How to save gas money: don’t be fat

I’m looking forward to discussing further why we choose to interact with the environment the way we do, but an article I came across yesterday got me thinking even more and more about the impact of our consumption habits specifically those that lead to obesity.

The Storm, The Sequel

Another reason why voting matters: putting incompetent people in office who appoint incompetent people to important positions literally makes people sick.

Are you fit?

Recently, I learned that there is a tremendous difference in being healthy and living a healthy lifestyle and being fit.  As I looked around in the various activities I am involved in, I wondered why some individuals did not look like they could do the things they do.  Like the guy who plavs basketball every day at lunch, but still has a potbelly. 

Saving Black Men at the Barbershop

I came across a great article today which found that “After an eight-month, barbershop-based intervention, men with high blood pressure were much more likely to start receiving treatment and to get their blood pressure under control than their peers given standard care, Dr. Paul L. Hess of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and colleagues found.”

Are you afraid of the Internet?

The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan recently published a survey called The National Poll on Children’s Health. While this report calls out the usual suspects of drugs and obesity, there was one concern that was surprisingly high: the Internet.

Who’s fault is it that we’re fat?

This NY Times article says that it is partly the fault of the government that we have an obesity problem in the United States. Don’t be confused: this does not mean that there is no personal responsibility when it comes to your own health and diet. What it does mean is that the most effective way to make everyone more healthy is through policies that support our health! D@mn, that is another chink in the armor of the whole “politics doesn’t effect my life” ideology.

How are you eating?

Earlier, I wrote a piece on going to the gym that ruffled some feathers but when it comes to being healthy in our non-stop lives, exercising is only part of the story. I am focusing on eating today because every week, new studies contradict either long-held beliefs or the studies that were published the week before. How do you sort through them all? By getting back to basics.

Now I am no nutritionist, but I know that each of you have learned some tips for eating healthy. So my challenge to you is the share with the world what practices, dishes, mindsets, etc. have had the biggest impact on helping you eat healthy.

I’ll start.

1) Beef, not pork. Hopefully, I don’t have to explain.

2) I had to cut back on eating frozen dinners for lunch after someone told me how much sodium they have. As a result, I now eat turkey or corned beef sandwiches.

3) To help me drink water, I take multivitamins in the morning and I eat nutrition/energy bars in the afternoon which further encourages the water intake.

4) I either eat an orange or an apple during the day and I try to incorporate vegetables for dinner at night.

5) I don’t like taking time to cook so one of my staples now is to get minute rice that you throw in the microwave, add some grilled chicken or steak strips, and top it off with peas or corn. Now I know that eating microwaved foods is not the best thing in the world, but until some of you teach me how to cook fresh food fast, I am sticking with it.

Looking forward to your comments,

Stay up fam,

Brandon

Men Encouraging Health Awareness

NPR had a story on the 100 Black Men of Atlanta who did a project to raise health awarness in their community. It is a good project, with the most interesting piece of it, in my opinion, being the PR campaign. They are raising awareness by having prominent black men go to various places and speak on their positive experiences of getting diagnosed and being treated for their various conditions (high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc.). The goal is that these respected me will inspire both men and women to be more conscious about their health.

I’m not saying this is a new tactic or concept, but I do think it can work and is worth a try.

…and they say any group comprised of of black men is a bad thing…