Dining Out

After trying to loose weight, I have finally realized that dining out can totally ruin your good streak for the week! When people go out eat they usually completely indulge themselves like they haven't eaten in days. Restaurants are aware of this and do certain things to make the patron eat as most as possible. Many restaurants give bread, soups and salad bars. Many people think they can go to a restaurant and choose a healthy meal, although pretty much anything you choose is twice as high than how it would be if your made it in your own home. Restaurants use excessive oil, butter and cream in everything. In order to shy away from this you can ask if the chef can custom order your meal. Ask for fresh vegetables and a dry piece of chicken or meat. If a dish sounds creamy and delicious it is most likely full in fat and high in calories. Many people also don't realize that the bread restaurants serve are already loaded with oil and butter before it hits the table, even though they still give you more butter and a plate of oil. Tips to avoid overeating at the restaurant, is to go there after eating a healthy snack an hour before you leave the house. This will help the excessive eating and kick in the self control aspect. Another mistake we make is the number of drinks as well as what kind of drink. Check out the drink specials: margaritas, martinis, coladas ect. These drinks are not only loaded in calories but loaded with sugar. A healthier drink to order is either a light beer, glass of wine or vodka with diet soda. Lastly, order something that you know won't make you undo your pants when you finish eating it. Order something that sounds healthy like chicken terriaki instead of creamy chicken and broccoli over penne. Every American enjoys going out to eat, although it can make us pack on the pounds so just be cautious!

Sex Education

Over the past couple of years, many school districts have found the need to cut down their budget. These unfortunate cuts in the system have forced educators and administrators to get rid of sex education and occasionally physical education. The article I recently found in USA today talks about sex education and the reason every school should have it. Many schools still offer sex education, and the ones that do have stirred up the controversy on whether or not they should say sex is okay before marriage or not. Many schools teach that sexual intercourse is absolutely not okay prior to marriage, while the realistic education should not be for the subject but just awareness of the outcomes as well as protection and contraceptives. Studies have shown that more than 60% of American children, before the age of 18, have taken part in sexual activity. This goes to show that every school should have sex education to help these children realize the correct ways and what can happen. Instead, facility have this outrageous thought that kids living in today's world don't have sex before marriage. Yes, I'm sure people still do although where I grew up it was very uncommon and from these statistics, shows that my school wasn't the only one!

To see this article go to: www.usatoday.com/news/health/child/2002-07-11-sex-ed-controversy.htm

New X-Ray found!

Over the past few years, many studies have been done to see if there was an easier way to detect for the second leading cause of death in American - Colon Cancer. The only way we used to be able to find this out is the unfortunate colonoscopy, which many people try to avoid at all costs. More recently, scientists have found a high tech radiation X-ray to find these cysts and abscesses in the color from outside of the body. It is more technical than a CT scan and much less serious than a colonoscopy. The advantages to have this X-ray is so that more people will be less likely to get their annual colon check after a certain age. Also, it helps individuals that suffer from severe digestive track diseases. Many people have to receive annual and semi-annual checks, for they are more likely to grow these unfortunate lumps, although now with the latest breakthrough it will be much easier to follow up with your screenings.

To find out more and where I got this information from, please visit: http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-health/20080920/MED.Colon.Cancer.Screening/

Adolescent Eating Disorders

I was recently watching a commercial for Dove. The commercial was a young girl that was having all these visions of thin, blond and beautiful people. These thoughts and ideas that are put into young girls minds are happening at a younger and younger age. On television, in movies, on the Internet and in magazines the female is this creature that barely no one actually is. These women and characters are not only making teens and women feel as though they must be that person that is so skinny, tall, blond and beautiful but now we are facing the same challenges with eating disorders in girls starting at the age of five and six. USA today recently did a study on this topic and found that over 10 million girls have an eating disorder, which is about 10 percent of all American children. Instead of playing outside, riding their bike, at the dance studio or doing homework, these girls are more concerned with what they put in their mouth and how they are going to get to look like that supermodel they keep seeing on television and on the front pages of magazines.

Feel free to read on at: www.usatoday.com/news/health/child/2001-12-13-eating-disorders.htm