Friday, January 23, 2009

FOOD SERVING

What is a Food Guide Serving?
A Food Guide Serving is simply a reference amount. It helps you understand how much food is recommended every day from each of the four food groups. In some cases, a Food Guide Serving may be close to what you eat, such as an apple. In other cases, such as rice or pasta, you may serve yourself more than one Food Guide Serving.
Look at the examples below to find out how much food is equal to one Food Guide Serving.
Examples of one Food Guide Serving are:

Vegetables and Fruit

125 mL (½ cup) fresh, frozen or canned
vegetable or fruit or 100% juice
250 mL (1 cup) leafy raw vegetables or
salad
1 piece of fruit

Grain Products

1 slice (35 g) bread or ½ bagel (45 g)
½ pita (35 g) or ½ tortilla (35 g)
125 mL (½ cup) cooked rice, pasta, or couscous
30 g cold cereal or 175 mL (¾ cup) hot cereal

Milk and Alternatives

250 mL (1 cup) milk or fortified soy beverage
175 g (¾ cup) yogurt
50 g (1 ½ oz) cheese

Meat and Alternatives

75 g (2 ½ oz.)/125 mL (½ cup) cooked fish, shellfish, poultry or lean meat
175 mL (¾ cup) cooked beans
2 eggs
30 mL (2 Tbsp) peanut butter


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Vegetables and Fruit
125 mL (½ cup) fresh, frozen or canned vegetable or fruit or 100% juice
250 mL (1 cup) leafy raw vegetables orsalad
1 piece of fruit
Grain Products
1 slice (35 g) bread or ½ bagel (45 g)
½ pita (35 g) or ½ tortilla (35 g)
125 mL (½ cup) cooked rice, pasta, or couscous
30 g cold cereal or 175 mL (¾ cup) hot cereal
Milk and Alternatives
250 mL (1 cup) milk or fortified soy beverage
175 g (¾ cup) yogurt
50 g (1 ½ oz.) cheese
Meat and Alternatives
75 g (2 ½ oz.)/125 mL (½ cup) cooked fish, shellfish, poultry or lean meat
175 mL (¾ cup) cooked beans
2 eggs
30 mL (2 Tbsp) peanut butter

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Director, Customer Information Services, 2683

Director, Customer Information Services
Job Number: 2683 Classification Title: ML4 Posting Date Jan 16, 2009 Closing Date - 11:00 p.m. on: Jan 26, 2009 Union: Management
Number of Openings (up to): 1 - Permanent Full-time
Department:Corporate Services Department
Work Location(s)

T5J 2Y8
Description:
Reporting to the General Manager of the Corporate Services Department, you will lead the strategic direction of customer information services. With your extensive management expertise, you will oversee the services provided through 311 and Inside Information, the City's external and internal Call Centres and the City's website. Seize this important opportunity to showcase your problem solving talent and leadership skills. Specific functions include:
Provide strategic services to establish the City as leader in the provision of information services to citizens and internal staff through two one point of contact call centres;
Provide timely and interactive services through a service focused web presence;
Explore and lead more effective ways for staff to deliver services and solutions;
Use environmental scanning and tools such as benchmarking to identify practical and cost effective alternatives that will enable new business opportunities, decrease cost of operations or accommodate new growth;
Lead the organization in establishing customer service standards and policies;
Ensure the diversity of the external and internal community is reflected in the Branch strategy;
Partner with organizations to agreed to common goals where relationships are strategic with high political sensitivity and visibility (i.e. Regional Services);
Ensure that staff maintain a high level of service in the 311 and Inside Information model and web sites;
Lead the human resource management of the Branch to ensure the development of talent and a high performance culture.
Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration.• A minimum of 10 years progressively responsible management and leadership experience in a large unionized organization.• Experience creating new business processes and procedures that encourage a continuous improvement environment, creating strategic business plans and implementing services to support the plans.• Superior knowledge of the City governance structure, Municipal Government Act, Council goals and Collective Agreements to determine service delivery options.• Highly developed leadership skills to engage employees in their work, create a culture of service that builds trust and accountability and champion continuous improvement.• Superior consultation, customer service and problem solving skills.• Highly developed writing and oral communication skills are essential.

HOURS OF WORK: Hours of work for management/professional positions may vary and be subject to the terms and conditions of a variable hours of work program. SALARY RANGE: ML4 $91,000.00 to $130,000.00 Annually. GENERAL: The City of Edmonton thanks all applicants for their interest in this employment opportunity; however, only those candidates considered for the position will be contacted. HUMAN RESOURCES CONSULTANT: DP/MB

