Survey: America's Getting Fatter (But There's Good News!)

DailySpark readers, we have an emergency on our hands. It's time to Spread the Spark, stat!

This year's state-by-state obesity statistics are in, and the news isn't good.
Here are some of the highlights of the report, published by the research group Trust for America's Health:

• Adult obesity rates increased in 23 states and did not decrease in a single state in the past year
  
  
• The percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states.
  
  
• Mississippi had the highest rate of adult obesity at 32.5 percent, making it the fifth year in a row that the state topped the list.
  
  
• Four states now have rates above 30 percent, including Mississippi, Alabama (31.2 percent), West Virginia (31.1 percent), and Tennessee (30.2 percent).
  
  
• Eight of the 10 states with the highest percentage of obese adults and the highest rates of obese and overweight children are in the South. Read More >

3 Creative Ways to Use Your Garden Surplus

There are many benefits to growing your own food in a backyard garden. Early in the summer, many of us are able to keep up with what our gardens produce as we take our precious products from the garden directly to our tables. As the summer goes on, keeping up can become a challenge. We check the garden before heading out of town on vacation and realize there are many things that are ripe and ready for use but we don't have time to do anything with them. Or, perhaps our green thumbs have produced more than we can keep up with at the table and our storage space is already filled to capacity. What are we to do?

Here are 3 creative ideas to help you put your extra garden produce to good use.
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Being Realistic in Your Goal Setting

This past weekend I took the next step in my fitness career by taking the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) Coaching Certification Class. This was a very intense two day course covering all aspects on becoming a certified running coach. Let me tell you, I learned so much in those 16 hours that my head is still spinning. Now I have to study so that I can take my exam in the next few weeks. I do have my work cut out for me, but I have confidence in due time I will be a coach. Read More >

Your Summer Party Survival Guide

Today is Canada Day and Fourth of July is Saturday, which means plenty of celebrating across the continent. While a family cookout or a neighborhood barbecue is supposed to be a time to eat, drink and be merry, those of us trying to follow a healthy path can find such events to be more trying than entertaining.

The endless platters of grilled meats.

The bottomless bowls of mayo-laden salads.

The ceaseless parade of refined carbs.

A typical meal from a cookout can have more than 1,500 calories and almost as much fat as you should eat for an entire day. You can cut the calories in half and boost the flavor with a few simple tricks!
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Poll: What's Your Definition of Moderation?

Moderation. It's a word that you'll often hear when you're trying to lose weight or live a healthier lifestyle. The more you read and learn about healthy habits, the more this word comes up. We're told to eat in moderation, drink in moderation and even exercise in moderation (or at a moderate intensity level. Moderation means that nothing—not even the foods that you know are bad for you and might even hurt your efforts—is off limits. You can lose weight and eat ice cream, too—as long as you do so in moderation. Sounds doable, right?

Why moderation? Well, it works for most people. It's difficult to give up foods you enjoy (after all, food should be pleasurable) forever; and making certain foods completely off limits often causes you to want them—and obsess over them—even more, which could derail your diet. Moderation may sound ordinary or boring, but it's a great way to lose weight, eat better, and still have some fun along the way.

Lately though, I've been thinking about this whole concept of moderation quite a bit. I'm wondering if moderation is very good advice. After all, no one ever really defines it for you. What YOU think is moderation might not be what all the health and nutrition experts have in mind when they counsel you to eat fill-in-the-blank in moderation. Does moderation mean eating a 2,000-calorie fast food value meal once a week or is that still too often? Does eating ice cream in moderation mean having a smaller 100-calorie serving most days? Is a single diet soda per day moderation, or should you drink it less often? If you're applying the concept of moderation to LOTS of food or food groups (high-fat foods, trans fats, desserts, sweet snacks, salty foods, high-fat cuts of meat, etc.) you could be eating small amount of several different unhealthy foods regularly, which means you're not really eating unhealthy foods (as a group) in moderation at all.

So I've been wondering: What does 'moderation' mean to YOU? Read More >