Share and Voice 11: A Little Christmas Fun!

I am one to get very excited for the holidays, so I was browsing online and came across this website on mistletoes. It's nothing big, but just something fun to read about. It has a few fun facts about mistletoes, and it's categorized under Environmental Issues. My family never puts mistletoe up at Christmas, but my friends always play pranks on each other with this stuff! Even though the facts aren't as funny as the concept of the mistletoe, it's crazy how people came up with the idea knowing the reality of the leaf. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and don't get stuck under the mistletoe! ;-)

Share and Voice 10: Eco Store in Duluth

I don't know how many times I have driven by this place, but never thought twice about the title until I saw the commercial the other day! Eco is a store here in Duluth that supports eco-friendly decorating for residential and commercial buildings! I checked out their website, and there stuff looks really cool and modern! Eco stands for economically conscious options; such a good acronym! Check out their website at http://www.ecolivingspace.com and look through to see if there is anything you can get for your homes right now! 

Check out these screens... I wouldn't have thought that is what this was! I'm excited to see there are places like this since I will be looking for my own place within the next year. I wish I was able to explicate prices between them and other companies to say that you are saving money by going there, but I haven't been inside there yet so I am not much help in that area. But one really cool program they offer is you can go in and make your own decorations using their tools! Of course you have to pay a small fee for whatever it is you are making, but what a good project for the holidays, and you are practicing ways of being environmentally friendly! I wish I would have known about this place earlier because I love making gifts for people! 

Share and Voice 9: Shape Your Body the Way YOU Want at Home!

This is a new 'game' that just came out for Nintendo Wii and it's called Your Shape. It has just started being advertised in this area, and it really caught my attention. Many people are too scared or intimidated to go to the gym if they haven't had much experience with working out in their past, but with this program you can do everything at home! How many times do people complain they don't have time to workout? Well even if you have 20 minutes of spare time, you can do exercises at home! The best feature about this program is it is conformed entirely to how YOU want to shape your body. If you want to get 'into shape' you most likely have some areas on your body, specifically, that you want to improve, and you can do that with this program! I give Jenny McCartney a lot of credit for representing this game, because it is a very creative way to get people more active. If you haven't seen the commercial, check out this short YouTube video to get the basics of the program!


Now no one has anymore excuses to get some physical activity! Did you know 63% of Americans are overweight and 31% are obese? There is no excuse for us Health Advocators not to practice what we preach, so why not support programs like this? I just did!

Share and Voice 8: Can You Imagine Being Force-Fed at 10 Years Old?

Last weekend, I was getting my hair done and I was reading through a magazine and found one interesting article. I'm not one to look through magazines so I was shocked to find myself wrapped into this one, but the story was jaw-dropping I had to read it. The picture was a woman extremely overweight with stretch marks and had a caption to go along with it that said something along the lines of how beautiful she was. She is from a country in Africa called Mauritania (pronounced more-tane-ya) which is one of the very few countries in the world where being fat is considered attractive. In fact, it is seen as more than attractive, it is seen as wealthy, too. This is a very old practice the US even had many, many years ago with having women being extremely overweight because it showed a sign of wealth. Mauritania still has this view. It is only practiced in women, though, and men are said to 'drool' at the sight of them! It starts at a very young age for females, around 10, and they are literally force-fed all day. These girls are said to take in between 14,000-16,000 calories a day! That seems absolutely ludicrous and surreal, but for these girls it's nothing short than normal. To achieve this caloric intake, many of the foods they eat are pure fat, or fat rolled into balls slathered with more fat on top of it. The article explained that if these girls are to refuse, their punishment is to eat MORE! If they are to vomit up what they eat, they have to eat their vomit! One lady had commented that her boyfriend she has constantly compliments her on how beautiful she is. The problem is she said she wants to lose some weight and wear jeans and heels like she sees in magazines, but she is too scared her boyfriend won't like her anymore. 
After reading about this I have researched a little bit here and there and can't find that exact article from the magazine, but have found some other ones. BBC News has the most recent article I found called Mauritania's Wife-Fattening Farm and said that although many rural women in this country are still practicing this tradition, it is slowly fading out. Check out the article and see how these women are treated! I found this video which describes it all! Very interesting ritual, but scary at the same time! I would love to go over there and educate these women on how they are jeopardizing their health. 

Share and Voice 7: Fitness and the Environment

Now that we are 8 weeks into this class, I have been curious how I could incorporate fitness with environment. Of course I thought too hard about it, and then came across this article and realized the most obvious way; cleaning up litter! This article is on how a guy, Sam Huber, began a movement called "eco-running" and it's simply cleaning up litter, but getting more out of your exercise than just walking (even though you can walk if you choose to). 

He has been in featured in many articles and magazines for starting this movement. Huber has implemented his idea to kids through a movement called "Eco-Runner Kids" which is perfect for our society with helping kids understand the importance of being eco-friendly, and also to help them exercise with the increase of obesity rates. I know, personally, that when I have ran outside, there have been multiple pieces of garbage I run by, but have never thought to pick it up. There is a website called "How to Improve Fitness and the Environment by Eco-Walking" and it gives you some tips to help you get started. It's seems simple, but you don't want to be running too long with too much garbage you can't handle. I thought this was a really cool idea and seemed new, but it sounds like places all over the world do similar activities such as an eco-hike. I think this would be a fun activity for our class if it wasn't cold out! There is nothing better than feeling great about exercising, but also feeling great about being environmentally friendly is a win-win!

