I stared into my soul. The mirror looked back at me and whispered “nothing in life is given to you, you have to earn it.” I stepped out the door. Ready.
I was nervous. It was not the midterm that I had to take on the evening of my 25th birthday. It was something else. This was different. My mind and my body had to work together to face this obstacle. The spirit itself had to push forth in order to accomplish the daunting task that had been masochistically laid out in front of me. I had to take it one mile at a time. I could not stop until my forerunner flashed the number 25.
I was not a marathon runner and school had been coming in the way of my training, so this run was about to test my limits. For that very reason, it was worth the anxiety I felt as I stepped into the cold at 8’o clock in the morning on my 25th birthday.
The cool breeze and the simplicity of putting one foot in front of the other, with nothing else to worry about, made the first 18 miles or so enjoyable. For the last seven miles, a different kind of fun took over. The suffering began. My thighs cramped up on every incline. My blistered feet weakened my pace. It did not seem to matter. At that point my body was on auto-pilot. The spirit was in control.
After four hours and 45 minutes of running, I completed 25 miles. I knew that it was not the fastest time by any means, but at that moment it did not matter. The pain I felt was mine. I had earned it.
No matter who you are, the only way to discover your limits is to push them. Get out there and earn your pain. It will teach you more about yourself than you could ever have imagined.
First, its presence appeared while I was putting gas in my car. “Cute,” I thought; I stared at it while the fuel flowed. A week later, it appeared at my door, right in front of my eyes, begging to be noticed. Again, its black and red body would make itself apparent, with its squiggly antennae and spindly legs – in its own way, sending me a message.
I’m referring to a bug. With plenty of research (thanks, Google), I’ve discovered the bug I refer to is a “boxelder” and 100% harmless. Do I believe the reappearance of this bug “means something”? Embarrassingly, perhaps.
I have always thought of myself as a spiritual person, which as I’ve grown older has been challenged by those who are religious, or anything but. I find signs in what most consider nothing; believe that trees embody human characters, and that what goes around… definitely comes around. I am asked: what does this “faith” do for me?
It keeps me open-minded, an example being my concern for gay rights. It provides a light in the dark, something to hold onto when nothing tangible seems reliable. It keeps me connected to nature, and allows me to respect all that is of the Earth (don’t be a litterbug; it’s the bad kind of bug.) It permits me to believe my positive actions have a sort of ripple effect, regardless of how small they seem.
With the end of school fast on our heels, we all need a little hope in our lives. Religion, Wiccan, or the belief in the strength of humanity — faith, in general, is vital to success.
And by the way, the bug has appeared on my bed while writing this blog. Is it a sign? I think so : )
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Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion,and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper. On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at jjscicch@syr.edu.
The holiday season is almost in full swing, and in just a few short weeks, students will be heading home to their families for winter break. This migration involves a lot of traveling by cars, airplanes, trains, and so many other modes of transportation. However, not only do these vehicles transport anxious students back to their homes, but they can also transport diseases. Also, other holiday temptations could be potential health hazards if not taken care of correctly. How can one avoid the unhealthy ways of holiday traveling? Here are some tips inYour Wellness M.A.P to Healthy Holiday Travels!
Meals
Where is the love?! It should be with your calories. Often during the holidays, many hotels will offer complimentary champagne, celebratory cookies and cakes, and other foods to customers. Avoid packing on more unnecessary pounds during the break — don’t splurge on these freebies, save the calories for the meals you have with your loved ones. Think of it this way: why get the bulk of your calories from cheap food that hotels can give to hundreds of customers for free? You’ll want to get the most out of your family’s homemade creations, which are definitely made with better ingredients (and more love!) than anything hotels could offer.
Attention!
“That recirculated airplane air is full of diseases!” Obtaining a sickness from an airplane ride has much less to do with the circulation of air than it does with your proximity to someone who is sick. If you’re sitting next to someone who is coughing or sneezing within your area and not being careful, it’s perfectly OK to ask him or her nicely to cough or sneeze into his or her elbows or a tissue, which is the correct way to halt the spread of any sickness. Probably the most hazardous area of an airplane is the bathroom, so be extra cautious about touching faucets and other areas which can attract a lot of moisture and spread disease faster. Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer and use it frequently, especially before eating or touching your face.
Practices
Sleep is one of the BEST gifts to give to yourself. Lengthy road-trips, long flights, late nights with family and friends — all of these things can lead to sleep deprivation. Not having enough sleep could cause you to overeat, feel dizzy, have mood swings, and could potentially lower your body’s ability to fight off diseases. You may think you’re used to it as a college student, but the holidays are the perfect time to catch up on some well needed Z’s, not just for your emotional and mental health, but for your physical health as well.
e home.
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Valentina Palladino is a freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and hopes to major in magazine journalism and English & textual studies. She was the editor-in-chief of her high school’s newspaper and worked for two of her hometown’s local newspapers as a contributing writer. When not writing, Valentina loves theatre, both performing and backstage work, eating her family’s authentic Italian food and, most of all, traveling.
Have a wellness question you’d like a MAP for? Contact Valentina Palladino at vlpallad@syr.edu with questions, comments, or suggestions.
The Skinny Arm. I’ve fallen victim to it far too many times. Popularized several years ago by celebs like Nicole Richie and reality show star Lauren Conrad, the skinny arm — the gesture of placing your arm on your hip — has become a wide spread phenomenon. It is women’s latest attempt to make their arms look slim and trim, and it might temporarily do the trick. But if you are looking to make permanent changes to the tone and definition of those arms of yours, consider these helpful tips to take advantage of while you’re at the gym.
Curls:Whether you prefer using dumbbells or an actual weight machine, curls are the perfect way to tone and strengthen your biceps. If you choose to use a machine, start by doing three sets of 15 reps. Choose a weight that you feel comfortable with and don’t be afraid to start at 15 pounds. If you prefer free weights, alternate between arms, doing 10 reps on each side and then 10 reps with both arms at the end. Remember it’s not about how much you lift in these exercises, it’s about strengthening!
Planks: We all know how great these are for our abs, but they also help work our arms in the process! Do three sets of holding the plank position for 30 seconds each time, resting 30 seconds in between each rep. As your arms become stronger, work up to doing more sets of planks within your cycle or hold each plank a little longer.
Pull down: One of my personal favorite exercises when I want to make my arms look skinny involves using the lat-pull down machine. Stand below the bar, firmly place your feet on the ground and stand straight. Pull down on the bar slowly until it is aligned with your body. Then release and repeat for a total of 15 reps. Do a total of three sets starting at about 30 to 40 pounds. The lat-pull down machine will help make those triceps look toned as can be!
Pushups: They may seem like some of the most generic and common exercises, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t work! Do three sets of 12 reps each. If regular pushups are too uncomfortable, try modified ones by letting your knees touch the ground. Looking for something a little more advanced? Incorporate a stability ball, lay your legs on the ball and then do your 12 reps of pushups.
So stop fearing the camera! By doing these simple exercises, your arms will be toned and sculpted in no time. They may work so well that you won’t even need to do the “skinny arm” anymore.
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Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling and communications.
Oily skin can be nerve-wracking, but there are many ways to combat an oily face. Although there is no specific evidence linking certain foods to acne, it might be a good idea to adjust your diet if you find that foods high in fat and/or sugar like chocolate or French fries cause breakouts. Also, be sure to wash your face every morning and night. Pay special attention to washing off any makeup, which can clog pores and wreak havoc on clear skin. Adding a toner to your routine is also beneficial because it removes impurities that soap and water leave behind. Finally, if you want to use a face cream, use an oil-free moisturizer.
Blotting papers are another handy solution for people with oily skin or combination skin. These little papers control shine easily and fit conveniently in a purse or backpack. Oil absorbing blotting sheets from a drugstore brand like Clean & Clear cost about $4, but you can make your own for little to no cost:
1.Are there arts and crafts supplies lying around? Cut tissue paper into small squares or rectangles and blot your face with these. An added bonus is that the paper comes in a variety of colors. Drugstore blotting papers are usually a dull grey or white.
2.Look in the restroom stall. Yes, the public bathroom has an unexpected beauty tool: the toilet seat cover. The covers are the same material as store bought blotting papers. One seat cover can probably make at least 8 blotting papers.
3.Reach for a napkin or toilet tissue. When there are few options available, this will do the trick!
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Yannique Benitez is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in history. She has written for on-campus publications like Equal Time and has interned at HBO and ThisOldHouse.com. Benitez is interested in investigating new products and procedures for beauty and skin care.
With the holiday season upon us, the worry of packing on some holiday pounds is likely on most peoples’ minds. How on earth can you enjoy your holidays while passing up homemade Christmas cookies for pre-packaged sugar-free, fat-free cardboard? Instead of completely foregoing holiday goodies to keep your beach-bod uncompromised, opt for the healthier options at your holiday gathering or in line at Starbucks. Here’s a list of some of the worst holiday foods, and some healthier alternatives:
A Starbucks Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha packs 520 calories, 18g of fat, and 74gof sugar for 16 oz.! That’s as much sugar as in 43 Hershey’s Kisses and 75% of your daily saturated fat! Instead, try a Caffe Au Lait with Peppermint Syrup, which has only 130 calories, 4g of fat, and 15g of sugar.
With its three main ingredients being sugar, eggs, and cream, a glass of eggnog can have 350 calories, 19g of fat, and 22g sugar. Instead, go for a classic hot chocolate — about 150 calories, 4g fat, and 15g sugar.
Holidayfudge is packed with sugar and butter— 3 small pieces can run you 360 calories, 15g fat, and 51g of sugar. Instead, go for some simple dark chocolate, like Dark Chocolate Hershey’s Kisses— you can have 5 for 100 calories, 6.5g of fat, and 11.5g of sugar!
The popular prime rib at your Christmas dinner is a calorie killer! The more fatty cut of meat has about 750 calories and 45g of fat per serving. Instead, go for a leaner cut. Try beef tenderloin, which has only 165 calories and 7g of fat.
Potato dishes with cheese and sour cream run up your calorie bill really fast. A twice-baked potato can hold 535 calories, 32g of fat, and 920mg of sodium! Instead, go for simply roasted potato dishes, or avoid the carb-packers all together, and substitute this starch with a whole-grain dinner roll or veggies.
Pecan Pie is one of the worst holiday offenders– 810 calories, 65g of fat, and 55g of sugar per slice! Instead, go for the pumpkin pie, which has only about 250 calories per slice.
The classic holiday gift, fruitcake, can run you 400 calories and 35g of sugar per slice! So, when putting together holiday gifts for your friends or coworkers, save them the calories and make some gingersnaps instead, which only have 120 calories and 11g of sugar.
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Kate Morin is a junior magazine journalism major, with minors in hospitality management and English and textual studies. She also writes for the print version of What the Health. Morin loves spending her free time cooking, traveling, and writing all about it.
Cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie are essentials at most Thanksgiving dinner tables. But, cranberry and pumpkin are also good for your skin. Many skin care products include these two ingredients because of their vitamin rich and skin-soothing capabilities.
Cranberry provides a high source of anti-oxidants that are anti-cancer and anti-aging agents. The berry is also rich in vitamins A, B and C, folic acid, and fiber that can improve overall health and help rid skin of blemishes and irritation. You can take advantage of these benefits by eating cranberries, drinking cranberry juice, or using cranberry skin care products. The Body Shop’s Merry Cranberry line has an assortment of lotions, lip balms, and body soaps to choose from. For only $5, you can try the Merry Cranberry 3.5 oz. bar soap.
Pumpkin is rich in a multitude of vitamins including A and C and is good for all skin types, including sensitive skin. This natural cleanser has alpha hydoxy acids that moisturize and purify the skin. Check out Philosophy’s 3-in-1 Pumpkin Spice Muffin Shampoo, Shower Gel and Bubble Bath for $16. Another option is to make a mask using about 2 teaspoons of canned or cooked pumpkin, about one-half teaspoon of honey, and one-quarter teaspoon of milk. After you mix the ingredients together, place the mixture on your face and allow the mask to set for about 15 minutes. Finish by rinsing your face clean for a radiant complexion. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Yannique Benitez is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in history. She has written for on-campus publications like Equal Time and has interned at HBO and ThisOldHouse.com. Benitez is interested in investigating new products and procedures for beauty and skin car
There comes a time every fall where everyone has just had enough of school. We are worn out, stressed out, burnt out, and far from happy. It always seems to happen right around Thanksgiving break — the point where you still have days of class and time to pass at school, its close enough you can taste the freedom and start planning your trip home, but not close enough to completely detach.
When school and life is stressing you out, and you just can’t seem to kick the blues, try these diet-changing tips to improve your mood. The secret? Level out your blood sugar and your mood will follow:
Eat every 4 to 5 hours: Eating through the day gives your body a constant source of fuel and will keep your blood sugar levels more steady.
Avoid refined carbohydrates: Avoid concentrated sources of sugar like soda, candy, and fruit juice. These create huge spikes and dips in your blood sugar, which is what causes you to feel cranky and tired. Also keep in mind that although refined, white starch like white bread, crackers, bagels, and rice don’t naturally contain sugar, when your body breaks down the starch, it quickly turns into sugar and has the same effect as concentrated sugars. The solution? Eat high-quality carbohydrates like vegetables, fruit, beans, peas, brown/ wild rice, oatmeal, and whole-wheat bread products.
Add soluble fiber into your diet: Foods rich in soluble fiber can slow down how fast your body absorbs sugar. This can lower your blood sugar and reduce mood swings. Some good foods with soluble fiber are oats, brown rice, apples, pears, strawberries, oranges, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, and beans.
Omega-3 fats: This one isn’t 100% proven yet, but lots of work is being done to suggest that omega-3 fatty acids can improve mental performance. It is believed that Omega-3s can be mood lifting and possibly alleviate depression. Omega-3s can be found in fish (salmon, in particular), flaxseed (often found in multi-grain breads), canola oil, and nuts.
Folic acid and Vitamin B12: Studies show that low blood levels of these vitamins are linked to depression. Again, not 100 percent proven, but some scientists think that folic acid and B12 help your body create serotonin, one neurotransmitter that helps normalize mood. Food rich in folate include fortified whole-grain breakfast cereals, oatmeal, soybeans, beets, broccoli, sunflower seeds, and oranges. For B12, try shellfish, wild salmon (fresh or canned), fortified whole-grain cereal, low-fat yogurt, milk, or eggs.
Vitamin D: Studies show that Vitamin D can help relieve mood disorders by increasing levels of serotonin in your brain. This one is ESPECIALLY important as we make our way from fall to winter because it is particularly effective in helping seasonal depression (Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD), or what we might call the “winter blues.” Foods to try: fish, milk, fortified soy milk, and egg yolks. The best way to get Vitamin D is through daily supplements. Fun fact: Sunlight actually helps your body absorb Vitamin D!
For more information, check out this article from MSNBC!
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Kate Morin is a junior magazine journalism major, with minors in hospitality management and English and textual studies. She also writes for the print version of What the Health. Morin loves spending her free time cooking, traveling, and writing all about it.
Ironically, something I’ve never talked about on this blog is how passionate I feel about food. Yes, by passionate I mean intense cravings or fantasizing about my next chow session. In reality, I’m talking about my dedication to the politics of nutrition and keeping anyone who will listen aware of how we “should” be eating.
Going through adolescence is difficult, right? With my pervasive food allergies, itwas as if I was branded a “weirdo” eating anywhere but my home. I would try to eat what the other kids did, and instead of playing afterward I was in the bathroom for an hour. By middle school, my vision on what I could and couldn’t have was pretty clear. I would bring a bag of things I could eat to my friends’ sleepovers or birthday parties. Rather than induce sympathy, I would get a lot of strange looks.
“An oat bagel? That’s really weird.”
“Why do you have a piece of cheese in a plastic bag?”
“Doesn’t it kill you to be missing pizza/cake/enter in tasty but unhealthy treat?”
Having such a strict diet was annoying, and at times humiliating, but something it forced me to do was actually READ THE INGREDIENTS of what I’m putting in my body. Sure, I had to suffer some painful consequences to come to terms with a pure and natural way of eating. For those who have never had such a harsh reality check, what is stopping them from eating chips with a 20-line ingredient list?
The best answer I have is your health. While the soda or fast food meals may not bother you now, do you really want to be ingesting unpronounceable chemicals for the rest of your life? There are many health epidemics rising in this country, and only a glance at food label can prevent you from joining that statistic. I promise, it’s still fun to eat, and eat right.
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Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion, and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper. On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at jjscicch@syr.edu.
For as long as I can remember swimming had been a part of my life. I spent nine years of my life competitively swimming.It wasn’t until this past summer that I stumbled upon it. While interning in New York City, I walked past the NYU pool everyday on my way to the gym. I’d glance down into the gleaming water and remember my love for the water. I instantly picked up the phone and had my father rummage through my room to ship me swimsuits and my cap and goggles.
For the rest of the summer I swam on a weekly basis. Swimming had always been a way for me to relax in that I could be alone with my thoughts for a whole practice. Not only was it a way for me to relax me mind, but I also was able to relax my muscles from the cardio and weights that I had became acquainted to.
No matter what your skill level is, swimming is a great way to burn calories and sculpt muscle. According to livestrong.com, you can burn up to anywhere from 218 to 272 calories in a 30 minute workout. So grab your swimsuit and take a dive in whether it’s at the Women’s Building or Webster Pool in Archbold.
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Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling, and communications.
It’s almost that time of the year again —the holiday notorious for delicious, rich, and vast amounts of food, which have the power to put even grown men to sleep, is creeping around the corner. Thanksgiving gives us all a welcome break from school and a meal to match this time to “let go” and relax. Of course, after multiple plates of turkey, stuffing, and brown-sugar coated sweet potatoes and an unhealthy amount of pies and sweets, things may start to get uncomfortable — especially around the waistline. Still want to maintain your figure after a day of intensive eating? We’ve got tricks and tips to help you do that in Your Wellness M.A.P to Beating the Thanksgiving Bulge!
Meals Resist the dark side. The centerpiece of almost all American Thanksgiving meals is the turkey, so it’s important that when you cook and eat that bird, you do so wisely. When cooking the turkey, stay away from any kind of deep frying method and instead roast or bake it. Then when the glorious meal comes along for all to enjoy, make the healthier decision and opt for white meat as opposed to dark meat. Dark meat has about 15% more calories and 30%-40% more fat than white meat. Also, white meat is full of potassium, iron, zinc, and B vitamins and eating it increases your satiety, making the full feeling in your stomach last longer.
Attention! No starving for turkey! Not eating in preparation for that huge family dinner you may be having is not the way to go. Eat normally or in smaller portions. Chances are that if you starve yourself, you’ll pounce once dinner is served. Eat breakfast (even if it’s small), a portion-controlled lunch, and a small snack before the holiday feast if you’re still hungry.
Practices Forsaking your fitness, family and friends. Just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean you should forsake your fitness routine. Exercising even a little bit, maybe not 100% of what you normally do in a day, can help burn extra calories and aid in digestion. So while you’re watching that football game, do some simple exercises in the house, or better yet, get outside if the weather’s nice and play football with your family. Also, at the end of this sleepy dining day, you may be tempted in the days afterward to give into the temptations of leftovers. Why not get rid of that temptation all together? It’s the holidays, so give back to your family and friends by giving them the leftovers to take home.
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Valentina Palladino is a freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and hopes to major in magazine journalism and English & textual studies. She was the editor-in-chief of her high school’s newspaper and worked for two of her hometown’s local newspapers as a contributing writer. When not writing, Valentina loves theatre, both performing and backstage work, eating her family’s authentic Italian food and, most of all, traveling.
Have a wellness question you’d like a MAP for? Contact Valentina Palladino at vlpallad@syr.edu with questions, comments, or suggestions.We
Many women buy an assortment of products to achieve a trim figure, beautiful hair, and glowing skin. But don’t forget about your nails. They need the same amount of attention and care you put into making the rest of your body beautiful. Here are some nail care tips for a beautiful manicure:
* First, say goodbye to acrylic! If you love the look of longer nails with beautiful hand painted or airbrushed designs and shiny polish, consider the drawbacks. It takes a long time to remove acrylic (about an hour) and your nails become extremely weak. You may get happy your nails have grown longer since the initial acrylic was put on, but they also become paper thin.
*Know you can do it yourself. There is no need to go to the nail salon for gorgeous nails. You’ll save yourself money and you even could avoid exposing yourself to unsanitary conditions.
*Pick out your favorite nail polish colors. Reds and pinks are usually safe bets but some trendy colors this season include jewel tones in purples, dark blues and metallics.
* Start getting creative. You can make great designs on your nails with the help of products like Sally Hansen Nail Art Pens and even toothpicks! You can dip the end of a toothpick or even the end of a hair pin into nail polish and create different shapes and patterns. Polka dots are easy but you can also practice making flowers or abstract designs.
*Finish off with a clear top coat to protect all of your hard work and then marvel at your talent.
Yannique Benitez is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in history. She has written for on-campus publications like Equal Time and has interned at HBO and ThisOldHouse.com. Benitez is interested in investigating new products and procedures for beauty and skin car
Salad is always the default “healthy choice” at restaurants, in dining halls, and at home. People tend to think that because the base of salads is leafy green lettuce that they must be healthy. But just because a salad starts with a healthy portion of lettuce or spinach or other leafy vegetables, doesn’t make them automatically healthy. Most bottled salad dressings have more than 100 calories per 2 tablespoons, and more than 10g of fat! By making your own dressings, you can control the calories and fat plus you get to make your dressing taste exactly the way you want it!
To make a basic vinaigrette, all you need is vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, and sometimes mustard. Most vinaigrettes use a ratio of three parts oil to one part vinegar, but you can change this a little if you like a little more vinegar, etc. Here is a simple recipe for basic vinaigrette, and some suggestions on different variations:
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, and sugar. Then, slowly add the oilve oil, whisking constantly as you add it. This will make an emulsion, and will prevent the dressing from separating. If you don’t have a whisk, try shaking the ingredients in a jar, or mixing them in a blender.
For Garlic Vinaigrette: add ½ a clove of crushed garlic
For Balsamic Vinaigrette: substitute balsamic vinegar for the white wine vinegar.
For Lemon Vinaigrette: use fresh lemon juice instead of vinegar.
For Parmesan Vinaigrette: add ½ cup finely grated Parmesan.
For Herb Vinaigrette: add 2 tbsp chopped of your favorite herb– thyme, tarragon, and oregano work really well!
For Blue Cheese Dressing: add ¼ – ½ cup of any blue cheese.
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Kate Morin is a junior magazine journalism major, with minors in hospitality management and English and textual studies. She also writes for the print version of What the Health. Morin loves spending her free time cooking, traveling, and writing all about it.
When you are having a bad day and it seems to only be getting worse, it is really easy to blame all of your misfortune upon yourself. From the lousy grade you got on your last exam, to your inability to memorize your Italian vocabulary for the test the next day, when things go wrong people find it easy to blame everything on themselves. In situations like these, know that God does not have a vendetta against you, no one is out to get you, and you are not the most worthless being on the face of the planet — you are simply having a bad day.
It is a lack of self-confidence that is making your day go from bad to down right awful. I’m not saying that you couldn’t have done something to help your situation, but rather, that some things are out of your control. In dire situations like these, one needs to KNOW that they will pull through and that things will take a turn for the better. To put some self-confidence back into your miserable day, take this simple piece of advice: smile.
Scientists have found that the simple act of smiling can do wonders for the average individual, especially, those having a rough day. They found that subjects who constantly came in contact with negative feedback, but were instructed to keep a smile on their face as much as possible, rated their day more enjoyable than individuals who went through their day with sad facial expressions and were constantly given compliments. How is it that a smile can do so much?
Someone who is constantly smiling, even when faced with difficult obstacles, has more hope. The answer is simple — smiling increases confidence. Think about the most confident person that you know. Does that individual strike you as a happy or a sad person? More times than not, they are a happy person. Why? Because they have so much to be happy about!
Times might be rough, but in the end you CAN do it. So why let a little misfortune spoil your day? In addition, smiling and being positive makes others around you believe in you too and makes your more likeable. Being liked by others is an easy confidence-booster. The simple act of smiling brings great things.
In the beginning, your smile might feel forced and even fake, but if you are having a hard time, don’t give up on your pearly whites too soon. If you follow through, by the end of the day, you will have forgotten what your morning woes had been.
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Kimberly Caruba is a freshman broadcast journalism major. Caruba also writes for The Student Voice, volunteers at WAER radio, and is a part of Citrus TV. She will break the “Mental Block” every Thursday with tips on how to improve your mental health, friendships, and relieve stress.Men
A favorite pastime of mine is sunbathing (as many of you may already know from reading my What the Health! bio). Sticking my face in therapeutic-grade sunshine is a good-mood mechanism that I’ve used for years. This weekend, with my laptop in tow, I headed out on to my porch for one of the last days of crisp weather most of us will be seeing for a while. It was such a remarkable day, and I was content in simply breathing.
The previous night, ambulances had been parked at my home to snatch my next door neighbor and rescue them from impending doom. Thinking positively of the situation, I tried to brush it off as a minor accident, completely fixable at best.
As I sat down, ready to type, I noticed two women hugging in his driveway whom I had never seen before. After squinting my eyes and blocking out the traffic, I realized I heard them talking about a funeral.
This concept isn’t something I’ve first thought of, but I have always found it funny that each of us can be in our own beautiful bubble, when only a few steps away a tragedy can occur. I recall a piece of literature that mimics this type of situation – How can the sun beam, birds chirp, and the wind feel so perfect when everyday life can be so sour? How dare Mother Nature flash her beauty while such sadness is in the air?
Hopefully tragedy, for everyone is few and far between, but whether you feel wonderful or miserable, it is still important to envelope yourself in sunshine once in a while. You may feel betrayed by the weather for being so happy when you’re not, but maybe she is just giving you a little coaxing.
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Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion, and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper. On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at jjscicch@syr.edu.
As the holiday season approaches and students begin to count down the days until they travel home once more, it seems more difficult to find things to smile about. It is a little bit ironic since the holiday season is supposed to bring joy, fun, and good times to all. But in the eyes of college students the end of the semester means trudging through snow, bone-chilling weather, and a suffocating workload. When things begin to mount against you, the best advice I can give is to simply make yourself a “safe place.”
My safe place is a location that I can go to that provides me with comfort and reinvigorates me so that I can get the tasks before me completed. For me, my dorm room, specifically my bed, is my safe place. Every morning I make my bed, not because it looks nice or because it “feels better,” but because my bed is my safe place. It relaxes me to come home and see my bed warm, comfortable, and waiting for me. It’s comforting to know that when I come home every day, I can snuggle up under my covers, grab my laptop, and get to work with comfort and support (squishy as it might be) all around me.
When designating your safe place, don’t think that it has to be your bed. A safe place can be in a private location or in the middle of the Quad (not recommended when it is so cold, but that’s your prerogative). The point of a safe place is to have a destination where you can go to get work done and have a happiness boost. This location can be a certain table at the library, a building on campus, or having a cup of coffee at your favorite table at the student center. In the end, your safe place is somewhere that will make you smile.
Throughout the years, the transition from fall to winter has always been a hard one for me. It seems as though every November and December is a stressful period in my life. It doesn’t help that the sun seems to shine less often and that the amount of daylight becomes so scarce (causing even more stress as time seems to decrease). The one thing that has always been able to get me through is designating a safe place for myself. I hope that finding that special location will be as helpful to you as it has been for me.
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Kimberly Caruba is a freshman broadcast journalism major. Caruba also writes for The Student Voice, volunteers at WAER radio, and is a part of Citrus TV. She will break the “Mental Block” every Thursday with tips on how to improve your mental health, friendships, and relieve stress.
Problem areas. We all have them, even if they are minuscule and unnoticeable to others. They wear us down and shape our workouts. One common area that drives the female population mad is the stomach region. We are constantly bombarded with images of stars with flat stomachs and fitness magazines showcasing perfectly sculpted abdominal muscles. Let’s just say Photoshop can do wonders and it’s the model’s job to look good and be in shape. But for those who are still seeking the “perfect” stomach, give these simple exercises a try!
1.Crunches and planks. One of my personal favorites that I worked into my routine this summer. Start by doing 50 crunches and then holding a plank for 20 seconds. From there, repeat this exercise but work the crunches down by 10 each interval. This will work both your abdominals and legs all in one great exercise.
2.Grab a partner! My best friend introduced me to this exercise as a freshman and it still seems to be one of the most challenging that I have ever encountered. Lay down on your back as your partner stands behind your head. Hold on to his or her legs and then lift yours all the way up. Your partner should then push your legs back down, switching the direction as he or she pleases. Try to do 30 reps of these and work your way up as your muscles become stronger. You will feel this both in your abdominal and oblique muscles.
3. Use a medicine ball. Make sure to choose an appropriate size medicine ball for the next move. This final exercise also requires the help of a partner. Both individuals should get in sit-up position but face each other so your feet are almost touching.While doing sit-ups, simultaneously pass the medicine ball back and forth. This exercise will provide you with a two-for-one effect by working both your abdominals and arms.
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Our abdominal muscles tend to place an added stress on our workout regiments. Dedicating a portion of our time to simple, effective exercises will help melt your worries away. So don’t dwell on those magazine covers any longer, take action by hitting the mats!
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Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling and communications.
There are few better comfort foods than a hearty bowl of pasta, with some sort of thick sauce and fresh grated cheese on top. But more often than not that bowl of pasta is packed with unnecessary calories and carbs.
A great alternative to carb-heavy pasta is spaghetti squash. This is a variety of winter squash that is usually deep yellow or light orange in color. When raw, the flesh is solid and similar to the flesh of other types of squash. However, after it is cooked, the flesh easily breaks up into small strands that resemble spaghetti, hence its name.
While a bowl of traditional spaghetti and meatballs can set you back between 700 and 1200 calories, a bowl of spaghetti squash with meat sauce is much healthier at about 300-450 calories. Here is a recipe for spaghetti squash with meat sauce that is just as comforting as a bowl of traditional pasta, but will save you a few hundred calories:
3. Brush or drizzle the cut sides with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake, cut-side down on a baking sheet until tender, about 1 hour.
5. While the squash is baking, brown the turkey meat in a pan. Heat about 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan.
6. Saute the meat until brown. Drain any excess fat.
7. Add about 2 cups of your favorite basic jarred tomato sauce or homemade tomato sauce. Let simmer.
8. Hold the squash in a towel and, using a fork, gently pull at the flesh and place the spaghetti-like strands in a dish.
9. Add the squash to the saucepan, and heat through.
10. Serve topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese, and enjoy!
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Kate Morin is a junior magazine journalism major, with minors in hospitality management and English and textual studies. She also writes for the print version of What the Health. Morin loves spending her free time cooking, traveling, and writing all about it.
Shea Butter is a natural ingredient derived from nuts in Karite trees in tropical regions of West Africa. This ingredient is a vitamin rich fatty acid that is highly moisturizing and can be used for dry skin, brittle hair, and razor, sun and windburns
Be sure to look for this substance in body and face crèmes. In most drugstore products, Shea Butter is refined to be white and odorless. If you are able to get your hands on raw Shea Butter, perhaps at a whole foods store, look for a beige or yellow color. It will also have a slight nutty smell and will be a creamy solid at room temperature.
Another option is to lather up with a soap or body wash containing Shea Butter. These soaps are useful during the wintertime when dry skin is a problem. Shea Butter extract has non-saponifiable components that are not fully integrated into the soap and remain as oil remnants that lock in moisture for softer and smoother skin. Companies like Bath & Body Works make soaps with Shea Butter, but you can also find soaps under $3 online on sites like Drugstore.com. Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash with Shea Butter is another option for about $5. In addition, dry and damaged hair can also benefit from Shea Butter and conditioners like Organix Smoothing Shea Butter Conditioner will be kind to your hair and wallet for about $7.
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Yannique Benitez is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in history. She has written for on-campus publications like Equal Time and has interned at HBO and ThisOldHouse.com. Benitez is interested in investigating new products and procedures for beauty and skin care.
Your body could be lagging behind in a very important area and you may not even know it. Vitamin D deficiency is characterized by a lack of sufficient levels of vitamin D (Cholecalciferol) in the body and can be related to other diseases such as heart disease, stroke, depression, osteoporosis, diabetes, and even cancer. A fat-soluble substance, vitamin D is stored in the body’s fatty issue and is integral to calcium absorption and maintaining the correct balance of calcium and phosphorous in the bloodstream. Most people do not know much about this vitamin, however this will be no more with the help of Your Wellness M.A.P to Digesting Vitamin D!
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Meals “D” is for Dairy.So many everyday dairy products have high amounts of vitamin D, making it quick and easy for one to get his or her daily dosage. Products like cheese, butter, cream, and fortified milk (all milk in the United States is fortified with vitamin D) are all tasty outlets for vitamin D consumption. Many of them also provide calcium, which is the perfect pairing for vitamin D efficiency. Other foods that have good vitamin D levels are fish, oysters, and fortified cereals.
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Attention! “There’s a crisis of vitamin D deficiency, so you can never have too much vitamin D.”In actuality, too much vitamin D can have a negative effect. Too much can rob your bones of calcium instead of helping them absorb it. In turn, that calcium is transferred to your heart and lungs, slowing their functions and putting your body at risk. According to the National Institute of Health, the daily recommended amount of vitamin D for males and females between ages 19-50 is 5 micrograms, so keep that in mind when you’re watching your intake.
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Practices
See yourself in the perfect (sun) light. Vitamin D is often referred to as the “sunshine vitamin,” for the optimum daily dosage can be acquired through exposure to sunlight. However, by no means should one go overboard and spend hours unprotected in the sun. In fact, it takes a mere 15 minutes for light-skinned people, and 40 minutes for darker individuals, to acquire the recommended daily dose of vitamin D. Now that winter is settling in and many won’t be able to go out for this regular sun exposure, it is recommended that one take a daily multivitamin (preferably one with fish oil) and a vitamin D supplement each day in order to fill in those nutritional gaps as well as the vitamin D gap left by the lack of sunlight exposure. Also, it may be beneficial to go for a blood test and ask to check for vitamin D levels, to make sure your body isn’t suffering from a deficiency.
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Valentina Palladino is a freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and hopes to major in magazine journalism and English & textual studies. She was the editor-in-chief of her high school’s newspaper and worked for two of her hometown’s local newspapers as a contributing writer. When not writing, Valentina loves theater, both performing and backstage work, eating her family’s authentic Italian food and, most of all, traveling.
Have a wellness question you’d like a MAP for? Contact Valentina Palladino at vlpallad@syr.edu with questions, comments, or suggestions.
Fever:an abnormal condition of the body, characterized in undue rise in temperature, quickening of the pulse, and disturbance of various body functions.
Over the past few weeks, I’d imagine I wasn’t the only one to have suffered this ailment. While stuck home, waking up in my damp clothes and feeling slightly delirious, I began to think about what a fever represents outside of shaking and the ability to sleep for hours (and hours and hours…)
On dictionary.com fever is also defined as “intense nervous excitement.” I also went as far as to download Peggy Lee’s “Fever,” characterized by the line:
“they give you fever when you kiss them, fever if you live you learn, fever till your sizzlin’, but what a lovely way to burn.”
School has the ability to strip, or more appropriately burn, our senses to the bottom as we become a shell of our creative selves. I found myself puttering around my house with the desire to display “fever” in my relationships, my artistic endeavors, exhibiting a craving to create that nervousness that we lose touch with while buried in assignments and tests.
Generally we think of the term “fever” as negative, but as Peggy Lee murmurs, it can be quite the opposite. I find an intense comfort in the idea of being raw, heightened, and warm with passion. It reminds me that I am an entity outside of the everyday hustle and bustle of obligatory life.
I refuse to allow that “fever” to leave me. There comes a point where we must put aside our work to focus on our most secretive and personal notions, before we grow cold — just in time for winter.
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Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion, and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper. On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at jjscicch@syr.edu.
How to let go of a love without losing self-confidence
Kimberly Caruba, beat blogger
The term “self-confidence” is really a misnomer; having confidence in one’s self is not just for that individual. Being confident is not just about believing that you possess the abilities to accomplish your goals, that you are a worthy person, and that people will like you if they get to know you. “Self-confidence” is also about being strong for your family, your friends, and even your acquaintances. It is about giving off an energy that you can do anything through which you also give confidence to those around you.
I went home for the first time last weekend and it really blew me away how fast things can change. I’ve been away from home for two months, but it really felt like I had been gone years. A new building was erected while I was gone, rules had changed at my old high school, and self-confidence had evaporated in a great friend of mine at work.
It was seeing that friend again — a person I truly believe to be a beautiful, amazing person — and noticing how little self-confidence was left in her after her awful boyfriend (or ex I should say) treated her badly and left her once again, that made me really begin to think about what having self-confidence means.
