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Eating like an Olympian. The truth!

             So what is the deal with eating like an Olympian? With the recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I got really interested in what these athletes ate in order to compete. Actually, I should restate that. I was more interested in how ‘Eat like an Olympian’ message from McDonald’s would put the future athletes on the top of the Olympic podium.  

 Fast Food? Really?.. Really?

             Several McDonald’s commercials during the Winter Games got me very curios. Is fast food really the food of champions? And, is it okay to eat fried chicken and fries if you’re an athlete? In the back of my mind I knew the answers to those questions, but I wanted to do a little research of my own to find out what some of the athletes do eat when it comes to crunch time. So, I thought I’d let you know as well, because the whole fast food and Olympian thing just doesn’t add up. At least to me it doesn’t.

 Eating like an Olympian… Not Really

             One of the commercials for McDonald’s portrayed a young girls’ hockey team whose coach was giving an inspiring speech. I was totally fine with that, what got me frustrated was what the coach said at the end. He said something along the lines of, “Tonight, we’re going to eat like Olympians.” The next scene shows fries, sodas, and burgers. Are you kidding me? Does this mean that athletes of high caliber munch on cheeseburgers with fries? To me, the message here is dead wrong and it puts the wrong perception into the minds of young athletes.

             Now, do you think Apolo Ohno would be able to skate the way he did throughout the Olympics if he was on McDonald’s Olympic diet? Exactly, he probably wouldn’t even fit into those tights.

 Now Eating like an Olympian

              Speaking of Apolo Ohno, I did some research and found out some cool information on what he eats. Remember Apolo is one of the most decorated Winter Olympians.

             Apolo’s trainer John Schaeffer revealed some of Apolo’s diet. The skater’s meals consist of mostly fish, fruits and vegetables (nothing surprising here). Healthy fats only, so, fast food clearly doesn’t fit in here. Before the race, Apolo eats foods like brown rice, pasta, potatoes, and green vegetables. His recovery meal consists of lean chicken breasts, coconut milk, and of course, vegetables.

             Lance Armstrong’s trainer, Chris Carmichael, mentioned his athlete’s strict diet with good essential fats, quality carbohydrates, and everything in right proportions. If Lance was eating Big Macs and drinking soda, then the only way he would make it up those hills during Tour de France is with a motorcycle.

  It’s About the Message

             The reason why I was frustrated about McDonald’s commercials is that the wrong message was portrayed. Many Olympians are idols to young generation, and fast food companies are using it to promote their products. There is nothing wrong with McDonald’s being a sponsor of the Olympics, but it’s wrong to associate fast food with the world’s top athletes.

             So, if we want to end up on the Olympic podium, instead of the scales on the Biggest Loser, we need to have a different message here. A message that would show top athletes achieve their glory through hard work, good diet, and dedication. If you’re an athlete and your diet consists of junk food, then the Olympic podium is definitely not for you.

Soup, hot cocoa, coffee, oatmeal…yeah, I really, really wanted something warm and filling.  To make matters worse, it was so cold outside that my car took 30 minutes to warm up.  It was probably the most physically-miserable experience of my life.  I’ve had broken bones, concussions, and serious illnesses that felt like NOTHING compared to the -40 and -30 degree days I experienced in early 2009.

So what does this have to do with anything?  Well, remember how I said I wanted the warm, filling foods?  I call those foods “warm and cozy” foods.  They remind me of my childhood, when I would be playing in the snow.  I’d come inside and Mama would have hot soup or hot cereal waiting for me.  Grown-ups deserve that kind of treatment, too!

It’s important to think about what your “warm and cozy” foods are, though.  Some, like hot oatmeals and brans, are great for heart health.  Others, like soups, hot cocoas, and coffee drinks, are often bad for your heart.  Check out these recipes:

“Warm Chocolate Delight” Hot Cocoa

Fresh Vegetable Soup

Also, here’s a great resource of healthy bread and soup ideas.  Warm bread can also be a great winter warm-up food!  Healthy Soup and Bread Recipes and Cooking Tips

Next time you’re absolutely miserable-cold and all you can think of is how much you want something warm in your belly, think of these great ideas.  The beauty of most of these is that they’re easy to freeze and reheat for those time-critical moments.  As you check out these recipes, you may also adapt your own ideas.  One of the best things about sharing recipes and researching food options is that you can easily adapt healthy practices across different recipes.  Learning how to cook one type of healthy soup could lead to revolutionizing another soup recipe, or even a sauce or cereal recipe.

