The rest of my spare time has been dedicated to building my new photography business and squeezing in some yoga time.  My friend Lori emailed me an awesome deal on Living Social for a yoga place called Shanti Yoga Shala.  The deal included 20 classes for $20 dollars and the studio is literally a couple blocks from my house.  We both signed up and have attended a couple of classes so far.  The studio itself can be described as intimate (aka- pretty dam small).  My yoga mat was touching both my yogi neighbors’ mats during the first class.  The class and the instructor/studio owner was awesome!  I love a teacher that takes that the time to correct and adjust students.  Overall, the level 2/3 vinyasa class is pretty challenging.  I’m looking forward to attending a couple classes this coming week!  Can’t beat a yoga class for $1.

Have you ever taken advantage of an exercise deal using something like Living Social or Groupon?

What’s your favorite type of exercise during the summer months?

Thanks for stopping by

Kasey

I’ve been practicing my photog skills and have been planning on taking Easter Pics for some family and friends.  On Saturday, my sister and I  took her boys to Audubon Park so that we can find good “Easter locations” and take some pictures of my nephews.  For about an hour, we walked around the park trying to find a good spot for pictures with two boys, camera equipment, an Easter basket, and a bunny in tow.  Yes, you read that correctly- we had a real bunny named Foo Foo with us that my sister borrowed from a friend!  Unlike the nursery rhyme, this rabbit was very well behaved and did not harass any field mice

We had such a great time and came out with some adorable pictures of my nephews.  Some of my favorites…

On Sunday, Cory and I decided we couldn’t be inside on such a beautiful day and headed to New Orleans City Park.  We walked around for a couple hours enjoying the beautiful scenery, ducks, and early blooms!

How was you weekend?

Did you enjoy any outdoor physical activity?

Hope everyone has a great week!

Kasey

The Hot Yoga class was a vinyasa style class held in a room with heaters.  Vinyasa style classes involve yoga poses that flow from one to another in conjunction with the breath.  The heaters are thought to enhance flexibility and detoxification.

I usually don’t break much of a sweat with my usual yoga classes.  By the end, of this class I was drenched!  The instructor was amazing and really kept me challenged throughout the class.  After finishing class and properly rehydrating, I felt like a million bucks.  All in all, I loved it.  What’s not to love about yoga?  It improves your mood, reduces stress, and positively affects levels of certain brain/blood chemicals.  Not to mention, yoga improves overall fitness, strength, and flexibility.

Do you practice yoga?  Have you ever taken a Hot Yoga class?

Kasey

The JDRF was founded in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes.  This year’s attendance for the New Orleans walk was record breaking with over 1,600 walkers!  Our team alone raised over $25,000!

My cousin’s son, Rory, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 2.  Now Rory is 5 years old and the Team Captain of Rory’s Mission.

Above is a picture of all my cousins that attended the walk.  Rory is the cutie holding the sign!  The walk was about 2.5 miles long with tons of families, dogs, and kiddies.

After the walk, there was a ton of food and entertainment for the children.  I enjoyed a delicious spinach salad.

Cory also enjoyed a salad… along with a beer!

TJ (my godson) enjoyed the rock climbing slide and the spacewalk!

We had such a good time supporting a great cause and spending time with family!

What were the highlights of your weekend?

Did you enjoy any outdoor exercise?

Kasey

Think you are helpless against germs? Think again.  There are some healthy habits to increase your immunity…

Get Enough Sleep- Even minor sleep deprivation (less than 7 hours) suppresses immune function.  Personally, I take my sleep very seriously! Anything less than 8 hours make me pretty grouchy.

Exercise Regularly- Research suggests that people who are physically fit have a decreased rate of upper respiratory tract infections. This relationship is likely due to the positive effect that moderate exercise has on the body’s immune response.  Moderate physical activity increases breathing or your heart rate but you should still be able to carry on a conversation.  Examples include brisk walking, jogging, bicycling, dancing, gardening, and housework such as vacuuming.

[Source]

Nutrition to Boost Immunity-  Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, probiotics, and adequate calories & protein all contribute to a well functioning immune system.  Aim to include a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, seafood, lean meats and dairy to boost your immunity!

