Drink More Water- New Years Resolution Series

Through my Community Nutrition internship this past fall semester, I have seen a variety of nutrition presentations directed towards adults and the aging. I gave a presentation on high blood pressure, talked about food safety, worked a health fair table about MyPlate, taught proper portion sizes, and choosing better beverages. The presentation I enjoyed the most and thought the audience got the most out of was, Water-The Better Beverage Choice. After reflecting on my semester and presentations I have given, I thought that this was one of the most important topics I talked about.

Soda and sweetened drinks are everywhere. They are in the check-out line at Wegmans, sitting in the aisle at Home Depot, and at children's eye level in gas stations and rest stops. They are sweet, fruity, fizzy, and oh so addicting. BUT, soda and sweetened beverages are the common downfall of people's diets and healthy habits. I'm not saying that you need to cut out soda and sweetened beverages from your diet completely. I am asking that, maybe, you switch a few of your sodas or sweet teas to water. Better yet, let's make it fruit infused water.

It is proven that the human body cannot go more than 3 days without water, and it is true that we do get some of our water from foods we eat, as well as other beverages like milk, tea and coffee. But that doesn't mean that we are getting enough of it! The human body needs about 30mL/kg of body weight daily. Here's how to figure out how much you need-

Take your weight and divide it by 2.2 to find out your weight in kilograms
135/2.2=61.36 kg

Take your weight in kilograms and multiply it by 30 to get the ammount of mililiters you need
61.36 x 30= 1840 mL

Then divide that number by 240 (which the is amount of mL in a cup)
1840/240=7.67c

So, if you weigh 135 pounds, you need 7  2/3 cups of water each day to ensure that you are hydrated!

If you want to drink something more flavorful without sacraficing up tons of empty calories, cut up some of your favorite fruits and put them into your water! There are water bottles at stores like Target and Walmart that have special compartments in them to diffuse the fruit flavor into your water. The best part about this is, is that your getting all the antioxidants and vitamins from the fruit!

Here are some of my favorite infused water mix-ins
-cucumber and mint
-watermelon and basil
-strawberries, blueberries and raspberries
-orange, lemon and lime
-cherry and lime

You can use frozen fruit instead of fresh to cut cost, and keep your water cold
Get creative as you like! I've even seen someone out jalapenos and pineapple in their water! This will cut sugar and calories off your diet, and help keep you healthy!

Fuel up to Play 60!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to work with the American Dairy Association North East (ADANE) and Fuel Up to Play 60 to talk to kids on the importance of eating breakfast and fueling and refueling before and after workouts and play time. Friday I helped set up and participate in a event for Fuel Up to Play 60 at the minor league stadium in my hometown. I was able to meet about 50 kids from local, inner-city schools and show them how teaming up with Fuel Up to Play 60 and their peers can help them get and stay healthy, as well as work toward getting some great prizes like going to NFL games or meeting some NFL players. At the event, the kids all got a healthy breakfast consisting of make-your-own yogurt parfaits, granola bars, fruit and milk. Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day, and without it we cannot preform in school or in sports to the best of our abilities.
The kids were all brought to together then for a few introductions and a short talk. First a young farmer talked to the kids about what he does on his family's dairy farm, why he loves farming, and why its an important profession. Then, they had a sports dietitian (my dream job) from Syracuse University come up and talk to the kids about the importance of eating breakfast and was able to demo some smoothies for the kids. She even had some help from Arizona Cardinal's safety, Tyvon Branch. The kids were all so excited to see an NFL player there, and one who really supports Fuel Up to Play 60 and refueling with milk. After the demo, they were sent out onto the field to participate in various stations with different types of physical activity. They played games like a farmers relay and rolled a pair of exercise dice which showed how many reps of a certain exercise must be preformed. After their time at the stations, they were greeted with cartons of chocolate milk for a refuel drink and got to hang out with Tyvon Branch and Oakland Raider's Latavius Murray. The kids were so excited and were asking for pictures and autographs. Before being sent home, they all got a nutritious lunch and left with a smile. Not only was this a day of fun for them, but also a day of learning how to eat right and make healthy decisions all day long.

The following day I was asked to attend and help run a station at the CNY Football Academy with the dietitian from Syracuse University and ADANE. This one day football camp is put on every year and open to kids ages 9-13 in the Central New York area. The camp is a half day program where the kids rotate through a series of stations designed to help them polish their football skills like a running back station, ropes station, and a quarterback station. Along with playing football all morning, they were able to go through a couple stations of basketball as well. The camp is run by Mike Hart, a former NFL player, along with the help of Branch and Murray.
The station I was at was a break station for the kids. We were under a canopy and the kids were able to sit and relax, drink water and take a bit of a break  While they were relaxing, we talked to the kids about breakfast, why it is important, and what constitutes as a healthy breakfast. We had a few examples of a healthy breakfast, unhealthy breakfast and no breakfast. We asked the kids about what they thought about each one, and how they would feel after eating each of the examples. Of course everyone thought that the breakfast that consisted of chips, soda and candy sounded like it would be awesome, but we explained why it wouldn't be the best for them. Sure, that would taste wonderful, and you may get some energy from it, but you'll crash shortly after eating it and not be ready for the rest of the day. The healthy example consisted of cereal, milk, blueberries and walnuts. We stressed to them the great amount of protein and calcium in milk, which helps builds strong muscles and bones. Both of which are very important for growing kids and athletes.
Everyone that came to our station and listened all seemed to be very receptive and responsive to our message. The kids were all so excited to hear that they were getting chocolate milk with lunch too! This was a great opportunity to me to help send out the message to kids and try to instill in them a healthy habit of eating breakfast every day. I got to work with a really great dietitian, which helped to inspire me to stay on my path of becoming a sports dietitian. I look forward to being able to do more events like this in future and continue on my way to being an RD.