You know those on-again, off-again couples? The ones where the girl treats her man so well: taking care of him, standing up for him, putting up with him, and yet when something doesn’t go his way, he picks up and leaves? The kind where it hurts you to watch the girl go through so much pain over a guy that doesn’t treat her the way she deserves? (And hey, this can go both ways — men can be treated like crap by their girls too.) Well, that’s the kind of relationship that my friend was in, and it hurt me to see her go through a relationship where I knew that she wasn’t being treated right, but now it hurts me even more to see how sad she is that the jerk is gone. All I could do was stand there and wonder why? Why is she so upset? But when I really stopped to think about it, I knew why. I knew because I had felt that way before, too.
She feels so sad, not only over all of the memories of good times that they had, over losing a second family, but also because she doesn’t have any self-confidence. The loss of such a big part of her life, the loss of having that person who is supposed to make her feel beautiful, and feel happy is so painful. It is also a huge blow to her confidence.
Watching my friend, I realized that the reason we hold on to people who treat us badly, the reason why we can even be sad to watch them go, is because in the back of our minds we worry that we really deserve to be treated badly, to be alone. We lack the self-confidence that we can pick up the pieces and start over again.
In reality, having self-confidence is obviously important to have in general, but it’s a saving grace when it comes to hard times like these. My friend is not the only one in pain. I’m in pain watching her be sad, her co-workers are in pain for her, and so is her family. Self-confidence is being strong for your family too. In a situation like this, if I would have come home to find that he had left her again and she was happy, and knew that it was for the better, I would feel so good. I would feel confident too because I would know what great things are in store for her. I would know that if I were ever in a situation like hers, I would be able to get through it just fine too.
I hope that my friend soon realizes how great she is, and that she gains enough self-confidence so that she will not go back to him, or enter a relationship with anyone who doesn’t treat her like the beautiful girl that she is. Next time you start to doubt yourself, don’t. Being confident isn’t just about you; it’s about all those around you too.
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Kimberly Caruba is a freshman broadcast journalism major. Caruba also writes for The Student Voice, volunteers at WAER radio, and is a part of Citrus TV. She will break the “Mental Block” every Thursday with tips on how to improve your mental health, friendships, and relieve stress.Men
It’s getting to that time of year again. The class work is piled on, extracurricular activities are in full throttle, and sleep is becoming a distant memory. I will be the first to admit that my gym hours begin to lag when mid-semester rolls around. So if you’re feeling the stress and need a quick reason to get back to your workout regiment keep reading.
1. When life gets chaotic, falling out of the loop with friends seems to happen. So what better way to catch up with your friends than by working out together.
2. As great as workout buddies are, sometimes a solo workout is just what the doctor calls for. Hitting the gym alone allows you time to think, plan, and get away from the daily stresses.
3. Everyone knows when that time of the month rolls around the last thing we feel like doing is heading to the gym; however to much disbelief, working out has been said to soothe period pains.
4.One word: Relax. Working out sets time aside from the chaos that we know as life to relax and take a breather.
5.It’s formal season and that means scheduling gym time somewhere, somehow into our hectic schedules. A few hours of cardio to look fit in that formal dress? It’s a deal.
6. The health benefits are abundant. Working out will give you a stronger body and heart, extend your life, and keep your body at a healthy weight. What more could you ask for?
We may be half way done with the semester but it’s never too late to get back into the gym and start working out toward a healthier you. So when you get a little down time and are in need of a boost, just turn to one of these simple reasons!
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Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling and communications.
Well, admit it! We aren’t always at our best. Everybody has to go through the ebbs and flows of a typical day in life. Sometimes, even with routines like morning coffee runs, mid-afternoon tea breaks, and late night energy boosts, our minds still aren’t quite tuned to their sharpest when we need them the most. But we can’t just let it flow and place our working efficiency at stake. Here are the three “P“s that will help you focus on the right moments of your day…
Put a smile on
Mood and mind go hand in hand. Keep up the positive attitude, and take a deep breath at the inevitable moments when the smile is not around! Oxygen feeds our brain cells and does wonder to our mood and mental sharpness. Once happily “fed,” the brain cells will work on reconnecting with each other and lighting up our brilliant and bountiful minds.
Plan ahead
It may sound cliché, but good planning earns you all the good luck. Schedule your in-between class time. List priorities and think before you act so that you know which tasks are most important. If the less important stuff doesn’t get accomplished, take it easy — tomorrow’s a brand new day.
Play hard
Take time out to free your mind and let it wander! (You all know how that works.) The idea that things will be better off if you manage to use up every single second of your life to work can only end up being counterproductive. Your body is not a perpetual motion machine. The important thing is to make sure your axes are sharp before you walk into the forest.
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Claire Xi Chen is a biology major doing her graduate studies at SU. She grew up in Tianjin, China. Here in the U.S., she finds the multicultural dynamics quite nurturing. Writing has always been one of Claire’s greatest passions.
What to eat (or avoid) when you’re down with the crud
Kate Morin, beat blogger
The inevitable has happened, and I have caught what seems to be the flu. I have been quarantined to my bedroom for the last 24 hours, freezing cold, then burning hot, falling asleep constantly, barely able to get out of bed. The last thing I want to do is eat, but, everyone keeps telling me it is really important to eat something to keep my energy up. The idea of eating anything is repulsing to me, so I figured if I have to eat something, I’m going to avoid the things that might make me feel sicker, and choose something that might actually make me feel better.
Tips for staying healthy
Drink plenty of liquids:Water, juices, and ginger ale are the best.
Get as much nutritional value from your foods as you can: G citrus fruits, bananas, chicken and/or vegetable soups, lean proteins (chicken, fish, green vegetables, soy products), bland foods like whole wheat toast — with NO butter.
Get lots of sleep: The more rest you get, the more energy your body has to spend on fighting the virus. If you feel sick, and you feel like you could sleep — do it.
Foods to avoid
Junk food: anything that has little nutritional value. Avoid candy, soda, chips, etc. These products are empty calories, plus the extra sugar and grease is hard to digest and will wear your body out further.
Alcohol, coffee, tea: All three lead to dehydration, something you want to combat when sick– not contribute to. I know its a common thought that tea will help when you are sick, which can be true for colds, but not for the flu. However, if you do decide to have some tea, be sure to drink an equal amount of water to keep your hydration levels up.
Fried foods and spicy foods: Fried foods are hard for your body to digest, and are often filled with empty calories. Spicy foods can be good to clear up congestion, but if you have having any stomach troubles, avoid these foods.
Cheese, milk, butter, and other dairy products: These can also be hard to digest, but they also can make the mucus in the nose and throat thicker, which 1. Gives the virus a better breeding ground, and 2. Makes your runny nose, sore throat, and cough even worse.
Excessive salt: salt dehydrates your body– try to avoid it in large amounts.
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Kate Morin is a junior magazine journalism major, with minors in hospitality management and English and textual studies. She also writes for the print version of What the Health. Morin loves spending her free time cooking, traveling, and writing all about it.
We all have days when nothing seems to go right. A professor hands out a quiz you’re not prepared for. You left your keys in your dorm and you’re roommate is out for the afternoon. It starts to pour on your walk home.
Days like this can cause you to feel upset, anti-social, and tired. But when these empty feelings persist for days or even weeks, you may be suffering from depression. Symptoms of depression vary in severity, frequency, and duration, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. They include, but aren’t limited to, the following:
Persistent sad, “empty,” anxious feelings
Feelings of hopelessness and/or pessimism
Irritability, restlessness
Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable
Fatigue and decreased energy
Changes in appetite
Persistent aches, pains, headaches, cramps or digestive problems that do not subside, even with treatment
Thoughts of suicide
With these symptoms, you might find it difficult to speak up and ask for help. However, the best way to address to issue is to seek out professional advice. Depression is a highly treatable disorder, according to NIMH. A doctor will diagnose your case and set a proper course of action. The key is to catch it early so you can get back to feeling like yourself.
Here on campus we are fortunate enough to have access to both Health Services and the Counseling Center. Both locations house a number of professionals trained and ready to deal with those suffering from depression. Don’t hesitate to make an appointment. It’s what they’re there to do. Call Health Services at (315) 443-9005 or the Counseling Center at (315) 443-4715.
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Alison Bryant lives and plays in Burlington, Vermont. She enjoys writing, yoga, music and being outdoors.
Young adults suffer from breakouts and other skin maladies all the time due to hormonal, social and environmental factors. They can attack all at once; maybe it’s a breakout one day, then the next day the skin is intensely dry from all the cold weather it has been exposed to. Whatever it may be, our skin — the body’s first physical defense against all external forces — can get really irritated at times. However, there are some tricks you can try that will help to rejuvenate your skin. Here’s Your Wellness M.A.P to Better Skin!
Meals
The Triple A Defense: almonds, acerolas and avocados. These foods can work miracles for your skin. A single serving of almonds contains 150% of your daily value of vitamin E, moisturizing the skin and protecting against premature aging and damage. One Acerola cherry has 100% of your daily vitamin C value, an antioxidant that can fight skin damage and prevent the formation of wrinkles. The mother of them all, avocados have the most effective sunscreen benefits and help with the process of collagen production. Collagens toughen skin, allowing for reduced wrinkles and enhanced skin tone. Also, avocados have 27% of your daily value of niacin (vitamin B3), which acts as an anti-inflammatory as it soothes irritated skin. Versatile avocados can be eaten for skin benefits or used as a mask — just rub the meat against cleansed skin for 15-30 minutes, then rinse for beautiful results.
Attention!
Chocolate and other foods cause acne?After conducting extensive research, scientists have found that neither chocolate nor other foods cause acne. What has been proven as one of the leading causes of acne is stress, something that can be huge in the lives of college students. When stressed, the body stimulates the adrenal glands, producing higher levels of hormones, which cause acne breakouts. In addition, stress lowers the body’s immune system, sometimes wounding it up to 40%, leading to the body having no energy to protect itself from disease and acne-causing agents. To avoid stress, try taking some time out of your busy schedule to do something for yourself, whether it’s taking a short nap or listening to music.
FUN FACT: Chocolate actually boosts the brain’s levels of serotonin, a chemical that has a calming effect on the body. So, when consumed wisely, chocolate may reverse stress-induced acne.
Practices
Sunscreen — even sunshine on a cloudy day could be harmful.Sunscreen is not just for those sweltering summer days at the beach, it should be used daily as part of your skin regimen. Sunlight can damage the skin with its UV (ultraviolet) rays, leading to premature aging and DNA mutations in skin cells. To fight these threats, one must choose a sunscreen with the most efficient UVA/UVB coverage. But don’t let the bottles fool you. According to Health Services at the University of New Hampshire, “Most sunscreens that advertise UVA/UVB coverage do not offer adequate UVA protection.” Pick the best sunscreen by looking under the active ingredients for the three key substances that provide the most adequate UVA protection: Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, and Parsol 1789 (Avobenzone).
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Valentina Palladino is a freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and hopes to major in magazine journalism and English & textual studies. She was the editor-in-chief of her high school’s newspaper and worked for two of her hometown’s local newspapers as a contributing writer. When not writing, Valentina loves theatre, both performing and backstage work, eating her family’s authentic Italian food and, most of all, traveling.
Have a wellness question you’d like a MAP for? Contact Valentina Palladino at vlpallad@syr.edu with questions, comments, or suggestions.
I don’t believe any of us have trouble thinking of a time we’ve been verbally tossed around. It’s interesting — everyone goes through the social trials and tribulations of grade school, but many of us come out unscathed. So why do some take teasing so personally?
As I’ve mentioned, a friend of mine from LeMoyne College has a severe passion for photography. The concept of her latest shoot was for her subjects (myself included) to come up with a stereotype or statement made about us that we take to heart, and declare it on a white poster. The first shot of the photo was simply to hold the sign in a declaratory way, the other, for us to rip it up in frustration.
I thought this “assignment” would be easy for me, considering I am one of those people who did not make light of being made fun of in grade school, or, ever. I rehashed all of the nasty judgments I’ve heard over the years (sounds fun, right?) and surprisingly could not think of something that still strongly affects my own confidence… until it hit me.
Wait, I’ve taken just about EVERYTHING to heart! That makes me “sensitive,” too sensitive in the eyes of most. While it’s one of the most accurate personality observations others have made of me, it is one that still hear regularly, and realized it was what I wanted to publish to the world.
Just a picture, sure. Method to release tension, definitely. What others find to be our flaws, we can still remove something positive from. Sensitive? I prefer to think alive, connected, or deeply affected. If we can accept these things, we lose the ability to be teased. Pretty cool, huh?
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Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion, and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper. On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at jjscicch@syr.edu.
As night comes earlier, days start to look gloomier, and the weather gets wetter it’s hard not to feel your mood go down with the falling temperature. To combat these nasty side effects of the fall and winter seasons, five foods readily available to the average college student may help to boost your mood and make you feel good, even if the weather isn’t so cheerful.
1.Whole Grain Bread– Better than its paler counterparts, whole grain bread contains amino acids that are essential to making sure your brain functions properly. Not only are amino acids important for a healthy brain and proper transmission of messages, but they are also necessary for developing neurotransmitters which control a person’s mood and depression.
2.Bananas – The cheerful color on this fruits peel has a strong correlation to an individual’s mood. Bananas contain magnesium, a lack of which in a person’s diet can wreak havoc on one’s mood. Eating bananas is an easy way to ensure that your magnesium levels do not get out of whack.
3. Milk– This delicious drink contains calcium and tryptophan, which work together to relax and reinvigorate a person’s body. Calcium has the ability to reduce a person’s anxiety and stress level, while tryptophan aids your body’s production of serotonin, which is responsible for a person’s mood. The more serotonin you have, the happier you are going to be. Drinking milk is especially important for those of us that like to sleep in. While you sleep, your body consumes serotonin, and over-sleeping can result in the use of too much serotonin, leaving you deprived of the chemical for your day-to-day activities. Less serotonin during the day means a lower mood. Therefore, drinking milk is a stress reliever and a mood booster all in one!
4. Poultry– These foods are great to consume when you’re feeling overwhelmed and down in the dumps. Poultry contains an important amino acid called tyrosine which is responsible for increasing two neurotransmitters essential to a person’s mood: dopamine and norepinephrine. Psychological studies have shown that dopamine and norepinephrine have strong links to depression. They also play a big part in a person’s reaction time, and level of motivation. Next time you’re feeling groggy and cranky, eat some poultry; it will reduce your stress and increase your energy level.
5. Chocolate–As girls are already well aware, when feeling sad, distraught, or even stressed, chocolate is a never-fail pick-me-upper. Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, which causes the brain to produce serotonin, which, as we have already stated, boosts a person’s mood. Contrary to what people believe, chocolate won’t cause any break-outs, so next time you’re feeling blue, don’t hesitate to reach for that chocolate bar!
Remember these five foods the next time you’re feeling glum, and if you really want a mood booster, eat them all at once! Make yourself a chicken sandwich with whole grain bread, drink a glass of milk, have a banana on the side and a little bar of chocolate for dessert! It’s balanced, and good for your mood too.
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Kimberly Caruba is a freshman broadcast journalism major. Caruba also writes for The Student Voice, volunteers at WAER radio, and is a part of Citrus TV. She will break the “Mental Block” every Thursday with tips on how to improve your mental health, friendships, and relieve stress.
New fitness classes available at Campus Fitness Hall
Laura Reginelli, beat blogger
In need of a change of pace or even just a change of scenery from the walls of Archbold Gymnasium? Well look no further than beloved Marshall Street. This past August, M Street was joined by Campus Fitness Hall, which promotes fitness, wellness, and arts through its programs. The new fitness center offers a wide array of programs in yoga, dance, and martial arts. Classes include Latin Ripo Mix, Belly Dance, Kettlebell Fitness Training, Body-Hot Yoga, and even Competition Karate.
Not quite an expert in these areas or looking for something a bit out of your element? Well have no fear – Campus Fitness Hall has skilled instructors who encourage individuals of all levels to join their classes. While getting a great workout, the instructors will guide you and help teach and refine your techniques as well.
Taking classes at Campus Fitness Hall won’t break the bank either! They offer one class for $15 and 10 classes for $100 as an introductory special. Still on a tight budget? Campus Fitness Hall is willing to work with students to create a package of their own that fits both their physical and monetary needs.
Recently, the fitness center partnered with Syracuse University’s Healthy Monday and Mu Sigma Epsilon to open up their programs to students for free. Dubbed “Salsa Mondays,” students can go in and take the Latin Ripo Mix class for free from 5 to 6 p.m. on Mondays.
Theone Kalkinis, owner of Campus Fitness Hall, also explained another important initiative the fitness center has made. “We are offering free yoga classes for cancer patients. It is in honor of my mom who I lost to ovarian cancer this year. This is my way to keep her memory and creative spirit alive,” Kalkinis said.
Campus Fitness Hall wants to “become a permanent fixture in the fabric of the community” and to offer “a fun, safe, eclectic mix of classes for students, the medical community, and the business community in Syracuse,” explains Kalkinis
So break the boredom cycle and take a walk down to Marshall Street for a class at Campus Fitness Hall. You are guaranteed to have an exhilarating and refreshing workout. I swear you won’t leave disappointed!
Campus Fitness Hall is located at 171 Marshall Street above Starbucks. For more information call 315-289-6099.
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Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling and communications.
I am 5’7,’’ 130 pounds, and a size two. I’m fit and athletic, but I wasn’t born with the “perfect” body. I was known as the big girl — not because I was any bigger, but because I am a Chinese girl.
Photo courtesy of www.veer.com
Growing up in a country where much of the female population is around 5’4’’ and 90 pounds, I could have wished for a smaller body. In the fashion world at least, petite girls always get the advantage; the trendiest clothes and popular styles all seem designed for tiny, cute frames. Even as a late bloomer, I experienced my fair share of embarrassment when trying on clothes. But my mom, who is about the same size as I am, always tells me that I look just as pretty.
In every culture, the mass media influences what we should look like. What’s considered ideal may vary from place to place, but the desire of girls to measure up to the popular image standards is the same.
We all know how hard it is to ignore beauty standards. Things that are “popular” can be very enticing to try and emulate. But here’s the truth: our bodies are not tools that can be used to cater to popular beliefs, especially when those ideals are not healthy. Our bodies are part of who we are. While there are ways to improve body image — by maintaining good posture, exercising regularly, dressing properly, or training, for example — there are facts we cannot change. Self-improvement is important, but being overly critical or self-conscious about an “imperfect” body is unnecessary.
My time spent in the U.S. has given me a different view of my body. Every once in a while, people have even complimented me for being so physically fit. Beyond that, I have come to realize is that it is OK to be different. We have to accept our own body image before our culture starts to appreciate the beauty of our size. So curl up and hug yourself!
Now you have a chance to let other people appreciate your body and your beliefs as much as you do (or should!) Tell the story between you and your body through the BodyTalk project hosted by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Nov. 2-13. Your story can be featured on the BodyTalk Web site or even become part of the NPR’s national show, “51 percent.”
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Claire Xi Chen is a biology major doing her graduate studies at SU. She grew up in Tianjin, China. Here in the U.S., she finds the multicultural dynamics quite nurturing. Writing has always been one of Claire’s greatest passions.
Ahh, the stresses of midterms. Little sleep, tons of papers and tests, and hundreds of cups of coffee. As stress sets in, we tend to gravitate toward unhealthy foods, heading for sugary sodas, Starbucks drinks, Chinese delivery, and late-night Insomnia cookies.
While these “feel good” comfort foods satisfy our stress-induced cravings, they may leave you feeling even more tired and burnt out. By adding more nutritious, well-rounded food choices to your midterm-week munchies, you can make yourself feel healthier, while still getting that necessary sugar, caffeine, or Chinese-food fix. Hope these tips can help you in your quest for healthier midterm week indulgences! Happy studying! k
Dunkin’ Donuts
The calorie killer — A small caramel swirl latte is packed with 220 calories and 6g of fat — for only 10 oz.! Swap for — A medium Vanilla Latte Lite. The lighter latte version has only 130 calories and 0g of fat. Plus, you get 6 more oz. of your much-needed coffee!
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Starbucks
The calorie killer — A grande flavored latte can range from 250 calories and 6g of fat (vanilla latte), to 380 calories and 13g of fat (pumpkin spice latte).
Swap for — any of the flavored Skinny Lattes, which are made with non-fat milk and sugar-free flavored syrups. These will run you about 130 calories, and 0g of fat.
Chinese takeout
The calorie killer — Starchy, white rice, deep-fried spring or egg rolls, and saucy-heavy veggie or chicken dishes. Swap for — Try to make your meal healthier by choosing brown or white rice instead of the fried rice combination plates usually come with. And, if you have a choice between fried or steamed, always choose steamed. For other takeout options, opt for whole grain breads or dough if you can, and try to balance your meal with a good amount of protein and vegetables.
Insomnia Cookies
Now for Insomnia, there might not be any true substitute. Just try to limit yourself to just one…your body will thank you later.
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Kate Morin is a junior magazine journalism major, with minors in hospitality management and English and textual studies. She also writes for the print version of What the Health. Morin loves spending her free time cooking, traveling, and writing all about it.
Botox is a purified form of botulinum toxin that according to The New York Times, in injections acts like small poison darts that temporarily blunt chemical nerve signals to certain muscles or glands. It is commonly used as a temporary solution to reduce wrinkles (results last for about 3-4 months). But it can be addictive and some women feel the need keep up Botox injections to maintain more youthful faces. Today, however, both men and women use Botox and for other purposes besides wrinkle reduction.
Botox heals pain from high-heels
Five-inch heel wearers can now walk painlessly. People that suffer from pain because of wearing high-heels and stilettos can have Botox injected into the balls of their feet to provide a cushion. The padding allows women to walk comfortably in heels that rival stilts. Type 2 diabetics suffering from nerve damage in their feet can also benefit from Botox injections to ease foot pain.
A solution to sweating
Also, Botox can help people suffering from excessive sweating. The Botox temporarily blocks chemical signals from the nerves that stimulate sweat glands. After it is injected under your arms, your sweat glands should no longer be overactive.
Breast Lifts
Finally, Botox helps women who are looking for an extra lift. Now, women can go to physicians for Botox injections in their pectoral muscles to lift saggy breasts. This procedure works especially well for women with smaller breasts.
There are many more uses for Botox including to relax eye muscles spasms and twitches, ease migraine headaches and even help women who suffer from pain during intercourse. All the Botox uses are not currently FDA approved but it seems that within a couple of years the uses for Botox could be endless.
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Yannique Benitez is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in history. She has written for on-campus publications like Equal Time and has interned at HBO and ThisOldHouse.com. Benitez is interested in investigating new products and procedures for beauty and skin care.
Here’s the thing about sleep — it rocks! From a quick afternoon catnap to an all-night- wake-up-at-noon-snore-fest, getting in some solid zzz’s can do more than just refresh you — it can make you happier, healthier, and more productive.
Though it varies from person to person, adults typically need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night, according to the National Sleep Foundation. As busy college students, we may chuckle at the absurdity of packing nine hours of dozing into one night. But here’s the thing —sleep regulates our moods and is linked to memory and learning functions. If you spend the evening cramming for a test, you will benefit from a solid night’s sleep because it will help your brain consolidate the information you studied. A night of decent sleep trumps an all-nighter.
Still, sleeping’s not always easy for the average college student, so here are some tips to help you lie down and rest up.
1. Don’t Exercise Before Bed. Exercise certainly benefits the body and mind, but avoid hitting the gym before hitting the sack. Strenuous exercise three hours or less before bedtime raises your alertness and body temperature, making sleep difficult, according to sleep experts. You may benefit from moving your workout to the morning or early afternoon.
2. Avoid Using Your Laptop in Bed.Doing work on your laptop or watching television in bed can agitate your mind. It’s best to leave those activities for the living room and designate your room bedroom for sleep.
3. Establish a Routine.Creating a relaxing routine for bedtime can help your body shift from active mode to sleep mode. Brush your teeth, wash your face, and pull back your covers every night. Maybe add some relaxing stretching or breathing before snuggling between the sheets. Keep the same routine every night.
4. Regularity.Establish a regular bedtime and wake-up time. Your body’s natural clock will respond well to a schedule. For example, if you have to wake up at 7 a.m. for an 8 a.m. class twice a week, try to wake up at 7 a.m. on the days you don’t have an 8 a.m. class as well.
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Alison Bryant lives and plays in Burlington, Vermont. She enjoys writing, yoga, music and being outdoors.
Dining halls offer college students food at almost any time of the day, and some of that food isn’t always the best for your health. With basically an unlimited supply of ice cream, French fries, pizza, and macaroni and cheese, how does one stay on track while eating within a meal plan? It can be very easy to fall victim to unhealthy food habits and consumption while working hard at the university, but luckily we can help with your Wellness M.A.P. to Decisions of the Dining Hall Diet!
Meals
Pockets of dining hall nutrition. Every section of the dining hall has a somewhat healthier option for you to choose. When in the mood for pizza, choose a slice with greens like spinach or broccoli rather than simply sausage or pepperoni. If Asian food is what you’re craving, instead of going for the fried rice or white rice, grab some healthier brown rice from the specialty hot foods area to pair with your sesame chicken and that egg roll. Two of the best areas of a dining hall are the personal wraps area and the salad bar. When ordering a wrap you have total control over what you want inside of it. Choose sliced turkey, a cleaner, less fatty meat than ham or roast beef, and complement it with lettuce, tomatoes and other veggies. While making your salad plate, avoid globs of dressing, which add unnecessary calories and fat.
Attention!
“The Freshman Fifteen is unavoidable.” The dining hall doesn’t have to be one of the possible factors of the “Freshmen Fifteen.” Dining halls can be utilized to your advantage to stay healthy, but that all depends on making the right choices. For example, when deciding whether or not to go to the dining hall or a fast-food restaurant for dinner, you could make a much healthier food choice with a salad or wrap from the dining hall than with traditional fast-food cheeseburger and French fry fare.
Practices
Make time for real meals. Not eating is never a good strategy. In fact, not eating can make you feel even worse by instigating stomach pains, headaches, and possibly causing you to binge when you finally do eat. Be sure to get in your three meals of the day, or, another strategy is to have six small meals every three hours. This method will keep your metabolism going and lessen hunger in between eating. Most importantly, DO NOT neglect to eat breakfast! We’ve all heard this before, but it really is the most important meal of the day. Eating breakfast will wake up you metabolism in the morning and help you start you day off fresh and energized.
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Valentina Palladino is a freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and hopes to major in magazine journalism and English & textual studies. She was the editor-in-chief of her high school’s newspaper and worked for two of her hometown’s local newspapers as a contributing writer. When not writing, Valentina loves theatre, both performing and backstage work, eating her family’s authentic Italian food and, most of all, traveling.
Have a wellness question you’d like a MAP for? Contact Valentina Palladino at vlpallad@syr.edu with questions, comments, or suggestions.
This area of the dining hall has the potential to be one of the healthiest of all, but it all depends on you, the eater, to make the most out of it: the salad bar. Here, you are the leader of your lettuce with the power to eat victorious veggies in the ongoing battle of balanced nutrition. However, there are many ways one could slip up and create a monstrous meal with as much health content as a bucket of fried chicken. Luckily, there are simple tricks you can use to make the healthiest and tastiest salad, and they are here in your Wellness M.A.P to the Healthiest Salad!
Meals
Salads have layers. When creating your own salad, start of with a layer of dark green lettuce, like romaine or escarole — the darker the green, the more vitamins the leaves have. For the next layer, pick your favorite veggies and go crazy! Remember that color is better, so the more colorful veggies you have, the more variety of nutrients you’ll get. It’s important to have a protein layer in your salad too, so include some grilled chicken, hard-boiled eggs (just watch out for too many cholesterol-filled yolks) or tuna. For the finishing touches, you could add a bit of sweetness with berries and other fruits, or get your daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids by sprinkling some walnuts, pecans, and almonds.
Attention!
“It’s a salad, so it must be healthy.”Not all salads are created equal! In fact, some of the unhealthiest meals on a restaurant menu can be under the salad category — like Chili’s Southwestern Cobb Salad, which has a ghastly 1080 calories before the dressing is poured. When you go out to eat, read carefully what the menu says is included in the salad and be smart about nutritional value. We all know bacon bits, fried chicken strips, and handfuls of shredded cheese are not healthy, so don’t allow it to become healthy in your mind just because it is labeled under “salad.”
Practices
Would you like some salad with your dressing? It may be one of the best parts of creating your salad, but the dressing you choose could kill all the health value. A two-tablespoon serving of Kraft Ranch Dressing has 148 calories and 16 grams of fat! Get into the habit of acknowledging the type of dressing with which you coat your salads. The best dressing combo is olive oil and vinegar; olive oil is high in monounsaturated fats (the good fats) and low in unhealthy omega-6 fatty acids. The amount of dressing is also crucial. A good rule is dip, don’t drench. Avoid drenching your salad in dressing and, instead, set some dressing on the side to dip your fork into before delving into your meal.
Valentina Palladino is a freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and hopes to major in magazine journalism and English & textual studies. She was the editor-in-chief of her high school’s newspaper and worked for two of her hometown’s local newspapers as a contributing writer. When not writing, Valentina loves theatre, both performing and backstage work, eating her family’s authentic Italian food and, most of all, traveling.
Have a wellness question you’d like a MAP for? Contact Valentina Palladino at vlpallad@syr.edu with questions, comments, or suggestions.
So the good news is, I’ve been accepted to an SU Abroad program, which involves a trip to London for spring break. The bad news is, beyond the “Christmas morning” effect, stress ensues.
Yep, we’ve heard it all before. On the pages of What The Health! magazine, from your friends, television: STRESS SURROUNDS US. Whether I’m blogging about my chocolate dependency or forcing an invisible zapping fence between J. Michael and myself, we all battle it differently. While it may be odd to most why I would stress out in the face of something as wonderful as traveling to Europe, I have an annoying habit of being a very responsible, very paying college student.
Money. Even typing the very words send me into night sweats. There has got to be a way to handle this without plunging farther into debt from frivolous shopping (or seeing a higher number on the scale.) This blog offers a multitude of methods to deal with our hectic lives, but do they work on an individual level? Sure, the downward dog position at your gym’s yoga class may help our breathing patterns, but won’t I lie in bed just as long, reflecting on my mounting college loans?
In order to cope with stress (beyond food and shopping), we ought to start looking within ourselves for the strength not to crumble, say, while opening our bill envelopes. Whether it’s a guilty pleasure or a healthy habit, the best way to stay calm is to maintain a positive relationship with yourself. Oh, and get excited when you deserve to. (I’m going to London!)
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Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion, and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper.On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at jjscicch@syr.edu.
So it turns out that self-confidence and making friends go hand in hand. As you make friends, your self-confidence rises. As your self-confidence rises, you may find that it’s easier to make friends. Confusing? A little bit. But its makes sense when you think about it. Having people that are going to stand by you (aka friends) gives you the confidence you need to take the chances in life that allow you to be a more self-assured individual. There’s a couple of tips that any person can follow that will lead him or her down the road to success in all types of relationships.
Take risks, face fears, and don’t be afraid to disagree. By taking risks, I don’t mean trying that new drug that’s out on the street, but rather, try “new” things. Go on a date with that shy kid in your writing class who is totally not your type. Or befriend the girl that listens to music you hate and wears clothes that you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing. Taking a risk and putting yourself out there will boost your self-confidence. You will feel enlightened that you made a move, talked to someone new, did something out of the ordinary, and in the end, made a new friend.
Think about your first day on campus; everything and everyone was new to you. Yeah, it was terrifying, but at the same time, when the moment came where you realized that this was the perfect place for you to be, didn’t you feel a little bit excited? Didn’t you feel a wave of refreshment wash over you and find yourself trying to pull back that huge smile that was spreading across your face? That’s self-confidence — knowing where you belong and being assured that you can tackle what’s up ahead. You gain that by taking chances, because every chance you take and master proves to yourself that you can do it. And by it, I mean everything.
Express your feelings and only keep around those who respect you for it. I’ve been in so many situations where my views conflict with those of almost every person around me. For instance, I am not a drinker. When I agreed to go to a party with one of my friends, I knew that 98.9% of the people at that frat were not going to be following my lead and abstaining from drinking. But I didn’t care. Yeah, some people thought that I would’ve been “more fun” if I was drinking, but what I found was that my friends — my real friends —were actually really impressed.
“I think that’s so great that you’re not drinking, I wish I could be like you.” I will never forget when my friend said that to me, because all I could think was you could. I can’t even tell you how many other people have said how cool it is that I don’t drink, and every time I hear that, I get a confidence boost. Not only because I’m receiving compliments, but because I stayed true to myself, and I figured out that being a nondrinker is really who I am. That’s part of what life is all about: finding who you are and gaining self-confidence.
Know how to accept a compliment and don’t forget to compliment yourself every once in a while. For me, one of the hardest things (even more so than the impossible calculus problem or climbing the drunk stairs to get to my friend’s dorm) is taking a compliment. For the longest time, I couldn’t do it for the life of me. I honestly couldn’t help it when someone said, “your hair looks so cute today!” to quickly reply, “it could look so much better but the humidity ruined it.” I found it so difficult to just say “thank you!” and smile back. That was because my self-confidence was zero, or possibly in the negative. But I found as I began to say “thanks” instead of “no really, I’m not that great,” I began to believe what people said and immediately feel better about myself.
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Kimberly Caruba is a freshman broadcast journalism major. Caruba also writes for The Student Voice, volunteers at WAER radio, and is a part of Citrus TV. She will break the “Mental Block” every Thursday with tips on how to improve your mental health, friendships, and relieve stress.
Have you looked down there lately? No, not at your shoe, but your vagina, va-jay-jay, or the nickname you and your boo decided to call it. Well, you need to. No need to flaunt it like Britney, but how are you going to rock it if you don’t know what it looks like? It’s yours and to keep it healthy and clean, you have to get over being embarrassed.
I reacquainted myself with Beddie Boop once she became active.Then, uncomfortable feelings took over me. I started to cringe every time I went to the bathroom (which I went every five minutes), had flank pain, and very sharp unpleasant throbbing in the ugh…yea. This past summer, I had a kidney infection so I thought here we go again. But this time, the symptoms were a little different and not as bad (imagine that).
Did the condom break that time? I trust my boyfriend, so I wanted to rule out STI’s but listen up, ladies, you never know. I admit, I didn’t want to go to Health Services, but one day I couldn’t take it anymore! After I wiped and handled over my urine, I was ready for my rights to be read. “You have a urinary tract infection.” Sigh. I knew the routine circa the summer I found out my kidney was infected: take antibiotics for 7 days and it’s gone. But what is it? How did I get it and how can I prevent it?
A urinary tract infection involves areas where your urine passes through: the kidneys, ureters, bladder, or uretha. It’s very common in young women, especially women who are pregnant or are having unprotected sex (wrap her up!). It basically forms from bacteria that are not washed out during urination. To prevent, you should use protection during sex or make sure to urinate right after, wipe correctly (from front to back), and drink water to keep those kidneys healthy.
Bottom line: Protect your kitty or you wouldn’t have one to share.
Don’t know what to do with a bag full of apples? Here’s a great recipe for apple crisp, that’s healthy too. The smells of cinnamon, allspice and real maple syrup will really make it feel like fall. Happy Baking!
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Spiced Maple-Walnut Apple Crisp
For the topping:
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup light brown sugar
⅔ cup rolled oats (the Quaker instant oats are fine)
½ teaspoon ground allspice (ads that awesome fall-flavor)
¼ cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
For the Filling:
About 3 pounds of apples, peeled and sliced
¼ cup real maple syrup (Aunt Jemima does NOT count)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Combine flour, sugar, oats, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
3. Add cubes of butter, and work into the dry ingredients using two forks to mash them together. If the forks are giving you a hard time, jump in there with your hands — they work just as well and it’s fun!
4. Stir in walnuts
5. Combine apples, maple syrup, and the second ½ teaspoon of cinnamon in a large bowl, and toss well to coat the apples.
6. Lay apples in a greased casserole dish (you’ll need one that holds about 1 ½ quarts).
7. Cover the apples with the crumble mixture.
8. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown on top, and bubbling at the sides.
Kate Morin is a junior magazine journalism major, with minors in hospitality management and English and textual studies. She also writes for the print version of What the Health. Morin loves spending her free time cooking, traveling, and writing all about it.
It’s midterm time and most students have been in a tizzy all week. Papers, tests, projects…you name it, it’s happening. So, how do you manage to take a break from it all and cool your head? My favorite way is with yoga. The traditional practice of yoga began as an Eastern art and has since become popular in Western culture. One of the oldest forms of self-development, yoga is around for a reason. It really works for stress reduction!
Classic yoga combines breathing control with physical poses and meditation. Don’t let the slow movements fool you, though. Holding the poses is hard work! You’ll definitely work your muscles. The best part, though, is the soothing effect on your mind. Focusing on your body calms you down and can provide you with a moment of rest during an otherwise hectic week.
