Green Monster

Lately I've been really attached to a blog called Oh She Glows. I'd describe the blog as a healthy lifestyle blog, written by a girl named Angela who has overcome an eating disorder. Angela started the Green Monster Movement, which basically is having a healthy smoothie every morning. A virgin Green Monster consists of 2 cups spinach, 1 cup of any kind of milk, flax, and a banana. I decided to give it a whirl.

This morning I blended up 2 cups spinach, 1 cup light vanilla soy milk, 1 banana, 1/4 cup blueberries, and some ice. It's not the tastiest thing in the world, but it's definitely drinkable. I also noticed that I had a ton of energy this morning when I went to work at 8:30 AM (ugh).

Angela writes about her experience with the benefits of the green monster: "I have noticed a HUGE increase in my energy, along with a decrease in cravings for sweets. My skin has also become more clear and my hair and nails started growing like weeds!"

I definitely forsee myself experimenting with different green monster recipes. I'm not the hugest breakfast fan so a green monster is something light, healthy, and portable that I think I can handle. It's a great way to sneak in some veggies in the morning, since I think this is kind of hard to do.

Fat Talk

This is for the ladies:

Government Intervention in Escalating Obesity Rates

I had posted previously on labeling laws, or calorie posting laws here and here, but there are other forms of government intervention in escalating obesity rates taking place at this time. If you're willing to make the jump, I blogged on the Pitt News about the topic, and that can be found here. It's one of my more opinionated pieces, just to warn you. The post includes PA Congressman Jason Altmire's response to my question on government action against our state's current ranking in prevelence to obesity (we rank 36th).

Eating Healthy over the Holidays

If you're willing to make the jump, I posted on my blog at the Pitt News about eating healthy over the holidays.

Have a healthy Thanksgiving everyone!

Popcorn Talk

First of all, I'm watching E's "15 Remarkable Celebrity Body Bouncebacks" and I must say Im finding it really motivating.

Second of all, this blog is now on the Pitt News. The posts aren't exactly the same but the idea and title are. The blogs are found here, sorted by most recent posts.

Finally, the Today Show ran a story last week about the food sin of movie theatre popcorn. I've ran into this article several times throughout the past week, including in a fellow classmates blog. It's pretty much haunting me, so I figured I'd talk about it. According to the article,

New laboratory tests conducted by the non-profit Center for Science in the
Public Interest reveal that a $12 medium-popcorn-and-soda combo sold at Regal,
the country’s largest movie-theater chain, contains 1,610 calories and 60 grams
of saturated fat — the equivalent of three McDonald’s Quarter Pounders with 12 pats of butter.

Why? Air-popped popcorn is normally considered a healthy snack, largely because of the amount of fiber it contains. But the article says "when popped in coconut oil and covered in buttery oil topping, movie popcorn can contain days' worth of saturated fat."

Until movie theatre's start searching purses like they do at football games and concerts, the solution is easy: throw a snack in your bag before the movies. Not only are you going to save money, but you won't be mindlessly eating pretty much an entire days worth of calories while enjoying your movie.

I actually don't even go to the movies that much, because I'm cheap, but I actually went to the movies a few weeks ago to see "The Men Who Stare at Goats." I packed some baby carrots and fun size Kit Kat bars. I also took a banana, but was only planning on pulling it out of my bag and eating it to make my sister laugh, because let's face it, that's a little silly.

Fitness Gaming

I definitely think one of the best ways to ensure I follow a consistent workout schedule is by making sure that my workouts are on the enjoyable side. And since I love videogames so much, the idea of fitness gaming seems to me too good to be true.

I have posted previously on the topic of fitness gaming about Dance Dance Revolution or DDR. I definitely see DDR as a good cardio workout, if you play on at least a standard level.

But Wii Fit is a completely different story.

I admit that I hadn't done much research on Wii Fit before I bought it. I was just kind of on a fitness kick, and I owned a Wii, so I decided it was a good purchase. More than likely it probably wasn't, but a lot more fitness-type Wii games have been coming out lately that are compatible with the Wii Fit balance board, so I don't beat myself up too much over it.

So if I would categorize DDR as a cardio workout, I would categorize Wii Fit as more of a strength or flexibility workout. Wii Fit offers an "aerobic activity" section, but this only features running (which is just running in place with the Wii remote in your hand so I avoid it), a sort of step workout (which I also avoid because the balance board isn't really much of a step), boxing, and hula hoop. I really only ever use the hula hoop option, and I'd consider it more of an ab workout than an aerobic activity.

The strength workout options are decent, but you can only unlock about maybe 15 strength exercises total, and I don't think the balance board ever really properly measures how well you are doing them, even though it is supposed to.

I like the yoga feature on Wii Fit. You don't need to use the balance board for a lot of the yoga positions though, so I probably could have benefitted just from looking at some yoga positions online and saved myself the $80 I spent on the game.

And finally there are the balance games. While these games are fun, I don't really think they even come close to being considered a workout. I guess maybe the idea is that children are at least a little more active playing these types of games than playing other types of videogames.

Other things I like about the game are the scale capabilities of the balance board. It weighs you, asks you to put in your height, and calculates your BMI. Of course, I could do this on a regular scale and a BMI conversion table, and again save myself $80. One final thing I like about the game is that it makes you set goals for yourself, how many pounds you want to lose and how much time you have to lose them. I usually set small goals like 2 pounds in 2 weeks rather than a larger number over a larger period of time. I find this keeps me on track.

Ultimately, I find it nice to have the game, but I think it should coincide with a more intense cardio and weight lifting program.

Tweet What You Eat

Food diaries have been the topic of my previous post, and now it seems easier than ever to keep one, simply by sending a text message or getting on Twitter.

Yesterday I stumbled upon Tweet What You Eat. You use it by sending a direct message of what you ate and the number of calories to TWYE through your Twitter account.

I have been keeping a paper food diary, but I often wait until the end of the day to fill it out. This means I may not remember exactly what I've eaten throughout the day. With TWYE, I can simply text in what I ate right after I put it in my mouth, making my food consumption account more accurate, and also more simple.

I definitely think this is a more useful way to use Twitter. When I first signed up for a Twitter account, I found it pretty pointless. In fact, I still mostly use it to post song lyrics I like. But I think new services like TWYE and Tweet What You Spend make the whole Twittering idea more worthwhile in my mind.