Calorie Count on Menus?

Recently, The Globe and Mail published an article about a handful of U.S. cities including New York; San Francisco; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; and Philadelphia having passed menu-labelling laws for chain restaurants in an effort to curb obesity.

This means that restaurants would have to disclose the number of calories in each dish they offer on their menu. The hope is that people will make healthier decisions while eating out.

When you eat at a restaurant, you don't know how many calories you are ingesting. Some salads have more calories and sodium in them than a regular sized cheeseburger. So even if you think you are making a healthy choice, this may not be the case.

Some people argue that this initiative is useless because most people go to restaurants to indulge or they simply don't care. But for the people who are trying to lose weight or become healthier, calorie counts on menu items can prove to be extremely helpful.

Whatever your opinion is on this matter, it will be interesting to watch if this law will be applied in Canada and if it will have an effect on the obesity problem in the U.S.

Effects of Poor Nutrition: 

So why should you care about your health and diet choices? Because poor nutrition effects your health in many ways such as:

·         Cuts back your lifespan by a few years depending on how long you make poor diet choices.

·          Increases the risk of stroke or heart disease.

·          Poisons your liver and kidneys.

·         Causes diabetes

·        Thyroid dysfunction

·         Intestinal problems.

     It also affects your life, poor nutrition can effect or lead to:

·          Weight gain

·         Low self esteem

·        Effects you relationships

·        Bad moods/depression

·         Anxiety and lack of energy.

Sneezing and Coughing Etiquette

Recently I became sick with the flu and possibly mono. I am still waiting for my blood test to come back. Anyways, I was really sick for a good week with a sore throat, high fever, cold sweats, a nasty rash, joint pain and a constant headache. During this time I spent most of my days in bed thinking about how I got sick. I wash my hands frequently and I carry hand sanitizer everywhere I go. I realized that being at school I come into contact with a lot of people and their germs. After thinking about this, I started to become aware of the people around me and their germs.

At school this week I have seen many people cough and sneeze without covering their mouths. Also, I have seen people sneezing and coughing into their hands and not washing them. Finally, I have seen the most disgusting thing, people not washing their hands after using the bathroom!!! 

So I realized that is how I probably got sick, with all of these people spreading their germs and bacteria all over campus. Think about how many doors, computers, desks, chairs, railings, and elevator buttons you touch a day. And think about how much bacteria you are picking up. So to all of the people guilty of committing these germ-spreading crimes, please watch this hilarious video on sneezing and coughing etiquette. Oh and please follow the guidelines provided and remember: COUGH AND SNEEZE INTO YOUR SHIRT!

Rev up your Metabolism

Today on the Dr. Oz show there was a segment on ways to boost your metabolism. Some of these tips really surprised me and made think of burning fat in a new way.Dr. Oz explained that people with high metabolisms burn more calories than people with a low metabolism. The goal is to have the calories you eat match the calories you burn or it gets stored as fat. 

Here are 3 ways to boost your metabolism:

1.  Exercise with less intensity

Yes, you read that right. According to Dr. Oz, the body needs energy during intense exercise so it goes for the more easily metabolized foods like carbs.  To burn fat, you need to exercise more often and with less intensity. This really shocked me because I always believed that the harder you worked out the more fat you burned.

2. Drink coffee and green tea

I have heard many times that coffee is not healthy for you, but caffeine does speed up your metabolism. 

3. Eat Spicy Food

Foods like red peppers, cayenne, jalapeños, habaneros,and tabasco can boost your metabolism for up to three hours after a meal. Spicy food can also decrease your appetite.