Beach Bodies

As you may know, Protein World launched this ad campaign designed to make people feel bad about their weight.

Since then, there has been somewhat of a public outrage.  People have been defacing the ads with more positive messages or standing around the ads in their own bikinis, even though they didn't fit the "beach body" image provided by this ad. 

Plenty of companies have also joined in, presenting their own ads to promote body positivity.

Companies have been using women's insecurities like this for years to help sell products and people are finally taking a stand against it, promoting positive body images.

After 12 years of eating disorders - How fitness and nutrition helped Sinead Forde find a healthy balance

Article

Article Summary
Freya Drohan wrote about Irish woman Sinead Forde and the various eating disorders that she had been battling with for over a decade.  Drohan writes that Forde had always been self conscious about her weight and started dieting at age fifteen because she thought it would make her happier and more popular.  She was diagnosed with anorexia and sent to a weekly support group but had no interest in recovery and ended up in the hospital twice by the time she was eighteen.  Forde spent the next three years as in inpatient at a private hospital and was told she was a chronic anorexic and would never have a normal relationship with food.  Despite this, she was determined to go on with her life and enrolled in Dublin City University where she got the opportunity to visit America for a three months.  This was good for her because she got a break from pressures at home and started eating again.  She stayed at a healthy weight for about a year but everything fell apart again when she got back to college.  She started eating to feel better.  This quickly developed into binge eating and she was soon overweight, despite working out and trying countless dieting techniques.  She felt worse now than she ever had before and made a new year's resolution to get back to a healthy, maintainable weight.  She started lifting weight with her instructor, Stephen, and met with a dietitian to help her control her binge eating.  After a year of hard work and dedication, she managed to get back to a healthy weight and feels better than ever.  She loves working out and encourages others to take control of their bodies and to not take shortcuts because she knows firsthand that it's worth the extra effort in order to look and feel good.

Disorders and How to Get Help
In the article, it says that Sineade Forde dealt with both anorexia and bulimia.  She did exactly the right thing by seeking out help.  In the beginning, it was her parents that contacted all the doctors and the support group and everything but she went along with it and allowed herself to be helped.  Eventually of course, you need to help yourself and Forde did just that.  She got away from everything at home that was making her feel bad about herself by spending those three months in America.  She overshot, however and began eating too much.  It was only a year or two that she put up with her bulimia before seeking out help for herself this time.  She had tried short term solutions like fad diets and knew that she needed a long-lasting solution so the began exercising with a trainer to help her out as well as finding people who could help her maintain a healthy diet and a healthy relationship with food.  An eating disorder isn't something you can beat on your own and there are all kinds of treatment centers and support groups and individuals out there ready and willing to help out someone with an eating disorder.  All you have to do is ask.

Snack Recommendation: Fruit Leather

This product, which I personally enjoy very much, is Stretch Island Fruit Co.'s fruit leather.  They are gluten free, non-GMO, and contain a 1/4 cup of fruit per strip.  Each bar is only 45 calories and there aren't any strange, unpronounceable ingredients.  There's always 5 or less (depending on the flavor) different fruit purees and that's it.  It's all fruit!  As for the nutritional information, there's not a whole lot going on there but it's not all bad.  These bars have 5% of your daily dietary fiber and 4% of your daily Vitamin C.  There's a little bit of potassium and a few carbs but both are less than 4%.  Now, these fruit leathers may not be the best snack in the world, but they are way better than chips, cookies, and the like.

Healthy Recippe: Red, White, and Blue Parfait

Makes 6 Servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups raspberries
• 2 cups pitted cherries, sliced
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 6 cups plain greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together raspberries, cherries, blueberries, and lemon juice.  Set aside.
2. In another bowl, mix yogurt, vanilla, and lemon zest.
3. In 6 small glasses, layer 1/2 cup fruit mixture, followed by 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup fruit, and another 1/2 cup yogurt.  Top with a sprig of mint, a few blueberries, or some lemon zest.  Enjoy!

Family Hiking Trip Photos (Summer 2014)

Physical Activity: Hiking

One thing I do to keep healthy is hiking in the mountains with my dad.  We usually go during the summer and we choose one of the White Mountain Range's 4,000-footers and we make a day of it. One of my favorites is Mount Major which we hike often.  We pack our backpacks with lunch, snacks, plenty of water, and maybe an extra layer and we head out.  It usually takes us about an hour or so to get to the top depending on the mountain.  We take a few breaks along the way to rest and drink water and we stop at the top for lunch.  Whenever we hike Mount Major we usually use an empty water bottle or something to collect wild blueberries to bring home with us.  The descent usually takes about two-thirds of the time it took us to hike up and we're down at the bottom and finished with our hike after 2-3 hours (depending on how long we stay at the top).  I have family living in North Carolina and they're really big hikers as well.  We always hike together whenever we visit each other and last summer we rented a cabin in the mountains and went on a hike every other day.  Everybody on my dad's side of the family is really big on fitness and they all love to hike so it's a great way for me to be able to spend time with my family.

Obstacles in Maintaining a Healthy Weight: Time Management/

One of the biggest problems I have in life is my time management.  I'm always showing up late to events, turning in late events, and just plain forgetting things I'm supposed to do.  I prioritize the wrong things and end up not finishing most of the projects that I start.  This has been true for most of my life and affects many aspects of it including school, social life, and fitness.  Twice I have been a part of a sport I enjoy and then left because of scheduling conflicts.  The first sport I quit was gymnastics.  I had been doing it for five years was about to start entering in competitions.  The problem was, I had also started taking after school art classes.  As much as I loved gymnastics, the competition coach scared me and I had always loved art so I decided to leave gymnastics and do the art classes.  As it turns out, those "classes" were more of a workspace than a place to learn but I still enjoyed it and continued on with it for about two years without doing any kind of sports or workout.  It was around that time that I joined karate.  My brother had been going for years and we were friends with the owner so I joined up and was nervous at first but quickly learned to love it.  Karate was great because not only was I getting a great work out, but I was learning practical self defense as well.  I did that for a year or two and it was going well.  However, I had also joined drama earlier this year.  I had only intended to help paint sets but my friends sucked me in and, by the second show, I somehow ended up with five parts.  Anyway, my rehearsal schedule had begun to conflict with my karate schedule and I was missing classes left and right.  Because of my poor time management, I was staying up late to finish all my homework so between that, staying late for drama, and going to karate, I was constantly tired.  I started missing due dates and not turning in assignments and my grades went down like the Titanic.  I knew I had to get rid of one of the activities and, once again, I quit sports in favor of the arts.  Now, I don't necessarily regret choosing the activities I did.  I just acknowledge that it would have been good for me and for my health if I had stayed with them.  Once my schedule open up, I may go back to karate but, for now, I'll stick to what I've got.  At least in the summer I can hike and go rock climbing with my dad.