At Syracuse, we’re lucky enough to have yoga courses we can sign up for right on campus. Syracuse University Recreation Services offers classes at a variety of times to fit everyone’s schedule. They usually take place at Archbold Gymnasium. If you’re not ready to dive in for a whole semester of stretching and focusing, you can try a class for free as a part of Healthy Mondays in the Flanagan Exercise Room in Archbold. The next class is on Oct. 26 from 1 to 1:50 p.m. See how the ancient art works for you.
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Alison Bryant lives and plays in Burlington, Vermont. She enjoys writing, yoga, music and being outdoors.
While perusing the Post Standard’s Health and Wellness blog, I came across this Health and Fitness Blog They are estimating that almost nine thousand kids in the Central New York area have food allergies, yet most schools lack the money, education, and training to deal with potentially fatal allergic reactions. Senator Schumer wants to figure out a plan for schools to address the issue. The controversy brings up an interesting food phenomenon: How could something so good for us, be so bad (even deadly) for us, too? Even if you don’t have food allergies, many people need to be careful of what they eat, or risk the uncomfortable and perhaps harmful consequences.
Since birth, I have fought the battle of Food vs. Stomach. I’m not quite sure why I was born with such a lousy of a gastrointestinal system, but it sure is a nuisance. Doctors would tell my mother that I felt sick from “stress of adolescence.” They would give me medication to mask the pain. As young as I was, I knew taking a pill was never going to solve any problems.
I stripped my diet to the bare minimum, and introduced one food at a time until I knew what did and didn’t work for me. Continuing this approach, I have trained my senses to immediately decipher when something did not agree with me, keeping my body working as well as it can.
The point? It’s not always about life-threatening allergies. Many people confuse a mild to severe food intolerance with conditions like IBS, colitis, or something as simple as a stomach bug. If we could all slow down a bit and carefully observe everything we put into our mouths – the headaches, bowel problems and skin rashes we have might just fade away.
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Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion, and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper.On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at jjscicch@syr.edu.
Sometimes you can’t help but feeling glum when you look outside and find a dreary, wet, and cold day waiting for you. It’s almost impossible to not feel like crying when you make a list of all that you need to accomplish and realize that you won’t be able to go out with your friends over weekend. And it is the absolute worst when on top of being damp, stressed, and cold you have a nose that refuses to stop running and a cough that makes your throat ache. In situations like these the key to all of your problems and a secret to happiness is simple: carpe diem — seize the day.
I will be the first to admit that on a dreary, chilly day I would love nothing more than to stay curled up under my covers and sleep the day away — but in all honesty, that won’t accomplish anything and I won’t be any happier for doing so. In fact, by doing nothing I often find that I feel much worse.
If you want to improve your mood, don’t let another second pass you by! The best thing that you can do is to get up and be productive. When you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, sitting and wasting time will only hurt you. If on the other hand you get up, and buckle down to the tasks that you have before you, by the end of the day, although you will be exhausted, you will feel good about yourself and the world will look a little brighter. Take pride in what you do, the effort that you put into your homework, and you won’t be able to hold back a little grin when you know that you’ve done your best.
When you’re feeling really depressed, stop for a minute, look around, and notice what everyone else is ignoring. The way the leaves have become an assortment of orange, yellow, and red. The way your cup of hot chocolate seems to spread the comforting warmth to your hands, and warms you from the inside out. Notice the music rain makes while it patters on your windowpane.
Remind yourself that every day is a blessing, and what you do with the time you have and how the day ends up, is solely in your hands. Be thankful that you are able to breathe another day, that you have the privilege of being able to get a good education, and remember that someone has it worse than you.
Take comfort when you go to sleep in knowing that you really lived your day to the fullest, and know, that when you open your eyes the next morning, you have another full day to do with it as you please. So remember and never forget, carpe diem.
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Kimberly Caruba is a freshman broadcast journalism major. Caruba also writes for The Student Voice, volunteers at WAER radio, and is a part of Citrus TV. She will break the “Mental Block” every Thursday with tips on how to improve your mental health, friendships, and relieve stress.
Witch Hazel
Your grandmother may use this product for cuts and scraps but you can use it for cosmetic purposes. Witch Hazel is a great alternative to toner. If you have oily skin and use toner on a regular basis you can occasionally try this. This natural plant-based astringent is available in most drugstores and pharmacies and is relatively inexpensive. You can find it for about $4 in many drugstores.
Olive Oil
Olive oil is a staple in many people’s diets because of the nutrients it provides. It has omega-3 fatty acids and tastes great in pastas and salads. But you can also use olive oil on your face and in your hair. It is a great substitute for makeup remover. Instead of spending extra money on another product, you can look to your kitchen for a simple solution. Olive oil is also very moisturizing and gentle on the area around your eyes.
You can even use olive oil as a deep conditioning treatment for your hair. Simply coat your hair with a few teaspoons of olive oil (for a few minutes or even a half hour) after you shampoo and your hair should feel softer after you wash it out.
Petroleum Jelly
This main ingredient in Vaseline can be great for people with extremely dry skin. You can use petroleum jelly for more than protecting scraps and burns. Apply it on your body like a lotion. Unfortunately, petroleum jelly does not have the best smell. But many companies now make scented versions — such as baby powder — so don’t be afraid to slather it on.
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Yannique Benitez is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in history. She has written for on-campus publications like Equal Time and has interned at HBO and ThisOldHouse.com. Benitez is interested in investigating new products and procedures for beauty and skin care.
Trying new foods is always fun. The next time you have the urge to pick up something a little different at the grocery store, try skyr — a traditional Icelandic yogurt.
Photo courtesy of www.skyr.com
What’s different about skyr?
Skyr is somewhat thicker than conventional yogurt, and has a little bit more of a tangybite to it. In the cooking process, the whey or the water naturally found in milk, is strained from the product to make it thicker and creamier. This process not only makes the skyr thicker, but also makes it have two to three times more protein than the yogurt we are used to.
Siggi does skyr
A great brand to try is Siggi’s (skyr.com). The company is based in Norwich, N.Y., and started in 2004 when a home-sick Icelander, Siggi Hilmarsson, started to experiment with some recipes for skyr that his mother had sent him from Iceland. Over the last couple years, Siggi’s has grown from a small operation based out of a home kitchen and selling the product at NYC farmers markets to widespread distribution, including five NYC specialty stores and almost 100 Whole Foods stores all over the east coast. Siggi’s Icelandic skyr can also be found at local Wegmans shops.
Seven fresh flavors
Siggi’s comes in seven flavors — blueberry, orange & ginger, plain, pomegranate & passion fruit, acai, grapefruit, and vanilla. Have a sweet tooth? Try adding a drizzle of honey to any of the flavors — it will lessen the tangy bite, and give you a little hint of sweetness.
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Kate Morin is a junior magazine journalism major, with minors in hospitality management and English and textual studies. She also writes for the print version of What the Health. Morin loves spending her free time cooking, traveling, and writing all about it.
Anyone who has had a panic attack knows that it ain’t no walk in the park. Your heart starts racing, your palms sweat, and you often tremble involuntarily. It’s uncomfortable, to say the least. So, what do you do when you begin feeling detached and anxious? Here are a few helpful tricks that may help keep you calm and breathing easy.
Use Your Hands It’s simple, really. By giving your hands something to do, you can gear your focus away from your anxiety and on to something productive. Try learning to knit or play guitar. Both activities involve firm concentration and all ten fingers.
Exercise You’ve heard it before, but exercising really does reduce stress! It provides an outlet to release all that pent up energy that could otherwise rear its head in some less than comfortable ways. Take a walk, go for a jog, or lift some weights. It will give you a natural high to keep you from feeling low.
Stay Present Feelings of detachment often coincide with panic attacks, so it’s important to stay in tune to your surroundings. One way to do this is by picking a color and then naming every object of that color in the room. It sounds silly, but it draws your attention to something other than the harsh and seemingly uncontrollable feelings you may be experiencing. If you’re present, you have a better chance of stopping a panic attack before it gets out of control.
Find a Safety Zone Usually you can find a part of your body that feels safe at all times, regardless of feelings. Seek out that body part and focus on how it’s feeling. For example, your legs may feel sturdy and strong, despite a racing heart. Try to isolate that sensation and stay with it. Meditate on the calmness.
Ask for Help Panic attacks dole out sensations that truly do feel threatening and scary. Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone you trust and ask for help. This could be a friend willing to sit by you or one of the many talented therapists at the Counseling Center. If panic gets out of hand, seek a medical professional to walk you through the steps to reaching a calmer, happier state.
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Alison Bryant lives and plays in Burlington, Vermont. She enjoys writing, yoga, music and being outdoors.
We’ve all experienced the feeling: You’re in a big lecture hall with another one hundred students or so and the professor is droning on and on about a topic that becomes less and less interesting as the clock ticks by. You’re finding it hard to pay attention as your eyelids begin to feel like heavy curtains. Then, your head begins to tilt back as sleepiness engulfs your body.
Let’s face it — you’re tired and sleep is the only thing your body wants to focus on. Whether you pulled an all-nighter trying to finish a paper, or you actually went to bed at a semi-decent time the night before, you just can’t seem to catch enough Z’s to get you through the next day. It can be an exhausting and frustrating feeling to push yourself from class to class, chugging tasteless coffee in hopes that it will satisfy your caffeine fix until you can finally meet and greet your bed once again… then wake up in the same state and do it all over again the next day. Believe it or not, there are ways to fight the college chaos and feel free of fatigue, all while still getting everything done in your day that needs to be completed. We’ve got some simple routine habits you can implement into your day that will make up Your Wellness MAP to Better Sleep!
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Meals
A glass of milk a day can keep the fatigue at bay! Milk is a good nighttime drink of choice because it has high levels of calcium, which is an essential nutrient for overall health. Most people know that calcium helps build strong bones, but it is also a natural sleep agent, muscle relaxer, and stress reducer. When taking more calcium into your diet, remember that calcium is better absorbed in smaller doses, so spread out your intake with an hour in between each dosage. Try adding an eight-ounce glass of milk to each meal in order to get your calcium fix for the day. If you’re not big on milk, other foods like salmon, yogurt, almonds, cheese, broccoli, and peas contain calcium as well. According to the National Institute of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements, the recommended daily amount of calcium for males and females ages 19-50 is about 1,000 mg. This can reached either by eating calcium-rich foods and/or by taking supplements.
BONUS TIP: Remember to pair calcium with magnesium sulfate (also available in supplements), which helps the body absorb calcium better.
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Attention!
Alcohol is NOT the cure-all sleep aid. While many people use alcohol to unwind and fall asleep after a hard day, it really isn’t doing anything for your body other than providing the potential for making you restless. “Four hours into sleep, alcohol wears off and leaves you in an excitable state,” says Dr. Alex Chediak, M.D., the medical director of the Miami Sleep Disorders Center. Not only will you be sporting that infamous hangover in the morning, alcohol can also leave you sleeping lighter, thereby waking more easily and making you too jittery to fall back asleep. In simple terms, those shots or couple cans of beer you downed at that party will only be a quick fix when you make it back to your bed. Like they always say, when you choose to drink alcohol, you should follow it up with a nonalcoholic beverage, like soda or water, to keep control of your senses.
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Practices
It’s all about routine. You’d be amazed what wonders simple things like habitual sleep schedules and the right atmosphere can do for tired minds. It may seem difficult to stick to a specific sleeping schedule with piling schoolwork, jobs, friends, family, parties and the other million things college kids have to juggle, but it really does work. Kelina Imamura, a magazine journalism major, said that before she began going to bed at reasonable hour, she was overworking herself to the point where she was inflicted with extreme stress and anxiety attacks. She decided to make time for sleep in order to maintain her physical, emotional and psychological health. “Being on a schedule allows you to sleep better and be more productive throughout the day,” she says. “It provides you with a certain body rhythm which is essential to overall well-being.” Also, one of the favorite practices of college students may not prove well for your nighttime sleep — napping a lot throughout the day could make matters worse for you at night. Don’t worry though, a small 15-20 minute nap in the middle of the day or after a long block of classes can actually be quite rejuvenating and leave you refreshed. However, long naps spanning multiple hours will completely skew your nighttime sleeping schedule, potentially causing more fatigue.
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Valentina Palladino is a freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and hopes to major in magazine journalism and English & textual studies. She was the editor-in-chief of her high school’s newspaper and worked for two of her hometown’s local newspapers as a contributing writer. When not writing, Valentina loves theatre, both performing and backstage work, eating her family’s authentic Italian food and, most of all, traveling.
Have a wellness question you’d like a MAP for? Contact Valentina Palladino at vlpallad@syr.edu with questions, comments, or suggestions.
Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier. Ring any bells? If you’ve given up, I’m referring to three of fashions most current and influential photographers. The campus of Syracuse University is certainly a far cry from the edge of Lake Como, Italy or the stiletto-strutted streets of Paris. But does this mean we offer no edge, no style, no chic fashion worthy of a camera lens? I think not.
Photo by Jenn Bregande
A friend of mine who attends LeMoyne College recently approached me about being a part of one of her photography assignments. I obliged (and tried to back off the sweets for the week prior, much to my dismay.) The premise of the shoot was an organic look at the feminine form; a mixture of several girls who didn’t fit the conventional, high-fashion model mode — an impossible ideal for anyone to aim for. The kicker: she wanted us to be dressed in as fitted, as scanty, and as see-through clothing as possible. Sure, the combination of “barely there” plus the lack of visible bones can equal a mini-meltdown.
These feelings of “needing” to be thin are a complete social construct very prominent in our culture. Who exactly do we “need” to be this thin for? So long as we are healthy, we do not have to meet a demeaning, dangerous ideal. Want to feel good about yourself? Eat dressed arugula for lunch, loaded with chickpeas, whole wheat bread chunks, cucumbers, and radishes. Get all of your homework done more than an hour before the due date. Or, if you can, get together with your girlfriends, take pictures, and be proud of what you look like, and most importantly, who you are.
(This blog is dedicated to Irving Penn, another major photographer who passed away Oct. 7. Thank you for portraying all forms of beauty.)
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Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion, and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper.On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at jjscicch@syr.edu.
As the excitement of the beginning of the school year begins to fade and panic starts to set in with midterms approaching and an overload of tests, papers, and projects, feeling stressed can start to become a daily occurrence. As I myself have come to be a daily jittery mess, here are five of my favorite stress-relieving techniques that have yet to fail me.
1. Exercise: At the end of my senior year of high school I was ridiculously stressed. From finishing up college applications to trying to make sure I ended my high school career with great grades, I literally felt overwhelming tension during three-fourths of my day. The time I didn’t feel the crushing pressure on my chest? When I was working out. Every day after school I’d go to the gym and run a mile, ride a bike, or hop on the elliptical — and I always felt so relaxed after a good workout. So whenever homework and projects get to be too much, go for a jog (not alone!), head to the gym, and if you’re short on time just take a run up and down your residence hall’s stairs!
2.Have Your Own Dance Party: When things get hectic, turn on some of your favorite songs. Make a playlist of songs that make you feel good — whether that means slow, relaxing music, or up-beat club songs that you can’t help but dancing around your dorm to. Sometimes all you need is to let loose a little bit.
3. Watch Your Favorite Movie: You may be short on time, but if you’re feeling the heat, take a 30-minute break and watch a scene from your favorite movie. I always feel better after kicking back on my bed and watching a scene from the Notebook (cliché I know) but watching something that makes you smile will reassure you that things will turn up and that you can get through what’s ahead of you.
4.Meditation: You don’t have to go all out with humming and awkward positions to relax your body. Personally, one of the best things I learned in a yoga class I took was how to individually relax my muscles. Lay down on your bed, take a deep breath, and imagine a wave of relaxation running from the top of your head down to your toes. Focus on each muscle in your body as you work your way down. From big muscles like your stomach to small ones like your fingers, focus your attention on every part of your body and just relax.
5. Laugh: Whether this means going on YouTube and watching a funny video or calling up a friend who never fails to make you giggle, smiling and having a good time, even for just a couple minutes, can brighten your day and relieve tension.
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Kimberly Caruba is a freshman broadcast journalism major. Caruba also writes for The Student Voice, volunteers at WAER radio, and is a part of Citrus TV. She will break the “Mental Block” every thursday with tips on how to improve your mental health, friendships, and relieve stress.
I have done something totally out of character. I have signed up on a whim to run a 5K. Truth be told, I haven’t completed an actual race since I was in elementary school — and that was a mile competition that rewarded participants with fun-filled goodie bags. Although I love running, it’s more of a recreational thing to me, a way to clear my mind, not something I typically consider competitive. But it’s a new semester and this fitness blog has encouraged me to challenge myself and test my limits. So here goes nothing!
As a Syracuse University student, I’m constantly hearing about Healthy Monday and all the fun the program has to offer, including free massages and Zen meditation. This weekend, Healthy Monday is getting a jump-start on the week by partnering up with Phi Sigma Pi to host the Healthy Sunday 5K on Oct. 11. Phi Sigma Pi is an on-campus organization that fuses elements of an honor society, social fraternity, and service club into one.
The event will start at Archbold Gymnasium and then loop down around Crouse, past the law school and back up to Archbold. Three laps of this course will make up the 5K. The Healthy Sunday 5K will start at 10 a.m. and registration begins at 9 a.m. Preregistration costs $10 while registering the day of the event costs $15. For more information or to register for the race, visit the Healthy Monday Web site. A portion of the money raised from the Healthy Sunday 5K will go to Teach for America, Phi Sigma Pi’s nationally supported philanthropy.
Based on the success of the 3rd Annual Matt Wanetik 5K last weekend, it’s clear that events that combine great causes with physical activity bode well with students.
So it may seem a little crazy or out of my league, but college is all about new experiences and trying different things — and I think this 5K is exactly what I need. I may not be the most conditioned or skilled runner, but I’m fueled by ambition and ready to saddle up my sneaks for a great cause.
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Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling and communications.
My staff and I are ready to bring you tips, new alerts, and topics covering weekly workouts, healthy on-the-go snacks, world health issues, stress, sexual health, and news and information on courses that will make your life as a college student a little less stressful and healthier!
My beat bloggers will keep you updated daily, and my feature bloggers and freelance bloggers will keep you in the loop of all things healthy, so check in with us each week to get the quick tips, new alerts, and features to improve not just your physical health but your mental and emotional health, too!
A full day of classes can be draining. They’re long, tiring and can easily take a toll on our health. Aside from getting a good night’s rest, it’s important to eat healthy in order to restore energy throughout your busy day. Sometimes three meals a day won’t cut it and we need some midday fuel. The quick options available to us are often unhealthy choices (think vending machines and fast food eateries) But, all it takes is stocking up your dorm or apartment with the right food and you’ll be fighting off the mid-class stomach grumbles in no time.
Cheese and Crackers
On your next trip to the SU bookstore or Wegman’s, (http://www.wegmans.com/) pick up whole grain crackers. Kashi’s TLC crackers (http://kashi.com/products/tlc_crackers_original_7_grain) are delicious, full of fiber and come in a variety of flavors. Buy some low fat cheese to go along with it. It’s a great combination of carbs and proteins.
Trail Mix
Trail mix is a great snack because it’s portable and doesn’t take long to prepare. Instead of buying a packaged trail mix, your best bet is to make it with natural ingredients yourself. Packaged trail mix often contains processed ingredients and too many calories.
Before class mix 1 cup of whole grain granola (try Bear Naked granola) (http://www.bearnaked.com/) with 1/2 cup of almonds, ¼ cup of walnuts and ¼ cup of dried cranberries. Try mixing and matching with other nuts and dried fruits like sunflower seeds and apricots.
Celery and peanut butter
For a protein kick, cut up some celery before class and store it the refrigerator. When you come back in between classes, spread a tablespoon of peanut butter on the celery.
You can add raisins or semi-sweet chocolate chips to sweeten up the snack.
Stay Healthy!
Michelle Toglia is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in marketing. She has written a health and beauty blog for LifeBrooker.com and is currently a senior editor of the print version of What the Health. She will update you every Monday with “Eating Right for the College Student On-the-Go.”
My experience with this mindfulness thing began this past summer when I stumbled on a Zen Buddhist monastery. Maybe some teachers would say my quest began years before that, or even before I was born; I’m not sure. All I know is that something happened to me that summer morning that has not quite run its course .
So when I heard about a free “mindfulness based” stress reduction program — MBSR for short — offered by the SU Counseling Center, I signed up. If you’re curious, skeptical, or somewhere in between, I’m here to give you a glimpse into my experience with mindfulness. That sounds like a mouthful, doesn’t it? It’s simple: I do the work, you read the blog. Maybe we’ll both learn something new.
What exactly did those Buddhists put in my green tea you say? Well, nothing really. I kind of walked into it.
I was house sitting in the Catskill Mountains for a month this past summer, living along a mountain creek in a forested cove all alone with a cat and a black lab. One afternoon, while walking the dog I heard the faint sound of an ancient instrument winding through the trees. I turned down a small dirt road and ten minutes later had met a monk, toured the grounds, and got myself invited to a service at the Zen Mountain Monastery near Mt. Tremper, New York.
The next morning I retraced my steps to the grey stone in its haven of spruce. After joining about 150 others for a chanting service, I joined the other newbies in a private beginner meditation session with one of the monks. She was just over five feet and couldn’t have weighed more than 110 pounds. Her eyes had this glistening film over them that made it seem like she was always just on the verge of tears, joyful ones. The way such a slight body could contain such solidity of spirit was altogether new to me—I could’ve listened to her speak for hours.
The monk introduced us to the basics of the morning service, and instructed us in seated meditation, or za zen (sitting—za, with the mind—zen). We then joined the rest of the community for a 35-minute meditation. During the session, the gentle morning rain turned feral; in all my life I’ve never heard such thunder. It seemed to be earthbound, crashing through the stone walls to silence me. I was at once entirely solitary and entirely absorbed into a community of others. My mind bounced like a racquetball. What to eat, whom to call, books to read, workouts to do, the state of the world, my past, my future. It all crashed down with that thunder into the stone-solid present.
I carry this memory around with me like a Polaroid, reaching for it when the world starts to buzz far too loudly. And here I am again, every Wednesday night in the Bird library, trying to sit still and just be.
Next week: Session One
- Jennifer Anne Ward
Jennifer Ward is a magazine graduate student at S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She has written for In Good Health, CNY’s premier health care newspaper, and covered topics that range from religion to triathlons, food and cosmetic surgery.
You can find her portfolio at www.jwbwrites.wordpress. She also has her own food blog called Fresh Cracked Pepper. “The Mindful Diaries” is a blog journal about her weekly Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. Tune in every Tuesdays for updates.
This Week’s Topics: Malaria, Obesity, Mediterranean Diet, and Abortion
Complied By Danielle Alvarez, beat blogger
Malaria
On Wednesday, Sept. 24th, the United Nations held a meeting on the Millennium Development Goals. One important topic on the agenda was a discussion on the world’s fight against the blight of malaria in Africa. The disease continues to kill nearly 3,000 children each day. It seems unlikely; we have nearly wiped out Malaria in our own country with existing technologies and anti-malarial drugs. Unfortunately for many people in Africa, even a simple mosquito net that would significantly reduce the rapid spread of the disease is out of reach. You can help. There are many organizations working together to defeat malaria. Click here for one in New York. With just $10 you can make a difference.
Obesity
Obesity is a well-known and widespread problem in the United States; over 74% of people ages 15 and up, are considered overweight. But this isn’t only a problem in the U.S., nearly half of our neighbors in Mexico have growing waistlines, and the rate of diseases that have been associated with obesity continues to rise. Vamos Por Un Million de Kilos (or Let’s Lose a Million Kilos) is the country’s new program to help the Mexican citizens become healthier and lose the excess weight. According to USA Today, it is the rise of the middle class and the cheaper caloric-Mexican food that has led to the country’s devastating weight gain. Through government-funded education, new and improved fitness facilities, and an encouraging campaign for the consumption of more fruits and vegetables they hope to “nip this sucker in the butt” before it gets out of hand. Hopefully the U.S. will use Mexico as an example in ourown weight loss initiatives.
The Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet that has been applauded for contributing to longer life spans and happy hearts is on the decline… in the last place you’d guess: the Mediterranean. A daily regimen focused on a high intake of nuts, fruits, vegetables, and olives seems to have lost its popularity. Unfortunately, the replacement diet is not nearly as healthy and features processed foods and fast-food chains. This change is especially apparent in children, who are now a whopping two-thirds are overweight. Health experts and leaders are frantically trying to save their nutritional traditions, an aspect they consider an “intangible piece of cultural heritage.” You too can make the effort in a few easy steps provided by Mayo Clinic:
Eat a generous amount of fruits and vegetables
Consume healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil
Eat small portions of nuts
Drink red wine, in moderation, for some
Consume very little red meat
Eat fish on a regular basis
Abortion
American women have long since had the right to have abortions despite threats of restriction since the 1820. A new anti-abortion movement, however, has moved to Russia, as the debate continues. The use of contraceptives remains unpopular as many Russian women continue to rely on abortion as their method birth control. As a result, led by the government, the discussion has evolved into that of a moral issue for a country that claims to have of world’s highest abortion rights. What’s your stance on the issue?
Danielle Alvarez is a junior magazine journalism and modern foreign language dual major. She has previously interned at Cookie magazine in the summer of 2008 and has been spending this past year stuyding abroad. She is in Santiago, Chile after being Cuenca, Ecuador this summer and plans to end her world travel in Strasbourg, France next Spring. Look out for her global health news alerts every Wednesday from “Around the World.”
Midterms, No stress by Ashley Schofield, beat blogger
No need to bang stress out of your mind. Simply take a deep breath, figure out a manageable study plan and stop freaking out about midterms.
(pic courtesy of skyfiredesign)
For college students, stress is no acquaintance; it’s something constantly looming overhead – especially throughout midterms.
With back-to-back exams, hectic cramming and chaotic schedules, stress is hard to escape during the mid-semester madness.
But when stress is invited in, it doesn’t leave – even for a quick snooze break.
Short-term chronic stress, which includes anxiety over daily tasks, induces sleep disturbances, according to Revolution Health.com, a health and medical information Web site.
Forty-eight percent of Americans lie awake at night due to stress, according to the American Psychological Association (APA).
Sleep deprivation does not do anything for exam success. It’s a known fact that a tired brain functions a lot more slowly than a mind working on eight hours of sleep.Decreased productivity is a major result of stress, the APA also reported.
So don’t start stressing. Not only will it decrease your chances of excelling, but it also becomes more difficult to reduce anxiety as time goes on.
Many people who identify stress as a negative influence in their life lack the motivation to change their habits and ways of thinking, according to APA studies. Only 35 percent were motivated to make life changes.
It is easy to change stress-inducing study habits now. The golden rule to a stress-free exam week is simple: don’t procrastinate.
Plan ahead and manage your time; you won’t need to stress out. Take deep breaths – it is actually a stress buster – and ask for help if you’re in over your head.
Stress may be okay for the short two-week exam period, but short-term stresses can easily turn into long-term stress patterns, which lead to more serious health problems like an increased risk of heart failure.
The APA reported that unfortunately, 79 percent of Americans believe stress is a way of life. It is one of those frenemies, and an aspect of life that everyone faces, but a popular lifestyle in society today. Not sure I like this.
Keep your friends close, but don’t keep the stress enemy closer. Distance yourself from stress this exam period, and you’ll find studying and sleeping a lot easier.
If you find yourself on the verge of stressing, find something that will take your mind off things – dancing with jeans on your head might be a rejuvenating study break.
Ashley Schofield is a graduate Magazine, Newspaper and Online Journalism student at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. A native San Diegan, Schofield loves all things healthy. She don’t eat junk food, love eating organic and can serve up some mean, unique cuisine. Besides exercising daily, she likes to do yoga, dance, running, walking and tennis. She’s a self-proclaimed former “horrible stress case,” so her weekly column “Inhale,” that is updated every Thursday about stress prevention comes from someone with experience.
Taking medicines like Advil can reduce your risk of breast cancer, according to a study analysis conducted by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The researchers involved in this analysis reviewed 38 studies published from January 1966 to July 2008. Researchers identified more than 2.7 million subjects involved in the studies, making this the largest analysis of its kind. Though several studies had conflicting information, the overall outcome demonstrated that nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin and ibuprofen (Advil), were associated with reduced risk of cancer.
An analysis of aspirin alone yielded a 13 percent reduction risk, while the ibuprofen produced a 21 percent reduction risk, according to a Medical News Today. “The results are encouraging and may help us better understand the importance of role of inflammation in the pathology of the disease,” Mahyar Etminan says, one of the analysis’ researchers, in the Medical News Today. Etminan also states that women should not use NSAIDs routinely until researchers release another study confirming these conclusions. The results of a corresponding trial is set to release in 2009.
Mallory Creveling is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in nutrition. Creveling, who was a fitness editorial intern at Shape magazine this past summer, plans to pursue a career in health journalism after graduation. She attributes her internship and writing and researching for on campus publications to her growing knowledge of where and how to research health topics more sufficiently. Creveling is also a senior editor for the print version of What the Health this semester. She will update her column every Thursday with health news alerts on new studies about issues affecting the U.S. population.
According to the Journal of Infectious Diseases, anal human papillomavirus (HPV) is becoming as common as cervical HPV. Although it is still unclear as to how anal HPV is contracted, it is known that anal sex is not required to contract the virus.
It is proven that women who engage in anal sex are at a higher risk of contracting anal HPV. Other activities may expose those who are sexually active to the virus; including the use of fingers, sex toys, and non-penetrative sex.
Just as cervical HPV can lead to cervical cancer, anal HPV can lead to anal cancer. There are over 100 different types of HPV, and 15% have been proven to cause cancer.
The vaccine Gardasil, which has become popular the past few years, may possibly help prevent anal HPV. ”The cervix is similar biologically to the anus, so there’s plenty of hope that it will work there also,” says professor of medicine at the University of California, San Fransisco, Dr. Joel Palefsky.
Syracuse University Health Services offers free examinations, testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, and education and information about preventing STDs.
Other Sources:
MSNBC, “‘Eww’ factor aside, anal HPV infection is a risk.” May 23, 2008
The International Herald Tribune, “HPV vaccine may help to prevent anal cancer.” February 1, 2007
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
Besides a well-equipped planner, a busy college student needs one other thing to survive her or his jam-packed schedule: energy. Toss aside the Red Bull and grande latte, these quick-fixes won’t last you through the day. Instead, focus on eating nutrient-rich and long-lasting foods to stay alert and awake during your lectures, tests and meetings.
Whole-grain choices will provide energy throughout the day. Whole-grain toast or English muffins are great healthy energy boosters. Try Thomas’ Hearty Grains English Muffins. Add protein by spreading on natural peanut or almond butter. Arnold’s Sandwich Thins are tasty, only 100 calories and perfect for sandwiches.
Yogurt is great source of protein as well.Stick to natural, low-fat, low-sugar yogurt. Fage brand yogurt contains 20 grams of protein and is only 120 calories when made with skim milk. The thick yogurt may taste bland to those with a sweet tooth, so try adding some whole-grain granola, fresh berries or a packet of Splenda to sweeten it up.
Blueberries are rich in antioxidants and have been proven to improve memory.Grab a bunch of fresh blueberries before a midterm or a long study session. Try adding blueberries to trail mixes or a smoothie.
Michelle Toglia is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in marketing. She has written a health and beauty blog for LifeBrooker.com and is currently a senior editor of the print version of What the Health. She will update you every Monday with “Eating Right for the College Student On-the-Go.”
This week’s workout is an easy and quick way to work on your core stability and strengthening, while at the same time maintaining great abs and arms.It is the ideal post cardiovascular workout like a run and is a favorite of members of the Jackalope Running Club at Syracuse University.
It is easy to do in any location, especially a dorm room, and the best part: it will only take you three minutes.
For best results keep your abs tight and focus on your core stability throughout the workout.
Part 1:
A:First get in the plank push-up position with your arms extended straight and your palms flat on the floor. Focus on keeping your body in a straight line by keeping your abs tight to fully work your core.
B: Lower your arms so you are in a position where you are hovering slightly above the floor with your body parallel to the floor.Hold this position for 10 seconds focusing on the tightness of your core muscles.
C: Push yourself back up to the plank position for one second and then lower your body back down so it is once again parallel with the ground, and hold for nine seconds.
D: Continue this combination of holding with your body in the parallel position for 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 seconds.
Part 2:
A: Now do the opposite workout. First hold yourself up in the plank position for 10 seconds, once again focusing on core stability.
B: After 10 seconds push your body to be parallel to the floor for a quick push up and then rise again and hold in the plank position for 9 seconds.
C: Continue this holding exercise in the plank position for 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 seconds.
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
Stairs are a great place to get a cardio workout that can also be turned into a total body workout. Syracuse campus is perfect for stair workouts with the 2 sets of covered stairs by Brewster Boland Hall under the College of Law. An ideal full body workout can be done with two-three minute intervals of stair exercises and then one minute of muscle toning exercises on the landings. This stairs workout may be shortened to follow a run, or the whole thing can fulfill a quality cardio workout for the day.
Interval 1: Start at the bottom of the two sets of covered stairs at the bottom of the College of Law. Run up both sets of stairs one step at a time at a slow to medium pace for a warm-up and return to the bottom.
Take a one-minute break before you begin interval 2.
Interval 2: Depending on your level of fitness either set a timer for one or two minutes, then run up and down the stairs at a faster than medium speed pace. Continue this as many times as you can until your time limit is up.
Muscle Toning: Once you have completed your time frame run up the first set of stairs and move over to the left side to be out of the way of anyone using the stairs. Depending on your level of fitness do one-three repetitions of push-ups at your own pace.
Interval 3: Return to the bottom of both sets of stairs and set a timer for one-two minutes depending on your level of fitness. Run up with stairs side ways for the entire time frame. While running up the first set of stairs sideways step first with your left leg then cross your right leg over to land on the next step and continue this. For best results keep your hips straight and try not to turn your body with your leg that is crossing over. For the second set of stairs step up with your right foot and cross over with your left foot, once again keeping your hips straight ahead of you. Note: Be careful when going up the stairs sideways if you are wearing long pants or anything that you may trip over. You may want to start out at a slower pace until you feel sure of your footing, and then increase your speed.
Muscle Toning: At whatever part of the stairs your time limit ends at you can do this exercise. Face outward from the stairs and extend your hands onto a step behind you to do dips. With your hands facing outward from the stairs use your biceps to lower yourself down in a sitting position until you almost sit on a step. Do one-three sets of 10 repetitions depending on your level of fitness.
Interval 4: Return to the bottom of both sets of steps. Run up both sets of stairs at a fast pace once and return to the bottom. Now run up the first set of steps at a fast pace and once you get to the first landing do 5 squats, then run up the second set of stairs and do 5 squats once you get to the top. Bonus: Return to the bottom of both sets of steps and do the repetition with squats at each landing once more.
Take a two-minute break at the bottom of the steps before the next interval.
If you are feeling up to it, continue with the next two intervals or end the workout here with the cool down.
Interval 5: Repeat interval 3.
Interval 6: Repeat interval 4.
Cool down: Run around the parking lot by the Dome between Sadler and the parking garage once to loosen up your legs. End by stretching, especially your hamstrings, and if you are concerned with soreness eat a banana at some point in the day because the potassium will lessen the soreness you may experience.
Note: Keep in mind to always be cautious while working out on stairs. It may not be smart to wear long, baggy pants that you may trip on, and if you ever begin to feel dizzy take a break.
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
With only the basic instruction in Zen meditation that I wrote about in my last post, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. Our teacher, David Jacobs, began the session by saying we’d get the most out of the program if we arrived with an adventurous attitude. Check. I was sufficiently blank-page. To be honest, even a little doubtful.
The first session began in a room just off Bird library’s main floor. As students talked loudly on the other side of the wall, our little group tried to unwind. We sat in a rough circle on some chairs that were more board meeting than group therapy and listened to David introduce the course.
MBSR came out of the vipassana teachings of Theravadic Buddhism. In plain English, “vipassana” means insight or clear awareness, and that it’s all about self-transformation and introspection.
I had the introspection part nailed. And transformation didn’t sound half bad either. So far so good.
MBSR was founded in 1979 by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. It’s apparently all the rage in medical circles. In fact, here’s a snippet of a short exchange I had with a psychologist friend that helped justify my crazy idea to sign up at all:
Me: “It’s this program, something like M.R.B…” (I asked, tentatively)
Psychologist Friend: “Oh oh, M.B.S.R!” (she said, as if it were a household acronym) “Yeah, that program costs a lot. You should do it.”
Never one to pass up free stuff, here I was, sitting in a circle in a cold room with a bunch of strangers, being urged to add yet another commitment to my life. The following week, about seven people dropped out.
I guess I’m about to find out for myself what all this mindfulness means. I’m betting that sometime over these next few weeks, I’ll find out for the umpteenth time that I really don’t have all my shit together after all. Maybe there will be a new surprise this time around.
