| March 2008 |
Vol 1, Issue 3 | |
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| Greetings! |
Spring is almost here! It is time for new beginnings, fresh starts, and shedding heavy winter clothes. For the sake of your health, consider shedding extra pounds too.
Obesity is the root cause of many health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. For Black women, obesity is an especially insidious risk factor for our health. One recent study indicates that more than 75 percent of African American women are overweight or obese.
It all comes down to Body Mass Index (BMI)--a formula that calculates the ratios of your age, height, and weight. To be considered overweight, your BMI would be between 25 and 29.9. Obesity is defined as an BMI of 30 or higher. To calculate your BMI, use this BMI Calculator from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is not to suggest that we should all aspire to be rail thin like models we see in fashion magazines. Rather, this is about achieving the optimal weight for YOU, considering your height and bone structure. There is no such thing as one-size-fits-all solutions!
 By losing just 10 percent of your current body weight, you can reduce your risk of these diseases substantially. We do not endorse fad dieting that deprives your body of essential nutrition just to take excess weight off quickly. Rather, focus on taking it off gradually with quality nutrition, exercise, and along the way learn new behaviors to keep it off.
That's what WHOLE Body Living is all about: learning behaviors to help you attain and sustain optimal health. Each month we offer easy-to-adopt resources for creating a self-care plan specifically tailored to your needs and circumstances. So let's get started on the road to better health--one step at a time. |
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Quick Links |
Want more of WHOLE? Our Archive of past issues is just a click away!
Better health for African American women just got easier. Visit WeSpeakLoudly to learn more!
Join the conversation on improving women's health at our blog WHOLE Express
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Let's Get Moving! |
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WHOLE Body Living is about getting your juices flowing with movement, stretching, and weight-bearing activity. You don't need to buy an expensive gym membership, or invest in fancy exercise clothes. Quality shoes, proper breast support, and breathable clothing are the only requirements for most exercise.
If you haven't been engaging in regular exercise, you may not know how to get started. You may feel too tired or too busy to exercise. Yet one of the best remedies for tiredness and combating the stress of a busy life is to exercise.
The American Cancer Society recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise five times per week, preferably 45-60 minutes. But before you dismiss increasing your physical activity because of time constraints, take heart. The exercise need not be done all at once. Several 10-minute exercise breaks throughout the day are just as effective.
 Movement need not involve strenuous lifting or competitive team sports either. One of the best exercises is simply walking. For an all-weather, do-anywhere-and-anytime option, walking can't be beat. If you put on your thinking cap, no doubt you can come up with many safe, clean, well-lit places to walk. For example, many shopping malls across the country open their doors before store hours for people to walk for exercise. Even during your daily routine activities, you can pump up the activity value by increasing your pace, walking instead of using the elevator, or parking further from the entrance and walking the extra distance. Each of these can give you several additional bursts of exercise throughout the day.
Here are a few more tips for increasing physical activity:
- Wear a pedometer. Just clip this little devise on your belt in the morning and you'll have a much greater awareness of your movement throughout the day. Aim for 10,000 steps each day, which translates into about 30-45 minutes of activity. With a pedometer, there is no hiding a sedentary lifestyle. It can be a rude awakening about how sedentary you really are when beginning to use a pedometer. But remember, knowledge is power; once you know your fitness profile, it can be a tremendous motivator to get moving!
- Schedule exercise into your daily calendar. Good intentions to exercise rarely materialize if you don't actively plan for it to happen. Determine when your peak energy level is during your day, and slot in an exercise date with yourself.
- Convert lunch dates to exercise dates. Getting together with friends or colleagues for lunch? Instead of sitting in the restaurant spending money and eating too-large portions of food, meet for a walk instead. Take a bottle of water and finish with a healthy snack like yogurt and fruit, and you're good to go! You'll save money and have a boost of energy for the afternoon.
- Grab an exercise buddy. It doesn't take much to talk yourself out of exercising, so a good strategy is to enlist a buddy to keep you on track. When someone else is expecting you and has scheduled the exercise around your joint commitment, it holds you more accountable for your commitment to better health.
- Turn on cable exercise programs. If you have premium cable or satellite TV, you likely already have all sorts of fitness programs literally available at your fingertips. Made to suit any fitness level or taste, you can try yoga, Pilates, step aerobics, salsa, and even African dance. These programs air 24/7, and some are even available On Demand. Tune in and work that body!
- Work out while waiting during your children's activities. If you have children, you have possibly spent many hours waiting for them at sports team practices, tutoring, enrichment classes, or community service duty. Rather than sit in the car, in the stands, or at the coffee house nearby, put on your walking shoes and have a brisk walk. There might even be another part of the same facility where your children's activities are being held where you can have a workout. In fact, many facilities are now offering parent activities that coincide with children's classes.
