Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

I was at McDonald's today, not to order food but to get unsweetened iced tea, an excellent value and tastes good in my opinion. I have my own stevia packets in the car as opposed to sweetening it with Equal or Splenda. Anyway, whenever I'm there, it drives me crazy some of the choices people make when ordering there. I don't say anything to them, but it does give me good incentive to blog about how to make healthier choices. Here's an example.

A woman in front of me was ordering a cheddar something or other burger and asked if tomatoes are extra. The worker told her it would be 30 cents more so she didn't bother getting the tomato with it. She decided to save her money and go for... KETCHUP instead! Now how many of you would think that ketchup is the same as having a slice of tomato? I hope most of you will realize that ketchup is mostly high fructose corn syrup and like 30 other ingredients, very little tomato. It is not a healthy alternative.

Mat, the Fitness Director at the Northwest CT YMCA, chose another food that I eat nearly everyday as the next superfood. Spinach is awesome and should be incorporated in everyone's diet.

So why is spinach important? Just look at Popeye! It does build strength as it's 30% protein. If you combine spinach with sunflower seeds or beans, you'll have a complete protein, all of the necessary amino acids required to build muscle.

In partnership with Governor Dannel P. Malloy, I’ve declared war on childhood obesity and each day an army of kids, parents, educators, elected officials and Fortune 500 companies are joining me to help battle this disease.   How bad is this disease? In Connecticut alone, childhood obesity impacts more than 12 percent of our children.

Making the matter even more urgent is the fact that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity in children jumped 17 percent compared to a generation ago.  And, a multitude of studies have also shown that the childhood obesity epidemic is a real problem. The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a study that found kids who were obese or overweight by 5 years of age, would most likely keep that weight on through adulthood.

I've written about the dangers of childhood obesity before. It's nice to see that the State of Connecticut wants to do something about this problem. I thought I would post their press release as it is such an important cause. Three schools will be awarded $100,000 for a state of the art gym. What better way to help kids get into shape?

As many of you know, so many kids are making the wrong food choices and not getting enough exercise. We need to do something to encourage exercise. We also need to educate both kids and adults about proper nutrition. Too many parents take their kids to McDonald's instead of cooking at home.

I was at McDonald's the other day ordering unsweetened iced tea when I overheard a grandmother talking to her grandson. She was asking him what he wanted to order and when she asked what drink he wanted, he said "Soda"! She replied that she don't normally like him to have soda but it's the holiday season so why not?

This was actually refreshing to hear. After witnessing so many kids refilling their sodas at the self serve soda machine, it's nice to know that some people understand that soda shouldn't be an everyday thing (ideally, you should always avoid it).