Before we get into this week’s top health articles, Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and grandfathers reading! I wrote about how lucky I am to have my dad and father-in-law last year, and I certainly feel the same way today. I’m lucky enough to have two wonderful role models to look up to, and I can’t wait to celebrate my dad at brunch this afternoon!
I also want to wish a Happy Father’s Day to my grandfather, who I’m very excited to see in a few weeks! He’s a wonderful, caring grandfather who I look up to and learn a lot from … and he lets me bug him to drink water to improve his health :).
7 Interesting Things I Read This Week
- Fed Up producers deliver sugar to members of Congress: I’m not usually one for passive aggressive humor, but this one tickled me! There was an important vote on school lunch regulations slated for last week (it got postponed), and to remind members of Congress of the importance and dire straits of today’s school lunch standards, the producers of Fed Up delivered boxes of M&Ms to their desks. There is so much to say about this one that a summary doesn’t do it justice … my fingers are crossed for continued improvements on school nutrition, and I can’t wait to see Fed Up!
- Less is more when pitching veggies to kids: You all know how passionate I am about childhood obesity and childhood health, and I truly do believe that children who eat a variety of vegetables at an early age have a big advantage in terms of long-term health. I’ve read a lot of different strategies on how to get kids to eat vegetables, but when I read this one, the concept seemed so obvious, and I was surprised that I had never thought of it so simply.
- 6 health lessons to learn from introverts: As an introvert myself, I related to every one of these tips! While I like working out in groups for things like group fitness classes, bootcamp, walks with friends, and occasional group runs, I really savor my time spent running alone. It’s a great way for me to clear my mind and “escape” from the world for an hour.
- Social Media frequency guide: You all seemed to like last week’s article on the optimal length of various online content, so here’s a similar one for you. I realized that I don’t tweet nearly enough, don’t optimize my timing, and generally don’t spend enough time trying to get my message out there. I usually only post / tweet / share each of my blog posts once since I don’t want to overwhelm or annoy all of you followers, but this strategy may be preventing me from sharing my message with all those interested. Feel free to share feedback on my social media in the comments, and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest!
- 10 things people with passion do differently: Through college, business school, and the time in between, I can’t tell you how many times I was told to follow my passion, and I responded by saying, “I just don’t have a passion.” Of course, it was right under my eyes the entire time, and now I couldn’t feel more passionate about what I get to do every single day. I love empowering others to be more healthy! I do think that so many of these (specifically, having a vision, taking passion seriously, facing my fears, and taking risk) apply to my life today.
- Overestimating how hard we exercise: This New York Times article was very interesting to me! While I support any type of movement, I think it’s interesting that most people would categorize their slow, relaxed walks as ‘moderate’ exercise. You don’t need to be exhausted after every workout, but you need to get your heart pumping a bit faster … a little sweat won’t hurt anyone! (Of course, I think there is a time for rest and recovery, as well).
- So much wearable health technology going on! You all know I’m not incredibly tech-saavy, but there were several articles on self-monitoring and health tracking that were very interesting to me this week:
- Startup launches first wearable health record for Google Glass: I really, really wish I had more consolidated health records, and I hope that technology such as this one makes better records a possibility for future generations. I’m still not sold on the whole Google Glass thing, although one of my friends is about to begin working there, so I may become a supporter!
- Meet the Smart Cup that tracks what you drink: The thought of drinking everything out of one cup is a bit strange (and would make my strategy of drinking water with any alcohol or other dehydrating beverages a bit tough!), but this is an interesting concept!
- Google Fit set to launch: No one really knows what Google Fit will entail, but it seems intriguing!
- 3 things Apple’s app must do to make us healthier: If anyone can make personalized health “coaching” feasible via an app, I believe Apple can. Of course, as a Health Coach myself, I think the person-to-person tailoring, accountability, and motivation is invaluable, but if we can bring some sort of accountability to the masses, I’m for it!
So tell me in the comments … Have you seen Fed Up? Do you prefer working out alone or in a group? What are you passionate about?
I definitely don’t tweet enough or at the right times, and I don’t even have a blog-related Pinterest or Facebook. Until I get a computer that doesn’t take three times longer than it should to do anything, though, I just don’t have the time to do that. Maybe someday. 🙂
I hear you, Cassie! I have a working computer, but it’s just too much to think about and would take up too much time to do social media “perfectly.” We’ll get there 🙂
Super excited that you followed up with this frequency guide. I am taking over the social media accounts at my new job, so this is so, so helpful. I have to say that I am not so impressed with the fact that people feel that nowadays they need something to monitor every aspect of their day. We have become so incredibly reliant on these gadgets and gizmos (I’ll admit, I am too, but not as much as some) that we can’t function without them. What are we going to do when y2k finally hits? 😉
Haha, I totally agree, Susie! I’m all about some types of self-monitoring, but the thought of drinking everything from a self-monitoring cup was a bit much for me :). I do think the automatic health record tracker would be a wonderful addition!
Interesting about the exercise and people overestimating intensity. I work out alone the majority of the time but feel like I push myself pretty hard on most days.
I do think people over estimate their amount of exercise as well as their intensity (present company excluded of course!!). But as long as they do it they are still getting benefits from it so it’s ok. I also don’t think I tweet enough but I don ‘t want to feel like I am annoying to my followers. I will work on that too! Good articles
Great set of articles as always!
I have to confess that I sort-of snooze on all of the social media stuff, interesting but honestly ‘maximizing engagement’ has nothing to do with why I blog … and feels like a time sink I just don’t have bandwidth to handle … which I guess gets back to the passion thing! And I love that – and the ‘patience’ one is definitely something I see … especially with kids in their 20s! I know when I was in my 20s my professional passion got over the top and I stepped on toes as a result, but given my positive attitude and generally upbeat demeanor I was forgiven and just learned a lesson.
I haven’t seen ‘Fed Up’ … but I loved the idea behind Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (before it got all preachy and unrealistic), and really think that there is SO MUCH that schools can do better in terms of nutrition. We pay for our kids getting school lunches, and while they generally make decent choices it is often a ‘throw-away’ meal in terms of nutritional content. For us that is OK because we have loads of good stuff for breakfast and dinner, but for many that is a big part of the standard diet.
And finally, I agree on the way to introduce veggies and fruits being ‘just do it’. The alternative seems to be negotiation, classification of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods which ends up sending the wrong message, and so on. Which is why I cringe when I read about bloggers feeding their spouses (usually husbands) ‘hidden healthy’ meals. That just bugs me on so many levels … and is an incredibly bad reflection on how we as a country are raising our children.
Preachy end-note connected to the last one – if you have to ‘sneak’ and ‘hide’ fruits and vegetable and roasted vs. fried foods … I would bet 99% that when you have children THEY will grow up with a distorted sense of food and nutrition. As couples we know we have to discuss religion, schools, sleep, and other things … but it is time as couples to discuss our nutritional approaches to child-raising. I know we did that – and it is apparent not enough do.