Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Sweet Tooth

So Halloween is fast approaching and that means lots of candy and lots of sugar!!! One myth about sugar is that it will make you gain weight. Eating sugar won't necessarily make you gain weight but it is a source of empty calories. Sugary foods (such as candy) make people hungrier and crave high calorie foods, which cause weight gain.

Also, sometimes it's hard to figure out how much sugar is in different foods, and it's often difficult to try and imagine a gram so to find out the exact amount of sugar in something, divide the grams of sugar by 4; that will tell you how many teaspoons there are in the food. This will give you a better visual of the amounts of sugar that are in foods. Happy Halloween!

Monday, October 23, 2006

Walking This Fall

Did you know? Walking a mile in 15 minutes burns about 85 calories. This is good news for weight maintenance. Paired with healthy eating, walking can help you achieve energy balance - where the calories you eat are balanced with your daily activity. Do you want to shed a few pounds? Work your way up to 60 minutes of walking a day or add other physical activity. Here are estimates of calories burned by 15 minutes of other common autumn activities:

Vacuuming the house: 60
Bagging autumn leaves: 68
Playing softball: 85
Ice skating: 119
Playing touch football: 136
Rock climbing: 187.
Visit www.caloriesperhour.com to calculate calories burned by your own favorite activities according to your age, height, and weight.

Fun Fall Fact: A seasonal favorite, a pumpkin pie slice has 314 calories and 14 grams of fat - and that’s without the whipped cream!

Monday, October 09, 2006

Substance Abuse Fair

Come check out our Substance Abuse Fair on October 18th & 19th in the Hall of Flags from 10-2pm. There will be lots of info about what to do if you have a substance abuse problems, educational material about how to detect violence and other community resources. For more info visit our website @ Wellness Education

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Eating with the Seasons

UVSC's Wellness Education Department is adding emphasis to student dieting this year. Instead of fishing for our favorite foods that may be out of season, we're encouraged to eat with the abundance that's naturally chosen for us this time of year. That way, we get the nutrition that is provided through ready and ripe sustenance. The following is a handy list created by the Wellness Center to help plan our meals accordingly.


Fall: Since we're facing the change from warm to cool, we should turn towards the foods most commonly associated with this season: carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, onion and garlic. Think of the foods that are most warming.


Winter: Since the weather is getting even colder, we should lean even more on those warming foods. "Remember the principle that foods that take longer to grow are generally more warming than foods that grow quickly." This is when we should be relying more on meats for vegetables for our energy source: fish, chicken, beef and lamb, as well as the fall suggested veggies and eggs.


Spring: Since this is the warming season when vegetation is beginning to flourish, it is a great time to take advantage of what that offers us. Springtime's rewards are leafy vegetables like spinach, lettuce, parsley and basil.


Summer: When you're being beat down by the harsh sun, nothing is better than cool foods (and I'm not talking about Otter Pops). I'm talking about amazing fruits like strawberries, watermelon, apples and peaches. Great vegetables like summer squash, broccoli, cauliflower and corn are also in season, as well as the great herb cilantro.


Dieting is something to be taken into consideration as rumors fly around about college students in the U.S. being overweight. Take some consideration into your diet, and not only can we defy this rumor, but we can spice up our lives and health.

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