Tips for Eating Healthier this Summer

It's officially summer time! School is out for everyone and even the calendar finally says its summer. With summer comes more cookouts, parties, graduation parties and lots and lots of snacking. Snacking can be the downfall of many people's diets or plans to get fit. But no need to worry, I'm here to help! Here are a few tips to help you start or continue eating right in the sunshine and heat.

- Plant a vegetable garden- whether you're in an apartment or a house, you can have homegrown vegetables! Herbs are easy to grow and don't take up much space. You can even grow them inside on a window sill in a little pot. Window boxes are also great for growing things like lettuce or even radishes. And growing tomatoes can be as easy as getting a picking up a tomato kit from your local grocery store or home improvement store

-Buy foods from local farms- When you buy local you not only support your local economy, but you're almost guaranteed that what ever you're buying is just as fresh as if you were growing it at home. I recommend looking up what's in season before you go to the grocery store to buy to make sure you are buying the freshest produce or fruits available.

Now, fruits like blueberries and strawberries are in season where I live.  Try going out and pick strawberries and blueberries at a local fruit stand that offers these options.  It can be much cheaper and a lot of fun to pick them yourself.   One of my favorite memories of growing up is picking strawberries with my family and then making fresh strawberry ice cream.

-Swap out milkshakes with smoothies- A hot day sometimes calls for a refreshing and cool treat to make the heat a little more bearable. Smoothies are an easy and delicious treat to help withstand the heat. Grab a blender, throw in some of the fresh fruit you just picked or grabbed at the store, some ice, and yogurt or milk and blend. Viola! You'll have a cold treat to help you cool off in the summer heat. Protein can be added too to make a great post workout drink. If you aren't able to finish off all the smoothie you made, you can pour it into Popsicle or ice trays and put them in the freezer to have later.

-Skip the chips and dip and try veggies and hummus- Crisp potato chips and dip can taste really, really good, aren't the most nutritious choice for a snack. Instead of bringing chips or crackers and dip to your next cookout, bring a vegetable tray with some homemade or store bought hummus! Vegetables and hummus is a low calorie, highly nutritious snack that won't leave you feeling bloated or guilty like chips and dip will. You'll still get a great crunch, without all the costly calories.

-Drink lots of water- it is no surprise that with increased temperatures comes the increased risk of dehydration and heat illness. To be sure you wont be missing out on any of the summer fun due to feeling tired or sluggish, make sure you're getting 10-12 glasses of water a day. Our bodies are about 70% water, and without an adequate supply, our bodies will not function properly.

Drink Up!

With summer and warm weather approaching soon, well hopefully, hydration becomes even more important for everyone. Don't get me wrong, you need to be hydrated all the time, but particularly in the summer, it gets harder for people to remain hydrated and feeling good. Dehydration cannot only make up feel sluggish or tired, but can also have negative effects on our bodies and its functions.

The Institute of Medicine suggests that women should consume about 91 ounces of water per day, or about 11 8oz glasses per day, and men should be drinking about 125 ounces, or 16 8oz glasses of water per day. Instead of counting all those ounces or glasses, your urine should be pale yellow (we learned this in my life cycle nutrition class). That seems like a lot of water, but you can get some of this water through the foods you eat! Vegetables and fruits are very high in water and are good sources of vitamins and minerals for our diet too. Especially fruits like watermelons and strawberries.

Our bodies are about 70% water, and many of the processes and reactions that happen in the body need water to occur. When we don't get enough water, we may feel dehydrated. This brings along symptoms like headaches, dry mouth, muscle cramps (especially in athletes), nausea and vomiting, heart palpitations, and lightheadedness. This is just the stuff we can feel, here is some of the stuff that happens in our bodies that we cannot always feel or know what is going on-problems with digesting foods, the inability to regulate body temperature, kidney problems, swelling and bloating, problems with blood flow, and constipation. All of these can really hurt someone's body if they do not get enough water. But just by filling up a water bottle and sipping on it, refilling it and repeating, can prevent all of these problem!

If you want to add some flavor to your water, add some crystal light or another flavoring. You still get all the water and its benefits, with a little added taste. So drink up!