The Truth about Midnight Snacking

It’s 12am. You have an essay due at the start of an 8am class…today, and if you are anything like me, you will turn to food right now. Lots of food.

I often wonder as I am shove handfuls of “healthy” granola down my throat, if I am just asking to gain some jean sizes. Isn’t snacking supposed to be good for your metabolism? Does this change at night?

Articles such as, “Midnight Snack Won’t Pack Fat” suggest that our bodies can’t tell time, so don’t worry about late night munchies as long as they are healthy. However, this conclusion was made based on a study that used monkeys as the test subjects.

When it comes to fifty two human samples however, results showed in an Obesity journal study that eating late can lead to weight gain. Those who ate after 8pm gained more weight than those who stopped eating earlier. The cause is still uncertain, but it could be connected to the fact that the late-eating human guinea-pigs got less sleep and thus had slower metabolisms.

Eating certain foods late at night interferes heavily with your sleeping pattern. Like fuel in a car, sleep powers our fat-burning metabolisms. So if you want to get more of this fat-burning tool, avoid these foods according to Dr. Oz to get a good night’s rest:

The Sugary and Spicy: Yes, the good stuff. Obviously cakes and cookies (even Insomnia cookies, but I’ll admit they may be worth the extra pounds). Even my granola cereal contains so much sugar that it will cause a spike in energy that disrupts my sleep. Spicy foods can help you burn calories during the day, but stimulate your senses at night, making it much harder to sleep.

Meat: Red meat is the worst, but all animal-originating proteins tend to sit in your stomach and be tough for your body to digest.

Citrus Fruits: Oranges and lemons can be great tools for losing weight during the day, but at night they can lead to indigestion and more trouble sleeping.

Dr. Oz recommends not eating anything two hours before you plan on going to sleep to eliminate any chance of gaining weight. However, if you are like me and often just need something to nibble to get you through your work, you are not completely doomed.  Here are some healthy snacks that shouldn’t completely sabotage your diet if you keep them under 200 calories, according to Dr. Oz.

• 1 Cup of Greek Yogurt with Blueberries
• Sliced carrots with humus
• A bowl of oatmeal with low-fat milk
• 1 Banana with low fat peanut butter (The potassium and magnesium in the banana will relax your muscles after a long day)
• An apple with almond butter

The bottom line is that it’s best not to eat late at night, especially if you’re going to be laying down shortly after. But, nobody is perfect. (especially when on a diet) So don’t fret if you really must indulge in that 1am snack to get your work done. If you are working that hard, you probably deserve it anyway.

-Shannon Hazlitt

GO VEGAN! Syracuse Edition

When coming to Syracuse, like all students I’m sure, I had a list of goals I wanted to accomplish. Most were involving school; do better, get a 4.0, cut down on the beer pong, etc. But, one of those goals was to become vegan. Now, to explain, becoming vegan wasn’t because it was hipster-esque, but rather something in my life that I could control with the stress of school, homesickness, and dealing with social life while not eating an animal who has been turned into my food. Being at Syracuse and going vegan for a short time, I found some loops and ties on a short budget that will help you eat healthier and go vegan:

Going Out (Marshall):

$ Starbucks: Starbucks has and will always be my vice. There are tons of vegan options, but the ones I chose weren’t the dry, black coffee.
Favorite Vegan Option: Regular iced coffee, soy milk, 1 shot of vanilla syrup.
Runner up: A Café au Lait with soy and raspberry syrup.

$ Boba: Boba is hard, the tapioca has slight milk in it so, I couldn’t get anything with tapioca, but the smoothies, oh yeah.
Favorite Vegan Option: Passion fruit smoothie.
Runner up: Lavender tea with no cream/soy

$$ Pita el Saha/Pita Pit: Now, Pita, aside from Starbucks, is also my vice. Every day I had a pita. They have tons of options!
Favorite Vegan Option: White Pita with all veggies and hummus.
Runner up: Hot sauce with veggie pita.

$$ Chipotle: When you are vegan, Chipotle is your best friend. Coming from the West Coast, I thrive on spicy foods so when I saw that Syracuse had Chipotle, I went ape shit.
Favorite Vegan Option: Veggie bowl with hot sauce and lots of pico de gallo.
Runner up: Chips and veggie bowl with hot sauce.

$$ Jimmy Johns: This place is hard, a lot of their breads have milk but believe it or not, they’re all different. The one here in SaltLake uses a different recipe since the owner’s wife is vegan. So, I was unsure and just stuck with the online recipes.
Favorite Vegan Option: Veggie sandwich, no mayo, with vinegar on rye.
Runner up: Salt and Vinegar chips…mmm, damn.

