Latest news with #Medlin
Business Insider
30-04-2025
- Health
- Business Insider
I want to cut down on ultra-processed snacks. A dietitian said to eat bigger meals.
Ivy Duong, 26, does an hour of resistance training three times a week, averages 7,000 steps a day, plays intense sports once or twice a week, and has an active job as an ambassador for a nonprofit organization. For the latest installment of Business Insider's Nutrition Clinic, Duong, who is based in Canada, told Business Insider what she eats on an average day. She said her goals are to boost her longevity, cut down on ultra-processed food, and stay healthy to support her active lifestyle. The dietitian Sophie Medlin reviewed Duong's daily diet and said that, given her exercise levels, she likely needs to eat more. Duong has a small breakfast or skips it Duong said she normally eats two or three meals a day. She said she often skips breakfast but sometimes makes a smoothie containing almond milk, Greek yogurt, matcha powder, chia seeds, hemp seeds, collagen powder, apples, and frozen berries, adding up to roughly 300 to 350 calories. Alternatively, she has a slice of rye or wholewheat toast with peanut butter and salt, which comes to about 350 calories. Duong rotates a selection of dishes for her lunches and dinners. They tend to contain carbs such as quinoa, oatmeal, brown rice with beans, whole wheat bread, or potatoes; protein such as pork, ground turkey, chicken breast, or eggs; and vegetables such as lettuce, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, cabbage, carrots, onions, or broccoli. They also usually have a small amount of fat, such as extra virgin olive oil, nuts, or peanut butter. Duong estimates that her lunches and dinners are about 500 to 800 calories each. "I have a habit of snacking throughout the day after a meal with Lays chips, slices of banana bread, tortilla chips with salsa, cookies, chocolate, cinnamon buns, and Oreos, etc," Duong said. More substantial meals can help reduce snacking Medlin told BI that Duong's meals sound "well balanced," but she wondered whether the portion sizes are big enough to give Duong sufficient energy, especially given how much exercise she does. "It would be great to think about eating more at meal times or having healthy and substantial snacks planned, which will displace some of the less healthy foods in Ivy's diet," Medlin said. Medlin recommends focusing on snacks that include produce and protein, such as yogurt with berries and nut butter, carrot sticks and wholemeal pitta with hummus, or a boiled egg and some vegetables. "Adding more volume to her healthy meals and planning healthy snacks will create more opportunity for additional protein and plants, which will help with fitness goals, energy levels, and reduce snacking on less healthy options," Medlin said. Duong's diet already includes lots of high-fiber, plant-based foods, which have been linked to longevity. However, ultra-processed foods have been linked to a range of health issues, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. So, swapping some of Duong's go-to snacks for more nutritious options will help her hit her goals, Medlin said. "Overall, Ivy's diet is excellent but likely not sufficient for her exercise and activity levels," Medlin said.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
‘Weather Whiplash' is making our dry days drier and wet seasons worse
Weather determines feast or famine on farms like Drew Medlin's. It takes the right amount of rain at the right time to ensure Medlin's wheat, along with other crops across Union County, can produce enough good quality grain to make the growing season worthwhile. 'We're really hoping for a bumper crop on this wheat so far,' he said. This year, Medlin said his crops have a lot to make up for after a rollercoaster of extremes in 2024. 'You pray for rain, then you pray for it to stop raining, and then you don't know what to pray for sometimes,' he said. It started with a wet spring. Morgan Menaker, the field crops manager for the Union County Cooperative Extension Center, said many farmers had just planted corn when suddenly it began to rain nearly every day. May went on to set a record in Charlotte, with more than 6.5 inches of rain falling in the first two weeks. 'Our crops essentially drowned in the field, so growers had to go back and spend the money to replant those fields to even get a crop,' Menaker said. Meanwhile, Medlin said his winter wheat rapidly dropped in quality just before harvest time. 'The wheat was trying to ripen up. It was a time where it really required some dry weather, some good warm sunny days and all we had was clouds,' he said. Those sunny days came in June, but then they just didn't stop. Temperatures rose quickly, all that spring rain dried up, and suddenly, much of North Carolina was in a flash drought. It was another critical time for the corn crop, the pollination period. CHECK IT OUT >> What's at stake when dam floodgates open during massive rainstorms Due to the dry weather, Medlin said he and most of his neighbors lost a significant chunk of their yield. 