As I lay perfectly still on the floor during the last guided meditation of the evening, trying not to try anything, I did feel remarkably calm. I left the room feeling proud of myself. I had taken time for myself. As soon I as walked out the door, however, the hard part began: Daily practice, commitment, openness. Sure I’d make it through my first two-hour session, but could I turn this into a lifestyle?
With that question in mind, I went out into the dark evening, ran six miles to shake off the feeling that I’d turned to pudding, and went back to my hectic life. Oh well, there’s always next week.
-Jennifer Ward
Jennifer Ward is a magazine graduate student at S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She has written for In Good Health, CNY’s premier health care newspaper, and covered topics that range from religion to triathlons, food and cosmetic surgery.
You can find her portfolio at www.jwbwrites.wordpress. She also has her own food blog called Fresh Cracked Pepper. “The Mindful Diaries” is a blog journal about her weekly Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. Tune in every Tuesdays for updates.
On the campaign trail, presidential candidates have made health care reform a dominant issue. And why not? There is a clear and immediate problem with the inequality and efficiency of our country’s health programs. Even more unfortunate is the fact that
we’re hardly alone in this struggle. The World Health Report 2008, published on Tuesday, assesses global health care; “the way it is organized, financed and delivered in rich and poor countries.” What they found is quite appalling.
Here’s a few highlights:
*Differences in life expectancy differ by more than 40 years between the richest and poorest countries.
*Of the estimated 136 million women who will give birth this year, around 58 million will receive no medical assistance whatsoever during childbirth and the postpartum period.
*Annual government expenditures for health services varies from as little as $20 per person to more than $6,000 per person.
*More than 100 million people are pushed below the poverty line each year because of personal expenditures for healthcare.
“The World Health Report sets out a way to tackle inequities and inefficiencies in healthcare, and its recommendations need to be heeded,” said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan at the launch of the report in Almaty, Kazakhstan, “A world that is greatly out of balance in matters of health is neither stable nor secure.”
Let’s hope they can address the health care struggle not only in the U.S. but also abroad.
Danielle Alvarez is a junior magazine journalism and modern foreign language dual major. She has previously interned at Cookie magazine in the summer of 2008 and has been spending this past year stuyding abroad. She is in Santiago, Chile after being Cuenca, Ecuador this summer and plans to end her world travel in Strasbourg, France next Spring. Look out for her global health news alerts every Wednesday from “Around the World.”
Not worrying and being happy is much easier said than done – contrary to the famous words of Bob Marley: “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”.
So how do you stop stressing out? You can read countless stress books, articles and studies from the experts, but ultimately the answer lies within you.
You may not even realize you are stressing out until something more serious occurs. So ladies and gents, it’s time to test yourselves.
It’s not as painful as it sounds – no need to fear. It’s not like a trip to the dentist, the doctor’s or the dreaded free clinic. It’s just a simple online health test and it takes about two minutes to complete. Go to this link (http://www.revolutionhealth.com/articles/life-change-stress-test/calc008) and prompt the interactive stress test to start.
The Web site states that it is a “life change stress test” that will evaluate changes in your work, home, family, personal, social, financial and health life.” After five short slides, you will see where your life lies on a stress spectrum.
To eliminate stress, the site recommends therapy or exercise, but it’s up to you to realize when stress is arriving and what causes it.
When you choose to target your stressors, take a step away from life and engage yourself in something you enjoy. Take a scenic walk, sip some tea or read an interesting magazine.
This blog will offer a variety of weekly tips that can work towards calming yourself down when you feel your stress levels building. The best – and most basic – tip though is just to…
Inhale.
Ashley Schofield is a graduate Magazine, Newspaper and Online Journalism student at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. A native San Diegan, Schofield loves all things healthy. She don’t eat junk food, love eating organic and can serve up some mean, unique cuisine. Besides exercising daily, she likes to do yoga, dance, running, walking and tennis. She’s a self-proclaimed former “horrible stress case,” so her weekly column “Inhale,” that is updated every Thursday about stress prevention comes from someone with experience.
The computer-savvy may find even more benefits in their web skills besides keeping up with technology. In fact, according to a study in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry as described on EurekAlert, searching the Web can stimulate and increase brain function.
For the first study “Assessing the Effects of the Internet,” UCLA scientists found that this type of searching activates the parts of the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. Dr. Gary Small, the principle investigator in the study and a professor at UCLA, says keeping the mind engaged in activity may help preserve its health and cognitive ability, according to EurekAlert. As the brain ages, cognitive function may become impaired. Keeping the brain active through technology may continue its abilities.
Participants of this study performed Web searches and book reading tasks while researchers recorded their brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. While all of the participants demonstrated the same significant brain activity during the book reading, those with Internet experience also had activity in those areas of the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning as they worked on the Internet.
“Our most striking finding was that Internet searching appears to engage a greater extent of neural circuitry that is not activated during reading — but only in those with prior Internet experience,” Small says, in the EurekAlert article.
Web searches require people to make a decision about what to click on when they want more information. This is the gap in reading, so students may be able to feel less guilty about spending countless hours researching on the Web instead of reading their textbooks. After all, they are improving their brain function.
Mallory Creveling is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in nutrition. Creveling, who was a fitness editorial intern at Shape magazine this past summer, plans to pursue a career in health journalism after graduation. She attributes her internship and writing and researching for on campus publications to her growing knowledge of where and how to research health topics more sufficiently. Creveling is also a senior editor for the print version of What the Health this semester. She will update her column every Thursday with health news alerts on new studies about issues affecting the U.S. population.
After nearly being wiped out entirely, the sexually transmitted disease syphilis is back. Historically responsible for the deaths of some well known Europeans, syphilis once ran rampant. However, the cases decreased greatly over the last several decades and it became far less of a concern.
”Syphilis used to be a very rare disease,” says European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control’s Dr. Marita van de Laar, “I’m not sure we can say that anymore.” Cases are sixteen times greater than what they were ten years ago in some countries. The number of cases in the Netherlands has doubled, cases in Germany have tripled, and France has over ten times the amount of cases they had ten years ago, according to the Health Protection Agency.
Risky sexual behavior is said to be the cause of this rise in syphilis cases. Although prominent in both heterosexual males and females, cases are highest among gay men. These outbreaks are primarily occuring in London, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin.
Symptoms of syphilis include rashes, sores, lesions, weight loss, headache, sore throat, and fever, among others. Women who have syphilis can pass it on to their children, which can be highly life threatening to the child.
While STDs are always a concern when engaging in sexual behavior, students traveling abroad should be aware of the unusually high cases of syphilis in Europe. Students should also take note that the Syracuse University Health Services offer free STD testing.
Check out MSNBC for more information.
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
This Monday, learn to plié, jeté and relevé (and brush up on your French) by checking out Healthy Monday’s free ballet class. Though it comprises graceful and soft movements, ballet is an intense workout. As a former amateur ballerina, I know first-hand that it involves the entire body – arms, legs, core and more.
If you need proof, look at any professional dancer, male or female; they are incredibly toned, strong and agile. Every time I go to the ballet, I sit in awe at the pure athleticism of those on stage. Of course, professionals spend countless hours in the dance studio, but everyone, even athletes, can gain something from this kind of recreation.
About five years ago, the Queens Park Rangers, a pro British soccer team, worked-out with the English National Ballet. The soccer players learned stretches and techniques that could help them improve their game. And, they even made the playoffs that year.
Healthy Monday offers a different free fitness classes every Monday in Archbold Gymnasium’s Flanagan Exercise Room from 1 to 1:50 p.m.
Eating healthy begins with smart grocery shopping. The choices can be endless at large supermarkets like Wegman’s, so trying to figure out which bread is the healthiest among all the varieties could take hours. Here are three tips to guarantee a shorter and more nutritious grocery shopping experience.
Skip the “Wheat”, Get the Whole Grain
Instead of buying white or wheat bread breads, look for products that are either 100 percent whole wheat or whole grain. The Whole Grains Council puts stamps on approved products, so make sure to look for these stamps to get the most nutritious products when buying bread, cereal, oatmeal, crackers, rice, pasta and tortillas. To save time, make note these approved products before shopping.
Choose the Real Foods
Pick the most natural foods when possible. If you can’t pronounce the ingredients or you see a lot of artificial ingredients and preservatives, keep looking. WebMD recommends picking the foods that are 100 percent– like 100 percent juice or 100 percent whole wheat. Nuts are very nutritious, but oftentimes they’re loaded with additives. Pick unsalted, raw nuts instead of roasted or salted. If you prefer these varieties, then add them yourself with moderation.
Pay Attention to Serving Size
If you’re browsing for made-to-order food, make sure you know the serving size beforehand to avoid overeating. Serving sizes are usually smaller than we think. Check out these serving sizes examples put it all into perspective. For example, a serving of cheese is only equivalent to the size of four dice! Regardless of the food, it’s essential to control portion sizes when maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Michelle Toglia is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in marketing. She has written a health and beauty blog for LifeBrooker.com and is currently a senior editor of the print version of What the Health. She will update you every Monday with “Eating Right for the College Student On-the-Go.”
Here are three abdominal exercises I especially like that target both the upper and lower abs as well as the obliques. These exercises can be done on the floor of your room or on any mat in the gym.
Full Vertical Crunch(Targets the upper and lower abs)
Lie on your back and extend your legs straight upwards toward the ceiling.
Place your hands behind your head and contract your abs to lift your shoulder blades off of the floor.Keep in mind while doing this exercise to be lifting your shoulder blades off the floor with your abdominal muscles instead of jerking your neck upward.
While contracting your abs and lifting your shoulder blades up, press your heels up toward the ceiling so your abs are contracted tighter.
Hold for two seconds then lower your body down and do 12 repetitions three times.
Long Arm Crunch(Targets the upper abs)
1.Lie on your back on the floor with your arms extended straight behind your head with the hands clasped together.
2.Contract your abs and lift your shoulder blades off of the floor.
3.Keep your arms straight on both sides of your head while lifting your shoulder blades off of the floor, focus on contracting with the abs. (If you do experience neck pain, place one hand behind the head while keeping the other extended straight behind your head.)
4.Hold for two seconds, do 12 repetitions three times.
Bicycle Exercise (Targets the “six pack” and the obliques)
1.Lie on your back on the floor and place your hands behind your head.
2.First, move your right knee toward your chest while lifting your shoulder blades off the ground, once again focusing on not lifting with your neck.While doing this, keep the left leg lifted straight above the ground and move your left elbow to touch the right knee.
3.Alternate sides, switching to touch the left knee to the right elbow.
4.Hold on each side for one second, keeping your legs moving in a pedaling movement. Continuing alternating sides for 20 repetitions, repeat three times.
5.Hold for two seconds, do 12 repetitions three times.
If you would like, to feel free to alternate between these three exercises.I usually like to do one repetition of the Full Vertical Crunch first, then the long Arm Crunch and lastly the Bicycle Crunch, and then repeating this cycle two more times to complete three full repetitions of each exercise.
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
I entered the second session feeling rather proud of myself. A few of my friends had dropped out, and there I was, still committed. I don’t mean to sound too proud, it’s just that finding two hours to de-stress as a stressed-out graduate student seems a little counter-intuitive sometimes.
During the session we practiced all the wonderful techniques we’d been introduced to. The “body scan” meditation (which really isn’t as racy as it sounds) is a great thing, really. You get to lie on the hard floor of a dim, cold room, and listen to David talk you through each body part. You get to “become aware” of things you don’t normally give much of a thought to at all: the bottom of each foot, the feeling of the left calf “making contact with the floor, the air, your clothing.”
Yup, really simple stuff. I keep thinking, however, that a pillow would be nice.
I’ve succeeded each time in staying awake, and I’ve cut my rambunctious daydreaming down by about half. Gold stars are coming my way.
And David is compassionate with us. After each mediation, we “check in” with each other. One woman feels her pain disappear as she moves her mind from one body part to the next. Another says she drifts in and out of consciousness, hearing David’s voice one moment and then not for what seems like long stretches of time. It feels difficult to resist urge to squirm or stretch or bounce out of my chair to go and “get stuff done.”
We added a new technique to our arsenal of awareness: mindful eating. This, I gotta tell you, was right up my alley. I guess you could say I just ate it up.
We peeled our bodies off of the floor and rejoined the circle of chairs. David passed around a cardboard container of raisins. I was starving and really looking forward to pigging out on the raisins.
”Take one, maybe two raisins in your hand.”
WHAT??!?
It was true. We were going to learn how to mindfully eat a meal the size of my pinky fingernail. I felt like Tiny Tim in the Disney adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. You know the scene where Mickey Mouse gives Morty Fieldmouse (the character playing Tiny Tim) one single bean? That was me, only the bean was a raisin.
We held it between our fingers. We smelled it. We thought of the farmers who grew it and the soil that nurtured it. Finally, we brought it to our lips, moved it around in our mouths a little, and then bit into it’s gently yielding skin. And let me tell you, without exaggeration, that raisin was the best darn raisin I’ve ever eaten.
Sometimes doing something you do every day—something as simple as eating—with a new awareness can be profound.
We closed the session by talking about how mindful eating can help your digestion, make you eat less, and help you gain a healthier appreciation for how much food your body really needs. I would almost bet that we’ve got the makings of the next fad diet here. And I’ll be able to vouch for it wholeheartedly.
I headed home, looking forward to how especially satisfying my evening glass of wine would be.
And it was.
–Jennifer Ward
Jennifer Ward is a magazine graduate student at S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She has written for In Good Health, CNY’s premier health care newspaper, and covered topics that range from religion to triathlons, food and cosmetic surgery.
You can find her portfolio at www.jwbwrites.wordpress. She also has her own food blog called Fresh Cracked Pepper. “The Mindful Diaries” is a blog journal about her weekly Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. Tune in every Tuesdays for updates.
With those infamous snowy months of Syracuse creeping in, take a break from your school work, and spent one last day basking in the semi-warm sunlight. Here are What the Health’s five ideas to embrace the fall temperature.
1). Go for an epic walk. Head downtown or just explore the nooks and crannies of the quad. Walking is one of the easiest forms of exercise and has numerous benefits like burning calories and reducing stress.
2). Pass a frisbee around the quad with friends or organize an intense game of ultimate (click here for rules). For more fun, try playing in the dark with a disk that glows or lights up.
3). De-stress by grabbing a friend and watching the sunset. For a view like the one in the picture, sit in the courtyard above the law school steps.
4). Follow the old adage “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” by going apple picking.The closest and most popular location for SU students seems to be Burrell’s Navarino Orchard, where you can pick apples for $.75 lb.
5). And if you want to do something simple to embrace the fleeting warmth, sprawl out on the quad grass or sit on the steps of Hendrick’s Chapel one last time, then take a deep breath as the snow clouds move in.
Cutting down on carbs can be hard if you want to finish lunch with a fully and happy tummy, but the J.J. Gargantuan Unwich is your solution. This lettuce-wrapped feast features Genoa salami, capicola, smoked ham, roast beef, turkey breast, provolone cheese, tomatoes and Italian vinaigrette wrapped in your favorite leafy green. For a true healthy meal, don’t forget to hold the mayo.
Pita Pit
This popular M-street eatery was founded on the idea “Fresh thinking. Healthy Eating,” and there are plenty of nutritional nibbles to choose from. For breakfast, try the Morning Glory pita––avocados, sautéed tomatoes, and the standard scrambled eggs, hash browns, cheese and grilled green peppers––for only 350 calories. For later in the day, the beefy Philly Steak pita with onions and peppers should satisfy your tastes with only 3 grams of fat (add yellow mustard for no additional harm!).
Funk n Waffles
Throw out the old idea of eating waffles with thick and sugary syrup. This Campus Plaza restaurant sells the most nutritious and creative waffles you’ll ever see on the Hill.Gluten-free, vegan, whole wheat and salmon are just some of the dishes they serve all for under ten dollars. Feel free to fill up healthy and unwind to some live funk!
The Blue Monkey Café
Sushi not only taste deelish, but it’s good for the heart and low-fat. Eat smart by ordering sashimi (sliced fish) and skipping the rice. According to sushi chef and author of The Sushi Experience Hiroko Shimbo,the rice that makes up sushi rolls can add up to 30 more calories. Also good for your body are veggie rolls and edamame, which is jam-packed with protein.
Aladdin’s Natural Eatery
This Mediterranean restaurant serves dishes made from fresh and natural ingredients. That’s right, no preservatives! For an appetizer try the humus or parsley salad tabulee, and for a hearty but healthy meal order the Moussaka––potatoes and ground beef seasoned with wine and spices, layered on sliced eggplant and drizzled in a creamy béchamel sauce.
It only takes one cup of coffee to become hooked on its caffeine. Well, I believe it:I have been a regular coffee consumer since the age of 10.
In a CBS News article “Kicking Caffeine Habit”, Dr. Roland Griffiths says, “We know about 80 percent of the population consumes caffeine, so we have millions and millions of people out there who are physically dependent.” It has become enough of a problem that he has even set up a caffeine addiction clinic at the Johns Hopkins Medical Center.
Caffeine addiction is actually considered a mental disorder according to the National Geographic’s“Caffeine Addiction Is a Mental Disorder, Doctors Say” article in 2005. Many people experience withdrawal symptoms including headache, irritability, and decreased concentration without their daily dose of caffeine.
These symptoms now classify as a psychiatric disorder, according to WebMD research. Even so, there is no need to worry; even with the addictive traits and withdrawal symptoms, people do not need to start searching for ways to quit caffeine. However, if for any reason you muster the willpower to try, proceed with caution and do so gradually. Incorporate some decaf into your life so you can still have the taste and aroma of coffee, and try setting up a two-week plan to wean yourself off the stuff.
Wondering how much of a jolt you were really getting from your Starbucks coffee beverage? Slate magazine said that “a 16-ounce Starbucks house blend coffee contained 223 milligrams of caffeine, compared with 174 and 141 milligrams in comparable amounts of Dunkin’ Donuts and 7-Eleven coffee” And the Wall Street Journal says the average Starbucks coffee drink contains 320 milligrams of caffeine.
On the pro side of the coffee consumption argument, there are health benefits to consuming coffee on a regular basis: it prevents muscle soreness, may decrease your chances of getting Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and liver diseases.
However, if you would rather have the ability to function normally sans caffeine, try the gradual approach, or even try switching to tea. I was able to stand a week without buying a cup of coffee—if I can do it, anyone can. Trust me, your body and your wallet will thank you.
So, you haven’t really gotten around to exercising more regularly than past semesters? Don’t feel bad, at least you qualify for a research study examining the effects of resistance exercise on fat in the leg muscle.
Syracuse University and SUNY Upstate Medical University are looking for women from ages 18-35 years old and 55-70 years old. You can be overweight or lean, but a non-smoker and do not have heart problems.
Besides financial compensation, you will learn how to lift weight safely, and learn more about your body composition, blood glucose and lipid levels from a Exercise Science professional.
Interested? Contact Ruth Franklin, M.S. at (315) 443-4540 or rmfrankl@syr.edu located at Womens Blg Rm 306.
What students do outside of the classroom affects their grades in more ways than one. A study from the University of Minnesota details the possible causes of negative affects on grades. These behaviors include lack of sleep and exercise, alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use and TV and computer screen time – all activities common with college students (researchers evaluated even more in the study). We may have assumed these activities harmed students’ academic performance, but now there’s research to prove it.
The report “Health and Academic Performance: Minnesota Undergraduate Students,” included randomly selected about 24,000 participants from 14 Minnesota colleges and universities. 9,931 of these students completed the 2007 College Student Health Survey Report, according to EurekAlert.
While 69.9 percent of students said they were stressed, 32.9 percent of those students said this stress affected their grades. The study supported their presumption – the average GPA for those who said stress affected their academic performance was 3.12, while the average GPA for the others was 3.23. A difference in GPA was even greater between those who didn’t get enough sleep and those who didn’t have sleep deficiencies – 3.08 and 3.27, respectively. Those who reported they did not engage in physical activity in the past seven days had lower mean GPA’s than those who did.
Also, as the number of days a student consumed alcohol in that past 30 days increased, GPA decreased. Likewise, smokers, even those who claim to be “social smokers” and smoke just once or twice a week, had a lower GPA than those who did not smoke in the past 30 days.
With new improvements in sites like Facebook and MySpace, students continue to spend more time on the computer. This screen time, along with watching the new 90210 and Grey’s Anatomy, may contribute to the 30.4 percent of students who said they spent excessive amounts of time in front of the TV or computer screen. 13 percent of those with this distraction said it affected their studies. In fact, these students whom it affected had a GPA of 3.04 compared to the mean of 3.27.
“Turning off the computer or TV and going to sleep is one of the best things our students can do to improve their grades,” said Dr. Ed Ehlinger, the director and chief health officer of the University of Minnesota Boynton Health Service, told EurekAlert.
Ehlinger hopes the study will help students make better decisions in college and illustrate the value of their health, according to EurekAlert.
“College students are so important for our economic development — the development of our society,” Ehlinger told EurekAlert. “One way to protect that investment in our future is to help them stay healthy.”
Click here to see an expert and a college student’s experience.
Mallory Creveling is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in nutrition. Creveling, who was a fitness editorial intern at Shape magazine this past summer, plans to pursue a career in health journalism after graduation. She attributes her internship and writing and researching for on campus publications to her growing knowledge of where and how to research health topics more sufficiently. Creveling is also a senior editor for the print version of What the Health this semester. She will update her column every Thursday with health news alerts on new studies about issues affecting the U.S. population.
When stressed out, people usually turn to energy drinks, coffee or caffeinated soda to get them through a pile of work, but the harm in overindulging in such drinks is much greater than the high-calorie content.
Putting unhealthy additives into your body will eventually just add to the headache stress will give you.
That’s why beverage producers are aiming to find solutions with healthy drinks that lower your stress levels, according to a report from companies and markets researching immune health and vitality ingredients.
As about 52 percent of people in the U.S. and Canada are trying to decrease their stress levels, drink companies are trying to boost immune health and vitality-fortified drinks in about 57 percent of the soft drinks and in the dairy sector, according to the report.
This means drink companies are essentially trying to promote and improve the already existing beverages like SoBe, Lifewater, and Glacue’s Vitaminwater.
But I’m not so sure the fortified additions the drink companies are investigating will make healthier drinks.
Some of the ingredients that are supposed to add healthy benefits drinks are in the form of herbal and vitamin supplements, but I am skeptical; what if they are be nothing more than concentrated additives?
I think natural is always the best way to go when looking for healthy drinks, especially to calm oneself from a bout of stress. Drinks like black tea, pomegranate juice, and plain water contain plenty of health benefits and the nutrients you need.
The brain is 85 percent water, so when dehydrated it is bound not to function normally; studies have found that just by hydrating yourself with a little H20, you can rejuvenate yourself and de-stress the mind, according to freewaterdrinking.com.
Black tea is another age-old drink that has proven to reduce stress levels, according to WebMD.com, a Web site informing people of strategies for health management. In a controlled study, people who drank black tea had decreased levels of stress over a control group who were given a placebo dose of “black tea.” After 50 minutes of a stressful situation, the black tea drinkers stress levels had dropped by 47 percent. The researchers found that black tea has a more calming effect than green or other types of tea, according to WebMD.com.
If black tea isn’t your thing though, Earl Grey or Jasmine Oolong Relax have calming effects on stress levels as well, according to heavenoftea.com, a blog by Teavana, a tea producer.
Natural products are always a safe bet. You should know the ingredients in them so you aren’t wondering what fortified additives are supposed to work to fight stress and enhance health.
So if you’re feeling anxious, pour yourself a tall glass of water or hot tea to warm up from the winter cold – you know what you’re drinking and it’s a simple stress solution.
Ashley Schofield is a graduate Magazine, Newspaper and Online Journalism student at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. A native San Diegan, Schofield loves all things healthy. She don’t eat junk food, love eating organic and can serve up some mean, unique cuisine. Besides exercising daily, she likes to do yoga, dance, running, walking and tennis. She’s a self-proclaimed former “horrible stress case,” so her weekly column “Inhale,” that is updated every Thursday about stress prevention comes from someone with experience.
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and there are many ways for people to get involved to spread awareness.
“(One way) to end domestic violence is to challenge your peers when they objectify women/men, tell sexist jokes, use gender stereotypes as a way to live their lives. If we all do our part to relate to each other as equals and with respect, we will go far in ending domestic violence,” said Dotti Barraco-Hetnar, the programs administrator at Vera House Inc. in Syracuse, N.Y.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline says domestic violence can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion or gender. It can happen to couples who are married, or who are dating and affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels.
Although women are most often the victims of domestic violence, men can also be victims. Barraco-Hetnar said that Vera House receives about 10 calls a year from male victims either in heterosexual or homosexual relationships.
An abuser may also be physically or emotionally violent to his victim. Laurie Murray, the director of the Alternative to Domestic Violence Program at Vera House, said both her father and husband physically and emotionally abused her. Murray was the oldest of five children and said she remembered getting her first black eye from her father a day before her 13th birthday. She moved out of her home immediately after she graduated high school and met her future husband at 22-years-old.
“They never are violent when you first meet,” she said.Murray said they both loved each other as they still do today, even though her husband’s abuse included slapping, grabbing, hitting and intimidation. She said she forced him to leave their home numerous times but allowed him to return because he was the father of her children and provided financial support. “The whole relationship was not bad, most of the time you have a very normal life together,” she said.
“Many victims hold on to the hope that the abuser will change and often times victims find themselves dependent on the abuser and find it difficult to stay a part if they do not have support and hope for the future,” said Barraco-Hetnar.
Murray finally separated from her husband and he is currently in prison for another crime. She also has a positive relationship with her father. “These men do not have anger management issues, they have issues with control,” Murray said.In her program she helps over 460 men annually, deal with these issues and she corresponds with courts and probation officers.
Murray began at Vera House as a clerical assistant ten years ago and now is the first woman to be in charge of the Alternative to Domestic Violence program.
Since the winter is starting to set in and before you know it, there will be some snow hills to conquer on campus. So, you may need to strengthen those legs. These leg exercises focus on strengthening and toning the quads, hams, glutes and calves.They do not all have to be done together.I recommend doing one or two a day and alternating days of the week when each is done.If you feel unsteady while completing any of these exercises a chair may be used for extra stability.
Squat
Step 1: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart
Step 2: Squat down, focusing on keeping your back straight, your abs tight, your chest up, and your knees over your ankles for a count of two seconds
Step 3: Straighten your legs and stand up
Step 4: Squat down again and hold for two seconds
Step 5: Without resting, repeat 10 times
Step 6: Do three repetitions
Lunge
Step 1: Stand in a lunge position with you back straight, your chest up, and your abs tight
Step 2: Slowly drop your back knee toward the ground
Step 3: When your knee is about one inch off of the ground hold for two seconds
Step 4: Slowly return to the starting position
Step 5: Repeat the lunge 10 more times
Step 6: Take a minute break, and then complete 10 lunges with the other leg in front
Step 7: Do three repetitions of 10 for each leg
Lateral Squat
Step 1: Stand with your feet about a foot wider than shoulder-width apart and place your hands on your hips
Step 2: Slowly squat down toward the right leg while keeping the opposite leg straight
Step 3: Hold this squat for two seconds
Step 4: Slowly return to the starting position
Step 5: Without resting, alternate sides totaling 10 squats on each side
Step 6: Do three repetitions
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
Last week’s Healthy Monday: Free Ballet Dance class was a treat. I stopped by Archbold in between classes to participate in the 50-minute workout session, and though it took away most of my afternoon free time, the class left me feeling refreshed and less stressed. Ten women attended, some demonstrating their ballet talents, and others who were clearly first-time ballerinas. However, the instructor explained everything in basic terms and taught the discipline’s simplest steps.
The class began with barre work, which emphasized warming up the body, especially the legs and feet. We then moved to the floor for a portion of stretching exercises. When I was a ballet student, my instructor occasionally gave us stretch classes; I had forgotten how good it feels to sit and stretch the muscles. Afterwards, we did some leaps and pirouettes across the floor. Everyone gave it a shot regardless of her abilities. The small size and relaxed atmosphere made the class truly enjoyable.
This Monday, think nutrition and save money (or SUpercard dollars). If you need a snack between classes, trade in chips and cookies from the vending machine for a piece of free fruit. Both Health Services and Recreational Services offer it throughout the day as part of Healthy Monday.
Fruit is an important part of a balanced diet and the USDA designates in as one of six food groups in its food pyramid. Also, nourishing your body with fruit and vegetables decreases the risk of heart attack and stroke. It even helps maintain good eyesight, protect against some types of cancer and lower blood pressure.
The average diet of 2,000 daily calories should include nine servings of fruits and vegetables. But, don’t stick to one kind, because different fruits and veggies offer different nutrients that your body needs. And, aim for anything rich in color, especially orange, red or yellow (think apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries and bananas). For an individualized report on what types of food and how much you need to maintain a healthy diet, visit the MyPyramid Web site; you can input your age, sex, weight, height and physical activity to find out what your food pyramid should look like.
Every Monday beginning at 8:30 a.m., Health Services and Recreational Services (Archbold Gymnasium) distribute free fruit to visitors.
Arriving at the third session late from taking my mom to the airport, I feel a little frazzled. I guess it was the perfect time for David to introduce yoga, however. Cursing myself for forgetting about this new development and having dressed in stiff jeans and a belt, I grin anyway. I’d manage.
The pattern continues: the check-in, the body scan, the chatting, the question period. Some participants seem a lot more Zen. Others are full of inquiries and doubt. I think I’m somewhere in the middle.
Tonight we learn that breath, rather than just our mode of survival, can actually help link our mind with our body. I’ve done quite a bit of yoga, but this session really refreshed me. We practice some fairly simple movements: hand up in the air, child’s pose, and chair pose. It was pretty elementary for most of us, but the heightened focus on the breath offers a new challenge.
David asks about our homework. How many meditations have we been able to squeeze in? What were we learning? Had we filled in the Pleasant Events chart? As the gurus always say, I accepted, without judgment that I had failed at doing everything but showing up on that Wednesday night at six. Next week, I thought. Next week I’ll breathe just a little bit more.
He always says to do as much or as little of the meditation CDs as we can. He’s good that way, never allowing us to feel guilty for listening to the recorded guides he passes out each time. I can’t help but think how the teacher is almost always more committed to the practice than the student. That is the great genius of teaching—how it seeks to instill and draw out those very things the teacher esteems.
I realize that yoga has often been for me just another exercise. Tonight I try to let my breath tell my mind to be still, just for a few moments. To remind me that I exist, most importantly, in the here and now. I leave feeling calm and single-minded, hardly noticing those too-stiff jeans.
”Yoga is attention in action.” –T. Desikachar
-Jennifer Ward
Jennifer Ward is a magazine graduate student at S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She has written for In Good Health, CNY’s premier health care newspaper, and covered topics that range from religion to triathlons, food and cosmetic surgery.
You can find her portfolio at www.jwbwrites.wordpress. She also has her own food blog called Fresh Cracked Pepper. “The Mindful Diaries” is a blog journal about her weekly Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. Tune in every Tuesdays for updates.
The world’s heaviest man lost nearly half his body weight over four years, and gained his other half last Sunday.
On Oct. 26th, Manuel Uribe, the man who once weighed in at 1,230 pounds, married his girlfriend Claudio Solis of four years.
The civil ceremony took place in northern Mexico with over 400 guests.
With the help of his new wife, Solis, the 43-year-old man has lost 550 pounds and doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon. This celebratory day was no exception.
“He didn’t break his diet,” said his mother, Orquedia Garza, to The Associated Press. “His doctors are here and they are watching him very closely.”
Uribe has certainly made strides in many areas of life and at this point, has claimed to be working towards a new Guiness World Record… world’s greatest weight loser.
I personally wish him the best with everything. How inspiring!
With the increase of plane-traveling tourists and the consistent growth of cities, new and old infectious diseases are more easily being spread around the word. Beat blogger Laura DeJoseph talked about this in her column “The Morning After.”
Among them, dangerous viruses such as Chikungunya and Dengue Fever.
“Re-emergence of epidemic Dengue is closely associated with global urbanization and global transportation,” said University of Hawaii Professor Duane Gubler, during a news conference at a joint meeting of the American Society of Microbiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
The common expression, “have a safe trip,” has certainly taken on a whole new significance. Here are some tips to keep you safe while on deck:
1. Consistently drink fluids. Dry cabin air dries out crucial sinus protection agents, leaving you and your fellow travelers more susceptible to microbial infections.
2. Was your hands before touching your face and eating. This is especially important on planes, armrests, tray tables, seat belt buckles, vent controls, etc. that are just teeming with germs.
3. If all else fails, don’t forget about taking some trusty Airborne before, during, and after your flight!
As for the numerous travel sicknesses in the medley of jet-setting destinations… you’re on your own remember always to be cautious and aware.
Danielle Alvarez is a junior magazine journalism and modern foreign language dual major. She has previously interned at Cookie magazine in the summer of 2008 and has been spending this past year studying abroad. She is in Santiago, Chile after being Cuenca, Ecuador this summer and plans to end her world travel in Strasbourg, France next Spring. Look out for her global health news alerts every Wednesday from “Around the World.”
Running, the elliptical and other forms of cardio are common types of exercise people use to pound out stresses that are bogging them down. While the intense workouts feel like they are alleviating your mental tension, they add some physical tension – hence why it is necessary to stretch after a grueling workout.
The art of stretching can work wonders on the body and thus the art of yoga can work magic on your stressful life.
Yoga is a mental and physical workout that requires endurance without tiring your body out like typical cardio exercises.
Before I started practicing yoga, I was a stress case who had trouble finding ways to take control over my anxious feelings. My mind was always ticking with a million thoughts and yoga helped to calm me down.
Yoga triggers a relaxation response, which rests the body, instead of succumbing the body to a stress response, which activates chemicals to react in “fight or flight mode,” according to Helpguide.org, a nonprofit organization helping people to overcome life obstacles including stress, mental health problems, and depression.
Yoga moves focus on relaxing the muscles and mind as you exercise. They are simple yet challenging and will efficiently reduce your stress.
Even if you don’t have a lot of time in your day, a couple of quick yoga moves can take less than 10 minutes and relieve high stress.
The most simple and effective move is of course breathing. The process can relax the mind just by sending oxygen to the brain.
A popular yoga move is to fold your hands together, tuck them under your chin with your arms elbow to elbow and bring your arms up as you deeply inhale and slowly tip your head backwards. Then exhale bringing your head down and arms together. (I tried this, and I’m not really sure how it works…?) Repeat slowly about 10 times, take a break and then do another rep of 10.
Helpguide.org also recommends walking meditation, in which you focus solely on the simple motion of walking step by step. This can calm and clear your mind of any idle thoughts as you walk to your next class.
Some other moves you can do quickly on a break from class in the quad or in an empty study room can be found at the Ladies’ Home Journal.
Ashley Schofield is a graduate Magazine, Newspaper and Online Journalism student at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. A native San Diegan, Schofield loves all things healthy. She don’t eat junk food, love eating organic and can serve up some mean, unique cuisine. Besides exercising daily, she likes to do yoga, dance, running, walking and tennis. She’s a self-proclaimed former “horrible stress case,” so her weekly column “Inhale,” that is updated every Thursday about stress prevention comes from someone with experience.
If you find yourself eating an entire meal in five minutes or finishing your dish before all of your friends, you may be contributing to weight gain. According to an October study in the British Medical Journal, both eating until full and eating quickly may force you to pack on too many pounds. And if you combine eating until full and speedy eating, it can lead to being overweight.
Researchers in this study measured the participants’ Body Mass Index (BMI), which is equal to 25 if you’re overweight, as well as the dietary habits of eating until full and eating quickly, which researchers found by a questionnaire. 3,287 Japanese adults, ages 30 to 69, participated in the study.51 percent of the males and 58 percent of the females said they eat until full. 46 percent of the men and 36 percent of the women said they eat quickly.
The speedy eaters who also reported eating until full were three times more likely to be overweight than those who did not eat until full and ate slowly, according to an article on this study on msnbc.com.
These eating habits may contribute to the obesity epidemic according to the article “Speedy Eaters Seen Liklier to Get Fat” on MSNBC.Because people like us in Western culture move quickly throughout the day, we have to consume short, speedy meals so that we have time for other errands and activities. And this lifestyle has spread worldwide. In fact, according MSNBC, the World Health Organization (WHO) found that about 300 million people are obese, with 20 million under the age of five.
So, to evade joining the millions of obese people worldwide, try changing your eating habits. Eating hot foods may remind you to eat slowly to avoid burning your mouth.For instance, hot soup before a meal can set your consumption pace while helping to keep off the pounds.
Mallory Creveling is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in nutrition. Creveling, who was a fitness editorial intern at Shape magazine this past summer, plans to pursue a career in health journalism after graduation. She attributes her internship and writing and researching for on campus publications to her growing knowledge of where and how to research health topics more sufficiently. Creveling is also a senior editor for the print version of What the Health this semester. She will update her column every Thursday with health news alerts on new studies about issues affecting the U.S. population.
