Starting 2012 on the right foot!
By Irene Ross, CHHC, AADP (www.eating4achieving.com)
Every year, we vow to lose weight, exercise more or spend more time with the family. We start out with the greatest of intentions, but usually discard those NewYear’s resolutions by mid-February. In fact, according to Medical Daily, 60 percent think they’ll break their New Year’s resolutions!
Here are five you should keep, though. And if you have trouble keeping them, here’s a good trick: Imagine what your life will look like if…(you finish the sentence!)
1. Cook More Often At Home. Cooking feeds the mind, body and soul. And think about it: When you do your own cooking, you control what you put in your body. You’ll probably save money, too, since you won’t be spending as much on eating out–or on those highly processed, chemicalized convenience foods.
2. Always Eat Breakfast. Breakfast breaks the overnight fast and will start your metabolism. If you skip breakfast, or any other meal, your body will think it’s starving and will go into protection mode by lowering your metabolism. That means–you guessed it!–you could actually gain weight by not eating a meal. You’ll probably overeat at the next meal, too, since you’ll probably be very hungry from skipping before.
3. Exercise! It can enhance your mood, control weight and even help to fight fatigue (exercise carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells.) It can even help promote sleep. “Some of my patients tell me they can’t sleep without exercising,” said Dr. Kathia Roberts, Ph.D., ND, D.PHYT to me last spring.
4. Get More Sleep. I was recently told by Dr. Peter Bongiorno, ND, LAc about a study by the Archives of Internal Medicine where 153 people were given the rhino virus (common cold) by nose drop. It was found that those studied who got at least seven hours of sleep per night were 300% less likely to catch a cold. So here’s the bottom-line: Sleep deprivation leads to exhaustion which can lead to chronic illnesses and injury.
5. Always be prepared for the Snack Attack! Rather than running out daily for coffee, donuts, cookies or other calorie-laden, energy-draining snacks, keep them fit and healthy. Be prepared for the Snack Attack! Carry little bags of vegetables, fruit, nuts or seeds. Some people even carry a couple of turkey or chicken slices.
Tags:
heath,
new years resolutions 2012
New homepage screenshot
2012 is going to be an exciting year for neighborbee as we’ve spent all of 2010 & 2011 working on creating and developing the NEW neighborbee website.
The new neighborbee is going to feature all the content from neighborbeeblog and provide social networking features that will connect you with your neighbors.
As you can see from the above screenshot of the new homepage, there is a map that features the address of every blog post, so you’ll be able to ”find out what’s happening on your block and connect with your neighbors.”
In the meantime, you may see fewer posts on neighborbeeblog because most of our efforts will be continuing to organize content on neighborbee as well as finalizing development.
The new site will be released as a beta in the next couple of months. We’ll keep you updated on its progress as we get closer to the launch date.
Cheers,
Anthony
Tags:
neighborbee,
new neighborbee,
web development
Just one more Holiday cookie...
Irene Ross, CHHC, AADP is a New York City-based certified health and wellness coach. She helps people alter unhealthy habits so they can balance their lives. Board certified from the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, she is also author of the forthcoming book, 25 Ways to Fire Up Your Day: Increase Energy, Get More Done in Less Time and Balance Your Life. Her website is: www.eating4achieving.com. Irene is also an Isagenix Cleansing Coach.
Several years ago, on the day after Christmas, a co-worker announced that she wasn’t going to bother eating lunch, because “I’m just going to pig out all day on cookies.”
Several years ago, on the day after Christmas, a co-worker announced that she wasn’t going to bother eating lunch, because “I’m just going to pig out all day on cookies.
Holiday weight gain isn’t inevitable, though. We just think it is, because so many of us see the period from Thanksgiving to New Years as an entire 45-day holiday, rather than three holidays that just happen to fall in a 45-day period!
Adding to that, we’re tired and stressed to the max, what with juggling work, family responsibilities, shopping, entertaining, attending parties and events, and more. Let’s be honest: We don’t exactly make the best food choices when we’re tired and stressed, often seeking out high-calorie, high-fat, sugary comfort foods, so the holiday season can be a holiday battle-ground. It’s even worse if you’re already inclined to be a binge-eater, because the holiday season can only add to those leanings.
Read more »
Tags:
Health,
Holiday,
Weight Loss
Happy Birthday to our angel, Lea Noelle! Today Lea is one and it’s hard to believe a full year has gone by since our birth adventure!
