Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Hello! My name is Kelly and I am a 2nd year Master's student in Nutrition at Bastyr University. I am passionate about food and how it affects our health. Part of nutrition is talking about current issues, hot topics and emerging research...and I love to talk (or in this case type). This blogspot is a great place to combine the two.
As a clinician I will give lifestyle and eating advice to my clients: eat a whole food based diet, exercise, reduce stress, get adequate sleep, etc.... As a student, that doesn't happened as often as I would like or need. So, it's time to put my money where my mouth is!
I plan to follow my own advice and see if I actually get the results I believe will happen: mental, physical and emotional health!
Over the next weeks I will tell you about my struggles and (hopefully) successes to lose the 10 pounds I have gained while in school, and improve my strength and flexibility. Mixed in will be different topics about food and health that are specific to my journey and some things I just find interesting. I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

What is a whole food based diet? It’s eating food that has as little processing and refining as possible. When you look at a food, can you imagine it growing? An example would be whole, roasted red potatoes compared to French fries, an apple vs. applesauce, homemade vs. from a box. As it was once explained to me whole food is like a complete sentence. Your body can read it, understand it and do something with it. Processed/refined foods are sentences with missing letters and words. Your body doesn’t know how to read it, understand it or use it very well.

Exercise or physical activity is very important for health and disease prevention. This doesn’t mean you have to go overboard (not all of us are Arnold Schwarzenegger). For me, walking my dog, swimming with my niece or mowing the lawn are great ways to get exercise without spending large amounts of money for a gym membership, special exercise equipment or work out clothes.

Reducing stress means to me relaxing my mind & body: cooking, reading, writing, gardening, hiking and swimming are great stress relievers. Getting enough sleep also reduces stress…speaking of sleep…I’ve rattled on long enough for now. Stay tuned for more….