Eat to Live Diet

Usually I will publish research here from leading institutions to keep track of new findings; however, sometimes the best research is from the experiments you conduct yourself. With the New Year in full swing I decided to try my own experiment, which would help me work towards my resolutions this year: getting my diet in check and losing weight--an on-going battle with my genes and cultural upbringing.

The first full week of January of 2014 my husband and I began a new diet and challenge with the Eat to Live diet. I had hear about Fr. Fuhrman's research and outcomes from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, where I am enrolled in a certification program to become a health coach. I then forgot about it for almost 8 months when I came across the book again on my honeymoon. When we returned home I bought the book, and we have now been on the diet for 2 weeks.

Dr. Fuhrman has a 6-week diet plan as a transition into the "life plan." I have found it to be one of the simplest and clearest set of guidelines out of any diet I have ever tried. Here are the basic guidelines:

• Eat at least 1 cup of beans / day
• Eat at least 1 lb. of green leafy vegetables / day
• Eat at least 4 fruits / day
• Limit starchy veggies or grains to 1 cup / day
• Limit nuts to 2 ounces / day
• Limit caffeine to 1 cup of coffee / day or less
• no oils, sugar, processed foods, salt additives, alcohol

While it has been difficult as times over the last two weeks, suck as meeting friends at a bar that where in town, it has also been rewarding. To date I have lost 6 lbs. over the last 2 weeks. My skin also looks cleaner and I just generally feel good. My birthday is 1 week shy of the 6 weeks, so I will be breaking the diet a week early, but I can already see a future eating this way for both my immediate goals, and for long term health. 

I would encourage everyone to jump in and take this 6-week challenge!

Nolan the Colon and Public Health Initiatives

Upon reading some recently released CDC essays, I came across a very inspiring one that my inner artist could relate to. The article is entitled, "Giant Inflatable Colon and Community Knowledge, Intention, and Social Support for Colorectal Cancer Screening."

Over the last 3 years of incorporating Public Health components into my art practice I was really interested in this idea of a 3-dimensional forms being used as an educational tool. Even more encouraging was the conclusion of the essay, which determined that: "Interactive exhibits can improve public knowledge and interest in CRC (Colorectal Cancer) screening, which may lead to increased CRC screening rates and decreased CRC incidence and deaths."

This conclusion is implying that interactive installations can be preventive health tools. We can educate our community to live healthier lives by engaging their senses, and making learning fun. It was reported that, "Community member interaction with the colon model led to significant increases in all 3 domains: knowledge, screening intention, and social support."

Interested to know more about the methodology? You can find this article at: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2013/12_0192.htm

April is STD Prevention Month

Did you know that every April is STD Prevention month? Every year there are 20 million people that become infected by STD's. This costs us all collectively 16 billion dollars each year! Since half of all new STD's are among youth, make sure to talk to the young people in your life, or mention it to their parents as an important topic that should be addressed. 

Below is a great infographic from the CDC about the statistics about STD's. Learn something new, and then share with people in your community. Prevention is a great way to stay healthy!