Choose You Blog

I love colors, especially in the summertime. Something about the sun makes every shade seem to POP! But, I have a confession to make and I don’t think I’m the only guilty party. My diet often hovers in the no-color zone. You know…breads, burgers, fries, meats, coffee, etc. Of course, I include veggies on my sub sandwiches or in my occasional burrito delight, but that’s definitely not enough and I need to do better! Eating colorful foods is about more than having a pretty plate. According to the American Dietitian Association, eating a rainbow of foods is key to consuming important nutrients that we need for maximum health and energy.

Check out this short list of nutrients found in some rainbow veggies:

Orange - Sweet potatoes and carrots contain beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Red - Red peppers and tomatos contain lycopene, a nutrient with some antioxidant properties.

Purple - Red cabbage is a good source of dietary fiber and disease-fighting polyphenols.

What’s funny is that I went on a raw food eating plan for 7 weeks a couple of years ago and you would think that I would have been tired and hungry from the switch to eating “God know what” to eating only fruits and veggies. But, the truth was that I never had so much energy. My skin looked better, my thinking was more clear, and I felt more fit. I’ve made the executive decision to get more colorful veggies into my diet on a daily basis.

Starting tomorrow, I’m going to challenge myself to have at least two servings of NON-green veggies each day. You’ll notice that I haven’t really talked much about fruit in this post. Well, I don’t really have too much of a problem eating a variety of fruits. Berries, cherries, oranges, kiwi, pomegranates, etc…You name it, I’m eating it especially in the summertime! So, this personal challenge is all about vegetables. If you need a reason to join in the challenge (other than the health ones), how’s this? A January study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior found that eating a caretenoid-rich diet gave individuals a glow that were deemed more attractive than suntans.

Beauty in a carrot? I think I can handle that! To jump start my challenge, I found this great salad recipe on FruitsandVeggiesMatter.gov for a Colorful Edamame Salad. It’s a very simple recipe that is a quick way to get two cups of veggies in my diet!

Ingredients:

Directions: To cook edamame, bring 3 cups water to a boil. Add shelled edamame and cook 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold running water to cool. Prepare all other ingredients and combine with the edamame in a large salad bowl. If desired, toss with a low or non-fat dressing of your choice.

What are some ways that you incorporate vegetables in your daily diet? The more creative, the better!

About Christine Green: Christine Green is a freelance writer who also runs a personal assistant business in Brockport, NY. She has been published in Story Bleed (Blog Nosh), Genesee Valley Parent, and has essays in Mother Muse: A Collection of Poetry & Prose Celebrating the Joys & Challenges of Motherhood. She has essays, non-fiction, and fiction pieces in the June 2011 issue of the literary journal aaduna as well as in the newly released book, Motherly Musings. She always wears her sunscreen and routinely slathers it on her children, a daughter, 10, and a son, 6. She blogs at Grown Ups are Like That as well as the Democrat and Chronicle’s Moms Like Me Blog. She’s also a cancer survivor.

There was a time, not too long ago actually, that I thought the only way to exercise and take care of my body was to break a sweat. A long step aerobics class or a fast run was the only way I felt satisfied with a work out. I simply couldn’t imagine an exercise program without several days of hard, sweat-breaking work outs every week.

Recently, though, these hard workouts have had to stop. I have been dealing with various injuries and inflammation in my joints that have required me to slow down.

This was hard for me.

Really, really hard.

I felt frustrated and sullen about having to rest and refrain from strenuous exercise. But I soon came to the realization that “slowing down” is not the same as giving up. In fact, I’ve learned to embrace the more detailed pace of yoga and have found, to my delight, that practicing yoga and meditation is great for your health.

