Friday, January 28, 2011
My Life's Biggest Project: Don't Worry...Be Happy
My Life's Biggest Project: Don't Worry...Be Happy: "Yesterday I went to work and we were suprisingly slow. Me being a doof I completely didn't think to bring my homework or even my Chelsea Han..."
Don't Worry...Be Happy
Yesterday I went to work and we were suprisingly slow. Me being a doof I completely didn't think to bring my homework or even my Chelsea Handler book that I'm reading for fun. Instead I didn't bring anything but myself so I had lots of time to blow. I did everything I needed to do work wise, but lets just say I had an over abundance of down time. So I Facebooked like a crazy person and read a whole lot of things on the Internet. I don't always love down days like that because I'm one of those people who constantly needs to be on the go, but it was really nice yesterday because my energy levels have been super low this last week. This was sign number one.
After lunch with my friend I walked home from campus and felt some pain at my incision site. Well that sucks I thought so I went to look at it and... (this part may be gross so if you are faint of heart go ahead and skip to the next paragraph) it looked like the Texas chainsaw masacre occured on my floor. I was so pissed off. I cried and not because it hurt super bad, but because I am beyond frusterated. I really thought this time was it. So after I cleaned myself up and my floor I called the doctors office.
They scheduled me an appointment a week from today, but the on call doctor told me that if it continued to bleed heavily that I needed to go to the ER. Well hell this brought up a whole new list of problems so I called my insurance company to see if this was going to cost me an arm and a leg. You know there is a problem with the healthcare system if someone bleeding profusely considers not going to the doctor because of money, but hey I have enough debt because of college and all the previous surgeries so I do everything I can to not add to that.
So at the end of the night I decided to not go to the ER, but I was so upset. I had a lot of things I needed to do, but instead I layed around and cried and felt sorry for myself. Yes even today I still feel justified in being upset and disapointed, but really there was a better way of handeling this mishap. So after feeling sorry for myself I decided that I needed to concentrate on being happy because mental health is essential to physical health. This reminded me of what I saw on Oprah the other day while flipping through the channels. I stopped because I saw that Goldie Hawn and Jenny McCarthy were going to be a part of the show, but a lot of things were very important.
The entire show focused on happiness. It talked about the happiest place to live, the happiest careers, the fact that more money doesn't make us happy and all other kind of things. I'll share some of the facts with you from the show.
1. According to a 2010 Gallup Poll, 57 percent of Americans say they are happy, 40 percent say they are struggling or trying to be happy and 3 percent say they are suffering.
2. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley found that people can be born happy—up to 50 percent of your happiness is genetic. (40 percent can be learned and 10 percent is influenced by life circumstances.)
3. A Harvard University study has shown that spending just 10 minutes each day sitting and breathing—doing absolutely nothing—will increase your happiness.
4. According to a study by Dartmouth College, the more sex you have, the happier you'll be. (This must be were Meredith Grey from my favorite TV drama learned to be such a little slutty slut...lol. Notice in early season's she always has three things: tequilla, her Dartmouth sweatshirt and a one night stand).
5. Research from Dan Buettner's book, Blue Zones, shows that while having a child is stressful, a parent's happiness rises after the child turns 18 years old…and it keeps rising!
6. A Pew Research Center study found that almost 1 in 3 Americans don't know their neighbors. Yet, according to a study by Harvard University, the more neighbors you know, the happier and safer you feel. Plus, if your neighbor is happy, it increases your happiness by 34 percent.
7. Research shows that the happiest people watch the least amount of TV, while the least happy people watch 10 hours or more each day, according to a study by the University of Maryland.
8. Research shows that the more TVs you have in your home, the more TV you tend to watch. For ultimate happiness, watch between half an hour to one hour of TV per day.
9. According to a Gallup Poll, Americans, on average, say they have nine close friends. Experts at the National Institute of Health say you should have at least two close friends for maximum happiness.
10. Travel agents, clergy, special education teachers and firefighters have the happiest jobs in America. And, on average, not one of those jobs pays more than $50,000 per year, according to research by the University of Chicago.
11. Studies show that money can make you happier, but only to a point: According to Princeton University, happiness maxes out once you earn $75,000 per year for a family of four.
