Amy Giaquinto's Health, Fitness and Adventure Blog

Back Pain Preventing Exercises

2010-09-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

Check out my post about how to prevent pregnancy back pain at Abs Exercise Advice.

Eat Safe: Eat Like a Pregnant Woman

2010-08-06T03:32:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about food lately, okay all the time because I'm pregnant and all of this thinking has led me to wonder about something.

When you're pregnant, you're not supposed to eat certain foods because chemicals in these foods are harmful to both you and the unborn child. I've always wondered if these foods aren't safe to eat when you're pregnant, then why the hell are we eating them when we're not pregnant?

Here are some examples of foods you're supposed to avoid while pregnant and why. Perhaps after reading this, you'll think about eliminating these foods from your diet because if they aren't safe to eat while pregnant, then they aren't safe to eat period.

When You're Pregnant, You're Not Supposed to Eat:

Meats containing nitrates and nitrites. Nitrates and nitrites are found in processed lunch meats, pepperoni, bacon and such. Nitrates and nitrites form nitrosamines in the body and nitrosamines are potent carcinogens that love to become stomach cancer. Yuck!

Fish that are known to contain high levels of mercury such as shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish, grouper and certain types of sushi...and tuna, which the FDA says is okay in moderation, but isn't that about the same as saying arsenic is okay as long as you don't eat enough to kill you. Mercury is highly toxic. It can cause a laundry list of illnesses, but most importantly it disrupts the brain and nervous system and toxicity can lead to death. I don't know about you, but that's a good enough reason for me to give up these fishy offenders permanently. Besides, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.

Fish that are high in PCBs, usually fish caught from local streams and lakes that are contaminated with industrial waste or farm raised fish. These fish include bluefish, big mouth and small mouth bass, salmon, pike, trout, and walleye and for safety's sake before you go fishing or buy locally caught fish, you're supposed to check with the Environmental Protection Agency to make sure what you catch is safe to eat. PCBs are potent carcinogens and they can also lead to a long list of other medical conditions. UGH! Check out Ocean's Alert for more info.

Anything but organic, free-range meats, dairy products and produce and eggs that come from "free range" chickens. ("Cage free" and "Free roaming" are not the same as "Free range." Only buy eggs from "free range" chickens.)

Herbicides, pesticides, artificial ripening agents, hormones, antibiotics aren't good for you whether or not you're pregnant. Think cancer, learning disabilities and serious hormone disruptions which can cause everything from fatigue to obesity.

Additionally, non-organic products are lower in vitamins and minerals and heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids so you aren't really getting what you pay for anyway. So, with side-effects like this, let me ask you why aren't you buying organic all the time?

Cost, you say, organic products are expensive. Trust me I know, but think of it this way. Spend a little more now to ensure your health and then you won't have to fork out thousands of dollars later to treat a disease, like cancer, that was caused by the crap food manufacturers put on and in non-organic produce, meat, eggs and dairy products.

Not only that, the more demand there is for organic products, the less expensive these products will get. Also, in some markets finding organic products is very difficult. Again, the more we demand, the more they will supply.

Caffeine because it may increase the risk of miscarriage and it leaches both water calcium from the body. In a non-pregnant person, this makes you much more prone to both dehydration and osteoporosis. Not only that, but caffeine has been linked to heart arrhythmias, anxiety disorders and adrenal exhaustion. If you can't give it up, at least attempt to reduce your intake. Remember, chocolate contains caffeine too.

MSG, also known as autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed protein, whey protein, monopotassium glutamate, vegetable protein extract can cause a laundry list of problems that range from muscle tightness to obesity. For more info, read Discovery Health's "The Dangers of Monosodium Glutamate."

Food additives because many of them are carcinogenic. Think BHA, BHT, aspartame, potassium bromate, anything you can't recognize in the nutrition information.

Certain sunscreens. I know, you don't eat sunscreen, but it's worth mentioning anyway because recent research shows that the active chemicals in most sunscreens cause serious hormone disruptions. Read, "The Chemical Sunscreen Health Disaster," then make the wise decision to choose sunscreens containing zinc such as UV Natural, which is available at Amazon.com.

Although this is not an exhaustive list of what to avoid, it's a place to start and my point is this: whether or nor you are pregnant, you have a choice as to what you put in and on your body. With few exceptions, if something is unsafe for a pregnant woman, then it's also unsafe for a non-pregnant person and is best avoided.

Pregnant? Expecting? Check out my pregnancy blog: The Tender Breast.

Home Birth Versus Hospital Birth: Which Option is Safer?

2010-07-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

For today's post, I thought I'd share my article on Suite101.com. Enjoy!

Home Birth Versus Hospital Birth: Which Option is Safer?

Food for Thought

2010-07-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

Have you ever sat down to eat a pizza and devoured the entire thing, then wondered how you managed to stuff all of that food into your stomach? Well, I have and while I was reading Whole Living magazine the other day when I came across an interesting research study that confirmed my beliefs that certain foods contain appetite suppressing chemicals.

Scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School discovered that, in animal studies, palmitic acid, a fancy word for the most common saturated fat on the planet, causes the brain to ignore appetite-suppressing hormones.

What this means is that when you eat foods containing high amounts of saturated fat, foods like pizza, meat, ice cream, butter, cheese, high fat dairy products, palm oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil, you are a lot more likely to overeat because your brain isn't receiving the hormonal signals that tell you you're full.

This is why it is so important to practice moderation. Don't sit down with an entire pizza, instead allow yourself 1-2 slices then freeze the rest to make it harder to binge later. Don't sit down with the entire jug of ice cream, instead dish yourself out a bowl.