Just some of the many health benefits of yoga include:

• Stress reduction
• Increased fitness
• Lower blood pressure
• Weight loss
• Cholesterol reduction
• Increased flexibility

Stephanie Mortellaro knows first hand how yoga and mediation can bring health, vitality, and peace to your life. At the age of twenty-three Mortellaro, who was a professional dancer, was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and told that she would be in a wheel-chair by the end of the year. This devastating news gave her a determination to live a strong, healthy, and whole life. It was meditation and yoga that helped her find strength when the disease was at its worst:

“I began to meditate on a very regular basis and then began studying the yoga asana’s (yoga poses) with a teacher. At first I needed to work privately as my body was very fragile. I actually quit yoga a few times as it asked me to explore parts of my ego that I was not ready to look at. At first yoga was all about bringing a new found freedom to my ever freezing joints – I felt like the tin man and after a yoga class I felt I had been oiled – it was wonderful! In time I became ready to learn the other aspects of yoga, the part that makes it ‘yoga’– the parts that had me delve into the self, take my journey inward, ask myself ‘who am I?’ – this is the most powerful part of the yogic journey and one that I suspect I will always be on. Today I am a very healthy vibrant woman that is off ALL medications that I once took for many years for my RA – I have been able to do this by managing my stress through mediation and deep restoring poses, manage my ever changing body through asana and seeing the world in a new way. I have a deep sense of the present moment and have enough years behind me now to know that our darkest hours always end and the sun comes out again.”

Today Stephanie is a certified yoga and pilates instructor who owns her own yoga studio, Beyond Yoga and Pilates, in Brockport, NY.

You, too, can incorporate yoga and meditation in your exercise regime to gain a better understanding of your mind and body. Stephanie says that the best way to ease into a yoga practice if you have never tried it before is to, “start with a foundational class with a teacher who is both nurturing and knowledgeable. Do not try and do the asana’s based off of a tape, these postures have strong effects on the body – doing them in the right way for your individual needs is critical to your having a positive experience. ”

Stephanie also notes that no one, no matter their limitations, should be intimated by yoga. She points out that you, “do not need to be able to touch your toes – you only need to be able to open yourself to the journey inward… ‘stretching’ yourself to discover who you are!” Even children can enjoy yoga with proper instruction from a skilled and certified teacher.

If you are confused about the many types of yoga classes available (Iyengar, Bikram, Ashtanga, Kripalu, etc.), consider trying an Iyengar style class to begin with. Mortellaro explains,

“In the Iyengar tradition we believe that each small adjustment is to bring a heightened awareness towards your physical body first – opening you to your physical intelligence so that intelligence can explore the areas in your body where there is little to no awareness. This awareness of the physical is the door into the awareness of the mental – ‘Who am I?’ ‘Who carries this body?’ These are the deep questions that begin to unfold as the practitioner explores themselves in body and in self. Subtle alignment of the bones, muscles and organs will lead to a freedom from the physical pains of life in turn leading to the release of the turmoil in the mind. Remembering the second sutra which tells us that ‘yoga is the cessation of the turning of the mind.’”

Yoga has become a very important part of my current exercise program, and it has helped me gain a better understanding of not only my body but my whole self–physically and mentally. Meditation has enabled me to calm my all to busy mind thus reducing my stress levels when they peak. And even though running and aerobics is off the table for now, I feel strong and healthy when I practice yoga every week. Consider giving yoga and meditation a try–you won’t regret it!

On my nightstand I have a women’s magazine with a screaming headline on the cover about ten things I can do to lose weight without even trying. Riiiiiiiight. No effort whatsoever. What demographic is that aimed at? On a news program, a doctor does surprise visits to households to rate their kitchen food contents. His goal is to show people the hidden weight gain foods they are eating. The household shown was full of potato chips and soda, and the man of the house admitted he had a soda with his meal and liked potato chips on the side. The doctor advised eating fresh vegetables on the side instead, and drinking water instead of soda. [insert dusting hands] Problem solved! Or is it?

Again…what demographic is this aimed at?

Not me, aka the aging woman aka the old gray mare who ain’t what she used to be.

