Environmental Issues From 9/11

I found an interesting article last week that talked about how the dust and debris from 9/11 was so hazardous. I have never even thought about that aspect of 9/11, but the New York Times described it as the greatest acute environmental disaster in New York City. Fires burning at 1,000 degrees created a toxic plume that clouded lower Manhattan and spread to adjoining areas. The collapsing towers pulverized cement and everything the buildings contained, including some asbestos, while the tremendous pressure of the collapsing floors fused materials together in potentially dangerous combinations that scientists had not seen before. It is estimated that between 40,000 and 90,000 workers and volunteers spent time on the debris pile and may have been affected in some way by the dust. A new bill calls for providing $1.8 billion over the next five years to monitor and treat injuries stemming from exposure to toxic dust and debris at ground zero.

This week I was so busy that I did not get the chance to truly work out but, I did do a little walking while I was getting petition signatures.

DC is Where I Need to be

Hello everyone!

I went to Washington D.C. on Thursday to a rally at Capital Hill. I won't talk about that rally in this, because I'm sure some people don't care or don't want to know, so instead I will discuss the FABULOUS bike culture in D.C.

Soooo many people were on bikes and they were everywhere! I felt weird walking. They had bike rental stations like the one below everywhere. It was really awesome to see that type of metropolitan bike culture.

I set up a meeting with the people in charge of the rat to talk to them about buying organic and local. I just want to go in and hear them out. Sorry I couldn't report on that today!

I walked probably 5 miles and have been able to track my food in take. I like the online option but it just isn't doable all the time. I'm writing my in a personal journal and in my phone.

See ya!

Sarah

My Plate

Hello Everyone, I have been keeping up with "My Plate" for quite some time now. I guess, my confusion is, my calorie count for my body weight and height, is 2000 calories a day. I am staying within that limit; however, my body intake of fat is 47%. I wear my pedometer and walk and excercise with my step count everyday. (Up to 1 1/2 to 2 miles) No applause please! What's UP? Actually, I have lost 5 lbs. since this class and maintain healthy eating programs, in which I designed myself. My problem is figuring out what, why and how am I still putting more fat into my body than protiens? Cocktails DO NOT help. 100 calories a pop! Not many, just one or two every now and then. Maybe, it's because I am trying to develop my own program vs. experts? Comments?

No Biking but I did walk

This week was rough mentally and the stress wasn't eased by the fact that I have a paper and portfolio do next week and I have no idea where to bring. I was really overwelmed not to mention having to deal with my depression and insomnia issues but my walk helped alittle. On my walk I reflected alot about myself and my mom and to just be with her and my head. For the first time I think I'm going to be ok, it's a process and in time I will be fine, my walk reassured that for me.

Relaxing & Fun Spring Break

Last week as many people have talked about we went on a class walk/bike ride. Meghan and I decided to walk and really enjoyed getting outside. Its always more fun to exercise with friends.

During spring break this week I have rode my bike three times on the greenway trail near my house. That's a total of 30 miles this week! It has been really nice to take a break from school and just have fun. I wish I had more time to ride while I was at school but I am taking a full load and am involved in so many activities it is hard to find the time.

The Novant project is starting to come together. We have decide to work on the app all together but the group will focus on two different groups: traditional students and Fleer students. We will be surveying them separately. We will be starting on the surveys over break and next week. I am excited to finally start working on our project!

Salem Greenway Trail

I think a good time was"had by ALL" on our outing last week! I was laughing so much, while riding my bike, that I almost wrecked 5 times. I did have to walk up the hills a few times. Love all the pictures! It is truly amazing how the outdoors, fresh air and nature can make you feel. Heather was a true sport in being my mentor throughout our 2 mile ride. We saw and heard some interesting rodents. Thankfully, I was not as sore in my legs as I thought I would be. As usual, my best buddy is my pedometer. I am walking on a regular basis. My husband is walking the dogs, for excercise, early in the morning before he goes to work (at the break of dawn). We are eating much healthier. I have not been on My Plate this week because I have been at my mom's. She still has "dial up" on her computer. I will however; start back today.

I am looking forward to surveying the Fleer students on thier diets and hopefully, our group can make a change in someone's life. Looking forward to class on Monday! Happy Spring Break! Bike On!

Spring Time :)

I'm so excited that it's starting to get warmer outside, because now I actually am excited about being able to get outside. Our class went on a walk/ bike ride on Wed. that was a blast, it was nice to be able to get out of the classroom and get out on the Salem Creek Trail. We even saw some sort of muskrat type animal hanging out in a patch of water, but it was kinda unfortunate that said patch of water smelled like a porta-potty :(

For spring break we are going to Charleston SC. And we're staying on a little island there, so I'm interested to see if biking plays a larger role in the lives of the locals there. I feel like if I live on a two mile long island i'd ride a bike too.

Product Development Project with Novant Health

Our group discussed our project with Novant Health this week. We talked about creating a mobile phone app that integrated the 7 aspects of wellness. I think our research should begin by surveying what kinds of phones students use at Salem, then we could research what aspects of the wellness program students think are lacking and what they would like to see in an app. We will be meeting this week to determine what our next step will be.

I had an extremely busy week and was away at a Orientation Leader conference in Baton Rouge for 4 days, so I did not get any biking in. However, while I was at the conference I did a LOT of walking. It was great exercise and the weather was amazing in Baton Rouge. I will get on a bike this week and enjoy the nice weather in Winston.

Projects/Health/Kiva

I am really excited about the fact that our Novant health group could come up with an actual app that will help control students health habits. Great idea Cassie and Meghan! Matt Gymer seemed please with the idea. Our group also seemed excited and ready to plunge forward with great energy. I am looking forward to working on this project with you ladies.