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it a million times more.  Make your food your own.  Take low cholesterol eating into your own hands.  Build up a stock of great recipes.  That way, next time you ne a “warm and cozy” meal, you’ll have healthy options right inside your own head…or recipe box.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans, maybe even millions, will set the same goal for 2010:  lose weight.  While they is an innocent goal to set for most, it’s the wrong way to go about improving your health.

A lot of people spend so much time thinking of the end product that sometimes the means is lost in the mix.  It’s important to think of “how” and “why” and “when.”  Also, so many resolutions are such big goals, like quitting smoking or losing 20 lbs., that people get discouraged.  Some goals are meant to be taken in steps, not rushed at on a single day.  I’m guilty of it.  One year, my resolution was lose some weight.  I figured out towards the end that the weight shouldn’t have been my focus.  While losing weight is great for your health (if it’s done in a beneficial manner), sometimes so much stress is put on weight that you end up complicating your possibilities of actually reaching a goal.

Instead, try making your resolution something like, “Take better care of myself,” “Eat better,” or “Lower my cholesterol ____ points.”

The first one is my resolution for the year.  The difference is, I’m not rushing it all at once on January 1st.  I’ve already started phasing some of my guilty pleasures (Dr. Pepper) out of my diet.  I’m drinking twice as much water as I used to drink on average.  Overall, I’m just treating my body better.  If I lose weight as a side-effect of that…great!

So, ask yourself, is a resolution a good option for you?

The idea of instant gratification has become a major problem in American society.  If you can’t achieve results NOW, then it’s not worth it.  Improving your health generally takes some work, though.  While there are plenty of things (like Nutrim) to help you along, you still have to put in effort.  So, at the start of 2010, take a different approach.

Instead of making a resolution, make a plan.  Don’t just say you want to lose weight of work out every day.  Don’t be unrealistic, but also challenge yourself.  It has to be a carefully balanced change, one that would improve your life without discouraging you or stressing you out.  Anyone can start the year of right.  Not everyone can finish it that way, though.  Don’t become just another failed resolution statistic.  Good luck, and best of wishes as you continue 2010.

While this blog had posts since late 2008, life wasn’t breathed into it until 2009.  In just months, we’ve gone from a bare, lonely blog to a successful place where we can share our ideas and hear from you guys, the readers.  Since we put production of this blog into high gear in early- to mid-2009, we’ve churned out about 100 blog posts.  Some periods had more activity than others, but it’s safe to say that we’re here, and we’re happy about it.

February was a big month for us.  That month, we reached our all-time high for unique visitors.  That’s an exciting number to cap, and we continue to raise the bar of performance to hopefully beat that number another time.

This summer was great for us.  We had multiple interns, who zealously worked alongside regular staffers to create great resources for you guys.  We launched guides, mini-guides, promotion…and we had plenty of fun.  While doing some research on some of the worst high-cholesterol foods, we found things such as this.  While all of us here agreed that it probably tastes delicious, we had some good laughs at the fact that the Bacon Explosion tends to combat all the things Oathealth stands for.  The Bacon Explosion is only one type of food that we enjoyed reading about this summer.  There were plenty!  Good foods, bad foods, foods that were healthy but probably tasted awful, food that was healthy and sounded delicious.

We began developing a new program that we wouldn’t actually launch until winter…most of you now know that program as Nutrim 4 Life.  A lot of time and effort went into building the foundation for that program over the summer of 2009.

At the end of summer, we even had a team party.  We took a break on a Friday afternoon and treated ourselves to some fun.

Fall and winter have been busy.  We had so much work to do on N4L before it could go live, and so many great customers to serve!  We were touched by the massive amount of positive testimonials we received during this time.  We are ecstatic about the enthusiasm that seemed to build over our newsletters and press releases regarding Nutrim 4 Life.  Now, the program is live, and much more popular than we ever imagined!  You guys are fueling this machine!

Because of you, the customers and readers and supporters, we’ve had a great year.  We’re more able to supply heart healthy living advice, support, information, and products than we ever have been.  You keep us going.  You’re loyal, and you’re inspiring.  After all, you’re the ones taking life into your own hands, improving your health, and conquering problems set in your path.  We offered the tools, you found new, interesting ways to use them in your journey towards better heart health.

Thank you, everyone.  Thank you for a wonderful 2009.  Here’s wishing the best of health and happiness to all of you in 2010.  Let’s work towards another amazing year!

I know we’ve had plenty of posts about how to avoid snacking or how to stick to healthy tidbits.

I know, I know.  This post is about both…but it’s more of a personal rant than anything.

Even here, working for a company geared towards health, we’re tempted.  We are tried and pushed around and guilted…by what?  By delicious, tasty gifts.  That’s right.  It’s the time of year when customers, business associates, and partner companies are sending delicious, fatty, tempting, tasty morsels.  Even this morning, I went into the break room to grab an orange, and was greeted by a table full of assorted chocolates, chocolate- and caramel-slathered popcorn, a lemon loaf that I’m sure has more fat in a single slice than most meals…

Ugh, it looks fabulous.  And it was all free for the taking, given to our office by so many charitable and appreciative people of the business world.

But, I had to stay strong.  I had to!  I marched right past the awesome table, to the fruit that we’d bought in bulk from a school fundraiser.  Navel oranges were mine for the taking!  If you think about it, the orange is just as sweet, and even more satisfying.  So now, as I sit here staring as my yet-to-be-unpeeled orange, I’m proud of myself.  I conquered the holiday office snack challenge.

To make matters more complicated, our office is fairly intimate.  Everyone knows everyone.  It’s a small company in a small building, and many of us have personal histories with each other, outside of work.  This means that a lot of people bring in delicious treats to share.  Last week, the week of Christmas, was especially hard.  Crunch clusters, pumpkin spice parfaits, peppermint bark, cookies, pies, specialty holiday bread……..

I wasn’t so strong last week.  I caved…once or twice…or several times, but who’s counting?

Word to the wise:  bring your own snacks, and drink plenty of water.  If you’re full on healthy stuff and you’ve got a tummy full of clean, clear water, you’re less likely to indulge.  I always have a large bottle of water on my desk.  I always have one high-fiber breakfast bar (I generally go with Kashi) in my laptop case and some chewing gum in my purse.  These items are my anti-binge-snacking army.  They are my deterrents when I have a craving for that triple-butter-apple-loaf or that chocolate-covered-fermented-cherry.  (Ugh…they sound so delicious…)

Water fills you.  Grains satiate you.  Chewing gums keeps your mouth busy when you feel like munching on something.  (It also helps deter the salivation that often comes with cravings.  That spit makes you want the object of your desire even more!)

Okay, this is a scatter-brained, random, ranty post.  But I’m allowed to have these now and then.  Eating right is usually a pretty easy feat, but this time of year, temptations are everywhere.  Stay strong, keep your anti-junk food tools close, and never let your guard down.  Good luck!

So many people dump time and money into eating right, becoming active, avoiding the big no-no’s like smoking and trans fats…but so many individuals forget that stress puts a lot of strain on your ol’ ticker.  This time of year can be especially hard on your heart!  The food is, of course, pretty risky during the holiday season, but food isn’t the culprit here.  Stress is.

Don’t try to convince me that you can handle it.  I am an all-time pro at stressing out.  I like to test my limits, and a lot of the time, I overstep them and wind up feeling overwhelmed or exhausted or just completely burnt out.  (Don’t believe me?  Ask good ol’ Matt, who runs this whole shebang.  He’s seen me get pretty close to what could be considered a “breaking point.”)  On the flipside, though, being an expert at stressing myself out as also taught me important skills about breaking stress and relaxing.

Stress relief can be done alone, or with others.  Your significant other or a close friend is a great companion for stuff like this!  Go for walks, go to the spa for a day!  After a pretty stressful year, my best friend and I decided to do a short trip to the spa while on vacation.  We ended up feeling so much better afterward.  I could actually FEEL a lack of stress.  It was like being hugged by sunshine and puppies.  It was wonderful.

I guess what I’m saying is that you can’t ever, ever be afraid to do something nice for yourself.  Sometimes all it takes is an hour alone with a good book, or a nap, or some time in an art studio.  (That’s another one of my big stress outlets, as well!)  Play with your dog, your kids, your grandkids, nieces and nephews, whatever it is you have that helps you loosen up and enjoy yourself.  Cut yourself some slack, do something you want to do for yourself.

What’s even better is if the things you do to release stress are also things that get you moving.  A lot of people run to maintain their stress levels.  Gardening is another great option.  Any activity that allows you to release your tension while burning calories and getting the blood flowing is a great choice.  If you don’t think you have any hobbies like this, look into it.  You may find that you love running, or that taking your dog for extra long walks is actually really enjoyable.

So, as you hang on tight to try and survive the holiday season, be sure to set aside “you” time.  Don’t get too wrapped up in the hustle and bustle.  You make time for what you want to do, and there’s always time to care for your heart.

Episode #31, December 23, 2009

Show Notes

Next Weeks Challenge:

• For this challenge, Joe suggests everyone try and eat fish at least once per week
• Also Joe stated that fish is a great source of protein

Here are some positive effects for heart :  

• lowers triglycerides
  Increases HDL without increasing LDL cholesterol
• slow rate of growth of plaque on arteries
• decreased blood clotting
• Improved endothelia
• Decreased risk for arrhymia
• even some benefits shown for BP

It’s no fun to go for long walks or to work in your yard when it’s cold and yucky out.  That’s why it’s a good idea to look into your other options.

1. Treadmill or other indoor workout machines.  I love our treadmill.  Why?  Well, I can easily watch a pay-per-view movie while I chug along at a steady pace.  I entertain myself, and I get plenty of exercise.  In fact, I found I actually walked/jogged/ran for longer while watching a movie than I did outside.  I did need to make sure I covered up the time/mileage until after I was done, though.  Those numbers in front of me are very distracting.  Plus, seeing how long/far I’d gone would give me more of an excuse to stop prematurely.
2. Mall!  When I was younger, I’d go to the mall and always be frustrated by all the mall-walkers that were clogging things up.  Now, I definitely see the reasoning behind it.  The mall is big, with plenty of room for walking.  Following the perimeter of your mall is a great way to get a good walk in (although, they frown upon joggers or runners).  Try not to get too distracted by sales, though, because you could turn a positive (exercise) into a negative (spending money you might not have wanted to spend).
3. Fitness Centers.  They may cost money, but there are usually a ton of resources you can enjoy.  Workout machines, assistants, personal trainers, advisers…fitness centers or health clubs are a great way to gather more information on how to get and stay fit.  Maybe there’s someone you know who would really enjoy a trial membership as a holiday gift!
4. Public gymnasiums.  These aren’t as common as things like malls or fitness clubs, but some places to have them.  The small town I live in is pretty open about their school gyms.  I know, that’s a rare case, but a lot of these places will have a walking track around the outside of the playing courts.  If you can find one of these to walk/run around, you’re incredibly lucky!
5. Workout tapes and DVD’s.  I know, I know, these are cheesy.  However, there are tapes for just about every age group, fitness level, and type of exercise.  I’ve seen and done so many different ones that I can’t remember which was which.  The great thing about these is that you generally only need limited space, and you can do the exercise without leaving the comfort of your home.  Search around, find a tape that matches the type of workout you’d like to do.

There’s no excuse to get lazy just because it’s a bit chilly out!  I’ve said it plenty of times, and I’ll keep saying it:  get up, get moving!  It’s good for your heart.

Episode #30, December 17, 2009

Show Notes

Last Weeks Challenge:

• Joe suggested that everyone try and  exercise for 30 min
• During the challenge, Joe was able to go for a walk with a co- worker during lunch break
• It would be much harder to exercise during Holidays, as you are busy with other stuff

Next Weeks Challenge:

• Joe challenges you to become aware of stress when it happens
• Here is some information that Joe provides on stress:
  • Stress response
    • fight or flight
    • divert energy to important areas (brain and muscles)
    • increase energy availability
      • rebound hunger
      • may redistribute storage to places we don’t want it
    • response is generally unresolved in a society where we are sedintary

    Stress negative effects

    • Not a direct connection between heart disease and stress in research but it is widely held that stress increases heart disease
      • some info on blood clotting
      • increase in blood pressure
    • Interestingly those with high levels of stress also have other negative health effects (smoking, inactivity, diet)
      • Is lifestyle connected to stress or is stress independant- more research is needed
      • Stress – a matter of perspective.  Situations early in life may determine how we respond to certain situations.  Retirement may be a blessing for some, but a lonely experience for others.
      • Even happy situations cause stress – birth of a child
    • Even so we know stress can have negative impact on the body especially when it is unresolved
    • chronic stress
      • digestive issues
      • appetite
      • lowers immune function
      • can lead to anxiety, depression, insomnia
      • affects blood sugar, fat and pressure

    Signs to look out for

    • anxiety or panic attacks
    • a feeling of being constantly pressured, hassled, and hurried
    • irritability and moodiness
    • physical symptoms, such as stomach problems, headaches, or even chest pain
    • allergic reactions, such as eczema or asthma
    • problems sleeping
    • drinking too much, smoking, overeating, or doing drugs
    • sadness or depression

    Your commute could be a chronic health issue

    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/stress.html

    http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/emotions/stress.html#

    http://www.hormone.org/Resources/Other/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=1119