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate-  Colder temperatures and low humidity (dryness) actually helps viruses to spread.  Staying properly hydrated keeps nasal passages moist which helps defend your body against bacteria and viruses.  How much water should you drink?  The Institute of Medicine reported that on average men consume 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day and women consume 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day. This is based on national food surveys that assessed peoples average fluid intakes.  Keep in mind that normal hydration needs may be different for each person and may be maintained over a wide range of fluid intake.

Get Vaccinated-  Beginning this flu season, the CDC is recommending that everyone 6 months and older get the influenza vaccine.  Prior, only people at the highest risk of flu complications (elderly, immunosuppressed, etc) were encouraged to receive it.  This year’s vaccine includes protection against H1N1 (aka swine flu).  At the hospital where I work, the flu shot is required by all health care workers that have patient contact.  If the employee declines to receive the vaccine (due to personal preference or an egg allergy), he or she must wear a protective face mask during times of patient contact. Have you gotten the flu shot?

And of course, don’t forget one of the most important guidelines of all- Hand-Washing to prevent the spread of germs.  I’m always extra cautious around high traffic areas such as doorknobs and bathroom faucets.

Have you or are you planning on getting the flu shot this year?

Are you clocking in enough hours of sleep?

Thank you for all the praises for our team’s fundraising efforts but I cannot take credit!  My cousin Kristy’s dedication to organizing fundraisers and raising awareness for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is responsible for raising over $21,000 for diabetes research.  If you live in the New Orleans area, consider joining us tomorrow (Saturday) at Audubon Park for the JDRF Walk!  You can click here to make a donation.  

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!!!

Kasey

Over the last year, I’ve made many new friends, been inspired to cook creative, healthy meals, and further developed my interest of photography thanks to the blog!  I’ve also come to really enjoy and appreciate the whole process of cooking including the meal planning, grocery shopping, and of course the meal preparation enjoyed with a great glass of wine.  Cheers to a great year!

Today, I headed to Audubon Park in efforts to practice what I have learned from the photography book I checked out from the library.  Also, I wanted to get in some fun exercise by walking around and enjoying the beautiful scenery!  So with my gym clothes and tennis shoes on, I packed up my camera bag and headed to the park.

I found many opportunities to practice manually adjusting my camera’s aperture, focus, and shutter speed.  For example, the following pictures are taken at the same location with different aperture and focus settings.

Can you notice any differences between the three pictures?  The first picture is set to a smaller aperture size which results in an increased depth of field (aka clearer, crisper background).  Aperture is the size of the opening in the diaphragm of a lens through which light passes.  The second picture is set to a larger aperture size which results in a blurred background.  Both the first and second pictures are focused on the flowers closest to the camera.  The third picture is focused on the leaves across the pond which blurs the flowers closest to the camera.  Pretty cool how I can get three totally different pictures from the exact location?!

Next, I took a couple pictures of the following water fountain with different shutter speeds.

Here are some close-ups of the water fountain…

The first picture is taken with a fast shutter speed which gives a snap shot of the water fountain showing water droplets.  The second picture is taken with a slower shutter speed which gives with effect of flowing water.  Which effect do you prefer?

After walking around the park for one and a half hours (I worked up quite a sweat) and taking about 80 different pictures, I headed home to watch the disappointing Saints game.  We lost in over-time

Hope everyone enjoys the last few hours of the weekend!  Thanks to all my loyal readers. I truly appreciate every visit

Kasey

The other day, I was reading through a magazine and came across a somewhat startling statistic- “95% of US healthcare funds go towards treating illness with only 5% going towards disease prevention”.  Practicing in a hospital setting, this news is not exactly shocking to me because the majority of my patients have acute illnesses.  On the rare occasion, I may receive an outpatient weight loss referral for a patient that that has not yet developed co-morbidities such as high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes.  This infrequent occurrence usually requires a prevention-minded doctor and an extremely motivated patient. 

It’s obvious that American medicine is not doing such a great job of promoting health and wellness nor is it preventing chronic diseases.  Taking responsibility and ownership of our own health is important.   

