Super Bowl Sunday tends to be one of those days during the year that calories, fat, sugar, and cholesterol don't count--like Thanksgiving and Christmas (and of course Easter and Halloween if you are around children)! For some people, every Sunday during football season is a calories-don't-count day. Funny how that works. Listen folks, I love nachos, cheesy dips, football-shaped cupcakes, hamburgers, and Sam Adams. But in order to truly live healthy, we've gotta make some cuts (and I say 'we' because I need to focus this Sunday too).
Here are some ideas to help cut down the calories you consume on Super Bowl Sunday:
1. Stick with light beer. I know it's not as delicious as your real beers, but it's worth the extra 100 calories PER BEER! Because let's not lie, you will be drinking more than 1 beer on Sunday...a lot more. A Bud Light has 110 calories. Sam Adams Winter Lager has 193 calories per bottle (tap most likely has more) according to My Fitness Pal. The darker the beer, the more calories. Just sayin.
2. Opt for the chicken wings. This also depends on how they are cooked. Stay away from the breaded ones...you might as well just eat the unhealthy foods if you get the breaded ones. The calorie counts for chicken wings are all over the place. It depends on so many factors including how it's cooked, glaze, dipping sauce, breaded vs. not breaded, skin vs. no skin. In general, go for not breaded, no skin, and skip the dipping sauces. Getting rid of those things takes off a ton of calories! Keep in mind: most chicken wings ring in at under 100 calories (per wing), which is better than some alternatives, but still be sure to moderate.
**Check this site out: Nutrition Facts and Analysis. That's where I got some of my calorie counts for the aforementioned foods.
3. Veggies. Almost every Super Bowl party has a veggie platter. Hang out around that one! Fill up on veggies first thing, and then you won't be able to fit as much of the bad stuff in that tummy.
4. Say no to hot dogs and hamburgers. If you have the option, see if your friend will throw a turkey burger or chicken breast on the grill for you. If you are at a bar, most places now have a turkey burger option. Here's another hint for sandwiches--only eat half the bun...the bread is not the tasty part anyway.
5. Chips...are the devil. They are delicious and salty and have fabulous dips right next to them. Try to moderate your intake of these little gremlins. Just try.
6. Sweet potato fries. Do I really have to convince you to do this? They are delicious. They still aren't the greatest option for you because they are cooked in a ton of unnecessary grease, but if you just GOTTA get your french fry fix on, go for the sweet potato ones.
7. Don't eat the sweets. Okay, believe me, I love chocolate and sugar. But Super Bowl Sunday is about the beer and man-food...not the sweets. Save your sweet-attributed calories for V-Day.
8. Eat with water. Even just a sip after every bite or every other bite will help keep you in check.
9. Don't regress to your college years. Chugging contests aren't worth the calories unless you have the metabolism of a baby horse. Savor the beer...you drink less of it that way. And don't play Power Hour to pre-game. Our bodies can't handle that junk anymore.
10. Work out BEFORE the game. Lord knows no one will be working out during or after the game, so why not go before? You'll feel good about yourself...I promise. (Now I HAVE to workout before the game because I just told all of you to do it...ugh!)
Now go have fun football junkies!!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
The Infamous Flu Shot
Influenza. More like Ickuenza. (just laugh...it's more fun to just laugh at it)
So we all know that the Flu sucks...bad. But for some reason, most people have extreme points of view about the flu vaccination--we either swear by it or swear against it. I'm one of those people that swears by it (probably because I studied epidemiology and public health.)
So peeps...let's get real. Why are people so against the flu shot? Okay, I get it, It's a needle. Waaaaaaa (that's a whiny baby sound). Just close your eyes. Don't look at it. Simple. Done. Don't be skeered!
I'd say the most common response I get when I ask someone if they got the flu shot is:
"I don't get the flu shot because I always get the flu anyway,"
or even better, "the flu shot makes me sick."
For the first one, I'm calling a B.S.
