Healthful Bites

    27 May 2010

    Work It

    Whether you’re on the job or in the classroom, most of us spend about half of our waking hours doing business. We all know that work or school time may interfere with exercising or shopping for nutritious foods, but there are some other ways that punching the time clock may affect your well-being. Read on to discover some innovative ideas to increase productivity and health—even when you’re a working stiff!

    Take a Boogie Break

    “If your boss has time to do it, so do you.” This quote gets to the heart of a fantastic new trend that’s launching in Washington D.C. workplaces: the Instant Recess. At a set time each day, all of the employees at Summit Health Institute for Research and Education (SHIRE) carve out time for a 10 minute hiatus for health. Instead of taking a smoke break, the employees partake in a dance-filled Instant Recess.

    Soon a book will be penned on the topic and the creators of the workplace heart-pumping respite hope that it will spread to religious centers, government offices and even waiting rooms. The 10 minute fun break is one step in a more comprehensive, large-scale National Physical Activity Plan aimed at “engineering” activity back into our daily lives. The Plan’s main goal is to make exercise seem more accessible: you don’t have to rack up 10,000 steps per day or bike 20 miles, just try to move more during your everyday activities (or at least focus on that as a starting point for a more active lifestyle).

    I know that sitting at a desk for extended periods of time sure makes me antsy, so i would totally join in the Instant Recess. But I can see how some may be uncomfortable letting loose in front of co-workers or may feel self-conscious about the mini-sweatfest. 

    If your school or workplace held Instant Recess sessions, would you take part? Do you agree with promoting more activity within normal daily routines or do you think that we should stick to advocating the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines (150 minutes of moderate cardiovascular exercise plus two days of strength training each week)?

     (Image from Save Disney Shows)

    Do you remember this fun show? It was a hit for me circa fifth grade!


    How Hard Can You Work?

    Newsflash: you’re not a computer, so you can’t work like one! We can’t run on full power all day everyday, and a new study proves this with concrete numbers. When the demand for your time is greater than your supply of it, your health may suffer.

    The working habits and health outcomes of 10,000 Brits were tracked since 1985 for this research published in the European Heart Journal. Scientists found that heart disease risk jumps by 60 percent among those who work 10 hours each day compared to those who work seven. So while you’re workin’ hard for the money, your body may be struggling to keep up.

    While those who worked some overtime showed negative effects, those who worked 11 or 12 hours each day (typically competitive, ladder-climbing employees) were the most at risk for heart troubles. These findings implicate that those who plan to work longer hours need more breaks (see above). 

    Another way to ease your mind during a long workday: take a social networking break! Standing up and taking a walk outside may be the best way to ease your mental and physical desk woes. But this WIRED article explains how reading about Lady Gaga’s newest pointy bra—or other tidbits of novel information—may increase your productivity later in the workday. Fascinating!

     (Image from Babble)

    Too many things going on at once, especially for the long term, may harm your health!


    Water cooler conversation starter: this kid’s going up in smoke…Ardi Rizal, a two year old from Indonesia, puffs on about 40 cigarettes each day! As a sad result, little Ardi can barely move by himself. The government has offered to buy his parents a new car if they can get Ardi to break the habit, but Mom claims he is so addicted he screams and hits his head against the wall. His Dad’s response: the kid looks pretty healthy to me! Hmm…

    I think we pretty much all agree that something should be done so that Ardi and other youngsters put down the cigarettes if they have started. But in a situation such as this, who should be responsible? The parents? Cigarette companies? The government at the local/national level?

    21 Jan 2010

    Hit the Willpower Wall?

    Yes WE Can

    Now is the time that many New Year’s resolutions (if you made one) hit a stumbling block. The novelty has worn off, the effort seems to hit home and it seems all-around simpler to revert back to the old ways of doing things. So what’s the solution?

    Hang out with your most self controlled pals, University of Georgia researchers say. A strong will, or the absence of a strong will, can rub off on those around you. Heck, you don’t even have to be near the stubborn person—you just have to think about them. This makes sense: if your significant other wants to order the fried ravioli appetizer at dinner, you’re much more likely to eat some than if you didn’t have the spicy, meaty aroma wafting towards your nose. And if your roommate buys a new yoga DVD, it’s much easier to join her than to travel to the gym; plus you may feel a bit guilty watching her stretch and tone from the comfort of a couch.

