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Mitzi's Food and Fitness Diary
Tweet Share on Facebook October 22, 2012 CommentI have been a registered dietitian and personal trainer for over 16 years, and the questions I'm most commonly asked are about my diet and workout routine.
In response, I will now be offering you, literally, snapshots of my daily regimen. Once a month, be sure to visit this blog for my Food and Fitness Diary to see exactly how I eat and exercise.
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How to Feature Art in Your Garden
Tweet Share on Facebook October 22, 2012 CommentThink "garden art" and weather vanes, whirligigs, metal cutouts of chickens and sunflowers, and painted rocks may come to mind. These are all cute, of course, and add a wonderful feeling of whimsy and tradition to a garden, especially if children are involved. However, they're not the only way you can let your artistic side shine in a garden. The "off season", when you're not as busy hoeing and growing, is a great time to shift your focus to structural focal points such as art. Here are four elements to get your garden art growing:
Sculptures. There's no reason that beautiful statues need only reside in formal gardens. Why not feature large molded, welded, and cast three-dimensional art in your urban farm, community garden, or corporate garden? This is a great way to showcase local artists, and increase awareness and support of your garden and mission. Creating art with interesting materials repurposed from the waste stream (perhaps even from your corporation's manufacturing facility) is a particularly clever way to highlight your commitment to living lighter on the land. Why not have a contest? You can then host an art opening where you punctuate entry ways, herb spirals, and ends of rows with eye-catching, conversation-starting visual delights.
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Best Foods to Eat During Pregnancy
Tweet Share on Facebook October 19, 2012 CommentProper nutrition during pregnancy can make a big difference: It can build a stronger baby brain and skeleton, prevent birth defects, and set the baby up for a healthier weight later in life. The right diet can also help the mom-to-be prevent pregnancy problems like constipation or hemorrhoids, and help maintain her own store of nutrients, preventing issues like anemia or bone loss.
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Beverage Face-Offs: Which One Is Best?
Tweet Share on Facebook October 18, 2012 CommentWith so many beverage choices on the market today, how does a consumer know which one to reach for? My patients are constantly asking about the virtues of this or that drink over another, so I thought I'd offer you my analysis on favorites:
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Use and Abuse of the Glycemic Index
Tweet Share on Facebook October 18, 2012 CommentThe glycemic index is a very good tool, and its invention redounds to the credit of my friend and colleague, David Jenkins, of the University of Toronto.
That said, the handsaw is also a very good tool; I have no idea who originally invented it, but kudos to him or her.
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Why You Should Eat an Apple (or Two) a Day
Tweet Share on Facebook October 18, 2012 CommentHave you ever wondered where the saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," originated? Likely when an 1866 edition of Notes and Queries magazine published the saying: "Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread."
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A Shame-Free Food Lifestyle
Tweet Share on Facebook October 17, 2012 CommentWe all do it. Maybe it's while we are on vacation, or during the holidays, or even on a random Tuesday. Everyone overindulges on occasion. After all, we are only human and eating can be one of our greatest pleasures. Whether your treat is a scoop of beloved ice cream or a meal from your favorite restaurant, it's really what you do afterwards that matters most.
First and foremost—don't panic! It's unlikely that an unhealthy snack or even a single meal's worth of missteps will translate into excess pounds overnight—you would need to over-consume about 3,500 calories to gain 1 pound of body fat. As long as you are eating sensibly and exercising consistently, then it's OK to consciously indulge once in a while.
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A Daily 40-Minute Junk Food Vaccine
Tweet Share on Facebook October 17, 2012 CommentAre your children worth 40 minutes a day? Because I think in just that time slot you can effectively immunize them against the relentless flood of junk food that regularly threatens their health. And unlike traditional vaccines, this daily 40-minute vaccine has many additional side benefits. It may reduce their future risk-taking behaviors, improve their grades, lower their chances of depression, decrease their likelihoods of developing chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and elevated cholesterol, and amazingly, it might even immunize your future grandchildren as well.
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Examining Your Pediatrician's Feeding Advice
Tweet Share on Facebook October 16, 2012 CommentFew medical specialists are asked to dispense as much nutrition-related advice as pediatricians, whose guidance is often taken as gospel by nervous, first-time parents. Unfortunately, future pediatricians receive no more nutrition training in medical school than their peers heading into other specialties. And most doctors freely admit that such nutrition education rarely accounts for more than one day among their four years of formal study.
It probably shouldn't surprise you then that even your fabulous, competent, and well-meaning pediatrician may be prone to dispensing some feeding advice that isn't accurate, up-to-date, or evidence-based. I've heard my fair share of doozies; among them are these four common kinds of flawed feeding advice that originated from otherwise terrific pediatricians.
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How to Put Winter to Work for Your Garden
Tweet Share on Facebook October 16, 2012 CommentYou may be feeling short-staffed at work, but when it comes to your garden, you have a full and willing team out there that's ready to work for you all winter long. What's more, these workers—leaves, microbes, and cover crops—don't take coffee breaks or spend their working hours surfing the Internet. However, they focus on helping you grow your garden, not your business (unless, like me, gardening is your business).
Here's how and why to put these helpers to work:
• Leaves. Autumn leaves provide a wide variety of benefits to a garden. Trees usually have long roots that draw up many trace minerals from the earth, and these trace minerals become concentrated in the trees' leaves. Putting leaves on your garden adds these necessary trace minerals to your soil as the leaves decay.
