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Is This Healthy? Making Healthy Food Choices

Is This Healthy? Making Healthy Food Choices

By Jonathan “Quiggy” Quigg

 

            Often we want a black and white answer to this question. Yes or no. But the truth is, there are numerous factors that go into whether or not something is healthy. And the final answer is unique to each individual. What is “healthy” for you, may not feel so “healthy” to another. So, I encourage this point of view: don’t look to what others assign to be healthy or unhealthy, find out for yourself. I hope to inspire this way of thinking in these weekly caf-blogs.

           

            Of the many parameters that go into the relative healthiness, we can look at things such as portion size, sourcing, macronutrient content, level of processing, added sugar content, etc. Of perhaps greater importance is our relationship to our food. How does it make us feel? Physically? Emotionally? Mentally?

 

            If the food we are eating makes us feel sluggish physically, mentally, emotionally, can we say it contributes positively to our health? Only you can know. Start to pay attention to your relationship with food, and how it makes you feel while eating, and after. I suggest that what’s healthy for you is about finding what makes you feel good, gives you energy and feels/tastes good to eat. Start to play with that and see what comes up. This is a self-experiment practiced with curiosity, not judgment. So whatever you notice, treat yourself with kindness and let yourself learn more about what healthy means to YOU.

 

Quiggy’s Bio:

 

Quiggy, a certified life coach, has worked with weight loss/management programs for six years now. He struggled with obesity and his relationship with food and dieting as a teenager and has been on a long journey to better understand the intricacies of the human relationship with diet, movement, health and well-being.

Tropicana Del Norte Applauds Former RA at I Madonnari Festival

The students from East Palo Alto’s Phoenix Academy. (Left to Right) Nick H.,
Manny N., Brenda H., Fernanda G., David A., Cindy M., Tandra M., Jazlin B.

SANTA BARBARA, CA – May 26, 2014 – Students from East Palo Alto’s Phoenix Academy high school created a beautiful chalk art square for Tropicana Student Living at the 2014 I Madonnari street painting festival at the Santa Barbara Mission this Memorial Day weekend. The surreal images inspired by nature were completed under the direction of former Trop Resident Assistnat, Brandon Teris. Brandon is now an Art Instructor at East Palo Alto Phoenix Academy, and he has been bringing his students to participate in I Madonnari for the past four years. This year, 8 students from Phoenix Academy made up Tropicana’s I Madonnari student team.

“We are very proud of Brandon and his team,” said Dave Wilcox, Executive Director. “We love their work and look forward to welcoming them back to Tropicana for the I Madonnari festival next year.”

In 2012, Brandon returned to paint a mural for the the upper Café at Tropicana Del Norte, a residence hall for UCSB students. A year later, he turned the Tropicana Del Norte study lounge into an academic oasis with a calming ocean scene.

Brandon Teris, former Resident Assistant, with the mural he painted in the study lounge at Tropicana Del Norte.

Tropicana Students Feed More than 7,500 Hungry Children

SANTA BARBARA, CA – April 17, 2014 – For several hours on a sunny Thursday afternoon, more than 75 Tropicana Student Living residents and staff along with UCSB Lacrosse, UCSB Field Hockey, and local youth soccer teams came together to prepare meal packets for Stop Hunger Now. Tropicana Gardens Café turned into an assembly line to create 7,500 meals of rice, soy protein, dehydrated vegetables and nutrients.

Isla Vista hasn’t been seen in the greatest light the last couple weeks, and we want to show that our students are doing great things here at Tropicana Student Living,” says Dave Wilcox, Executive Director of Tropicana Student Living. “This is just an example of something that they’re doing that’s great for the community and great for the world.” The 7,500 meals that the Tropicana students and staff assembled will be distributed to Guatemala through Stop Hunger Now, an international hunger relief agency that ships them to school feeding programs in developing countries.

Stop Hunger Now coordinates the distribution of food and other life-saving aid around the world, with a mission to end hunger in our lifetime. Stop Hunger Now’s meal packing program began in 2005, and since then, more than 100,000 volunteers have packaged nearly 30 million meals to feed the world’s impoverished.

About Tropicana Student Living

Tropicana Student Living operates private residence halls and apartments for students attending the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) in Santa Barbara, California. Tropicana Del Norte Residence Hall (www.tropicanadelnorte.com), conveniently located adjacent to UCSB’s Main Campus is a small and friendly community with spacious suite-style units, an unlimited meal plan and resort-style living. Tropicana Villas (www.tropvillas.com) is an Isla Vista apartment community that caters to upperclassmen with furnished apartments and flexible leasing options. Tropicana Gardens (www.tropicanagardens.com), located an express bus ride away from Santa Barbara City College, is a private residence hall that provides an attractive alternative to apartments for SBCC students with its suite-style units and social and recreational activities organized by its large team of energetic RAs. For more information about housing options for UCSB and SBCC students, please call 805-968-4319.

