Less active as a senior in college then freshmen?

According to a new study, the freshmen fifteen is not all we need to worry about as college students in regards to our weight.  A survey of 1,672 students at Indiana University were asked about their exercise and resting habits.  Freshmen spent about 16 and a half hours a week doing some kind of physical activity while seniors only about 12.  Time spent walking decreased from more than eight hours per week to less than six.  Time spent sitting increased from about five and a half hours per week to six hours and fourty-five minutes.  These results are most likely due to the amount of work compared to the amount of free time senioirs have compared to freshmen.  I know as a freshmen I had a lot more free time then I do now as a senior, and I felt as though I was using that free time being active.  Now as soon as I get any free time, I just want to relax because I am so busy and tired all of the time.  I know how important it is to stay active and knowing that exercise can give me energy is a good source of motivation.  I think this is an interesting fact that I know takes place on a lot more campuses than just the one where this survey took place.  There are many things we can be doing to stay active, just finding the time for it is the key! seniors vs. freshmen

Picky eater? You may have 'selective eating disorder'

I was drawn towards this article right away because I am one of the pickiest eaters I know.  I do not like a lot of food and often refuse to try food, and just decide by the smell or texture that I do not like it.  This article, for obvious reason, grabbed my attention.  Researchers think that there are thousands suffereing from a previously unrecognized illness called selective eating disorder, more commonly known as very picky eating.  These individuals instead of having a couple foods they avoid, feel there are very few foods they are even capable of eating.  It is thought that most people with this disorder are highly embarrassed by their limited food desire and will go to extreme lengths to keep it hidden.  For these individuals, bland, processed foods are favorites.  This extreme pickiness seems to have trends, such as selective eaters tend to like similar foods, love bland and processed foods and love salt.  There are certain ways to help prevent permanent pickiness such as starting your children off on the right start.  While I know that I do not like a lot of food and do not even want to try a lot of food, after reading this article I feel better about my picky eating and do not think that I have a selective eating disorder.  I grew up around a mother who didnot like seafood, so I don't eat seafood.  I also do not try a lot of foods because I do not like the texture, but I know that I do not mind the taste.  In order to convince myself even further, I will make a serious effort to try more foods when the opportunity presents itself.  I have a good feeling that I'll like what I taste!  This information was taken from website.

Eating disorders on the rise!

A new review led by researchers of University of Michigan found eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulima are on the rise in U.S. children and adolescents.  An analysis reported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found eating disorders sent 119 percent more children under 12 to hospitals in 2006 than 1999.  This number is disturbing because these are children under the age of 12, and the problem only gets worse for the percentage of teens and young adults! The fact that 86% of women surveyed on a college campus report onset of an eating disorder by age 20 and 43% report onset between ages 16 and 20 shows how large of a problem this really is.  The number is also growing for men with an estimated 10-15% of people with anorexia or bulimia being male.  I personally have known a distrubingly large number of friends who have suffered and are still suffering with an eating disorder and it is a problem they were struggle with for the rest of their lives.  I think this is a subject that needs to get more attention and that parents and friends should be on the look out for.  Eating disorders can lead to so many side effects and I had a friend that needed to be hospitalized because her disorder became so bad.  For women, 20% suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complicatoins related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems.  This is a serious disorder and I think it needs to be discussed more often in schools throughout all grades.  If you want to learn more facts you can go to national association for anorexia nervosa and associated disorders.

Adderall and College Students!

