Lean In

     are you sitting as you read this? most likely, just as i am while posting. by now most of us are aware of how bad sitting is for us. there are many suggestions as to how to alleviate this-stand up desks, sitting on a stability ball, at a minimum getting up and walking around (if allowed where you work). but there is one simple thing that we can do right now to help our backs and its not lean in but its to lean back.
     sheryl sandberg is the ceo of facebook and wrote lean in. talk about pressure. corporate pressure. but the problem we have with our backs is often disk pressure. if we think of the pressure on our backs when standing-hopefully with good posture!-as 100%. if you lean in while sitting to 80 degrees -a very common posture- the pressure increases to 190% squeezing the disks in our lower backs. but if you lean back to 110 degrees the pressure is only about 105%, almost as low as standing. if 110 degrees is not practical try 100 degrees where the pressure is still only 115%. what is 100 degrees? think of sitting at a right angle-90%-then lean back slightly.
    so there may be good advice in the corporate world to "lean in" but good advice for your disks while sitting-lean back.

Arctic Air/Arctic Apples

     many areas of the country are experiencing arctic air with record low temperatures. burrrrrr! not quite sure why a company choose the name of "arctic" for a new type of genetically modified apple that won't brown when sliced. the "enhanced" granny smith or golden delicious apples are supposed to encourage more apple consumption (?) but during the open to the public comment time at the department of agriculture the majority of consumers were not in favor of this these new gmo apples. no surprise there or that they were approved for  our eating pleasure.
     the saying " an apple a day keeps the doctor away" has been with us in various forms for over 150 years. i love apples and they are high in fiber and vitamin c. most of us do not eat enough fiber. although perhaps the old saying should have been " a pear a day keeps the doctor away" as pears have 50% more fiber than apples and more vitamin k. maybe as i am writing this arctic pears are also coming our way.

Maple Water

     last year i ventured into several natural food markets and asked for maple water. the response-blank looks. jump ahead to 2015 and approximately 7 companies are producing this "water" made from unprocessed sugar maple tree sap. it has less sugar, so fewer calories, than the ever so popular coconut water.
     besides less sugar and being all natural maple water also contains vitamin b, manganese and other antioxidants. it is also hoped that if it grows in popularity it will help to maintain forests.
     oddly enough this drink is very popular in korea, especially in the spring as a tonic. i shouldn't be surprised that even amazon now carries it-not inexpensive but you might want to give it a try.

Ad Sense

     not counting the super bowl that had approx. 47 minutes of advertising (and the fact that many look forward to and watch the super bowl ads) the average, hour long tv/cable show has 15 minutes worth of ads. people often watch at least 2 hours of programming a night.
     facebook reports that the average american spends 40 minutes on its site every day.
     the number one reason americans say that they don't exercise-NO TIME.
     more than a third of americans are overweight or obese.
     you can probably guess where i'm heading. cut back on your facebook time and work out or exercise during all those ads! health benefits would come from meeting the minimum requirement of 20-30 minutes of exercise a day. you think that you have no time-think again.