Ever have a regretful sexual experience? According to “Pills Make Women Pick Bad Mates” on MSNBC, contraceptive pills may change who you would normally be attracted to. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are odors that cause you to be attracted to someone. Typically, the best mates are those who have genetically different MHC smells than your own.
Once you start taking the Pill, your hormones are altered and cause you to be attracted to people with similar MHC genes as you, or those who you are least genetically compatible with. So, who you chose while on the Pill is not necessarily who you would normally sniff out.
According to an article on the Discovery Channel Web site, if those who have similar MHC genes were to eventually reproduce, they would be more likely to have pregnancy and fertility problems, as well as experience miscarriages. Those who have opposite MHC genes are more likely to remain faithful in relationships.
As Stewart Craig Roberts, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Newcastle in England said on MSNBC, “…it could ultimately lead to the breakdown of relationships when women stop using the contraceptive pill, as odor perception plays a significant role in maintaining attraction to partners.”
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
In order to effectively tone arms one must first lose fat, therefore an arm workout fits in well as a post workout exercise. The best way to tone arms is to use free weights that are heavy. Of course, keep in mind not to use weights that are too heavy for you. But the heavier the weight, the more your muscles will break and then rebuild to be stronger and more toned. Heavier weights also speed up your metabolism more, which will help you burn more fat to tone your arms.
Biceps Workout:
Bar Bell Curl:
1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and grab a bar bell that is about shoulder width apart for your body
2. Lift the weight up to the top of your chest using your biceps, keeping your elbows locked in a position by your side
3. Lower the bar bell down slowly, keeping your elbows locked
4. Repeat 12 times
5. Complete three repetitions
Alternate Dumb Bell Curl:
1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and hold two dumb bells at rest at your sides
2. Using your bicep muscle, curl one dumb bell up and twist it so that when the dumb bell reaches its top position near your shoulder, your palm is facing your shoulder
3. While lowering this dumb bell down to it’s starting position, begin the same exercise with the opposite arm
4. Repeat 12 times for each arm
5. Complete three repetitions
Triceps Workout:
Triceps kickbacks:
1. Grab a light dumb bell in your right hand and place your left hand and left knee on a low flat bench
2. While keeping your back straight, lift your elbow so that your upper arm is in line with your torso
3. Slowly use your triceps to lift the dumb bell to a position where your arm is almost locked out straight
4. Lower your arm and repeat 12 times for each arm
5. Complete three repetitions
An important fact to keep in mind for arm workouts is that perfect form is extremely important to gain the best results, so go slow and focus on using the specific muscles and you will see great results!
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
Mom was right, it’s important to eat your veggies! Vegetables have been proven to lower blood pressure; reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and some cancers, according to the Harvard Nutrition Source. While the college lifestyle may be more conducive to eating pizza and burgers on Marshall Street, the United States Department of Agriculture recommends that women 19-30 years old have at least 2 ½ cups daily and men 19-30 have three cups of vegetables.Check out these quick ways to increase your vegetable intake.
Freeze it
While frozen vegetables may not have as the same taste as organic or fresh vegetables, they still contain essential nutrients and are certainly better than no vegetables at all. They’re quick and easy to prepare—just microwave them. Bags of frozen vegetables last longer, are cheaper, and also come in a variety of mixtures — check out the Wegman’s frozen food section for a variety of vegetable packages.
Dip it
The USDA recommends keeping a bag or bowl of cut-up celery, carrots, and peppers in your refrigerator to grab for a quick snack. Have the veggies with hummus, vegetable dip or salad dressing.
Replace it
Vegetables don’t have to only make an appearance in salads; try getting veggie pizza instead of a plain slice. The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention recommends substituting vegetables for cheese or meat in a sandwich. You can even substitute spinach or mushrooms for one of the eggs in an omelet. The vegetables will add flavor, nutrients and fewer calories to your meal.
Michelle Toglia is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in marketing. She has written a health and beauty blog for LifeBrooker.com and is currently a senior editor of the print version of What the Health. She will update you every Monday with “Eating Right for the College Student On-the-Go.”
Last semester, we informed you of a new organization called Sex S.Y.M.B.A.L.S. This semester Sex S.Y.M.B.A.L.S have been a part of many events and TODAY along it’s having Part 1 of its Sex S.Y.M.B.A.L.S’ first SEXuality Myth Busters featuring a panel with the Theta Tau Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., and the Xi Chapter of Omega Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
Part 1 is for male audiences only, however, tomorrow will be for women audiences only same place and time. So come out and learn about your SEXuality!
When: Today at 7 p.m. for male audience
Where: Hall of Languages 207
*Same time but in Hall of Languages 500, November 4th, 2008 for female audience
Whether you are voting for McCain or Obama, one thing is for sure: you will be voting during a very historic election and the importance of voting has been reiterated over and over again on TV, the internet and other media outlets, so I am going to join the voting campaign. Here’s another video of your fav celebs encouraging people NOT to Vote (you will get it after you watch the video).
This whole course has been about developing awareness. I didn’t quite know, in the beginning, how to describe mindfulness to friends and family. I tried saying it was the opposite of mindlessness, but that’s not always true. Sometimes, in the throes of meditation, I feel almost like a non-thinking being. Sometimes, when the mind is constantly active, constantly doing, it is incredibly peaceful to shut it off.
I like awareness, though. It has a much richer meaning to me, even than mindfulness. It’s fuller, more wide-sweeping and somehow gentler.
In class last week, we did the usual. David invited us to join him in deep breathing, hands on chest and belly, focusing on the rise and fall of the body, full and then emptied out of breath. Then we do the body scan, lying like corpses on the floor, “scanning our bodies with curiosity.”
Yes, it would sound weird if you overheard us from the outside, but this is a normal practice for our small group.
We discussed a chart David gave us last week, called the Pleasant Events chart. We were supposed to keep track of things that affected us and how we reacted to them. I didn’t do the homework, but I remember pretty well what was pleasant and unpleasant about my week.
Maybe too well.
David leaves us with a piece by Portia Nelson. It is called Autobiography in Five Chapters. Its raw simplicity came at a good time for me, and I’d like to leave it with you.
1) I walk down the street
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost, I am hopeless
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
2) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I’m in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
3) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in, it’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
4) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
5) I walk down another street.
Jennifer Ward is a magazine graduate student at S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She has written for In Good Health, CNY’s premier health care newspaper, and covered topics that range from religion to triathlons, food and cosmetic surgery. You can find her portfolio at www.jwbwrites.wordpress. She also has her own food blog called Fresh Cracked Pepper. “The Mindful Diaries” is a blog journal about her weekly Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. Tune in every Tuesdays for updates.
When we think about being healthy, we usually think drinking this amount of water, exercising X amount of hours each day but being and staying healthy involves so many other things beyond the physical. Like shown in our weekly columns, your sexual, mental and emotional health is important too. One universal language that can make us all feel happy or sad is MUSIC. Music is powerful, and it has helped me get through alot of situations. Below is Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” that assistant online editor Samantha Morgenstern chose.
It starts off:
If you wake up and dont want to smile,
If it takes just a little while,
Open your eyes and look at the day,
Youll see things in a different way.
If you need a reason to enroll in yoga classes, a new study proves the beneficial physical effects it has on your body. The study, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, says that yoga improves balance, steadiness and increases leg strength. Lifting weights no longer has to be your only option for strength training.
The young adults who participated in the study, were ages 11 to 29, and were either part of the control group who did not do yoga, or took part in 24 yoga classes over the course of eight weeks.The yoga sessions lasted one and a half hours and consisted of supervised and standardized postures, according to the study.The yoga subjects’ balance time increased by about 20 to 34 seconds, while their leg strength improved modestly and the leg-muscle strength of the less-steady participants also improved.
Eliza Decker, Assistant Director of Facilities, Wellness and Aquatics at Archbold gym, says yoga allows you to build strength by using your own body as weight. “It’s not a typical sculpting class where you use weights to tone muscle, but you do build strength holding the poses,” she says.
Yoga also helps to calm you down, relieves stress and “puts you in tune with yourself,” Decker says.Plus, it can improve your flexibility and help with athletic performance and training.
Archbold offers 10 yoga classes per week each semester. It is $53 for once-per-week sessions and $78 for twice per week.
Next time you get the chance to take a yoga class, sign up. You’ll help your body both physically and emotionally.
Mallory Creveling is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in nutrition. Creveling, who was a fitness editorial intern at Shape magazine this past summer, plans to pursue a career in health journalism after graduation. She attributes her internship and writing and researching for on campus publications to her growing knowledge of where and how to research health topics more sufficiently. Creveling is also a senior editor for the print version of What the Health this semester. She will update her column every Thursday with health news alerts on new studies about issues affecting the U.S. population.
When someone close to you die or someone you loved broke your heart or hurt you, at the time, you just cannot imagine it getting better. However, righ now, you are reading this, it still hurts, but with time, you have been able to cope with it better than before.
Below is “Better in Time” by Leona Lewis. Whether it happened a year ago or it is happening now, know it will get better in time.
The U.S. is lucky and advantaged in having such strong sexual education programs within schools. Many countries are not as informed, educated, or exposed to the options available for safe sex, pregnancy prevention, and safety against sexually transmitted diseases. Here are some unusual tactics being used around the world to promote safe sex practices:
In India, condom use has a bad reputation. Indians think condom use is for prostitutes and consequently, they do not take advantage of their protection during intercourse. Billionaire Bill Gates and his wife Melinda decided to address this issue through a new campaign that offers a condom ringtone sung by an a cappella group entitled “Condom, Condom.” (See the video below) Apparently, those who download the ringtone appear smart and responsible, according to a recent article on CNN.com.
In Ethiopia, condom use is scarce because citizens hate the smell of the latex that condoms are made of. So to help promote condom use, DKT International has created a macchiato-scented condom which men say reminds them of Ethiopian women.
One German man invented Jolly Joe spray for condoms after having trouble finding a condom that properly fit. The spray-on prophylactic comes in a phallic can that the men have to put their penis in so it can be covered in the liquid protection. For some reason, men have not been terribly receptive to the Jolly Joe. Apparently, it is slightly threatening to put one’s genitals into a latex filled canister, and ruins the mood, among other things.
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
Itchy, watery eyes, sneezing and hacking away in the middle of class. Tons of tissues, Zyrtec, Claritin, and lost sleep. Sound familiar? This allergy season has been particularly uncomfortable and brutal for the 36 million people who suffer from allergies in the U.S. alone (Parade magazine, Sept. 14, 2008). Until the winter months set in, here are some tips on how to survive more comfortably:
Try to close your windows at night to keep allergens from blowing in your bedroom, make sure to dust your furniture and don’t keep fresh flowers in your room.
Keep your car windows closed while driving. Keep up with your allergy medication dosage, and find the brand that works best for you, even if you have to take prescription medication for a season.
Use the allergy season as an excuse to avoid mowing the lawn or raking the leaves.
Peak hours are between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., so try staying indoors. Use air conditioning and change the filters often, and try to kick the smoking habit, because it can intensify allergy symptoms.
Don’t hang clothing out to dry outside, because it can collect dust and allergens, and definitely avoid using feather pillows. Wash your bedding weekly. Shower and wash your hair before bed to eliminate pollen.
Drink lots of water and avoid milk, which can make congestion worse. Try tea, spicy foods or even a humidifier to help with decongestion.
To eliminate some of the confusion from buying allergy medicines, antihistamines are meant to be taken before being exposed to allergens and decongestants are only meant to be used for a short period of time (about three days). Zyrtec claims to start taking affect two hours faster than Claritin and temporarily relieves runny noses, itchy, watery eyes, itchy throat, and sneezing. Zyrtec D adds nasal congestion to the list of symptoms it temporarily alleviates. Claritin advertises 24-hour relief without drowsiness.
Hopefully you find some relief with these solutions until the first frost the end of allergy season arrives.
With end-of-the-semester worries creeping in, take advantage of on-campus meditation as a way to de-stress. Meditation, which means “a cessation of the thought process,” aims to create serenity and clarity by calming the mind. The process emphasizes the present moment, requiring that people not dwell on the past or future. But, in our hectic world, we are always worrying about tomorrow’s meeting or next week’s deadline, so meditation is difficult for many people.
Despite its challenges, meditation provides plenty of benefits. Those who meditate often experience less stress, anxiety, irritability and moodiness. Similarly, their emotional stability, happiness and feelings of rejuvenation increase. The practice provides physical benefits as well; it causes the release of endorphins, which leads to a decrease in heart rate, blood pressure and cholesterol.
If you can’t make it to Healthy Monday’s hour-long Zen session, try meditating on your own. You should find a comfortable, quiet place. You can sit in a legs-crossed position (lotus) or in a chair, or kneel. Keep your back straight and close your eyes. Then, focus your thoughts on your respiration, counting each inhale and exhale. If your attention wanders, bring it back to the breathing. Experts suggest that people meditate for about 20 minutes daily (10 minutes for beginners).
Free Zen meditation classes are offered every Monday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the lower level of Hendricks Chapel.
Don’t let tough economic times take a toll on your health. While 99-cent meals can be appealing when you’re strapped for cash, don’t forget about inexpensive healthy food. Eggs, whole grain bread, and yogurt are all cheap, healthy and incredibly easy to prepare.
Eggs
Eggs are excellent sources of protein and are low in fat and calories. They contain a variety of essential vitamins and minerals. According to the American Egg Board , eggs contains 125 mg of choline, which is important for developing the area of the brain related to learning and memory. Eggs can also be prepared in a variety of ways—scrambled, fried, poached, boiled, and baked. You can have them plain, with cheese or meat, in a quiche, and even a sandwich. Don’t limit yourself to eggs in the morning, have an egg salad sandwich for lunch or add some olive oil, fresh vegetables, and milk to make a frittata for dinner.
Yogurt
Yogurt is also a great, cheap source of protein that can prevent osteoporosis andreduce the risk of high blood pressure. This filling snack contains important nutrients like calcium, vitamin B-2, B-12, potassium and magnesium. To ensure the healthiest choice, pick nonfat yogurt and ones that are low in sugar for the healthiest options. Instead of getting flavored yogurt or types with fruit at the bottom—pick the plain flavors and customize it yourself. Put fresh berries, granola or whole grain cereal on top of your yogurt. Use yogurt in smoothies and as a replacement for sour cream in any recipe. Try making yogurt a daily snack.
Whole grain Bread
According to the Whole Grain Council, 78 percent of Americans are trying to eat more whole grains, and for a good reason too—they’re incredibly nutritious. Whole grains are a great source of fiber and can reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity. Head over to the bread aisle and look for the Whole Grain stamp on bread products—sliced bread, English muffins, rolls and pitas. You can use whole grain bread products with your favorite spread or peanut butter, for egg and cheese sandwiches, or even mini pizzas with vegetables, cheese and tomato sauce.Click here for a list of brands with the Whole Grain approval stamp.
Michelle Toglia is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in marketing. She has written a health and beauty blog for LifeBrooker.com and is currently a senior editor of the print version of What the Health. She will update you every Monday with “Eating Right for the College Student On-the-Go.”
Workouts that incorporate the exercise ball are great because they put your body in an unstable environment that utilizes more muscles.Try these three exercises in the gym to work your core, arms and legs.
In order to get the best workout possible, choose the exercise ball size that is right for your height.
-55 cm – 4’11’’ – 5’4’’
-65 cm – 5’5’’ – 5’11’’
-75 cm – 6’0’’ – 6’7’’
Oblique Lift
Lean on the ball with the knee closest to the ball in a kneeling position and the other leg extended straight out to your side.Clasp both hands behind your head.
Tighten your obliques (the muscles around your waist) and lift your torso off of the ball and pull your ribcage toward your hips.
Repeat 12 times
Switch to the other side for 12. Complete three repetitions.
Pushups
Place your shins or feet on the ball, your hands on the floor a little wider than your shoulders.
While keeping your abs tight and your back flat slowly bend your elbows and do a push up and hold for two seconds.
Push up to the starting position and repeat 12 times.
Complete three repetitions.
Squat with Leg Extension
Place the ball against the wall directly behind your mid-lower back.
Lightly lean against the ball and bend your knees to lower your body until your knees are at 90-degree angles.
Once your knees are at this point extend one leg out, hold this position for two seconds, then with the leg still out, push yourself back up to the starting position.
Switch to the other leg and repeat for each leg 12 times.
Complete three repetitions.
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
Besides developing awareness, the ability to sit still and quiet my mind, and some increased flexibility, this mindfulness course has heightened my sense of gratitude. While we live in this erratic society with its constant chatter and cheap gadgets it’s hard to remember the precious things.
These last five weeks have been like a crash course in gratitude and observation.
David shared a story with us this week that goes a little something like this:
While being chased by a tiger, a monk runs as fast as he can until he reaches the end of a cliff. Looking down, he sees a sheer drop onto jagged rocks below – certain death. Looking behind him, he sees the tiger rapidly approaching. Searching for safety, the monk notices a vine growing from the side of the cliff. He leaps and grabs onto it. Just as he is ready to sigh with relief, he notices a rat gnawing away at the limb. Looking up onto the land, the monk sees the tiger waiting, and looking down the jagged rocks. Suddenly the monk spots a lush, juicy, ripe strawberry hanging nearby. With one hand, he reaches out, plucks the strawberry, pops it in his mouth and says, “delicious!”
This story is delightful, just the sort of thing I’d heard at the Zen monastery last summer. Buddhist “sermons” have a kind of nonsensical sense (if that makes any sense!). Something about it allows for uncertainty, the playfulness of questions, and the awe of the moment.
I’m getting used to the meditation stuff more every day. David’s right—it is getting easier. I find that I am less inclined to get riled up by little things, and that I am generally more “chill” about things that used to irritate me.
Meditation might not change my personality, but for now, it’s helping me live with a little more control, a little more quietude, and a little more of that old-fashioned thankfulness. Sometimes it’s gratitude directed at a person or circumstance, and sometimes, when I’m lying in stillness on my mat, it’s more like a really good dream.
-Jennifer Ward
Jennifer Ward is a magazine graduate student at S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She has written for In Good Health, CNY’s premier health care newspaper, and covered topics that range from religion to triathlons, food and cosmetic surgery.
You can find her portfolio at www.jwbwrites.wordpress. She also has her own food blog called Fresh Cracked Pepper. “The Mindful Diaries” is a blog journal about her weekly Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. Tune in every Tuesdays for updates.
Of all people, I am definitely one who travels with food in mind. I’m looking forward to French cheese, Swiss chocolate, Italian pasta so on. Unfortunately, I hardly have a stomach of steel so like many other travelers I have to be very careful with what I am consuming.
First of all, it’s important to understand that just because you’re dining outside of the U.S. borders must be careful during your dining experience, the food is not necessarily unsafe. Many times upset tummies are simply a result of innards that your body is not accustomed to, while locals are.
With this in mind, do your research! Before jet-setting check out the World Health Organization (WHO) website,, at and/or that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . These two organizations keep track of outbreaks worldwide, in addition to those country-specific sites. Furthermore, keep track of global news beforehand to make sure you’re aware of any possibly threats.
Assuming that you’re still interested in visiting your destination. Here are a few tips to keep you feeling great:
“Cook it, wash it, peel it, or forget it.” Raw food is that much more likely to acquire airborne contaminants.
Avoid salads.
Order meals ‘medium well’ to ‘well done.’
Take extra care with eggs and sandwiches with veggie fillings.
The smaller the fish, the safer it is. On the other hand, the risk is higher with fish organs and shellfish.
Avoid unpasteurized dairy products.
If you take cream with your coffee and tea stick to sealed containers.
Do not buy food from the street. Look for established restaurants or food vendors. Busy and popular is always better.
Pay attention to the effect of alcoholic beverages. Beer, wine, and liquors in other countries may contain a distinct alcohol content than those in the states.
Try to maintain a well-balanced diet and a regular eating schedule.
¡Bon appetit! and ¡Bon voyage!
Danielle Alvarez is a junior magazine journalism and modern foreign language dual major. She has previously interned at Cookie magazine in the summer of 2008 and has been spending this past year studying abroad. She is in Santiago, Chile after being Cuenca, Ecuador this summer and plans to end her world travel in Strasbourg, France next Spring. Look out for her global health news alerts every Wednesday from “Around the World.”
The verdict is in: Nighttime eating contributes to weight gain.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently published a study regarding the prevalence of eating at night and its effects on weight gain.And the results confirmed college students’ fears of nighttime eating and gaining weight.
Researchers admitted healthy, non-diabetic participants into a clinical research unit. The participants consumed standardized meals for three days. Then, the subjects could eat however they pleased from a computer-operated vending machine that recorded the time of food selection. Researchers measured the energy intake, or number of calories consumed, during these days of free-choice meals. Ninety-four participants provided their follow-up weight.
As for the results of the study: 36 percent of the volunteers were nighttime eaters. These late night snack eaters consumed more calories per day than those who did not eat at night, which may have been because 15 percent of their daily energy (or calorie) needs came from night eating. However, the calories from macronutrients did not differ between the two groups. Overall, those who ate at night gained more weight than those who did not purchase food from the vending machine at night.
So if you’re wondering why you’ve gained weight this semester while you’re back at school, it may be because of those late-night snacks at Augies and Insomnia. The excess calories add up to a few extra pounds.
Mallory Creveling is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in nutrition. Creveling, who was a fitness editorial intern at Shape magazine this past summer, plans to pursue a career in health journalism after graduation. She attributes her internship and writing and researching for on campus publications to her growing knowledge of where and how to research health topics more sufficiently. Creveling is also a senior editor for the print version of What the Health this semester. She will update her column every Thursday with health news alerts on new studies about issues affecting the U.S. population.
If someone is diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease, they are urged to contact anyone who they have been sexually active with and might potentially have exposed to the disease as well. Embarrassment and humiliation likely discourages many of those infected from making the dreaded call.
Now people have a new option for how to tell his or her sexual partner or partners that they have been exposed to an STD. It is called inSpot. Initially created for the gay community, inSpotallows users to send an e-card to anyone they have had sex with and might have exposed to an STD.
The E-cards have messages like “I got screwed while screwing. You Might have too,” or “I am so sorry.” The sender can inform the recipient anonymously or with their name.
The website advises users who they should contact. For example, perhaps you only need to contact sexual partners from the past six months.It also gives those who have been sent the card advice about where to go next, and how to get tested.
According to Yahoo News,of the diseases people email out, 15 percent of the emails sent are to tell someone they have gonorrhea. Another 15 percent for syphilis. Twelve percent for Chlamydia and nine percent for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Users can also send emails about crabs and hepatitis. Although people have used the website as jokes to send to their friends, inSpot highly discourages people from doing so. The site is to be used to inform those possibly infected.
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
Strengthening your back is extremely important to prevent injuries while working out or just partaking in regular daily activities.Use these four exercises to prevent future back pain.
Hip Bridge:
Lie on your back with your feet flat and legs hip-width apart.Keep your arms relaxed at your sides and your knees bent.
Squeeze your butt while you lift your hips to create a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.
Hold this position for two seconds, and slowly lower your body back down.
Repeat 10 times.
Over time, build yourself up to complete three full repetitions.
Bird Dog:
Begin on all fours with your knees hip-width apart and your hands flat and shoulder-width apart.
Squeeze your abs by pulling your belly toward the spine while keeping the spine neutral (do not arch the back or rotate the hips) and extend your right leg back and your left arm straight ahead.
Hold this position for two to four seconds, or as long as you feel comfortable.
Repeat 10 times for each side.
Over time, build up your strength to complete three full repetitions.
Side Plank:
Lie on your right side with your body in a straight line from your head to your feet, resting on your forearm with your elbow directly under your shoulder.
Contract your abs and lift your feet off the floor keeping your body in a straight line.While doing this keep hips square and your neck in line with your spine.Focus on lifting your body with your abs so you do not strain your neck.
Hold this position for 20 to 40 seconds and lower your body back down.
Repeat two to three times, alternating sides.
Over time, build up the stability to complete three repetitions.
Lunge:
With your abs slightly contracted and your hands on your hips, take a big step forward with your right foot.
Sink your body down so your right knee is at a 90-degree angle.
Without pausing, push yourself back up to the starting position.
Repeat 12 times, then switch legs and repeat.
Build your strength so you can eventually complete three repetitions.
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
Nuts often have a bad reputation for being too fatty and high in calories. But, nuts mostly contain monosaturated fat which won’t raise your blood cholesterol levels. Additionally they contain essential fatty acids which are vital for growth, blood pressure control, and healthy skin and hair. They’re also high in fiber, especially almonds.
From pecans to walnuts, nuts come in a variety of flavors and are ready-made, so eating them doesn’t require preparation time. Check out three ways to maximize your nut consumption.
In Salads
Add some flavor and crunch to your salad by adding nuts—chopped or whole. By adding nuts to your salad, you can pair them with complementary foods for a more nutrient-rich salad. Try pairing walnuts or pecans with dried cranberries and goat cheese. Pine nuts taste great with Parmesan cheese.
In Pasta
Add pine nuts to your pasta—they go great with penne and vegetables. For a richer flavor, roast the nuts for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.They nuts also go great with pesto sauce.
As a Snack
Nuts are the heart and soul of trail mix. Instead of buying trail mix, create your own with your favorite nuts and dried fruits. You can even mix almonds or walnuts with your favorite cereals or add them to low-fat yogurt.
Michelle Toglia is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in marketing. She has written a health and beauty blog for LifeBrooker.com and is currently a senior editor of the print version of What the Health. She will update you every Monday with “Eating Right for the College Student On-the-Go.”
Our last session was bittersweet. I must say: I will appreciate the extra time on Wednesday night that I don’t have to drag myself to the library. I will appreciate being able to focus the last few weeks of the semester on the projects at hand, without feeling the should’s of having to honor this prior commitment.
I will also miss it, though, this time to be open to my own stillness, these two hours of pure, unadulterated quiet. I will miss David’s guidance and the group’s ebb and flow through meditation and reflection. I’ve started going to his yoga classes, and have found them rejuvenating beyond most others I’ve attended that focused solely on physical strength.
So as glad as I am that I made it through all the sessions, I hope I can carry a few pieces of the experience with me: the ability to be intentionally still, not just mindlessly occupied. The care to respond thoughtfully to people, and not snap at them, as if bouncing off my own tension. The mental fortitude to really dedicate myself to what I’ve set out to do in my life, and not to sort of just slip and slide along.
And so on this last installment of The Mindful Diaries, I want to leave you with some quotes, because as always, others say it better.
Namaste.
”I have discovered that all our unhappiness derives form one single source—not being able to sit quietly in a room.” ~ Blaise Pascal
”People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compasses of the oceans, at the circular motion of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.” ~ St. Augustine.
”We shall never cease from exploration, and the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.” ~ T.S. Eliot
– Jennifer Ward
Jennifer Ward is a magazine graduate student at S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She has written for In Good Health, CNY’s premier health care newspaper, and covered topics that range from religion to triathlons, food and cosmetic surgery.You can find her portfolio at www.jwbwrites.wordpress. She also has her own food blog called Fresh Cracked Pepper. “The Mindful Diaries” is a blog journal about her weekly Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. Tune in every Tuesdays for updates.
Remember catching glimpses on television this summer of Michael Phelps’s intense pre-race massage routine? Groups of people pressed, pulled and stretched the Olympic swimmer’s muscles throughout his time in Beijing. And, well, it must have helped, or at least it couldn’t have hurt. We all know the amazing results.
Stopping by the Schine or Goldstein student centers for a quick, free massage probably won’t set you on a path to winning gold metals and setting athletic records. But, massage therapy can benefit mere mortals, too. During Healthy Monday’s stress-reducing massages, practitioners manipulate muscles, skin and tendons in the back, leaving you feeling less tension in your body.
With the last few weeks of the semester underway (projects and papers and presentations, oh my), a little less stress can go a long way. Stress reduction generally leads to a higher quality of sleep, more energy and improved concentration, making massage subjects better equipped to survive the end-of-the-semester crunch.
Spending some time with a masseuse can also boost immunity, by stimulating lymph flow, which is part of the immune system. In the cold, wet weather of Syracuse, anything that reduces the risk of getting sick is invaluable.
Healthy Monday offers free massages every Monday in the Schine atrium from 12 to 3 p.m. and at the Goldstein Student Center on South Campus from 5 to 6 p.m.
You may have heard the rumor that too much cell phone usage can lead to brain cancer, which researchers later found untrue, but doctors in London have recently discovered a new cell phone health risk. This time, it’s a skin rash.
Skin allergy, according to MSNBC, caused by too much cell phone use, caused a rash on patients’ ears and cheeks, according to the British Association of Dermatologists. The red and itchy rash, termed “mobile phone dermatitis,” can come from an allergic reaction to the nickel surface of cell phones, the article said. The rash can occur on your ears, cheeks or even your fingers if you text for countless hours throughout the day.
Nickel is a metal found to commonly cause allergic reactions, according to the Mayo Clinic in the United States on MSNBC.com. People are in contact nickel when using cell phones, headsets, belt buckles or jewelry.
As the popularity of mobile phone use continues to grow across the country, it becomes almost inevitable that researchers will find possible health risks. It can only get more interesting to see the side effects of hours of cell phone use as the college generation gets older.
For now, keep in mind the possibility of too much cell phone use if you find your face itching or a red rash popping up on your ear – it could be a sign that you need a cell phone break.
Mallory Creveling is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in nutrition. Creveling, who was a fitness editorial intern at Shape magazine this past summer, plans to pursue a career in health journalism after graduation. She attributes her internship and writing and researching for on campus publications to her growing knowledge of where and how to research health topics more sufficiently. Creveling is also a senior editor for the print version of What the Health this semester. She will update her column every Thursday with health news alerts on new studies about issues affecting the U.S. population.
Welcome back! A new year means new motivation to work out, but sometimes this can be hard to find, especially in the gym. So here is a fun way to change up one of your typical workouts.
The treadmill is a common apparatus people use to exercise, but sometimes the workout can seem repetitive, and just boring. Changing up your normal treadmill routine will not only rev you up to go workout, but your physique will also benefit.
The easiest way to improve your treadmill workout is to do an interval workout with different speeds. Alternating your speed from low to high will help your fast-twitch muscle fibers that assist you with short, powerful bursts of energy, especially during sprinting. Working these muscle fibers is also beneficial because they require more energy to work and to recover, which means more calories burned during and after a workout.
Try doing this workout on alternating days with a long run to improve your sprints and provide some variety to your workout.
1. Find a challenging speed that you cannot sustain for longer than a minute. This will vary depending on your level of fitness, but once you find it, this will be your speed to target your fast-twitch muscle fibers.
2. Begin the workout with a three to five-minute warm up at a slow jogging speed.
3. For the fourth minute, sprint at your fast-twitch muscle fiber speed for the entire minute.
4. For the next two minutes run at your warm up pace.
5. Continue this one-minute sprint, two minutes recovery workout five times if possible. You may have to work your way up to this level of fitness but aim to be able to complete five to eight cycles of one-minute work, two-minutes recovery.
6. Cool down on a level below your jogging pace for three to five minutes, ending on a walk. Stop once your heart rate returns to normal resting pace.
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
Last month, President Obama expanded his administration’s celebrity reputation with the appointment of the well-known neurosurgeon and media personality Dr. Sanjay Gupta, his pick for Surgeon General. Gupta is arguably America’s most recognizable doctor, hosting his own show on CNN, making frequent appearances on Anderson Cooper 360, and Larry King Live,and writing a column for Time. In 2003, he was voted People’s Sexiest Man Alive.
Gupta’s supporters credit him with hundreds of media contacts and years of experience communicating health issues clearly to the public. He is a staff member at two Atlanta hospitals, and was a special adviser to Hillary Clinton during President Clinton’s administration.
But his critics, led by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, D-Mich., who wrote an open letter to Senate members opposing Gupta’s nomination, say the doctor doesn’t have the experience or administrative know-how to oversee the U.S. Public Health System. Gupta has also been criticized in the past for accusing Michael Moore of “fudging facts” in his health care documentary Sicko, and endorsing the Gardasil vaccine before the FDA approved it.
News of Gupta’s nomination was announced on Jan. 7. Initial reports stated that he was considering the financial impacts of leaving his lucrative journalism and medical careers behind, but was expected to make a formal announcement within days. Three weeks later, and the story has disappeared from headlines. Gupta continues to report on health on wellness issues for CNN, but the network banned him from reporting on health policy.
Catherine Basham is a senior magazine journalism and policy studies dual major. She has written for The Daily Orange, The Student Voice, and interned with publications like Boston magazine and Design New England. Her interests are global health and national health policy and legislation. Every Tuesday, she will be covering these topics in her column “Healthy Affairs.” Stay informed, stay healthy.
Coffee is hardly known as a health food. For some, it’s simply a morning pick-me-up. For others, who don’t even think about showing up for class without a Starbucks triple venti dry cappuccino in hand, it’s a must-have accessory. But according to a new study, coffee may do more than keep your eyelids from drooping; it is linked to mental health later in life.
A team of Swedish and Danish researchers tracked coffee consumption in a group of 1,409 middle-aged men and women over 21 years. They found that those who drank three to five cups of coffee each day were 65% less likely to develop dementia, compared with those who drank two cups or less. People who drank more than five cups a daily were also at a reduced risk of dementia – yet they were probably at an added risk of bouncing off the walls.
But java’s jolt and its health effects don’t always come hand-in-hand. Caffeine, which is arguably the most famous component, has little to do with dementia prevention. Studies that looked at decaf found the same degree of risk reduction. Dementia is a progressive decline in cognitive function that usually comes with age. It can affect memory, attention, language, and problem solving. In the later stages of the condition, one might be disoriented in time, place, and surroundings.
The reasoning behind the hype? In the past, scientists linked coffee’s antioxidants with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes, a disease typically associated with a greater risk of dementia. There is also strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver.
Don’t get the wrong idea. It might not be wise to drastically increase your daily coffee intake simply to lower the risk of disease. But the next time you’re feeling down while trudging along in dreary Syracuse snow, grab a cup o’ Joe to lift your spirits – and your mental health.
What’s Brewing: my campus favorites:
Starbucks
Hot: white peppermint mocha with soy
Cold: iced skinny vanilla latte
People’s Place
Hot: Graham Cracker Coffee, Mocha Java
Dunkin’ Donuts
Hot: Toasted Almond coffee
Cold: Iced Caramel Swirl
Pages Café (in Bird Library)
Hot: skim latte with Irish Cream syrup
Megan Hess is a sophomore majoring in magazine journalism and international relations. She is the managing editor of Jerk Magazine and also writes for The Daily Orange and 360 Magazine. She was an editorial intern at Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine, where she had several articles published, and a media relations intern at the Office of the Mayor in Syracuse, NY. As a features blogger, she will cover issues ranging from food phenomena to electric cars to Obama’s carbon footprints.
A few days ago, I found myself in conversation with a man whose lips were so chapped it looked as if he’d been stranded in the desert without water for days on end. I couldn’t help but completely dismiss anything he said in exchange for thoughts about what unfortunate woman might find herself in a position to make out with this guy. The dry, cracked horror of it all!
This scary story serves as a warning for all the guys and girls out there – Syracuse winters can wreak havoc on your skin. The air lacks the moisture that keeps you glowing like a dewy sun-god(dess) in the warmer months.
There are a few very simple steps to cure or prevent chapped lips. Store some lip balm in whatever place is most convenient for you – a purse or pocket – and apply regularly. Don’t overdo it, slippery slide or sticky lips are just as bad as the dry ones, but keep your pucker consistently covered.
For ladies I recommend something with a sweet but subtle taste that will have the other half of any kiss dreaming of more (try Softlips in vanilla or strawberry). Original Chapstick is always a classic for guys and girls and lacks any feminine scent that may turn some people off. If you’d prefer something that doesn’t resemble lipstick, try a pocket-size tube of Eucerin Aquaphor Healing Ointment. My boyfriend uses it and I’ve done the research to determine it keeps lips soft all day.
Your lips will feel better and be a tempting treat for your make-out partner on those cold winter nights. Stash a pack of Smackers lip balm in a wide variety of flavors in case you get snowed in. You and your other half can pass the hours taste-testing for your favorite flavor.
Taylor Engler is a senior dual magazine journalism and anthropology major. She has written for Jerk magazine, The Daily Orange, and Zipped magazine. She has an invested interest in relationships and sex so she plans to ”Kiss and Tell” every Wednesday with the scoop on sexual and emotional health.
The Female Health Company has been producing a female condom since 1993, but with very little success. Sales of the female condom were low and complaints were high. Women considered the female condom to be inconvenient and especially noisy.
According to Paula Hillard, a gynecologist at Stanford University Medical Center, the awkward noises the condoms cause turns patients off to using them. “When I talk to my patients…the biggest concern they have is that it’s noisy…a ‘snap, crackle, pop,’” she says.
Now the Female Health Company has created a new female condom, the FC2 that will hopefully appeal to women much more than its predecessor. The new female condom is made of synthetic rubber and can be inserted well in advance to having intercourse, whereas in the case of male condoms as well as the original female condom, this was not a realistic option.