Tropicana Student Housing Welcomes Michael Jordan Flight School

Santa Barbara, CA – August 1, 2013 – Tropicana Student Housing is proud to welcome Michael Jordan Flight School 2013 basketball camps for the 18th year. Campers, who range in age from 7-18, will be staying at Tropicana Gardens and Tropicana Del Norte residence halls. With its convenient proximity to the UCSB Thunderdome, Tropicana’s residence halls are within easy walking distance for the campers, with suite-style accommodations and an on-site Café for meals.

“Every year, I am so excited to work with the Michael Jordan Flight School and their staff. They are so professional, organized and they really work hard for all their participants to have such a great experience.” said David Wilcox, Executive Director. “I believe this is why they have so many participants that come back every year!”

Mark Raveling, Michael Jordan Flight School Camp Director, says, “We have been hosting the MJ camp at Tropicana and UCSB since 1995 and always look forward to coming back each year. We are excited for our 18th year.”

Michael Jordan Flight School is among the world’s finest youth basketball camps, where girls and boys can learn the fundamentals of shooting, dribbling, rebounding, passing, and defense from NBA great, Michael Jordan, and his first class coaching staff. For more information, see the Michael Jordan Flight School website.

About Tropicana Student Housing

Tropicana Student Housing offers residence hall and apartment living to more than 1,000 students attending the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Santa Barbara City College (SBCC). Tropicana Del Norte Residence Hall caters to UCSB freshmen; Tropicana Gardens offers SBCC students a college residential living experience and the Villas at Tropicana is an upperclassman apartment community. Tropicana is the Official Student Housing Sponsor of UCSB Athletics.

Tropicana Student Housing provides accommodations for more than 90 summer camps annually. Camp directors love Tropicana’s convenient locations to the UCSB campus, including the Thunderdome, pools, gyms and baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse fields. Summer campers enjoy furnished suite-style accommodations with meals included at a dining hall right on the premises. For more information on hosting a summer camp, contact Dave Wilcox, Executive Director at (805) 968-4319 or dwilcox@tropicanastudentliving.com.

Tropicana Del Norte Announces Apple iPad® Sweepstakes Winner

Isla Vista, CA – June 25, 2013 –Tropicana Del Norte announced the winner of its Apple iPad sweepstakes this week. The lucky winner was Edward Gaspar of Huntington Beach, California, who entered for a chance to win an Apple iPad after taking a tour of Tropicana Del Norte Residence Hall for UCSB Students. Gaspar is a Group Lead for Logistics at JC Penney. His daughter, Cynthia, a Southeast High School graduate, will be the first member of the family to attend UCSB as a freshman next year. She is undecided, but may major in Biology.

“We were delighted to give Mr. Gaspar and his family a tour of Tropicana Del Norte Residence Hall, said Dave Wilcox, Executive Director , “and we hope that he enjoys his new ipad.”

Winner Gaspar said he will share the iPad with his family. “I am so surprised; I never win anything!”

Tropicana Del Norte Residence hall, at 6525 El Colegio Road, Goleta , is located directly adjacent to UCSB’s main campus. Tropicana provides UCSB freshmen and continuing students with suite-style living and an unlimited dining plan. In addition to the onsite café, rec room and 24-hour study lounge, Tropicana Del Norte offers UCSB students amenities not found in a typical dorm: an onsite fitness center, private movie theater, heated pool and a tanning lounge. To schedule a tour, visit www.tropicanadelnorte.com/home/schedule-a-tour.html or call (805) 968-0351.

Tropicana Gardens Residence Hall Welcomes Kobe Basketball Academy

Santa Barbara, CA – July 10, 2013 – Tropicana Gardens is proud to welcome Kobe Basketball Academy for its 2013 summer camp. This year, Tropicana will be providing housing for over 600 participants, who range in age from 8-18. With its convenient proximity to the UCSB Thunderdome, Tropicana Gardens is in easy walking distance for the campers, with suite-style accommodations and an on-site Café in its residence hall.

“Being a basketball fan myself, I am excited that Tropicana Gardens is again hosting Kobe Bryant’s amazing camp this summer,” said David Wilcox, Executive Director. “The kids love that they get to meet Kobe and get a signature from him while attending the camp.”

Zellie Hudson, Kobe Basketball Academy Camp Director, says, “We look forward to another great year at UCSB and Tropicana Gardens.”

Kobe Basketball Academy was founded in 2006. For more information, see the Kobe Basketball Academy website.

Tropicana Gardens residence hall is just blocks from UCSB’s main campus. During the academic year, Tropicana Gardens provides Santa Barbara City College students a campus residence hall living experience with furnished suites, and an unlimited dining plan and a direct bus to SBCC. Tropicana Gardens is known for its exceptional student life programs, its lush resort-style setting and amenities such as a heated pool, fitness room, rec room and 24-hour study lounge.

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