First, when was the last time you actually got a flu shot? If you only took the flu shot once in your life and happened to get the flu last year, all I can say is you need better luck. You didn't get one of the strains covered in the vaccination. You most likely and unfortunately got one of the new morphed strains or you just had a really bad cold.
For the second one, false. That's impossible. This is why:
People...people...people. They are giving it out for free now because the epidemic is getting so bad. It's just a little needle. Getting a tiny little prick is worth it if there is even the slightest chance that you will be exposed to one of those strains. Because this is what we, as American adults, do:
We get sick, and we go to work anyway because we "have" to.
We get sick, and we still go out with our friends.
We get sick, and we still shake hands.
We get sick, and we still drink after each other.
We get sick, and we still sneeze so quickly that our arms can't get to our face on time.
Key phrase here: WE GET SICK! It happens. Germs are going to spread no matter what. So why don't we take a few minutes out of 1 day a year and endure a little prick to help control it a little bit?
Please go get the flu shot...
That is all.
This PSA was brought to you by your resident public health professional...Tiny Danster.
So we all know that the Flu sucks...bad. But for some reason, most people have extreme points of view about the flu vaccination--we either swear by it or swear against it. I'm one of those people that swears by it (probably because I studied epidemiology and public health.)
So peeps...let's get real. Why are people so against the flu shot? Okay, I get it, It's a needle. Waaaaaaa (that's a whiny baby sound). Just close your eyes. Don't look at it. Simple. Done. Don't be skeered!
I'd say the most common response I get when I ask someone if they got the flu shot is:
"I don't get the flu shot because I always get the flu anyway,"
or even better, "the flu shot makes me sick."
For the first one, I'm calling a B.S.
First, when was the last time you actually got a flu shot? If you only took the flu shot once in your life and happened to get the flu last year, all I can say is you need better luck. You didn't get one of the strains covered in the vaccination. You most likely and unfortunately got one of the new morphed strains or you just had a really bad cold.
For the second one, false. That's impossible. This is why:
- The flu shot is a vaccine that is inactivated, aka dead. murdered. killed. A dead virus is not in it's disease-causing state; and even better, they can't go back to the disease-causing state. Even though the virus is dead, your body recognizes the intruder and stimulates an immune response. The immune response makes it so you can't be infected by a live version of this agent if you are exposed later...because the body is smart...really smart.
- Keep in mind there are different doses of the shot for different categories of people. For more information on that, visit the CDC website. (p.s. I am citing my brain for the above information because that's where it came from.)
- The other type of flu vaccine is the nasal-spray one. Now, this one is the live, attenuated vaccine meaning it is still alive but it is weakened in the lab. This one you snort up through your nose like a little piggy. (p.s. how adorable are mini pigs?) The virus is so weakened that it can't make you sick. But what it does do is stimulate that immune response and antibody production so that you are protected against the normal, strong version of the bug. Another cool thing about this one--it typically can provide lifelong immunity after a few doses. Pretty nifty.
The flu vaccine includes vaccinations for the 3 types of influenza: two type As and 1 type B. But the real problem with the flu vaccine is that the flu virus is really smart--there are so many different strains of each type because the virus mutates. It knows that we keep making these vaccines, and it keeps mutating itself into brand new strains (that's a lie...it doesn't have a brain so it doesn't "know" anything...why I felt the need to explain that? no clue.). When we find a new strain, we can make a vaccine. However, if people continue to not get the flu shot, and still get one of the old strains, that's just 'fluing' the fire (get it? fluing...fueling...okay, so that didn't work. I'm keeping it anyway).
- Side note: This one is reserved for healthy people.
People...people...people. They are giving it out for free now because the epidemic is getting so bad. It's just a little needle. Getting a tiny little prick is worth it if there is even the slightest chance that you will be exposed to one of those strains. Because this is what we, as American adults, do:
We get sick, and we go to work anyway because we "have" to.
We get sick, and we still go out with our friends.
We get sick, and we still shake hands.
We get sick, and we still drink after each other.
We get sick, and we still sneeze so quickly that our arms can't get to our face on time.
