By day, I work at an agency where I manage about eight people and I sit. No movement. By night, I have my own nonprofit, which does keep me busy but mostly just going from meeting to meeting. Recent studies have confirmed what we already know – sitting too much is not good for you.

I noticed that I stopped scheduling in workouts and gained and gained. I and a co-worker looked up and wondered where all of the extra beauty came from! I realized it was finally time to make the change I keep talking about.

What has been very helpful is working out with a trainer three times per week. At 7 a.m., I’m with my trainer and I’m sweating and moving. He talks to me about nutrition and pushing myself through the workouts and to keep my eyes on the prize.

The best thing is really the accountability factor. To have someone send me text messages about drinking enough water and making healthy food choices throughout the day has been great! It has kept me on my toes. It has made me want to push myself. I truly want to be healthier and give a good report to my trainer when I see him. I needed the big ole PUSH!

Something I also like about my trainer is that he shows me how to use what I have at home to workout. Using chairs, stairs, and other household items to get me moving or to help with strength training has been interesting to discover. We also review workout DVDs.

I’ve given myself a year to reach all of my health goals, and it’s a great to have a partner there to help me.

Who are you accountable to?

It’s been the best 2 ½ weeks of being a “YaYa” and watching my daughter learn the basics of motherhood and learn about her new son. It’s been 20 years since a baby was in the house.  When I had my daughter, I decided not to breastfeed.  I’ve regretted that decision tremendously.  A month after having my daughter, I went back to school and work.

The past few weeks have been an adventure.  This biggest issue we’re facing is making sure my daughter eats. We all remember being a new mom and eating sometimes doesn’t make it on the schedule.  I’m the food scheduler. I’m always checking in and making sure she’s eating healthy foods. It’s easy for her to run to a fast food restaurant to get something in her body, but I am not having that.

Getting her to drink a lot of water, fruits and veggies has been the goal. It’s more about having a healthy nutrition plan for HER than just focusing on the baby and his needs alone. My daughter Sydney has always been a very healthy person, but she is very focused on motherhood.  I have to do little reminders to say she’s still important and she needs to EAT. Eating nutrient-rich foods like the ones suggested in this article is good for moms and their babies.

I help by keeping my daughter’s favorites in the house like grapes, bananas and lots of fresh juices.  Because I have a soy allergy, I make sure I cook healthy meals.  This is VERY new for our household because I hate cooking!

I believe being a great support to my daughter will continue to help her be a healthy young woman and now young mom.

I will admit that I don’t have anything close to a green thumb. I had heard that gardening is really very therapeutic. I had heard it’s good for the soul to dig in the earth. I had heard all of these things, but I never really got into it.

Last year, I started visiting a local community garden. I was with my wellness coach and she had me doing “weed therapy.”  Basically, I was pulling weeds, but she said to think about what I needed to weed out of my life. I LOVED it. I loved being outside. I loved understanding the gardening process. I loved learning how important it is to grow your own food.

Miss Mary’s Wellness Garden has your basics: tomatoes, peppers, collards, carrots and beets. We are also growing strawberries. YUMMY.  I’m excited. It’s been great to see young people getting outside, getting some exercise and being excited about growing things. I’ve learned that gardening is really a great physical activity. I get a workout every time we have a workday.

Get involved at a local garden. Keep Indianapolis Beautiful has been working with us, and they have a list of community gardens where you can help.  Many gardens welcome children to help and learn as well. It’s a great opportunity to learn how to start your own small garden.

Here are some pics of our garden, located at 2447 Bond Street!

If you have pictures of your garden, please share on the FitCity Indianapolis Facebook page.

You hear these messages all the time and I think for many, we think we’re drinking enough.  Recently, I learned about the mild and severe effects of dehydration on your body. YIKES!  So I’ve tried to make sure that I drink enough water every day.  It really is a challenge when other beverages are presented more often than just good ‘ol H2O.

I have a water bottle at my desk that I try to make sure I fill and refill throughout the day.  I and my co-workers have planned to put a water chart up to keep track of our daily intake.  We know water is necessary, but we also know we need any tools and tricks we can to make sure we’re getting the necessary fluid intake.

So how much water do you need? The Mayo Clinic suggests you consider three different approaches to make sure you’re drinking enough:

1. Replacement approach. Basically, replace what you lose each day. According to the Mayo website, “. . . if you consume 2 liters of water or other beverages a day (a little more than 8 cups) along with your normal diet, you will typically replace your lost fluids.”
2. Eight, 8-oz. glasses of water a day approach a.k.a the “8 x 8” rule. You’ve probably heard this rule before, and it’s an easy one to remember.
3. Dietary recommendations. According to the Institute of Medicine, men should consume about 3 liters (approximately 13 cups) of total beverages and women should consume about 2.2 liters (or about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.