    Before this series of studies, scientists knew that negative behaviors spread across populations (smoking, for example), but this has proven that positive conduct can be passed along as quickly as H1N1.

    Do you feel that your pals and family members share their habits with you after spending some time together? Or do you do more of the “rubbing” and influence your peers?

    (Image from Pandavas)

    It’s All About the Frames

    If you’re seeking to boost your motivation on your own, new research published in the Journal of Personality and Psychology says it may be time to mentally reframe your task. First, it’s important to determine whether you are motivated by achievement/excellence or pleasure/happiness. Then, you can tell yourself that the task you need to complete will provide those feelings or sensations for you.

    This means that two people can find the same to-do item drastically different—like how some think of exercise as a chore while others revel in the mood boost sweating gives them.

    Personally, I know that I would much rather win at something, get an “A” or make my parents proud by getting an award than do that same thing for enjoyment. It must be the competitor in me :) But I do find that other tasks, such as working out, I do grab some endorphins and feel more positive about my body. Maybe I’m a bit of both?

    Do you fall into either one of these motivational categories? What do you say to yourself to stay on the healthy living track?

    (Image from 100 Musical Footsteps)


    Water cooler conversation starter:     One woman published in The New York Times thinks that food plays too large of a role in children’s lives…what with the post-game ice cream sandwiches, birthday treat candy bars and classroom donut celebrations. Do you think that society has changed recently to make food a larger player in young lives? And is this only a youth issue, or an issue for society as a whole?

    9 Jan 2010

    You Bet Your Buns!

    Weighty Wager

    Gambling on cards, horses or football…that you’ve heard of. But weight loss? Yes, there are actually several online tools that help you stay accountable to yourself and others by putting money on it.

    Health experts have known for quite some time that sharing your goals with others increases success because of the added accountability and support—so that’s where the “broadcasting your weight loss goals” comes in. And the money? Well, it seems that feeling good and improving health may not be enough of an incentive for some looking to drop a few pounds.

    Workplaces have been incentivizing weight loss for years: the thinking being that a healthier employee reduces absenteeism and insurance costs. Now this idea is available on a personal level.

    Two sites in particular are mentioned in a TIME magazine article about the concept: Healthywage and StickK. A person who wants to lose weight sets a goal for his or herself, picks a “wager,” possibly with a referee moderator to confirm the truthfulness of results, and signs a contract of sorts. Users can invite friends and family members to check in on progress throughout the bet, hopefully increasing success through peer pressure.

    Interestingly, if you miss your goal, the funds that have been anteed up can be surrendered to an “anti-charity” (for example, this might entail a donation to another political party) through some of these programs or they may just take the money to continue the Web site’s mission.

    Do you agree with the concept of making weight loss a “higher stakes” (well at least mentally for some) affair? Would you be interested in betting on yourself to achieve a health goal?

    (Image from Infoniac)



    Slow Your Roll

    Scientists are trying to combat speed eating early in people’s lives, hoping to foster healthy eating behaviors and habits in childhood (which can then last a lifetime). But rather than keeping tabs on the subject’s weight, the researchers measured plate weight. More than one hundred children tracked their eating speeds by eating their meals on a plate which sits on a scale for a study published in the British Medical Journal.

    After one year of eating with the food scale (treatment group) or with a plate on a table (control group), the children with the scales ate at a slower pace and weighed less than their peers. In fact, by the end of the study, the scale eaters ate 11 percent slower than their baseline rates.

    How fast food disappeared from the plate—or how quickly the plate content’s weight diminished—was graphed. A food therapist created an ideal eating speed graph, which was compared with the subjects graph. These images are compared instantaneously and if the subject is eating too quickly, the electronic scale “tells” them so.

    Becoming a more mindful eater helps many people feel fuller with less food or become better at recognizing when they are full so they don’t eat past their full point. After a follow-up, the slower dining results from this experiment seemed to last for at least six months post-scale meals.

    While it’s not practical for all humans, or children, to mount scales in their dinner tables, these findings exhibit the power of being more mindful at meals.

    Do you consider yourself a fast eater? If so, is this problematic or you or does it work out fine?

    (I don’t even want to know how many pounds of hot dogs a speed eater consumes in minutes at the Nathan’s Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest!)

    Water cooler conversation starter: Beautifulpeople.com, a dating Web site, recently kicked off 5,000 members for putting on pounds over the holidays. The site founder said that he didn’t want “fatties roam the site.” Whoa. Who defines what is “beautiful?”