Workouts while you go?! Who would’ve thought …

By Courtney Fulton

Living in today’s world, we are always looking for new ways to stay in shape. Most people feel they need a gym membership and have to live off of protein and nutritional food. But what some people don’t know is that you can take your everyday routine and actually make a workout as you go. The key to burning calories is to have your heart rate raised and there are plenty of ways to increase your heart rate as you go about your day. According to Alexis Wolfer of The Beauty Bean, there 6 easy workouts you can to work into your everyday life not only at Fashion Week but while you’re at school too. These simple workouts can be made into daily habits and by following these, you will be sure to see results.

Lets begin with when your on your way (either stuck in traffic or taking the subway):
Sit up straight, both feet planted on the floor in front of you. Keeping your hips and bottom firmly in place, use your abdominal to move your upper body as far left as you can and then as far right. Ideally, your shoulders will remain parallel to the seat and shift side to side. Be sure to keep your back straight (don’t lean forward). While this move takes a bit of time to get used to, you will definitely see the results.

While walking from class to class:
As you strut your stuff around campus, make sure to not only keep your abs engaged, but also try working your bum with each step by pulsing your back leg behind you a little more than usual. Just a tiny squeeze of your glutes with each step will add up over the course of the day. And while it may look and feel a bit odd, the results are well worth it. And remember: Always take the stairs! Taking the stairs not only gets you to your destination faster, but you also get a high cardio workout.

While standing around:
Whether you’re in flats or heels, work those legs with calf raises. If you’re in flats, lift on to your toes as if you’re in heels. In heels? Just put your body weight in your toes to hover your heels off the ground. Do small pulses or see how long you can hold up for. We particularly like this one for when we’re waiting in line for coffee, which is often! Want to take it to a whole other level? Do some bicep curls with that weighted purse of yours!

When your bored in class:
Sit with your feet flat on the floor and your back straight up against the back of your chair. Squeeze your abdominal as hard as you can, as if you’re trying to touch your belly button to the back of the chair. Hold in for 10 seconds before releasing. Repeat as many times as you can.

When in the bathroom:
Beyond avoiding the grossness factor of sitting on the toilet seat, hovering in a squat while doing your business will tone your legs and glutes too!

On your way home (whenever that is!):
Interlock your fingers in front of you and stretch your arms out in front of your body, with your palms facing out. Round your back to stretch the area in between the shoulder blades and mid-back. Take a breath (or two!) before releasing.

Registered Nurse, Deena Rudolph, also lent us a few tips on ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle. “Other healthy tips would be to avoid ADDING salt to your food. Added salt increases fluid retention and leads to high blood pressure which is bad for your blood vessels (in your heart, brain, kidneys, and other vital organs). I would say to avoid prepared meals like lean cuisines, etc because they are high in preservatives (SALT). If you can prepare food, it should be as close to the way it was grown in the ground or on the animal as possible. Diet drinks are not good either–some of the artificial sweeteners actually increase insulin levels which in turn causes hyperglycemia (high blood sugar). So although you may be avoiding a few calories, you’re causing your blood sugar to be elevated. And of course, drink plenty of water, as close to 8 glasses as you can. Keep a bottle with you all the time and sip it as the day goes on, you will be surprised how much you drink when it is always available.”

Keep Calm & Carry On

By Erica Shover, CCP 

Before students even enter a college or university there are many things they do to prepare for their educational experience on the collegiate level. High school teaches its pupils a twelfth grade academic intelligence and hopes that the variety of classes throughout the years has made each student a well-rounded individual. However learning to cope with potentially high stress and anxiety levels does not typically fall on the list of priorities taught in schools.

Stress is a term used often and loosely with most of society. It means different things to different people, and everyone handles stress in their own individual way. Julie Mesaric, a part time graduate student and full time employee at CHOP, manages her stress levels by taking yoga classes three times a week on average. “Meditation during the classes helps clear my mind and it keeps me grounded,” Mesaric says. She has participated in yoga classes for the past three years on a regular basis. “Although my schedule is pretty hectic, I try to fit in as many classes as I can each week,” she says.

Someone who would probably agree with Mesaric is Dr. Michael J. Baime. He is the director of the Penn Program for Mindfulness at the University of Pennsylvania Health System where he has taught mindfulness based stress reduction techniques since 1983. “With the right tools, mindfulness meditation can help the anxious reclaim their lives,” says Baime. He teaches dozens of mediation techniques and says they can be learned by reading literature on the subject. Who would have thought that simply breathing a certain way could create such an internal change?  It can create a complete relaxation!

Dr. Baime has been practicing mediation since he was just a young teenager himself. His approach is integrating these alternative methods with scientific medicine that he studied while he was a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania. Baime claims, “The main source of stress we have is the situation that we all have in common that’s called life. We’ve created a culture that moves very quickly. We have very little time to stop and to feel ourselves at all.”