12. Research from the University of Colorado at Boulder and Cornell University shows that spending money on a life experience produces longer-lasting happiness than spending money on material things; in fact, the impact of a new material thing only lasts about nine months.
To go with number 12 I think I should tell you that this is not the first time I heard that, but this last summer was. One of my friends said that he was going to start spending money on experiences instead of things because it just made more sense to him. I thought that was one of the most insightful things I had ever heard at that time. Seems like he knew what he was talking about!
I'll keep you all updated on what happens with my post post post op appointment and you all continue to read and be positive. I'll try to do the same thing. Do you have any happy suggestions or things you do that pull you out of a bad day? I'd love to hear your suggestions because I may need them. Don't worry about the little things and try to be happy because happy people are the prettiest people :)
After lunch with my friend I walked home from campus and felt some pain at my incision site. Well that sucks I thought so I went to look at it and... (this part may be gross so if you are faint of heart go ahead and skip to the next paragraph) it looked like the Texas chainsaw masacre occured on my floor. I was so pissed off. I cried and not because it hurt super bad, but because I am beyond frusterated. I really thought this time was it. So after I cleaned myself up and my floor I called the doctors office.
They scheduled me an appointment a week from today, but the on call doctor told me that if it continued to bleed heavily that I needed to go to the ER. Well hell this brought up a whole new list of problems so I called my insurance company to see if this was going to cost me an arm and a leg. You know there is a problem with the healthcare system if someone bleeding profusely considers not going to the doctor because of money, but hey I have enough debt because of college and all the previous surgeries so I do everything I can to not add to that.
So at the end of the night I decided to not go to the ER, but I was so upset. I had a lot of things I needed to do, but instead I layed around and cried and felt sorry for myself. Yes even today I still feel justified in being upset and disapointed, but really there was a better way of handeling this mishap. So after feeling sorry for myself I decided that I needed to concentrate on being happy because mental health is essential to physical health. This reminded me of what I saw on Oprah the other day while flipping through the channels. I stopped because I saw that Goldie Hawn and Jenny McCarthy were going to be a part of the show, but a lot of things were very important.
The entire show focused on happiness. It talked about the happiest place to live, the happiest careers, the fact that more money doesn't make us happy and all other kind of things. I'll share some of the facts with you from the show.
1. According to a 2010 Gallup Poll, 57 percent of Americans say they are happy, 40 percent say they are struggling or trying to be happy and 3 percent say they are suffering.
2. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley found that people can be born happy—up to 50 percent of your happiness is genetic. (40 percent can be learned and 10 percent is influenced by life circumstances.)
3. A Harvard University study has shown that spending just 10 minutes each day sitting and breathing—doing absolutely nothing—will increase your happiness.
4. According to a study by Dartmouth College, the more sex you have, the happier you'll be. (This must be were Meredith Grey from my favorite TV drama learned to be such a little slutty slut...lol. Notice in early season's she always has three things: tequilla, her Dartmouth sweatshirt and a one night stand).
5. Research from Dan Buettner's book, Blue Zones, shows that while having a child is stressful, a parent's happiness rises after the child turns 18 years old…and it keeps rising!
6. A Pew Research Center study found that almost 1 in 3 Americans don't know their neighbors. Yet, according to a study by Harvard University, the more neighbors you know, the happier and safer you feel. Plus, if your neighbor is happy, it increases your happiness by 34 percent.
7. Research shows that the happiest people watch the least amount of TV, while the least happy people watch 10 hours or more each day, according to a study by the University of Maryland.
8. Research shows that the more TVs you have in your home, the more TV you tend to watch. For ultimate happiness, watch between half an hour to one hour of TV per day.
9. According to a Gallup Poll, Americans, on average, say they have nine close friends. Experts at the National Institute of Health say you should have at least two close friends for maximum happiness.
10. Travel agents, clergy, special education teachers and firefighters have the happiest jobs in America. And, on average, not one of those jobs pays more than $50,000 per year, according to research by the University of Chicago.
11. Studies show that money can make you happier, but only to a point: According to Princeton University, happiness maxes out once you earn $75,000 per year for a family of four.