Although it seems like the year flew by, it also hasn’t in a lot of ways. There have been a lot of sleepless nights, but I can tell you that I’ve soaked up every minute of every day. Watching Lea grow from a 5-pound peanut with a high-pitched cry into a beautiful toddler that is almost walking has been an incredible experience.
I have also made the transition to a full fledge dad who thinks about his daughter every minute and looks forward to spending all his free time with his family.
Since Lea is the first grandchild on both sides, it has also been heartwarming to feel the unconditional love that is around her.
One year ago was not only the birth of our beautiful daughter but the birth of becoming a father. It has put everything into perspective and words can’t express how fulfilling life is.
Happy birthday sweet Lea – Daddy loves you so much!
Catch the Buzz!
Ian Duncan is an NYU Journalism student who found our very own Anthony Lobosco on the NY Tech Meet-Up last month. The following is an excerpt from an article Ian wrote about NY based, hyper-local internet start-ups:
Anthony Lobosco, founder of neighborbee, first had the idea for a local information service when he was living in Tribeca at the time of the 9/11 attacks. He was acutely aware of how difficult it was to connect with his neighbors and find out what was going on amid the chaos.
“People are starving for local information,” he said. “There’s a lot of information on large, global social networks, but there is a need for people to find out what’s going on in their neighborhood.”
After three years of operating as a volunteer-run blog, neighborbee will launch localized social networks – cutely named ‘hives’ – this Spring. While some landlords have set up their own sites, Lobosco thinks it is important for residents to have direct control. “There’s no Big Brother who’s looking down,” he said. “If the management company doesn’t like it, it should get things fixed.”
The new neighborbee will enable you to find out what’s happening on your block and connect with your neighbors.
Here are three blog posts announcing the site and talking about our new strategy:
From the hive: there’s going to be a new neighborbee
From the hive: Citizen Journalism
neighborbee update – bending WordPress
Tags:
neighborbee,
NY Tech Meetup
Mark Glaser, a freelance journalist who frequently writes on new media issues, said in 2006:
The idea behind citizen journalism is that people without professional journalism training can use the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own or in collaboration with others. For example, you might write about a city council meeting on your blog or in an online forum. Or you could fact-check a newspaper article from the mainstream media and point out factual errors or bias on your blog. Or you might snap a digital photo of a newsworthy event happening in your town and post it online. Or you might videotape a similar event and post it on a site such as YouTube.
For the past three years, neighborbeeBLOGGERs have been citizen journalists reporting on events, social issues and a variety of other subjects specific to New York City, including the five boroughs.
Citizen Journalism is going to be the focus of the new neighborbee.
As such, we are improving the site to do the following:
1) Showcase the writers – we will have ”trending” content and feature a “writer of the day.” In addition, writers will have profiles that users can click on that will have more details about them.
2) Geo-tag content – Each post will be tagged to an address. This will enable users to search for content related to an address, zip or block. So a citizen journalist can write about something on their block and it will appear on a map.
3) Enable registered users to contribute – When you become a registered neighborbee user, you will have the ability to post content easily and for free.
4) Users will be able to rate content - The neighborbee community will ultimely determine what content they like and don’t like.
5) Give users in Hives the option to make their content public or private – ‘Hives’ is a neighborbee term for private social networks. neighborbee believes that true citizen journalists are members of their offline communities and will also be members of the neighborbee hives.
The neighborbee community will enable you to find out what’s happening on your block and connect with your neighbors while encouraging you to become a citizen journalist.
Here’s the blog post originally announcing the new site.
Tags:
blogging,
citizen journalism,
new neighborbee
Ouch!
For the past few months we’ve been working hard on developing the new neighborbee. We’re breaking new ground and bending WordPress in a way that’s never been done before, so we’ll most likely be launching the new site in late Spring!
WordPress is the content management system (CMS) while Buddypress is the social networking arm of WordPress. While many people think of WordPress as blogging software, it actually is the underlying language for many websites. neighborbee is using WordPress as part location-based public blog and part social network.
We chose WordPress because:
- neighborbeeblog is built in WordPress and we wanted to migrate all the content seamlessly to the new neighborbee
- WordPress is an open source platform – WordPress likes to say that the system is both free and priceless at the same time
- WordPress is the best when it comes to back end and front end usability
- Flexibility – the core software is built by hundreds of community volunteers and there are thousands of plugins and themes available to expand our functionality
- Buddypress is the open source social network based on the power and flexibility of WordPress
The new neighborbee will enable you to find out what’s happening on your block and connect with your neighbors.
