Words Hurt

Words are a tricky thing to mess with, especially when you are talking to adolescents.  Terms like "gay" or "retarded" should not be thrown around willy nilly.  When a person in authority, especially a teacher of professor uses language like this in front of adolescents, it teaches them that it is ok to use that language.  It IS NOT OK! I will repeat that until it is ingrained in everyone's heads.  It is not a proper environment for kids or students to be in when the adults in their lives use negative language to talk about other people.  Gay is technically a term that should be used for something that is happy and jubilant.  Now, it is also a term that is polite to be used when referring to a homosexual individual.  Retard or retarded is a term that refers to someone with a mental retardation, but it should never correctly be used as an adjective for a person.  Someone can have a mental retardation or be mentally-retarded, but they are not simply "retarded" and a situation is not merely "retarded" due to it being stupid or lame.

I always get extremely upset when someone uses this terminology, because they don't realize that it is a form of verbal abuse.  Ponder that! Every time you use a word improperly you are verbally abusing the person you spoke illy about, and you are verbally abusing a person who really does apply to that term you misused.


Websites like www.r-word.org are around to help combat the negative language.  Go online, and sign the pledge.  Be the Change! Change Your Language!

Health Tips to Teach Kids About Staying Healthy-The Food Pyramid

Adolescents need a strong foundation to start their "balanced" lifestyle with.  They need positive role models to show them how to live healthy lives by teaching them health tips like how to cook, and what to cook.  They need to know what healthy living is and how to make healthy living choices.  They need to learn how to follow a balanced lifestyle; this can include eating well, exercising, and taking care of their mental and emotional health as well as their physical health.  

Working Out at Home-the Alternative for a Busy Lifestyle

A great way to feel good, be healthy, and stay balanced is to work out at home! Sometimes busy people don't have time to get to the gym! Either you work late, or you work early, and going on the weekend involves leaving your family for longer than you want to.  So, I am a big believer in home workouts.  You can't use the same equipment, but you can make your own!

Healthy Alternative's to Your Childhood Favorites!

As a kid did you love corndogs? Pigs in a blanket?
Do your kids love them now? But you don't want all that processed fat going into their bodies?
Well, Outoftheboxfood.com has awesome recipes that take your childhood favorites and makes them in a healthy way.
Below are some of the recipes for my favorites!


Corn Dog-
1 1/4 cups of cornmeal
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, plus 1/2 cup for dredging.
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp honey
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
8 uncooked turkey hot dogs
8 wood skewers (you can make these without the skewers if you want and just cut them up)
Vegetable oil for frying, approx. 2 quarts

1. Preheat 1-2" oil in a pot until @375 degrees
2. Put hot dogs on skewers
3. Place cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a container, shake until all combined
4. Add eggs, milk and honey.  Shake until all combined again.  
5. Pour reserved 1/2 cup of flour onto a plate and roll skewered hot dogs in flour to coat
6. Dip hot dogs into container several times to coat with batter 
7. Place corn dog in hot oil until golden brown
8. Remove and put on paper towel lined plate.  

Pigs in a Blanket-
Trader Joes' All Natural Cocktail Pups
Pillsbury Reduced Fat Puff Pastry Dough

Just cut the pastry dough into triangles, then roll the cocktail pups up in the puff pastry! Cook at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  (until golden brown and puffed up).  You can add reduced fat cheese or low-fat mustard before you bake the pigs in a blanket if you would like as well.  Or just use the mustard as a dipping sauce.

Pop Tarts:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 tbsp flax meal
16 tbsp butter (cold)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
5 tbsp ice water

For filling:
2 12 oz bags frozen organic strawberries
1/4 cups raw sugar

For Jam-

1. In a saucepan, heat strawberries until they begin to release juices 
2. Add sugar
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Cool and set aside
5. Place

For Pastry

1. Place butter in freezer for about 15 minutes to make sure it is very cold
2. Whisk flour, flax meal, and sea salt
3. Cube butter into 1/2" pieces and add to flour mixture
4. Blend with pastry press or in food processor until crumbly
5. Drizzle ice water over flour mixture and toss with a fork
6. Turn dough out onto smooth surface and divide into four pieces 
7. Using your hands, press dough down lightly, don't overdue it though and warm it with your hands
8. Scrape up all dough and place on a sheet of plastic wrap, press down into a 4-5" disk and wrap in plastic wrap
9. Refrigerate for about an hour

To assemble Pop Tarts-

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Roll dough into a huge rectangle
3. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut an even number of equal sized squares or rectangles our of the dough
4. Place a dollop of the strawberry jam into the center of half of the dough pieces 
5. Top each jam topped piece of dough with one of the equally sized plain pieces
6. Crimp the edges of the pop tarts with a fork
7. Brush with egg wash and bake for 15 minutes 

These can be frozen too :) Super easy snack or breakfast! 

A Fresh Outlook-Taking Some Time For Yourself.

This is a photo of the sunset on my drive today.  So serene.  

Taking some personal time is an imperative aspect of living a balanced lifestyle.  The past few weeks have been very long and very busy for me, so I decided that since this weekend was a 3-day weekend, I was going to take some "me" time.  I had a work "on-site retreat" Saturday and Sunday, so that ruled out going anywhere too far, or going home, so I decided that Monday I would treat myself.