Key phrase here: WE GET SICK! It happens. Germs are going to spread no matter what. So why don't we take a few minutes out of 1 day a year and endure a little prick to help control it a little bit?
Please go get the flu shot...
That is all.
This PSA was brought to you by your resident public health professional...Tiny Danster.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
I. CAN. SEE. EVERYTHING.
On December 8, 2011, my life changed forever. I went from waking up virtually blind with the need to immediately put my contacts in to consistently reaching for my glasses every morning unnecessarily. I got Lasik Vision Correction (I'll call it LVC from now on--not sure if this is official. I might have made it up). This whole thing came to mind because I had my first annual follow up this week.
Here's what happened:
1. The doc dilated my eyes:
After he put 2 drops in each eye he said, "I should have only put 1 drop in each eye. Your pupils are already big." My brain thinks, "Fabulous..." Basically, he made me Puss N Boots in human form. Thanks doc.
He told me everything looked perfect, my eyes are healthy, and my vision is 20/20. That shows a little bit of regression from my 20/15 vision post surgery. Whattttt upppppppp! (Listen, I'll brag because I lived for more than 20 years without being able to see. Now I can see, so I shall brag. Deal with it.)
2. There is no two.
Here's why I think everyone, who needs contacts or glasses in order to survive, should get LVC.
I chose to invest in LVC because, well frankly, I was sick of dealing with glasses and contacts. It was impossible for me to see without correction--impossible. (If I knew how to say 'impossible' in other languages, I would right now just to get my point across.) I started wearing contacts when I was 13-years-old because glasses aren't the best accessory when you are a dancer. Stage lights and reflective surfaces are not friends. Plus when you get sweaty, they start to slide all over the place and it's highly annoying. This presented a problem because I couldn't wear glasses while dancing, and my vision was so bad I couldn't see two elephants if they were standing in front of me without glasses.
My only choice: contact lenses. Luckily, contacts worked well for me for the most part. I never experienced dry eyes or other big problems...for the first 10 years. Then all of a sudden it was like my eyes started rejecting the contacts. It got ridiculous. Eye infections, dryness, overall annoyance...just not a healthy situation.
So the little devil on my left shoulder (I say that because my right side is dominant and I'm dominantly an angel :-D...shut up), kept whispering creepily, "lasik surgery...lasik surgery...LASIK SURGERY!" So naturally, I listened to it and did my research. No time like the present, eh? (That "eh" is for my Canadian friends.)
Honestly, my only real debt are my student loans. There's a lot of them. It's disgusting. So I saw this as an excellent opportunity to not only be able to see like a normal human being, but also to build my credit by financing the surgery.
BEST. DECISION. EVER.
The process was so organized and simple for me. TLC explained everything in detail for me and made sure I understood every step. It was a very personal experience, and I never once felt nervous or afraid. They ran all the necessary tests to make sure I was eligible for the surgery (there are some corneal necessities) and scheduled me. Done and done.
2 Negative things (but don't worry, the pros DEFINITELY outweigh these cons):
1. I had to wait in the waiting room for a LONGGGGGGG time on the day of my procedure. Two hours of just sitting there is a little much. But once they got me prepped, it was so quick. They gave me a happy pill, and I just chilled out and started thinking funny thoughts like how I wasn't feeling the happy pill at all when in reality, I TOTALLY was feeling it (don't judge my run-on sentence...it doesn't judge you.)
The actual procedure was only like 10 minutes. Alright people, I'm not gonna lie to you. It feels really weird. They give you these numbing drops before they do all the strange things to your eyeballs (eyeballs is much more fun to say than eyes). A few times, everything goes black, but they warn you first so it's totally fine. Out of the entire procedure, I would say I felt 'pain' for maybe a total of 30 seconds. It was very quick. I don't know exactly what they were doing; and frankly, I don't want to know. The doc warns you right before the painful part starts. The rest of it just feels like pressure or just all around weirdness.