Don't eat more than one serving of red meat at a time. Limit your intake of high fat dairy products. Look for olive or canola oil based margarine spreads (avoid spreads with hydrogenated oils) rather than palm oil and palm kernel oil based spreads.

Another trick is to eat a low-fat salad or have a low-fat bowl of soup 20 minutes before you consume the high-fat food to help kick-start those appetite suppressing hormones.

And that, my friends, is Friday's food for thought.

Bicycle Off Extra Pounds

2010-07-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Bicycling is one of the most energy efficient mode of transportation and, according to a new study published in The Archives of Internal Medicine it is also an excellent fat burning activity.

The study, which you can read about at Rodale.com, shows that daily cycling works miracles in terms of helping people, especially middle aged women lose weight and maintain their current weight. How? Nobody understands the exact mechanisms involved, but my money's on the fact that bicycling simultaneously increases your heart rate and works every muscle in your body.

Think about it.

You use every muscle from your hips down to power each pedal stroke.
You use the core muscles of your back and abs to help you maintain balance.
You use your arms and chest muscles and even your lats and traps to hold onto the handlebars and keep the bicycle steady.
Your neck muscles work to hold the extra weight of your bicycle helmet.
Your face muscles work harder because bicycling often leads to smiles and smiles burn more calories than frowns.
Additionally, your brain works hard because you have to beware of obstacles such as potholes, pedestrians, animals, cars, rocks and trees, etc.

And one more thing, bicycling, in my non-expert opinion gives you a higher endorphin rush than traditional weight loss activities simply because it makes you feel like a kid again. This may also help to burn additional fat.

So hop on your bike and ride, even if it's only around the block. The exercise will do you good.

And when you fall in love with cycling, be sure to check out my Tips for Commuting by Bicycle article at Suite101.com.

P.S. I'm pregnant and fighting the wonderful first trimester fatigue and nausea and I've still managed to ride either my mountain bike (in the city) or my road bike nearly every day this week. I thought I'd share so that it might inspire you to get out and ride. :)

What to Do When 911 Doesn't Work

2010-07-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Last night, Justin and I were awakened by gunshots being fired in our neighborhood. The shots were actually being fired right outside our house. I got up, grabbed the phone and called 911. The line was busy. I hung up and dialed again. Still busy. I dialed at least 5 more times with the same result.

I thought maybe there was a problem with my portable phone, so I headed into the office to use the land line. This was the last place I wanted to be since the shots seemed to be coming from the front of the house and the office is in the front of our house with a nice, big window that's right in line with the phone.

I slid into my chair and kept it as close to the wall as possible and leaned over to dial 911 on the land line. This time, the call just would not connect. I tried again. Same thing. I felt like I was in the middle of my worst nightmare. People outside were shouting, there was gunfire and here I was trying to dial 911 and the call wasn't going through.

What good is 911 if you can't get through? I didn't feel like I had any other option but to keep trying. So try and try I did. Finally, after several minutes, I found success. I told the 911 operator what was happening and she said she'd send the police and that was the end of the call.

By the time the police arrived, everyone involved in the incident had vanished like a bunch of cockroaches running from the exterminator. The police visited our neighbor's house and then left. Apparently, there was nothing suspicious going on any longer so there was no reason to stick around.

Perhaps if I'd been able to get through to 911 when I had first dialed, the police would have gotten my call a few minutes sooner and they may have been able to nail the shooter.

This morning, I found three 9mm shell casings and one 9mm unspent bullet in the street right outside our front door. We called the police and learned another scary fact. Nobody had actually responded to my shots fired call. They had responded to a call about the party going on next door.

The officer who responded this morning was curious that nobody had responded to my call about the shots fired. He hinted that perhaps since calls about the party and my call about the gunshots happened at the same time, my call must have been incorrectly prioritized. I wondered if maybe the dispatcher thought I was simply hearing fireworks and didn't take my call seriously or if the dispatch system screwed up and mis-prioritized my call. I used to work for a company that programmed 911 software. It does occasionally mis-prioritize calls. Who knows?

I was horrified to think that the officers who responded to the party next door last night had no clue that shots had been fired. These officers got lucky. They could have been walking right into a war zone and they wouldn't have ever known it. That's scary!

I just kept thinking had this been a medical emergency or had the gun person been breaking into our house or shooting at us or at some other person, the added minutes it took for me to get connected to 911 could very well have cost Justin and I or someone else his or her life...

Fortunately, we got lucky last night. Nobody was injured or killed (that we or the police are aware of). There wasn't even any visible property damage to any of the houses or cars in the neighborhood. Even so, the incident was extremely terrifying.

I was up most of the night so I had a chance to do a lot of thinking. I can't change how a dispatcher or 911 system prioritizes a 911 call, whether my information gets passed along to officers and whether or not the police will respond, but I can change how much time I waste trying to call for help.

From now on, if Justin and I ever get a busy signal when we call 911 or if the call won't go through on the first try, we will hang up and call the police dispatch line directly. Trust me, in an emergency, the last thing you want to hear is a busy signal or the endless silence that comes when a call won't connect.

So that said, I urge everyone to go and find the phone number to your local police department's dispatch office. Right now! Write it down. Glue it on the phone. Teach your kids how to use it in the event 911 doesn't work because, as we found out last night, 911 sometimes doesn't work.

Having a backup plan in an emergency may very well save your life or the life of someone you know and love.