I was blessed until about age 30 with a metabolism that knew no limits, and thus, neither did my eating. However, I did eat healthy for the most part, a habit I grew up with. But I got into the habit, also, of not counting calories or worrying about what I ate. I was also really active. In my 30s I made a few physiological colossal catastrophes as far as my body was concerned: I moved up the corporate ladder and got more bottom-in-chair time and I got pregnant. Twice. Happy go lucky eating and exercise days, goodbye.

By 40? I’d already gone back to Weight Watchers three times. The first time was post-pregnancy one. The second was post-pregnancy two and I just never lost the baby weight. In fact, I left the hospital postpartum weighing more than I did when I went in! (That should have been a red flag, by the way, to the medical staff who should never have released me. I was back in the ER within 24 hours deathly ill and spent three months recuperating, yes, with a toddler and newborn.) I was actually overweight then. Not even nursing helped me, although I was surely hungry all the time. I got down to a great size and weight. Which I maintained for a couple of years. Then another illness and round of treatment left me with a solid 15 to lose. Which I did. But then two years later, I was back in the fight against the bulge. I feel like I’m on a yo-yo diet, even though I’m using a healthy eating lifestyle “diet” versus a fad or theme diet. Still, despite rigorous and regular exercise and daily journaling of eating right within my points limits, I’m in a war against creeping pounds. Technically my weight and BMI are right in the middle of regular. But I know my body and I see the little love handles. I am not pleased.

Let’s look at my diet, take today for example: breakfast — whole grain organic granola (1 cup) in low fat soy milk; snack — fat free yogurt and fruit; lunch: fresh chicken salad (no mayo) with blueberries and almonds on 100 calorie whole grain sandwich rounds with a side of tomatoes, carrots, and sweet peas. Dinner will be fish with green beans and probably a glass of wine (1 cup), maybe a dessert yogurt (fat free chocolate mousse). Tasty. Also? Low fat, low calorie and full of healthy foods, the very ones that I am supposed to eat. Right? Right?

Potatoes, two years ago hailed as a miracle food full of health benefits and weight-loss potential, were this week slammed for being the culprit to those one to two pound per year weight gain creeps that end up with us looking bulky by 50 and wondering what happened. Still. I don’t really eat potatoes. Or potato chips. Nor do I drink soda. Today I had water, water, sparkling water, and water. Not even juice.

Now there is this:

People commonly find it hard to take off the pound or two a year that most adults put on. But it can be done. At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, researcher Anne McTiernan tried it with 439 overweight-to-obese women ages 50 to 75, because less is known about successful ways to lose weight for women in this age range. Some dieted at moderate levels, some exercised at moderate to vigorous levels, and some did both…

Ah ha, so the truth is…I haven’t really been the target demographic.

McTiernan’s four-year study in short:

Lifestyle interventions for weight loss are the cornerstone of obesity therapy, yet their optimal design is debated. This is particularly true for postmenopausal women; a population with a high prevalence of obesity yet toward whom fewer studies are targeted. We conducted a year-long, 4-arm randomized trial among 439 overweight-to-obese postmenopausal sedentary women to determine the effects of a calorie-reduced, low-fat diet (D), a moderate-intensity, facility-based aerobic exercise program (E), or the combination of both interventions (D+E), vs. a no-lifestyle-change control (C) on change in body weight and composition.

. . .

Using an intention-to-treat analysis, average weight loss at 12 months was −8.5% for the D group (P < 0.0001 vs. C), −2.4% for the E group (P = 0.03 vs. C), and −10.8% for the D+E group (P < 0.0001 vs. C), whereas the C group experienced a nonsignificant −0.8% decrease. BMI, waist circumference, and % body fat were also similarly reduced. Among postmenopausal women, lifestyle-change involving diet, exercise, or both combined over 1 year improves body weight and adiposity, with the greatest change arising from the combined intervention.

So, in short, proper diet and exercise are the keys.  You also need to choose the right foods (this week’s are yogurt, nuts, and blueberries), get enough sleep, be vigorous in exercise, manage stress, and avoid bad foods (this week’s are potatoes and fruit juice).

If you happen to be a middling age-ish woman, you immediately see the inherent challenge in this prescription for maintaining weight and preventing weight creep. Especially if you have hormones. That are fluctuating.