I am really into walking now. At first, I was all about becoming a biker on a regular basis. Then I was going to be this religious excerciser on the stationary bike. I still excercise on the bike but walking has become my thing. As soon as I started using my pedometer, it made me want to walk. I am walking 1 1/2/ to 2 miles everyday. It is like excercising without you knowing that you are doing it. You would really be amazed at how many steps a person takes in one day! My hat is off to Dr. Allen for making me change my lifestyle. I am eating much healthier while calculating calories with My Plate, walking on a regular basis (you can do this anywhere) and I am very conscious about food sources and how they were grown. Before this class, I ate a lot of processed food and did not exercise at all. I must say at 51 years of age I am probably the healthiest I have ever been. It is never to late to start. My husband is eating healthier and is excercising on a regular basis as well.

media article..walking at the fish hatchery

So, biking did not happen this week with the rain and the SNOW up here in the mountains. Is it springtime yet? On a positive note my family and I took a trip to the Bobby N. Setzer Fish Hatchery in Pisgah Forest at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education. We walked on approximately 2 miles of the trails which were laid out in an interpretive format through a hard wood forest. I guess what I enjoyed very much about it, besides being outside, was the environmental aspect of the walking trails. The Center had placed at various points along the trail information about rivers, plants, trees and the impact humans can have on their environment. The displays were cohesive and really brought to the forefront the idea that everything in nature is connected, that life is connected, and that humans are no different in that respect. We too are a part of life and nature. What happens in our surroundings affects us.

As for the fish hatchery, hmmm......did you know that the rainbow trout and the brown trout are not native to the Carolinas? The rate of reproduction for these two types of trout are exerting pressure and competition on the only native trout population of North Carolina, the brook trout. Here again for me is an example of the impact that humans can have on their environment. According to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, brook trout populations are being pushed into the headwaters of streams high in the mountains. As a side note the brook trout is the third type of trout grown and stocked by the fish hatchery.

With the thought in mind that life is so interconnected, I came across an article on a child cancer cluster that is causing families in Sandusky County, Ohio alarm, specifically a 12 mile area in Sandusky County in Clyde, Ohio. I know...I know, from walking to fish hatchery to cancer cluster, but bear with me. This article showed me the vulnerability of humans. We may exert a lot of control over our environment, but what happens in it can affect us. The article I read talks about the high number of children that have been affected by various types of cancers and tumors all within a very small area. There has been no definite link that these cancers have been caused by anything in their environment although there is a lot of speculation.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40855275/ns/health-cancer/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41736672/ns/health-cancer/

Walking

This week I walked instead of biked, but I am determined to learn to bike. I will try again next weekend. My walk was very pleasant and peaceful, I went inside my head alot and thought my project for CDI and I am so excited.

Wellness

I decided to hike this week and did some trails near my house. I love that I can get outside without having to get in my car and then hike/walk/bike. The season is on the verge of changing and hiking was a good way to experience that. It reminded me that life is connected which is one of the main themes in this class. The world is connected and our survival depends on the continued preservations and survival of not just humans.

The talk by Mr Gymer from Novant Health was fodder for discussion around our dinner table this week. Growing up in a different country makes me look differently at health and food, maybe? The amount of conversation that revolved around food for me was a bit unsettling when I first moved here. I don't believe I had ever talked so much about food, the having it, the depriving one's self of it to lose weight, the ready availability of it, the food and weight conversations etc. My Mom, husband and I leaned in the same direction when it comes to this talk of food and weight. Before my philosophy was eat when you're hungry, enjoy it, stop when you're full and junk food/sweets were an occasional thing.

My point with all that said is this, I very much embrace the idea of there being different aspects to maintaining wellness and health. Food is just one aspect of being healthy, well and happy. I am not discouraging the idea of being aware of what a person eats, but making it such a focus to the detriment of other aspects of a person's life that are just as important skews one's view.

As for which project I am interested, would love the quantitative research project but from the point of view of moms, specifically stay at home/part time working moms who need access to mobile resources to maintain health in their families.

Next week, biking...

Biking....No...Walking....Yes

This class has had me thinking of biking and the exhilarating feeling that I get when I'm biking. It makes you feel like you're flying and free. It gives me a thrill, especially when you're coasting down a hill after the heart-pumping effort it takes to make it to the top of that hill. Unfortunately, I couldn't pursue that taste of freedom this week because when my husband pulled our bikes out of the shed we store them in for the winter my tire was flat and my husband's front tire was flat. No bike riding for us until we make the time to tune them up and replace our inner tubes. Somehow riding a stationary bike does not give me the same feeling as riding outdoors does, so I opted to do something different this week until I can give my bike a tune up. Walking became the back-up plan.

We tend to take a lot of bike rides and walks as a family so this was not that different for us. In the area where we live the traffic is at a minimum and the big things to watch out for are dogs and the occasional bear. Didn't have to worry about the bear this time of the year and the dogs, well, I was hoping to not have a repeat experience of being chased and having to use my hiking stick or repellent spray. Today's walk went without any dog-chasing incidents. We all had fun and it was wonderful to get outside with the thoughts that soon we would start to see signs of spring. Walking relieves tension in a way that not many other activities can. You can walk without having to think about it. Your mind can wander from this to that. The tension in your body slowly unwinds as you walk. It's not the same thrill as bike riding, but just as effective in connecting you to the world around you. Biking makes me feel like I'm flying and walking makes me feel grounded. Had a great experience.

Hopefully, if time permits, I'll be writing about biking next time.