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Live Oak Jack Rabbit 1-Mile Run & Student Art Contest FUNdraiser
The 3rd annual Live Oak Jack Rabbit 1-Mile Run and Student Art Contest FUNdraiser will take place on Sunday, April 14th, at Shoreline Middle School on 17th Avenue in Santa Cruz, CA. Opening ceremonies begin at 8:00 AM. Registration for the 1-mile races on the USATF-certified track are open to the public online at: http://tinyurl.com/LOJR2024 The first wave of runners takes off at 9:00 AM and races continue every 15 minutes through 11:45 AM. Race registration fee is $10 per runner with the funds raised going to support the art program for the Live Oak School District students. All are invited to join this community fun run for the 1-mile…
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Fall Family Fitness, Food and Fun
School is back in session and as the new routine picks up, some self-care gems can go out the window. This article will share with you a few of my favorite tips to ensure you can get your entire family on board for fitness, healthy foods and lots of fun this fall. Earlier alarms, homework and all the shifts can cause stress and affect each family member differently.The first step in fall family self care is to give everyone a “grace” period. For the next 30 days be realistic about all the changes happening from the weather to adjusting to all the new things on your to-do list after a…
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Eating to Beat the Winter Blues: Healthy Eating February 2020
Eating to Beat the Winter Blues Healthy Eating: February 2020 By Gretchen Heimsoth Right around this time in the new year- after all the hustle and bustle and stress from the holidays is finished, (and hopefully the decorations are put away!) we can come to a pause after all the festivities where we can feel a lull in energy and focus, as well as low mood and motivation. Shorter days/less sun, chilly and rainy days all add up and can express in a syndrome known as Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. SAD can affect all age ranges. Children pent up inside when they would otherwise be running around expending energy…
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Santa Cruz Gets OK Grades for Lack of Fat
Santa Cruz Gets OK Grades for Lack of Fat Santa Cruzans got a decent report card from the national Nutrition Policy Institute last month, showing that locals were healthier than fellow Californians and diet-seeking peers across the country. The Nutrition Policy Institute, in collaboration with the California Department of Public Health, showed more than 25 percent of all California residents were obese, as of 2014. This percentage has increased by 6 percent since 2001. The average Santa Cruzan needs to lose 42 pounds, while the rest of the state needs to lose 51 pounds, according to this obesity study. Though that may seem like a negative thing, in a nation…
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Stop the Bad Swelling: Healthy Eating January 2020
Stop the Bad Swelling Healthy Eating: January 2020 By Kris Holden Inflammation is the body’s natural way of protecting itself from injury, infection and foreign substances. It can be both beneficial and detrimental to our health. Lack of exercise, unmanaged stress, and inflammatory foods can all contribute to chronic inflammation. Thankfully, studies suggest that you can control and possibly reverse inflammation through a healthy, anti-inflammatory lifestyle. There are two types of inflammation: acute and chronic (long-term). Acute inflammation, is beneficial and protects our health. It activates our immune system response to an injury, such as a cut or a bruise. This allows our body to repair and heal itself. Chronic…
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Impossible Burger vs. Beyond Burger
Impossible Burger vs. Beyond Burger Healthy Eating: December 2019 By Kris Holden The two biggest brands of fake meat, Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger, are all the hype. They are in the news and headlines and displayed on the menus at hundreds of restaurants and fast food chains. The Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger are both highly processed and engineered to replicate meat. They have similar protein amounts to ground beef, but have just as much saturated fat (from the coconut oil) and high sodium. They do offer two to three grams of fiber, where as beef has none. The Impossible Burger has 21 ingredients with the main contents being…
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Juice vs Smoothies, What’s Healthier? Healthy Eating November 2019
