Winter Blues

I live in the mid-west, and in the dead of winter, it is hard to get your hands on local and organic food.  And even though fresh fruits and veggies are still available, the winter blues can hold us down.  In the still of winter, we crave those snacks that will harm us in the long run.  It can be a difficult time of year, and the advice I have is simply to push through.  I know it is a lot easier said than done, but it's what is necessary.

I have struggled with the bad attitudes and habits that come with winter.  It is easier to run downstairs to the vending machine than to walk or drive to your local market to buy healthier foods.  Even trekking to your campus dining area, which may offer a healthy meal or two, seems like a task.  Following are some simple tips that may help with the obstacles we face in the winter.

1. Make a list or goal sheet that reminds you why eating healthy is a priority.  By focusing on your specific goals, you may be inspired to face the cold and snow in order to conquer your cravings.
2. If you do not have a workout buddy, I suggest grabbing one just for the winter months.  Work together to fight the cold and encourage each other to stay on task.  Buddies can be especially helpful in the winter when you find it difficult to muster up the energy to do what is healthy.
3. Take time to curl up in a chair with a cup of tea and your homework.  Get warm and cozy to battle to cold outside.  When you go to get food or head to your workout center, just think of how much better you will feel once you are back in your cozy chair.
4. Don't give up!  There are going to be days when you just cannot leave your dorm room.  Make these days infrequent, and do not let them discourage you.  Everyone needs a break from the icy weather.  Enjoy your days off, but be prepared to get back to work the next day!

By working through the winter blues, you can avoid any regret you may have in spring when you are ready to be active again but find yourself on the sluggish side.  Keep going strong so you are not overwhelmed in the summer months trying to lose the weight you gained while your were couped up all winter!

Oh...

And Happy Valentine's Day to all you other singles out there!  and the couples too!

Hello again

So, it has been forever since I wrote anything.  But I plan on updating weekly now.  Now is the perfect time to start writing again because I need to refresh my diet and lifestyle.  I am getting to the point where I'm working hard at school, helping out for couple newspapers and shopping for internships, but now is the time to focus on my health again.  So I am now starting, once again, to offer tips on how to survive at an organically challenged college.
My school has actually made some improvements recently.  Organic apples have been offered in our dining area, and there is a new organic garden on campus.  I still feel we have miles ahead of us.  I have succumbed to the temptation recently of not eating foods that were the best for me.  My hectic school schedule has also kept me from working out.  But that will no longer be the case.  It is time to take my health seriously again.  So get ready!  It is time to work!

One Lucky Duck

I recently returned to New York City to visit my sister. Every time I go, I not only get to stay in an amazing city, I get to see how many individuals choose to eat. The food in the city is often fresh, and organic options are limitless. There are food opportunities in the city that just aren’t as available in the Mid-West. If everyone was able to try these foods and learn about their benefits, my hope is that they would spread throughout the country.
One of the highlights of my trip was when my sister and I went for some snacks at “One Lucky Duck.” This restaurant serves only raw, organic, vegan food. Don’t let the word raw scare you! This “raw” food is food that is prepared like any other, but the temperature of the food never goes above 118˚ F. No animal products are used, and the food is free of processed ingredients. By preparing the food in such a way, the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes in the food are all preserved. While eating purely raw, organic, vegan food may seem extreme, it is a great way to sustain your health, as well as the environment. And contrary to popular belief, it tastes amazing!

When my sister and I went to “One Lucky Duck,” we tried the fig bar, a raspberry tart, a jolly green Norwalk-pressed juice, and an avocolada shake. All of these were great and had the health benefits I discussed before. Everything tasted wonderful, and it was even better knowing that these were pumped full of nutrients and did not contain artificial ingredients. For a menu with a list of ingredients, follow this link: http://www.oneluckyduck.com/takeaway/.

Another thing we had were wheat grass shots. Neither of us had ever tried one, so it was exciting to see what they were all about. While my sister thought it tasted like mowed grass, I loved it.  While they’re not for everyone, there are numerous health benefits. It is

one of the few foods which contains every nutrient and mineral necessary for nutrition in humans. It helps to prevent and fight infections, helps with skin problems, helps to eliminate body odors, prevents tooth decay, energizes the body, and aids in preventing and fighting cancer. So if you happen to like the taste of wheatgrass shots, the health benefits are limitless.

While a lot of this food is not available everywhere, it is something that everyone should try at some point. Getting back to natural foods will not only help our environment by reducing the amount of wasteful production tactics, but it will also help us to become healthier.

Don't Drink That!