Dining Hall: Now, tips that I found were just by asking. Unless the cook is an angry freshman, you should be fine on trusting their judgment. Here are tips when vegan in the dining hall:

1) BY ALL MEANS, AVOID THE MAIN LINE. Usually when its beef and broccoli night or London broil, there are veggies. Though, they are vegan themselves, the cooking oil they use is not. Some of the veggies are cooked with meat grease, just a little, but if you’re as crazy as I am, you should just avoid it.

2) The salad bar=your best friend

3) Don’t be scared of the veggie burgers, when cooked at Shaw Hall, it’s amazing.

4) Pack n’ go: If you are on the move, bring baggies with you for veggies. Trusting other places is hard and finding Vegan options is even harder.

5) $$ Go to CVS: I only got $25 a week from my mom, which was my only income. I found options that were vegan and could be made. Just, make sure they’re microwaveable.

As much as I miss being Vegan, it was tough. Though, with the time, effort, and research it becomes a quick habit, can be cleansing and make your body stronger. Go Vegan.

-Lakota Sky Gambill

If You Have to De-Stress, Go Outside

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with a summer job, are stressed about school, or feel like your thumbs might fall off from texting, read this article, step away from the computer, and go outside.

As a kid, I lived to be outdoors in the summer. Exploring creaks, climbing water falls, diving off docks, and sailing just made every summer complete. Unfortunately, as I’ve grown older and gone to college, I’ve lost my enchantment with summer as I’ve gained weight, stress, and concentration issues.

These days, instead of enjoying the simplicity of the outdoors, I catch myself on Facebook looking through pictures and stalking high school friends. I have a feeling this is pretty common for most college students. We often turn to technology because it is at our fingertips and it seems more relaxing than anything outdoors.

However, don’t call the myth busters on this one. A lot of research suggests that technology does the opposite. It affects people’s attention spans and makes them more anxious by creating a fake sense of urgency, according psychology professor David Strayer from the University of Utah in a New York Times article.

We are programmed to respond almost immediately in face-to-face conversations. Even when I try to forget a text from my boyfriend while I am running, I often end up stopping to respond and going from the bliss of running through the peaceful woods, to worrying about how the hell we are going to coordinate our crazy work schedules to make our long distance relationship work. It’s no wonder Strayer believes that technology can lead to attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia, stress, and depression!

Luckily, it’s never too late to unplug and restore your mental health with nature. Scott Catucci, the head of Outdoor Recreation activities at Syracuse, organizes and leads adventure and teamwork geared trips throughout the semester such as dogsledding, backpacking, and white-water rafting. He said the adrenaline boost from these activities can help relieve more complicated and draining everyday stress. Plus overcoming fears or challenges leaves you feeling more confident and accomplished.

Need more motivation to “misplace” your phone or unglue your face from tumbler on a beautiful afternoon? A Harvard study found that not only does getting outside improve your concentration and decrease anxiety, but natural sunlight also elevates your mood, can fight cancer (don’t forget sunscreen) and make you more physically fit. You can even recover from injuries (like that unexplained twisted ankle from last weekend). The study showed that a view of a tree out of a hospital window helped patients recover faster than staring at a wall.

So stop gawking at this computer screen and answer the call of the wild and your inner-child. Go for a hike, throw a frisbee at the park, walk your dog – just get outdoors. It can be tough with a busy schedule, but make the time and your body and mind will thank you.

-Shannon Hazlitt

Lazy Girl Fitness

I found this blog on Pinterest when searching for workouts and such. With a tag line like Lazy Girl Fitness who doesn’t want to click on that to see what it’s all about?

Violet Sage is a blog with several goals and accomplishments. She’s kind of inspiring. Also what I’ve noticed is that she has been married for almost 20 years and you can’t feel her age through her blog. Incredible. I look at a lot of blogs daily and I can approximate the users age just by the material posted.

Lazy Girl Fitness is a few recent posts that you can do around your house with whomever and wherever. While brushing your teeth, waiting for the microwave to stop, folding laundry, and reading a book. My favorite one is the laundry-folding bit.