How do you define health?  I believe being healthy is much more that being free of illness/sickness and that one’s health is defined by one’s behaviors.  Many of today’s illnesses are a result of people’s behaviors such as smoking, inactivity, and poor nutrition. 

What have you done for your health today?  So far today, I am close to reaching my fruit and veggie goals (should reach after dinner) and I plan on exercising as soon as I press “Publish”!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week

Kasey

Me Zip Lining!

It was a thrilling, unforgettable experience!  People in our group who I totally expected to back out at the last minute rose to the challenge.  Sure, the ladies had to wear very unattractive hair nets under our helmets but it was a sacrifice we were willing to make!  We went down several zip lines (around 10 or so), swung like Tarzan from one tree to another, and repelled down about 75 feet from the top of a tree! 

Cory swinging like Tarzan!

Cory repelling down the tree!

I actually did experience one minor injury- rope burn on the back of my arm.  It happened as a rope whipped up during my tree repel.  Although you can see it in a few of our wedding pictures, it’s totally not a big deal!  It actually reminds me of the awesome time we had in the Rain Forest!  Other cool things we discovered in the Rain Forest…

A Wax Apple-grows like crazy in the Caribbean per our tour guide! It looked like a mini apple/pear hybrid.  Of course, I tasted it!

It was very juicy and refreshing with a slightly sour taste.  We also spotted a Cashew tree!

According to our tour guide, the cashew tree produces both a fruit (the cashew apple) and a nut (the cashew).  In its raw form, the cashew nut is not edible due to a toxin called urushiol which is the same chemical in poison ivy.  If ingested, it can cause skin rashes.  The cashews we find in stores are steamed and/or roasted to release the harmful toxin.  The cashew changes color during the processing.  Cashews have high levels of essential minerals—iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, and manganese. One ounce contains 160 calories, 12 g fat, (mostly healthy fats). 5 g protein, and 1 g fiber and is one of Cory’s favorite snacks!

What was the last adventurous thing you did?

Have you ever tried an “exotic” fruit?

Kasey

For starters, our resort was laid out on the side of a mountain which provided some amazing views of the beach.  The steep terrain also provided a great workout each time we walked to and from our room.  While there was a shuttle service available for those wanting to avoid the steep hike to get to their rooms, Cory and I usually opted to take the climb instead.

My days were usually filled with beach activities. Snorkeling was so much fun and such a workout in 30 feet waters.

Then of course there was “The Rock”.  It was a floating, inflatable rock-climbing rock in the water. Many of our guests tried to climb the rock but not everyone succeeded. First, we had to swim out to “The Rock” and then use some serious arm strength to climb to the top. Cory and I conquered “The Rock”!!!

Each night the resort had live music which usually resulted in some serious dance parties!

Dancing = Fun Exercise

But our nightly poolside dancing could not even compare to the dancing during our wedding reception.  We were sandy, sweaty, and having the 
time of our lives!

Do you exercise while on vacation?  Do you look for unique, “gym-free exercise” while on vacation?

Kasey

Howdy y’all!  Thanks so much for all the sweet comments and birthday wishes  

If you are ever visiting New Orleans, I recommend trying a local favorite- boiled crawfish!  While they are amazingly delicious, crawfish that are boiled in the traditional Southern fashion are usually very high in sodium so eat in moderation!  Click here for more info about crawfish.

Even though more than 50% of my work day is sitting at a desk, I usually make an effort to sneak in some physical activity by often taking the stairs instead of the elevators.  I was curious to see how effective my efforts were of increasing my level of physical activity at work.  So today, I wore a pedometer for the first time ever at work.  According to the Michigan Department of Community Health, “most people take 500 to 3,000 steps per day unless they make a special effort to walk or exercise”.  When I got home from work, the pedometer read…

4,313 steps from the moment I left the house till the moment I came home.  Could be better but could be worse!  2,000 steps usually equals about 1 mile (depending on your stride) which means I walked over two miles over the course of my work day.  10,000 steps each day is recommended for weight management.  I think the steps from my work day plus my usual cardio workout (~30 minutes of aerobics or dancing) comes pretty close to 10,000 steps.

Have you ever worn a pedometer to work?  How physically active is your job?  What are some ways you sneak in exercise at work?

Kasey