Start slowly, then gradually increase your distance and intensity week-by-week. Making exercise part of your daily routine is a habit you can live with! |
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WHOLE Self-Care Principle #3: Reconnect |
 Reconnect is making the conscious choice of reaching out to the sources of support best suited to your healing journey. Think of Reconnect as plugging your life into the energy stream you need to sustain you--Spirit, Mind, and Body.
Reconnect is about rebuilding your community and ensuring that all the elements you require for support are present. Learning to communicate your needs is an essential ingredient in rebuilding community, but is often very difficult to do.
The process starts with feeling entitled to have what you need, the way you need it. As a woman, you are so oriented to helping others that it is rare to take time for helping yourself. In fact, having directed your attention toward others for so long, you might be out of touch with the things you need for your own comfort and healing.
You can decide the nature of the relationships you have with those surrounding you. It is your choice who you want to draw close and who you need to hold at a distance. Because you are changing, your relationships change as well. Many old friendships can grow and thrive through this experience. And sadly, some people from your past may not travel into the future with you. Don't assume that everyone who was in your orbit in the past has an automatic place in your newly-rebuilt life. Dare to assess who is healthy, uplifting, positive, and energizing and who is not. You will be surprised how empowering it is to choose what you need rather than accept what others feel is best for you.
While on the path to regaining your health, you may feel isolated and alone. Reconnect allows you to refashion your network so that you will have what you need to lighten the load. Through fellowship with others, the joy of living returns. |
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Losing can be a good thing! |
| Healthier eating starts with making an honest appraisal of your current food habits. After all, the old adage, "You are what you eat" is true. Once you get a handle on what makes it into your mouth, you will be surprised how little of it is good for you. WHOLE Body Living brings good nutrition to the top of your food-priorities list and gives you tips about how to make health eating easy, quick, affordable, and available.
Healthy Eating Tip #2: Keep a food-and-beverage diary
For one week, write down every morsel and sip that goes into your mouth. Include how much you consumed, time of day, where you were, how much you paid, and how you felt afterward. Sounds like a pain, but it takes this close scrutiny to get an accurate picture of your eating habits--and your food spending, too. The first thing you will likely notice when reading this diary is the shear volume of food that you eat without realizing it. Mindless eating is a common reflex. A nibble here, a soda there can add up in empty calories that pile on the weight. And add up the dollars you're spending on convenience foods and fancy coffee drinks; think of all the money you could be be saving!
Did you miss Healthy Eating Tip #1? Visit our WHOLE E-Newsletter Archive and check out our February issue!
 Most African American households consider greens among the royalty of soul food. These cancer-fighting wonders are an excellent source of fiber, folate, and a wide range of carotenoids that are known to inhibit the growth of a variety of cancer cells. Whether you select spinach, kale, mustard greens, collard greens, or Swiss chard, these dark leafy vegetables are a rich source of antioxidants.
Cleaning fresh greens can be very time consuming and labor intensive, so we don't get to eat them as often as we'd like. By using fresh pre-washed or frozen greens, you can cut out the labor but keep all the taste. I have also substituted smoked turkey for the traditional ham hocks.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups diced onions
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
dash of salt
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 bunches of assorted greens--our household favorites are collards and mustard. You may substitute fresh pre-washed bags or frozen greens for a total of 4 pounds
2 cups low-sodium, low-fat chicken broth
1 cup smoked turkey
drizzle of flavored vinegar, such as apple cider, balsamic, or rice wine
To prepare greens:
Remove tough ribs and stalks from greens and discard any leaves that are yellow or bruised. Soak greens in cold water sprinkled with a tablespoon of baking soda for 10 minutes, making sure they are totally immersed. Drain and rinse until water runs clear. Dry greens completely, stack several leaves at a time, roll lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch ribbons. Continues processing until all greens are cut.
If using precut, pre-washed greens, I advise you to still soak, rinse, and dry them. If using frozen greens, thaw them in the refrigerator overnight in a bowl, or thaw in the microwave. Strain and dry.
Cooking instructions:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the onions, smoked turkey, pepper, and red pepper flakes and saute until onions are translucent. Add the garlic and greens, stirring until coated with oil. Add stock and cook, stirring occasionally until tender, approximately 10 minutes. Drizzle with vinegar and a sprinkle of salt if desired. Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Yield: 6-8 servings
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WHOLE is about learning and growing together. We want our newsletters--and all the work we do--to meet your needs. Drop us a line at WeSpeakLoudly and tell us what you need. We'll do our best to bring you all the information you need to be WHOLE!
Yours in health, |
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Jacci Thompson-Dodd
WeSpeakLoudly |
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