For me, the “8 x 8” rule makes sense.  Getting a water bottle that I can carry around is also helpful and environmentally better than using those individual water bottles from the store.  I feel much better when I do make sure I drink my water and I just ignore the extra trips to the rest room.

Have you tried any of the approaches above or do you have other tips for making sure you’re getting in enough water?

First, let’s look at the definition. According to good ‘ol Wikipedia: Raw foodism (or rawism) is the practice of consuming uncooked, unprocessed and often organic foods as a large percentage of the diet.

I will admit that the idea of eating only raw foods seemed overwhelming initially. I started two weeks ago buying vegetables so that I can always having everything I need to make salads. I have a huge bowl full of leafy greens, and I’ve been buying various tomatoes and just trying different veggies. It’s been successful, especially since eating raw foods seems to be a good plan for someone who hates cooking!

There are some really great recipes for those interested in going raw. Here’s an easy recipe with just four ingredients for Cold Creamy Carrot Soup. This recipe for Curried Butternut Noodles can help satisfy your craving for salted crunch foods like tortillas or potato chips.

I’m fairly new to the raw food movement. If you have any websites or recipes to share, drop me a line in the comment box below.

My daughter has always had such a focus on her health.  She reads EVERYTHING – labels, instructions on meds, the insert they give you for prescriptions…everything.   She received her prenatal meds and yes, she read everything, every ingredient, mineral, vitamin that was put into the pill.  Even though I think she can be a little excessive, it has really made me look more critically at what is in the food I’m eating and what is the nutritional value of the food – How does it benefit me?

Now that she is pregnant, grocery shopping has changed.  We shop to benefit the growing baby.  What does he need in the 18^th week?  What needs to be cooked fully? How much should she be eating?  I can safely say, I don’t recall being so focused nutrition 20 years ago when I was pregnant with her but this is exciting. 

We’re working on giving our new bundle of joy a healthy beginning. My daughter’s biggest focus has been on eating enough.  She has been under-eating and this is a struggle for someone who eats only when she’s hungry. We’ve stocked the house with lots of fruits: bananas, apples, grapes and watermelon.  Peanut butter crackers are in her purse for midday snacks.  It’s not about eating for two but thinking how to being nutritionally aware for two.

What we’ve both learned:

Avoid undercooked foods
During pregnancy, changes in your metabolism and circulation may increase the risk of bacterial food poisoning. Your reaction may be more severe than if you weren’t pregnant. Rarely, your baby may get sick, too.

To prevent food-borne illness:

• Fully cook all meats and poultry before eating. Look for the juices to run clear, but use a meat thermometer to make sure.
• Cook hot dogs and warm processed deli meats, such as bologna, until they’re steaming hot — or avoid them completely. They can be sources of a rare but potentially serious food-borne illness known as listeriosis.
• Avoid refrigerated pates and meat spreads. Canned and shelf-stable versions, however, are OK.
• Don’t buy raw poultry that’s been pre-stuffed. Raw juice that mixes with the stuffing can cause bacterial growth. Frozen poultry that’s been pre-stuffed is safe if cooked from its frozen state.
• Cook eggs until the egg yolks and whites are firm. Raw eggs can be contaminated with the harmful bacteria salmonella. Avoid foods made with raw or partially cooked eggs, such as eggnog and hollandaise sauce.

With my daughter being a big sandwich eater, we were surprised that deli meats needed to be cooked.  We’re making sure it happens!  

Get plenty of dairy
We’re making sure that she gets her dairy intake in as well.  Four or more servings a day is the recommendation.  My daughter isn’t a big milk drinker but we have plenty of cheese around and she’s been trying to drink the milk in with her cereal. 

We’re getting ready! YaYa wants a nutritionally healthy grandson!

I will admit that it’s very difficult to be healthy and not cook.  It’s also very expensive.   But I wasn’t raised to be a cook.  My mother pushed me towards academics. The only time I had to cook was when she had major knee surgery. Or if I had no money. 

Now that I think about it, I can cook great breakfast meals.  I will break out the pots and pans for egg white omelets, French toast, and other yummy breakfast delights.  So, how can I get my mind to like to cook other meals? 

My first step was to call for reinforcement!  My daughter,“The Kid” as I call her even though she is now 20, has always been my health accountability partner.  Since she is expecting, she is even more aware of what she eats.  We recently made an agreement that we will stop eating fast foods and plan our meals.  I know. This will mean COOKING. 

We went to Target and bought new pots and pans and new dishes.  My old pans were as old as The Kid.  It was fun looking at the kitchen stuff and trying to decide what I would need to start this journey.  Then we went and bought some groceries.  Remember, I’m not a cook. It was fun to spend time in a grocery store! We still need to do more but I’m excited. 

