Tips to Help You Eat Healthy

Recently, I suddenly realise that I should have a healthy life style. Because the sub-heathy problems are obsessing me, though I am just 20+ years old.

Thanks to my friend that giving me a soybean milk machine as my wedding present. Last weekend, I went to supermarket to buy all kinds of whole grains, including Brown Rice, Whole Barley, Black Rice, Millet, sorghum and Sweet Rice... Then I choose 3 or 4 from them to make multi-soybean milk as dinner everyday.

Following are some other tips for eating whole grains:

* To eat more whole grains, substitute a whole-grain product for a refined product - such as eating whole-wheat bread instead of white bread or brown rice instead of white rice. It's important to substitute the whole-grain product for the refined one, rather than adding the whole-grain product.

* For a change, try brown rice or whole-wheat pasta. Try brown rice stuffing in baked green peppers or tomatoes and whole-wheat macaroni in macaroni and cheese.

* Use whole grains in mixed dishes, such as barley in vegetable soup or stews and bulgur wheat in casserole or stir-fries.

* Create a whole grain pilaf with a mixture of barley, wild rice, brown rice, broth and spices. For a special touch, stir in toasted nuts or chopped dried fruit.

* Experiment by substituting whole wheat or oat flour for up to half of the flour in pancake, waffle, muffin or other flour-based recipes. They may need a bit more leavening.

* Use whole-grain bread or cracker crumbs in meatloaf.

* Try rolled oats or a crushed, unsweetened whole grain cereal as breading for baked chicken, fish, veal cutlets, or eggplant parmesan.

* Try an unsweetened, whole grain ready-to-eat cereal as croutons in salad or in place of crackers with soup.

* Freeze leftover cooked brown rice, bulgur, or barley. Heat and serve it later as a quick side dish.

Give up Laptops or Not!

Nowadays, more and more office people feel pains from backs, necks and shoulders. The most important reason is using computers for a long time.

According to market-research firm IDC, sales of laptop computers passed desktops in the U.S. for the first time ever this fall. That's bad news.　　

Laptops are inherently unergonomic--unless you're 2 feet tall, says physician Norman J. Marcus, a muscle-pain specialist in New York City.　　

When you work at a computer, the keyboard should be at elbow height, so your upper and lower arms form an angle of 90 degrees or more and your forearms are supported by armrests. The monitor should be roughly at eye level so you can lean back in a chair with back support.　　

But most users simply set their laptops on a desk or table. The keyboard is too high, which makes your arms reach up, your shoulders hunch and your wrists bend down. The monitor is too low, which pulls your head and neck forward and down and puts a strain on your back.　　

That's OK if you use your laptop occasionally, for short periods. But if you use one for hours at a stretch--as do millions of college students, business travelers, telecommuters, video-gamers and growing numbers of office workers--you're setting yourself up for muscle problems that can make your entire upper body hurt.

Ergonomics experts have warned about laptop problems for years--mostly in vain. People continue to abandon bulky desktops in favor of the ever-sleeker, lighter portables. And WiFi connections let us use laptops anywhere--in bed, on the floor--in all kinds of contorted positions.　　

People think, How can a mouse or a keyboard hurt you?'' says Thomas Caffrey, founder of Myofactors LLC, which does ergonomic consultations for factories and offices (including The Wall Street Journal). But poor technique can significantly overload the anatomy over time."　　

A wrong position can cause pain and stiffness in the neck, shoulders, back and arms, as well as headaches, pains in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and carpal tunnel syndrome, in which pressure on wrist nerves causes tingling and numbness in the hands.