Red, yellow, blue…all the primary colors are beautiful to look at…but not in our foods. You may be surprised to discover the following synthetic dyes in your foods:

–Pillsbury Grands! Flaky Layers Honey Butter Biscuits & Betty Crocker Supermoist Carrot Cake contain Red 40
–Edy’s Take the Cake Ice Cream & Sara Lee Signature Colletions Andes Chocolate Mint Cream Pie contain Red 3
–Vlasic Kosher Dill Spears & Yoplait Key Lime Yogurts contain Yellow 5

The use of synthetic dyes and food colorings has drastically increased over the last 5 years. The safety of these dyes used in food is not exactly known, leaving it up to the consumer to make an educated decision.

Did you know?
Injury is the leading cause of death and hospital admissions for children in the U.S. National Childhood Injury Prevention Week is held September 1-7 of every year.

Steps to take
Find out ways to protect children from AsSafeAsPossible.org, the official sponsor of National Childhood Injury Prevention Week.

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is cardio performed at such an intense level that your body will spend the rest of the day expending energy to recover from the ass-kicking you gave it. This is commonly referred to as EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) and it means that you consume a great deal more oxygen recovering from the exercise bout than you would have if you’d just done a steady-state workout.

This means that you will be burning up to nine times more fat while sitting on the couch later that night than you would have if you’d spent an hour on the treadmill at a moderate pace.

Researchers at Harvard University’s Medical School think they have found the secret ingredient to uninterrupted sleep – sleep spindles. Their findings were presented in the recent issue of Current Biology.

The researchers studied the difference in noise sensitivity from one person to another while they slept. There results showed that there is a certain type of brain wave activity called “sleep spindles”. When these spindle rhythms occur at the same time as a noise, the noise is typically blocked from perception. “More spindles make it more likely that noises will collide with this sleep-protecting rhythm “, said Jeffrey Ellenbogen, a neurologist and sleep specialist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

It is unquestionable that a person that stands tall with their shoulders back and head perfectly balanced over the shoulders is going to radiate with a sense of confidence and sex appeal than one who slouches.

I know, I know, your mother has said this for years … “Sit up straight!”, “You are going to get a hump in your back if you don’t.”

Have you ever wondered …
- Why you unable to hold the position for more than a few seconds?
- If you do hold the position, why does it hurt between the shoulders before you hunch over again?

Did you know?
Ballroom dancing may be the ideal workout for some people. It can raise the heart rate enough to achieve aerobic fitness and can be fun to exercise with a partner.

Steps to take
If you find it hard to stick with an exercise regimen, take classes in ballroom dancing and/or other dance classes. Look at it as your version of Dancing with the Stars.

Helping your child thrive in school may be as easy as sitting down for a family meal. From better grades to improved health, nutrition and social skills, family meals help children to succeed in school, extracurricular activities, sports and life skills. Being prepared with a weekly meal plan or family calendar, a shopping-list and some new healthy cookbooks and recipes, family meals don’t have to be elaborate or time consuming to be beneficial.

Here are some family recipes ideas to experiment with! And be sure to let the kids help you in the shopping, preparation and cooking (safety first, of course!).

DID YOU KNOW…..

That looking great isn’t just about working out? Believe it or not but eighty percent of it has to do with your nutrition, ten percent with training and 10 percent with genetics. Do you eat something before and after your workouts? Do you know that you have a forty-five minute window to replace the carbohydrates and protein you lost during your workout? Make sure that before a workout you have a carbohydrate (starchy), protein and fat and after your workout a protein and carbohydrate (starchy). Carbohydrates are your main fuel source and you need protein to repair and rebuild those muscle fibers that were damaged while working out. Without fueling before and after your workout you might as well forget working out! Like I tell many of my clients it’s like a car when you’re out of gas you can’t get anywhere. Everyone wants to see results from their workouts so make sure you’re fueled properly.

A 2006 study found that most 6th – 12th grade students don’t get enough sleep, so with that in mind here are some back to school sleep tips from the National Sleep Foundation.

- About two weeks before the start of school, work on returning your child to a sleep schedule that is appropriate for school.
- Maintain this sleep schedule once it is set – don’t use weekends to catch up on sleep.
- Establish a quiet and relaxing routine before it is time to go to bed.
- Limit electronic device use (television, video games, texting) before bedtime.
- Avoid big meals just before going to sleep.
- Limit caffeine use six hours before going to sleep.
- Maintain a sleep-conducive bedroom environment. Keep the room dark with a comfortable mattress and proper temperature settings (mid to upper 60s).
- Be a role model for your child and follow appropriate sleep guidelines yourself.

It may not be a “secret” discovered from behind the locker room doors of our professional athletes, nor is it anything the medical staff has ever spoken of, but it sure is one of the keys that can unlock an emotional door.

“How do you know when you are loved?”

Strange as it may seem, not many people take the time to understand what makes a person feel loved. Even YOU may not realize what moves you towards that sensation of short and long term adoration.

Mushy subject?