Eating Healthy Doesn't Need To Be Expensive...and I'll Prove It!

Eating healthy doesn't need to be expensive, and I'll prove it to you! I went to the grocery store today and I was so peeved by how expensive a lot of the typical "health foods" were.   (Ex. Atkins and South Beach bars, Slim Quick system, and other similar products).  But, you don't need to eat those to stay healthy, in fact most of the time, just eating in a healthy manner is much better.

Oh How I LOVED "Love Your Body Week"!

So, this week my posts are more about what is going on in my life, and on my college campus.  I apologize if you are looking for more recipes or fun workouts, I promise those will be back soon! These are all resources you can use as well though!

So "Love Your Body Week" has come to a close on campus! And I had so much fun! Tuesday night Chris Blackburn came and spoke! (Check him out here, http://vimeo.com/54375235).  The Residence Director at the house I live in knows him, so we spoke with him after.  It was a lot of fun! (Photo below). He talked about his time on the "Biggest Loser" and how he went from being winded trying to walk across a room, to now running olympic length marathons....IMPRESSIVE huh?

Wednesday night the Love Your Body Week committee showed the movie "Thin".  The movie follows four women through their treatment at the Renfrew Treatment facility in Florida.  A group of my friends and I went. It is a really unique movie because unlike other films of its type (about eating disorders) it shows their battles before, during and after, and it gives post treatment information on the patients.   You also see real time vitals-checks, community meetings, family meetings, and social time.

My friends and I with Chris Blackburn

I'm so glad that my campus had this program and that I got to be a part of it.  Being aware of the signs of someone with an eating disorder, or if your own eating patterns are becoming disordered or problematic is the only way to help those who need it most.  An eating disorder isn't something that someone just wakes up with one day.  It is something that is festering for months or years.  The patterns are not concrete or the same for every person.  So knowledge is the best power for us to carry.

Healthy and Fun Desserts that the Kids Can Help Make!

Dessert-Everyone Wants It, so EAT it!

Here are my top favorite desserts that are healthy, EASY, and fun to make!


Also, these are a great way to get kids and teens who love to cook involved.  Even inexperienced bakers can handle them with ease!

Top 10 Ways to Make Working Out So Much Fun!

Working out is an integral part of living a balanced life.  BUT....the basic idea of working out can be really boring and a turn off for most people.  Not everyone wants to walk on a treadmill endlessly, and others would rather do that then go outside and run on actual hard pavement.  Some people work out better in groups, like an exercise class or a walking group, while others excel with private workouts.  I fall into the latter category.  I hate working out in a group.  I feel like I always have to stay on a specific pace and only do what the group is doing, so I get bored or frustrated, and then loose interest and motivation.

Baking from a Mix-The Easy Way To Make Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth!

Let's make baking fun and simple! Kids LOVE to help bake, and they love to eat the desserts even more.  So should everyone.  Sweets are an important part of a balanced lifestyle and a good way of creating variety in your balanced diet.  Below are some recipes all made from mixes, which are both healthy, and nutritious.  They satisfy your sweet cravings, while also not making you feel bad for eating them.

Adolescent Health...who is messing with it?

As someone deeply interested in Student Affairs, and with a major background in athletics and athlete mentalities, I have always had a sweet (or sore...depending on how you look at it) spot for how influences affect adolescents, especially when it comes to their health and their self-worth. Why are so many young people obsessed with their weight? And why do we always assume girls are the only victims? Are young men seemingly unaffected by eating disorders? NO WAY!

Welcome to the Balance

Dear New Readers,
Hi there, my name is Monica and I am a former gymnast/dancer/cheerleader turned coach (oh the world of injuries).  Growing up I never felt like my schedule was that strenuous...  I started in dance and gymnastics, then my parents had me branch out.  I swam competitively each summer, I tried tennis, I played five years of soccer, I figure skated, and I finally just decided that dance and competitive cheerleading was the best for me.  My four-a-week practice schedule never seemed all that bad to me.  My mom probably didn't like driving me all around the county from home to school, to practice, back to home, then rinse and repeat.  But I had found my passion.  When I was old enough to start babysitting, I distinctly remember going over to my first sitting job.  It was a sunny summer afternoon on Balboa Island in Southern California (So Cal girl born and raised right here!) After the parents had left, I asked the two little girls if they wanted to walk down to the park and play on the jungle gym and the swings.  Both of them looked at me like I had just asked them if they wanted to donate a kidney.  There horror of playing outside!! I was told that they would much prefer to watch a movie and play computer games.  After talking to them further that evening I found out that they didn't play any sports,  didn't go to the park very often, and really only played on the computer and read books after school.  Reading is important; I haven't mentioned yet, but I am an English Education major, so I love to read, but being active and living a balanced life is important to.  I think this is where my passion for adolescent health and adolescent fitness started.

Fast-forward to today:  I love working with my athletes and the students I teach and I always stress to them about living a balanced life style.  It doesn't mean just eating healthy, or going outside once a week.  It is doing it all in a good balance.  It means sticking with it.  Adolescent health is important because that is where is all begins.  If adolescents can understand a balanced lifestyle, then they will be more inclined to follow it in the future.

Bye for now!
Stay balanced :)