It's My Trail! I Don't Want to Share

2010-06-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Justin and I went shooting with a couple of friends in the National Forest. We picked a legal shooting location; a safe place off of the trail where we could shoot into the side of a mountain. Nobody could walk in front of us and on the off-chance a bullet should ricochet, it wouldn't hit anyone because of the nature of the landscape. We always practice very safe gun handling techniques and have never had a problem with anyone until this weekend.

It was late in the afternoon and we heard footsteps in the distance, so we stopped shooting, turned on the gun's safety and laid it down with the barrel pointed safely away from anyone. We see this as a common courtesy. It's all part of sharing the forest.

Moments after we heard the footsteps, a middle-aged woman with medium-length stringy brown hair appeared with a couple of younger hikers. We greeted her and as soon as she saw the guns, she started bitching at us about shooting in the forest.

"Stop shooting in my forest! You're destroying the serenity of the forest! You're wrecking my hike! You're ruining my day! Blah! Blah! Blah!"

I got angry and spat out, "Excuse me, but what part of multi-use trail do you not understand? We pay taxes which means we have as much of a right to be here as you do."

Unfortunately, the woman was bitching too loud to hear me. She just kept walking and bitching. A second later, she turned her wrath on a young couple who was hiking with their puppy, who was on a leash. Apparently, this woman didn't just have a grudge against shooters, but she also had one against people with dogs. In her expert opinion, dogs poop on the trail, scare wildlife and cause trail erosion. Oh please!

I wanted to escort this witch to the giant trail head sign that explains the rules and regulations for this part of the National Forest. I wanted to clarify to her what a multi-use trail was and how if she doesn't like the rules, then she'd be better off finding another trail to hike. There are plenty of trails around that are single-use only, for example the hundreds of miles of trails in the nearby Rocky Mountain National Park.

I was so irritated after crossing paths with this woman. It reminded me of Bunchy Spandex Man and the jerk who griped at me for snowshoeing and walking the dog alongside his cross country ski trail. (Never mind that we never touched the pristine cross country ski tracks).

What is with the increasing number of people with entitlement problems?! It is so aggravating that I've spent weeks thinking up a solution. And finally, I think I have one.

Whenever anyone spouts off about owning the trail or the road or the lake or the river or the stream, I think we should turn to them and belt out in our off-key voices:

"This land is your land, this land is my land, this land was made for you and me."

This will either scare the grouch enough to prevent further visits to the area they believe they own or it will force them to reconsider what it means to share. Either way, it's a win-win situation.

Bunchy Spandex Man

2010-06-08T05:39:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, my husband and I did a 45 mile bike ride from Longmont to the Boulder Farmer's Market and back again. It was a fantastic ride. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold. But during the ride, we had an irritating encounter with another bicyclist. We were on the shoulder of highway 36 riding single file and riding as far to the right of the shoulder as possible when we began to climb a big hill.

Suddenly this fifty-something year old asshole bicyclist comes up behind us with his spandex in a bunch and spouts like a two year old, "There goes that workout!"

"Excuse me?" I looked in my mirror and saw that Justin was still right behind me. The jerk had plenty of room to go around us. The shoulder was wide enough for some riders to comfortably ride three-wide, which is irritating, but I'll get to that later. Back to the jerk. I shouted up to him and said, "Hey, don't get pissed off at us because you're not good enough to pass us. There was plenty of room for you to go around. " That got me the finger.

I so wanted to storm the hill and pass him like he was standing still. I knew I could because he, like all posers, wasn't very fast. Unfortunately, that didn't matter because I couldn't pass him anyway thanks to a serious issue I was having with my left knee.

That knee needed to last for another 20 miles and if I knew that I stormed the hill and passed bunchy spandex guy, I'd have a temporary moment of gloating and glory followed by a long, humiliating wait while Justin rode home and grabbed the car to come and pick me up. And then there's the fact that we don't have health insurance right now and can't afford a visit to the doctor or emergency room brought on by pride. Yeah, humbling this guy just wasn't worth it. This time...

What possessed this Lance Armstrong wanna be to be such a jerk? And furthermore, what's the deal with these wanna be elitist bicyclists thinking they own the road? I get so mad at people like this because they intimidate normal, nice people who are just out for a nice bike ride. As a Personal Fitness Trainer, I know a comment like the one he made is enough to make a first time bicyclist think twice about ever biking again and that's not cool.

Bikers like bunchy spandex jerk need to take lessons on riding etiquette from real bicyclists. These real bicyclists are not weekend warriors. They are the athletes who wake up before the butt crack of dawn every single day to whip out a one hundred mile ride before heading home to go on with the rest of their day.

These men and women are humble and polite on the road. They share the shoulder, they wave or nod or say hi when passing another cyclist, when they ride double, they always move over to share the road when other cyclists need to pass, they always ask if a cyclist needs help changing a tire or fixing an issue with his or her bike and finally they ride their own ride with nothing to prove to anyone but themselves.

So, if you ever run into bunchy spandex guy, feel free to pass him, squirt him with your water bottle and inform him that he does not own the road nor the sport of bicycling. Then remind him of a little saying that goes something like this, "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Manual Yard Work Burns Thousands of Calories

2010-06-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't done a blog entry in a while because I've been busy doing yard work and enjoying the gorgeous spring weather. The other day, while I was picking weeds and manually chopping our out of control lilac bushes, I began to think about how much motorized lawn tools rob you out of burning calories and building muscles.

Had Justin and I had electric hedge trimmers, we could have neatened up the lilac bushes in a couple of hours. Instead, it took days of sweat inducing, muscle burning chopping to get the job done.

