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On Health & Fitness
The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, September 20, 19895
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' By CHERYL ALLEN
v Staff Writer
' i His muscles ripple and the sweat
.drips off his tanned body, which is
covered only by Spandex biking shorts.
The godlike Hollywood model smiles
and throws a towel over his Soloflex
..machine.
1;,' But imagine his diet of granola and
' ' Tofu. Is being in shape really worth all
. the effort?
j .j tem fimess js more than just
nutrition and exercise, said Susan
' ' Chappell, coordinator of the Wellness
. ' Research Center. "I am a proponent of
'-' the wellness philosophy, which involves
' looking at different dimensions of your
life," Chappell said.
She outlined five categories of well
'",' ness: physical fitness, emotional well
being, social wellness, occupational and
' ' intellectual wellness, and spiritual
wellness.
Someone is "fit" when he is healthy
in all of the categories, according to
. Chappell. "However, in the physical
domain, nutrition and exercise go to
v t: gether like a lock and key," she said,
i.- ' Eating Healthy
i .-,. "It's hard to eat right while living in
-v:.a dorm and being on campus all day,"
said Toni Branner, director of the well
;.. ness program for UNC employees.
L.. According to Ellen Molotsky, intra
..r mural recreation aerobics coordinator,
-v eating healthy begins with paying at
UNCs junk-food
confess
By MARA LEE
Staff Writer
Carrots or chips? Citrus or
chocolate?
Why is it that everything that's
"good for you" seems less appeal
ing than junk food? With conven
ience and taste contributing to its
popularity, junk food is a main
stay in many diets.
"I'm in a rush, trying to grab
whatever' s fast and easy to fix,"
said Lisa Underwood, a sopho
more journalism major from
Weirton, W. Va.
Underwood said Reese's pea
nut butter cups, barbecued Fritos
and ice cream were her favorites.
"I eat a bag of Fritos maybe
two or three bags a week.
During the summer, I could go
through a half gallon of ice cream
in a week by myself. I eat one item
of junk food with meals and then
snack between studying."
But the preferred fixes for the
junk-food junkie vary.
"Popcorn, cookies, milkshakes
and pizza," said Christina Nifong,
a sophomore English and journal
ism major from Winston-Salem.
"I eat a milkshake every other
day, cookies at least once every
day and popcorn about once a
week. I eat pizza about once a
week, three to four slices at a
time."
Nifong said she ate cookies and
shakes in the average servings,
but admitted eating a bag of micro
wave popcorn at one sitting. "But
I eat a lot better than I did last
year," she said.
Paul Warzocha, a senior psy
chology major from Hartford,
Conn., also satisfies his sweet
tooth with ice cream and choco
late. He has a candy bar five days
a week, and when he eats ice
cream, it's "probably a pint" at a
.Jo
y
I;
e?erae lkey to
tention to food intake.
"Be aware of foods that you want to
gradually eliminate," she said. Foods
high in saturated fats should be re
placed with carbohydrates for energy
to help sustain you through your day.
Quantity, not just quality, is a factor
in maintaining good eating habits,
Chappell said. "No food is unhealthy if
you eat it in moderation. But when you
have a diet based on that food, it be
comes unhealthy."
About 90 per
cent of Americans
die prematurely
from diseases re
lated to poor eating
habits and lack of
exercise, according
to Branner. But
most students don't
believe it can hap
pen to them.
College students
are especially dif
ficult to work with
because they aren't
thinking about the
future and they feel invincible to health
related diseases, she said. "The choices
you make today affect your health
tomorrow."
Prevention must start at a young age,
Branner said. "You can't all of a sud
den prevent heart disease when you're
45."
sins of snackin
A high-fat meal
Double burger with sauce
Regular french fries
Milkshake
Calories: 1275
Fat (in grams): 65
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time.
Potato chips and carbonated drinks
are other favorites. Angela Propst, a
junior criminal justice major from China
Grove, said she eats chips "at least three
times a week, usually with meals." But
soft drinks are more habitual "at
least six glasses a day."
How does non-nutritious food come
to figure so prominently in diets?
"Boredom," said Ray Carroll, a jun
ior biology major from Smithfield.
"When you get bored, you want to eat
and you snack on junk food."
Hunger sets in late at night for many
students. "The only junk food I eat is
fast food," said Carson Bauer, a fresh
man political science major from St.
Louis, Mo. He said he ate it after a party
at night. "I just stay out so late," he said.
"It's a long time since dinner."
Midnightsnacks are especially popu
lar with late-night crammers. "I always
have a tendency to eat it (junk food) in
A healthy diet consists of a balance
of foods from the four basic food groups
bread and cereal, fruit and vege
table, protein (meat and fish) and the
milk group. Fats and oils are another
group we inadvertently consume, even
in nutritious meals, she said.
A significant number of college stu
dents skip daytime meals because of
busy schedules and then eat late at
night, a habit that can be detrimental to
weight control and high energy levels,
"It's hard to eat right while living
in a dorm and being on campus
all day"
Toni Branner, director of the
wellness program for
UNC employees
according to Molotsky.
"It's ironic that if a meal is skipped,
it's usually breakfast. That starts stu
dents off on the wrong foot," she said.