I know I need to be a cooker. I’m still doing P90x but I have to eat better and cooking healthy meals will help.  Like meatless recipes from Meatless Monday.  If you have other easy, healthy recipes, please share with me.   I’m going to cook my way into living a healthier life.

Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Lens Photography

People walk.  People walk without complaint. (Even in near-blizzard conditions.) Whenever I return to New York, I always giggle at the number of people who have carts like my grandmother and aunts walk to the store with.  I rarely see it in Indy.

I’ve learned that I will walk so much further in New York City than when I’m home. Here, I am quick to hop in the car and go to the store rather than walk. Then, I schedule a specific time to walk on the treadmill or on the green space trail near my house. I’ve could have gotten in more walking time by just parking the car.

I believe we need to make Indy a walking/biking friendlier city. Some neighborhoods have unsafe sidewalks or none at all. There are some local initiatives to address these issues. Health by Design  does a lot of work in the community to introduce walking, biking and transit options to the city.  We all need to get more involved.  

By the way, I was also very impressed that calories were listed on all the menus in NYC.  To walk into a McDonald’s and see the exact calorie count almost forces you to rethink your food choices.  I’d love to see this here as well. 

I know Indy is on its way to being a healthier place to live because of great organizations like FitCity. Part of the responsibility is on me. I need to work harder at finding great opportunities to walk and exercise. But we all need to get involved to change our community in order to change the way we live for the better.

Let me say that I think there’s nothing wrong with setting goals for a healthy change. It’s something we all should do on an ongoing basis. But, I know I need to make sure that I’m making the changes for the right reasons and that my plan truly fits my lifestyle. I need friends to support my goals. I can’t do it alone. I truly need accountability partners to keep me focused and who are living the way I also want to live. It’s so helpful.

So what do I do instead? I continue with my current goals as if time was fluid from one year to the next which are achievement based and supported by friends. In the article by Psychology Today, “Don’t Make New Year’s Resolutions: They’re Not Good for Your Health,” Howard S. Friedman, Ph.D, suggests the song Auld Lang Syne is a perfect way to think about moving forward in being happy and living healthy.

“The concluding verse of the commonly sung version suggests reaching out: ‘there’s a hand my trusty friend, and give us a hand of thine.’ Indeed many people celebrating the New Year will form a circle and grasp hands with their friends. Our scientific research suggests that this can be an excellent first step, if you’re at the right celebration. One of the best ways to get yourself on a healthy pathway–one of healthy patterns– is to associate with other healthy, active, involved individuals.”

So let’s have a healthy 2011 by supporting and encouraging one another not just on New Year’s Day, but on everyday!

Photo from www.innerpeaceyoga.com

Growing up, I was taught that yoga was a bad thing. For years I’ve had a negative connection to yoga. It was a bad, bad thing to experience, my spiritual family would say. Lately, I’ve taken a second look at it. I began to read on what yoga is and its benefits to your mind, body, and spirit – something that is very important to me. There are so many great benefits to your over-all health.

Along with my p90x challenge, I’m taking on embracing yoga as something very important in keeping me balanced. I’m so busy. I’m always on the go. Yoga provides me with exercise and an important peaceful moment. Here are a few reasons you should try it too

From the Benefits of Yoga from the Health and Yoga website:

Increasing Flexibility – Yoga has positions that act upon the various joints of the body including those joints that are never really on the ‘radar screen’ let alone exercised.

Increasing lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons – Likewise, the well-researched yoga positions exercise the different tendons and ligaments of the body.

Surprisingly it has been found that the body, which may have been quite rigid, starts experiencing a remarkable flexibility in even those parts which have not been consciously work upon. Why? It is here that the remarkable research behind yoga positions proves its mettle. Seemingly unrelated “non strenuous” yoga positions act upon certain parts of the body in an interrelated manner. When done together, they work in harmony to create a situation where flexibility is attained relatively easily.

Massaging of ALL Organs of the Body – Yoga is perhaps the only form of activity which massages all the internal glands and organs of the body in a thorough manner, including those – such as the prostate – that hardly get externally stimulated during our entire lifetime. Yoga acts in a wholesome manner on the various body parts. This stimulation and massage of the organs in turn benefits us by keeping away disease and providing a forewarning at the first possible instance of a likely onset of disease or disorder. 

Complete Detoxification – By gently stretching muscles and joints as well as massaging the various organs, yoga ensures the optimum blood supply to various parts of the body. This helps in the flushing out of toxins from every nook and cranny as well as providing nourishment up to the last point. This leads to benefits such as delayed ageing, energy and a remarkable zest for life.

Excellent toning of the muscles – Muscles that have become flaccid, weak or slothy are stimulated repeatedly to shed excess flab and flaccidity.