I love a good fruit smoothie after a long bike ride or run. It's also a great way for me to get some fruit all in one shot. I love that. Here's how I make it:

1 banana

1 apple

1 cup frozen strawberries (or fresh)

1 cup skim milk

1 container (6 oz.) Yoplait Light Very Vanilla yogurt

1-2 ice cubes

Break apart the banana, cut up the apple and toss everything into the blender. Make sure it is all blended up and enjoy! Sometimes I will substitute a pear for the apple. You can pretty much add/substitute whatever you want.

Good stuff.

A new study to be published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association shows that as American kids enter their teen years, their physical activity drops. According to the study, 90% of 9-year-olds get a few hours of physical activity on most days, and less than 3% of 15-year-olds do. The study also found that less than one third of 15-year-olds even get the 1 hour moderate-to-vigorous exercise minimum recommended by the government. Read an article about the study here.

The lead author of the study said that possible reasons for the decline in physical activity could be because of schools not doing enough recess/gym classes and increases in use of video games and computers.

I think the take-home message with this study is to help kids get used to being active from a young age and help them continue to do so as they enter into their teen years. Kids that are involved with sports activities probably get enough activity but not all kids/teens enjoy sports. Help them be active in other ways -by walking, biking, swimming, etc.

Physical activity can play a huge role in health. Be helping kids/teens to stay active during those critical years, they will hopefully continue throughout their lives.

A new study being published today in the New England Journal of Medicine claims that a low carbohydrate diet will be healthier for you than a low fat diet. According to the study, the participants who were on the low-carb plan lost an average of 10.3 pounds over 2 years, and those on the low-fat plan lost an average of 6.5 pounds.

With this new study coming out, all the so-called "low-carbers" out there are screaming that they are vindicated. They and Dr. Atkins were right all along. Of course, the media jumps into the fray as well and their headlines scream the same thing: "Low-Carb Beats Low-Fat!" Here are my thoughts on the study and its effects on all of us trying to get healthier:

I understand that a low-carb diet plan can and does work for some people. That is great for them. If that is the only thing they do to prevent chronic disease in their lives then I applaud them. At least they are doing something. I hope they stick with it and remain healthy. Do I think that a low-carb plan is the only "right" way to be healthier? Absolutely not.

I believe in carbs. I need them. I'm a triathlete (maybe just a wannabe, but a triathlete, nonetheless). For endurance athletes, carbohydrates are necessary. You just have to make sure you get them from the right sources.

Another observation I have based on this study is that the difference between a low-carb plan and other plans is not as huge as the headlines and "low-carbers" would have you believe. Losing 10.3 pounds over 2 years versus losing 6.5 over 2 years does not seem to me to be a huge difference. I understand statistics (a little) and know that the difference must have been "significant." For me, though, it comes down to preference. It comes down to what healthy lifestyle changes will people commit to for the rest of their lives. If they stick to a healthy eating and exercise plan, they will be just fine.

I think the "diet debate" will continue forever. There's no question that you can get healthier by limiting carbohydrates and/or limiting fat. It doesn't matter what you do as long as you do something to get yourself healthier.

It seems that every proponent of a "diet" has all the evidence in the world to back it up. Of course they do...they are trying to make money. We all know the basics of getting healthier. A lot of diet plans are just "gimmicks" and probably won't help you. You know what you need to do to get healthier. A lot of times all you need is more motivation.

Again, I am all about people getting healthier. Do what works for you. Make changes that you can stick with. If you don't, the low-carb, low-fat, or low-whatever plan will do you no good. Remember that you don't have to get healthy in one day. It takes time, patience and determination.

Here's an article talking about the low-carb/low-fat study.

Here's an article blasting the study.

My conclusion: Diet (By diet I mean low-carb, low-fat, etc.) doesn't matter. Just eat healthy foods, don't eat too much, and get plenty of physical activity and you will be fine. There is no "right" or "absolute" way to get healthier. Just stick to the basics.

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about new laws in some parts of the country requiring chain restaurants to post nutrition facts on menus and menu boards. I read an article the other day about the reactions some people in New York are having to the new menus and menu boards.