However, at the end of the day, we do our best. My knees may not be able to keep up with the rigor of running of high-impact aerobics, but I mix in stair stepper, yoga, walking, and low-impact. I may gravitate to Skinny Cow ice cream in the summer, but I eat largely fresh fruit and vegetables alongside mostly healthy and low fat entrees. The bottom line is? This is the new normal. You can fight pounds creep (which also decreases a lot of health risks including cancer) and get all the health benefits of exercise, but that just keeps you healthy at your current age. No matter what you Wii says, you aren’t ever going to be physically 25 again. So if you’re still there? Enjoy it. And know that aging means increasing healthy lifestyle choices, so make them while you’re young. If you’re where I am or beyond? It’s okay. We look and feel better than we think we do.

In a recent post, “Getting Active: Exercise as a means to what end?” we got some really fantastic comments. One in particular struck me. Sherri said, “I am active two or so hours a day–heart rate up and exercising–but with chemo induced neuropathy and fatique I sometimes wonder if it will ever get better. I am happier when I am active; I just have so much discomfort and that slows me down.” Getting active can be a challenge in and of itself, but adding in the challenge of enduring cancer treatment can make it not only difficult, but also painful. Colleen Doyle, M.S., R.D., Director of Nutrition and Physical Activity for the American Cancer Society, has some advice for our friends undergoing cancer treatment who want to remain active. Please also make sure to read our outline of exercise safety and precautions for cancer survivors and talk to your doctor before adopting any exercise regimen.

My dad is a runner. And a cancer survivor. But for a while, during and shortly after treatment, he stopped running. And missed it, a lot. He wasn’t told to not exercise, but he wasn’t encouraged to, and he just wasn’t sure if he should.

That was about 15 years ago, and in that amount of time, we’ve learned so much about the benefits of being active – for all of us, but particularly, for cancer survivors. All the current research about exercise and cancer survivors points to the ‘bottom line’ of a report for survivors released last year by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM): avoid inactivity. Words for all of us to live by.

We now know that it’s safe and feasible for people to be active during cancer treatment, while recovering from treatment and beyond. We know that being active can help reduce fatigue (sounds counter-intuitive, but true!), improve strength and cardiovascular fitness, and can help reduce anxiety and depression. And we know that research is accumulating that demonstrates that physical activity after a cancer diagnosis reduces the risk of cancer recurrence and improves overall mortality among some survivor groups, like breast and colorectal cancer survivors. Pretty. Powerful. Stuff.

Data from almost 3,000 breast cancer survivors in the Nurses’ Health Study showed that higher levels of physical activity after treatment were associated with a 26% to 40% reduction in the risk of breast cancer recurrence, breast cancer-specific mortality, and all-cause mortality. This risk reduction was seen with as lit¬tle as 1 to 3 hours per week of moderate inten¬sity activity (like walking a 15 minute mile ), with greater reductions for those women doing even more – 3 to 5 hours per week. And we’re starting to see similar, very positive associations in colorectal cancer survivors. Although we need more research in this area, living a physically active lifestyle is a message I tell every cancer survivor I know.

Now of course, there are some precautions that need to be considered and some adjustments that may need to be made to your activity routine. If you were already active before your diagnosis, you may need to temporarily exercise at a lower intensity and progress at a slower pace than you usually might. If you really haven’t been active, it’s a good idea to ‘simply’ start with low-intensity activities – like stretching and slow, short walks – and slowly build up to more activity. If you have bone disease, and/or your treatment has resulted in loss of sensation in your arms or legs, it’s important to keep balance and safety in mind. You may want to consider, for example, riding a stationary bike as opposed to walking. For additional precautions and other information, read Physical Activity and the Cancer Patient.

If you are looking for an exercise professional who is specifically trained to work with cancer survivors, visit the American College of Sports Medicine’s website. Given the growing importance of encouraging and supporting physically active lifestyles among cancer survivors, the American Cancer Society teamed up with ACSM to create a specialty certification for health and fitness professionals working with cancer survivors. You may be able to find a specially-trained fitness professional close by.

