Food-Borne Illnesses

Chances are that you or someone you know has gotten sick from food. Every year, one in six American's get a food-borne illness. Some times it can be tricky to correctly identify the food culprit. Normally raw foods of animal origin are most likely to be contaminated. This could be something like a raw meat, poultry, raw eggs, unpasteurized milk or raw seafood. 

I wanted to touch on some basics of food-borne illness, what foods to watch out for and how to properly handle these food items. If you think that you have gotten a food-borne illness you might want to think about a food item that has been mixed together. For example - bulk raw milk, pooled raw egg or ground beef are food items that are coming from multiple animals and being combined into one product that you are purchasing. This means that it is more challenging to pin point the infected or sick animal in food chain. If you think about that ground beef is containing meat from hundreds of cows or a single restaurant omelet may contain eggs from hundreds of chicken (if it is a liquid egg product). There are lots of places in this food chain where contamination could have occurred. 

Commonly we are hearing about fruits and vegetables carrying food-borne illness. These food items do not normally have these organisms in them, but when they are transported or how they are grown could influence their exposure to bacteria/other organisms. The only way to help prevent getting a food-borne illness from your produce is to make sure you wash it well. Now this may not get rid of all the contamination, but it is what we (as consumers) can do to minimize our risk of getting sick. 

So now that you are terrified to eat animal products and produce you are probably thinking ... what is safe to eat? Well all of these food items can be safe if you take the time to prepare them in a safe manner. Make sure your animal products are cooked the appropriate temperatures (160F for beef/poultry and 145F for fish), you drink only pasteurized milk and you avoid raw shellfish. For produce, wash it well when you get home/before using (even if the label says pre-washed). 

For more information on food-borne illness check out the following links: 

CDC website

Food poisoning resources

Burning off those calories

Thanksgiving was last week and it is time to think about what you are doing for physical activity to help you burn off some of those extra calories. Hopefully you had a delicious and some-what healthy Thanksgiving feast. We had lots of vegetables at our gathering and they were delicious. My mother prepared some roasted squash, peppers and onions and I made a salad. It was a great first course of our dinner. Now if your Thanksgiving was filled with lots of carbohydrates and not enough movement then let's take a look at what you can do to help be active this time before Christmas. 

If you are still eating some Thanksgiving leftovers, then take note of those exercise recommendations for the various Thanksgiving staples we all have consumed.*

*Suggestions from Daily Burn website. 

• Apple Pie (1 slice) = ~400 calories and to burn that off you would need to run 3.5 miles or for about 35 minutes. 
• Pumpkin Pie (1 slice) = ~300 calories and to burn that off you would need to do yoga for 60 minutes. 
• Buttered Roll (1) = ~200 calories and to burn that off you would need to play flag football for 20 minutes outside. 
• Sweet Potato Casserole (1/2 cup) = ~200 calories and to burn that off you would need to take a spin class for 18 minutes. 
• Turkey Breast (6oz) = ~200 calories and to burn that off you would need to ice skate for 50 minutes. 
• Stuffing (1/2 cup) = ~200 calories and to burn that off you would need to run the stairs for 10 minutes. 
• Red wine (60z) = 150 calories and to burn that off you would need to walk for 35 minutes. 

Keep these exercise suggestions in mind as we head into the December and the Christmas season. Staying active, despite the holiday craziness is important. As I was writing this blog post, I stumbled across this great article from Runner's World about staying active during the holidays. CLICK HERE for a link. 

Marathon Training

I am on week #16 of my marathon training schedule and on Saturday (April 18th) I will be running my first marathon ever. I posted back at the beginning of March about how I was water jogging. If you missed out - check of that blog post HERE. I made an effort each week to get to the pool twice a week and water jog for 60 minutes. It has been a fantastic experience. I have been so thankful for that opportunity and I think it has helped with my recovery after long runs. 

