A Healthy Tomorrow

Building Wellness Into The Next Generation

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Change 1 Thing! October Challenge

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“Change 1 Thing” Challenge

Have You Accepted the Challenge?

Take One Year to Develop a Lifetime of Optimal Health!

“Change One Thing” is a 12 step process over one year to help you achieve your health goals.  You simply commit to make one change in your lifestyle every month, so that by the end of the year, you will have completely transformed to a healthy lifestyle. Are you willing to take the challenge?

Your October Challenge (should you choose to accept it):

“I Will Restrict My Media Diet”

How is television (and other media) making us unhealthy?

Advertisements.

  • Several studies looked at food advertising on tv.  One study found that during Saturday morning television aimed at kids, 91% of foods advertised were high in fat, sodium or added sugars and low in nutrients.
  • Another study found that if you eat a diet consisting of the foods advertised during prime time and Saturday mornings, you will eat 25 times the recommended servings of sugar, 20 times the recommended servings of fat, and less than half  the recommended servings of fruits, vegetables and dairy.  The food promoted also contains low quality grains (ie mostly refined, low-fiber grains), and a deficiency of many important minerals and vitamins such as calcium, magnesium and vitamin E.
  • Content: The content of television has changed; it’s now much more fast-paced and flashy. A recent study showed that just 9 minutes of watching fast-paced cartoons resulted in a significantly worse performance on executive functioning tasks (like organization and time-management) compared to the same amount of time watching educational programming or drawing.
  • Time: Five hours of television daily adds up to 35 hours per week, almost equivalent to a full-time job, thereby  monopolizing time that could be used doing more family-friendly and healthy activities
  • Impact on Mental Health: Increased screen time is associated with attentional problems and poorer school performance.
  • Health: TV and video game time compete for physical activity, and therefore contribute to overweight. Studies have found that kids who watch too much television, and get too little physical activity are 3 to 4 times more likely to be overweight than kids who follow the recommended time in front of a screen and being active.

So what should our media diet be?

  • For kids less than 2, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time. Children in this age group learn much more effectively by interacting with a person rather than a screen.
  • For kids older than 2, no more than 2 hours of good-quality programming per day.
  • Adults: No official recommendation, but be the role-model by limiting your own screen time

What can you expect from this one change?

  • Weight loss: by replacing screen time with more physical activity, you will be on your way to achieve a healthy weight
  • Improved mood: Physical activity releases hormones that improve our mood
  • Better school performance and reading ability

Suggestions to make it happen

  • Give your children fun alternatives to screen time
  • Keep children’s bedrooms television free
  • Turn the tv off at bedtime

Don’t forget to continue your:

January habit of drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day (1/2 your weight in ounces of water per day)

February habit of eating 7 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables per day

March habit of replacing refined white foods with whole grains

April habit of exercising for at least 30 minutes 3 times per week

May habit of detoxifying your system daily

June habit of sleeping for 7 to 8 hours each night

July habit of Eating early, eating often and stopping before it’s too late!

August habit of Increasing Omega 3 Fatty Acids in your diet

September habit of sharing a home-cooked meal with my family at least 3 times per week

Change 1 Thing! May Challenge

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“Change One Thing” is a 12 step process over one year to help you achieve your health goals.  You simply commit to make one change in your lifestyle every month, so that by the end of the year, you will have completely transformed to a healthy lifestyle. Are you willing to take the challenge?

Your May Challenge (should you choose to accept it): 

“I Will Start to Detoxify My System Daily” 

Healthy eating concept. Word ‘detox’ from green tea with colorful smoothies and fruits. Top view

We are surrounded by a toxic environment.  Toxins abound in our foods, water, and air in the form of pesticides, heavy metals, air pollutants, harsh cleaning products, etc.  We can’t avoid many of these toxins, and therefore, we need to be proactive in protecting our bodies against the harmful effects of these agents.  Therefore, the following is a plan for you to detoxify your system daily. 

Stop toxin intake! The first thing we must do to detoxify is to stop taking toxins into our systems.  The biggest offenders are cigarette smoke, alcohol and drugs.  But there are other chemicals that we use regularly that are also toxic to our systems.  Sugar, for example, causes inflammation in our bodies.  Excessive caffeine stresses our bodies through elevated blood pressure and heart rate.  Artificial flavors and colors in many snack foods are also inflammatory, and linked to increased frequency of mental health problems, such as anxiety and reduced memory.  So the first step to detoxification is to stop taking in toxins! 

Eat detoxifying foods: Dr. Alan Logan, author of The Brain Diet has rightly said “Your ability to detoxify is only as good as the quality of your diet.”  You need to fill your diet with foods that support the liver and gastrointestinal tracts, which are our body’s main detoxification organs.  For example: 

  • Fiber binds toxic chemicals and removes them from the body through the GI tract.  It also promotes growth of “good bacteria” in the gut.  Therefore, eat fiber rich foods, such as brown rice, barley, beans, fruits and vegetables. 
  • The cruciferous vegetables, which include cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower, support the liver’s detoxification process.  
  • Organic foods are foods grown or raised without use of hormones, pesticides and other harmful chemicals.  I realize these foods are more expensive, but they are worth it in the long-run.  The best foods to eat organically include beef, and fruits and vegetables with thin or edible skins, such as apples, pears, and berries. 

Obtain a healthy weight: Guess where toxins get stored in the body? In fat cells.  In fact, one important reason to avoid eating animal fat is because many toxins that the animal has ingested are stored in the fat.  By losing excess weight, you give your body less opportunity to hang onto toxic chemicals. 

So focus this month on incorporating these strategies to reduce the toxic load in your body. Are you up to the challenge? 

      Don’t forget to continue your: 

January habit of drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day (1/2 your weight in ounces of water per day) 

February habit of eating 7 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables per day 

March habit of replacing refined white foods with whole grains 

April habit of exercising for at least 30 minutes 3 times per week 

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Change 1 Thing! January Challenge

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“Change 1 Thing” Challenge

Have You Accepted the Challenge?

Take One Year to Develop a Lifetime of Optimal Health!

“Change One Thing” is a 12 step process over one year to help you achieve your health goals.  You simply commit to make one change in your lifestyle every month, so that by the end of the year, you will have completely transformed to a healthy lifestyle. 

Why each month?  It takes about 21 days to establish a new habit.  So each month, you will firmly establish one change before starting another.  Are you willing to take the challenge?

Your January Challenge (should you choose to accept it):

“I will drink my optimal amount of water every day”

What is my optimal amount of water?

  • Adults need at least eight 8-ounce cups of water per day. But if you’re overweight, you should add about 8 ounces of water intake for every 25 pounds of excess weight.
  • Children should drink about half their weight in ounces of water.  For example, a 40 pound child should drink about 20 ounces of water daily (about 2 and ½ cups)

What You Can Expect from This One Change:

  • You will have a decrease in the symptoms of dehydration.  Dehydration leads to fatigue, headaches, back aches and joint aches.  As many as 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. 
  • If you have problems with constipation, like 40% of Americans have, this one change will improve your regularity. 
  • You will lose weight.  Why?  The average American drinks 10% of his or her daily caloric intake.  By replacing sweetened beverages with plain water, you will be on your way to losing unwanted pounds.