The Food and Drug Administration unanimously voted in support of this new condom, hopefully providing women with more control of their sex life, and ability to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The new version is also quieter and less expensive.
The Female Health Company is currently looking for a company to help them market the condom successfully, so unfortunately, it will still take some time before the new female condom is widely available.
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
It’s been over a month since we rang in 2009, which also means it has been a month since everyone made their new year’s resolutions.
A new year has traditionally been a time for people everywhere to make a commitment to a healthier lifestyle. Losing that stubborn 10 pounds, trying to get the five to seven servings of fruits and veggies, or heading to the gym more often.
Now, for those that live in warmer climates, heading to the gym everyday, or exercising in general usually doesn’t get interrupted by anything other than laziness.
However, here in the frozen tundra we know as Syracuse, blustering snow and freezing temperatures can reek havoc on you trek to the gym everyday, and can make the regular work outs frustrating to the point where most people just give up, vowing to return once the snow has melted.
But, planning ahead can keep your work out plan on track. The first and best way to keep you going is pure will power to reach your goal. Want to lose that flab on your belly or tone up your muscles? That’s not going to happen if you sit at home watching Seinfeld re-runs.
Then, of course, there are the artic temperatures. Worried about piling on layers just to strip down and then bundle back up all in one hour? Use your workout clothes as an extra layer that doubles as a timesaver and added warmth. Wearing shorts or leggings under your pants and an extra t-shirt not only makes it quicker to get in and jump on a treadmill. Plus, it saves you from having to lug around all that extra clothing. Going to the gym between classes? Consider asking about locker rentals.
Even with all the willpower and planning, sometimes getting to the gym just isn’t feasible. When those days roll around, don’t just allow yourself a free pass. Take 20 minutes to do some at-home exercises such as sit-ups, push-ups and lunges.
Kristen Putch is a senior newspaper and history major. She is the former editor-in-chief of The Student Voice and managing editor of 360 Degrees magazine. She has written for The Daily Orange and is currently a freelance writer for www.Suite101.com. Based on her personal experiences with balancing work and everything else, she is very familiar with the college student’s tendency to talk themselves out of doing what’s right: what’s healthy. She wants to encourage those to be proactive and prevent it with her column “Interruption.”
Her contact information is kristen.j.putch@gmail.com.
The elliptical provides a great low impact workout for both your upper and lower body.
Since the elliptical is like walking in mid air it eliminates the stress running places on your body that can negatively affect the joints in your legs and lower back.
Here is a great 30-minute interval workout to try next time with the elliptical.As with other workouts, modifications can be made according to your fitness level.
Warm up: 5 minutes at resistance level 2
1 minute at resistance level 5
1 minute at resistance level 10
2 minutes at resistance level 5
2 minutes at resistance level 10
4 minutes at resistance level 5
4 minutes at resistance level 10
5 minutes at resistance level 7
Cool down: 6 minutes at resistance level 2
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
It would be wonderful to bite greedily into a PB and J sandwich or gulp down a Diet Coke without worrying about poisonous toxins, but the recent flood of recalls makes it clear that we need to be careful about what we eat. Sure, it is technically the responsibility of manufacturing companies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect consumers from these dangers. But lately, they haven’t been doing their jobs. Here’s what happened and how they’ve gotten away with it:
An estimated 19,000 people became sick, and as many as eight were killed as a result of a salmonella outbreak last month. As a result, more than 1,500 peanut-related products were recalled nationwide.
An FDA investigation traced the outbreak to the Peanut Corporation of America in Blakely, Ga. One of the most disturbing facts to emerge: The food plant, with holes in its roof and mold on its ceilings and walls, knowingly shipped contaminated peanut butter. Investigations since then have shown how poorly food safety is monitored on both state and national levels. In this case, the state of Georgia is under contract with the FDA to complete its own plant inspections. (A 2007 decision by the FDA’s Science Board declared the FDA did not have the capacity to guarantee a safe food supply, due to a rise in the number of domestic businesses it monitors). The Government Accountability Office called for a government-wide evaluation of the food safety system, highlighted in a 2008 report. For more information read yesterday’s The New York Times story about how the Peanut Corporation got away with so much for so long.
Then, a study published by Environmental Health stated that nine out of 20 samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup contained mercury. High-fructose corn syrup is normally used as a cheap alternative to sugar in thousands of food products. Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day, according to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
A separate study by the IATA found mercury levels in one-third of 55 popular brand name products. These results are much less threatening than the peanut butter salmonella outbreak for a few reasons. Mercury is found commonly in fish and shellfish, and there is little consensus as to how harmful the levels in corn syrup really are. The IATA didn’t test mercury levels in foods that don’t contain the corn syrup, nor did it identify which type of mercury was detected. Methyl mercury, the kind found in fish, is generally more harmful than elemental mercury. The FDA reportedly knew about the mercury levels, but did not act on the information.
Perhaps the most disturbing is the story of the ongoing documentation of the antibiotic-resistant pathogen MRSA in pigs, brought to the forefront by an Iowa State researcher in June. CDC data from hospitals, schools and prisons shows more than 94,000 cases in 2005, with 18,650 cases ending in death. Despite mounting evidence, the USDA, which is responsible for inspecting meats, poultry, and eggs, has not collected data or completed tests to check imported or domestic meat. Reports note that a group called the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System is responsible for the testing of food-borne bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli. However they do not screen for MSRA. There will be no solution to these problems until an agency accepts responsibility and begins testing to trace and stop the spread of the pathogen.
Perhaps the only good news is that such high-profile cases exposing our ineffective food safety practices might lead to more oversight and interest from watchdogs. For updated information on other food recalls, visit Recalls.gov.
Catherine Basham is a senior magazine journalism and policy studies dual major. She has written for The Daily Orange, The Student Voice, and interned with publications like Boston magazine and Design New England. Her interests are global health and national health policy and legislation. Every Tuesday, she will be covering these topics in her column “Healthy Affairs.” Stay informed, stay healthy.
Energy drinks. Diet Cola’s. Coffees, lattes, and teas. When it comes to the drinks you down on a daily basis, the number might not be too shabby. But what really counts is how much H2O your body is getting. The “8 x 8 Rule” suggests drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. This will not only prevent dehydration, but also help digest food, transport waste and control body temperature.
I know, I know: Red Bull is much more appealing that a glass of water when you’re pulling an all-nighter. But an 8.3-ounce can of Red Bull has approximately 160 calories and 27 grams of sugar, which is about 84% of your total sugar intake for the day. Water, on the other hand, has no calories or sugar at all. So put down that iced tea and take a look at how to trick yourself into drinking more water every day.
1)Carry water with you everywhere you go – in a bottle, Nalgene, or other container. Try keeping it in the fridge – drinking cold water may not only taste better, but also helps burn more calories since your body is heating it to body temperature. Just remember that recent research has shown that plastic bottles leach toxic chemicals into water.
2)Before you sit down to study, write an essay, or even make a phone call, pour yourself a glass of water. Keep it next to you and drink from it regularly. This also applies during classes; place the bottle on your desk, and before you know it, you’ll be taking regular sips to pass those never-ending 55 minutes of econ or physics.
3)Get a Brita or other water purification system. A Brita Classic, which holds about six 8-ounce glasses of water, goes for about $20.99. This is way cheaper than a 24-pack of Poland Spring water bottles, which costs about $32.00. Britas use tap water, which is easily accessible around campus. Tap water also contains small amounts of fluoride, which is vital for strong, healthy teeth.
4)Add Crystal Light powders to your water. It’s sugar-free, 5 calories per serving, and comes in scrumptious flavors like pink lemonade, raspberry peach, mixed berry, and kiwi strawberry. This gives water that extra kick to get you through a long day of classes. Flavored water is also great for when you’ve got the munchies. If you opt for a glass of water instead of the pizza and quesadillas at Kimmel, you’ll feel full, avoid the calories, and save SuperCard money.
5)Another not-so-tricky way of getting water into your system is through water-rich foods. Eating watermelon (92% water by weight) and other fruits is a great way to start. Tomatoes are 95% water; eggs are 74% water; and uncooked lean meat is 70% water.
Megan Hess is a sophomore majoring in magazine journalism and international relations. She is the managing editor of Jerk Magazine and also writes for The Daily Orange and 360 Magazine. She was an editorial intern at Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine, where she had several articles published, and a media relations intern at the Office of the Mayor in Syracuse, NY. As a features blogger, she will cover issues ranging from food phenomena to electric cars to Obama’s carbon footprints.
A Valentine Guide for Couples…and Singles and Newbies
By Taylor Engler, beat blogger
In the February issue of Glamour magazine, Eva Longoria Parker was asked if she believes in having a soul mate. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I think all girls should read her answer:
“I believe in soulmates. It could be a lover, it could be a sister, it could be a best friend. It doesn’t have to be romantic.”
On Hallmark’s hottest holiday, far too many girls are sad about being single. Sure it’s fun to have a significant other to spoil you, but Valentine’s Day is about love in all varieties. So why not celebrate instead of sulk!
For ladies who are single, I recommend banding together with a group of your closest gal pals and having a sweet gathering with cupcakes and champagne. Toast to friendship and stay in all night watching your favorite flicks or head out after for drinks on the town.
Extra dose of love: Put a couple of conversation hearts in the bottom of each guest’s champagne glass for a colorful and heartfelt touch.
For a long-term lover, spend time reminding each other just how much you care. Take turns suprising each other with something special the other will enjoy – like basketball tickets for the Georgetown game or a massage at a spa. End the night by cooking dinner together, the time spent on the meal will make it so much more delicous.
Extra dose of love: Leave the best surprise for last – sexy lingerie that you can hint at all day. He’ll beg to be your Valentine.
If you are in a new relationship and don’t want to come on too V-day strong – try something a bit more lighthearted. Go out to eat a type of food neither of you have ever tried. Doing something adventurous will bring you closer together while still allowing you to joke and be silly.
Extra does of love:Agree to exchange gifts under $10 and get as creative as you can. You’ll get to see a different side of each other and will skip the pressure for expensive giving.
Taylor Engler is a senior dual magazine journalism and anthropology major. She has written for Jerk magazine, The Daily Orange, and Zipped magazine. She has an invested interest in relationships and sex so she plans to ”Kiss and Tell” every Wednesday with the scoop on sexual and emotional health.
A new DNA test for HPV that will be administered through gynecology offices now proves to be a better detector of HPV than Pap tests. (Pap tests have been the method doctors have used for to test for cervical cancer for years.) The results of the Pap test are read objectively by a machine rather than read by cytopathologists.
A study printed by the New England Journal of Medicine showed that Pap tests were only 55 percent affective in detecting HPV, while the new DNA test was 95 percent affective in detecting the virus. Using the two tests together is 100 percent affective in detecting HPV.
Most women are exposed to HPV during their lifetime, but many viruses simply leave the body soon after. 80 percent of HPV vaccines are taken care of by the body’s immune system, but it is the 20 percent that stick that can be extremely harmful. Consistent infections over time can lead to cervical cancer.
Even if you have received the HPV vaccine shot, it is important to get tested anyway. Unfortunately, the HPV vaccine does not protect against every type of HPV and does not prevent all types of cervical cancer (it does, however, protect against 70 percent).
Some concerns with the new test are that it may report false positives and that it may not be covered by insurance companies.
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
During the winter, your hair is more susceptible to dryness and damage. Here are some tips to maintain your healthiest tresses:
Get Trims
People with long and short hair should get trims year round, but in the winter, it can be especially helpful. Our ends tend to be the driest part of our hair; trims (every 6-8 weeks) will get rid of these frazzled ends.
Protect Your Hair From Hot Styling Tools
Instead of cranking your flat iron up to the maximum setting, use a lower setting. Also, be sure to use heat-protecting products before you use potentially damaging hot styling tools. Leave-in-conditioners and heat-protecting sprays can do wonders to prevent damage.
Shampoo Less
If you wash your hair everyday, you are probably doing more harm than good. Even if you have oily hair, you can use a clarifying shampoo maybe every other day instead of washing daily. If your hair is dry, you can use a moisturizing shampoo. To help with dryness all hair types, you can use a hair mask once a week to strengthen hair.
Food Can Help
Be sure to maintain a balanced diet. Drink water and add to the amount of protein in your diet. You can even apply some oils directly to the hair and scalp. In the shower, put olive oil on your hair instead of conditioner and wash it out after five minutes. This is a great mask for dry, color-treated, and relaxed hair. Tea tree oil is great for dandruff, and you can apply it directly to the scalp.
Take a Look at Your Hat
Hats are necessities in the winter but they can also harm your hair. If possible, wear a hat with a lining. A wool hat without a lining is especially rough on your hair. Also, wash your hat regularly to avoid dandruff and oily hair.
Let’s face it; watching reruns of The Office with a textbook on your lap does not qualify as studying. While studying is an integral part of the college experience, it’s not something we want to constantly be doing. Depending on our moods, energy levels and ability to focus, studying has the power to last well into the night. The key to a good study session involves focus, energy and low levels of stress. Oftentimes, these things come from an efficient, refreshing study break.
Dartmouth College recommends studying in chunks for 20-50 minute time periods with a brief break for 5-10 minutes. This method will allow you to remove yourself from your work and come back with a clear mind. Try out these easy, rejuvenating activities the next time you hit the books.
photo courtesy of pilatesfirenze.it
Move Your Body
Too late for the gym? Whip out your laptop and turn your room into a mini gym for 10 minutes. For a natural energy boost, try a free 10-minute dance workout from ExerciseTV. Even if you’re a horrible dancer, this energizing video will get your body moving and at least give you a good laugh.
If you’re looking to improve your concentration, try out a 10-minute Pilates workout.
Breathe In
If you’re stressed, work on your breathing with a meditation video. Clearing your mind for 10-15 minutes will eliminate your anxiety and allow you to re-tackle your work with more concentration. MayoClinc recommends meditation in order to improve concentration, gain energy, and become more efficient. Relax with this meditation video.
Snack Break
Like a great car, a great mind cannot do its job without the proper fuel. Save your books some crumbs and head over to the common room or kitchen to prepare a healthy snack to boost your energy and mood. Fuel your mind with foods low in sugar to avoid fatigue and moodiness. WebMd recommends eating whole grains like whole-wheat bread, brown rice, and cereal to raise serotonin levels. For a boost rich in protein and carbs, try toasting a slice Arnold Whole Grains bread and add a tablespoon of peanut butter.
Studies on animals have also shown that blueberries improve memory. Sprinkle some blueberries on whole-grain cereal or low-fat yogurt to help with your studying session.
photo courtesy of healthhokkaido.com
Tea Time
In addition to the numerous immune system and cholesterol-reducing benefits, tea may just be your new study buddy. Research shoes that a substance in green tea leaves, L-Theanine, may help with relaxation and reduce anxiety, says WebMD. Relax with a warm cup of Yogi Tea.
photo courtesy of converse.edu
Walk it Out
Grab a coat and a friend and hit the Syracuse streets for a short stroll. Sure, the weather might not be favorable, but a burst of fresh air may be necessary. A short walk and talk will rejuvenate your mind and body.
Michelle Toglia is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in marketing. She has written a health and beauty blog for LifeBrooker.com and is currently a senior editor of the print version of What the Health.
Ever wonder what the purpose of a taking multivitamin is? Believe it or not, a daily multivitamin will provide you will health enhancing vitamins that the average person may not consume in a normal day. Below is a list of vitamins and their uses to enhance your health and prevent disease and infection.
Vitamin A : Promotes healthy bone growth, vision, reproduction, cell division and specialization and helps regulate the immune system.
Food sources include whole milk, liver, eggs, carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach and most darkly colored fruit and vegetables.
Vitamin B2: Supports energy production and is necessary for red blood cell and antibody production, respiration and regulating human growth and reproduction. It is essential for healthy skin, nails and hair growth, healing of wounds and general good health.
Sources include liver, kidney, whole grains, green leaf vegetables, milk, yeast, cheese, oily fish, eggs, enriched cereals, almonds and mushrooms.
Vitamin B12: The primary functions are to maintain a healthy nervous system and to produce red blood cells.
Sources include meat, dairy products and eggs but no reliable plant sources.
Vitamin C: The human body is unable to store Vitamin C and unless replenished constantly, symptoms—the most commonly known of which is scurvy that can become fatal—will quickly occur. It is important in forming collagen that gives structure to bones, cartilage, muscle and blood vessels and in maintaining bones and teeth, and in the absorption of iron.
Sources are most fruits and vegetables served raw if possible, Vitamin C dissolves in water, so you want to cook your veggies, use the minimal amount of water by steaming or microwaving for as short a time as possible.
Vitamin D: The source of this vitamin is best known as being from sunlight, or more accurately, as being made in the body by exposure to UV rays.
It promotes calcium and phosphorous that are vital in forming and maintaining strong bones. Vitamin D may also be involved in regulating cell growth and maintaining a healthy immune system.
Exposure to sunlight (which should be carefully limited) is the principal source, most dairy products contain only limited amounts, better sources include oily fish, fortified cereals, eggs, and beef liver.
Vitamin E: A is a powerful source of antioxidants and as such acts as a barrier to poisons and diseases that can damage the body. It is also recognized as being involved in immune system function, DNA repair, the protection of blood cells, the nervous system, muscles and the eye retinas from free radical damage.
The best sources include nuts, green vegetables (spinach, broccoli, sprouts) eggs, whole wheat products, soy beans and vegetable oils and particularly olive oil.
Vitamin K: This vitamin plays an essential role in the production of coagulation proteins, meaning that it is responsible for regulating the ability of the blood to clot.
Any green vegetables, asparagus, oats and oils, such as olive oil, are good sources of this vitamin.
Remember to consult your doctor about starting any type of vitamin regime.
Kristen Putch is a senior newspaper and history major. She is the former editor-in-chief of The Student Voice and managing editor of 360 Degrees magazine. She has written for The Daily Orange and is currently a freelance writer for www.Suite101.com. Based on her personal experiences with balancing work and everything else, she is very familiar with the college student’s tendency to talk themselves out of doing what’s right: what’s healthy. She wants to encourage those to be proactive and prevent it with her column “Interruption.”
Her contact information is kristen.j.putch@gmail.com.
Every year I struggle with finding the words to fill my Valentine’s Day cards. If you are sick of the roses being red and violets blue, and all that nonsense, here are some less mainstream, and more original ways to let someone know how you feel.
I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. – When Harry Met Sally
Here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
- Excerpt from e.e. cummings poem “I Carry Your Heart With Me (I Carry it in my Heart)”
So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna be really hard. We’re gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day. Will you do something for me, please? Just picture your life for me? 30 years from now, 40 years from now? What’s it look like? If it’s with him, go. Go! I lost you once, I think I can do it again. If I thought that’s what you really wanted. But don’t you take the easy way out.
-The Notebook (I admit, this is mainstream but I couldn’t resist)
Because tonight you are in my hair and eyes, and every street light that our taxi passes shows me you again, still you, And because tonight all other nights are black, all other hours are cold and far away, and now, this minute, the stars are very near and bright
-Kenneth Fearing
Sometimes, when we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies. And, fortunately, when there aren’t any cookies, we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture, or subtle encouragement, or a loving embrace, or an offer of comfort, not to mention hospital gurneys and nose plugs, an uneaten Danish, soft-spoken secrets, and Fender Stratocasters, and maybe the occasional piece of fiction. And we must remember that all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are effective for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems strange, but I also know that it just so happens to be true.
- Stranger Than Fiction
Stop talking about love. Every asshole in the world says he loves somebody. It means nothing. What you feel only matters to you. It’s what you do to the people you say you love, that’s what matters. It’s the only thing that counts. – The Last Kiss
There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other’s cooking & say it was good. –Brian Andreas
“In a haze, a stormy haze, I’ll round I’ll be loving you always, always, Here I am and I take time, here I am and I wait in line always, always – Coldplay
I’ve been watching your world from afar,
I’ve been trying to be where you are,
And I’ve been secretly falling apart, unseen.
To me, you’re strange and you’re beautiful,
You’d be so perfect with me but you just can’t see,
You turn every head but you don’t see me.
I’ll put a spell on you,
You’ll fall asleep and I’ll put a spell on you.
And when I wake you,
I’ll be the first thing you see,
And you’ll realize that you love me.
- Aqualung
I’d swim across lake Michigan
I’d sell my shoes
I’d give my body to be back again
In the rest of the room
The stationary bike is a great way to get a low impact workout that provides almost immediate results in toning your legs—which would be beneficial when hiking those hills around campusTo avoid boredom, and to get the most of your workout, incorporate sprints into your bike routine.Here is a 30-minute bike workout that uses sprints to give you the best results.
Start cycling at a low speed for five minutes.
Increase your speed so that you are cycling at medium speed for the next five minutes.
Start cycling at an intensity that is about 90% of your full effort.This will be your sprint pace.Maintain this pace for 30 seconds.
Slow down your pace and cycle at about 40% of your full effort.Maintain this pace for 30 seconds.
Continue this variation for five minutes.
Next, cycle at a pace that is 70% of your full effort for five minutes.
Next, repeat the five-minute sprinting intervals.
Begin your cool down at 40% of your full effort for two minutes, and finish the last three minutes at the low speed used in the warm up.
Be sure to stretch out your quads and calves after this workout to avoid soreness.Also, eating foods with potassium, like bananas, can help to prevent sore muscles the next day.
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
Prescription drug history, like all medical records, is assumed to be confidential. Yet drug companies can contact customers with targeted, promotional information about newer, more expensive drugs when their old prescriptions run out. In Washington State, a new bill sponsored by Rep. Jamie Pedersen, seeks to close this loophole.
Proponents say the bill will protect patients who assume the information is coming from their doctor or pharmacy. Typically, when drug companies contact customers, they send the information in the form of a reminder about a current prescription and a suggestion to move to a different drug.
A 2003 change in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) created the loophole, adding “business associates” to the list of people who could share patient information if it related to patient care. Drug makers could buy lists of prescriptions and use them to send advertisements to selected customers.
States are allowed to pass laws that strengthen privacy protections of HIPAA, and California is the only other state to pass a similar law prohibiting health care professionals from distributing prescription information. The Washington bill was introduced in January, and was reviewed by the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness on Feb. 3. To track its progress, check out its page on the Washington State Legislature Web site.
Catherine Basham is a senior magazine journalism and policy studies dual major. She has written for The Daily Orange, The Student Voice, and interned with publications like Boston magazine and Design New England. Her interests are global health and national health policy and legislation. Every Tuesday, she will be covering these topics in her column “Healthy Affairs.” Stay informed, stay healthy.
It’s three weeks until Spring Break, and college women across the country are in a state of frenzy. Dreams of lounging on the beach and dancing in clubs are suddenly replaced with nightmares of unflattering bikinis and cellulite-revealing booty shorts. Crash diets commence while gyms fill to the max.
But as you obsess over every pound and inch, stop to think about who you are really trying to impress. If we’re being honest here, most of us are dropping weight to entice potential hook-ups or show off to our own friends. We’re trying to look good for everyone around us, but how do we feel about ourselves?
One of the best things you can do to improve your sex life isn’t to try unhealthy methods to rapidly lose those extra pounds you think you put on after consuming Valentine’s Day candy…instead, work on improving your body image. OK, so you don’t have the figure of Giselle Bundchen. You’re not alone. Most of us will never look like a supermodel, but that doesn’t mean we’re not damn sexy!
Being comfortable in your own skin = being comfortable in bed. It’s difficult to enjoy sex when you’re wondering if you look thin from this angle or if he can see that part of you that jiggles from that position. The truth is all men are attracted to a particular body type – a different body type – which means what you’re working with is exactly what some guys out there want. But even if you find one of those men, you won’t be able to fully experience amazing sex until you appreciate all your assets, big and small.
Great sex is about focusing on what you feel and not on how you look. The ideal weight for someone of your height and build should be something you are comfortable with and that should, in turn, make you feel beautiful. The way you feel about your body should not revolve around what Brad from Australia thinks when you meet him in Cabo.
So should you eat well and exercise? Of course! Those activities keep you healthy and make you feel good, but while you do that, don’t over-obsess about your weight. Shoot for the body that makes you feel sexy and work it! Draw contentment with your body from how you look and feel, and not what everyone else thinks. You’ll be able to take in that gorgeous view from the beach, dance like a pro on the bar, and have better sex than ever before (maybe even with Brad!)
Taylor Engler is a senior dual magazine journalism and anthropology major. She has written for Jerk magazine, The Daily Orange, and Zipped magazine. She has an invested interest in relationships and sex so she plans to ”Kiss and Tell” every Wednesday with the scoop on sexual and emotional health.
When your planner is filled back to back with papers to write, tests to study for, projects to complete, lines to memorize, and meetings to attend, the desire for a break become essential. Luckily, there are several stress relievers just down the block. Here is a list of ways to cool off and take your mind off work on Marshall Street:
1. The Art of Massage
A massage is an excellent way to relax after a busy and stressful week of work. The massage therapists at the Art of Massage (located in the Marshall Square Mall) can help pinpoint tense areas of the individual customers. Massages can also help relieve pain and physically prepare athletes for a game.
The Art of Massage offers discounts to students. According to their website, “Students will be given $5 off the price of every one hour massage and $2 off the price of every half hour massage.”
2. The Fitness Center
Located in the Marshall Square Mall, a workout can help blow of steam and is a healthy way to relieve tension. A cardio workout on one of the many treadmills, elliptical cross-trainers, stair-climbers, bicycles, and rowers can help distract your mind from your work and stretching on the mats provided will help calm your muscles. Plus, physical exercise will help you sleep better, which is a stress reliever in and of itself.
The Hours of the Marshall Square Mall Fitness Center are:
Monday – Thursday → 7:00AM – Midnight
Fridays → 7:00AM – 10:00PM
Saturdays and Sundays → 10:00AM – 8:00PM
3. Funk ‘n Waffles
What better way to take your mind off of studying than to attend a music gig in this quaint, laid back venue that attracts local and touring artists nightly?
Although Funk n’ Waffles is not on Marshall street, it is located just down the block at 727 S. Crouse Avenue.
Coming up this weekend:
Thursday, February 19 – 8:30pm – Thousands of One
Friday, February 20 – 8:00pm – V-Day Fundraiser
Saturday, February 21 – 8:30pm – GPGDS
(find out more about these bands on the Funk n’ Waffles website)
4. Unique Tea House
If bubble tea isn’t your thing, just tell them to hold the tapioca. The Unique teahouse provides a large assortment of teas and mixed beverages that you can enjoy. My personal favorite is hot green tea with honey and lemon, which is great during to cold season to clear a sore throat. If the tea doesn’t calm your nerves, the zen atmosphere will. This is a great place to go with friends even for a quick beverage during the week. In addition to the tea, Unique Tea House had a multitude of toys and trinkets for sale and you can also order sushi with your drink.
5. Insomnia Cookies
Cookies? On a health blog? We understand why this may seem out of place. However, it is better to eat sweets in moderation than to ignore cravings, which can often build up. So treat yourself to that delicious peanut butter chocolate cookie. You deserve it. Just try to limit yourself and keep it as a special treat when satisfying your sweet tooth feels like your greatest ambition. And don’t forget, they will deliver to your dorm until 3am.
A recent study of 21 undergraduate males by Professor Susan Fiske at Princeton University determined that men’s brains receive images of females in bikinis as objects; objects of conquest, that is. The way men process seeing women scantily clad is similar to that of handling tools; they see these images with the intention to perform an action.
Men think of certain first person action verbs such as “push,” “handle,” and “grab” when seeing bare images of women, instead of the idea of the women “pushing,” “handling,” or “grabbing.” The images of women with fewer clothes on give them a feeling of control, while they see images of a woman that is fully clothed as in control of herself.
These mysogenistic tendencies that men have developed are not new concepts. Early male humans saw women as a way to spread their genes, rather than people to bond and share their life with. The purpose of this study was to show how people sometimes use other people as a means to an end, or the beginning (of another human life) depending on how you look at it.
So what did we learn from this research? Men have difficulty interacting with women and getting to know them on a deeper level once they have seen them dressed in a provocative way. (Something to keep in mind during that Spring Break romance). While this is based on scientific research, if men become more aware of this “impersonal sexual longing” and their subconscious depersonalizing of women, they may be able to consciously change their behavior.
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
Walking is a great workout that you can do daily or use as a recovery day between more intense workouts.But do not underestimate the health benefits of a good walk. If done at an intense speed, a walk can still burn a great deal of calories and leave you with the same endorphins (which create natural feelings of happiness—a natural high in other words) as after a run.
Here is a fat burning workout to try either on a treadmill or while walking around campus.Remember to pump your arms back and forth as you walk to get the best full body workout possible.
Warm up at an easy pace for 10 minutes
Increase your pace so that you are walking at 75-80% of your maximum heart rate for 14 minutes (This is a speed above a comfortable pace in which your breathing will be harder than usual)
Increase your speed so that you are walking at a pace that is just under jogging and maintain this speed for one minute
Decrease your speed to warm up pace for one minute
Continue this interval of fast then slow for six minutes
Cool down for five minutes at an easy pace
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
1.A connection or association, usually romantic, in which the involved parties are of or between a long distance from each other.
2.An emotional connection strong enough to tie two people together despite their residence in different cities, states, or countries.
3.A sexual affair characterized by random spurts of activity and long lulls of abstinence.
4.A stressful, emotional, but if it’s right, totally worth it relationship requiring time, money, trust, commitment and ultimately, love.
Many students come to college in a long distance relationship, and many end during the transitional period of freshman year.
For those relationships that last and make it beyond the four years of college and into the real world together, making it work requires a lot of emotional and financial effort. But if you’ve met someone truly special, every moment of being together is worth twice as much as moments of struggle. And the end result (eventually dropping the LD from the R) could be the fairytale ending every storybook follower hopes for.
So if you think you’ve found your prince (or princess) charming and they simply live in a land far, far away, here a few tips to make it to “The End.”
Have patience. Communication is hard in any relationship but even more difficult in a LDR. Give your other half a little leeway when it comes to phone calls – it will be OK if you talk in an hour instead of right away. Remember to be patient when he or she is having a bad day and is cranky with you as a result. Your relationship can be stressful and sometimes an outlet for pent up emotions. As long as a bad day doesn’t turn into a bad week, try to understand your significant other’s point of view.
Work out the times when you will or won’t be able to call each other. Think about each other’s schedules including activities, classes, and even favorite TV shows. Make sure you talk enough during the day to feel like you’re connected and caught up on each other’s lives. Also be sure to consider what you want to do when you’re out for a night of fun. Talking to someone at a party or bar is annoying for both parties – it’s difficult to hear well and takes you away from your good time. Promise that you’ll call each other before you go out and when you get back home, everyone will be happy.
Trust me. If you think your other half is cheating on you every time he or she mentions someone of the opposite sex’s name, calm down. Being constantly suspicious can only add strain to an already difficult relationship and will ultimately lead to a break-up. Use your natural instincts to detect infidelity but promise yourself that you will be faithful and will trust your partner is as well.
Give surprise love. A great way to remind each other just why you’re in this for the long haul is to constantly surprise each other with little acts of love. Be it a racy text message, an unexpected card in the mail, a UPS delivered treat, or an unexpected activity during a visit, make sure you take the time to show you care. A little surprise can make an entire day, week, month, or however long it will be until you see each other, a little easier.
Taylor Engler is a senior dual magazine journalism and anthropology major. She has written for Jerk magazine, The Daily Orange, and Zipped magazine. She has an invested interest in relationships and sex so she plans to ”Kiss and Tell” every Wednesday with the scoop on sexual and emotional health.
The Backup: I bought St. Ives Apricot Scrub at the Syracuse University bookstore last month, and I expected it to work wonders. After winning an Allure Reader’s Choice Award for best drugstore face scrub in 2008, I had high expectations. St. Ives says that it is dermatologist tested, non-drying, oil-free, Vitamin-A rich and contains apricot extract.
The Verdict: This scrub is affordable and effective. It makes your skin feel smooth immediately after you wash it off. However, I did find it to be very rough. Please do not scrub very hard. You can rub your face very gently with the scrub and it will work.
Quick Tip: Do not use this scrub on a daily basis. Even using it once or twice a week will soften your skin.
Price: $4
What: St. Ives’s Collagen Elastin Body Wash
The Backup: I have used this product for about a year and my skin is softer. You only need a small amount to cleanse and moisturize your body in the shower but I usually use more because it smells and feels so great.
The Verdict: It is a sleeper hit.This body wash is inexpensive and is truly moisturizing. It smells amazing and looks like white silk in your palms. For people with dry skin, this is a must. It also contains collagen and elastin that keeps skin looking youthful and prevents sagging. Overall, with the these two protein ingredients your skin should maintain it’s youthful elasticity and be wrinkle free.
The weather outside may be frightful, but your skin doesn’t have to be! Protecting your skin from harsh outdoor conditions is crucial – and easier than you might think.
Follow these steps to help your skin stay moist and healthy throughout the rest of the grueling winter months:
1)Use a heavier cream instead of a light moisturizer.
Constantly switching between warm indoor air and harsh outside winds removes moisture from your skin. Look for moisturizers that are oil-based rather than water-based; the oil will create a protective layer on the skin that retains more moisture than a regular cream or lotion. For best results, moisturize at night before going to bed. Some lip balms and lipsticks, like Moisture Extreme Lipcolor by Maybelline, have moisturizers built in.
2)Up your H20 intake.
Water not only flushes out toxins, but also helps prevent skin dehydration. Dry, cracked skin is susceptible to infections, and water helps boost your body’s natural defenses. The “8 by 8” rule says to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day.
3)Turn down the hot water.
A long, hot shower may sound ideal after kicking off your snowy Uggs, but hot water can wreak havoc on your skin. Instead, try taking lukewarm showers. After drying off, immediately apply moisturizer to lock in moisture. Lukewarm baths with oatmeal or baking soda also help relieve dry, itchy skin.
4)Slather on the sunscreen.
SPF isn’t just for spring break in Cancun and summers at the shore. Winter sun and snow glare can also damage your skin, and UV rays still penetrate on cloudy days. Apply some sunscreen to your face and hands about half an hour before going outside. When skiing, UV exposure is even greater, so use a sunscreen that blocks UVA and UVB radiation.
5)Grease up your hands and feet.
Vaseline – or other lotions that contain petroleum jelly or glycerin – helps moisturize brittle nails and dry feet. Exfoliants, which remove dead skin, will help moisturizers sink in faster and deeper. Also try using antibacterial ointments, such as Neosporin, for cracked hands and feet.
6)Harsh peels are a no-no.
Lots of peels, clay-based masks, and alcohol-based toners strip vital oils from your skin. Instead, opt for mild foaming cleansers, alcohol-free toners, and “deeply-hydrating” masks. Some skin conditions like eczema tend to flare up during the winter months, so make sure to see a dermatologist for diagnosis and treatment.
Megan Hess is a sophomore majoring in magazine journalism and international relations. She is the managing editor of Jerk Magazine and also writes for The Daily Orange and 360 Magazine. She was an editorial intern at Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine, where she had several articles published, and a media relations intern at the Office of the Mayor in Syracuse, NY. As a features blogger, she will cover issues ranging from food phenomena to electric cars to Obama’s carbon footprints.
Midterms are upon us, and that means most college students are experiencing added pressure and stress in the daily routine, at least until spring break. But luckily, we don’t all have to fall victim of stress. With are a few tips and tricks, you can ace your exams without causing premature wrinkles.
1)Eat a balanced, nutritious diet: General health and stress resistance can be enhanced by eating well. As difficult as it may seem, you should try to avoid intake of alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and junk food.
2) Exercise regularly: Exercise promotes emotional well-being as well as physical fitness.
3) Schedule your time: Using a diary and to-do lists to prioritize activities helps you effectively use you time and realize you can’t do everything.
4) Learn how to say no: Extra burdens and can wreak havoc on your day.
5) Get enough sleep: Pulling all-nighters tend to be synonymous with studying. However, if you get less that five hours of sleep before an exam, you risk losing a lot of the information you gained during studying.
6) Start your studying beforehand: If you wait until the night before an exam, you are very limited in the amount of time you have to store a lot of information in your brain. Starting four or five days ahead of time gives you more time to take in information, and helps you avoid the all-nighter.
7) Avoid interruptions: This seems like a no-brainer, but some of us still find ourselves in situations where we try to study in non-study-friendly environments. Sometimes the library isn’t the best place to head around midterms because everybody else on campus is there. Find another, less-crowded building to study in or, better yet, a quiet coffee shop where you can take a break and grab a cup of herbal tea. Remember, computers can serve as interruptions as well: if you have a computer with you or near you, the temptation to get on facebook/Myspace/twitter becomes unavoidable. If you can, avoid bringing your computer with you when you study or going somewhere where they are easily accessible. If you have to have a computer to write a paper, etc., don’t connect to the internet.
8) Have confidence!: If you freak yourself out about your exams, you are less likely to be successful. Study hard and early, and tell yourself that you know the information and you’ll be fine!