Juice vs Smoothies, What’s Healthier? Healthy Eating November 2019 By Kris Holden There’s a lot of hype over juicing these days. More and more juice bars are opening and most grocery stores offer a variety of bottled fruit and vegetable juices. The latest trend seems to be cold-pressed juice. But, what is “cold-pressed juice,”? Are there more health benefits in drinking fresh pressed juice over drinking blended smoothies? Let’s start off by looking at the process and benefits of juicing. Juicing 101 Juicing is the process of extracting the liquid from fruits and vegetables and discarding the skin, pulp and fiber. Without the fiber your digestive system doesn’t have to…
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Small Bikes, Big Confidence: Extremely Sports November 2019
Small Bikes, Big Confidence Girls Take to the Trails in Little Bellas Program Extremely Sports: November 2019 By Karen Kefauver When I first considered volunteering with the Little Bellas program in Santa Cruz, I thought, ‘I don’t have time!’ Then I reconsidered: Just like chocolate and peanut butter, the combo of mountain biking and mentoring sounded irresistible. I took a closer look at the eight-week commitment on Sunday afternoons in Scotts Valley and learned that Little Bellas is a national program for women mentoring girls on mountain bikes. I felt proud that Santa Cruz, our cycling mecca, had its own chapter. After I talked to the leadership crew, helmed by…
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Vaping and Your Child’s Health: What Parents Need to Know
Vaping and Your Child’s Health What Parents Need to Know By Tara Leonard, MPH Our country is experiencing two disturbing crises related to vaping. First, there’s an ongoing epidemic of youth using flavored nicotine products, including e-cigarettes. Public health officials have been speaking out on this issue for several years with growing alarm. Second, there’s an outbreak of vaping-associated pulmonary illnesses which began this past summer. As of mid-October, there were 1,299 cases nationwide with 29 deaths and those numbers are likely to rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), patients report cough, chest pain, difficulty breathing, fever and weakness. Many experience severe lung injury requiring…
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You Can Still Buy Packaged Food: Eating Healthy October 2019
You Can Still Buy Packaged Food But “health food” isn’t always healthy Healthy Eating: October 2019 By Kris Holden It’s easier than you think to start eating healthy. That doesn’t mean having to spend most of the day in the kitchen. For convenience, you can still buy pre-packaged food and you don’t have to limit yourself to the designated “health food” aisle found in many grocery stores. Surprisingly, many of those “health foods,” may not be the best choices for your health. Food affects mood, memory, energy and overall quality of life. It’s never too late to start paying more attention to what we put into our bodies. Spending a…
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Why I Chose to Pack My Kid’s Lunches: Healthy Eating September 2019
Why I Chose to Pack My Kid’s Lunches Healthy Eating: September 2019 By Kris Holden Kids are just getting back to school, classroom supply lists are waiting to be fulfilled, disorderly morning chaos is on the rise (at least in our household) and school lunches are needing to be packed. The start of school is always a bit challenging getting everyone back on a routine. Breakfasts now need to be a source of fuel for focus and energy, lunches require research and creativity in order for them to be enticing but nutritious. When my oldest child started public elementary school I wanted to get to know the school and where…
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Organic vs GMO’s
Organic vs GMO’s By Kris Holden Summer is in full gear, kids are out of school and the pantry and refrigerator are expected to be stocked with plenty of snacks for hungry active kids. Thankfully, the summer season brings a variety of delicious fruit that kids enjoy snacking on as well as sweet cherry tomatoes and corn. But how does one navigate buying produce if organic is too expensive or not available? What about GMO’s? The Environmental Working Group puts out a Dirty Dozen list. The Dirty Dozen is a list of the 12 fruits and vegetables that contain the highest concentrations of pesticides AFTER washing and peeling. The Clean…
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Packaged Snack Bars: What Are We Really Serving our Kids?
