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Healthy Lifestyles in Oregon

Oregon is popular for many reasons such as coffee, beautiful scenery, fresh salmon and of course Tillamook cheese! However, lately Oregon has taken center stage for promoting healthy lifestyles. Portland was ranked #2 in 2006 by Self Magazine on their "Top 10 healthiest cities for women" article. In 2004 Portland was nick named "Bike Town U.S.A." by Bike Town Magazine and it was also ranked #3 for healthiest city for pets by showcatsonline.com in 2003. Across the board, Oregon is setting a national standard for healthy living and exercise.

In 1971 Oregon passes the "bike bill" which was the first of its kind anywhere in the country. By passing this law, Oregon took a giant step toward healthy living. In 2001 3.8% of people were biking to work at least three days per week to according to Oregon.gov. Other fitness activities have also increased over the years. The Nike Hood to Coast Relay Marathon is the largest relay race in North America. It began in 1982 with eight teams. By 1999 it reached capacity of 1,000 teams. If the weather is bad or if running or biking isn't really your thing, there are plenty of hiking trails, gyms, countless dog parks, ski lodges and hunting seasons where all activity levels and weather conditions are welcome.

Organic and Trans fat free foods have taken center stage over the last five years. Portland again was at the top of the list as the city had one of the highest percentages of organic food buyers in 2007 (27%). Portland only trailed San Francisco (35%) and Seattle (37%) by a few percentage points according to Vegetarianorganicblog.com. Seeing this demand, grocery stores met with a supply of organic products, a health food section and stocking Trans fat free items. In the past many grocery stores either did not offer items such as tofu or soy and if they did, the cost was through the roof. Now with the increased interest in these products, stores have answered with sales for these items. Grocery retailers are not the only ones seeing the growing health trend, but restaurants also see the benefit to healthier choices.

Not only in Oregon but nationwide restaurants are offering alternatives to high calorie menu items. Applebee's was one of the firsts to offer Weight Watcher menu items and Red Robin offers meat substitutes for all their burgers. Often dieters avoid eating out because typically there are few healthy choices besides a salad on menus. But now with these special menus, dieters can feel confident eating out instead of feeling chained to their ovens and health food recipe book.

If achieving a healthy lifestyle is difficult to do on your own, help is just a phone call, or in Oregon's case, just around the corner. In Salem alone there are five Weight Watcher sites, a Jenny Craig and a LA Weight loss center all within a five mile radius. This is not including all the private organizations such as Salem Weight Management Center. All of these companies have one thing in common, they all want to help as many people as they can be healthy for life.

While the weather might be temperamental at times, there is no denying Oregonians are health nuts and die-hards when it comes to getting out and getting fresh air. Oregon's healthy lifestyle trend is not likely to change anytime soon. Stop trying to silence the voice in your head telling you to get out and become healthy.

Article Source: http://articles.yournetguru.com

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