Kristen Putch is a senior newspaper and history major. She is the former editor-in-chief of The Student Voice and managing editor of 360 Degrees magazine. She has written for The Daily Orange and is currently a freelance writer for www.Suite101.com. Based on her personal experiences with balancing work and everything else, she is very familiar with the college student’s tendency to talk themselves out of doing what’s right: what’s healthy. She wants to encourage those to be proactive and prevent it with her column “Interruption.”
Her contact information is kristen.j.putch@gmail.com.
Concern among health-care reform advocates was mounting when economic stimulus bills, troop withdrawal deadlines in Iraq, and new deployments to Afghanistan dominated headlines during President Obama’s first few weeks in office. In the face of such a complicated agenda, reformers worried health care would fall by the wayside.
But Obama’s agenda this week should allay those fears. He kicked health-policy reform efforts into high gear on Monday with the nominations of Kathleen Sebelius for Secretary of Health and Human Services and Nancy-Ann DeParle as Director of the White House Office for Health Reform.
Sebelius, a Democratic governor of red-leaning Kansas, is known as a staunch advocate for health care reform. As a governor, she tried unsuccessfully for years to persuade lawmakers to raise tobacco taxes to pay for expanded government health coverage. During her previous stint as Kansas’ insurance commissioner, Sibelius oversaw Medicaid and gained a reputation for standing up to lobbyists. She is widely regarded as a safe pick, after Obama’s first choice for Secretary of HHS, former Senator Tom Daschle, withdrew from consideration after a tax scandal last month.
But some confusion surrounds the nomination of DeParle, whose post is not a part of the President’s official cabinet. DeParle’s role will probably involve advising and outreach between the Administration’s agenda and that of Congress. But the Office for Health Care Reform was created specifically for Daschle, whose experience and legislative clout would have allowed him more control over the policy and politics ofhealth-care reform. (DeParle isn’t a health-care neophyte. She served as commissioner of the Department of Human Services in Tennessee and as administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration during the Clinton Administration.)
In yesterday’s press conference, President Obama also announced plans for 126 new health centers to make primary and preventative services more available, particularly to the uninsured. The stimulus bill directs $155 million toward this initiative.
All this comes on the heels of last week’s announcement of a plan to set aside $634 billion over ten years to pay for the Administration’shealth agenda. Taxes for the wealthy and elimination of wasteful spending from programs like Medicare and Medicaid will account for most of the budget.
This Thursday, Obama will hold a White House health-policy forum, similar to last week’s fiscal summit. Reform advocates should take heart, as Obama’s plan has been praised for its marked departure from the failed health-care reform efforts of the Clinton administration in 1993. The Clintons prepared a complete plan, with input from hundreds experts and staff and presented it to Congress, where it was met with strong opposition from both parties.
Obama seems to be asking for money and input first, to make sure the job gets done right this time around.
“The cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough,” Obama told Congress last week. “So let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year.”
Catherine Basham is a senior magazine journalism and policy studies dual major. She has written for The Daily Orange, The Student Voice, and interned with publications like Boston magazine and Design New England. Her interests are global health and national health policy and legislation. Every Tuesday, she will be covering these topics in her column “Healthy Affairs.” Stay informed, stay healthy.
I may not be hitting the beach, but hopefully venturing in the city to a spa and some R&R, and catch up on a New Year’s resolution: to dance more! You should too!
Franz Ferdinand’s No You Girls is also featured on the iPod commercial and Gossip Girl. Now dance:
Working out on the stairs is one of the best ways to elevate your heart rate and condition your legs and the rest of your body.Working out on a set of stairs is ideal, but with bad weather, the stair climbers available in the gym will provide you with just as good of a workout.
Here is an interval workout to try next time on a stair climber:
Warm up at a pace as if you were casually walking up a set of stairs for five minutes
Increase your pace so that it is above your comfort level and maintain this speed for 10 minutes
Increase your speed to 75-80% your maximum heart rate for 30 seconds
Decrease your speed to 35-40% of your maximum heart rate for one minute
Continue this interval for 10 minutes (Depending on your level of fitness, either lower this interval to five minutes, or increase your speed during the maximum heart rate sprint to get a harder workout)
Cool down at your warm up pace or even a little slower if necessary for five minutes, or until you feel your heart rate has returned to resting pace
Be sure to stretch our your quads and your hamstrings after this workout to prevent soreness for the next few days.
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
So you’ve finally made it halfway through a semester of snowy, sleety Syracuse weather to that beacon of sunny hope, Spring Break. Throw off your Northface and slip into something skimpy, it’s time to hit the beach! But if you are lucky enough to be traveling this break, keep a few things in mind to ensure you make it safely back to campus.
The Spring Break combination of a foreign destination, alcohol, and loads of partying leaves travelers, especially females, vulnerable to unwanted or unsafe sex. The best thing you can do to protect yourself from a scary situation is to look out for your friends.
You’ve heard about the buddy system since you were in elementary school, but in a Spring Break spot it could really save your life. Make a deal with friends to not settle in for the night until everyone is fully accounted for.
Take a tour of your destination with your whole group as soon as you arrive. Identify the best and most well lit routes from various destinations back to your hotel. Write down or program into your phone a list of important numbers including at least one friend, the hotel, and the local police so you’ll have someone to call in case of an emergency.
When in doubt, pour it out. Never accept an open drink from a stranger that you didn’t see poured and never drink something that you’ve left unattended. Try to order bottles when possible, they are more difficult to mess with than open cups.
It’s easy to get stuck in an uncomfortable situation with a stranger when you’re out at a bar. Agree with your friends on a “rescue me” signal and use it to encourage them to butt in when things get a little uneasy.
With everyone looking sexy on the beach, there’s no doubt hook-ups will happen. When you’re drinking your judgment is blurred so think twice or talk with a friend before going back to someone’s hotel room. Spring Break is about having fun with your friends; so don’t feel pressure to hook up. Spend time with the girls instead and always consider the potential consequences before diving into sex.
However, if you do find a hottie that you simply can’t resist, go for it! Some of the best vacation memories are about Spring Break flings, and while they may not lead to lasting love they do leave you with something to smile about.
Just make sure to practice safe sex and look out for your girls over anything else.
Taylor Engler is a senior dual magazine journalism and anthropology major. She has written for Jerk magazine, The Daily Orange, and Zipped magazine. She has an invested interest in relationships and sex so she plans to ”Kiss and Tell” every Wednesday with the scoop on sexual and emotional health.
Unless you are not having sex, or having monogamous sex with a disease free partner, Chlamydia is a difficult disease to avoid. Chlamydia is very common in sexually active men and women under the age of 25.
In addition to being inconvenient and embarrassing, Chlamydia can lead to more serious problems down the road. Within a week of being infected with the STD, Chlamydia can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease in women’s reproductive tracts. PID can then lead to damage of the fallopian tubes, preventing eggs from making it to the ovaries. This can result in ectopic pregnancies or infertility. About 100,000 women end up infertile from Chlamydia and PID.
Since Chlamydia has virtually no obvious symptoms, often the damage to the reproductive system is not realized until women attempt to reproduce and cannot. Because of the rarity of symptoms, it is easy to obtain the disease, carry it and transmit it to someone else without even knowing it. Chlamydia in men can lead to sterility.
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
One of the most difficult parts about working out is dealing with injuries. They make your workouts more difficult, and sometimes, completely impossible. However, most injuries that the average gym goer suffers from, are avoidable. There are just a few keys things to keep in mind.
Warm-up before stretching out: It sounds counter intuitive, but think about it. If you take rubber band straight from the freezer and try to stretch it, it will snap. However, if it’s warmed up, it will stretch much easier. The same goes for your muscles. Before you begin stretching, you should partake in 5-10 minutes of mild cardio, such as hoping on an exercise bike. Obviously, don’t over-do it; that defeats the purpose of a warm-up.
Once you’re warmed-up, stretch: clearly, stretching out your muscles before you start an intense work-out is absolutely essential to avoiding injuries. You should never rush your stretching. Some of the most popular injuries, are pulled muscles because people only stretch out the muscles they think they are using, and neglect the ones they think they are not. The truth is, every time you work out, you use muscles that you may not realize, and by not sufficiently preparing those muscles, you are an injury waiting to happen.
Don’t do too much, too fast: If last week was the first time you’ve ever gone to the gym, chances are you aren’t ready to run a marathon. You should start your routines slow, doing enough that you feel your muscles working and your blood pumping, but not overdoing it. Everyone progresses differently, so it may take you two months to be able to complete a three-mile run, while it make only others a few weeks. You should tweak your work outs in response to your body. When you begin feeling too comfortable in your work out, or that it is no longer challenging, it’s time to step it up.
Don’t compete: Everyone is built different, and has different strengths and weaknesses, so trying to compete with the body builder next you to see who you can lift more will only lead you to a potential injury. Trying to do things that your are not able, or ready to do, will have painful consequences.
Take a day off, not a week: Lets be honest, doing an intense workout for one week, and then skipping the gym the next to sit on your couch with a bag of Cheetos, will not lead to results. Such activity, or lack thereof, will keep you running in circles, never really getting you anywhere except back where you started. Make a plan, put it in your planner and stick to it. A longer, healthier life will be your reward.
Watch out for signs: If you start to feel pain of any kind, STOP! The worst think for your potential injury is to keep working out with it, you will only make it worse. If you pull a muscle, or suffer any type of injury, take a day or two off and see your doctor .
Kristen Putch is a senior newspaper and history major. She is the former editor-in-chief of The Student Voice and managing editor of 360 Degrees magazine. She has written for The Daily Orange and is currently a freelance writer for www.Suite101.com. Based on her personal experiences with balancing work and everything else, she is very familiar with the college student’s tendency to talk themselves out of doing what’s right: what’s healthy. She wants to encourage those to be proactive and prevent it with her column “Interruption.”
Her contact information is kristen.j.putch@gmail.com.
What’s in a number? For some of us, it’s a whole lot of names. For others, just a few. But the number of people we have sex with can mean a whole lot.
There are many people who believe that the right number of people to have slept with is one – one person with whom they will share the rest of their life. That’s definitely a special and safe way to go and for some people, but some of us may require a little more … attention. That’s perfectly OK. If you ask me, there’s no right number for everyone and no number is too large or too small. It’s all about what feels right to you.
One of my best friends and closest sexual confidants had only had sex with two guys since losing her virginity in her teens. That number works perfectly for her. She’s the type of girl who enjoys sex best when it’s in an invested long-term relationship and going without that intimate action until something serious comes along is worth the wait. For her, a low number reigns supreme.
Another friend has a number that is significantly higher, ranging in the twenties. Conventional images of women would plague her as easy, but for her, this number is just right. This friend is a sexual woman who enjoys hooking up, and doesn’t have the attachments and anxieties that make casual sex difficult for a lot of girls. For her, a larger number isn’t too high because she’s safe about it mentally and physically. She has sex for her own enjoyment and not because she thinks she’ll catch a guy’s attention that way. She also practices safe sex and has never had an STD or a pregnancy scare.
Single, double or no digits at all, there’s no harm in a number unless you’re not comfortable with the way you’re living your sex life. If you feel guilty about the number of people you’ve slept with, chances are you’re putting yourself out there for the wrong reasons. You may think having sex with a guy is the way for him to notice you or you may be dealing with some self-confidence issues you should talk with your friends about.
If you want to be sleeping with more people but are scared, just remember that sex can only be as safe as you make it and you should protect yourself as well as try to look into a partner’s sexual health before you make any decisions.
No matter what your number, surround yourself with friends you can count on, and count with, and you’ll have someone to bounce your feelings about sex with until you reach the perfect balance.
Taylor Engler is a senior dual magazine journalism and anthropology major. She has written for Jerk magazine, The Daily Orange, and Zipped magazine. She has an invested interest in relationships and sex so she plans to ”Kiss and Tell” every Wednesday with the scoop on sexual and emotional health.
After two injuries due to Brazilian bikini waxes in the state of New Jersey, the state Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling is looking to ban genital bikini waxing completely. The two women who received injuries were hospitalized after developing infections from the cosmetic waxing.
The New Jersey Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling has regulations stating what parts of the body are permitted to be waxed within state boarders, which include face, neck, abdomen, legs, and arms. Brazilian bikini waxes were never specifically banned so no rules about the service have been enforced in the past. New Jersey is aiming to ban Brazilian waxes, but regular bikini waxes would still be allowed.
A Brazilian bikini wax removes all hair from the genital region while a bikini wax removes hair further from the genital region and poses less possibility of injury to the area. Possible issues that may arise from bikini waxes include ingrown hairs, tearing of the skin, infections, and rashes.
The New Jersey Board of Cosmetology will meet April 14th to decide if they will move forward with the ban. Most salons in New Jersey have the Brazilian bikini wax service available and many salon owners fear no longer providing the service will cause business to suffer.
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
It’s that time of year. The weather is slowly getting better, the days are longer and we all seem to be a little less focused (senioritis, anyone?)
So what can we do to prevent slipping grades and daydreaming in class? Improve our ability to stay focused and improve our concentration. Just a few tweaks in your day can do wonders for your attention span.
1) The rule of five: Setting small, easily obtainable goals can help keep you focused. For example, if you have 30 pages of reading to do, and you’ve only completed 10 pages, tell yourself that once you finish five more pages, you can take a break. It’s easily attainable, and also makes you feel accomplished so that when you return from the break you’ll be more apt to finish up the work that’s left.
2) When doing work, avoid distractions. Turn off your internet (if possible) which keeps you off facebook, and it’s equally distracting cousins. Also, in class, turn off your phone. If you don’t have the distraction of text messaging or games, you can actually pay attention to what your professor is talking about and improve your grade on the next exam!
3) Time management: making a schedule or a to-do and putting EVERYTHING you have to do into it, even the most miniscule things, will help help reduce the tendancy for your mind to wander because you won’t have to try and remember the million things you have to do. Keep the schedule or list with you so that you can add things as they pop into your brain.
4) Do one thing at a time: Some of us are great multi-taskers and can tackle several projects at once. But multitasking can potentially lead to forgetting important information, leaving something out of a project, or doing something completely wrong. When it comes to major projects, focus on them, one at a time.
Remember:
·Attention is among the most important components of our mental life,
cognitive performance and quality of life.
·Reduce your stress to improve concentration and reduce distractions.
·Focus, take breaks, and elaborate in order to remember and focus.
Kristen Putch is a senior newspaper and history major. She is the former editor-in-chief of The Student Voice and managing editor of 360 Degrees magazine. She has written for The Daily Orange and is currently a freelance writer for www.Suite101.com. Based on her personal experiences with balancing work and everything else, she is very familiar with the college student’s tendency to talk themselves out of doing what’s right: what’s healthy. She wants to encourage those to be proactive and prevent it with her column “Interruption.”
Her contact information is kristen.j.putch@gmail.com.
Jumping rope is a great cardiovascular exercise that can be done in addition to a cardio workout, or simply on its own.Jumping rope can be done anywhere, but it is preferred that it be done on a springy wooden or carpeted floor, an exercise mat will work just fine too.Here is an interval workout that combines jumping rope with toning exercises to get the most out of your workout.
Warm up by jumping rope for three minutes
Stop jumping rope and do as many crunches as you can for the next minute
Jump rope for another three minutes
Stop jumping rope and do as many push-ups as you can for the next minute
Jump rope for three minutes
Continue alternating between three minutes of jumping rope and a minute of crunches or push-ups for 30 minutes, or as long as you can
As you build up your endurance switch up the alternating rounds of crunches or push-ups with squats, lunges, or upper-body exercises with dumbbells.To reduce next day soreness, be sure to properly stretch out your calves post.
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
There comes a point in most young relationships when one or both involved parties decide to make a break … for a break-up. It’s either me or it’s not me…it’s actually you or it’s a mutual decision to break free from each other.
But today I started wondering, is there such a thing as a clean break?
Take for example, my freshman year boyfriend. We had a great relationship…for a year.
College changed us, so when things started to go sour we decided to end it – mutually. We even hung out together afterwards as friends. I thought it was my first amicably ended relationship until about a month later, when he decided he wanted to date again. I felt like otherwise I could have gone from girlfriend to friend to foe in a matter of moments.
The guy even wrote a hate-song for his MySpace page so he could musically say how he felt about me. What a rock star.
Or what about my friend who dated this guy for several months until they realized they weren’t compatible…mutually.
She thought it was fantastic how comfortable he was when they saw each other out at the bars. The guy would even introduce himself to her latest love interest, talking her up the whole time.
After a few failed attempts at a rebound, her self-confidence started to wane. Soon after she discovered what was keeping her from her shot – her ex was only introducing himself to her potential hook-ups so he could lie to them that she had a STD! Talk about a love doctor.
Even just this summer, I dated a guy for a mere few months until we figured out we fought too much – mutually. Flash forward to two weeks later when I received an Black(e)mail message in my Facebook inbox – my ex threatened to release racy photos of me on the Internet less I return a gift he gave me during the relationship! Wait jailbait, weren’t we mutual here?
I could be talking to the wrong people, but it seems the breaking news story this week is that there is no such thing as a mutual break. Maybe each time a relationship ends, one person secretly has his or her heart broken, but he or she would rather break – rather than break to pieces. Maybe admitting you’ve been hurt is too much of a tough break and most people just don’t break the silence. Maybe I just can’t catch a lucky break, but can you break the code?
Taylor Engler is a senior dual magazine journalism and anthropology major. She has written for Jerk magazine, The Daily Orange, and Zipped magazine. She has an invested interest in relationships and sex so she plans to ”Kiss and Tell” every Wednesday with the scoop on sexual and emotional health.
A global health controversy erupted last week during Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to Africa when he said the distribution of condoms does not remedy the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
“On the contrary,” he said. “It increases the problem.”
This came as a blow to public health advocates and experts, who recognize the African continent as home to two-thirds of the world’s AIDS cases and three-fourths of its deaths. The United Nations AIDS task force responded quickly saying, “The male latex condom is the single, most efficient, available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.”
The church’s moral stance on condom use is long-standing and appears uncompromising. While Economistreports the pope advised his health council three years ago to consider whether condom use would be a “lesser evil” than allowing the continued spread of a deadly disease, the discussions never materialized into official church rhetoric. The pope’s trip emphasized that Vatican believes sex should only happen within a marriage, without contraceptives.
But in Africa, where 11.6 million children have been orphaned after losing a parent to AIDS, and nearly 2 million additional people are infected each year with HIV, it’s difficult to read the pope’s message as anything but a direct blow to progress and public health. It’s one thing to take a moral stance on sex and contraceptives, and another to disseminate scientifically unsound information that has the potential to ruin or end lives.
It is true that condom promotion has been less successful in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions where HIV/AIDS has spread to the general population. A New York Times op-ed points out that this is likely because too few people use them correctly and consistently. Condom distribution alone will not stop the spread of disease. A combination of many factors, including health education, the delay first sexual encounters, and empowerment of young women with more control over their sex lives is needed to adequately address the epidemic.
We can all understand the pope’s mission to discourage the notions of sexual freedom and promiscuity that are associated with birth control measures. Disapproval of premarital sex and contraception is by-the-book alliance with Christian values. But we should also be forced to acknowledge that modern circumstances require modern approaches. Condoms can stop HIV. Denial of this fact shows an irresponsible disregard for one of the few instruments proven to effectively stop the spread of the most destructive disease of our time.
Catherine Basham is a senior magazine journalism and policy studies dual major. She has written for The Daily Orange, The Student Voice, and interned with publications like Boston magazine and Design New England. Her interests are global health and national health policy and legislation. Every Tuesday, she will be covering these topics in her column “Healthy Affairs.” Stay informed, stay healthy.
It’s Saturday night, and you’ve already downed a few too many beers. The music is pulsating, and you can practically feel the droplets of sweat formulating on your forehead. In between songs, you duck in the bathroom to freshen up. As expected, your face is beet-red. But you may be facing more than a hot, happy buzz.
According to researchers, flushed faces after drinking alcohol may indicate an increased risk for a deadly throat cancer. It’s called squamous cell esophageal cancer, and is also caused by smoking.
Nausea and a rapid heartbeat are also symptoms associated with the inherited deficiency in an enzyme called ALDH2. This is a trait shared by more than a third of people of East Asian descent, including Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans. Just a half a bottle of beer can trigger the reaction.
Studies in Japan and Taiwan show that people who consistently experience red faces after drinking alcohol have increased risks of developing alcohol-related esophageal cancer. In some cases, especially with heavy drinkers, the risk may be up to 18 times greater. Nondrinkers, on the other hand, do not appear to have a higher risk of esophageal cancer. Reducing drinking can significantly reduce the likelihood of this cancer among Asian adults.
Anecdotal evidence proves that some teens ignore the flushing and continue to drink, which is likely to increase the incidence of esophageal cancer. But how do you know if you’ve simply got that healthy post-kegstand glow? Ask yourself whether you flush after drinking a glass of beer. If so, it’s worth seeing a doctor – you may be ALDH2-deficient.
Megan Hess is a sophomore majoring in magazine journalism and international relations. She is the managing editor of Jerk Magazine and also writes for The Daily Orange and 360 Magazine. She was an editorial intern at Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine, where she had several articles published, and a media relations intern at the Office of the Mayor in Syracuse, NY. As a features blogger, she will cover issues ranging from food phenomena to electric cars to Obama’s carbon footprints.
With the SU Relay for Life this weekend, it seems like the perfect opportunity to give some tips on cancer prevention. Some of these we’ve heard a million times, but let’s be honest, how many times do you actually reapply your sunscreen when you are out at the beach? These are just some tips to keep your risk of developing cancer a little bit lower. These are tips given and endorsed by the American Cancer Society. For more information about, please visit cancer.org.
1) Do not smoke or chew tobacco
2) Use sunscreen, hats, and other protective clothing when exposed to the sun.
3) Get regular exercise (moderate activity for 30 minutes or more on most days of the week)
· Maintain a healthy weight
· Drink little to no alcohol (less than 1 ounce per day)
· Reduce fat intake (to less than 30 percent of daily calories)
· Reduce cholesterol (to 300 mg per day)
· Increase carbohydrates (to 55 to 65 percent of daily calories)
· Reduce protein (to 15 percent of daily calories)
· Increase dietary fiber intake (to 20 to 30 g per day)
· Eat five fruits/vegetables daily
· Minimize salt intake (less than 6 g per day)
The 2009 Relay for Life for Syracuse University is Saturday, March 28th in the Carrier Dome. If you’d like more information, please visit www.relayforlife.org/syracuseuniversity.
Kristen Putch is a senior newspaper and history major. She is the former editor-in-chief of The Student Voice and managing editor of 360 Degrees magazine. She has written for The Daily Orange and is currently a freelance writer for www.Suite101.com. Based on her personal experiences with balancing work and everything else, she is very familiar with the college student’s tendency to talk themselves out of doing what’s right: what’s healthy. She wants to encourage those to be proactive and prevent it with her column “Interruption.”
Her contact information is kristen.j.putch@gmail.com.
With spring upon us, you may be looking to tone up the legs and lower body for shorts weather.Squats are a quick way to tone your legs, hips, and calves– and can be done after a cardio workout or simply on their own.Alternate between these three different types of squats for great results in a couple of weeks!
Medicine Ball Squat
Hold a medicine ball or a dumbbell with both hands
Tip the front of your body forward with your abs tight, your back straight, and your knees slightly bent
Hold the medicine ball above your head
Squat down so your legs form a 90 degree angle and bring the ball down to your chest, hold for two seconds
Complete 10 repetitions three times
To get better results and raise your heart rate, jump before you squat.
The Floor Squat
Stand with your feet wider than your shoulders and place your hands on an exercise ball
Bend your knees while keeping weight in your heels and lower your butt until it’s parallel to the floor, keeping your abs tight
Straighten your legs, keeping your hands on the exercise ball, complete 10 repetitions three times
Ball Squat
Stand with your feet wide, toes pointed out and place an exercise ball behind your lower back between you and a wall
Bend your knees to lower into a squat, keeping your abs tight and your knees in line with your toes
Lower your body down as far as you are capable of, while still being able to push into your heels to return to the starting position
Complete 10 repetitions three times
To work our your arms while doing this one, feel free to hold weights in your hands at your sides, or propped on your hips.
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
While the Healthy Affairs column is a stellar source for all of your health policy needs, this week we’d like to try something a little different and point you toward some resources we’ve found and loved.
Tomorrow night’s Frontline features an exposé on America’s fractured health care system. The team traveled from coast to coast to hear the stories of the country’s uninsured and underinsured, who suffer most as health care becomes more expensive, harder to get, and in some ways, less effective. Health care policy is at the forefront of conversation these days, and if you’d like to know more, this show is a can’t miss. (Sick Around America airs locally at 9p.m. on WCNY)
To see how U.S. health systems compare to those around the world, browse through the series NPR completed last summer called “Health Care for All.” In-depth stories about coverage in Germany, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands show how other countries provide top-notch care for patients at much lower costs. A video report moves back stateside to delve into the enterprising efforts at universal coverage in Massachusetts, which could become a model for a nationwide system down the line.
Though this Chicago Tribune blog isn’t policy-focused, Julie’s Health Club is certainly worth a read for anyone interested in health news. Workout tips, warnings about consumer product safety, and news about alternative medicine, healing and exercise dominate the conversation. Check out her recent post on how to incorporate more movement into your day.
Catherine Basham is a senior magazine journalism and policy studies dual major. She has written for The Daily Orange, The Student Voice, and interned with publications like Boston magazine and Design New England. Her interests are global health and national health policy and legislation. Every Tuesday, she will be covering these topics in her column “Healthy Affairs.” Stay informed, stay healthy.
The other day, some of my friends and I got into some dirty talk … airing our dirty laundry about all sexual chatter – from us in bed, to guys in bed, to phone sex in long-distance relationships.
It seemed like a pretty controversial issue, some girls have a strict clean-mouth policy while others go X-rated on a regular basis. I confessed that in my long-distance relationships, phone sex has been one of the staples that can make the separation feel a little bit … closer. Sure it doesn’t compare to the real thing, but it certainly makes for a quick(ie) fix. All the girls in LDRs agreed that their boyfriends would like their phone conversations to be a little less PG, but most felt awkward and unsure about how to get the raciness rolling.
My advice, when you’re feeling on the phone and feeling provocative, start with something simple and sweet like, “I wish you were here so I could kiss you.” Hopefully you’ll get some consensus and can move onto, “And you know what else I wish I could do …” You get the idea. Just make sure you’re guy is somewhere that the conversation won’t be embarrassing if it gets a little hard (wink, wink).
As for dirty talk in bed, that’s up to you and your partner’s preferences. I think some steamy sentences can only heat things up in the bedroom but some people find it embarrassing. If you’re not sure if your hook-up is into it make a move and see what kind of response you get. Just because he doesn’t talk back doesn’t mean he’s not into what you’re saying … this may actually be the one time when the guy’s a great listener.
If it’s reversed and he’s the one doing the chatting, join the conversation if and when you feel comfortable. If you’re not sure what to say, just describe what you’re going to do before it happens, it will build his anticipation. You’ll start to get more creative as the conversations continue.
Just keep the conversation to bedroom-shop talk. One of my friends slept with a guy who made small talk during sex (i.e. I downloaded this great new song today). Let’s just say he didn’t talk her into a round two.
Taylor Engler is a senior dual magazine journalism and anthropology major. She has written for Jerk magazine, The Daily Orange, and Zipped magazine. She has an invested interest in relationships and sex so she plans to ”Kiss and Tell” every Wednesday with the scoop on sexual and emotional health.
This week’s New England Journal of Medicine says a recent study has determined that men who are circumcised are less likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases. Circumcision reportedly decreases men’s likelihood of contracting the STD’s herpes, HIV and HPV. According to MSNBC, circumcision reduced the risk of contracting HPV by 35 percent and herpes by 28 percent. Nearly 80 percent of men in the United States are circumcised. The STD prevention speaks specifically to heterosexual men in the study. Although not specifically proven, it is thought that the cells in the foreskin of the penis, removed through circumcision, is more inclined to contract HPV and herpes.
The researchers of this study believe that circumcision should be a widely accepted form of STD prevention. Of course, safe sex practices are still necessary to avoid the most risks. The test was conducted in Uganda through a program that is part of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The American Academy of Pediatrics had previously stated that there was not enough proof for them to medically recommend circumcision newborns, but the Academy is now reevaluating their stance on the issue.
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
It’s a Thursday evening, and you are sitting on your couch, flipping through the channels only to find that there is nothing good on TV. You’ve done all your work, you’ve read every magazine in your apartment and your roommate is gone. You’re bored. So, you head to the fridge, and blankly stare at it’s contents. You grab the first thing that kind of looks good, and mindlessly eat until the entire container is gone.
Welcome to boredom eating. We’ve all fallen victim to these cravings, and have gained a few pounds because of it. But all is not lost, there are ways to curb your boredom hunger pangs, and it doesn’t involve bad TV.
1) Chew gum and drink water: Keeping your mouth busy with gum chewing, and sipping on a glass of water will keep your mind off heading to the fridge because you’re body is going through the motions of eating, but without the added calories.
2) Take a shower/walk/nap: Finding an alternative to your boredom is one of the easiest ways to keep away from the pantry. Jump in the shower, take a late afternoon nap, or, now that the Syracuse weather is bearable, head outside and take a walk. Use your nothing-to-do time productively, it can only benefit you.
3) Healthier Alternatives: If you absolutely can’t stay away from the kitchen, make sure you don’t mindlessly grab the first thing you see, at least make the attempt to eat something healthy. Grab a piece of fruit or a yogurt to satisfy your sweet tooth.
4) Shop healthy: In preparation for future cravings, make sure you stock up on healthy snacks: fruit, graham crackers or 100-calorie packs keep you satisfied, and keeps your waist from expanding.
5) Give in: Completely denying yourself a splurge can only lead to disaster. If you really want that bowl of ice cream, have it. But don’t make a habit out of it. Satisfying your sweet tooth once in a while will help you stay on track the rest of the time.
Kristen Putch is a senior newspaper and history major. She is the former editor-in-chief of The Student Voice and managing editor of 360 Degrees magazine. She has written for The Daily Orange and is currently a freelance writer for www.Suite101.com. Based on her personal experiences with balancing work and everything else, she is very familiar with the college student’s tendency to talk themselves out of doing what’s right: what’s healthy. She wants to encourage those to be proactive and prevent it with her column “Interruption.”
Her contact information is kristen.j.putch@gmail.com.
Core strength is extremely important to prevent injuries to all parts of the body, especially the back.Your core muscles are also vital to your posture, spinal alignment, support, balance, and the rest of your movements.Here are a few exercises to try that will help your stability as well as tighten your abs.
Abdominal Bracing is where you simply suck in your navel while contracting your abdominal and surrounding muscles.Concentrate on pulling your navel back in toward your spine, but do not hold your breath while doing this technique.
Here is an exercise to try with a friend.Just remember to be careful, and concentrate on helping the other person’s stability without harming other muscles.
1.Stand up facing a friend, and grasp each other’s hands
2.Have your friend stand relaxed while you perform the abdominal bracing exercise and suck in your navel
3.Have your friend try and push you in a random way to see how you are able to resist and remain balanced.Keep the shoves gentle, just a surprise nudge in a surprise direction will be effective
4.Change roles with your friend
5.Repeat five times
Prone Bridge
(picture courtesy of Natalie Johsnon)
1.Find a mat or a slightly soft surface
2.Put your body in push up position on your toes, but instead of balancing on your hands, balance the top of your body on your forearms
3.Keep your body in a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles, keeping your hips flat.Keep your head in alignment with your body by looking down, and keep your abdominal muscles tight in a bracing position
4.Hold the position with your abs tight for a count of 20
5.Take a rest by lying down or sitting up for a count of 20
6.Repeat five times
Side (Lateral) Bridge
(picture courtesy of prevention.com)
1.Once again, find a mat or a slightly soft surface
2.Lie on your side with one foot resting on top of the other, with your lower elbow and forearm on the floor below your shoulder
3.When you are ready, lift your hips off of the floor so that your body forms a straight line form your shoulders to your ankles.
4.Keep your abdominal muscles tight for a count of 10
5.Return to the lying position for a count of 10
6.Repeat five times, then switch to the other side and repeat five times
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
Unhinged: Mental Health Outreach in the Wake of Tragedy
by Catherine Basham, beat blogger
(picture courtesy of OntarioMD groups Web site)
When Congress passed its first Wall Street bailout bill in October, the product of a decades-long fight for better mental health care in the United States was tucked quietly into the legislation. The Mental Health Parity Act promised equal insurance benefits for mental and physical care.
While illnesses like schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder were given long-awaited legal legitimacy with the act’s passage, the public’s understanding of and attention to mental health care is still sorely lacking. The rash of recent violent shootings calls attention to this, and should remind us all to be more mindful of the health of friends and family.
The government has already taken action. Last week, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health debuted a “Guide to Getting Through Tough Economic Times” and informs readers about the warning signs of the mental and physical health disturbances that might come as a result of job loss or economic anxieties.
News reports suggest the shooter in Binghamton was angry over a recent job loss.The American Foundation for Suicide Preventionadvises journalists against attributing suicides (and presumably other violent acts) to a singular event and consequently undermining the complex underlying factors that also played a role. But the SAMSHA site points out that it is especially important to pay attention to changes in the mood and behavior of family and friends in trying times.
Mental-health stigma and anxieties about making someone uncomfortable often keep people from speaking up if they notice a problem. For more information or advice, check out the National Alliance on Mental Illness’s Web site. You can also browse through their recent state-by-state rankings of the country’s mental health services.
Catherine Basham is a senior magazine journalism and policy studies dual major. She has written for The Daily Orange, The Student Voice, and interned with publications like Boston magazine and Design New England. Her interests are global health and national health policy and legislation. Every Tuesday, she will be covering these topics in her column “Healthy Affairs.” Stay informed, stay healthy.
I recently broke up with my boyfriend and became single again for the first time in about nine months. However, the day after my new freedom began, I received a phone call from an even older ex-boyfriend who I’ve kept in contact with over the years.
“I think we should see each other,” he said.
Being the carefree single gal I suddenly was, I said, “Sure thing … what are you up to in two weeks?” A plane ticket later, he’s on his way next Wednesday, and I have to say I’m kind of freaking out. You see, I’ve always had a strict ax-the-ex policy, because I figure if a relationship is broken, it can never be fixed. Obviously, for things to end, they have to have gone wrong in the first place … but can they ever be made right? Is it fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me? Or can a broken love be pieced back together?
My upcoming visitor and I have been broken up for about four years – which leads me to wonder whether or not time in fact, heals all wounds. We originally ended things because we caught each other at a bad time – with years of a LDR looming ahead of us and holding us back from each other. Now, I’m about to graduate and he’ll be finishing up with a travel-heavy job next year. Perhaps his phone call timing was not only perfect, but his relationship timing could be as well.
At the same time, I can’t help but think of those couples you know who break up every third Tuesday just to get back together on Friday. It’s like they are magnets – hopelessly attracted – that are yanked apart and then quickly replaced within range of each other’s fields. But how many times can you separate two magnets before they wear out and lose their pull?
I guess only this visit will tell for my situation, but I confess both you and I should be incredibly cautious before dipping our toes back into water we’ve already found too cold.
A girl can only be hurt so many times…and twice by the same guy might be too much to handle. I suppose the bright side is that a boy is never really second-hand when you were the previous owner, and maybe he’s only improved with age.
I’ll have to fill you in on what happens because if lightening can strike twice, things may be heating up for me soon.
Taylor Engler is a senior dual magazine journalism and anthropology major. She has written for Jerk magazine, The Daily Orange, and Zipped magazine. She has an invested interest in relationships and sex so she plans to ”Kiss and Tell” every Wednesday with the scoop on sexual and emotional health.
Student organizations Black Communications Society and Sex S.Y.M.B.A.L.S. want you to come out to and engage in conversation with MARVELYN BROWN and TERRANCE DEAN about AIDS in America on April 10th, THIS FRIDAY from 5:00-7 p.m.
MARVELYN BROWN is an Emmy award winning HIV consultant and Youth spokesperson and author of “The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful and HIV Positive,” a memoir about her life before and after her HIV diagnosis at the age of 19.
BROWN has been featured on America’s Next Top Model, MTV, BET, The CBS Early Show, The Tavis Smiley Show, The Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Michael Baisden Show, and The Tyra Banks Show. In addition, she has been featured in Newsweek, U.S. News and Report, Fortune 500, Ebony, Black Beat, Essence, and she appeared on the covers of A&U, POZ and the AVE. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Check out her blog: http://marvelynbrown.blogspot.com/
*Arrangements for the appearance of Marvelyn Brown made through HarperCollins Speakers Bureau, New York, NY.”