Had we had a chainsaw, we could have hacked down all of the dead tree limbs in our yard in about three seconds and then chopped them up into firewood within a few minutes. Instead, we sawed and sawed and sawed them all by hand and even after all of this work, we still have three more logs to chop into firewood.

To control the weed problem, we could have bought some deadly herbicide and simply sprayed the yard, but we're not into poisoning the yard and the dog, so we've spent the past few weeks weeding by hand, doing a little at a time, building finger muscle strength, building leg strength by squatting, standing, squatting, standing.

And finally, had we had a rototiller, we could have tilled the soil where we needed to plant grass seed, but we didn't, so we used a shovel to turn the dirt and prepare the soil.

Sure, it takes more time to finish yard work when you do it manually, but it's highly worth the effort. Not only is there a certain level of satisfaction that comes from doing manual yard work, but there's also a certain amount of satisfaction that comes with knowing that you've burned so many excess calories that a serving or two of ice cream isn't going to do you any harm.

Lose Weight and Find Cheap Health Care

2010-05-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

This week I've been busy writing articles for Suite101.com, so I figured I'd post them here and let you read them there. Have fun!

Weight Loss and the USDA's Exercise Recommendations Explained

Medical Tourism: An Alternative to Expensive Medical Care

Cheap and Natural Cold Sore Cure

2010-05-06T08:41:00.001-07:00

I haven't had a cold sore in years and years, but last week, I managed to sprout three of them on the inside of my lower lip. Desperate to get rid of them, I did some homework. There are several over the counter medications for cold sores, but I discovered that they cost more than liquid gold. I asked my dad if he thought they were worth the price and he said he wasn't sure. He'd used Abreva, but that Abreva sometimes didn't help his cold sores go away. It was his experience that with or without Abreva, the sores usually stuck around for about 2 weeks. My thought was if that's the case, what's the point of spending money on medication?

I read an article about placing a warm (wet) black tea bag on the cold sores for 30 minutes to help reduce swelling. So I tried it. At first it was painful, but the pain died down and eventually so did the swelling. This made eating a lot less painful. I knew that tannic acid in black tea is a powerful anti-inflammatory, but I never thought to use it on a cold sore.

The cold sores remained, so I went to work and started talking to one of my coworkers. She said that when she gets cold sores, she packs them full of sea salt and they go away. OUCH! I thought, but at the same time I was tired of these sores making my life miserable. That night I followed my coworker's advice and packed my cold sores with sea salt. It hurt like holy hell for the first couple of minutes, but eventually the burning sensation died down to a tolerable level.

I held the sea salt in my mouth for about 10 minutes or so before I rinsed. The inside of my lip felt like a raisin, but other than that I had survived. The next morning, the cold sores were much better. The salt trick worked so I tried it again. In fact, I repeated it for the next two days and the cold sores vanished and they haven't come back.

Hurray for good old fashioned sea salt and black tea.

Why You Should Pack Your Own Lunch

2010-04-30T05:26:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I was in the lunchroom microwaving my homemade chili and people watching when it dawned on me that making my own lunch had a benefit I'd never thought of before. I mean everyone knows a homemade lunch is significantly healthier and less-expensive than any pre-packaged meal in a box could ever hope to be, but until yesterday I'd never stopped to consider the other downside to those pre-packaged meals: How much trash they create.

I mean, you've got the box they come in, the microwavable dish covered with plastic wrap and some meals have even more garbage in the form of heating aids, plastic utensils and such. Even if any of that material is recyclable, the chances that the workplace will actually recycle it is slim to none, so all of this trash goes into our landfills. That is a lot of trash!

So today when you're eating lunch, I'd like you to consider the real price of eating a pre-packaged, microwave ready meal.

The Supermarket Price--As I mentioned, these meals are much more expensive than something you can create in the kitchen. You could make your lunches and then save the money you'd have spent on pre-packaged lunches and go on a pretty awesome vacation at the end of the year.
The Environmental Price--These meals create a huge amount of waste.
The Health Price--These meals aren't good for you (no matter what the box says), so you wind up spending more at the doctor's office to treat illnesses and diseases that are perpetuated by an unhealthy diet. Processed foods take a toll on your health. Look at the ingredient list, it's longer than War and Peace and full of ingredients with scary names that you can't even pronounce. Look at the amount of sodium and sugar in these meals. Can you say diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, obesity, irritable bowel syndrome, mood disorders, and cancer?
The Caloric Price-- These meals are high in calories and fat. I call them fat attracters because they love to encourage your body's fat cells to expand, expand, expand.
The Hunger Toll-- Pre-packaged meals are often full of empty calories that will make your insulin levels spike. An hour after consumption, you'll crash and will feel like crap. Because your insulin levels are so low, you will feel hungry and will now have to consume more food, more calories to solve the problem! This gets expensive!
The Emotional Price--By not preparing your own food, you miss out on the sense of accomplishment that a homemade meal gives you. Also, you know these meals aren't good for you, so somewhere deep down inside you feel a tiny bit guilt about eating them.
The Taste Price--No prepackaged meal is going to taste as good as what you make at home.

The moral of the story is to consider making your own lunch. It really doesn't take more than 5 minutes. If you're short on time in the morning, then make your lunch the night before. If you're short of time the night before, get up a couple minutes early and make your lunch in the morning.

Quick, easy, nutritious and filling lunches are as simple as taking two seconds to scoop some of the leftovers from dinner in a container.