Thursday, January 1, 2009

HEALTH AND WELLNESS - 2009

Experts reveal health secrets for busy people
Story Highlights
Personal trainer says even a 10-minute workout gets you closer to fitness goals
Volunteer or engage in movement to get you moving, even if it's not in a gym
Clear out your kitchen of foods that have empty calories to avoid temptation
iReport: Tell us about the healthy changes you're planning
By Madison ParkCNN
(CNN) -- The mirror doesn't lie. Those buttery cookies and slices of ham from the holidays are showing up in the wrong places on your body.
To help you start the new year right, CNN.com asked a few well-known nutritionists and personal trainers for tips on keeping those resolutions to eat right and get healthy.
The most common excuse for not exercising is that people don't have enough time.
Keeping in mind people's hectic schedules, the experts suggested ways to fit in exercises during work, grocery shopping and family time. Even a 10-minute workout can help people inch closer to better fitness, trainers said.
NUTRITION
Dr. Melina Jampolis, a San Francisco, California, physician nutrition specialist, is the diet and fitness expert for CNNhealth.com. She focuses exclusively on nutrition for weight loss and disease prevention and treatment.
1. Go for very specific goals.
Make an actual list. Don't be vague. Instead if "looking better," write down specifics, such as being able to run around with kids at the park or not wearing a baggy T-shirt to the beach. It's an internal motivator.
"When I see their motivation wavering, I say, 'Remember why you're doing this? Isn't it super important to keep up with kids in the playground next spring?' " Jampolis said.
Put that list where you are constantly reminded, such as inside a wallet or the office desk, she said. iReport.com: Tell us about your healthy New Year's resolutions
2. Volunteer.
Good karma could be good fitness. Volunteer activities such as coaching a youth soccer game, walking shelter dogs or cleaning up a beach encourages movement and exercise, Jampolis said. When it comes to burning calories, think outside the gym.
"Look for active volunteer opportunities with any form of movement," she said.
Cheryl Forberg is a behind-the-scenes nutritionist for NBC's show, "The Biggest Loser." She is a registered dietitian and chef. She has a weekly blog and is the author of the book "Positively Ageless."
1. Make over your kitchen.
Get rid of foods that have lower nutritional values, such as white sugar, bread and pasta. If junk food isn't in your kitchen, you can't be tempted, Forberg said.
"There are so many temptations from the morning, stopping for coffee or someone has doughnuts in break room, or you go out for lunch and there are not many healthy choices," she said. "You're bombarded all day long making compromises for your eating habits. At home, count on everything that's there providing optimal nutrition for body."
2. Healthy snacking helps.
Having a snack sustains healthy blood sugar levels and energy. This way you don't feel famished and end up overeating. She recommends a piece of fruit with a protein or healthy fat -- perhaps a few nuts with an apple, a cheese stick or a carton of yogurt for a snack.
"Combining protein and carbohydrates keeps you full longer and sustains blood sugar longer and keeps your energy levels," she said.
The 100-calorie snack packs are not high-quality calories, she said. "It's processed food, and it's not healthy ingredients."
FITNESS
Cathe Friedrich is a certified group fitness instructor who launched a video empire of step aerobics in the 1980s.
1. Sneak in a workout at the grocery store.
Carry a basket instead of pushing a shopping cart around the store. Switch the arms and bend them to hold the basket at a 90-degree angle to isolate the biceps.
"Pop out a few curls with it if you don't care what people think," Friedrich said.
Lifting heavy items such as 40-pound dog food bags can also be a form of weight training. When you're lifting heavy things, engage your core, bend your knees, stand up and exhale, she said.
2. Do easy workouts in the office.
"If you're officebound, get a stability ball," Friedrich said. "It puts you in good alignment, and you're getting work done."
The ball forces the body to balance and activates the lower back.
If you have a private office, squeeze in a few lunges, squats crunches or push-ups.
Patrick Murphy is a personal trainer who has worked with celebrities including Eva Longoria, Mario Lopez and Judd Apatow. He trains stunt coordinators and actors for action films.
1. Schedule your workout at the same time
"We're creatures of habits," he said. "One way to reach a fitness goal to becoming healthy is to create a body clock for exercise. If you exercise at 7 a.m. two to three times a week, your brain will trigger it -- telling you it's time to go and you'll crave exercise."
If your workout time fluctuates all the time, you won't acquire that body clock, he said. By the eighth or ninth time of working out on a schedule, it develops into a habit. "Consistency over time will get you there," Murphy said.
2. Visualize what your body is going to be.
In the same way that athletes visualize achieving their goal, use this mechanism to reach personal fitness goals. Visualize what you want your body to look like.
Murphy said it's like meditation, to be done before going to bed or after getting up. Visualize your ideal body and try to shape your habits and behaviors.
"Whenever you want to have that muffin or that junk food, visualize what you don't want your body to be," he said. "It keeps you away."
Robert "Trainer Bob" Dothard is a personal trainer, martial arts expert and motivational speaker. He owns a Fitness Together franchise in Atlanta, Georgia, and has worked with CNN's Fit Nation programs.
1. Make a daily 10-minute workout commitment.
"People have a million and one excuses, and many are legitimate," he said. "Ten minutes is a great start. It's a creation of habit, that's going to move you in the right way."
Although a 10-minute workout will not make you fit or lose much weight, it's a step toward change.
2. Get a workout with your kids.
When Dothard weight trains in his basement gym, he brings his youngest son and a few balls. This way, Dothard can keep an eye on his son while exercising.
"He throws [balls] around the room while I work on weight training," Dothard said. "He wanders around the room, and I get 30 minutes of exercise in."
Busy moms can use this strategy to squeeze in a workout, he said.
All AboutExercise and FitnessHealth and FitnessDiet and Nutrition
Good goals stir you emotionally. They scare you. They push you to grow. They require you to face your fears. They practically dare you to chase them downtrying to resist your surroundings is one of the hardest things, I've found.