OSC:Wellness brings you “quick tip” changes for healthier living. A more balanced sense of wellness can come One Small Change at a time.
This week’s tip is from Dave Ramsey, a personal financial expert and best-selling author. Plus, if you’re ready to get started with your own budget, his public relations team mentioned EveryDollar, a free budget software created by Ramsey Solutions and accessible from your desktop, iPhone and Android.
Start a budget When you do, you’ll feel like you got a raise. And who doesn’t want that? Poor money management causes stress. It affects marriages and families and even your health! You can do this! Tell your money what to do instead of wondering where it went.
—Dave Ramsey Personal finance expert and best-selling author
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Looking in the wrong place for nutrition information can cause you to make unnecessary or harmful diet changes, give up foods you don’t need to, and waste money on special supplements and products.
How do you know what information you can trust, whether online, from friends, or in the news?
Join me in the Diabetes Smart Online Symposium to learn how to determine whether a source is credible, and get ideas for where to turn for accurate nutrition information.
Wellness usually means a wholistic approach to health and prevention of disease. The wellness wheel captures the idea that wellness isn’t only physical health, but includes many aspects of how you live your life and interact with people and situations. It is also called the wellbeing wheel, dimensions of health, etc.
There are multiple versions with varying number of sections, but since I first saw this wheel as an undergraduate student at Washington State University, I will describe the version they use.
Each section of the wheel represents a different part of wellness. The sections overlap and are all related, with one affecting the others, but to keep it simple, they are listed as separate sections:
Personal Responsibility (not one of the eight, but it holds them together)
(links in previous list go to the post about that aspect of wellness)
I mostly talk about physical wellness on this blog, but I am going to start expanding that focus to incorporate more information and resources from all parts of this wheel diagram. Over the next few months, I will write several posts that explain each of these sections of the wellness wheel and provide examples and resources for you to use.
I hope you will join me in learning more about health and wellness. Click here if you want to get each of the posts in your inbox for free and haven’t already signed up.
Photo Credit: FrameAngel via FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Leftover turkey is good for 4 days in the refrigerator. Here are recipes and tips to save money and reuse that leftover turkey (and other leftover foods) without getting food poisoning (also called food borne illness).
Eating leftovers is a great way to save money and is better than letting the food go to waste, but be careful to prevent yourself from getting food poisoning:
Keep your refrigerator below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius).
Label leftovers with the date they were made, so that you can keep track of how long they’ve been in the fridge.
Reheat leftovers to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (75 degrees Celsius).
Use an app like Is My Food Safe? (free for Apple and Android) or Leftovers ($0.99 in iTunes app store). These apps tell you how long food is good for, what temperatures they need reach when cooking and reheating, and information on food poisoning. Is My Food Safe also has a kitchen safety quiz and an Ask an Expert feature.
How long do leftovers last in the refrigerator?
This is a general list. Please use your common sense and best judgement – “When in doubt, throw it out!” If it doesn’t look, smell, or taste like it did when you put it in the fridge, it may be a good idea to throw it away.
Meat, poultry, seafood: 3-4 days
Soup, stew, chili: 3-4 days
Packaged lunch meat: 3-5 days after opening
Vegetable salad: 1-2 days
Cooked vegetables: 2-3 days
Pasta or potato salad: 3-5 days
Rice, pasta: 2-7 days
Stuffing: 1-2 days
Pie: 2-3 days
For more information, read…
Do your leftovers add up to a safe meal?
Refrigerator Calculator Printable from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (very conservative on some foods, for example: rice is only listed as 1-2 days)
What kind of New Year’s Resolutions did you make? Was it something vague, like “Eat better,” or does it pass the SMART test?
When setting goals (resolutions included), many people use a technique I learned in school: make them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely).
Specific
Put details in your goal so that you have a clearer idea of what you are planning on doing.
Measurable
Phrase the goal in a way that you can easily tell if you’ve accomplished it or not.
Attainable
Make a goal that you have the ability and resources to meet (or, make sure you have a plan to get the skills and resources you will need).
Realistic
Write your goal so that you do not have to be a miracle-worker to achieve it.
Timely
Include a deadline or time frame in your goal so that you know when to evaluate your progress.
Here are some generic examples with a few of the many possible changes to making SMART goals.
Generic or otherwise non-SMART
SMART examples
Eat better
Eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day
Drink more water
Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day
Drink a glass of water before each meal or snack
Substitute a glass of water in the place of one soda every day
Work out
Do at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week
Attend an exercise class three times a week, after work
Be a better person
Volunteer for one hour on Tuesdays at the local food bank
Compliment a stranger every day
Lose weight
Lose 25 pounds, at a rate of 1 pound each week, through portion control and exercise
Meet with the dietitian monthly to discuss and plan realistic weight loss goals and progress
Get a better job
Apply to 3 jobs per week, until a new job contract is signed
Save money
Save $100 per month for the 2014 European summer vacation
Spend more time with family and friends
Host a monthly movie party for close friends
Eat Sunday family dinner each week
What are your resolutions? Do they pass the SMART test?
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Shelly Najjar, MPH, RDN 