12. Research from the University of Colorado at Boulder and Cornell University shows that spending money on a life experience produces longer-lasting happiness than spending money on material things; in fact, the impact of a new material thing only lasts about nine months.
To go with number 12 I think I should tell you that this is not the first time I heard that, but this last summer was. One of my friends said that he was going to start spending money on experiences instead of things because it just made more sense to him. I thought that was one of the most insightful things I had ever heard at that time. Seems like he knew what he was talking about!
I'll keep you all updated on what happens with my post post post op appointment and you all continue to read and be positive. I'll try to do the same thing. Do you have any happy suggestions or things you do that pull you out of a bad day? I'd love to hear your suggestions because I may need them. Don't worry about the little things and try to be happy because happy people are the prettiest people :)
Thursday, January 27, 2011
My Life's Biggest Project: Most important meal of the day...or is it?
My Life's Biggest Project: Most important meal of the day...or is it?: "This morning I just could not drag my booty out of bed. I was so tired. So I didn't get to have any kind of breakfast, which really isn't th..."
Most important meal of the day...or is it?
This morning I just could not drag my booty out of bed. I was so tired. So I didn't get to have any kind of breakfast, which really isn't that rare of an occurrence for me, but I am going to be in my office until around 1:30 today with a little break before I have to go TA for my intro to mass communication class. I will be starving by then. Trying to plan a little bit I grabbed a cereal bar and ran out the door to catch the bus so that I wouldn't be late to work this morning.
One of the things we always hear is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that if we eat a big ol' breakfast we will be less hungry throughout the day. I personally have not found this to be true. I know that for health reasons we should eat breakfast, but a healthy one, not a hearty one. We do this to jumpstart our metabolism in a good way. However many people think that breakfast is kind of a free for all because you have all day to burn off those calories. Myth? Well let me tell you about what I found.
Once I got to work I started scanning the Web for some health news and on CNN I found an article about breakfast and after my morning fiasco I decided to go ahead and read that article that I am now going to share with you.
A new study has found that a big breakfast will not help you lose weight. The research in this study found that no matter what someone had for breakfast they still seemed to eat the same amount and lunch and dinner. The study followed 280 obese and 100 normal-weight German's and they recorded everything they ate and drank for two weeks. Most of those in the study ate cereal or sausage and bread for breakfast.
"It's common belief when you have a big breakfast, you reduce energy intake during the day," said Dr. Volker Schusdziarra, a researcher from the Else-Kröner-Fresenius Center of Nutritional Medicine in Munich, Germany. "This is not true. Whatever you eat for breakfast doesn't influence lunch and dinner. The breakfast calories are added on top. You end up with more calories at the end of the day."
So the study found that no a big breakfast is not going to keep you from having the munchies later in the day in fact it will just help you pack on a higher caloric intake during the day. In fact Schusdziarra even disputes the wise tale that you need to have breakfast.
"If someone doesn't need breakfast, why should they eat breakfast? If I don't feel hungry, I don't miss anything," said Schusdziarra. "They've already saved some breakfast calories. If you want to have breakfast, eat it. But you can save calories at breakfast. Big breakfast doesn't save calories. This is what people should know."
The one thing that was found in the study was that people who skipped breakfast did tend to snack more in the morning. I just consider that a breakfast substitute. So what have we learned from this. If you are wanting to lose weight, have breakfast or don't. It doesn't really matter, but the important thing to do is to keep track of what you are eating throughout the day. I hope you all have a great morning!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
My Life's Biggest Project: Better For You Comfort Food
My Life's Biggest Project: Better For You Comfort Food: "I am pretty sure that this super cold weather we have gotten has made more than just myself feel like a need for warmth. I call it snuggle w..."
Better For You Comfort Food
I am pretty sure that this super cold weather we have gotten has made more than just myself feel like a need for warmth. I call it snuggle weather, but thanks to my current single status that is not an option...lol. One of the other things that comes to mind this time of year when I'm freezing is wanting comfort food. In the summer when it's hot and I'm sweating like a man I don't normally want something heavy, in fact that is the time of year that I love sandwiches, not sure why, but that is what seems like a summer food to me. In the winter though I tend to want something a little more hearty. Another thing I think about is how ridiculous my utility bill is going to be so I go ahead and stay a little bit more cool because really I can wear a hoodie and have a blankie when I'm sitting on the couch and that's not a problem. You know the poor kid strategy for survival lol.