Sleep puts the body in a fasting state,
but for students to perform at their
highest potential, they need to refuel
their bodies, Chappell said. "Once you
junkies
A low-fat meal
One slice cheese pizza
Tossed salad with low
calorie dressing
Orange juice (8 oz.)
Calories: 315
Fat (in grams): 6
DTH Graphic
the evening times when I'm studying, to
keep me awake," Propst said.
Study sessions are the prime times
for the munchies. "When I'm studying,
I get a big craving for Reese's pieces
during exams," Underwood said. "If
my mind's not on studying, it's proba
bly on food."
The increasing number of people with
fast-paced life styles contribute to junk
food's popularity as well. "I live in an
apartment, and I don't take the time to
cook well-balanced meals," Carroll said.
Propst agreed. "You have to cook it
yourself and don't have time to fix good
meals. You eat what's quick."
Despite these widespread bad eating
habits, most students don't feel moti
vated to change them. Warzocha said he
didn't because he's "pretty athletic."
Underwood said she didn't feel guilty
because everyone's always telling her
to put on weight. "I just eat what I want
to," she said.
get up and start walking, your body
needs calories to function."
Students who complain about not
having enough time for breakfast should
keep instant breakfast bars, fresh fruit
or bagels in their rooms "something
you can just grab on your way out the
door," she said.
Food consumed late at night goes
directly into fat storage, which is harder
to bum off, Branner sa;d, whereas what
you eat during the
day is utilized im
mediately. Unfortunately, it
takes more than just
eating breakfast to
stick to a nutritious
diet.
According to
Chappell, Ameri
cans are consuming
too much protein,
though many mem
bers of the medical
profession are de
bating this idea. Ex
cess protein creates an overload on the
kidneys, she said, and the amount of
kidney disease in America could have a
direct relationship to our consuming so
much protein.
To prevent heart disease, students
need to avoid the three high-risk factors
associated with heart problems: high
cholesterol levels, high blood pressure
and cigarette smoking.
Chappell recommended that students
have their cholesterol levels checked
now as a baseline for the future. She
added that a lot of women on the birth
control pill had high levels of choles
terol. Excessive amounts of sodium should
be avoided due to sodium's correlation
with high blood pressure, she said. In
addition, cigarette smoking creates a
health risk because it increases the
chances of developing heart and lung
diseases.
The other half exercise
The benefits of exercise are many,
especially since combining physical
activity, and better nutrition can make
you healthier in the long run, fitness
experts agree.
Less than 40 percent of adults in the
United States exercise or play sports
regularly, Branner said, and regular
exercise is more prevalent among men
than among women.
Physical fitness involves cardiovas
cular endurance, flexibility and muscu
lar strength, and endurance. "Each is
important in different ways," she said.
'To an 80-year-old, flexibility is most
important, but to most of us, it's cardio
vascular endurance."
Regular exercise has psychological
benefits as well. "It increases your
ability to deal with stress, and it en
hances your
sense of well
being," Molotsky said.
"Some people
say that they're
able to stay on
task better with
regular exercise.
Self-confidence
and self-esteem
can
also in-
crease
Many students exercise sporadically
a practice that can create problems.
They feel great when they're exercis
ing but feel three times worse when
they're not, she said.
"It's better to stay on an even keel.
That's possible by choosing activities
that fit into your schedule, are enjoy
able and are performed at an intensity
you can handle."
Branner recommends that exercise
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Shawn Webb works out
include 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic ac
tivity within the target heart rate zone
three times a week, as well as strength
and flexibility training.
Anyone with a weight problem
should exercise three times a week on a
strict basis, she said, "but anything is
better than nothing."
Just do it
So, you ask, how can you squeeze in
a workout between chemistry lab and
the philosophy novel that you have to
"It's ironic that if a meal is skipped,
it's usually breakfast. That starts stu
dents off on the wrong foot."
Ellen Molotsky, intramural
recreation aerobics coordinator
read by tomorrow?
According to Branner, it's easier than
you think. For college students, she
said, it's "usually a matter of motiva
tion rather than having enough time."
The first step is to make exercise and
eating right a priority, Chappell said.
"It's an individual's responsibility to
take care of himself. You can't blame
school or homework or your mother or
your boyfriend," she said. "If you have
' f W I
i ' -
DTHFile photo
during weightlifting class
the attitude that making healthy choices
is going to make you physically and
psychologically healthier, then you are
more likely to do that. Whether you
make it hard for yourself or not is all in
your attitude."
Several exercise outlets exist on the
UNC campus, Molotsky said. Not only
does the physical education require
ment encourage exercise, but numer
ous courses and intramural recreation
programs also are meant to be lessons
in wellness, teaching
people about fitness
and making it stay with
them longer than just
one semester, she said.
Intramural and club
sports give students a
chance to compete
without the level of
commitment that a
varsity sport entails,
said Rick Satterlee,
assistant director for
club sports.
"A lot of the clubs are purely recrea
tional for those who aren't competitive
by nature," he said. "It's a great way to
stay in shape."
The clubs on campus range from
aikido, a Japanese martial art, to a club
for water skiers. Baseball, football,
soccer, lacrosse, ice and field hockey,
volleyball, crew and bowling are just a
few of the sports offered.
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