2. The first night kinda sucks. Basically, your eyes are trying to heal themselves from exposure to the laser so it only feels okay when your eyes are closed. Even with the awesome (lies) sunglasses they give you, you just HAVE to close your eyes. There is no other way to explain it. That's why I suggest opting for an afternoon surgery--then you only have a few hours before you have to go to bed. You have to put different eye drops in your eyes for a couple weeks, but the drops feel good so it's not something you forget. You also experience a little bit of trouble at night (like halos around lights), but that goes away in a month or so.
One day after surgery, I could see perfectly.
One week after surgery, my eyes felt normal for the most part.
One month after surgery, the night vision issues went away some.
Three months after surgery, I felt normal.
The best part...drum roll please.............................
Waking up for the first couple of months and reaching for my glasses every morning to realize, I DIDN'T NEED THEM!
So to all of my friends contemplating LVC...DO IT. It was worth every cent. I recommend TLC because they provide a lifetime guarantee with any TLC in the nation. Pretty awesome.
Awesome.
Here's what happened:
1. The doc dilated my eyes:
After he put 2 drops in each eye he said, "I should have only put 1 drop in each eye. Your pupils are already big." My brain thinks, "Fabulous..." Basically, he made me Puss N Boots in human form. Thanks doc.
He told me everything looked perfect, my eyes are healthy, and my vision is 20/20. That shows a little bit of regression from my 20/15 vision post surgery. Whattttt upppppppp! (Listen, I'll brag because I lived for more than 20 years without being able to see. Now I can see, so I shall brag. Deal with it.)
2. There is no two.
Here's why I think everyone, who needs contacts or glasses in order to survive, should get LVC.
I chose to invest in LVC because, well frankly, I was sick of dealing with glasses and contacts. It was impossible for me to see without correction--impossible. (If I knew how to say 'impossible' in other languages, I would right now just to get my point across.) I started wearing contacts when I was 13-years-old because glasses aren't the best accessory when you are a dancer. Stage lights and reflective surfaces are not friends. Plus when you get sweaty, they start to slide all over the place and it's highly annoying. This presented a problem because I couldn't wear glasses while dancing, and my vision was so bad I couldn't see two elephants if they were standing in front of me without glasses.
My only choice: contact lenses. Luckily, contacts worked well for me for the most part. I never experienced dry eyes or other big problems...for the first 10 years. Then all of a sudden it was like my eyes started rejecting the contacts. It got ridiculous. Eye infections, dryness, overall annoyance...just not a healthy situation.
So the little devil on my left shoulder (I say that because my right side is dominant and I'm dominantly an angel :-D...shut up), kept whispering creepily, "lasik surgery...lasik surgery...LASIK SURGERY!" So naturally, I listened to it and did my research. No time like the present, eh? (That "eh" is for my Canadian friends.)
Honestly, my only real debt are my student loans. There's a lot of them. It's disgusting. So I saw this as an excellent opportunity to not only be able to see like a normal human being, but also to build my credit by financing the surgery.
BEST. DECISION. EVER.
The process was so organized and simple for me. TLC explained everything in detail for me and made sure I understood every step. It was a very personal experience, and I never once felt nervous or afraid. They ran all the necessary tests to make sure I was eligible for the surgery (there are some corneal necessities) and scheduled me. Done and done.
2 Negative things (but don't worry, the pros DEFINITELY outweigh these cons):
1. I had to wait in the waiting room for a LONGGGGGGG time on the day of my procedure. Two hours of just sitting there is a little much. But once they got me prepped, it was so quick. They gave me a happy pill, and I just chilled out and started thinking funny thoughts like how I wasn't feeling the happy pill at all when in reality, I TOTALLY was feeling it (don't judge my run-on sentence...it doesn't judge you.)
The actual procedure was only like 10 minutes. Alright people, I'm not gonna lie to you. It feels really weird. They give you these numbing drops before they do all the strange things to your eyeballs (eyeballs is much more fun to say than eyes). A few times, everything goes black, but they warn you first so it's totally fine. Out of the entire procedure, I would say I felt 'pain' for maybe a total of 30 seconds. It was very quick. I don't know exactly what they were doing; and frankly, I don't want to know. The doc warns you right before the painful part starts. The rest of it just feels like pressure or just all around weirdness.
