Yogurt can be more than a quick breakfast...

I enjoy yogurt for many reasons. It is very convenient and fast and it keeps me full for a good amount of time. I usually eat it for a quick breakfast or even for lunch. Before I found this article I never really though of what other things yogurt could be used in. This article talks about Drained Yogurt. This drained yogurt is moist, fresh and tastes like a tangy  cheese spread. If you add garlic and herbs to it, you can make a great dip or dressing. Also this article talks about how some people think that yogurt contains bacteria that is bad for you and doesn't help the digestion process like it should. This is not always true. You need to look for a yogurt that is plain, not overly processed, and that does not have added gums or sweeteners. The yogurts that taste so sweet and fruity are the ones that you need to stay away from because those are the ones that are processed and full of extra sugar that you don't need. So when you have some spare time on your hands think of different things you could mix with yogurt to make it different and not the same old thing.

Drained yogurt recipe

Good Things Come in Orange!

Growing up my parents always told me,"make sure you eat your carrots." I'm sure many of us have heard this. As a kid, I did not like carrots and refused to eat them because I did not think something as little as a carrot could really improve my health that much. Well thank goodness I started listening as I got older because this article explains how important orange foods really are to your health. Pumpkin pie, carrots, winter squash, oranges and tangerines are all full of alpha-carotene. This is an antioxidant that helps people live longer and it gives people a much less risk of getting heart disease. People with high levels of alpha-carotene in their blood stream were found to also have a much less risk of getting cancer. I guess our parents were right after all. This "eating orange" thing should also be pretty easy for people during the holidays  because during Christmas and Thanksgiving I am sure that most people love to indulge in a big slice of pumpkin pie. Now you don't have to feel so bad while eating it, just think, you are giving your body an essential antioxidant in order to live a longer happier life!

Check out more about what good things come in orange!

Can Music Make You More Balanced?

This article was very interesting because I have never heard of anything like it before. I talked about how if elderly people take a eurhythmics class than it can make them more balanced and less likely to fall down. This Eurhythmics class consists of walking and turning around and staying in step to the beat of the music that is playing. This class also helps them with shifting their weight and handling other objects while moving around. This kind of class was originally used to help young children with their balance, but it was found to be just as effective for the elderly. I think that this is a great idea for older people to participate in. Usually you notice as people get older, they become less active and become fearful of falling because they have become weak. With this class, the elderly have an opportunity to stay active and also improve and maintain their muscle strength. Dancing can be a great work out. I notice after a night of dancing that when I wake up in the morning sometimes I am sore. Just because you are not in a gym lifting weights or outside running you can still get a great work out. Many elderly people will not go to the gym or outside for a walk, but if they see this environment with other elderly people maybe they might not be as intimidated to try it!

To read more about this follow this link: Music & Balance

Are You Allergic To Your Cell Phone!?

When I first saw the title of this article I thought it was a joke. People are allergic to a variety of different things, but I never thought of people being allergic to their own cell phone. Some people with sensitive skin may be allergic to the nickle that is contained in some cell phones. Usually you can tell you are allergic to your cell phone if you begin to get an itchy rash right along your jaw line and ears where your cell phone usually rests. This rash will not go away until you stop the use of your cell phone. You will have to do some research and buy a new phone that does not contain nickle in it. This rash affects about 3% of men and about 20% of women. It is more common in women because they are more likely to wear other things that contain nickle such as earrings or other jewelry that add to the nickle exposure. I have a number of cell phones throughout my life and I have never had any rash appear on my jawline or ear so I must have been lucky enough to purchase a cell phone that was nickle free. I think that if I did ever get a cell phone with nickle in it I would get the rash because I do have very sensitive skin. So if you do ever notice a rash appearing on your face, it may not be poison ivy or a serious infection, it may something as simple as an allergic reaction to your cell phone.

To read more about being allergic to your cell phone follow cell phone's and nickle

Only chest compressions can still save someone's life...so don't hesitate to help!

I have been CPR/First aide certified for about 4 years now. Every 2 years I have to take a course in order to get my certification renewed. This past summer in the certification class that I took the guideline's for CPR changed from 15 and 2 to 30 and 2. This was not a big change so it was easy to remember. When I was looking at the Boston Globe I found an article about how health officials now think that strictly compressions can help a person while medical professionals are on the way. I think that this would be a good change because I think that more people would be willing to help strangers if they stop breathing. Right now people are hesitant to help out a random person because the thought of breathing into a strangers mouth grosses people out. Especially since there are so many diseases and illness out there, people just kind of look the other way and pretend not to see what is going on. With this new idea of keeping it to strictly compressions people will now have it in their head that they don't have to even get that close to the person. In the article it says that this new idea suggests that there be 100 compressions a minute until the help arrives. Just by reading this article it changes my views about helping a stranger if they are choking. I know that I am CPR certified, but I have always been hesitant about what I would do if I was in a situation where someone was chocking. Reading this article about only having to do the compressions made me more confident that I would take charge if the opportunity presented itself.

