I am going to be contributing to the healthy living column of Modern Latina. I am so happy to be doing this and to be a part of a great online magazine and resource. I must first say right off the bat that I am not a nutritionist, doctor, personal trainer or have any occupation in the profession of health, weight loss, nutrition or anything remotely close to that. However, I am a women who over the years has developed a personal passion for nutrition and healthy living….especially for busy women. As a contributor to this column I want to take you on my journey and share with you the things that I have learned and the road that I am about to embark on. Hopefully my journey, thoughts, experiences and tips may spark ideas for you to find a way to make your health a top priority and assist you in finding ways to incorporate good health and nutrition into your life.
I hope I will be able to provide some insight, interesting recipes, exercise ideas, videos, articles and personal experiences to help you generate your own ideas to be the healthiest that you want to be. I find this extremely important to talk and write about on Modern Latina because Latinas have a high risk of being diagnosed with diabetes and being overweight which are contributing factors to heat disease (http://womenshealth.gov/minority-health/latinas/heart-disease.cfm). These factors and other chronic diseases can be reduced significantly by living a healthy lifestyle.
Before we dive into the good stuff I want to give you a little glimpse of me and why I am so into healthy living: Growing up I was very active with dance, gymnastics, swimming, basketball, softball, and soccer. As an adolescent I ate whatever I wanted, my parents cooked dinner every night, not always the healthiest, but over the years the food got healthier and healthier. So as my parents learned good health tips, I did too, and by the time I was in middle school and playing competitive sports, I was very into eating healthy, which continued through high school. When college came around, the sports stopped, I moved out of my parents’ house (away from their healthy home cooking) and the pounds piled on. Late nights filled with fast food, beer and mixed drinks quickly lead to a 40lb weight gain. After graduating college I was determined to get the pounds off. It took some time (2 years) but I got the weight off and have kept it off for 6 years. This was not easy; it took dedication, education, changing habits and hard work. The hard work and education still continues, but I am proof that with knowledge and dedication we can have power over our health.
Over the years, I have become very fascinated with the human body, women’s health, nutrition and exercise; it is my passion and hobby. I know I am not a nutritionist, doctor or personal trainer, but I am someone who cares about health and the health of the Latino community. I understand how hard it can be to take control of our health for various reasons and I understand how hard it is to learn and understand about taking care of our health. I am here to tell my story and share some ideas and hopefully inspire la gente to be inspired about their own health.
This is very appropriate to start this journey with you in March as March is National Nutrition Month. This month’s theme is Get Your Plate in Shape with simple tips such as filling half your plate with fruits and vegetables and at least half your grains whole to name a few. For more tips visit http://www.eatright.org/nnm/. See you again in April.
Healthy Latina in the City is a contributing writer with a personal passion for nutrition and healthy living. While she is not a nutritionist, doctor, or personal trainer she wants to take you on her journey to live a healthy lifestyle and share tips that have worked for her to incorporate good health and nutrition into your life.