Some people, after seeing the calorie counts on some of their favorite food items, are shocked to see how high they are. Some are making changes to \"healthier\" items, and some don\'t care. Here are some of my favorite reactions that were quoted in the above-linked article:

\"I was blown away. I\'m not a no-carb type of person, and I usually don\'t even think about it. But you pick up a little muffin with your coffee, and it has 630 calories in it? That\'s a bit extreme!\"

-Dunkin\' Donuts customer after seeing her usual morning muffin has 630 calories

\"That surprised me the most because they market it as a healthy option,\" It\'s like false advertising. You think it\'s better than the burger and the fries. It\'s misleading.\"

-T.G.I. Friday\'s customer after learning her favorite salad has 1,360 calories

\"Some people actually tell us we should take off the labels, because it discourages them from ordering what they want.\"

-Starbucks barista

\"I\'m so upset. I wish they wouldn\'t have done this.\"

-Another T.G.I. Friday\'s customer after realizing the meal she wanted has 2,000 calories

Some people might decide to order better things when they eat out and some might not. At least the city is trying to do its part by educating those who eat out. I like the new laws and would like to see it implemented everywhere. I\'m not saying I\'m never guilty of ordering food that I know is bad for me, but it would be nice to know how bad it really is.

This morning I went on a 30 mile bike ride. I still can't run because of my strained tendon so I am getting a little annoyed. I just have to rest it a little longer and then it will be good to go. While I was on my ride this morning, I was thinking about how when I decided to get into better shape I could barely bike more than a few miles. Same with running and swimming -I could only get a short distance before I had to rest. It is nice to realize how far my fitness has come, but I still remember the frustration when I was just getting into it again.

I think the frustration gets to a lot of people when they start a fitness program. Maybe at one time in their lives they were fit but they got too busy to stay that way. They decide to get back into it and they can't move like they used to. Yup, it's frustrating. They key is to stick with the program. Be consistent. A very sedentary person can sometimes have a hard time walking for 10 minutes, but with time it will become easier and they can work their way up to 15, 20, and even 30+ minutes. I love how our bodies are built to adapt. We can't do it all in one day, but slowly and surely we will become more and more fit.

Bottom Line? Get moving. Physical activity is great for our bodies. Start small and work your way up to at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity on most days of the week. If you are already getting enough activity, great! Keep it up.

One of my favorite books is Steven G. Aldana's The Culprit and the Cure: Why Lifestyle is the Culprit Behind America's Poor Health and How Transforming that Lifestyle can be the Cure. In his book, Aldana has a chapter called "I-Don't-Care-itis: The Most Common Health Problem in America." Today I want to share some excerpts from this chapter.

"I-don't-care-itis is a common condition in which an individual has no interest in adopting a healthy lifestyle."1

"Whenever the news media reports on a passenger jet that has experienced difficulties and crashed, it is almost always front-page news across America. What would the reaction be if seven fully loaded 747s crashed in a single day, killing all on board? What if this terrible tragedy were repeated every single day for an entire year? The total number of all these fatalities is still slightly less than the total number of deaths in the United States that are caused by cardiovascular disease each year."2

"A common misconception is that [cardiovascular disease] is a man's disease; however, women are more likely to die of a heart attack or a stroke than men are."3

"Let's suppose you really don't care about your diet or physical activity level because you have seen the miraculous medical procedures that can be performed on people with chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease [...] This ‘fix me up, Doc' attitude is very common; eat what you want, exercise only if you really want to, and, if you do have heart problems [or any chronic disease], just have the doctor fix you up."4

"Preventing common chronic diseases and premature death later in life requires that you take action now, even though you have no symptoms of chronic diseases."5

"When playing with fire, the limits of what we can and cannot do are quickly and painfully discovered; the pain associated with eating an extremely unhealthy diet is most often not experienced during the act. To the contrary, we very much enjoy unhealthy foods because they taste so good."6

"Long-term epidemiological data shows that people who will increase their fruit and vegetable consumption from two servings a day to five servings a day can cut the risk of getting many types of cancer by half."7
"Think long term when you thing about your health. Small investments in good nutrition and physical activity now will have a big payoff in the future." 8

If more people would start caring about their health we could avoid many chronic diseases, or at least delay them until much later in life. We need to do something about our health now. If we don't, we might just become another statistic.