Here are two blog posts announcing the site and talking about our new strategy:
From the hive: there’s going to be a new neighborbee
From the hive: Citizen Journalism
We will be in touch more frequently in anticipation of the big launch!
Tags:
neighborbee,
relaunch,
wordpress
I thought this video about the 911 Memorial was worth sharing.
The memorial will be a scared place where we can celebrate the lives of the people that perished that day and also celebrate the resolve of New York City and the United States.
We will never forget….
Irene Ross is a NYC-based Health Coach, CHHC, and AADP. For more information, visit her website at www.eating4achieving.com
Does anyone remember the advertisement that showed separate photos of a pair of hamburgers and one salad? While the burgers showed one price, the salad showed a price a couple of dollars higher.
A study, released today, shows that the updated US Food Pyramid of 2010 calls for more potassium, fiber, Vitamin D and calcium in diets; yet, adding these would also add hundreds of dollars to one’s annual food bill.
While the wealthier population comes closer to meeting the guidelines, those with lower incomes tend to eat more foods that are higher in saturated fats and sugars–some assume they eat these for the taste, but the truth is, they cannot afford the price of fruits and vegetables.
Many feel the government should do more to help consumers eat more healthfully. While many food-assistance programs do provide coupons for fruits and vegetables, some do place additional obstacles that can impact the poorer populations; for example, a guideline in Washington State makes it difficult for women with children to purchase potatoes, which are also one of the least expensive sources of potassium.
To read more of the story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/04/healthy-food-eating-rich-_n_918053.html
What do you think–should the government help more with this cost?
Tags:
Eating Healthy,
Health
Uhhhh!
Irene Ross is a NYC-based Health Coach, CHHC, and AADP. For more information, visit her website at www.eating4achieving.com
Sound familiar?
You’ve had a busy, stressful, week and now you’re looking forward to the weekend, with two whole days of relaxation and recreation. But you wake up on Saturday with a crushing headache—and that derails your plans.
What gives???
That’s a question researchers are trying to answer. The general thought is that anything that produces a change in your body can create a headache—caffeine consumption, food, drink, environment. Some research even suggests that simply going from the workweek, where your body is in a state of stress, to the weekend, where your body is in a sudden state of rest, can release large amounts of neurotransmitter chemicals—which ultimately lead to those painful headaches. And if you’re already prone to migraine or tension-type headaches, your body may even be more sensitive to any changes and, hence, increase the possibility of those weekend headaches.
Weekend headaches are pretty common, but if they increase in frequency or severity, it’s probably a good idea to check it out with your doctor.
Meanwhile, here are some simple steps you can follow to eliminate or reduce them:
Examine Your Caffeine Consumption: Do you drink less or more coffee on the weekends? I always recommend reducing your caffeine intake, and I certainly recommend keeping your consumption steady; for example, if you drink more during the week, but hardly any on the weekend, chances are you’ll send your body into a tailspin.
But the good news is you can still get your caffeine jolt, while still keeping your consumption low: Drink a half and half ( mix ½ regular with ½ decaf), or make substitutions such tea (green tea does have a little caffeine—but a LOT of antioxidants as well), or an herbal coffee like Teechino (found at Whole Foods and many health food stores).
Look at Your Sleeping Habits: Yes, you can get too much of a good thing, and sleep is one of them. Sleeping late is a sure way to trigger a headache, so try to rise the same time each day. Of course, too little sleep also triggers headaches, but the best way to avoid that is to, well, avoid that.
Pay Attention to Diet: Do you eat differently on weekends? For instance, I know someone who often fasts during the week then overindulges on sugary, high-fat foods on the weekend. Both fasting and overindulging on sugar and fat are ways to trigger attacks.
Eat Breakfast: Always. Never skip that, or any, meal. A good, healthy breakfast will start your metabolism and help stabilize your blood sugar and mood levels.
Include Anti-inflammatory Foods: These foods reduce swelling and pain and, as much as possible, should be included: Vegetables, especially broccoli; fruits, especially blueberries; lean meats and seafood (wild Alaskan salmon); green tea; sweet potatoes; extra virgin olive oil. Some spices, like turmeric and ginger, are powerful anti-inflammatory agents. Sugar is the arch enemy, and should be avoided as much as possible!
Check Out your Environment: Look around—is your environment different on the weekends that during the week? Mold, dry heat and other allergens can all bring on headaches.
Tags:
headaches,
Irene Ross