Some stress is normal and may even be useful at times. It tends to get overwhelming to people when they have to handle more than they think they can. To many college students that maintain some type of employment while attending school this seems all too familiar. Juggling both a job and devoting time to school work can be quite strenuous, but there are simple ways to stay afloat.

Organization is a key element in controlling anxiety and stress issues related to schoolwork. Students like Jordan Cassidy, a junior at Albright College, say organization is the only way she has been able to manage being a student athlete. “Writing due dates of papers and tests down on my calendar keeps me organized. It helps me with my time management of homework and soccer practice,” Cassidy declares.

“If I ever miss a class because of a soccer game, I make sure that I get what I missed and the notes from a classmate,” says Cassidy. Good note taking during class lectures is a good way to stay organized. Each student should develop a method that works best for themselves. Although there are no specific rules or regulations for note taking, one must not overdo it. By writing down the key terms, dates, and names with legibility it will make studying or writing a research paper much easier. A helpful way to review is to rewrite the notes in order to commit them to memory.

The various approaches listed to manage stress do not just apply to academics; they can be applied to all aspects of life. The tactics are based on what is most comfortable to the person or student. What works for one, may not work for another. Likewise what causes anxiety in one, may not make the another the least bit anxious. It is up to the individual person to decide what is in their best interest for removal or prevention of the pressure related to stress.

Related:

 http://www.pennmedicine.org/stress/

http://www.livescience.com/6840-mental-health-problems-rising-college-students.html

Meatless Monday: Breakfast Smoothie how-to!

Complex Carbohydrates!
Amanda Stiglich

Meatless Monday: Lettuce Eat Less Meat!

By Amanda Stiglich

Whether you’ve heard about it or not, Meatless Monday has been making its way through campuses across the United States, changing the dietary perspective of many students, and advocating a healthy meat-free meal alternative. With over seventy colleges participating across America, including Philadelphia’s own Temple University, Meatless Monday is a growing dietary movement that encourages people to take meat out of their diet for one day a week, in order to better their health, and the environment. According to a survey performed at Tufts University, 59% of college students said they knew that they were not eating healthy, and with the constantly growing number of obesity related illness in our country, it’s important to take ones diet into severe consideration. So why go meatless? According to Meatless Monday campaign, “Going meatless once a week may reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel.”

Does this sound familiar? Fried chicken fingers, a side of cheese fries, and a fountain soda. If you answered yes, then that’s probably because it’s one of the most popular meals offered at college campuses across the states; students are exposed to this 5 days a week for the 9 months of a typical school year. Only recently has school nutrition started to be questioned and the plates of students everywhere are beginning to change. Meatless Monday has been put into place to change that routine and switch the dietary focus to a more plant based meal. Not only does this put one healthy meal into a student but it exposes the entire student population to a way of eating that is better for them. If someone eats a meal on Meatless Monday that might be more likely to go home that night and prepare something similar. At first there might be discouragement because meat has become so routine in our daily lives, but with so many ways to prepare and season vegetables and other plant based foods, as well as the help of the many online meatless recipe sources, getting accustomed to a once a week, meat free day can be very easy. A greasy hamburger is replaced by a vegetable pasta once a week, and when the affects are seen at home and in other meal choices, Meatless Monday really starts to make a difference.

When Kyle Pray, a student of Temple University, was asked how he felt about having the option of a ‘Meatless Monday’ meal, he said, “At first I didn’t really understand why my school was taking away certain meals, but now I understand the idea of Meatless Monday and I’m pretty glad I go to one of the school’s that are involved with it, especially because of the vegetable lasagna.”

On average, a normal American adult will consume almost 260lbs of meat a year, according to the United Nations Population fund, which is the worlds largest rate of consumption. This over consumption of meat has left a huge impact on the health of Americans. Not only are saturated fats being eaten in excessive quantities harming peoples caloric intake but the amount of cholesterol in meat is having a crippling impact on the rise of heart disease nationally. By switching out meat for vegetables you automatically start taking in soluble fibers, iron, zinc, potassium, and a range of other vitamins. Many Americans are currently deficient in certain vitamins and minerals as a result of favoring meat over a more balanced meal consisting of fruits and vegetables. Simply by eating less meat weight is lost, type 2 diabetes is slowed, and arterial damage done by excessive cholesterol to blood saturation is reversed.

While there are numerous benefits for the human body by reducing meat intake the planet we live on prospers as well. One fifth of green house gas emissions come from the massive meat industry and the huge numbers of animals needed for farming to support so many Americans eating so much meat annually. 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water are used to produce one pound of beef, while fractions of that amount of water can be used to produce pounds of vegetables. To transport animals, run factory farms, and deliver packed meat, requires a huge demand for fossil fuels that our planet can’t afford to squander.

Meatless Monday only changes 3 out of 21 meals a week, but considering the American population, this is a huge number. So why not take the challenge? Help out your body, and mother earth by choosing a meat-free dish, just once a week. Who knows, you may learn to love it, just like the thousands of participants across the county and the globe.

For more information on Meatless Monday, like recipes and how to get your own school involved with the program, go to www.meatlessmonday.com.