I never thought that I would be getting ready a marathon. I have run 7 half marathons over the past 5 years. I started with a half marathon in Illinois after working at NIFS (National Institute for Fitness and Sport) and was inspired by my boss who was an iron man competitor. I thought I could run 13 miles. Up until that point I had never really run over 8 miles. After that first half I started to get hooked. Then in 2014 I decided that I wanted to try to do a marathon. My goal was to run a marathon in November of 2014, but that didn't happen. I was kind of disappointed, but decided I should do 26.2 miles before I turn 27 years old (at the end of April). So on Saturday I will complete my first marathon - 26.2 miles while 26 years old. I never imagined that 5 years ago when I ran my first half marathon I would be running a marathon in the future. 

August 2010 - Very first Half Marathon in Illinois with my sister Ivana. 

It has been an amazing learning experience in discipline. I trained the entire time outside. I don't belong to a gym and I had to run outside. In the rain, snow and ice. There were a lot of firsts for me - first time running in sub-zero weather, first time running over 13.1 miles and first time running for more than 2 hours. 

If you have ever wanted to run and thought about a marathon. You should do it! It is challenging and there were days I didn't eagerly anticipate my cold run outside, but it was worth it every single time. 

Looking forward to Saturday and rocking out 26.2 miles! 

Grocery Store Tour with Fresh Thyme

Tuesday evening I had the opportunity to work with the American Diabetes Association in Indianapolis and put on a grocery store tour at a local Fresh Thyme store on 82nd Street. It was a great opportunity to help provide people who some healthy tips about navigating the grocery store. It can be extremely challenging to know what items to purchase, what is the best time to buy certain fresh produce, what wheat bread means and how alcohol may affect your blood sugar if you are diabetic.  These are all issues that you can run into while navigating the grocery store. 

Here are some great tips to help you next time you head to the grocery store: 

1. Make out a plan for the week. It helps to know what recipes you want to prepare at home during the week. I dislike having to go back to the grocery because I forgot something, so make sure you make a plan. Then planning out your meals/recipes for the week will help to create your grocery list.
2. That is a good segue into the second point. Always make a list! This is a must. You can't head out of the house without a list of things that you actually need. Check the items in your pantry and refrigerator and only put the items on your list that you need. 
3. When you get to the grocery, stick with that list. Don't get distracted by the tempting foods, only purchase the items that you wrote down on your list. This also will help to stick with a budget and may help to save you some money. 
4. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. In most traditional grocery stores the fresh produce, meat and dairy items are located on the outside of the shopping area. All of the processed food items are in the middle items/freezer sections. 
5. Purchase produce that is in season. This is important to help make sure you are getting delicious produce and not spending too much money on fresh fruits/vegetables. There is a great chart that is put out by Purdue --> Click here for the Harvest Calendar for Indiana. 

Eating Healthy During Pregnancy

So as many of you might know I work at a Women's Hospital and I end up working with quite a few pregnant women. It is so important to make sure that you are eating healthy foods while pregnant because your diet has a huge impact on your baby's health and wellness. I wanted to outline just a few of the recommendations that we had displayed in our cafeteria today. 

1. Variety of Foods - This is key! Variety helps to ensure that you are getting different vitamin and minerals in  your diet to help protect maternal stores and promote appropriate fetal development. It is essential to consume folic acid when pregnant to help prevent neural tube defects - the recommended amount of 0.4mg per day. Folic acid is found in dark, left vegetables (lettuce, spinach, kale, etc) and beans (legumes, lentils and black beans. Try to work in 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. The goal would be to consume 3 servings of protein a day. This is minimum and honestly if you are carrying multiples then you need to eat more protein. You need 1000mg of Calcium each day to support pregnancy. Some women aren't big milk drinkers so trying to include other dairy items in your diet is essential (like cheese and yogurt). 
2. Prenatal Vitamins - Taking your vitamin everyday is a must! This helps to ensure that you are getting ALL of the nutrients your body needs during pregnancy. I like to think of taking a vitamin as an insure policy. Even if we try to eat healthy and get enough fruits/vegetables in each day we aren't always perfect and taking that vitamin helps to make sure that you are still getting enough B Vitamins, Vitamin C, Folic Acid, etc. Prenatal vitamins now include added DHA (omega 3 fatty acid) to help with brain and eye development. 

