June 2009

If you go to sleep every night counting the next day’s responsibilities rather than sheep, it might just be time for a to-do list.

While you can’t always control how busy you are, you can control how you approach the situation.  A to-do list — as listmakers already know — can help you feel in charge when your day feels out of control.  And that’s true even if you don’t make it through your entire list.  According to Prevention, just crossing things off your list can help you realize that you’re making progress.  In fact, even writing something down on your list after you’ve completed it can make you feel productive.

Lists aren’t just for errands and grocery shopping, though.  Prevention suggests that you use lists for things like making decisions, beating the blues, and planning more joy into every day.

Start you new list-making habit off right with a pretty notepad you can toss in your purse, or with these clever notepads that make working your way through your list just a little more fun.

Photo courtesy whomi.com.

Whenever I think I’ve got an excuse for not exercising, someone in really great shape — and with a better excuse — comes along and reminds me that there really is no good excuse for not being physically active.

Take Team Type 1, a group of cyclists that participate in the Race Across America, a five-day bike race from one coast to the other.  Every member on the team has Type 1 Diabetes, a disease that’s a challenge in its own right, but that can also be difficult to manage during exercise.

Eight men ranging in age from 19 to 44 will race this year.  These guys don’t just participate in the race, they aim to win.  In 2007 they claimed the title, but came in second last year.  This year, they’ve got their eye on first place again.  “We’re sprinting 100 percent of the time we’re out there,” Joe Eldridge, cyclist and team co-founder of the team, told the New York Times.  “I had my best moments and worst moments on a bike during that race.”

Eldridge says that his goal is to win, for sure, but to also bring awareness to their cause and to teach other people with diabetes — especially children — that managing their disease can bring them closer to reaching their goals.

Establishing a regular exercise routine requires a lot of dedication and discipline, and motivation can be hard to muster when schedules get tight and life gets busy.  But hard-working teams like Type 1 inspire us all to be our best, to manage our daily lives, and to take care of our bodies so we can be healthy too.  We’ll be rooting for you, guys!

Photo courtesy of well.blogs.nytimes.

Though I’m not a dedicated vegetarian, I often think I’d like to be.  The health benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle are well-documented.  Not only are vegetarian dishes lower in saturated fats and calories, they also incorporate those oh-so-important extra servings of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables.

During these summer months, our family has decided to go “mostly vegetarian,” or all veg except for dinners out, special events, and the occasional turkey burger on the grill.  But loading up on pasta isn’t the answer.  Instead, smart vegetarians know they need to create complete, balanced meals out of healthful ingredients.

Here’s one of our favorite dinner recipes, Easy Vegetarian Fajitas with spicy Pepper Jack Cheese.  I never measure anything, and these are very forgiving:

Ingredients:

Any kind of fajita-size tortilla

1 T olive oil

1 green pepper, thinly sliced

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 yellow squash, thinly sliced

1/2 cup salsa verde

1 t crushed garlic

1/2 t cumin

1 cup of Monterey Pepperjack Cheese, grated

fresh cilantro

Heat oil over medium heat and add peppers, onion, and garlic.  Stir to coat, cover and heat until vegetables are soft.  Stir in squash, salsa, and cumin.  Cook another 5 minutes or so.  Spoon veggie mixture onto tortilla and top with grated cheese and cilantro.  Spicy!

What’s your favorite vegetarian dinner recipe?

Michael J. Fox might be battling Parkinson’s, but that’s not keeping him from playing sports (especially when it’s for a cause). Late last month, Fox put his new-found golf skills to the test for The Principal Charity Classic which raised funds for children’s charities in Iowa through Fore Our Kids.

Fore Our Kids is a group of five charities: Blank Children’s Hospital, Bravo Greater Des Moines, Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, United Way of Central Iowa and Variety — The Children’s Charity of Iowa.

This is far from the first time Fox has surprised his fans with his reaction to Parkinson’s. The actor-turned-activist, upon finding out he had early onset Parkinson’s, started the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research and has written two books,  “Lucky Man” and “Always Looking Up, The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist.”

We can all take a lesson from Fox – no reason to waste the best years of your life pouting about what’s wrong. Instead, focus on what’s right and what you can do to make it better!

Photo courtesy of celebritywonder.com

Miranda Kerr, an Australian model (who’s also currently the main squeeze of a Mr. Orlando Bloom), has an amazing body, and she’s using it for a very worthy cause — koala bears!

Kerr is on the cover of the Australian version of Rolling Stone, tied to a tree (in the nude) to raise awareness for the Australian Koala Foundation’s No Tree, No Me program. Just 100,000 koalas are left in the wild, and since 1986, the foundation has worked against the issues that threaten koalas’ survival.

Kerr grew up in Gunnedah NSW, otherwise known as the koala capital of the world, and had koalas living in her backyard.  “I feel strongly about the need to protect our natural environment because it supports our life – it really is that simple,” said Kerr. “It’s a sad thing – there are only about 100,000 koalas left in Australia. Something like 80 per cent of the koalas’ habitat has been destroyed since Europeans arrived in Australia. The great thing about having people recognize you is you can try to make a positive difference – that’s what I’m trying to do, especially for young women.”

Photo courtesy of savethekoala.com

Every parent has his or her own concept of what the right choice is for their children, particularly when it comes to food. Tori Spelling is no exception — she’s taken to making her own baby food, and thinks you should, too. She posted a video to MySpace saying that, although she served jarred organic baby food to her first son, Liam, she took a different approach when her daughter, Stella, was ready for solid food — she went to the food processor and made her own.

Spelling knows that some fans might not believe that she does it herself, but she swears it’s true. And it’s totally worth it — Stella absolutely loves it. “[O]nce I made my own baby food … I literally gave it to her that first day, it was a spoonful, and her face lit up. She had this huge smile.”

She sure makes it sound easy enough, but I know a lot of moms who would have a difficult time fitting yet another duty into their day. Have you made your own baby food before, and if so, do you have any tips to share?

Photo courtesy of askmen.com