Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Posts Tagged ‘American Heart Association’

Flavored Sea Salts

Posted by terrepruitt on May 9, 2018

I know many people think salt is bad for you because that is what the American Heart Association seems to preach. But salt is not bad for you and it is very necessary in our diet. What I think the American Heart Association bases their recommendations off of is the idea that the average American eats A LOT of fast food, and a lot of over processed foods. Fast Food contains a lot of sodium as do over processed foods. Often times food stuff can be “lite” or “less fat” and still flavorful by adding more sodium. So, I believe that the American Heart Association thinks there is too much salt in the average American diet and with that their recommendations have scared people away from salt. I started off with that because I am going to post about salt. Not just any salt but a particular salt.

I have a friend that visits Hawaii once a year, I believe. She is one of the generous people who buys gifts for people whenever she goes on a trip. Well, one year she brought be a few salts and spices. Since she bought me a few it took me awhile to get to using them all. Well, there was one that once I opened it I used it on everything I could use it on. I fell in love with Hawaiian Guava Smoked Ginger Lime Salt.  I used the Hawaiian Guava Smoked Ginger Lime Salt so much I quickly went through it.

My friend always asks me what flavor to bring back when she goes and I tell her Hawaiian Guava Smoked Ginger Lime Salt. But the last time she went to brought me Aloha Spice Company’s Aloha Vanilla Hawaiian Cane Sugar so we could see what that was like. She didn’t bring me the Hawaiian Guava Smoked Ginger Lime Salt. So I got to thinking . . . maybe I could just buy it from Aloha Spice Company. Well, of course I can. But I can also buy some flavors through Amazon.  So that is what I did.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitI don’t use the Hawaiian Guava Smoked Ginger Lime Salt on everything that can be salted because I am not sure the Hawaiian Guava Smoked Ginger Lime flavor would go with everything, but it pretty much goes with ALMOST everything. It is great on veggies. You know, if you have ever read one of my posts about veggies, you know I love to roast veggies. The Hawaiian Guava Smoked Ginger Lime Salt on roasted veggies . . . . . WOW! So good.

She had also brought me Kiawe Smoked Garlic Hawaiian Sea Salt.  Since I use garlic on pretty much everything I cook . . . so using the Kiawe Smoked Garlic Hawaiian Sea Salt is really not a big change.  I also got some Guava Lime Smoked Hawaiian Sea Salt, which is not as flavorful as the one with ginger, but it is very good.  It is amazing, to me, the different flavor that these salts add to things.  Not an over powering flavor, but just enough to make things I would use garlic salt on anyway – very, very yummy!

The salt comes in little bags which I find tedious to use. So after my friend brought me a few bags of different types of spices I started saving the spice bottles from the organic spices I buy. They are glass and really nice to use. The label peels off them very nicely and they wash up really well. Once the spice that is in the bottle is done, I peel off the label and put the bottle in the dishwasher. Then I peel (I think I peeled once and that is why the Hawaiian Guava Smoked Ginger Lime Salt label is ripped) or cut out the Aloha Spice Company label and stick it/tape it to the jar. So much easier to use the spice from a shaker jar.

So if you are looking for a little taste of the island 🙂 and you cook things that you like to salt, you might want to check out Aloha Spice Company and see if there are any spices that you might like. They sell a lot more than just salt blends.

Do you use sea salt?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Aerobic Activity

Posted by terrepruitt on October 6, 2009

I always say that people need to find an exercise they like and do it.  This is really important because if you like it, you are more likely to do it consistently.  Hopefully your favorite exercise is aerobic.  If it is not, and you are interested in being healthy, then you have to buck up and do something aerobic anyway, whether you like it or not.  The heart is a muscle and it needs exercise just like all of our other muscles.  Our respiratory system benefits from aerobic exercise.

From the American Heart Association website:

  • Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the No. 1 killer in America.
  • Lack of physical activity is a risk factor for coronary heart disease.

An aerobic activity or what is now being called “cardio” is required for cardiorespiratory fitness.  Cardiorespiratory fitness is the most important factor when it comes to living a long and high quality life.  How well your lungs and heart function affects everything you do.  The better your lungs and heart are at getting oxygen rich blood to the parts of your body that need it, the better you will feel and be able to move.

And according to Science News:

  • Persons with higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness have a lower risk of all-cause death

And this post kind of ties in with my previous 30 Minutes Per Day post, but I am trying to emphasize getting your heart pumping. I also wanted to point out that doing so — getting your heart pumping — does not require jumping or impact of any kind.  You can get your heart rate up by just bending down at the knees and coming back up fast enough and long enough to get your heart working.  Impact is not required, but intensity is.

A lot of people don’t like to do “cardio” because it is boring or uncomfortable, but it does not have to be . . . again . . . find something you like.  There is all kinds of stuff out there.  If you are reading this and are wanting something new or different to try in the area of cardio and you want some ideas, contact me and we can do some brainstorming.  There is something out there that you will love.

Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Not All Certifications Are the Same

Posted by terrepruitt on September 19, 2009

This is a bit of a continuation of my CPR, AED, First Aid Training post. Things to think about and figure out:

1 (first and foremost) You have to figure out what you need. Do you need CPR/AED AND First Aid? Or just CPR and AED? Do you need Professional certification? Child CPR? There area lot of certificaitons out there, so you want to make sure that you get the one you need.

2 Find out if the places you are planning on working (if that is why you are getting it) take only certain certifications (Red Cross, American Heart Association, etc.) Most gyms that I have seen will NOT take certifications received online.

(Yes, you can get CPR certified online. Go figure.)

3 Find out how long the cert is good for. If you find one class for $50 and the cert is good for a year and another class for $75 and the cert is good for 2 years, you’d save yourself $25 by taking the more expensive class. Not to mention the time.

4 Does the training facility have dummies that you will get to practice on? Do they have AEDs that you will get to practice with? If you are going for a certification for child CPR does the facility have “child” dummies?

5 How long is the training? I have seen two hour ones and eight hour ones.

6 Does the training include information to take home? The first time I was certified I got a couple of booklets and posters and all kinds of information to use as reference material, I got something tonight too, but one of my classmates, who has been certified a few times said she had never before received anything. It is really great to have reference material to look at later.

7 Is the instructor just an instructor or has sh/e been an actual rescue work experience?

NOT ALL CERTIFICATIONS ARE THE SAME, neither are the instructors. Do your homework. Do research online, talk to people who have taken courses, talk to rescue workers—they will have opinions on which course they like best. Its your money and your time and if it is for your job or business it pays to do a little bit of checking first.

Posted in Helpful Hints | Tagged: , , , , | 6 Comments »