While in college, many students are looking for the best way to stay up when they have to pull all nighters.  The most popular way, at least on this campus, is to take adderall.  Adderall is a medication used to control ADHD.  The drug helps many people increase their ability to pay attention, stay focused, and contol behavior problems.  The product is thought to work by restoring the balance of certain natural substances in the brain.  It is stated that it should not be used to treat tiredness or to hold off sleep in people who do not have a sleeping disorder, which is what a large number of students use it for on this campus as well as its ability to help you pay attention and stay focused.  Warning for this drug is misuse or abuse may result in serious (possibly fatal) heart and blood pressure problems.  It can be habit-forming and with prolonged use, drug dependence may occur.  Other side effects are loss of appetitie, weight loss, dizziness, headache, trouble sleeping and much more.  There are certain medical conditions that if you have you should not use adderall which many people would never even think about looking up before taking the drug.  I think it is important for students to learn of the warnings and side effects because there are serious problems that can occur if this is taken with out speaking to a doctor first!

Walking may slow brain decline!

While in college, I often find it difficult to make time for the gym.  It is important to me to stay as active as possible, so my roomate and I have begun bring our books to the gym!  While we can not do as much of the cardio would would like to while reading, we have found that we are still able to walk on the treadmill while reading, which we figure is much better than sitting on the couch or at a desk reading.  While looking over the health section of CNN.com I came across an article that states that walking can help slow brain decline.  There is an ongoing 20-year study whree participants are monitored for the distance they walk each week.  Their brain volume is measured using MRI, combined with other testing and are using a 30-question mini-mental state exame, which helps measure cognitive decline in the brain.  Researchers are following 426 people, 299 of which are healthy adults and 127 are cognitively impaired adults, including 83 with mild cognitive impairment and 44 with Alzheimer's disease.  Participants walked between zero and 300 blocks per week and researchers say the greater mounts of walking were associated with greater brain volumes, espically in the key memory and learning areas of the brain!  Individuals with cognitiv eimpairment needed to walk at least five miles per week to slow cognitive decline and maintain brain volume and healthy adults needed to walk about six miles per week to maintain brain volume and reduce their risk for mental decline.  I think it's amazing that something so simple as walking can have such a significant impact on out mental decline.  I now not only feel good about walking because I am keeping my body healthy, but now I know I am also keeping my mind healthy! To learn more about this click here.

Calories Burned doing your daily routine!

Because I am a busy college student and do not always  have as much time as I would like to hit the gym or to eat as healthy as I would like, I decided to do some research on just how many calories I burn during my normal day.  There is a website that you can enter how many minutes a day you do particular activities and it will tell you the amount of calories you burn.  On a typical day for me, not adding in any time spent at the gym or purposely doing exercise, I burn 1,687 calories a day.  This includes activities like sleeping, brushing my teeth, standing, reading and showering!  Once you add in the calories I burn when I can get myself to the gym I am burining a lot more than that which is great to know!  This gives me more motivation to get to the gym and to watch what I eat because it really is easy to burn calories.  While you obviously need to put more effort into staying in shape then by brushing your teeth, this website can show you how many calories you would burn in a day if you add just one hour of exercise in which is a great form of motivation!  To find out how many calories you burn in a day check out this website!

Lemonade Diet

My roomates sister as well as a few other people I know have tried this "Lemonade Diet" and have lost a lot of weight doing it!  I decided to do some research on this to find out if it really works and just how good for you it really is! This diet is a cleanse that is supposed to help individuals help and re-gain their health in 7-10 days.  It is even supposed to help cravings of bad food and addictions!  What the diet consists of is drinking lemonade 6-8 times a day, drinking salt mixed in water every morning, and drining a smooth laxative tea before bed every night.  The catch is that you are not allowed to eat any other food for 7-10 days which is way it's not easy!  Apparently, the diet does work when done correctly!  The diet gets rid of excess weight, gets rid of toxins and undigested food in your body, energizes and regenerates your health, gets rid of chronic conditions and fatigue and more!  If you want to read more about the benefits of this diet you can click here. The negative part of this diet is that first of all you can not eat for 7-10 days, which is obviously not healthy.  Also much of the weight that is lost will be from fluid and water retention.  It is concluded that at least half of the weight will come back after ending the diet! I think if someone is trying to loose weight they should eat healthy and hit the gym, because diets like this always have negative side effects!