Dead lift laundry: Squat down, lift your laundry with you and then above your shoulders for a little extra. Do this 15 times each time you have a new load (dirty or clean).

Wall sits while folding: What better way to fold but with a wall sit! Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and then proceed to sit against the wall (keeping your back flat) and fold. If it gets too easy, try going on your toes, shoot for folding 5 pieces of laundry at a time.

Now I think this is a great idea but is this realistic? I feel like if I was folding my laundry, sitting on the wall (not possible) would probably make my laundry even more of a mess than it was when it came out of the dryer. As a neat freak and someone who does laundry once a month, this would be the longest wall sit challenge of my life. Of anyone’s life for that matter. The dead lift stuff is a little more tangible since laundry gets pretty heavy at times.

I’ll definitely be trying these and other workouts from the site, though.

-Brooke Leone

Finding Fresh Food in Syracuse

As I finally unpacked my last bag in my off-campus house, my next task was heading to Wegmans to load up on groceries. As my mom and I (yes I still grocery shop with my mom, come at me) start browsing the produce section we begin to notice the outrageous prices. To buy a single cucumber you are paying almost $2, $3.99 for a small carton of strawberries and $5.99 per pound of cherries!

I cannot speak for the rest of you, but I am pretty sure that my parents don’t have a money tree in our back yard to finance my grocery bills, but that sure would be awesome if they did. So, as a Syracuse local I remembered that the farmers market takes place not too far from Carousel Mall and maybe their fresh produce will be more reasonably priced.

My assumptions were correct. I was able to purchase an assortment of fresh and locally grown fruits and vegetables at half the price I was paying the day before at the Weg. If you, like myself, would rather support local farmers and help keep your wallet on the hefty side for other summer activities, head down to the farmer markets and stock up.

Within Syracuse there are two locations for the farmers market. The most common is the CNY Regional Market  located one block from Carousel Mall. Their hours are:

Thursday: 7:00AM – 2:00PM (May-November)
Saturday: 7:00AM – 2:00PM (Year Round)
Sunday: 7:00AM – 2:00PM (Year Round)

The second location is the Downtown Farmers Market, located in Clinton Square. The hours for this location are:

Tuesday: 7:00AM – 4:00PM (June-October 9th)

Don’t have a car? Don’t fret. Syracuse University’s Centro Bus system provides rides to both the Regional Market and to downtown Syracuse. To find the bus routes and times check out their website.

Bon Appetite!

-Chelsey Perry

oGorgeous

A while back, I wrote about Cassey Ho who is a fitness instructor as well as a fitness blogger with youtube videos, meal plans, lifestyle lessons, and several other topics you might have never considered. For me, Cassey is a great inspiration while also pushing me to try new techniques and crazy food. Seriously, check out her blog at blogalites.com and see what I’m talking about.

While being a blogalites enthusiast, Cassey also started her own clothing line.  oGorgeous was created while she was in college (that’s insane!) and was launched her senior year in 2009.  As stated on the site, “Since then, the bags have been featured in major publications such as SHAPE Magazine and on national talk shows such as the Wendy Williams Show.”

Recently, Cassey has been having crazy discounts on her items as well as creating new styles and color choices for her clients. Her new “Train insane or remain the same” tanks have been one of the items that everyone has been talking about.

If you’re a yoga pant, fitness-wearing freak like me, then I suggest checking out the merch at www.ogorgeous.com. You’d be surprised what she’s come up with.

-Brooke Leone

Belly Blasting Workout

It doesn’t even need to be mentioned or explained why people are so uncomfortable and lack confidence with it comes to their mid sections. Some people hide it, some ignore it, some don’t even realize what they look like (HOW?!?), and some work to change it.

Here are some preventable belly fat workouts to change your body and your confidence.

The Matrix: kneel on the floor with your knees hip-width apart. Keep your torso upright and hold the ball against your abs. Slowly lean back as far as possible, keeping your knees planted. Hold the reclined position for three seconds, and then use your core to slowly come up to the starting position. Do 12 to 15 reps.

Knee-Cross Crunch: Stand with your shoulders in line with your hips, and extend your left arm up and your right leg to the side, toes pointed. Lower your left elbow and raise your right knee, crunching them together on a diagonal line. Return to the starting position. That’s one rep. Do 12 to 15 on each side.