2. The first night kinda sucks. Basically, your eyes are trying to heal themselves from exposure to the laser so it only feels okay when your eyes are closed. Even with the awesome (lies) sunglasses they give you, you just HAVE to close your eyes. There is no other way to explain it. That's why I suggest opting for an afternoon surgery--then you only have a few hours before you have to go to bed. You have to put different eye drops in your eyes for a couple weeks, but the drops feel good so it's not something you forget. You also experience a little bit of trouble at night (like halos around lights), but that goes away in a month or so.
One day after surgery, I could see perfectly.
One week after surgery, my eyes felt normal for the most part.
One month after surgery, the night vision issues went away some.
Three months after surgery, I felt normal.
The best part...drum roll please.............................
Waking up for the first couple of months and reaching for my glasses every morning to realize, I DIDN'T NEED THEM!
So to all of my friends contemplating LVC...DO IT. It was worth every cent. I recommend TLC because they provide a lifetime guarantee with any TLC in the nation. Pretty awesome.
Awesome.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Stress-@#($*@#%&$#
Stress
Life has a way of throwing curve balls that cause stress at the most inconvenient times. Things always gets busier when it's already busy leading to even more stress. Well played, life. Well played. I've always been a worry-wart (according to Urban Dictionary, a worry wart is 'Someone who is always worrying about everything, whether it is a big deal or unimportant.')--mainly when it comes to people I love. It has taken a lot of work to not worry about things outside of my control.
As many of my Facebook friends know, my family has had a pretty rough string of events over the last 3 or 4 months. Things have been really tough, and the large distance makes things that much more difficult. I'm a helper, a fixer, a nurturer...fulfilling those instinctual tendencies are nearly impossible from a distance. I know many of you are the same way!
This blog isn't going to focus on details of recent events in my family. It's about different things that can cause stress and ways to deal with that stress in a healthy manner.
To start, let's list some common stressors:
1. School - icky
2. Upcoming test - ickier
3. Work - grrrr
4. Upcoming deadline - grrrrer
5. Untrained pet - ugh
6. Parents - ugh again
7. Children - don't know about this one cause my niece is pretty fantastic
8. Bills - whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy me?????
9. Making rent - vomit
10. Injury - ummm ow
11. Sports - ...run the world
12. Relationships - need i say more?
13. Car maintenance - hatred
14. Accident - more hatred
15. Lack of sleep - monster-inducing
16. Sad news - tears
17. Natural disaster - more tears
18. National tragedy - even more tears
19. Illness of a family member, close friend, or pet - insane worry
20. Death of a family member, close friend, or pet - insane sadness
Now, of course, there are a ton more things that can cause stress in a person's life. These are just things that we all have encountered or will encounter at some point in our lives.
If one of these things happens, what do we do?
Well first, we need to realize that the feeling of stress is instinct. The body is designed to have these feelings to compensate for physical reactions to stressors. This instinct is excellent in emergencies. One example of a stress response comes from the Sympathetic Nervous System--Fight or Flight. If something happens, our body experiences different physical reactions like increased heart rate, pupil dilation, blood vessel constriction. However, if we are exposed to extended periods of stress, the effects can be potentially damaging. This is why we all need to have little figurative grenades to fight back with.
One website I found called Family Doctor has a great list of ways to compensate for stress. Here are my favorites
Until next time...Don't worry. Be Happy. Doooooooo do do do do do do do do do do do. Don't worry be happy now.
Okay...I'll shut up.
Life has a way of throwing curve balls that cause stress at the most inconvenient times. Things always gets busier when it's already busy leading to even more stress. Well played, life. Well played. I've always been a worry-wart (according to Urban Dictionary, a worry wart is 'Someone who is always worrying about everything, whether it is a big deal or unimportant.')--mainly when it comes to people I love. It has taken a lot of work to not worry about things outside of my control.
As many of my Facebook friends know, my family has had a pretty rough string of events over the last 3 or 4 months. Things have been really tough, and the large distance makes things that much more difficult. I'm a helper, a fixer, a nurturer...fulfilling those instinctual tendencies are nearly impossible from a distance. I know many of you are the same way!
