November 29, 2010

Surviving the Holidays—Healthy

Author: Maria Ali

Thanksgiving is over, but the holidays are still in full effect! We have about 5 more weeks until we make it to 2011, but don’t take the back seat to your health from now until January.

Here are some tips to keep you encouraged and motivated:

Weight
• Goal: Maintain your weight.
• You DO NOT have to gain weight just because the holidays come around.
• If you’re motivated, continue with your weight loss goals, but if that seems too stressful, just aim to maintain your current weight, and pick it back up after the New Year.

Exercise
• Goal: Stay active.
• Be physically active everyday in any way for at least 30 minutes or more.
• If you can’t make it to the gym, make your holiday chores work for you.
   -   Shopping? Park farther. Take the stairs instead of the escalator. 
   -   House chores? Think of house chores as your new circuit routine—laundry, mopping, vacuuming, and scrubbing. Scrub that tub a little harder. Move the furniture around and vacuum all those areas you usually skip. I promise if you don’t take a break your heart rate will start pumping!

Diet
• Goal:  Balance out the calories.
• You can still enjoy your favorite holiday goodies without putting on the extra pounds if you balance out your calorie intake.
• Focus on portion and frequency. 
     – How much mac & cheese will you put on your plate? ½ cup would be an appropriate serving size. How many times this week did you eat dessert? Consider limiting it to only 2.
• The veggie tray is your best friend at a holiday feast…just don’t over-do it on the dip!

Follow these tips and enjoy all the holiday festivities guilt-free.

Maria Ali, RD, LD/N
Nutrition Manager

January 12, 2010

Tough Choices

Author: Greg Higgerson

Like my friend and colleague Brady Koch, I too am taking the Pound for Pound Challenge to become healthier by losing weight in 2010.  And to help raise a few bucks for Second Harvest Food Bank.

And like most people who set out to shed excess weight, I’ve developed some personal strategies and goals around the process. Naturally, most of these involve changes in the choices that I make about both food and exercise. As I think about the changes I’m making in these two areas, I am reminded just how fortunate I am to be in an economic position that allows me to choose and purchase foods that are healthier for me.  

So many of our neighbors in Central Florida face extremely limited food choices based simply on their ability to pay. They must stretch their resources to buy the less-expensive, less-nutritious foods that we know can contribute to obesity and a wide range of associated health problems.  

 The University of Washington’s Center for Public Health Nutrition has conducted a number of fascinating studies on social and economic disparities in health and the links between obesity and poverty. 

One of these studies (2007) examined the price, calories, and relative nutritional value of more than 400 typical grocery items. For the items at the low-end of the nutritional scale (high sugar, starch, empty calories— think “junk” food), it was found that the average cost per 1,000 calories was $1.73. At the other end of that nutritional spectrum, the highly nutritious foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, dairy products, etc. averaged more than $17.00 per 1,000 calories. 

Since a typical family of four (two adults and two children) has a total weekly calorie need of somewhere around 50,000 calories, it’s not difficult to see how low-income families must make less healthy food choices just to meet the calorie need on the money they have. Instead of spending $4 on one red bell pepper, for example, they’ll use those same dollars to purchase 6 boxes of macaroni and cheese.  

Other studies have shown that people in low-income families often exercise up to 25% less than others in our population; a result of  living in neighborhoods that feel less than safe. Think “less time outdoors.” Instead of going out for a brisk walk, bike ride,or tennis, many people are inside their apartments with the doors locked.  

Why is it important to think about these things? Well, I believe it’s important because of the pervasiveness of the negative stereotypes that exist of obese people who live in poverty in our country. We sometimes hear sentiments along the lines of “How dare these people presume to ask me or anyone else for assistance with food, when they’re obviously eating too much already?”  

I understand the counterintuitive nature of this issue, but when the facts are examined, there is simply no question that millions of Americans don’t walk on the same playing field as others do when it comes to the nutritional quality of one of life’s most basic necessities. I hope that more people will take that into consideration before they pass a quick judgment.  

At Second Harvest Food Bank, we’re working hard to make certain that more low-income families than ever before have access to the high-nutrition type foods that they must routinely walk past in the supermarket. We have a long way to go in this regard, but like a familiar grocery retailer’s familiar slogan, we are definitely “getting better all the time.”     

Wish me luck on my weight transformation—I’m going to need it:).

Greg Higgerson
VP of Development

December 21, 2009

Working Together to Save Winter Break

Author: Brady Koch

This past Saturday we partnered with Orange County Public Schools and the Winter Park Health Foundation to provide food to families this holiday season. The two week break from school can be especially difficult to children who rely on the free and reduced school lunch program. With this in mind, we gathered a team of volunteers, 22,000 lbs of food and marketed the weekend food distribution to children participating in our Hi-Five program at eight of the schools located near our two distribution sites.

 When I arrived at Cheney Elementary on Saturday, there were already some families there over an hour and a half earlier than our scheduled starting time. We had 10 palettes of potatoes, oranges, bread , pastries, and pantry boxes filled with 14 common items like peanut butter and tuna. As the morning went on, we ended up distributing food to 450 families at Cheney and Hungerford Elementary.

A couple of the stories stood out to me that demonstrated how our community comes together in times of need. Two mothers whose families received food that morning returned to our site to volunteer the rest of the day. Another mother, who had no transportation, walked for two hours to get to our site. She was willing to physically carry all of the food back home. Thankfully, another volunteer loaded up her groceries and drove her home.

A father and son rode to our site on bicycles and a pair of volunteers tried their best to safely load the bicycles with any food that they could carry. When another recipient family saw this they offered to take the father and son, bicycles, and food back home.

While we know it isn’t enough food for two entire weeks in meals it was enough to make an immediate difference in these families’ lives. It was a great way to come together as a community and fight hunger in Central Florida.

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations & Programs