To read more details about this click this link: CPR

Safety Tips to have a fun and safe Halloween!

Since Halloween is less than a week away I thought I would share some safety tips with everyone, even though most of us are past the age of going out trick or treating. Everyone knows some young children who cant wait to get out there and get lots of free candy so pass this along to them. All of the tips that I found on this website are all pretty common sense but unfortunately people don't think before sending their child off to go trick or treating. Now a days I feel like parents are letting their children go out trick or treating alone or with their friends at younger and younger ages.When I was a kid my dad always took me and my friends out, since he is a police officer he always told me to never trust anyone. The tips that I found were simple but very important. The main one that I think parents need to take most serious is the one about checking their child's candy once they are home. Unfortunately in today's world there are some people who will try to tamper with candy and treats in order to take advantage of children. Another tip that was on the list that I thought was very important was to have a talk with your child about entering strangers houses even if you are going to be out with them. A child needs to understand the seriousness about entering people's houses that they don't know. Halloween is a very exciting time of the year for children as long as they are warned about the proper safety precautions.

To read the entire list of tips follow this link: trick or treat

Men Against Breast Cancer

Since October is breast cancer awareness month I decided to make this article relevant to what is going on currently. This article talks about how mainly women are diagnosed with this horrible disease of breast cancer and how the men in these women's lives need to be more aware of what they should be doing to help them through the process. This one man created the Men Against Breast Cancer (MABC) in order to help other men that have to deal with this awful experience. Before this association was created there was never really anything like it before because no one ever considered what the men were feeling while there wives or significant others were going through this. The creator of this association thought that it was odd how no one else had ever considered what a man was going through while his poor wife was diagnosed with such a deadly disease. I found this very interesting to. It is true that people kind of forget about the man, I know that this disease is directly effecting the woman, but now that men are more educated about what they should be doing, it can make the process a little more manageable to both he man and the woman. Some of the things that men are taught to do are that they should make sure to attend every appointment with their loved one in order to show support and to show that they are not going through this experience alone. They are also taught to show affection and tell their loved one that love is not about looks, its about the inner person. This is a very important one because with chemotherapy comes hair loss and with hair loss comes embarrassment. These women need a strong support system!

In order to read more about this association click here: MABC

What Extreme Sport Gets Your Adrenaline Pumping?

I have never really considered myself as a risk taker in terms of participating in extreme sports that would get my adrenaline pumping. I usually find myself participating in more common sports such as ice hockey or volleyball to get my adrenaline pumping. After reading this article about extreme sports and what it takes to get your adrenaline pumping, I am changing my mind about wanting to participate in some of these activities. Out of all of the things listed on this list of activities the thing that I would want to do most would be to go sky diving. I am not really afraid of heights or anything but just thinking about the fact that you are jumping out of a plane with only a parachute attached to you makes me feel a little nervous. A number of my friends have gone sky diving and they said that it was one of the greatest experiences of their lives and that they felt so free. Another thing on the list was surfing. I wish that I lived in a place where I could practice surfing everyday because I love the ocean and I think this would be a very adrenalin pumping activity. The article says that once you have mastered the art of surfing, when you look at a wave you will instantly feel an adrenalin rush. There was one thing on the list that said you can get an adrenalin rush from and that was scuba diving. I thought this was a little odd because I have been scuba diving before and I do not think that it is that much of a thrill at all. I guess it all depends on what you are interested in.

To see a complete list of these extreme sports click here: Adrenaline

Exercising While Sick...is it a good or bad idea?

I have always been curious if you should continue exercising if you get sick so I decided to do some investigating. Before I thought that when I got sick or when I wasn't feeling well I should take a few days off from exercising and physical activity until I felt 100% again but this article that I found proved me wrong. This article that i found said that the only way you should stop exercising is if you have a fever or your symptoms of being sick are below your neck. So if you are vomiting constantly or having diarrhea or your entire body aches then you should stop exercising or physical activity until those symptoms go away. If you are having symptoms of the common cold or symptoms above the neck such as a runny nose or a sore throat you should continue your exercising or physical activity. The only thing that is recommended with continuing your exercising during a cold is to reduce the amount of time that you are exercising for.

To find out more information about this topic you can visit this site: Exercising While Sick

A Wake-up Call for the MLB

This article that I found is all about an incident that happened during a Cubs baseball game. The batters maple bat broke into large pieces and one of the Cubs outfielders was punctured in the chest. This piece of bat just barely missed the player's lung. Even though his lung was not punctured he was hospitalized to prevent a collapsed lung. This has made the MLB think about the dangers of different kinds of bats that are used. In the article it says that these maple bats are much harder and when they break they break into larger pieces and disperse much farther than the softer ash wood bats. I think that this is an issue that needs to be considered more because of the risks that go along with it. This issue could become even more of a big deal if this piece of maple bat happened to fly into the crowd and punctured a fan. I found this issue very interesting because I am very interested in following sports and when I found out about this it incident I immediately thought that it was a great topic for my first blog post.

To read more about this issue follow this link: Wake up call for the MLB