I have not been treated for cancer, so I have not experienced what a lot of you have. I do recall during my first pregnancy, though, that there were days I was so exhausted and uncomfortable that I could barely walk down the street; a time I actually had to sit and rest on a barrel of detergent at a warehouse store; and times when walking on a treadmill at even 1.5 mph seemed like quite a task. I admit that on some days, I forced myself to ‘get out there’. On other days, though, I just said – forget it. It’s not happening today. It’s important that you give yourself that permission – that permission to say today, I am going to be a couch potato. Tomorrow is another day.

But that bottom line – avoid inactivity – is an important message to keep in mind for the long haul.

And as for my father? In a few short weeks, he will be joining my sons and I for his tenth running of the Peachtree Road Race, the country’s largest 10K. And a few short months after that, he will celebrate his 80th birthday.

For all of us, I have to believe that being physically active is the closest thing to the fountain of youth that we’ve got.

As you’ve hopefully heard, the FDA has changed the rules for over-the-counter sunscreens. According to fda.gov:

he Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking steps to help protect consumers from skin damage caused by excessive sun exposure.

The new measures include the following:

• final regulations that establish standards for testing the effectiveness of sunscreen products and require labeling that accurately reflects test results
• a proposed regulation that would limit the maximum SPF value on sunscreen labeling to “SPF 50+”
• a data request for safety and effectiveness information for sunscreen products formulated in certain dosage forms (e.g., sprays)
• a draft guidance for sunscreen manufacturers on how to test and label their products in light of these new measures.

These measures are necessary, says Lydia Velazquez, PharmD, in FDA’s Division of Nonprescription Regulation Development, because “our scientific understanding has grown. We want consumers to understand that not all sunscreens are created equal.”

“This new information will help consumers know which products offer the best protection from the harmful rays of the sun,” Velazquez says. “It is important for consumers to read the entire label, both front and back, in order to choose the appropriate sunscreen for their needs.”

Everyone is potentially susceptible to sunburn and the other detrimental effects of exposure to UV radiation.

In short, if a sunscreen is labeled Broad Spectrum it means that the product protects against sunburn, skin damage, skin cancer and early aging. It also means it has an SPF of 15 or greater and greater overall protection. Products that do not meet these criteria will carry warnings about the dangers of spending time in the sun and lack of skin protection.

Sunscreens in the form of oils, creams, lotions, gels, butters, pastes, ointments, sticks, and sprays are eligible for the label and marketing “broad spectrum” if they qualify, but wipes, towelettes, powders, body washes, and shampoo are not eligible. The FDA is further evaluating sprays for other concerns, such as dangers of inhalation.

The FDA is also requiring that labels be clearer for consumers regarding application, and water and sweat “proof” claims:

• Water resistance claims on the product’s front label must tell how much time a user can expect to get the declared SPF level of protection while swimming or sweating, based on standard testing. Two times will be permitted on labels: 40 minutes or 80 minutes.
• Manufacturers cannot make claims that sunscreens are “waterproof” or “sweatproof, or identify their products as “sunblocks.”   Also, sunscreens cannot claim protection immediately on application (for example, “instant protection”) or protection for more than two hours without reapplication, unless they submit data and get approval from FDA.

These rules are effective June 2012.

For more information, check the sunscreen label detail PDF.

Kids learn from many sources — including you and from outside sources such as television characters, books, games, peers, and more. I’ve learned that my little pitchers have big ears and even bigger mouths. I’ve also learned that it can be harder than I expected to control the message and lesson learned…

On Sunday, my older daughter went to an outdoor party, where the kids rode horses, had a treasure hunt, and swam. I put sunblock on her but reminded her she’d need to re-apply during the many outdoor, sun-filled activities. Still, she came home sunburned. Nearly ten years of perfectly protected skin, undone in one afternoon. “You can get cancer from that,” my younger daughter informed them both direly, “You need to protect your skin!”