So, we've covered that water is important. But what about all the other beverages out there? What's safe to drink, and what should you never go near? One drink that should definitely be added to your list includes water with lemon juice. Not only is this wonderful for weight loss, it is great for your digestive system, your skin, and your teeth. If weight loss is what you want your focus to be, lemon water is a great snack replacement. For the college student who may have trouble with funding for food, replacing snacks with lemon water could save you some cash in the long run as well.


Another wonderful drink is organic green tea. Personally, I prefer decaf due to the fact that my caffeine tolerance has gone down since high school. But if you need your fix, find coffee shops on your campus that serve tea and coffee, organic if at all possible. If your college is set up like mine, you get meal points for these shops, and can use that to purchase your hot beverages. If you can, get drinks without sugar. Tea and coffee are both non-caloric and both have numerous health benefits. And please, for the love of all that is good, use a reusable mug!

Now, we get to what you should, under no circumstances, even look at: pop. It doesn't matter what you call it. Soda, pop, coke: it should all be eliminated from your diet. I'd like to meet the man who got this product past the FDA so I could congratulate him on this tremendous feat, and then kick him where the sun doesn’t shine. There is absolutely no nutritional benefit to pop. It is pumped full of carbohydrates (the bad kind) and sugar. When you get down to it, when a person drinks a pop, all they're ingesting is chemicals and calories. As young college students, pop is easily accessible. It is easy to fall into the world of sodas during late night cramming sessions. You can stop by our vending machines or run over to our cafeterias. But if you find yourself wanting to save a few bucks here and there, as well as avoiding the intake of poisons into your body, I'd drop the pop habit immediately. If being healthy is important to you, it is important to know that pop is the furthest you can get from any nutritional organic products. Put down the can and run in the opposite direction. It is one of the best things you can do to start feeling healthier.

Homework: Stop drinking pop, soda, coke, whatever! Replace it with some herbal teas and water. Try this for a week, and see how your body feels. If you don't see an improvement, repeat the cycle until you do.

Water

Let’s start with the basics and look into the benefits of drinking plenty of water every day. It seems to be common knowledge that humans need water to live. Eight cups of water a day may seem obvious to most, by why is it important to drink this much this much? The answer to that is simple. Water is used to assist in the flushing out of toxins in our body and prevents dehydration. When a person is dehydrated, they feel faint and can suffer from muscle cramps. Eventually, the lack of water in their bodies prevents blood from getting to necessary organs. Dehydration is obviously something that we would like to avoid.


So we know we need water, but how much attention should be paid to where we get our water? Fortunately, we live in a country where we know clean drinking water is available to us. But is it best to choose water from a bottle or water from the tap? Personally, my vote is for tap water, and I'll tell you why. Apart from the fact that tap water systems are more well-regulated then bottled water, the waste created by plastic bottles makes too much of an impact to ignore. Not only are water bottles filling our land-fills, the production and transportation of them waste fuel and add more toxins to the environment.

As college students, what does this information mean to you? Many college students often find that they are lacking in the finance department. So going out to buy items such as reusable water bottles (Sigg being my brand of choice) and Brita filters may seem like a nuisance. In reality, if students are going out and buying water bottles for convenience, they are wasting a lot of their own money and harming the environment. By purchasing nice water bottles and Brita filters, college students everywhere could reduce waste in numerous ways.

So to wrap up: Water is essential! Drinking water continuously throughout the day prevents dehydration and helps your body get rid of toxins. By buying items such as Brita filters and reusable water bottles for your dorm room, you can start saving money and the environment.

Hello!

Hello and welcome to class! As today is the first day, we won't be talking about much, just a brief introduction to what you should expect from the rest of the school year. As you all probably know, when you come to college, there is a vast smorgasbord of food made available to you. Many see this as a positive thing. If you want pizza for every single meal, it's there. If you want ice cream for breakfast, you might just get your wish. But for those of us who look for more out of what they eat, college cafeterias can be quite unattractive. Mass produced foods that don't even touch the world of organic products have infiltrated and taken over the diet of the college student (as well as every other United States citizen). Hopefully, since you're here, you are one of those individuals who choose to follow a shit free diet. Unfortunately for you, you're at college and your resources are limited. And that's why I'm here. For the rest of the semester, we'll have class a couple times a week. With each class, I will bring information and advice. What exactly is in the "shit" people are eating? How can one eat healthy when healthy food isn't always supplied? Hopefully, by the end of the school year, your questions will be answered.


That's all I have for today! Your homework: stop eating shit!

See you next time...