Just the other day for example, I got home and my hands were freezing because I had forgotten my gloves, well I immediately thought that, that day would be a great soup day. So I go through my cabinets and look around and I didn't have any soup, but I did have some Ramen noodles that my mom left when she was staying with me after my surgery. I got a packet out and struggled with wanting to eat it. The packet is still sitting on my counter because I opted for a grapefruit instead of my sodium packed noodles. But the point is I really wanted something to make me feel warm and the problem with that is that normally these kinds of foods are packed with bad for you stuff. So seeing that this was a problem for me I thought that it might be a problem for others out there so I decided to do some research.
In this I came across a Web site that gave five different options for some of our favorite winter dishes, but in a more healthy way to have them. The article is entitled "5 Winter Dishes Lightened Up" (good title huh!) and it is written by Laurie Saloman and reviewed by Quality Health's Medical Advisory Board. I will fill you in on the secrets of the page.
Eggplant Parmesan- As I've said before I have a weakness for Italian food. The problem with this dish is while yes it is more healthy in the sense that you are having a veggie than overloading on protein you are pulling in some other bad things. Most of the time when you order this at a restaurant it is breaded and fried and doused in fatty cheese and sauce so Saloman writes the following;
"A better solution: Grilled eggplant. Salt eggplant rounds, lightly spray each side with cooking spray, and grill until they're brown and soft on both sides. Layer them with tomato sauce and low-fat mozzarella and bake until bubbling. Add wilted spinach leaves or roasted pepper slices for extra flavor."
Meatloaf- Everyone has there own way of making meatloaf and sometimes it can be better for you than others. I myself am a huge fan of my BFF Eric's, but it probably isn't the best thing in the world for me, but I'm in love with it regardless.
The slimming secret offered in the article is to substitute "lean ground chicken or turkey" instead of the fatty beef that we normally use in meatloaf. Saloman suggests cooking, "diced peppers and onions mixed in with the meat" to provide a little kick and some more flavor. She says that it is even OK to top it with fat-free cheese mixed in with some Salsa to give it a little for of that extra something.
Chicken pot pie- I forget about chicken pot pie most of the time, but whenever I have one I remember that I really do like it. It's just one of those things like Ramen noodles that I have pretty much told myself that I just can't have. Here is a way that you can according to Saloman's article;
"Skip the butter, flour and heavy cream that traditionally give this dish its thickness. Instead, substitute a can of reduced-fat cream of celery soup. Simply mix the soup, frozen vegetables of your choice, and cooked chicken pieces together and put into a pie tin. Top the pie with reduced-fat refrigerated crescent-roll dough and bake for a satisfying winter night's dinner."
French Fries- As Americans we are all so very use to having fries as a side with everything that we eat. Heck they come with every combo meal that is out there. Fries have become the default food and the sad thing about it is that they are so freaking bad for you. If you still want to be able to eat fries and not feel as guilty about it you should definitely read this tip.
"There's no rule that says French fries have to be friend to be good. Slice up some potatoes, lightly salt them, place them on a baking sheet and spray them with cooking oil. The bake them at 450 degrees, turning once, until they're crispy all over. Want a nutritional boost? Substitute butternut squash slices for white potatoes."
I for one can tell you that the squash option is amazing. I actually prefer it to the potato.
New England clam chowder- This is where we get back to what I said about soup earlier. One thing we can't help but think about during chilly weather is soup so it only made sense to me that at some point during this article it would be mentioned. It may be the last on the list, but that doesn't make it any less important of an option than the rest.
"A bowl of this creamy, briny soup packs in boatloads of calories, so lighten it up. Adding extra vegetables and clams gives the soup body, while cutting the heavy cream to half a cup and using reduced -fat milk instead of whole milk slashes fat. Enjoy with whole-grain crackers or bread, " said Saloman.
I hope that some of these things help you and I hope you enjoy them. If you try any out or have any other suggestions for healthier options I would love to try them and even post them in another post later on. Let me know what you got.