'It was a situation where we made less than half of what we normally make on our corn,' he said. Some relief came in July and August, but the state was on track to have a drier-than-average year until Hurricane Helene. The storm dumped upwards of 20 or more inches in the mountains and about 4-6 inches in much of the Charlotte area. Then for the rest of the fall, it barely rained at all. By the end of 2024, North Carolina's statewide rainfall average was about 53 inches, not too far off from the 30-year average of about 49 inches. State climatologist Kathie Dello says most North Carolinians experienced 2024 as a year of extremes. 'We don't live in the averages,' she said. 'We live in the day to day, and if you're a farmer managing your crops, or you are a storm water manager for the city, you don't want to see four or five inches of rain in a day. You also don't want to go four weeks without any rain.' It's a phenomenon the state climate office is calling 'weather whiplash,' or quickly fluctuating periods between extreme dryness and extreme rain. Dello said it's been happening more often across the state and much of the country as global temperatures rise. 'We're juicing up the atmosphere with more moisture, and it's just more prime to release these big events, then we're not getting it in a normal, distributed pattern like we'd expect,' she said. SPECIAL SECTION >> Channel 9 Climate Stories For farmers like Medlin, that's making it difficult to plan for each growing season and every year feels like a gamble. He said crop insurance can help through one or two difficult years but he said it functions more like a band aid. 'If you have a bad situation or a bad year, it'll help you make it to the next hopefully,' he said. 'Year after year, you can't collect crop insurance and keep going.' The only solution is a good harvest, and that takes a thriving crop and weather that allows it. 'You never want to be the generation that loses the farm, that's one of your biggest fears,' he said. 'The buck stops here and you have to make it work.' (VIDEO: Growing drought impacting crops across North Carolina)
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Area wrestlers heading to state, a quarterback among the first-time qualifiers
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — He may be best known as East Peoria's starting quarterback. But this week Dalton Oakman is headed to state in a different sport. 'I am really excited. I have a lot to prove with wrestling and football,' Oakman said. 'It's my first time (to state). But I'm ready to go wrestle hard and do my thing.' Oakman (38-10) finished third at the Washington sectional on Saturday to earn his first trip to the state finals. He sees a lot of lineman, running backs and linebackers who double as wrestlers but not a whole lot of quarterbacks. 'It helps with my hips, throwing, how far I throw,' said Oakman of the pairing between his wrestling and quarterback duties. 'And feeling pressure. All of that.' Washington's Wyatt Medlin heads to state as a defending champ. He handled the spotlight well last year and won his first state title. 'I think there's a slight advantage in that but there's also a disadvantage to that. Everyone wants to give you their best, everyone wants to dethrone the state champion,' Medlin said after winning the 2A sectional at Washington last week. He's one of the favorites at 157 pounds, carrying a 44-3 record to state. 'I keep a chip on my shoulder and I'm proud of it. It's a business trip,' Medlin said of the trip to Champaign. 'I'm thinking about it constantly. I'm in English class, tapping my pencil, thinking about being in the State Farm Center. It's something that is super-special. There's nothing like it.' Illini Bluffs senior Jackson Carroll is 49-0 at 157 pounds as he heads to state, where he won a title last year. 'After winning it last year, it's just another event,' Carroll said after winning the 1A sectional at Clinton last week. 'Just another event to go get better, impress some coaches, get some good scholarships. That's it.' Notre Dame's Ian Akers (45-3) was runner-up at state last year and hoping to finish one step higher on the podium this year. 'It's pretty exciting. It's my fourth trip to Champaign for the state tournament,' said Akers, who won the Peoria regional at 126 last week. 'Obviously, I've set some pretty high goals. I'm ready to chase the and get after it.' State prelims start Thursday, the finals are Saturday night at State Farm Center. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
