Kayla Melick is an instructor for classes at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center at the University of Iowa as well as a personal trainer. She discusses her style of teaching and how it is beneficial for the classes that she teaches as well as the students in those classes. The class she teaches in this slideshow is an example of one of the free classes offered at the Recreation Center that is included in students’ tuition.
After talking with JoAnn Daehler-Miller, Dietitian for the University of Iowa, about what foods we should be eating to have a healthy and balanced diet, she said, “Sorry, that was a lot of information all at once.”
While yes, it was a lot of information, for me it was okay to hear it all. It helped me understand the food groups and answered all my questions. However, once she said that it got me to thinking: all of this information must be overwhelming at first for someone who is starting out with trying to be healthy. So, I asked her what was a way to learn all of this over time so that people won’t become overwhelmed.
That is when she introduced me to the Colorful Choices program. This is a 20-day program through the University of Iowa Student Health and Wellness that introduces how to get the proper amount of servings of fruits and vegetables. So, it just takes one aspect of nutrition and focuses solely on that, making it easier to put into practice right away.
While I was too late to register for this session, I found multiple resources that were on the Student Health and Wellness site under the Colorful Choices tab that I can put into practice on my own. One that I found very fascinating and helpful was called “Beyond the Rainbow: Fresh Ways to Prepare Fruits and Vegetables.”
Not only does it give you examples of vegetables and fruits that are healthy, but it gives new ways to spice them up. One of the ideas, kebabs, was one that I wanted to experiment with.
My roommates and I always buy fruit and vegetables at the store (usually HyVee because I find they have the freshest items) and so all we did was add in wooden sticks to put them on. We cut up vegetables like tomatoes, green and yellow peppers, and potatoes and put them on wooden kebab sticks and put them in a skillet with olive oil. It was delicious and we had a fun time doing it.
Everyone should try this. Even though the Colorful Choices program is closed for now, there are still those resources on the site that should be used. The program and the resources are free, which is great since any other information/meeting with a dietitian outside of the University is going to cost a good chunk of money. These resources are a fun way to prepare your fruits and vegetables and also gives other resources to help you find out what vegetables and fruits are in season, which is when they are cheaper to buy.
JoAnn Daehler-Miller with the Student Health and Wellness Center at the University of Iowa discusses easy ways to preserve the healthy food you have already bought and gives ideas for foods to buy that are cheap and last longer.
Dietitian, JoAnn Daehler-Miller, with the Student Health and Wellness Center at the University of Iowa explains what are the necessary food groups individuals should be eating and how much of those foods an individual should have in order to have a healthy diet.
*When she is discussing how a “plate” is very helpful, she is referring to the government issued program called “My Plate”
Here is what your “My Plate” would look like.
This week I needed to go grocery shopping and decided to bring my roommate along with me. We stopped into HyVee and went straight for the Health Market section and I considered buying protein powder because I had heard I could use it in smoothies as a meal supplement. I had also heard that it was a good way to help fight hunger throughout the day and would help keep me from eating too much.
That’s when my roommate said, “you know that isn’t actually true right?” This then lead me to do some research because I, in fact, didn’t know that.
Turns out, my roommate was right. Protein shakes (which is where protein powder is usually used) aren’t beneficial if you don’t use them correctly. According to the article, “A Practical Guide to Protein Shakes,” most people think the same things that I thought and are ingesting these shakes without knowing all the facts about them.
Protein shakes are usually mixed with fruit and therefore, they have a ton of calories. On average, an individual should be consuming 45 to 60 grams of protein a day and if you are eating a well-rounded diet, then you don’t need the extra protein or the extra calories.
Most individuals like myself believed that protein shakes were a good meal substitute. WRONG. Our bodies should be taking in less calories than we are burning off so if you eat two to three protein shakes a day and follow that up with sitting on the couch all day, you are making no progress.
These shakes are also stigmatized as being a supplement when actually the two are completely different. A supplement has the necessary nutrients your body needs whereas like it was stated before, the shakes are high in calories.
Moral of the story is, I saved money by not buying the $20 protein powder and instead bought frozen chicken breasts for $7.19 that will give me all of my necessary protein to keep my diet balanced.
Health on a Budget 