Share and Voice 6: Learn How to Read Nutrition Labels

I remembered in high school when one of my teachers taught us how to read nutrition facts labels and how shocked I was that I wasn't doing it correctly. Many people are in my boat, today, that I was in 5 years ago, but I want people to become more aware of what they are eating. They need to know not only by where it comes from, but also by what's in it. People often see "Fat Free" or "98% Fat Free" and automatically take the item, assuming what is printed is correct. The sad and scary thing is that it isn't always right! Help educate yourself by taking 10 minutes to watch this video I found. This guy worked for Kraft and found out how they scammed people and still are today. 

It helps break down a simple way for people to read labels regardless of what is printed on the front or side of the package. Hope this helps everyone in some way so the next you are at the store you can look at the labels correctly! Click on this link to watch the video Reading Labels Correctly. 

Share and Voice 5: Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

By the title of this year's Blog Action Day, it is obvious what the issue is on. There are many people that are taking a lot of time out of their day, today, to voice their opinion and express the importance of climate change. If you are one of those people, hats off to you! I, on the other hand, just recently was informed on a deeper level the problem global warming is causing. My post is to support the issue, because I now know how important this problem is becoming and will become. I think that Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" is by far the best way to get anyone to understand the importance this issue is having on our planet. The sad part is, is that he made that video a few years ago and it isn't until this year the US is finally going to address the matter. With the studies and data he has collected over the years, anyone would be naive to say that global warming is not an issue. Look at the arctic people! The ice from 100 years ago is now dry land; how did that happen? It's common sense! The most embarrassing is that the US is number one for polluting carbon emissions into the air. Looks like we are taking for granted what we were given.

An estimation of what the arctic will look like in 100 years if we don't change now.

I hope everyone starts to make themselves aware of the problem climate change is causing, and doing so by changing the way they live to help our planet. I know I did, and so did 18 other colleagues of mine! I am proud to be apart of Blog Action Day 2009, and I hope more people get involved by the end of the day. Here is the link, it's only one click away! www.blogactionday.org 

Share and Voice: EcoSet Consulting

EcoSet Consulting helps make the film, television, and commercial industries more 'green'! The founder of EcoSet Consulting is a friend of the family, so I thought it was something cool that fits right into our class. She played soccer with my oldest sister for many years, and we have kept in touch with her family since she graduated high school. Who would have thought of such an innovative company? Makes you wonder what you can come up with when you let your mind go! Check out her website and see how much she has helped our environment. Go Shannon!

Share and Voice: Eat Better America

Eat Better America is a free website full of healthy recipes, diet and nutrition tips, and fitness ideas. You can sign up for free membership and receive emails and updates from the website. One of the neat features this website has is you can send in a recipe you have, and they will try and "healthify" it by replacing ingredients with healthier options. Each recipe also has a breakdown of the nutritional information you would normally see on a nutrition facts label. This is one of my favorite websites! I use it as much as I can to mix up my meal choices, and so I can make smaller meals, instead of having leftovers all the time that just sit in the fridge! I strongly encourage everyone to check out the recipes, especially if you are trying to eat healthier, or you are like me that just like to change things up a bit. Go check it out and explore!! 

Share and Voice: Mission Jamaica

My senior year in high school, I took a mission trip to Jamaica to help build orphanages and work with physically and mentally challenged kids. The trip cannot be summed up in words how amazing it was, but I learned more in that trip than I had my 18 years of living. I realized how much Americans take for granted what we have, what it's like to live in poverty, how a hug can make a person's week, putting your guard down and letting others in changes you and them, and to live life a little better. Here are a few pictures of the beautiful island...

Here is us missionary workers with the kids...

And the big group of us...

This truly was a trip of a lifetime and I couldn't be more thankful for having the honor to go and help!

Welcome to Rita's Realm with Rita!

Hello! My name is Rita Lerud. My blog, Rita's Realm, will be focusing on the environment and how it relates to health and fitness. I'm majoring in Exercise Science with a concentration on health and fitness, thus how I chose my blog's focus.

There are 6 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:

1. Advocacy Project
2. Eye Openers
3. Reflections
4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
5. Read 'n' Seed
6. Share and Voice

If you notice at the bottom of this post, the categories will be listed as labels. This post is has been labeled with all six kinds of posts. You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget at the top of the page. All post titles from now on will begin with one of the categories above.

The members of my web group are:

1. Carrie J.@carrie's environment 
2. Kayla M.@kaylasgreenland  
3. Danielle S.@Danielle's Dandy Environment  

You can subscribe to my blog by clicking the subscribe gadget in the gadget column. You can also follow my blog by clicking "Follow this Blog" in the gadget column. I am subscribed to all the blogs in my blog list gadget. You can see my complete profile and all the blogs I am following by clicking on "See Complete Profile."

I hope you enjoy Rita's Realm, and make sure to keep coming back for updates and responses to comments. Thanks!

"Blogged for the Welcome Linky Party  hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy ."