{"id":217042,"date":"2015-12-21T06:06:11","date_gmt":"2015-12-20T20:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=217042"},"modified":"2015-12-21T06:06:11","modified_gmt":"2015-12-20T20:06:11","slug":"torres-road-healthy-habits-taking-first-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/torres-road-healthy-habits-taking-first-step\/","title":{"rendered":"Torres\u2019 road to healthy habits: Taking the first step"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author\u2019s note: The Saipan Tribune will follow Lt. Gov. Ralph Torres in his journey to a healthier lifestyle in its newest biweekly series.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a new year\u2019s resolution many make but seldom keep: living a healthier lifestyle. Acting governor Ralph Torres plans to break that with a project he\u2019s calling his \u201croad to healthy habits.\u201d Torres is taking on the challenge to improve his every day habits and reduce his health risks, and wants the people of the CNMI to join him in his journey.<\/p>\n

Torres has enlisted the help of Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. public health planner Kaitlyn Neises, who told Saipan Tribune that Torres\u2019 focus will be on learning how to make healthy choices a part of everyday living on the islands.<\/p>\n

Torres said he will begin his journey in January, immediately after the holiday season. The Division of Public Health, NMC-CREES, and the Lets\u2019 Move Marianas Alliance will work with him and broadcast biweekly half-hour episodes featuring his progress in establishing long-term healthy habits.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything about this challenge is going to be hard,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes I go to as many as four to five social gatherings a day and that affects my diet\u201d\u2014a diet that he said has caused him to become overweight ever since he was a child, since eating processed meat is part of the culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to live longer and help promote a culture where people learn how to eat in portions,\u201d he said<\/p>\n

Torres recognizes that many people buy canned food because of its affordability, but it is also high in sodium. He urges the community to take the first step with him in creating a plan that curtails the intake of those products.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy entire family will be a part of this and we will cook better and healthier food at home. They will really be my support system in everything I do,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

CNMI residents will get an in-depth look at Torres\u2019 journey through social media, where the episodes will be published starting in January throughout February.<\/p>\n

They first episode will establish the acting governor\u2019s baselines and goals, followed by discussion ranging from making time for physical activity to eating at family gatherings.<\/p>\n

The episodes will be shot by NMC students under the Youth Empowerment Alliance for Health, which will be hosted by one of its members, along with Chailang Palacios.<\/p>\n

The series is expected to include special guests, such as local farmers, fishermen, and\u00a0dietitians.<\/p>\n

With the House of Representatives passing a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks last weekend, Torres said that creating a healthier Commonwealth involves both policy and lifestyle changes.<\/p>\n

Torres\u2019 journey comes at a time when 30 percent of children in the CNMI are overweight and obese. By making his journey public, Torres hopes to reduce the grim statistics substantially.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author\u2019s note: The Saipan Tribune will follow Lt. Gov. Ralph Torres in his journey to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26,140,42,67],"class_list":["post-217042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-cnmi","tag-commonwealth-healthcare-corp","tag-food","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217042\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}