TERRANCE DEAN, former MTV executive and author of “Hiding in Hip Hop” and founder/co-creator of Men’s Empowerment, Inc.: “an organization that is dedicated to the transformation of men of color in their communities for their own self-empowerment,” has a tragic personal story behind his advocacy for HIV/ AIDS Awareness. His mother was a heroin addict who died frProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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AIDS who gave it to his baby brother. He died also from AIDS at the age of 19.
Also, on April 15th, Award-winning actress, director and AIDS activist Ms. SHERLY LEE RAPLH (orginal Dreamgirl and “Moesha’s” mom) will be performing her one-woman show: “Sometimes I Cry” on Wednesday, April 15th from 8:00 -10:00 (Doors open at 7:15) in Schine Goldstein Auditorium. TICKETS: $3 for Students/$5 for non-students.
LifeStyles Condoms has recently launched its new ad campaign for LifeStyle Skyn, a new type of condom that is “the closest thing to wearing nothing” according to their commercial.
The Skyn Condoms are made from polyisoprene non-latex, as opposed to polyurethane condoms. LifeStyles.com explains that polyisoprene is softer, more flexible and comfortable than polyurethane, which may be stiff and unstrechable. A voiceover in the commercial states: “It’s like nothing now and like nothing ever before because it’s like nothing at all. The Skyn revolution is here and safe sex will never feel the same way again.”
While the new product itself has sparked interest in young, sexually active men and women, the commercial itself is also something to talk about.
BrandRepublic.com reports the Skyn Condoms commercial as the “raciest commercial ever made.” While shocking in material, perhaps the steamy times depicted in this advertisement might be just what young, sexually active people need.
According to LifeStyle, Skyn protects against pregnancy, and if used correctly may protect against HIV (AIDS). The ad currently airs after 8pm on MTV. It is being urged to advertise at earlier hours in the day to perhaps curb teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
Student organization Sex S.Y.M.B.A.L.S. is hosting FREE HIV TESTING tomorrow, Monday, April 13th from 9:30 to 3:30 p.m in Schine Student Center. Yu can just stop by their table in the Schine atrium. They will have three certified counselors to answer any of your questions. They are taking walk-ins but if you want to schedule an appointment e-mail Tasha Brown at tmbrow03@syr.edu.
Pull-ups are a great way to utilize your own body weight
during a workout.Below, are steps
that will show you the proper way to complete a pull-up, and illustrate a few
different exercises to try with them.
Basic Pull Up Exercise
Grab
the bar (you may have to jump to do this) and hold it either overhand or
underhand for a chin up grip. Keep in mind the underhand chin up grip places a greater focus on
the bicep muscles
Your
feet should be off of the floor, if the exercise is difficult at first you
may want to cross or bend your lower legs to provide a more comfortable
body weight balance
Now,
pull body up until your chin is level or nearly level with the line of
your hands on the bar.
Next,
lower yourself down so that your arms are fully extended without touching
the floor
The
amount of time you take between each pull up is up to you, but keep in
mind that moving slowly will increase the work you do
For
beginners start with three to five repetitions, then see how many sets you
can do.As your strength
improves, increase repetitions and build on the number of sets you
complete.
Pull Up With a Focus on the Abs
Grab
the bar, either overhand or underhand
Keep
your legs bent and crossed underneath you
Pull
your body up so that your chin is level or nearly level with the bar, but
while pulling your body up, twist your legs so that your knees rise up to
your waist on your right side
Lower
your body back down so that your arms are fully extended and your legs are
back in starting position
Pull
your body back up so that your chin is level or nearly level with the bar,
this time twist your legs so that your knees rise up to your waist on your
left side
Begin
with four repetitions, two to each side, for three sets.Once your strength increases,
build on the repetitions and the number of sets you complete
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
Everywhere you look, news about blogs, Twitter, and Facebook invades headlines. Americans seem to have an insatiable appetite for social media, and with Facebook doubling its users in the last year, and Twitter experiencing 700 percent in the same time frame, the trend shows no sign of waining. And now physicians and policy makers are looking to see how Web tools can be harnessed to improve health care.
Hello Health, a Brooklyn-based primary care practice is at the forefront of the movement, according to a paper published in the March/April issue of Health Affairs, a health-policy journal. Since its launch in August 2008, 300 patients have signed up for Hello Health, by paying a $35 enrollment fee. IMing or exchanging a quick e-mail with one of the three physicians at the practice comes at no cost; a cyber visit, likely via video or web chat, would be $50-$100, and a home visit could be little as $150. The practice doesn’t accept insurance, but many uninsured clients look at it as a less expensive way to get as-needed, personal care without having to pay expensive health plan premiums. If members do require an office visit, they are promised an appointment within 24 hours, and generic medications and lab tests are offered on-site.
Dr. Ted Etyan, a Washington-based family physician and expert on using technology to promote better, patient-centered care, calls the use of social media by hospitals, physicians and patients “Health 2.0.” He offered a definition in his blog: “Enabled by information, software, and community that we collect or create, we the patients can be effective partners in our own health care, and we the people can participate in reshaping the health system itself.”
E-health isn’t an entirely new to hospitals. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA has been using electronic health records for years, and currently uses portal Patientsite.org, where patients can book appointments, refill prescriptions, communicate with physicians, and see test results online.
For some, getting medical treatment by essentially Facebooking a doctor seems ideal. Patients can save time and money by avoiding long wait times and costly consultations. Others warn that patient privacy is threatened, and one doctor quoted in the report notes that one reason social-media tools are not used more widely is because doctors fear breaking compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which provides regulations for securing personal medical information. Social media is also heavily reliant on community input, and experts want to make sure false information will not be disseminated freely among patients on message boards, chats, or other online communities.
Privacy and accuracy concerns are legitimate, but so are the benefits of e-health. The focus is placed back on the patient, who has more control and input. Also, on-call online doctors are often more accessible than doctors in more traditional private practice or hospital settings.
Want more information? Read the entire report here, or take a look at Google’s efforts to make it easier for patients to organize their own medical information.
Catherine Basham is a senior magazine journalism and policy studies dual major. She has written for The Daily Orange, The Student Voice, and interned with publications like Boston magazine and Design New England. Her interests are global health and national health policy and legislation. Every Tuesday, she will be covering these topics in her column “Healthy Affairs.” Stay informed, stay healthy.
It’s formal season in the Greek community and that means frat boys are on the hunt for dates to sweep off to Canada for a weekend. Watch out! You could be next.
The main purpose behind these border-crossing journeys may be the lower drinking age, but fraternity guys are also checked into passion when they check into a hotel.
For a lot of people, a night away from home at a hotel is a chance to let down all restraints and free inhibitions. Stepping out of your own bedroom and into someone else’s makes you feel like the possibilities are endless from role-playing (business trip turned pleasure perhaps?) to props and sexy lingerie. The “Privacy Please” sign hanging on a doorknob becomes, “Give me privacy even if I’m screaming so loud you think I’m dying, please,” despite the close proximity of hotel neighboring rooms. And ordering in room service is a must when you’re too cozy to go out. After a night of guests in the sack, a hotel’s crisp, clean sheets are left rumpled, as are the towels in the shower … the papers on the desk … the covering on the chairs … you get the idea.
Not saying that this happens in every Canadian-foray, but if hotels make you horny baby, a trip away can be a trip to play. But you don’t have to go out of the country to find a heartbreak hotel, a great way to spice up your relationship in any town is just to check into a room for a night, even if it’s right down the block.
Think about this the next time you have an anniversary, holiday, or are just feeling amorous towards the one you are with. Make a hotel room your gift and you’re sure to get back. When you’re young and don’t have a lot of money, a night at a local hotel is much more feasible option then a whole trip away, so make the room your own paradise.Just make sure to hang your sign on the door so you don’t have to rush under the covers when you hear knock, knock “room service!”
Taylor Engler is a senior dual magazine journalism and anthropology major. She has written for Jerk magazine, The Daily Orange, and Zipped magazine. She has an invested interest in relationships and sex so she plans to ”Kiss and Tell” every Wednesday with the scoop on sexual and emotional health.
With finals just around the corner, and for many, graduation, it’s not uncommon to find some pretty pessimistic people around campus. Be it complaining about upcoming final projects or the lack of a job, sometimes that negativity can be contagious.
But you don’t have to fall victim to other’s pessimistic ways. By practicing positive thinking, maybe you can be the person that spreads some much-needed optimism. It has even been shown that those who have positive attitudes tend to have less illness, and bounce back faster when they do. Here are a few tips to enhance your mood and positive thinking.
Say “Thank You”: Showing gratitude towards others, even for the smallest of reasons not only makes them feel appreciated, but also makes you a more thankful person. You begin to appreciate the small things in life, which helps when fretting about the big ones.
Find your personal happiness: Every person is unique, which means his or her idea of happiness and personal fulfillment is unique. Trying to make yourself happy based on what some else believes will make you happy, doesn’t usually work. You need to figure out what makes you feel satisfied, what you see as the ultimate goal, and take the necessary steps to fulfilling those goals.
Soak up some sun: The sun has been getting a bad rep recently because of the increase in skin cancer cases in the U.S., but the sun plays a vital role in our body. The sun helps the body produce vitamin D, which helps absorb calcium in our system. Since we cannot produce vitamin D on our own, the sun helps us out.Those who have a vitamin D deficiency, which is most often seen in the winter months, tend to be moody or grumpy, which can also be classified as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).But just a few minutes outside can help brighten your mood instantly.
Smile!: Just by putting a smile on your face, you can feel better about you life. Looking on the bright side of things, and always finding a something to be happy about will chase those negative thoughts right out of town. Bonus? Smiles and laughter are contagious. Use your sunny spirit to brighten someone else’s day.
Kristen Putch is a senior newspaper and history major. She is the former editor-in-chief of The Student Voice and managing editor of 360 Degrees magazine. She has written for The Daily Orange and is currently a freelance writer for www.Suite101.com. Based on her personal experiences with balancing work and everything else, she is very familiar with the college student’s tendency to talk themselves out of doing what’s right: what’s healthy. She wants to encourage those to be proactive and prevent it with her column “Interruption.”
Her contact information is kristen.j.putch@gmail.com.
Ever wonder how you match up to others when it comes to issues concerning the bedroom? Here are some statistics to help you measure your own sexual habits, history and ability.
1. There’s the argument out there that men don’t just engage in sex because they like it, but to continue their legacy. That is to reproduce. The woman recorded for having birthed the most children in her lifetime was an 18th-century woman who had 69 children through 27 pregnancies. Among her births were many twins, triplets and quadruplets. The Guinness Book of World Records records a Moroccan emperor with over 500 children.
2. Guys, ever curious how you measure up to other men? The average man in the United States has a penis length of five to seven inches when fully erect and measures four to six inches in circumference.
3. The average age for men to have intercourse for the first time is just under seventeen years old, while the average woman is just over. However, a new study suggests that different genetic factors may effect when someone has sex for the first time. For example, how impulsive you are and different inherited habits may bring you to have sex earlier than others.
4. Seventy-five percent of men say that have an orgasm every time they have sex. On the other hand, only 29 percent of women experience orgasm every time they have sex. Many women have difficulty reaching orgasm through regular intercourse and benefit more through clitoral stimulation.
5. The good ol’ friends with benefits culture. Two thirds of college students have a relationship with no commitment but have a physical or sexual relationship. The majority of those who have friends with benefits engage in all sexual acts while less than half have only sex, and less than ten percent do everything but have sex.
6. Can you count how many people you’ve slept with on one hand? Maybe two? Well, the average adult woman has four sexual partners in her lifetime. Men have an average of seven sexual partners. Any surprises?
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
Swimming is a great way to complete a high quality workout with little damage to muscles.It is also a great cross-training workout to change up your usual gym routine.Make some time this week to get over to the Women’s Building on campus, or any pool and try out one of these swim workouts. Feel free to use whatever stroke you would like while completing each workout.
Hold a pace
Complete a warm up of 10x 50m at a slow pace
For 20 minutes, hold your pace at a 70% maximum heart rate and complete either 10x 50m, 10x 25m, 10x 100m.
Take a 10 second rest between each
Complete all of these at the same speed
Cool down with a 10x 50m at the same slow pace as the warm up
Count Down
Warm up with a 10x 50m at a slow pace
First, swim a 900 at a pace that exerts 70% of your maximum heart rate
Take a 15 second break
Complete an 800, 600, 500, 400, 300, 200, 100 with the 15 second break in between each segment
With each segment, increase your speed, so that by the 100 you are exerting full effort
Cool down with a 10x 50m at a slow pace
Natalie Johnson is a sophomore public relations major who loves fitness and exercise. Since the age of 13, she has dedicated a period of time each day to running. Besides running, she is an advocate for weekly workouts you can do right in your dorm or apartment whenever do you don’t have time to run or to go to the gym. Check in every Monday for easy, step-by-step “Weekly Workouts” with visuals.
Several stories caught the attention of health-policy gurus this week.
FDA Ad Crackdown. Last month, the FDA sent letters to 14 pharmaceutical companies that warned ads for prescription drugs on Google could mislead patients because they don’t contain information about the risks the drugs pose to patients. The FDA warned the ads must be changed to include this information or they will be removed. Drug companies say the regulations are unclear, and complying to such a request, given the advertisement’s 95-character limit, is impossible. Read more from The New York Times coverage here (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/business/media/17adco.html).
Health Alert Technology. After September 11, many Americans began to question how quickly they could get important information in the event of an emergency. Being able to efficiently and accurately deliver health information is equally important, and researchers have developed a technology that allows public health officials to electronically alert hospitals and doctors of an immediate public health crisis. The system was developed at the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. in collaboration with the Marion County Health Department in Indianapolis, Indiana. News releases and letters to physicians are still common means of communication, but the need for a rapid messaging system is critical to modern patient care. To read about the system they developed, check out the story from ScienceDaily.com (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090403114825.htm).
New HIV drug company. GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, the world’s two biggest drug companies, announced last Thursday that they would come together to form a new enterprise that will develop and market HIV drugs. The companies said that by combining their individual research and the drugs they already have created (HIV is typically treated with a cocktail of medications), they will be able to achieve more and reach more patients. Reports say the combined venture will make up 19 percent of the market for HIV drugs. Via MedicalNewsToday (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146458.php).
Catherine Basham is a senior magazine journalism and policy studies dual major. She has written for The Daily Orange, The Student Voice, and interned with publications like Boston magazine and Design New England. Her interests are global health and national health policy and legislation. Every Tuesday, she will be covering these topics in her column “Healthy Affairs.” Stay informed, stay healthy.
After a nervous day during which I couldn’t eat and a 30 minute car ride that should’ve been 15 (had I not been shaking so badly I got lost), I picked up my lost-love from the airport. We were giving things a second chance – trying to see if we could put things back together after four years of being broken.
My heart raced as he walked outside the terminal and we awkwardly went in for the kiss on the cheek … slightly uncomfortable…then 5,4,3, 2, 1: full on make-out. It was like our lips had never parted. That’s pretty much how the entire weekend went – blissfully back to the way we were, even minus earlier complications and frustrations. We lay on the quad, went out to eat, and spent time with my friends who loved him just as much.
Then came D-day (departure day that is), when I made my way to the airport, blurry-eyed not with nerves but with tears – sad to see him go after such a great time together and not knowing when we could see each other again. It also meant time for “the talk” when we would figure out the next step for two people seemingly meant for each other but separated by distance.
In the end, we agreed to keep things status quo – talking everyday like we had been for awhile, and visiting each other when possible. We agreed that a time will come when we will have to make a decision to seriously be together, and likely move around the country for it, but that time is not now. Now is when we need to be selfish – he is finishing his current career and will be traveling frequently for another year, and I need to make my Lifetime-dream move to New York City to figure myself out.
But it led me to the question, how long can you wait for love? In The Notebook, probably the sappiest movie of our time, Noah waits for Allie for years, even enduring her engagement to another man. Carrie and Big finally come together after six seasons and a movie deal in Sex and The City. But that’s all on film. Do good things come to those who wait? Or will somebody else come sweep you off your feet in the meantime?
I suppose if you are holding out for someone, you simply cannot dwell on the time that passes by. Thinking too much about it can only make it worse and slow time down, and living your life for yourself in the meantime is the way to speed things up. Perhaps a moment occurs when the timing simply clicks, the puzzle pieces fall into place, and two hopelessly attracted magnets are pulled together for a final time. Until then, lost-love and I will be hovering within each other’s fields waiting for the next attraction.
Taylor Engler is a senior dual magazine journalism and anthropology major. She has written for Jerk magazine, The Daily Orange, and Zipped magazine. She has an invested interest in relationships and sex so she plans to ”Kiss and Tell” every Wednesday with the scoop on sexual and emotional health.
Ever since the 1960’s when the birth control pill was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration, women have been protecting themselves from unwanted pregnancy. However one third of women stop taking birth control within the first year of going on it. This is often caused by changes in insurance coverage, as well as unwanted side effects do to the hormone pills.
There are a variety of birth control options including the Pill, shots, patches, cervical cap, diaphragm, intrauterine device, male condom, female condom, vaginal ring, tubal ligation, and vasectomy. Tubal ligation and vasectomy are more invasive because they are surgical birth control options.
Although some negative side effects exist depending on each woman’s reaction to the hormones, there are also positive effects that come with some the oral contraceptives. Some lower risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers and osteoporosis. Other benefits are relief from cramps, mood swings, and migraines, and improved complexion. Some pills include iron supplements which benefits those who suffer from anemia.
There are some contraceptive pills that lesson the period to a few times a year, or not at all. Those who use pills that eliminate bleeding altogether are suggested to take monthly pregnancy tests since it is harder to tell if the user is pregnant without bleeding.
Laura DeJoseph is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in management studies. DeJoseph has written for on-campus publications like Healthy You and has interned at TV Guide magazine, International Music and Making Music Magazine. However, she has a strong interest in sexual health, and will bring her knowledge to you every Friday through her column “The Morning After.” DeJoseph and What the Health Online are advocates for safe sex.
Everything you need to know about Swine Flu
by Catherine Basham, beat blogger
(picture courtesy of Boston.com)
Public health emergencies and pandemic disease outbreaks tend to create media frenzies. Reports of swine flu are the latest examples dominating headlines everywhere. There’s no need to barricade yourself in a sterile environment, or walk around campus with a mask on, but here is what you should know:
A strain of swine flu has killed about 149 people in Mexico, and sickened another 2,000. It recently spread to the United States, including Texas, California, and New York. Its symptoms are similar to influenza’s and include fevers over 100 degrees, cough, lethargy, body aches, and in some cases nausea and vomiting. Initial outbreaks occur when people have contact with pigs, but it can then be passed to other humans in the same ways the flu can. It is not spread by eating pork products.
The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the U.S. is presently at 40. Alarmists are encouraged to keep the outbreak in perspective — regular influenza usually causes an estimated 226,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths in the nation every year.
We’ve compiled these helpful resource to answer the rest of your questions.
Top 10 Tips to protect yourself: from the blog of Dr. Jan Gurley, an internist and Harvard Medical School graduate.
A statement from the World Health Organization’s Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, who raised the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase three to phase four. Phases five and six represent represent pandemic levels, or widespread human infection rates.
There have been 28 confirmed cases in New York. Read the press release from SU’s Health Services about the threat to the university community.
Catherine Basham is a senior magazine journalism and policy studies dual major. She has written for The Daily Orange, The Student Voice, and interned with publications like Boston magazine and Design New England. Her interests are global health and national health policy and legislation. Every Tuesday, she will be covering these topics in her column “Healthy Affairs.” Stay informed, stay healthy.
It’s that time of the year again. We are all packing up our lives and moving them back to school, where our focus shifts from fun-in-the-sun back to the realities of work. Now, we all know that a student’s schedule can make eating healthy pretty tough. Limited cash, time, and resources, makes finding something quick, easy, and healthy to chow down for dinner a daunting task — and one often met with a bit of hesitation and frustration. As I was restocking my refrigerator at the beginning of the school year, I got to thinking: What could I do to make the task of making dinner after a long day of class easier on my mind (and body)? Here is a list of things I have come up with to keep on hand at all times. Maybe these will help to ensure that I can always come up with a good dinner in less than 15 minutes.
1. Eggs: Cheap and a great source of protein. When all else fails, whipping up a quick omelet, maybe with a few veggies and some low-fat cheese is a great solution when you need a quick dinner. Toast a piece of wheat bread, and you’ll have the perfect sized meal with an easy cleanup.
2. Frozen or Fresh Bagged Spinach: I add spinach to almost everything. Omelets, pasta, rice, scrambled eggs, canned soup, even Ramen noodles. It’s a great source of iron as well as variety of antioxidants and vitamins.
3. Canned beans, such as black or garbanzo (aka chickpeas): Beans are a cheap, no-fuss source of protein. They can be flavored with almost anything, and require little to no cooking. Add to a salad, mash and use in a quesadilla with low-fat cheese, or throw into a pasta dish. You can also toast garbanzo beans, season them with some salt and pepper, and munch on them as a quick and healthy snack.
4. Rice Pilaf or Couscous: Cook, fluff, and toss in some veggies. Here is a fulfilling and healthy meal that will warm you on a cool fall night. Plus, make the whole box and you’ll have lunch for tomorrow.
5. Canned Tuna: PLEASE don’t think that the only way to use canned tuna is to mix it with a lump of mayonnaise and slap it on a slice of bread. I like to stir in a splash of balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil to add some moisture. Throw it on a salad or toss with pasta and veggies for a fresh and easy dinner.
6. Balsamic Vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil: combine these two to make a great salad dressing, or add to pasta to make a sauce. They also can give an extra jazz to jarred tomato sauce.
7. Whole Wheat Tortillas: Slice into wedges and toast or bake and use as homemade tortilla chips. Fold with cheese and veggies for a quick quesadilla or fill with scrambled eggs for a healthy breakfast.
8. Small Dry Pasta: something like mini-bowties, ditalini, etc.: A box of these lasts a while (at least 3-4 dinners for one person), and since they’re small, they cook pretty quickly. Just throw them in a small pot of boiling water, and cook according to the box directions. Be sure to add plenty of salt to the water too –– this will season the pasta really nicely.
9.Frozen Peas: These are great! Just like spinach, you can add them to almost anything. They cook in less than a minute, and one good-sized bag can last you a few months!
10.Low-fat cheese: Low-fat cheese is a great source of calcium, and a great way to make some otherwise bland foods more decadent. Add to pasta or eggs to give them a little more pizazz.
So there it is! If you keep these 10 foods in your kitchen at all times, your grumbling tummy will never be disappointed after a long day!
It’s my favorite time of the semester. Classes have just begun, everyone is excited to be back at school, and the ground isn’t covered with a foot of snow — it’s the perfect time to be hitting the pavement and taking your workout outdoors!
If you’re feeling adventurous, grab a pal and take a run (during daylight) through Thornden Park or Oakwood Cemetery. If not, taking a run around campus and up the Hall of Languages steps is a sure way to get your heart pumping while still staying engaged with your surroundings. There’s nothing better than a scenic run around campus when the air is crisp and you’re in need of a quick workout. If you are looking for a heart-pumping workout, include running up the Mount steps or running the inclined hill next to the Dome.
Running outside gives you several benefits that treadmills lack. For example, when running outside you must follow the elevation changes of the road, which gives your body a more complete workout. An article on dietsinreview.com explains that running outside rather than on a treadmill will allow you to burn more calories in the same amount of time.
So while it is still nice out and you’re not quite inundated with work, take a run around campus — you might be surprised in what you can find.
Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling, and communications.
Keeping physically fit does wonders for both your body and mental health. So when an event comes around that lets you exercise for a great cause, it’s hard not to jump at the opportunity.
This upcoming Sunday, October 4, marks the 3rd Annual Matt Wanetik 5K held by the brothers of Alpha Epsilon Pi. The event will take place in Walnut Park starting at noon. Matt Wanetik, a brother of AEPi, created the 5K back in the fall of 2007. Sadly, he passed away while abroad last fall. The brothers of AEPi have decided to pay tribute to Matt by continuing to hold the 5K in his honor.
The event will include both individual and team 5K events. Money raised from the event will be donated to the Matt Wanetik Memorial Scholarship Fund. The 2nd Annual Matt Wanetik 5K raised $2,500 for the scholarship fund last spring.
Alex Pomerantz, a brother of AEPi, has high hopes for this fall’s run. “It will be a great day with lots of live music and other games and prizes. My hope is to raise more money to donate than we did last year,” Pomerantz said.
If you are interested in participating, registration forms can be found at AEPi and the fee is $15 per person or $75 per team of five. Even if you’re not one for competing, it will be a great event to go out and support this Sunday. So lace up those sneakers and get ready to run for a cause that is near and dear to the Syracuse University community.
Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling, and communications.
It can be time consuming and expensive to find the best mascara that provides longer and voluminous lashes. Some women even try false eyelashes to achieve their desired look. However, now you don’t need to try 10 different mascaras and multiple false eyelashes. A new product called Latisse can give you lush lashes when you wake up without any makeup.
Latisse is a Food and Drug Administration approved product that is said and proven to provide darker, fuller, and longer lashes for people suffering with hypotrichosis of the eyelashes. This fancy medical term is another way of saying short, sparse, and stubby little eyelashes.
How it Works
The medically prescribed treatment can produce results starting in the eighth week. Each night you can apply the solution to the base of your upper lids using the applicators provided in the Latisse kit. You should see full results during weeks 12-16. But, you may not be the best candidate if you have irritated upper eyelid skin, take medication for eye pressure, or have an eye infection. You may even want to request an eye exam before you decide you want to use Latisse.
The Not So Pretty Side
This product seems to provide a solution to people that want beautiful lashes, but there are possible downsides. The effects are not permanent and if you stop using the product after you see results, your lashes will return to their previous state within a few weeks. There is also the risk that the solution in the product could cause redness and itchy eyes. The color of your eyes can also change with increased brown iris pigmentation. Finally, Latisse is relatively expensive — a little over $100 for a kit that only lasts about a month. Therefore, you may need two boxes before you see results.
Buy At Your Own Risk
Still, if the side effects have not scared you away and you want to give the product a try, feel free. You’ll have beautiful lashes in time but take heed that they may only be temporary.
For more information on Latisse check out these Web sites:
Yannique Benitez is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in history. She has written for on-campus publications like Equal Time and has interned at HBO and ThisOldHouse.com. Benitez is interested in investigating new products and procedures for beauty and skin care.
Don’t think that you have to go to every frat party, drink with your floor-mates, and always be the center of attention to make friends in college. For people like me, who prefer snuggling up with a bowl of popcorn and watching a movie to slipping on a skirt and painting on eye liner to hit frat row, making new friends can seem a lot harder than it was back in high school.
College means more than leaving home, being out on one’s own, and finally being the one to dictate what you eat, when you sleep, and where you go. It’s a transition — and almost a backwards one. Being a freshman, I find that same awkward feeling kids get on the first day of school. Where should I sit? Who seems like my kind of friend? Will they like me, or am I going to be that loner kid? My brain is filled with a never-ending flow of “what ifs” and “what should-I’s.”
Thankfully, the key to success in college is easy and simple: do what you love. If you’re not a partier, don’t party. If you don’t love sports, don’t play them. The most amazing and liberating thing about college is the endless possibilities. Join clubs that interest you, even if it may not be the most “popular” thing on campus. The truth is, people that share your feelings and desires will pop up where you feel content. If you take a deep breath, don’t fret about making friends, and do what makes you happy, friends will just fall into place.
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Kimberly Caruba is a freshman broadcast journalism major. Caruba also writes for The Student Voice, volunteers at WAER radio, and is a part of Citrus TV. She will break the “Mental Block” every thursday with tips on how to improve your mental health, friendships, and relieve stress.
The stress of my Astronomy 101 class eats away at my insides (I’m an English major, OK?) Or, maybe it’s just me, eating away? As I scarf down my stash of Hershey’s Miniatures, my head bows in contempt. Although the allure of chocolate SEEMS innocent, the reality ain’t so pretty.
See, we all have this chemical in our head called dopamine. Dopamine and chocolate are like BFF; they go WAY back. When brought together in salivating bliss, our brains go nuts. This reaction helps me avoid the fact that I CAN’T explain the phases of the moon and what constellations are out during which season. Attempting to focus on my homework during a cocoa binge is a joke. Why? Our chemistry rules the bulk of our actions, and is made of the building blocks that lead to addictive behavior — aka bad news. Also, our raging hormones don’t help us avoid this potentially dangerous (yet beautiful) substance (we females know how powerful premenstrual cravings can be). Let’s face it: no one needs a pound of Mr. Goodbar.
So what kind of coping mechanisms can we (and I) adopt to prevent a scientific meltdown? No one said a little piece of Green and Black’s 70% was going to hurt you. In fact, recent studies have demonstrated that dark chocolate improves the texture and tone of our precious skin. Just make sure (and I will try harder next time) to keep it in moderation, especially during times of academic stress.
To learn more about the power of chocolate check out these sweet sites:
Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion, and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper.On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at jjscicch@syr.edu.
SU counseling center sponsors stress reduction workshop
Alison Bryant, beat blogger
With a whirlwind of classes, extracurricular activities, sporting events and an engaging social life, finding time to push all the stress aside and simply relax proves difficult. That’s why the Syracuse University Counseling Center is sponsoring the six week stress reduction workshop called the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program.
Founded by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, an author and researcher at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, the MBSR program teaches individuals how to take a more balanced approach when dealing with everyday stress and anxiety. Effectively coping with overwhelming emotions can bring peace of mind and a healthful approach to life.
Here at Syracuse University, David Jacobs, J.D., an MBSR facilitator and certified yoga instructor, will lead the practicum for undergraduate and graduate students. Students attend six weeks of classes and a half-day retreat, learning skills that will make the bombardment of daily activities and obligations seem manageable and enjoyable. The program is funded by the Syracuse University Wellness Initiative and is free for students. The course meets Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8 p.m. For more information call the Counseling Center at (315) 443-4715. Check it out. Your mind and body will thank you later!
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Alison Bryant lives and plays in Burlington, Vermont. She enjoys writing, yoga, music and being outdoors.
I know I’m not the only one who has been made to feel guilty for not buying completely organic. But come on — I’m a college student on a budget, and sometimes, I have to admit, I care more about getting in and out of the store in 10 minutes than I do about making sure everything I buy is pesticide-free.
In an effort to make the choice a little easier for those of us who don’t have the time or money to buy completely organic, I did some research to make grocery-store choices a little less time consuming.
First, lets understand what organic means. Organic meats and animal products will have no antibiotics or hormones. All organic meat will have been fed all organic feed, and the organic animals we eat will get to roam free outside instead of being confined to a small cage or stall. Organic produce cannot be genetically modified or irradiated, has to be grown with completely organic fertilizer (read: contains no sewage or synthetic ingredients), and cannot be sprayed with any kind of chemical or pesticide.
The most important produce to buy organic is apples, cherries, grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, berries, bell peppers, celery, potatoes, and spinach — just because non-organic varieties are usually doused in pesticides.
In general, any fruit with a thick skin — bananas, oranges, pineapples, mangoes, kiwi, etc. — aren’t worth buying organic because they have the least pesticide residues. As for vegetables, you can save a few bucks by buying your broccoli, asparagus, avocados, and onions non-organic.
If you choose to buy non-organic, take these few extra steps to reduce the concentration of pesticide residues on your food:
1. Scrub your produce well before eating to remove dirt, bacteria, and pesticides.
2.Try to remove peels from fruit and vegetables whenever possible
3. Remove the outer leaves from lettuces and other leafy vegetables.
If you prefer a dance party blended with zesty Latino rhythms and calming world music to a solo competition between your iPod and a pounding heart, Zumba may be the answer. If staring at the calorie burn rate on the display of a treadmill does not perk you up, why not switch to a party style?
Zumba is the new cardio craze. If Shakira’s sexy hips have not demonstrated it well enough, the dynamic atmosphere of a typical Zumba class should convince you. The workout has spread fast from Columbia, where the dance form was originated, to the Syracuse University campus.
“Zumba dance creates a party atmosphere where you move to great music while dancing your way to a more toned and sculpted body,” said Milka Rodriguez, the Zumba Dance class instructor from the Late Night at the Gym program at SU. “You are here to join the party, make friends, and have fun.”
The music is the magic. It keeps the workout vibe going. In a Zumba dance, your body movements flow out naturally with the rhythm. While the movements are easy to follow, it is the attitude that makes the difference rather than any particular dance steps. The fact that you are actively moving gets you all the bonus points in a workout.
So stop dragging yourself to the gym day after day and start dancing like no one is watching. The two-hour weekly Zumba party is scheduled on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. in the Flanagan Gymnasium.
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Claire Xi Chen is a biology major doing her graduate studies at SU. She grew up in Tianjin, China. Here in the U.S., she finds the multicultural dynamics quite nurturing. Writing has always been one of Claire’s greatest passions.
Well, admit it! We aren’t always at our best. Everybody has to go through the ebbs and flows of a typical day in life. Sometimes, even with routines like morning coffee runs, mid-afternoon tea breaks, and late night energy boosts, our minds still aren’t quite tuned to their sharpest when we need them the most. But we can’t just let it flow and place our working efficiency at stake. Here are the three 
Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling and communications.
Claire Xi Chen is a biology major doing her graduate studies at SU. She grew up in Tianjin, China. Here in the U.S., she finds the multicultural dynamics quite nurturing. Writing has always been one of Claire’s greatest passions.
Dunkin’ Donuts
The calorie killer 
Kate Morin is a junior magazine journalism major, with minors in hospitality management and English and textual studies. She also writes for the print version of What the Health. Morin loves spending her free time cooking, traveling, and writing all about it.
Yannique Benitez is a senior magazine journalism major with a minor in history. She has written for on-campus publications like Equal Time and has interned at HBO and ThisOldHouse.com. Benitez is interested in investigating new products and procedures for beauty and skin care.
Alison Bryant lives and plays in Burlington, Vermont. She enjoys writing, yoga, music and being outdoors.
Valentina Palladino is a freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and hopes to major in magazine journalism and English & textual studies. She was the editor-in-chief of her high school’s newspaper and worked for two of her hometown’s local newspapers as a contributing writer. When not writing, Valentina loves theatre, both performing and backstage work, eating her family’s authentic Italian food and, most of all, traveling.
Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion, and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper.On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at 
It’s midterm time and most students have been in a tizzy all week. Papers, tests, projects…you name it, it’s happening. So, how do you manage to take a break from it all and cool your head? My favorite way is with yoga. The traditional practice of yoga began as an Eastern art and has since become popular in Western culture. One of the oldest forms of self-development, yoga is around for a reason. It really works for stress reduction!
Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion, and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper.On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at 
great in pastas and salads. But you can also use olive oil on your face and in your hair. It is a great substitute for makeup remover. Instead of spending extra money on another product, you can look to your kitchen for a simple solution. Olive oil is also very moisturizing and gentle on the area around your eyes.
Let’s face it — you’re tired and sleep is the only thing your body wants to focus on. Whether you pulled an all-nighter trying to finish a paper, or you actually went to bed at a semi-decent time the night before, you just can’t seem to catch enough Z’s to get you through the next day. It can be an exhausting and frustrating feeling to push yourself from class to class, chugging tasteless coffee in hopes that it will satisfy your caffeine fix until you can finally meet and greet your bed once again… then wake up in the same state and do it all over again the next day. Believe it or not, there are ways to fight the college chaos and feel free of fatigue, all while still getting everything done in your day that needs to be completed. We’ve got some simple routine habits you can implement into your day that will make up 
Valentina Palladino is a freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and hopes to major in magazine journalism and English & textual studies. She was the editor-in-chief of her high school’s newspaper and worked for two of her hometown’s local newspapers as a contributing writer. When not writing, Valentina loves theatre, both performing and backstage work, eating her family’s authentic Italian food and, most of all, traveling.
Jessica Scicchitano is three semesters away from reaching bachelor degree-dom and free-dom. She majors in English and textual studies and spends her spare time enveloped in food, fashion, and writing. She also just finished an internship at the Post Standard newspaper.On campus, you will most likely find her eating sushi, reading intensely, or soaking up each moment of the sun left until winter break. You can email her at 
Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling and communications.
remember always to be cautious and aware.
photo courtesy of iphoto 
photo courtesy of barblog.foodsafety.com
(pic courtesy of dijesstthis.wordpress.com)
(pic courtesy of www.relayforlife.org/)
(picture courtesy of OntarioMD groups Web site)
(picture courtesy of healthrelatedtopics.com)
(picture courtesy of Boston.com)
Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling, and communications.
Laura Reginelli is a junior public relations and finance dual major. She interned last summer at Bloomberg L.P. and spent her summer after freshman year studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Laura has a dedicated interest in exercise, traveling, and communications.
With a whirlwind of classes, extracurricular activities, sporting events and an engaging social life, finding time to push all the stress aside and simply relax proves difficult. That’s why the Syracuse University Counseling Center is sponsoring the six week stress reduction workshop called the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program. 
Alison Bryant lives and plays in Burlington, Vermont. She enjoys writing, yoga, music and being outdoors.