Hopefully you found some of these pregnancy recommendations helpful. If you are wondering what to eat during pregnancy and how to plan meals this is a great video from Baby Center and has a dietitian talking about meal planning. CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

Smart Snacking

Smart Snacking ... what does that mean? I don't know about you, but I love a good snack. Maybe it is because I love food, but I am always looking forward to my mid-morning snack and my afternoon snack. It is important to make these snacks healthy. Don't get me wrong, I understand sometimes you just want a cookie for a snack and that is fine (if it is only one cookie and it doesn't become a routine). The key is making sure that other snack options are healthy. 

What types of foods do you think are healthy and good to include in your day as snacks? Some times it helps to think outside the box and maybe try some new foods. Variety is always important when it comes to eating healthy and getting all the vitamins and minerals that our bodies need to run efficiently. 

Listed below are some great tips from the ChooseMyPlate.gov website. 

Snacking Tips from www.choosemyplate.gov website. Check it out for more healthy tips!

Water Jogging

Some of you may know this, but I love to run. In fact I have been training for a marathon for the past 9 weeks. My first marathon every and I am super exciting and yes slightly terrified. Well after my 16 mile run last weekend I started to experience some knee pain. I knew right away what was going on .... runner's knee. This is an inflammatory condition of the muscles surrounding the patella that is due to weak quadriceps muscles/hip muscles, poor running form, bad shoes or over use. Well I knew that if I didn't change up my routine then this pain was going to persist and get worse. I did end up running 5 miles on Monday, but I ended up walking some, because I didn't want to push too hard. From Tuesday through Thursday I took time off. I spent Wednesday evening doing hip strengthening exercises for an hour. Then Friday morning I went water jogging. I found a community swim time at the Zionsville High school and headed over there to run in their deep end of the pool for 60 minutes. It was quite the work out and I think I am going to work water jogging into my routine. 

                                                                                  http://tinyurl.com/or72lod

If you aren't familiar with water jogging then here are some good articles: 

Latest Research from Runners Connect

Pool Running is Great Recovery 

Off the Deep End

National Nutrition Month 2015

March is National Nutrition Month. Now you might be wondering what that means ... well in the world of dietetics this is the month that we work hard to promote leading a healthy lifestyle! I love the logo and slogan for 2015 because it talks about biting into a healthy lifestyle. The goal is to live healthier, one small step at a time. 

So what can you do this month to live healthier? Are there any habits that you have that you have wanted to change? Start with one thing .... I want to stop snacking late at night or walk for 15 minutes each day. Pick one simple goal and make that attainable this month! 

One of the most common complaints that I hear about trying to live a healthy lifestyle is that it is expensive. I believe that there are ways to make healthy, budget friendly choices. Plus being healthy now helps to decrease healthcare costs in the future, therefore saving you money in the long run. Check out these Healthy Eating on a Budget Tools from ChooseMyPlate.gov. 

Another helpful tip to saving money when eating healthy is to prepare your food at home. This can help you save money and enjoy delicious meals at home. There is a great recipe book that provides ~30 recipes from cookie recipes to dinner entrees using healthy foods that is available from ChooseMyPlate.gov - CLICK HERE for the Cookbook. 

Welcome!

This is my new blog home. I was very excited to actually create a professional website and blog. I have spent the last 5 years writing on my Life Through Green Eyes Blog and then separately posting on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Here recently, Chas (my amazing husband) came up with the idea to have my own centralized webpage where I can have a more professional media presence. I thought it was a great idea and so what you are seeing if hopefully the start to something amazing. We were able to purchase the domain name www.RDAnna.com and hoping to build off of that. It is a work in progress so bare that in mind as we get started with this new website and blog platform. 

Hopefully this will be a great place to post information about new nutrition research, recipes for you to try, tips about being healthy and can be a platform to share my media work with my friends and family.