Say no to anything that is not important to you

Laundry, phone calls with your mom, demanding girlfriends – this is not the time to be nice and “responsible”. Give yourself the permission to focus on what’s important. Getting the unessential responsibilites off your schedule will not only create som extra time and space, it will also lighten the burden you’re feeling to keep up with it all.

Ask for help

There’s nothing wrong with asking for help, and you’ll quickly learn that most people around you actually love to be asked! It makes them feel useful and important. What usually helps the most is to get help to do the normal things; cooking, shopping and regular every-day tasks. However, don’t underestimate how important the people in your life can be when it comes to feedback, motivation and supporting your self-confidence regarding the important work you’re doing.

Get enough sleep

An oldie, but a goodie. This old advice is not only essential when it comes to self-care, it is also absolutely essential when it comes to being able to do your best. Particularly important when it comes to exam periods and work stress, sleep will help you achieve. It’s easy to think that a few extra hours of work will do you more good, but it won’t. Sleep will.

Drink tea

Coffee will only get you that far, before it sends you down into tiredness again. While still being hot and comforting, tea (and especially the herbal kind) won’t make you dehydrated and shaky. If you’re feeling tired and think you need a coffeine boost, go for cold water (or iced tea) instead. Cold water will help wake you up!

Keep Reading . . .