My daughter jogged in to my bathroom this morning. “I’ve been exercising,” she announced, “You ned to keep your heart pumping and muscles strong!”

“I’ve gotten out the vegetables. I chose carrots for my eyes,” my daughter told me as she helped me prepare lunch the other day.

Children listen and they hear, they absorb. The bad side to this is…scare tactics such as one sunburn gives you cancer (not true, although sunburn does increase risk) and occasionally loud remarks about choices perceived as unhealthy. The good side is that seeing an early example sets good habits and mindsets that will set kids towards healthy choices for life. The challenge is presenting this information in an age-appropriate way so kids understand that “eat dark green food” means broccoli not jello, and that one sunburn is not a death sentence.

There are some good programs for parents and kids, but I am currently a fan of a few spots that had truly helpful ideas. One is the PBS Kids Happy Healthy Summer. Favorite characters encourage kids to make healthy “choose you” choices though songs, games, and snacks. Maya and Miguel offer healthy recipe ideas simple enough that kids can cook it (with parental supervision), CyberChase offers interesting activities and experiments, and other characters offers stories and games (which didn’t thrill me because…sitting at a computer versus doing an activity). But it also offers some great, helpful tips about encouraging kids to eat healthy, keeping kids active, and more such as things to do in nature (check out their parent helpers).

Kids.gov also offers good advice and information, geared towards older kids I thought. Best Bones Forever shared a campaign to strengthen bones, and increase vitamin D and calcium, but in fun ways. There’s a dance contest, a fresh fruit burrito recipe (kids can rate it!) and other recipes (for every meal of the day), information for parents, “get active” ideas and information, a writing contest and more. Kids.gov also breaks it down by age and stage, which is useful.

The bonus is these good suggestions can help you keep to your pledges for good health choices.

Over 70 kayaks, canoes and sailboats attend The Baywood Navy Boatzart 2008 Concert, Baywood, Los Osos, CA 03 August 2008, listening to music from Ron Saul and the Howlie Playboys. Photo by Mike Baird bairdphotos.com

Oh the weekend! Happy Friday, happy days off (or…at least happy not the usual grind)! After the hustle and hurry of the week, the schedules and routines, the weekend seems like a great time to slack off. Taking it easy, slowing down, taking time to enjoy time, friends and family are great and healthy ways to slack off. But avoiding your exercise and throwing your healthy eating plan aside are not. Keeping to your Choose You commitments can definitely be fun, though. Here’s how:

1. Eat right, keep the yum! This is a delicious recipe perfect for summer weekends:

Greek Chicken with Tomatoes, Peppers, Olives, Feta

Lemon, mint, and a garnish of crumbled feta cheese bring the flavors of Greece to this easy chicken dish. If fresh Roma tomatoes aren’t available, canned tomatoes will provide the same cancer-fighting nutrients and vivid color.

To make Greek seasoning salt, combine:

2 teaspoons of garlic salt,

2 teaspoons of lemon pepper,

2 teaspoons of oregano, and

2 teaspoons of dried mint.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/4 cup flour

8 teaspoons Greek seasoning salt, divided

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 large onion, sliced lengthwise

1 green pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced lengthwise into strips

3 Roma tomatoes, cut into eighths

3 tablespoons Kalamata olives, chopped

3 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

Dredge chicken in flour mixed with 4 teaspoons of Greek seasoning. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add chicken, sautéing for 3 to 4 minutes until cooked through. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Add onion to skillet and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add bell pepper and cook another 2 minutes. Return chicken to skillet and cook 1 to 2 minutes, sprinkling with remaining Greek seasoning. Mix in tomatoes.

Remove from heat, transfer to serving dish, and sprinkle with olives and feta cheese.

Serves 8. Approximate per serving: 210 calories; 9.5 grams of fat

This recipe and many more come from the ACS book, Celebrate! Healthy Entertaining for Any Occasion–available by calling 1-800-ACS-2345.

