Three women in a swimming pool doing exercises

A Poem of Encouragement for the New Year

I received this from a friend as her New Year Message and wanted to share it. Let’s all strive for good emotional and physical health in 2020! Three good friends went out for a swim. The one who was fat wished she was thin. The one who was curvy wished she was clever. The one […]

New Year, New Start: Goal Setting Tips

The new year is here! We often find ourselves starting the new year by making resolutions hoping that the new habit sticks with us every day for as long as possible. But unfortunately, most of these resolutions are forgotten within a month or two. Do you remember seeing a packed gym in January or February […]

HOW You Think About Stress Matters

We often consider stress as our enemy because we know that being stressful affects our body, our thoughts, feelings, and our moods. Unchecked stress is also known to cause chronic health conditions as high blood pressure, heart diseases, obesity, and diabetes. According to the health psychologist Kelly McGonical, how you think about stress matters; and […]

how to cook

5 Essential Rules of Cooking

Now that we have our new Dinah E. Gore Teaching and Research Kitchens on NC State Campus, I have been doing more culinary training including our Eat Smart, Move More, Prevent Diabetes Cooking School. Working to help others be better cooks always makes me a better cook and helps me analyze what is important in […]

Travel Hack: Healthy Oatmeal on the Go

Eating healthy while traveling can be tough. Whether it’s for one night or one week, being away from home can mean more eating out at restaurants – sometimes for every meal! To eliminate eating out for every meal, I have started bringing my own breakfast every time we travel. It has been a simple change […]

Is there anything to eat on the highway that is healthy?

Traveling and eating healthy is not always a winning combination. How can you stick to your healthy goals and still travel to see friends and family? When you are driving to your destination, it is a bit easier as you can pack a cooler or bag lunch for your trip. Bring along yogurt, peanut butter […]

Cook More, Waste Less

Last summer, I challenged myself and my husband to add more fruits and vegetables to ALL our meals, not just dinner. This summer I challenged myself and my husband to try to not waste any of the vegetables or fruit we bought. This came after finding a particularly slimy cucumber in the back of our […]

5 Ways to Stay on Track and make it a Healthy Halloween

Fall has arrived! Thank goodness!! It’s the time of cool air, football, pumpkins and a steady train of holidays that involve food. Halloween is one of the first stops on the train and is one that often derails our healthy habits. Consider these 5 ways to stay healthy this Halloween. 5 Ways to Have a […]

What We Can Learn From the Longest Living People in the World

There are several places in the world where living to be over 100, with a healthy body and mind is the norm. Deemed, the Blue Zones, these rare longevity hotspots around the world are located specifically in Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia (Italy), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Icaria (Greece), and Loma Linda, CA (US). National geographic journalist, Dan […]

The Best Wellness Hack that No One Ever Told Me

The greatest tool I have found in my health and wellness journey has nothing to do with counting my steps each day or drinking green smoothies. My most helpful tool has been to simply take pauses during my daily routines. Instead of constantly searching for advice on what I “should” be doing to feel my […]