O-B-E-S-I-T-Y

The word everyone dreads to hear from their doctor, obese. Obesity is commonly known for being "overweight" and "unhealthy".
When I looked up obesity on Google this is what came up:

o·be·si·ty

ōˈbēsitē/

noun: obesity

1.

the condition of being grossly fat or overweight.

Now I am no expert, but the fact that society associates the words "grossly fat" with obesity is incredibly negative, not really helping the situation now are they?

It is a serious problem though, especially since it has risen 13% in only adolescents in the past 30 years, it may not seem like a lot but when you think of 13% in millions of people, that is when you start freaking out. THIS IS AN EPIDEMIC; a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time. People eat more and more each day, foods that have no good nutritional value, food which are processed and have strange ingredients that no one can pronounce much less know what they mean. For example did you know "partially hydrogenated oil" is just a fancy term for bad fat that stays in your digestive system a "little" longer than it should; SPOILER ALERT this ingredient is in most of your peanut butter, oh and you know those Special K Cereals that claim to aid in weight loss, yup that has the oil too. Imagine what those other weird ingredients can do to your body? Or better yet DON'T and try to remove them from your diet, the fewer the ingredients the better!

Obesity or being overweight is what happens when you ingest A LOT of food and have little to no physical activity throughout the day, this is what we call a Caloric Imbalance. Ingesting more calories,units of energy, than you expel from your body. Keeping a food journal would be very helpful since it helps you keep track of the amount of calories you are consuming and the amount of calories you burn through your physical activities. Technology has made it easy for us, all you need is an app and you are set. 

Check out some of these apps, try it for maybe just 1 week and see how it works for you, come on it won't hurt to try.

(*available on both Android and iPhone)

*MyFitnessPal---> http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

*Livestrong--------> http://www.livestrong.com/calorie-counter-mobile/

*My Net Diary----> http://www.mynetdiary.com/

(iPhone) Tap and Track----> http://www.tapandtrack.com/home/index 

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

1.  What is your working EQ?
What is the best technique for a young adult female to obtain a low body fat percentage?

2.  What is a possible answer to your working EQ? Please write the answer in thesis format. 

•  Follow a strict nutritional plan in order to effeminate the foods that are keeping the fat within the body.
• Create a variety of workouts to perform while switching it up every couple of weeks in order to burn more fat.

3.  What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with an answer to your working EQ? 

I have read a couple of books that have all been very useful to me however I believe my college class has given me so much information in so little time, I think my professor has helped me agree with Nutrition in  being an answer.
4.  Who is your mentor, or where are you volunteering, and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ?

My mentor is a Chiropractor and he shows me all the physical aspects of our body for example I have learned how a certain move can cause you relaxation which helps relieve stress, which aids in weight loss. *Stress is a big factor for it retains water.

Time to Unwind..

After a long day sometimes all you want to do is lay in bed and watch Netflix all night. However, you may think you are treating yourself to relaxation but you're truly NOT. The best way to unwind from that hard working day is to EXERCISE! Yeah today was very cold and it rained and sometimes you can't help but slip into your jammies and go straight to the couch, but remember you need to treat your body well so it can take care of you as well. Hello, how else is your immune system going to fight for you in this sickly season?
I definitely get it though, it may just be that kind of day where you simply aren't up for much.
This "Before-Bed" Yoga Sequence is definitely a gold mine. It helps relieve some stress by helping you focus on your breathing rather than all the negativity that is running through your mind, it also helps you perform deep stretches that will aid in a more soulful slumber. Enjoy and Sweet Dreams :

http://www.fitsugar.com/Before-Bed-Yoga-Sequence-25491816

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

I have been accepted into a real Nutrition College Class, I will be learning all the aspects of food and the breakdown it has on our body. We will see the science behind the food and how it affects us. I will be doing college level reading and working with my fellow classmates, whom are all either Dietitian or Physical Therapy majors, to understand the subject. We will also be studying our own eating habits to help our studies.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

I will provide my house teacher a copy of my transcripts in which shows I get a B or higher in my class, in order to show that I worked hard throughout the quarter.

3.  And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

My professor is a registered dietitian, she is an expert in her field which coincides with my topic, I will receive a lot of valuable information.

Are you up for the Whole 30 Challenge?!

The Whole 30 is a 30 day challenge designed by the people over at Whole9. You can check out the full details of the challenge here http://whole9life.com/2013/08/the-whole30-program/ . Basically, all you eat is REAL, good for you food for a whole month.

You change your dietary life completely, it's easier to list what you CAN eat actually. You can eat vegetables, fruit, nuts (excluding peanuts), sweet potato, eggs and meat/seafood. Seems easy enough until you actually go for it, because the thing is you aren't allowed to even "paleo-fy" dessert. If I am craving pancakes I could just as easily whisk up 1 banana and 2 eggs to make myself some nutritious and "whole 30 approved" pancakes, correct? Wrong. You can't because the whole point of this is to not only cleanse your system from dairy, grains, legumes etc. but also teach yourself how to eat REAL food and feel great about it. One more thing about this whole plan.... YOU CAN'T WEIGH YOURSELF. No measurements of any kind may be taken on the duration of the 30 days, you may however weigh/measure yourself before and after you complete the challenge if you so wish to do so to see the changes your body has made. 