This blog isn't going to focus on details of recent events in my family. It's about different things that can cause stress and ways to deal with that stress in a healthy manner.
To start, let's list some common stressors:
1. School - icky
2. Upcoming test - ickier
3. Work - grrrr
4. Upcoming deadline - grrrrer
5. Untrained pet - ugh
6. Parents - ugh again
7. Children - don't know about this one cause my niece is pretty fantastic
8. Bills - whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy me?????
9. Making rent - vomit
10. Injury - ummm ow
11. Sports - ...run the world
12. Relationships - need i say more?
13. Car maintenance - hatred
14. Accident - more hatred
15. Lack of sleep - monster-inducing
16. Sad news - tears
17. Natural disaster - more tears
18. National tragedy - even more tears
19. Illness of a family member, close friend, or pet - insane worry
20. Death of a family member, close friend, or pet - insane sadness
Now, of course, there are a ton more things that can cause stress in a person's life. These are just things that we all have encountered or will encounter at some point in our lives.
If one of these things happens, what do we do?
Well first, we need to realize that the feeling of stress is instinct. The body is designed to have these feelings to compensate for physical reactions to stressors. This instinct is excellent in emergencies. One example of a stress response comes from the Sympathetic Nervous System--Fight or Flight. If something happens, our body experiences different physical reactions like increased heart rate, pupil dilation, blood vessel constriction. However, if we are exposed to extended periods of stress, the effects can be potentially damaging. This is why we all need to have little figurative grenades to fight back with.
One website I found called Family Doctor has a great list of ways to compensate for stress. Here are my favorites
- Don't worry about things you can't control. The weather makes up its own mind.
- Solve the little problems and gain control.
- See change as a "positive challenge".
- Talk and confide in someone you trust
- Set realistic goals. Avoid overscheduling.
- Exercise regularly.
- Eat healthy and get enough sleep.
- Do/find a non-stressful hobby. Mine is dancing...
Until next time...Don't worry. Be Happy. Doooooooo do do do do do do do do do do do. Don't worry be happy now.
Okay...I'll shut up.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Challenge accepted
2013 is here.
Congratulations everyone--you survived the Mayan apocalypse and NYE and now you actually have to follow through with whatever resolution you decided on. I'm proud of you for picking something, rational or irrational.
I've talked about resolutions a lot lately because this is the best time of year to get the majority of people to actually make healthy changes. If you didn't wait until the new year to start your healthy change: yay!! good for you!! You must have read my blog a couple of weeks ago. If you did wait for the new year and still haven't started: ...ummmm...your late. Get on it. If you waited and have started: excellente!
Now let's talk about sustaining it.
I was going to write about some ways to sustain resolutions this week and then found another article that was basically saying almost exactly what I was going to say (maybe this place should hire me to be a blog writer...). Of course, it's Livestrong...come on guys, you know me well enough to know that's my first stop usually.
So take a gander at this Livestrong article. It gives you great ideas on how to make your resolution not only work, but last.
Challenge accepted?
Good.
Go.
Congratulations everyone--you survived the Mayan apocalypse and NYE and now you actually have to follow through with whatever resolution you decided on. I'm proud of you for picking something, rational or irrational.
I've talked about resolutions a lot lately because this is the best time of year to get the majority of people to actually make healthy changes. If you didn't wait until the new year to start your healthy change: yay!! good for you!! You must have read my blog a couple of weeks ago. If you did wait for the new year and still haven't started: ...ummmm...your late. Get on it. If you waited and have started: excellente!
Now let's talk about sustaining it.
I was going to write about some ways to sustain resolutions this week and then found another article that was basically saying almost exactly what I was going to say (maybe this place should hire me to be a blog writer...). Of course, it's Livestrong...come on guys, you know me well enough to know that's my first stop usually.
So take a gander at this Livestrong article. It gives you great ideas on how to make your resolution not only work, but last.
Challenge accepted?
Good.
Go.
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