Packaged Snack Bars: What Are We Really Serving our Kids? By Kris Holden I remember when my mom used to pack me a granola bar in my lunch. I think that was the only type of “bar,” back in the 70’s, made by Nature Valley. It was hard, crumbly and sweet. Looking at the same brand of bars today, I counted 11 ingredients listed and 3 are different sources of sugar. I wonder if the original bars had “natural flavor” as the current ones do now? Nowadays, bars go by many different names: Cereal bars, Granola bars, Energy bars, Protein bars, Snack bars, and the list goes on. There are…
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How to Get Back in the Saddle and Get Fired Up for Longer Rides
How to Get Back in the Saddle and Get Fired Up for Longer Rides Join groups, train together and step up for the Santa Cruz Mountains Challenge By Karen Kefauver Last month, on the Girls Rock mountain bike ride, I had quite an ego jolt. On a beautiful, sunny Saturday, I joined a dozen gals for a mellow, social ride that started near downtown Santa Cruz. We rolled out slowly and started riding up, up, up towards the university on a combination of dirt and paved paths. It had been several weeks since my last ride, I told my pal. Within a few minutes, I had to stop talking because…
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You Can Bypass a Lot of Medicines if You Feed Kids Healthy Food
You Can Bypass a Lot of Medicines if You Feed Kids Healthy Food By Kris Holden As a parent, we strive to keep our kids safe and healthy. When our kids are young we’re able to feed them (or at least attempt) pretty much what WE want them to eat; fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, etc… But as they get older, and they get introduced to (in school, friend’s houses, etc…) processed foods, fast foods, candy, and those neon-colored cupcakes, their taste buds seem to change. I’ve always tried to feed my kids “healthy” food at home. Now “healthy” can be defined in many different ways and look different from…
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How to Protect You Bike from Theft: Top 10 Ways to Avoid this Bicycle Bummer
How to Protect You Bike from Theft: Top 10 Ways to Avoid this Bicycle Bummer By Karen Kefauver It feels terrible when your bike (or part of it) is stolen. First, there’s bewilderment: “Wait! Didn’t I park my bike there? You look around, hoping maybe you locked it somewhere else. Then it hits: your bike really is gone. The robbery leaves you sad and mad because having your bike ripped off is like losing a dear friend. In some cases, you’ve also lost thousands of dollars on a major investment. Regardless of the cost, it’s a major bummer. Unfortunately, living in Santa Cruz since 1993, I know this cycle all…
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Bike to Work Day May 9 in Santa Cruz Rolls Out New Bike Challenge and 12 Free Breakfast Sites
Bike to Work Day May 9 in Santa Cruz Rolls Out New Bike Challenge and 12 Free Breakfast Sites By Karen Kefauver Bike to Work Day in Santa Cruz ranks right up there with July Fourth and Thanksgiving as one of my favorite days of the year. I get to wake up, roll out of bed and immediately do a few of my favorite things: ride my bike, munch on free breakfast treats and socialize with my fellow cyclists. What a delicious combination! While Bike to Work Day isn’t an official holiday (yet!), there’s a celebratory mood as both new and experienced bikers, adults and kids alike, ditch their cars,…
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A Bicycle Built for You
A Bicycle Built for You Local Bike Builders Shine at Sacramento Bike Show By Karen Kefauver I love cycling, but I’m not a bike geek. That means when I’m with cyclists who get pumped up comparing bottom brackets, cranksets and gear ratios, my eyes glaze over. So when I first heard about the North American Handmade Bike Show (NAHBS) more than a decade ago, I thought I might feel out of place. Happily, I was wrong. While there were plenty of bike geeks attending the Sacramento show, I also found my people — mainstream cycling enthusiasts who were there with their families to meet dozens of bike builders, admire their…
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Valentine’s Day Special: How I Fell in Love with Biking
Valentine’s Day Special: How I Fell in Love with Biking By Karen Kefauver I enjoy seeing kids’ fascination with bikes. Sometimes when I’m downtown locking my sparkly purple bike to the rack, I’ll spot a toddler tugging on a parent’s hand, veering towards me on the sidewalk, trying to get a closer look at my mysterious, two-wheeled contraption. While they’re transfixed, I’ll spin the wheel and ring the bell for their added delight. Makes me smile every time. I was once that little kid. Although I can’t remember precisely when I fell in love with cycling, it’s been decades. RIDIN’ ROMANCe riding with a pack of friends in the santa…
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Get Pumped! Bicycle Pump Tracks for the Family
Get Pumped! Bicycle Pump Tracks for the Family By Karen Kefauver Santa Cruz pump tracks are a magnet for kids and parents alike. It’s an ideal place for parents to hangout and experience a unique type of bicycle playground. Typically constructed from dirt, pump tracks feature round bumps and banked turns that are designed to help a rider maintain momentum using a pumping action instead of pedaling. Any age rider can hop on the track to practice “pumping” and pedaling is totally acceptable. Completing a single loop may take anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute, though kids may spend hours on the circuit. Fortunately, there are plenty of tracks to…