2. Get active, keep the fun! These are fun and active ways to enjoy a weekend (solo or with friends and family):

• Take a hike
• Channel your inner child and hoola hoop
• Swim races or water games at the pool
• Play a favorite game: tennis, softball, football, basketball
• Grab some sidewalk chalk and play hopscotch
• Go roller skating
• Go canoeing
• Go dancing

3. Protect your skin, keep the fun in the sun!

Remember, sunscreen doesn’t mean your skin is blocked from sun — it just provides a layer of protection to help prevent damage. Make sure to read the facts about sunscreen and how it works, but here are the crucial points:

When using an SPF 30 sunscreen and applying it thickly, you get the equivalent of 1 minute of UVB rays for each 30 minutes you spend in the sun. So, 1 hour in the sun wearing SPF 30 sunscreen is the same as spending 2 minutes totally unprotected. People often do not apply a thick enough layer of sunscreen, so the actual protection they get is less.

Sunscreens labeled with SPFs as high as 100+ are now available. Higher numbers do mean more protection, but many people mistakenly think that a sunscreen with an SPF 45 rating would give 3 times as much protection as one with an SPF of 15. This is not true. SPF 15 sunscreens filter out about 93% of UVB rays, while SPF 30 sunscreens filter out about 97%, SPF 50 sunscreens about 98%, and SPF 100 about 99%. The higher you go, the smaller the difference becomes. No sunscreen protects you completely. Regardless of the SPF, sunscreen should be reapplied often for maximal protection.

The SPF number indicates protection against UVB rays only. Sunscreen products labeled “broad-spectrum” provide some protection against both UVA and UVB rays, but at this time there is no standard system for measuring protection from UVA rays. Products that contain avobenzone (Parsol 1789), ecamsule, zinc oxide, or titanium dioxide can provide some protection from UVB and most UVA rays.

Have a great weekend!

As tough as it is to overcome a smoking habit or addiction, there’s one more good reason to do so: increased risk of breast cancer. Being in shape and at a healthy weight is not deterrent to this risk. The biggest factors are how long women smoked and how much they smoke. According to HHS HealthBeat:

A study indicates that postmenopausal women who smoke have a higher risk of breast cancer. At West Virginia University, Juhua Luo and colleagues looked at more than 10 years of data on close to 80,000 women ages 50 to 79 in the Women’s Health Initiative.

“The more women smoked, and the longer they smoked, and the earlier they started smoking, the higher the risk.’’ Dr. Luo says the risk fell in women who quit smoking, but it takes up to 20 years to go back to that of a nonsmoker. She says it’s another reason for women not to smoke, or to quit smoking if they smoke currently. The study in the journal BMJ was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

This increased risk was directly related to body weight, although less so for obese women, who showed no increase in risk of cancer. However, that does not mean obesity and smoking are ways to decrease cancer risk.  The National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health explain:

Breast cancer risk was higher than normal among female smokers who were not obese, but this strong association was not evident in obese female smokers, according to a new study.

. . .

“We found an association between smoking and breast cancer risk among non-obese women, which is understandable because tobacco is known carcinogen. However, we did not find the same association between smoking and breast cancer risk among obese women. This result was surprising,” Juhua Luo, an assistant professor in the department of community medicine at West Virginia University, said in an AACR news release.

People should not take the wrong message from these findings, said Luo, who emphasized that previous research has shown that obesity alone is a risk factor for breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

“This is only the first study to examine the interaction between smoking, obesity and breast cancer risk. The main conclusion from this research is that more studies are needed to confirm these results,” Luo said.

You can read the abstract here for more information.

Americans spend $40 Billion annually on weight-loss programs and products.

To consider that in other ways, that’s:

• the value of  Apple’s cash holdings
• how much Microsoft is spending on a stock buy back
• how much America still has invested in the auto industry
• the mining industry in Canada
• the cost of the BP oil spill
• the cost of the Olympics in Beijing
• a broadband network for Australia
• the amount 20% improved efficiency can save businesses in energy costs each year
• health care for Connecticut employees through 2017
• the annual cost of the common cold

$40 billion may not buy what it once did (really? the common cold costs that much each year?) but it’s still a very significant amount. Clearly, Americans are thinking with their wallets when it comes to losing weight. Eating right, though, can be a real headache. Some diets advocate no carbohydrates, others emphasize fruit. Most Americans have seen the Four Food Groups morph to the Food Pyramid, and now, the shape has changed again. How do you know how to eat right?

