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Does your office have a dishwasher where you wash your mug nightly? If not, you should be bringing your mug home daily and running it through the dishwasher (be sure it goes through the dry cycle at the end to kill everything) Office coffee mugs hold thousands of bacteria spores and 20% of them can contain fecal matter — ewww GROSS. That said they are healthier than drinking from plastic cups with all the chemicals and environment destruction, just be sure it is thoroughly washed.

A British Study done by the Medical Research Council found that seniors who can still give a firm handshake and walk at a brisk pace are likely to live longer than those who cannot. These were found regardless of sex, age and body size. It looked at mortality from ALL causes and measured the following in people more than 70 years of age:

- grip strength
- walking speed
- time to get up from a chair
- ability to balance on one leg

These may seem simple and well, they are. They are also huge quality of life measurements. If you don’t know where to start – go for a walk. DO SOMETHING!!

I hear the “I have no time” excuse a lot and very very rarely it can be true for some and for others for a very short period of time.

Be honest and check if you have time for the following — I am betting most of the people claiming they have no time do !

- Do you sit for most of your lunch hour? Yes social time is nice but if it is coming at the expense of your health, try walking during your lunch break instead.

- Do you watch more than an hour of TV? Really no time? Take that TV watching to the treadmill or play with your kids or walk with your spouse. Your time is better spent elsewhere!

- Do you put your feet up on your desk when you talk on the phone? Yes I know this sound smalls but STAND UP, WALK AROUND.

- Is your house a mess? Spending an hour cleaning house can burn a lot of calories and all that clutter can make you exhausted not to mention sick.

So if you honestly are at a crazy period of time (new mom, new job, etc) learn to multitask and realize it will get better. If you are just feeding yourself and everyone else a line – GET OVER IT and GET MOVING!

South African researchers have quantified exactly how much various types of nuts can lower your LDL cholesterol. The four winners:

Peanuts
Walnuts
Almonds
Pecans

Next time Grandma wants you to slam a slice of apple pie, consider this.

The filling is apples and depending on how natural it is kept, it can be sugar, flour, spices. The filling including the apples is around 100-120 calories.

A top and bottom crust adds 250-350 calories to the pie.

So if you love the taste, choose one of the following options. A couple of bites and STOP. Or just eat the apples and leave all the crust. You get the taste and you control the calories.

A lot of restaurant food can have so much sodium that one meal can contain a whole day’s or more of sodium.

If you have high blood pressure, this is a dangerous thing. But everyone should be concerned about taking in excessive amounts of sodium. And seriously, natural food prepared at home has very little sodium in most cases. Processed foods and restaurant foods can be off the charts. For example:
A foot long meatball sub from Subway has 2580 mg of sodium. (It also has over 1000 calories so your diet is going sideways with this sandwich regardless of how active you are)

A grilled stuffed burrito from taco bell has 2080 mg of sodium and even thier lower calorie options like the steak burrito supreme fresco style (with 350 calories) has 1260 mg of sodium.

A McDonalds Quarter Pounder with cheese has 1240 mg of sodium and a whopper from burger king has 1420 mg of sodium

If you eat fast food regularly, rethink your choices and whether there are better options for all aspects of your health.

Eating salad once a day can cut your chances of developing kidney cancer. According to a study in Sweden and published in the International Journal of Science. The study tracked 61,000 participants over 13 years and found a reduction in kidney cancer of 40%.

Never tried a garden burger? Maybe it is about time you did. Try eating one vegetarian meal a week. Want to try a yummy one? Try the black bean soup on my recipe website….. www.douglasvilleweightloss.com