The Sprinter: Lie on your back with your arms at your sides, legs straight, and heels hovering six to 12 inches off the floor. As you sit up, lift and bend your left elbow, and pull your right knee to your chest, as if you were sprinting. Return to the starting position, keeping your legs raised, and repeat with the opposite arm and leg. That’s one rep. Do 10 to 12.

Wall Crunch & Twist: Sit on a stability ball, facing a wall. Lie back so the middle to small of your back is resting on the ball. Place your feet hip-width apart on the wall with your knees bent 90 degrees; cross your arms over your chest. Curl up and twist through the waist to the left. Return to center and curl down so your back is parallel to the floor, and then twist up to the right. That’s one rep. Do 10 to 12.

For more belly workouts visit fitbie.msn.com

-Brooke Leone

The 30-Minute Outdoor Workout

It is finally consistently beautiful here in Upstate New York. That means sitting in the sunshine all day long, running in the fresh air and not that smelly gym, and taking our workouts outdoors.

I always brush up on my fitness techniques and exercises because there are constantly new workouts available. Your body also gets used to your workouts if you do them every single day, which means you should add some variety into your workouts. Do something Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but not Tuesday or Thursday.

Here are a few exercises I found on Fitnessmagazine.com that are very simple but very efficient. Plus they’re for your outside workouts.

Side Leap: Stand on a flat surface with your feet together, bend your knees and hop as far as you can to your right without putting your left foot on the ground. Bend your right knee and hop as far to the left as you can without placing your right foot on the ground. Do 20 hops on each side, for a more intense exercise, go faster or slower and increase the amount of hops you do.

Park Bench Dip: With your back to the bench, place your hands on the bench, hip width apart. With your feet together and your body in a sitting position, bend your elbows to a 90-degree angle and return to start position. Keep your body close to the bench at all times. Complete 12 to 15 reps.

Park Bench Push Up: Place your hands on the park bench while walking your feet out behind your body until your legs are completely extended. Bend arms and lower chest toward bench. Complete 12 reps. For another variation of the push up visit Fitnessmagazine.com

Hanging Crunch: Take hold of a sturdy tree branch, monkey bars, or other elevated item, keep arms fully extended while bringing your knees up towards your abs. Do as many as you can.

For more workouts visit Fitnessmagazine.com

-Brooke Leone

The 1000 Workout

Anyone can do this and there is no time limit so get going.

All of these exercises are simple, yet get a little challenging the closer you get to 100. However, working out isn’t supposed to be easy.

I’ve done this a few times and it obviously gets easier the more you do it. But, yes I was dying at the very beginning.

Do this once, twice, or even three times. It doesn’t matter, just as long as you do it.

-Brooke Leone

Dental Damage

You’ve just finished a pretty intense workout and you’re looking for something refreshing to drink – what do you reach for? More often than not, it’s probably a sports drink; you know, to replenish those lost electrolytes that Gatorade commercials are always telling you about.  But while your body may be thanking you for taking a swig of G2, your teeth may not be quite as happy.

According to a recent study in the May/June 2012 issue of General Dentistry, the consumption of sports and energy drinks can cause irreparable damage to one’s teeth. In fact, the lead author of the study claims that drinking sports drinks is comparable to bathing one’s teeth with acid. Sounds tasty, huh?

The study, which took place over five days, examined the acidity levels of 13 sports drinks and nine energy drinks. In doing so, the researchers dipped human tooth enamel samples in the drinks for 15 minutes, and then into artificial saliva for two hours. This process was repeated four times a day over the course of the five-day study.

Damage to the teeth could be seen after just five days of the study, showing that, while sports drinks did a good amount of damage, energy drinks harmed tooth enamel much more. And what happens when tooth enamel has been compromised? Teeth become overly sensitive, cavity-prone, and more likely to decay.

The acidic damage to teeth after the consumption of sports and energy drinks can only be neutralized by saliva. So, rinsing your mouth with water or chewing sugar-free gum after downing a Redbull will increase saliva flow, ultimately stopping the drinks from doing any more damage to your teeth. But if you’re looking for a quick pick-me-up or a post-workout guzzle and want to steer clear of tooth damage, just grab some water. Not only will it rehydrate your body, but it can also act as a stimulant when it’s ice cold.

—Amber Brenza