Quick, Nutritious Lunch Suggestions:

On the weekends, throw something together in the crockpot. When it's done, put it into individual serving size containers. Freeze all but two containers (one for Monday and one for Tuesday). This way you and your family can grab and go for a week or two.
Make a sandwich.
Toss some salad into a bowl with some garbanzo beans.
Pour the low-sodium broth of your choice into a bowl with some frozen mixed veggies. Voila, soup.
Beans and rice. It can't get much easier than this.

Happy lunching!

Stay Young, Take Care of Your Teeth

2010-04-23T06:05:00.001-07:00

I was driving to work the other day when NPR did a fascinating report on what happens to our faces as we get older. You know the signs, bags under the eyes, sagging cheeks, disappearing chins...

Plastic surgeons have been addressing these issues for years. They used to believe the sagginess was a result of the loss of soft tissue, the loss of the baby fat gives the face it's round and cherubic look. But apparently there was an entire new dimension to aging that's been missed for years.

Apparently, plastic surgeons were wrong. David Hunt, a physical anthropologist from the Smithsonian Institute's National History Museum discovered that sagging skin wasn't the only cause of facial aging. He discovered our skulls actually lose bone as we age.

Our eye sockets get larger and we lose bone in our cheekbones and our jaws. This is why the traditional pull the skin tight type of plastic surgery doesn't work on everybody. It's also why a lot of plastic surgeons tend to use cheek and chin implants. Fascinating.

What's really cool is that people who have all of their teeth, lose jaw bone mass slower than people who've lost their teeth. The reason is that when you lose your teeth, the body absorbs the unused sockets, which is why so many toothless old people look slack-jawed.

If you're interested, read the original article by Deborah Franklin, As Our Skin Sags with Age, so do Our Bones.

And when you've finished, be sure to check out my Suite101.com articles.

Food, Inc. and the Genetic Manipulation of Our Food

2010-04-18T16:07:00.001-07:00

Friday night, Justin and I watched the documentary film, Food, Inc. It is an interesting, eye-opening and frightening documentary about the world of modern farming and the corporatization of our food supply. The film explores:

Industrial chicken, beef and pork farming and how current practices are increasing the risk of exposure to e-coli and salmonella.
Why genetically modified foods are not required to carry a GMO label.
How seeds are being genetically modified, then patented.
How and why farmers who prefer traditional methods of farming are losing their farms.
The future of our food supply.
How it's a very realistic possibility that in the future, all seeds used for crops will be controlled by corporations and genetically modified in some way.

Perhaps what was so scary about the film is that it's a few decades too late. GMO crops are making a lot of people a lot of money and once that happens, there's no going back. There's a saying that goes something like this.

"When they came for the Jews, I did nothing. When they came for the blacks, I did nothing. When they came for the Hispanics, I did nothing. When they came for the Asians, I did nothing. Then when they came for me, nobody was left."

I fear that this is going to be the case with our food supply. It's possible and probable that in our lifetimes, no naturally produced foods will exist. Our only choices will be to eat GMO foods because there will be no alternatives, no non GMO seeds or animals left. Then what? Do we have a new branch of science that focuses on genetically modifying humans so they are resistant to the diseases and illnesses GMO foods create? Sounds like science fiction, but how many sci-fi novels and TV shows have accurately predicted our future?

After the film, we looked at our container of Silk soymilk. It used to advertise "no GMO ingredients." That label is now gone, perhaps since 80% or 90%, I can't remember the exact number, of all U.S. soybeans have been genetically modified. Scary.

Then at the grocery store, we found a container of soymilk that advertised being made from GMO free soybeans. Cool or maybe not. I trust labels about as much as I trust salespeople, so I thought about this one for a moment and wondered.

Since advertising is what it is and the FDA doesn't require GMO labeling, then wouldn't it be legal for a company to genetically modify seeds and then claim that the actual finished product, the soybeans, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. was not genetically modified?

And worse, GMO foods haven't been on the market for that long so there have been no long-term studies on their safety. There have been some short-term studies which have had some pretty freaky results.

All of it makes me wonder if this is why so many kids are getting sick so often, why so many more people are getting cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, inflammatory conditions and are having issues with food allergies and intolerance. I mean seriously, before the mid 1990s who'd heard of gluten intolerance? Now the grocery stores have a special gluten-free section. Could this be from pesticides, herbicides or the genetic manipulation of our food? Could it be that our bodies can't recognize what we're eating anymore because it's not natural? Just a little food for thought.

World Slow Day

2010-03-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

I was reading the Italian newspaper yesterday and came across a cool article about World Slow Day. World Slow Day was celebrated on March 15th (as Americans we had no clue) and designed to "promote the values of living and working at a more natural pace." Basically, it was a day for people to slow down and appreciate life. Personally, I think we should have World Slow Day at least a couple times a week. Imagine what it could do for our physical and mental health!

As Ferris Bueller once said in the John Hughes film, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

So take a few minutes, relax and check out the short article about World Slow Day at "Life in Italy."

"Bigger, Stronger, Faster" The Movie

2010-03-23T08:34:00.000-07:00

For anyone who has ever wanted to be bigger, stronger and faster, I highly recommend the documentary film, "Bigger, Stronger, Faster, The Side Effect of Being American" written and directed by Chris Bell.

Chris, the narrator, begins the film by explaining that he was a typical porky kid living a typical life with his two equally nerdy brothers. This was until the three began to watch WWF giants like Hulk Hogan wrestle one another and became disciples of films like "Conan" and "Rocky" which glamorized the oily, rippling muscles of Schwarzenegger and Stallone. The three brothers set out to achieve the Stallone-esque physique and to be the biggest, strongest guys around without using steroids. Chris even comments how his heroes always said they achieved results with hard work, not drugs.