ChooseMyPlate.gov is actually a useful site, with a good perspective on healthy, balanced, portion-controlled eating. The plate is a cute shape, and back to nearly as simple as the original four food groups. Cuteness aside, though, it’s premise is very straightforward and simple:

Balancing Calories
● Enjoy your food, but eat less.
● Avoid oversized portions.

Foods to Increase
● Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
● Make at least half your grains whole grains.
● Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

Foods to Reduce
● Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals ― and choose the foods with lower numbers.
● Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

But it’s the other features that make it actually good to use:

• It supports a healthy vegetarian diet.
• The comprehensive guidelines also cover vegan diets, nutrients, balance, foods to reduce, and more.
• The site offers tips for eating out and simply explains the food groups.
• You can look up foods for information about them.
• It will also build you a customized daily food plan.

And of course…it’s free.

It isn’t a quick pill and it won’t run a headline “ten ways to lose weight without even trying” but it’s a great (FREE!) tool you can use to aid you in supporting your eat right Choose You pledge.

Summer came early here, on the heels of a drought. By the end of May, temperatures were already pushing 100, with equivalent humidity, and the greens had already shriveled to dried khaki and brown. Just the sound of cicadas makes exercise, such a brisk walk or jog, sound like an exhausting and unwelcome prospect. In other places, winter is hanging on, or the outdoors is a place of constant rain and wild weather. Add in busy schedules, kids, and other attention thieves, and it seems nearly impossible to get exercise. Six regular women shared their ideas for how they juggle it all in, including exercise:

Christine Green advises, “Three words: get. up. early. I do all of my exercise between 5:30 am and 7am. It is hard, but so worth it especially when the days are hot and there is a ton of stuff on the day’s agenda.” She also suggests, “Work out with the kids. Babies and toddlers can be put in a backpack and taken on a hike or walk and older kids can hike, run, or walk with you. It’s a good way to introduce them to exercise.”

That’s so true. I often shift to daily yoga in the summer, from a tape on TV, and my kids like to join in. Nearly any mobile age can, but with little ones you have to keep an eye on them to ensure they don’t get hurt. It’s a good fun start to the day, and a healthy example. An evening family bike ride is another good idea.

Sandra Julich advises, “There are aquatic exercises with noodles for free on-line that I would like to try this year while watching the kids out by our pool. I normally either get up early or will take them to our gym with fun child care, classes and camps.”

The Mayo Clinic has a really easy-to-follow slide show with good aquatic exercises.

Catherine Holecko advises, “This is the golden year where both my kids are the right age for the “fun” drop-off kids’ area at our Y. (It’s not for little tinies–that’s child care; and it’s not for older kids–they can roam free.) So I’m ALL OVER that. Plus, we can ride our bikes to the Y for more exercise. I also use the dreaded ‘mill for days when it’s too hot or buggy to be outside, or when I need to be at home with kids. I save my favorite podcasts for treadmill sessions. Lots more on this at my familyfitness.about.com site.”

The pool is a common theme! Natalie Schaffer O’Neill also suggests swimming laps at the pool, pointing out that there are lifeguards for the kiddos. She also suggests water aerobics. Water aerobics are a good cardio workout and are easy on the joints. In the class I’ve taken ages have ranged from 27 to 70!

Mary P Gilmour also says she has always used water – pool or beach. She said, “Works once the kids are old enough to swim a bit. When they were really little, my mother-in-law (bless her) would watch them while I swam.”

It’s a good idea if you don’t have access to childcare to do a tradeoff with a friend. Exercise buddies are great to motivate you and keep you on track, even if they aren’t necessarily working out with you.