How has this affected me? I have been able to sleep a whole lot better, I wake up with ease and I feel great and light throughout the day yet I still get full with the food I eat. I have learned to LOVE vegetables! ME!! The girl who used to have nightmares of giant vegetables chasing her around the house when she was 5 (I am not kidding) has actually learned to appreciate them for what they are, nutrients. 

     *Back in February I actually started getting very brutal and intense abdominal pains that would last about 36 hours, this would occur about every 5 weeks and I visited my doctor countless times. I even got an ultrasound done to see if there were kidney stones or anything that could be causing me such immense pains. He nor the ultrasound were of any help, I decided to quit the medication he prescribed because I didn't like the idea of harming my body with drugs if I didn't feel like it was helping me. According to my 'calculations' I was supposed to get that nasty pain about 3 weeks ago, and I haven't yet felt anything. One thing the Whole 30 does show is there real life testimonials, anything from Chronic Fatigue to Nerve Damage to even Seizures have been "Cured" during their whole 30, read about that here http://whole9life.com/2011/06/the-whole30-a-z-real-life-testimonials/ . I don't know for sure but I have a strong feeling that the pain has gone away because I have been treating my body to the right nutrients.

Finally, I think this has been such an amazing experience for me, I have learned to be creative with my food and really explore different fruits and vegetables! Today marks the end of my 27th day, just 3 days left! Will i completely indulge on sugar and grains as soon as October 1st rolls around? Of course not, I will most likely stick to my eating habits now, and accept "paleo-fied" desserts, as well as add some greek yogurt and oats into my life. Not change too much though because I like the way the Whole 30 made me change my perspective and I wouldn't want to jeopardize that. I haven't even thought about the scale much, I am however excited to see if anything has changed, who knows maybe I even gained weight because it turns out my body needed the grains? Every body is different.

This was a usual meal, steamed veggies, fresh tuna and sliced up tomato with some sesame seeds on top.

Blog 6: Second Interview

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?

Dr. J Torres Cancino, Chiropractor
He works at his own private practice in Ontario.

2.  What five questions will ask them about their background?

a.)What made you interested in starting a career in Chiropractic.
b.)Based on your own personal experience, is there anything someone can do unintentionally that will cause them to visit a chiropractor. ex: If a person does not sleep enough hours a night their joints could tense up and cause major discomfort.
c.)What is the most difficult part about becoming a Chiropractor?
d.)What makes your job stand out, what makes an effective Chiropractor?
e.)How has your training helped you in day to day life?
f.)Why start your own practice, why not just look for a facility looking to hire a chiropractor?

*I plan on having more than one mentor in order to obtain as much knowledge on my topic as possible.*

Introducing 'Fitness Food Friday'

I have decided that to complete my extra blog post of the month, I might as well post something that is beneficial to the reader. Mrs.Pittman once said, and don't quote me, that we should treat our senior blog as if there was someone out there interested in our topic who stumbled upon our blog, we would want to make sure that they get something out of it. Therefore I thought sharing either a recipe, workout, and or health fad would be a fun way to show my research on my blog.


First I would like to share which blog is the crook for making me more cautious on the foods I eat. I learned about her during the summer, and basically she shares some great recipes to fulfill your sweet tooth, but get this, they are all CLEAN. She uses Quinoa or Oat Flour instead of that bleached and processed stuff you get at the market. Her name is Samantha and she gives some great ideas.

Here is an example of what she has on her blog: http://withpeanutbutterontop.blogspot.com/

Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast Pancakes

Yes, I just made these and YES they were delicious! I couldn't decide if I wanted pancakes or french toast this morning, so I made both! Why not? The cream cheese added that final much needed touch!

These are very easy to make and no different than any other pancake!

Breakdown: (pancakes only)

269 calories

7.6 g total fat

32 g carbs

19.3 g protein

What you will need:

Pancakes:
1/2 cup oat flour

1 tbsp. Tofutti Cream Cheese

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 egg white

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

sweetener, to taste ( I used Stevia)

1 tsp. baking powder

French Toast Mix:

1 egg white

1 tbsp. unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat your pan/griddle over medium-low heat. Combine all pancake ingredients, except for the cream cheese, into a mixing bowl and stir very well. Once your pan is heated, spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour four pancakes onto the pan and allow to cook. As soon as all four are on, place the cream cheese onto one of the pancakes and flip one pancake on top of it as soon as it starts to bubble. Flip the remaining two pancakes when the surface of each starts to bubble as well. Flip the cream cheese pancake after a minute. Cook until each pancake is firm in the middle. 

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Once they are cool enough to the touch, place each pancake into the french toast mix and allow to soak for 10 seconds on each side. Return each pancake to the pan long enough to cook the french toast mixture, approximately 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and top with your toppings of choice! I topped mine with blueberries, raspberries, toasted coconut, maple syrup, 1 crushed walnut, and a dollop of Greek yogurt.  (NOT calculated into the breakdown.)

Enjoy!

Enjoy! If you post to Instagram- please tag @sammybfit & hashtag #sammybfit so that I can see your creations! If your profile is set to private- I won't see it! Sorry!