Fast forward a few years to when the brothers discovered that their heroes were liars. Everyone was juicing up from Stallone and Schwarzenneger to Olympic athletes and baseball players. It seemed to be an accepted prerequisite to compete at an elite level.

It is at this point that Chris, whose two brothers regularly use steroids, begins to explore steroid usage in the U.S. The pros, the cons, the evidence about the safety of steroid use versus the dangers. He explores the health and fitness supplement business as well and the myths we've all fallen prey to, such as those weight loss supplement ads with before and after pictures.

Chris also explores the ethical and legal side of the steroid issue and does a pretty good job of presenting both sides. In the end, the film might have leaned more in the direction of if you're an adult, you should be able to make the decision whether or not to use steroids, but still I thought the film was worth watching simply for the facts and the thought provoking manner in which the argument was made.

And for the record, I am an adult who doesn't believe in using steroids, but then again I'm not one who believes in using supplements and/or drugs (including most pharmaceuticals) for anything. The human body is an incredible machine, why mess with it?

Amy's Healthy Blueberry Muffin Recipe

2010-03-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

It's cold and snowy outside, which makes for great cooking weather so I thought I'd share a recipe for my healthy, yet very tasty blueberry muffins.

Amy's Healthy Blueberry Muffin Recipe

1 3/4 Cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 Cup of sugar
2 t Baking Powder
1 T of Ground flaxseeds/flaxmeal mixed with 3T of water (your egg substitute)
1/3 Cup of applesauce
3/4 Cup of milk (soymilk and ricemilk work fine, too)
1/4 t Salt
1 Cup of frozen or fresh blueberries
2T Lemon or orange peel if you're feeling ambitious.
Muffin cup liners

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the ground flaxseeds/flaxmeal and water. Stir and let sit for a few minutes.

Combine dry ingredients.

Combine wet ingredients.

Mix wet and dry ingredients (including the flax mixture). Stir well. There should be a few lumps.

Wait 5 minutes to let the whole wheat flour absorb moisture. If the mix seems too thick, then add a bit more milk.

Line a muffin tin with muffin cup liners. Spoon batter into muffin cup liners until they are about 1/2 full.

Bake for 20 minutes and serve warm. Enjoy!

Procrastination and Workouts

2010-03-07T08:30:00.001-08:00

It was a spectacular winter day here in Colorado, so my husband and I decided to take out the road bikes for a nice road ride. During the process of moving and rearranging our things several times, we seem to have misplaced our bicycle computers. We spent 2 hours searching for them, both of us swearing we thought we knew where they were. Finally, we decided to call off the search. I realized that we could spend all day searching for the computers rather than riding and began to wonder if our search was turning into a strange form of procrastination.

The ride we wanted to do was unfamiliar to us. We had no idea how long it was, how hilly or challenging it would be, how much traffic we'd encounter, how wide the shoulders would be, how much junk we'd find in the road, how polite drivers would be, etc.

So, after about 3 hours of getting ready, searching for the computers, etc. we were off. The ride was wonderful. Cool at first, but warm once we got moving. Spectacular mountain views kept both of us relaxed and awed. The route turned out to be a lot flatter than either of us expected, which was nice considering this was our first road ride in a while. We had a huge shoulder to ride on, so traffic wasn't an issue.

When we got back home, I thought about how we could have missed this ride by staying at home to look for the bicycle computers. That would have been a shame. The moral of the story is procrastination comes in all forms. Learning to recognize it will help you lead a happier, healthier life. In other words, stop procrastinating and get moving!

For those of you interested in our bike route. Here it is. We rode from Longmont, Colorado to Lyons, Colorado and back. Our route was as follows:

West on 17th,
North on Spencer
West onto the bike path that's just across from the park (near 20th)
The bike path goes under Hover. You can either ride the path along Hover or continue west.
We continued west on the path until it ended at Hwy. 66
West on Hwy 66 all the way to Lyons.
Once in Lyons, we turned Lt. on 4th, had lunch in the park, then headed home by going east on 66 and retracing our route.

Total Mileage from Our House According to Google Maps (the directions listed begin a few miles from our house): 24.3

Route Rating: Easy because it's mostly flat. Nice wide shoulders most of the way. 17th does not have a designated bike lane/shoulder, but the road is wide enough for bikes and cars to share the lane and the drivers were polite. There's also a bumpy sidewalk that runs along 17th in case you hate traffic.

How to Survive Winter Camping

2010-02-26T11:48:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for something fun and exciting to do this winter, try winter camping. Don't give me that look, I'm serious. Winter is a great time of year to go camping. It's serene and quiet and offers you sights that you'd never see in summer, like ice cascading off of cliffs at Yosemite National Park. I have some video footage of that on my YouTube channel.

The key to a successful winter camping adventure is to invest in some good gear. You don't have to spend a lot of money, but you'll need the following essentials. These essentials are in addition to what you'd take along for a summer camping trip.