Just the other day for example, I got home and my hands were freezing because I had forgotten my gloves, well I immediately thought that, that day would be a great soup day. So I go through my cabinets and look around and I didn't have any soup, but I did have some Ramen noodles that my mom left when she was staying with me after my surgery. I got a packet out and struggled with wanting to eat it. The packet is still sitting on my counter because I opted for a grapefruit instead of my sodium packed noodles. But the point is I really wanted something to make me feel warm and the problem with that is that normally these kinds of foods are packed with bad for you stuff. So seeing that this was a problem for me I thought that it might be a problem for others out there so I decided to do some research.
In this I came across a Web site that gave five different options for some of our favorite winter dishes, but in a more healthy way to have them. The article is entitled "5 Winter Dishes Lightened Up" (good title huh!) and it is written by Laurie Saloman and reviewed by Quality Health's Medical Advisory Board. I will fill you in on the secrets of the page.
Eggplant Parmesan- As I've said before I have a weakness for Italian food. The problem with this dish is while yes it is more healthy in the sense that you are having a veggie than overloading on protein you are pulling in some other bad things. Most of the time when you order this at a restaurant it is breaded and fried and doused in fatty cheese and sauce so Saloman writes the following;
"A better solution: Grilled eggplant. Salt eggplant rounds, lightly spray each side with cooking spray, and grill until they're brown and soft on both sides. Layer them with tomato sauce and low-fat mozzarella and bake until bubbling. Add wilted spinach leaves or roasted pepper slices for extra flavor."
Meatloaf- Everyone has there own way of making meatloaf and sometimes it can be better for you than others. I myself am a huge fan of my BFF Eric's, but it probably isn't the best thing in the world for me, but I'm in love with it regardless.
The slimming secret offered in the article is to substitute "lean ground chicken or turkey" instead of the fatty beef that we normally use in meatloaf. Saloman suggests cooking, "diced peppers and onions mixed in with the meat" to provide a little kick and some more flavor. She says that it is even OK to top it with fat-free cheese mixed in with some Salsa to give it a little for of that extra something.
Chicken pot pie- I forget about chicken pot pie most of the time, but whenever I have one I remember that I really do like it. It's just one of those things like Ramen noodles that I have pretty much told myself that I just can't have. Here is a way that you can according to Saloman's article;
"Skip the butter, flour and heavy cream that traditionally give this dish its thickness. Instead, substitute a can of reduced-fat cream of celery soup. Simply mix the soup, frozen vegetables of your choice, and cooked chicken pieces together and put into a pie tin. Top the pie with reduced-fat refrigerated crescent-roll dough and bake for a satisfying winter night's dinner."
French Fries- As Americans we are all so very use to having fries as a side with everything that we eat. Heck they come with every combo meal that is out there. Fries have become the default food and the sad thing about it is that they are so freaking bad for you. If you still want to be able to eat fries and not feel as guilty about it you should definitely read this tip.
"There's no rule that says French fries have to be friend to be good. Slice up some potatoes, lightly salt them, place them on a baking sheet and spray them with cooking oil. The bake them at 450 degrees, turning once, until they're crispy all over. Want a nutritional boost? Substitute butternut squash slices for white potatoes."
I for one can tell you that the squash option is amazing. I actually prefer it to the potato.
New England clam chowder- This is where we get back to what I said about soup earlier. One thing we can't help but think about during chilly weather is soup so it only made sense to me that at some point during this article it would be mentioned. It may be the last on the list, but that doesn't make it any less important of an option than the rest.
"A bowl of this creamy, briny soup packs in boatloads of calories, so lighten it up. Adding extra vegetables and clams gives the soup body, while cutting the heavy cream to half a cup and using reduced -fat milk instead of whole milk slashes fat. Enjoy with whole-grain crackers or bread, " said Saloman.
I hope that some of these things help you and I hope you enjoy them. If you try any out or have any other suggestions for healthier options I would love to try them and even post them in another post later on. Let me know what you got.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
My Life's Biggest Project: Soda or Pop
My Life's Biggest Project: Soda or Pop: "It doesn't really matter what you call it, it's the same thing. I for one prefer to call my bubbly beverage soda, but I may be the only Okla..."
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