Happiness is Contagious :]

We've all heard how smiling and laughing is contagious and how your smile and cause a friend's unhappy mood to turn around-but recent studies show that it can go even farther than just one friend...it can spread up to three degrees-which really means your smile and brighten up a friend of a friend of a friend's day!
Everyone once in a while wakes up on the wrong side of the bed or dreads some part of their day which can affect their daily mood greatly, which is completely understandable. What researchers in this study are saying is that if and when you can you should try and reshape your crummy mood because it can greatly affect the people around you with whom you love's mood at the same time.
This study also went as far as to concluding that contagious emotions go farther than just happiness. Researchers found that if you quit smoking, your friend is 36% more likely to quit smoking as well! What a good excuse to help your friend or family be healthier, nevermind just yourself! Now, since you've quit smoking you can smile, and once you smile it'll be contagious to three other people around you. That's really spreading some cheer :]
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/05/happiness.social.network/index.html

Poll Winning Recipe: Mid-day Energy Boosting Snack!

My past weeks poll asked you all which kind of recipe you would like to see me post for an idea of how to eat healthier. The winner was a good idea for a mid-day energy boosting snack so here are some ideas!!

1. Trail Mix-my personal favorite-dried fruit and nuts supply you with lots of protein and carbohydrates to give you some energy when you're feeling sluggish. Some great ideas to throw together are dry roasted almonds, cashews, crasins, raisins, banana chips or any other nut/dried fruit you like! You can even add some dark chocolate chips if you're feeling adventurous and need a little something sweet (don't forget it's antioxidant powers!) http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/trail_mix.html
2. If you don't like nuts or dried fruit try bringing whole grain crackers (Kashi is a good brand) and some peanut butter. Again, peanut butter is loaded with protein and good fats to keep you going along with the combination of the whole grain carbs you'll be recieving in the crackers! You can eat an apple, banana, or even celery with pb which all make more great combos!
3. Seseame Carrots- this is a very simple snack to make- all you need are baby carrots (grab some from the DC) and seseame seeds. Sprinkle those babies on and you've got an easy snack to go! You can also add spices and flavoring such as thyme for a little bit of extra bold flavor. http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/sesame_carrots.html
4. Another very simple snack that I love when I'm craving something cold and sweet is frozen grapes. Whoever thought something so simple could be so satisfying??


hope this helps!

More Snow in the Forecast!

Even though I have been anxiously awaiting spring and summer, today's snow fall buys us skiers a a little more time to get a chance to get out there and go skiing! I just wanted to inform anyone who likes to go skiing, has been looking to go for a good price, or wants to try it at all that Stratton Mountain Ski Resort in Vermont has a special promotion right now where if you have texting on your cellphone you can text "skifree" to 22122 and you could possibly win a free lift ticket! Each person can text this number to try and win a free lift ticket everyday so you're odds for winning are by your side (hopefully).
Stratton Mountain Ski Resort is located in Stratton, VT (about two hours away). Stratton Mountain has over 600 acres of skiing terrain to take advantage of. With top ranked terrain parks, beautiful lodging, a slope-side village, sports center, and spa it seems crazy that they're trying to give away free lift tickets! Whether you just want to go up for the day or enjoy a nice get away weekend, there's something for everyone to do there!

for more information visit : http://www.stratton.com/index.htm

Beating Stress!

A very important aspect of wellness is being able to cope and deal with the stresses of the everyday. Being in college, if it's not one thing, it's definitely another-whether it be a mound of homework, social problems, family problems, or even more deeper issues, it seems as though there's always something in the back of your mind that you're stressing about. In between all these things, just when it seems as though your world is going to come crashing down, there is hope! For centuries now people have been practicing many different forms of stress relief, such as Yoga, Tai Chi, and even simple moves like relaxed breathing to help take a break and focus on the task at hand.

There are many health benefits to relaxation techniques such as these which include slowing your heart rate, lowering blood pressure, slowing your breathing rate, reducing the need for oxygen, increasing blood flow to major muscles, and reducing muscle tension. Along with these helpful benefits come the even more helpful, overall wellness related aspects as well such as: fewer physical symptoms, such as headaches, neck aches and back pain, fewer emotional responses, such as anger, saddness and frustration, more energy, improved concentration, greater ability to handle problems, and more efficiency in daily activities! All of these benefits combined can help you cope throughout the day, which will add up to the week in no time!

To read more:

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/relaxation-technique/SR00007.html

Personally, I do yoga to help ease my mind after getting through a busy week while also working on my flexibility. With such great health (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual) benefits there really is no reason to not make time for it in my life. Yoga classes are offered free, on campus every Tuesday night at 6:30pm and Wednesday at 12:00pm in the Ely Gym as well as every Friday from 3:15-4:15pm in the Davis Common Room! I would highly reccomend trying one of these classes, who knows just exactly what it could do for you!

Starting your day off right!

For me, waking up in morning and not hearing my stomach growl as soon as I roll out of bed seems nearly inevitable. I'm totally the person who is sitting in class trying to hide my loud stomach growls every two hours. For as long as I can remember I have always been a morning person, quite possibly helping my love for breakfast foods be my favorite type of meal. I know this isn't the same thing for everyone- I know of some people who can't even stand to think of food until around ten or eleven in the morning, when that's when I'm craving lunch! Although this seems crazy, did you know that breakfast can actually help not just keep you lean, but improve your alertness and concentration throughout the day? A study done with a group of 2,000 teenagers showed that participants who ate a healthy breakfast weighed less, exercised more, and actually ate healthier than the rest of their classmates who didn't!

Although there are many different breakfast foods out there, doctor's reccomend eating a balanced breakfast of carbs, protien, and fiber. A good example of a super healthy breakfast to have is whole grain oatmeal(whole grains) made with skim milk (protien) and add in your favorite nuts and fresh fruit for heart healthy fats and antioxidants! By eating this, instead of the easy on the go Pop-Tart or pastry can really help improve your diet as well. According to the article, eating within the first few hours after waking up helps kick-start your metabolism and gives you energy to start off your day, so even if you're the type of person that can't bare to eat anything right as you wake up. Maybe it could even go as far as helping your GPA? Who knows! If you're one of those people who skip breakfast in the morning, try it out!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/dailydose/11/19/breakfast.lean.eating/index.html

Welcome to my blog!! :]

Hi everyone! This is my wellness & adventure blog, which will be geared towards anything interesting I find about wellness- topics such as quick, healthy recipes college students can make in their dorm, health & exercise tips or new moves, etc-and adventures and expierences I have and go on. I love trying new healthy dishes and cooking for myself (I greatly dislike the cafeteria food) but I also understand that cooking for yourself can be expensive. Hopefully I can find some helpful ideas that will help shape up your diet and still keep on a budget! The adventure part will be a place for me to share any new skiing trips I go on this winter (I have a season's pass to Butternut), hiking/walking trips which I'd love to go on, and any other places I may journey to! So keep reading~*