Winter Camping Essentials

A 4-season tent. You can do it in a 3-season tent, but you'll be more comfortable in a 4-season tent, especially if it's windy or rainy/snowy.
Tent footprint or tarp to keep the bottom of the tent dry.
Heavy weight long johns that fit very close to your skin. Loose long johns are worthless. Pack a spare pair.
A pair of comfortable waterproof, insulated boots.
Gaiters
Wool or synthetic wool socks and sock liners. Bring lots of spares.
Wool pants
Snow pants
Non-cotton shirts and sweat shirts
Heavy coat, preferably one that's water resistance and has a hood
Gloves and glove liners, bring spares in case they get wet.
Neck gaiter or Balaklava.
Warm stocking cap.
Sunglasses
Sunscreen (Yes, you can still get a sunburn in the middle of winter!)
Lots of fresh water.
Nalgene bottles
High energy food
Hot tea, hot cocoa and marshmellows
Lighters and Matches and firestarters of some sort.
Whistle
Camp stove
A sleeping bag rated for winter camping, a zero degree or below zero degree bag is great.
Optional: Sleeping bag liner to add more warmth
Thicker sleeping bag pad, although if you don't want to spend the money, use your summer pad, but use a wool blanket folded in two underneath it to stop some of the cold from the ground from permeating through the pad and into your body.
Shovels and I mean real shovels for digging a snow trench to build your tent in and for digging out the car should it get stuck.
Tire chains are a good idea, too.
Wood for a campfire.

Tips to Keep You Warm and Happy

When you build your tent, look for an area that will provide a nice windbreak. Then dig a hole in the snow just slightly larger than your tent. Do this for insulation.

At night, boil water and put that water in the Nalgene bottle. Toss the hot bottle into your sleeping bag for added warmth. This will also give you lukewarm, unfrozen water in the morning.

Don't ever allow yourself to sweat. As soon as you feel hot, shed layers. Moisture is your biggest enemy.

Change your clothes before bed. Moisture accumulates on your clothes during the day, moisture you might not feel, but that will definitely steal body heat.

No matter how cold it is outside, be sure to leave a vent open in the tent to prevent condensation or else you'll end up with frozen sleeping bags, which will then become wet sleeping bags once the sun comes up.

Drink more water than you think you need. Your body loses moisture faster in cold weather and dehydration can speed hypothermia.

Never get into your tent when you're cold. Run some laps, do some jumping jacks, get your heart rate up. That way your body heats up the sleeping bag faster.

And finally, when you try winter camping, be sure to car camp the first few times. Worst case, if you get cold and can't warm up, you can always get in the car and turn on the heat or just drive home.

Follow these tips and enjoy a wonderful winter camping adventure.

The Bridge Exercise

2010-02-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

Can a Pair of Shoes Make You Thin?

2010-02-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd heard just about every weight loss gimmick until the other day when someone special came up to me and said she'd just bought a pair of sneakers that advertised they were specially designed to help people lose weight. Interesting, I thought as my weight loss baloney flag instantly popped up in my mind. However, rather than immediately dismissing the shoes as another weight loss gimmick, I decided to check them out. After all, we do live in a technological age where anything is possible.

The sneakers looked like ordinary sneakers except that they had a thick, convex sole shaped much like the bottom of a rocking chair. I slipped them on and welcomed the thick padding, but found them a bit awkward at first. I felt off-kilter, which is the point, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Along with the shoes came a little informational booklet explaining how the shoes were supposed to work. The rounded soles force the person wearing the shoes to constantly adjust position in order to maintain balance. This works the core muscles, lower leg muscles and "burns more calories" than normal shoes.

I can't help but think back to a study that was published in the American Council on Exercise's Fitness Matters Magazine a couple of years back. The study compared the difference in caloric expenditure while sitting on an exercise ball versus sitting in a chair. Surprisingly, the differences were negligible, so negligible that they didn't make a difference in any of the test subject's ability to lose weight. I believe this will be the case with these shoes, too, although we'll have to wait for a peer-reviewed study to be released before we know for sure.

The bottom line is that no shoe will help you lose weight if your feet don't get out and take those shoes for a walk, run, jog, bike ride, etc...

De-Clutter De-Stress

2010-01-25T08:09:00.001-08:00

Okay, so it has been a while since I've posted anything and I'm sorry. I've been out of town and the day after I returned, my husband and I found a new place to live. In other words, I've been in the process of moving for the last two weeks. UGH!

So, what's moving got to do with health and fitness? A lot. I'm going to tell you a little story about stuff, lots of stuff...

8 years ago, my husband and I moved from Colorado to...Let's just say we didn't have a destination. We were searching for jobs because the job market in Colorado was flushed down the toilet by the tech crash. At the time, we took only what we could fit in our cars and our 6' X 10' cargo trailer. The problem was we still had a lot of stuff that we wanted to keep. An old antique couch, mementos from childhood, old computer equipment, yard care tools, chemicals, toys, wedding gifts, a washer and dryer, a spare bed, etc. Neither of us wanted to get rid of this stuff, so we simply decided to put it all in a storage unit with the intention of coming back out for it once we got settled somewhere.

After 6 and a half weeks of living in our Suburban and traveling the U.S., my husband finally found a good job Pennsylvania. We moved into a 1-bedroom apartment and put the trailer in storage in PA. Yep, we were paying for 2 storage units now. We lived in PA for 3.5 years and accumulated stuff and stored what wouldn't fit in the apartment it our trailer. We'd also send stuff to CO for my parents to put in our storage unit.

After 3.5 years in PA, we decided PA was not the place for us, so we packed up and moved again. We stopped in CO to try and find jobs in CA. It was impossible to find jobs in CA while living in CO, so we decided to hit the road again and move to CA. This time we did not take the trailer, just loaded up the cars and took what we could. This meant we needed to re-purchase a bunch of stuff we had in storage in CO when we got to CA. We took a trip to CO to sell some of our stuff so we could rent a smaller storage unit and save some money. We also shuffled stuff from CO to CA in a U-Haul trailer, then wound up getting rid of a bunch of it, like our bed that was no longer comfortable...

