Monthly Archives: January 2013
Student Health Advisory Committee
My enthusiasm for promoting a healthy life style is not just through this blog. Part of my involvement on campus is with the Student Health Advisory Committee: SHAC. My freshman year, I saw an advertisement from Campus Health Promotions introducing the club to our school. We applied, interviewed, and became a brand new group of students interested and involved in “healthifying” our student body.
The first year is a little difficult to make a big impact, and we focused on structuring the club, planning and preparing for new events.
It’s inspiring and rewarding being around a group of like-minded people who want to see a change for the better in our student population. My focus is always on nutrition, though I know there are many more aspects to health. We have a “Tobacco Task Force” who is working really hard to make our campus smoke-free, and other members working on different aspects of health.
For me, I would like to see the calories posted on all of the menus around school. We have a Starbucks that is constantly full, and I’m willing to bet they go through over 500 of their chocolate chunk cookies a day. Maybe if students knew that each cookie contained 400 calories, they might think twice before adding it to their latte.
So many of the choices in the cafeteria are so sodium-heavy and I think it would be great to see the kitchen start using healthy alternatives like garlic & lemon juice or pepper and herbs for dishes instead of salt, oils and grease. I know the main hurdle is cost, which is something we have to be extra creative about when SHAC creates its proposals to make healthy changes.
Currently I’m super excited about our newest project, hosting our very own “Amazing Race” for students to compete in teams of two. I love The Amazing Race & have always wanted to apply for the real show. Until then, this mini-version should be just as fun and hopefully inspire a few more students to kick start some healthy habits :)
New Favorite Exercise
My new favorite exercise: Box Jumps. I always see guys jumping up on ridiculously-tall boxes at the gym, and I cringe for a moment before they land it. It looks so intimidating! I have done small little box jumps before, sometimes on soft, padded “boxes.” But on Tuesday, I did a series of box jumps, forward and lateral on some pretty decent-sized platforms. I think they just might be better than squats & lunges! My quads were burning and it really got the heart rate up. I’m still sore today (in that totally great way.) :)
Trying something new at the gym pays off; once you do the same routine for a couple months, your body adapts to the exercise and becomes more efficient. You lose the “soreness” feeling and start to burn less calories. In high school, my coach would switch up my morning gym routine every 4-6 weeks. It also keeps you from getting bored! I love my crunches but my muscles are so used to them now, it’s not effective anymore.
Along with my self-imposed challenge to be able to do at least 1 chin-up (don’t laugh) by the end of the year, I want to replace my squats & lunges with box jumps for a while. I like work-outs that you have to get hyped for! Let’s just hope my klutziness doesn’t get in the way and lead to an embarrassing face-plant ;)
Crab-Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers
If you are experiencing the extreme-cold weather as I am, you will appreciate these spicy Jalapeno Poppers! And by “extreme cold,” I don’t mean the 55 degree weather that Southern Californians are in a tizzy about….. I’m talking negative degrees, bitter chill, freeze-your-face-off extreme cold.
So for a temporary escape from the reality of winter weather, here’s some hot n’ spicy appetizers:
We made these as a fun appetizer, and if you don’t remove all of the seeds and membranes, your mouth will be on fire! These little poppers are “healthified” by substituting whole grain cracker crumbs and Greek yogurt.
Crab-Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers:
- 12 Medium Jalapeno Peppers or Small Sweet Peppers
- 12 ounces Crab Meat
- 2/3 Cup Plain Fat-Free Greek Yogurt
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 Green Onion, finely chopped
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 heaping teaspoon Spicy Mustard
- 1/2 cup Whole Grain Ritz Cracker crumbs
- 1 Tbs melted butter
- 1 Tbs parsley, chopped
- Wash and cut jalapeno peppers in half, length wise. Scrape out seeds and membranes to reduce the heat, and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, combine crab meat, greek yogurt, egg yolk, green onions, mustard (plus and salt and pepper to your liking). Pour in 1/2 of the cracker crumbs.
- Spoon the crab mixture into the Jalapeno “boats” and place on an ungreased baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, mix the remaining cracker crumbs and parsley into the melted butter. Spoon this crumb topping over the Jalapeno Peppers.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the top is golden and crispy.
I hope you are staying warm! It’s mornings like these when I appreciate my coffee the most ;)