After 3.5 years, two earthquakes and three major fire seasons, we decided CA wasn't for us and moved back to CO. Now here we are in a house once again a few blocks from where we used to live. And here we are again with stuff. Not just stuff, either, stuff from 1 house, three apartments and a storage unit.

In going through boxes and boxes and boxes worth of stuff, my husband and I have repeatedly asked ourselves why we kept most of it? Why did we pay to store it? Neither of us could recall 99% of what we'd stored anyway. I mean, yes, there was that 1% we did recall and we did want to keep, but the rest of it was just sucking our money from our bank accounts. We just kept thinking of how we could have re-purchased everything for the money we'd spent to store it all.

As we were moving and sorting through endless boxes, we decided only to keep those items we truly need and items with true sentimental value. I mean, honestly who needs 6 pitchers and 5 cutting boards or sheets for a bed that no longer exists?

As each box leaves the house, headed for the Longmont Humane Society's donation pile, a weight is lifted off of my chest. I didn't even realize how stressful it was to have junk/clutter/unused items in storage/taking up room in the basement. I felt like I was always trying to find a way to justify having the stuff. I remember when we lived in CO the first time how I would constantly try to use something I'd never ordinarily use just because that something was there taking up space. And speaking of space, it was stressful always trying to find room for all of this junk.

The experience of sorting through our things has been emotionally draining and overwhelming at times, but the end result is extremely fulfilling. Not only do we now know exactly what we have, but we also know exactly where it is. No more wasting time rooting through boxes or digging in the basement or garage trying to find the camp axe or some specific Halloween decoration. Not only that, but we now have an inventory of our stuff that we can give to the insurance company in case something happens.

But I have to say that the best part about getting rid of all of this junk is the sense of peace that comes with living in a house in which every thing is something special, something we have consciously decided to keep.

Try Speed Hiking

2010-01-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

Lose weight and tone up by speed hiking. Speed hiking, you ask? Aren't you always telling us to slow down and enjoy the scenery? Yes, but I believe you can have the best of both worlds if you plan your hikes well. Do one or two speed hikes a week and I guarantee you'll burn a ton of calories and firm up all the muscles in your body. In fact, a lot of professional athletes, such as skiers, snowboarders, bicyclists and runners use speed hiking to supplement their training routines.

Speed hiking works every muscle in your body and best of all it's free. All you need is a good pair of shoes and a trail. The steeper the better.

Warm up, then hike the trail as fast as you can both uphill and downhill. Slow down if you become breathless or if the terrain gets tricky and speed up when the hike becomes easy. It's that simple. Be sure to bring plenty of water and a snack. It's also a good idea to carry a small first aid kit and a whistle with you just in case.

Speed hiking's great, but don't get so carried away with it that you forget to slow down and enjoy the beautiful scenery from time to time.

Preventing Travel Constipation

2010-01-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

Ever notice how constipation always seems to hit while on vacation? Why? You ask. Well, it's most likely a combination of stress, a low fiber diet, lack of exercise, and inadequate water intake. Here are a few ways to prevent constipation while you travel.

Eat a high fiber diet before you begin your travels.
Pack a few high fiber, high water content snacks such as apples, pears, carrots and celery.
Drink lots of water!
Limit the amount of salt, fat and caffeine you consume.
Opt for whole grain breads and cereals rather than enriched cereals and breads.
Eat a serving of flax seed meal daily.
Sprinkle wheat germ on your cereal, oatmeal or toast or blend it into a smoothie.
Chew a couple of papaya tablets (found at most vitamin stores).
Munch on figs or prunes.
Do your best to get some exercise every day. At minimum try to go for a 30 minute walk.
Avoid unbalanced meals such as steak only types of meals that are high in protein and fat, but low in carbs and fiber.
Eat a serving of yogurt daily.
Get a good night's sleep.

Follow these recommendations and your vacation will be much nicer!

Tips for How to Avoid Holiday Weight Gains

2009-12-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my favorite tips for avoiding holiday weight gain:

1. Make sure to always have well balanced meals and snacks readily available so that you can avoid the need for last minute fast food stops or the temptation to binge on junk food. Some quick, easy ideas for meals are homemade soups and stews, sandwiches (watch the fatty dressings), fruits, veggies, salads (watch the amount of dressing you use).

2. Allow yourself one small treat per day and only let yourself eat it AFTER you've eaten a well balanced meal. Small is the key word here.

3. Cut junk food portions in halves or quarters. People tend to make HUGE treats. Enormous cookies piled high with frosting, gargantuan brownies, monstrous cupcakes, etc. Split huge treats into more manageable portion sizes.

4. WORKOUT! WORKOUT! WORKOUT! The first two things to go out the window during the holidays are exercise and a balanced diet. The added bonus to working out is that you don't tend to eat when you exercise.

5. When you eat, start with small portion sizes and avoid going back for seconds.

6. Try to limit the amount of high fat, empty calorie foods you choose.

7. Try to limit your alcohol, soda and eggnog consumption because of the empty calories.

8. If you're going to a party with lots of food, eat a salad or have a bowl of soup before you go so that you're not starving when you get there. It'll reduce how much you eat by about 10%.

9. Check out a new fitness class at a local gym.

10. Make sure to get 8 hours of sleep per night. If you're having trouble falling asleep, try taking a hot bath and reading before bed.

11. Give high calorie, high fat leftovers away because if you don't and they're in the house, you're gonna eat them.

12. Skip the hors d'ouvres.