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He's made a name for himself in the NFL. Now he's using it to support a surprising cause.

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NFL

Some people are born knowing what they're passionate about. Others, like Philadelphia Eagle Chris Long, stumble into it.

"It wasn't an epiphany moment," he says. "It kind of happened by accident."

In 2013, Long decided to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in the off-season on a whim. He hardly expected to run into anyone he knew across the world in Tanzania, but that's exactly what happened.


Long, his wife Megan, and their son Waylon all love to hike. All photos courtesy of Chris Long, used with permission.

“After we came down the mountain, my buddy and I went to a local bar,” Long says. “I hear someone say my name. I turn around, and it’s Joe Buck.”

Buck, a sports announcer from Long’s then-hometown St. Louis, was working on a water well project with Doug Pitt, the goodwill ambassador to Tanzania (and Brad Pitt's brother). He asked Long if he wanted to come with them on a day trip to one of the villages where they were working, but Long's flight home was already booked.

Long knew he wanted to do something to give back to Tanzanians, and the random meeting with Buck sparked an idea in him.

He went home and started researching the clean water crisis in Tanzania. Before long, he was hooked — he knew that getting clean water to East Africa was something he wanted to do. So he formed Waterboys.

Waterboys brings NFL players and fans together to help fund the construction of wells in villages in East Africa. The original goal was 32 well projects — one for each football team in the NFL. This year, Waterboys funded its 29th project. “Right now we’ve served over 100,000 people,” he says. “Ultimately our goal will be a million.”

Long’s passion stems from his desire to make a clear, demonstrable change. “Water has such a measurable impact,” he says.

Without a well, community members — typically women and young girls — have to dedicate long hours to traveling on foot to find water. But the water is still dirty, so when people drink it, they can fall ill, keeping kids out of school and adults away from work.

“It’s about more than just having clean water for survival,” says Long. Introducing clean, accessible water gives people an opportunity to thrive.

One of the key elements to Waterboys’ cause is they don’t actually build the wells — they pay local construction crews to do it.

“I didn’t want to be the guy who slaps down a well and says ‘hey, good luck,’” Long says. By hiring local crews to work the construction project, Waterboys doesn’t just provide a much-needed source of clean water. It also funnels money into the village’s local economy, creating jobs and increasing the community’s independence and sustainability.

For Long, giving back in this way is one of the best parts of his job and what makes it all worthwhile.

“I love football, but I don’t think I’d love football as much if I weren’t able to have this impact,” he says. He’s made a point to capitalize on the platform that being in the NFL has afforded him to help other people.

Chris and his brother Kyle, who plays for the Chicago Bears and is also a member of Waterboys.

“If I just started the Chris Long Water Foundation, people in Seattle wouldn’t care about that. But if I could get a guy on the Seahawks on board, then I could get people there involved, too,” Long says. He now has 13 other current or former NFL players, including his brother Kyle, working alongside him.

As for the future, Long says Waterboys has no intention of slowing down. In fact, they're expanding.

“I will always love Tanzania and I’ll stay involved there, but it’s is a tough sell. It’s a long trip and it’s hard to get guys to go there in the off-season,” Long says. “So we’re looking to expand, possibly to Central America and to Haiti.”

He’s also expanded his charitable efforts to include the military community. He now runs an annual trip called “Conquering Kili,” where NFL players and combat veterans summit Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Waterboys.

Long's aware that his charities benefit from his fame as a football player, so he’s doing his best to fit in as much good work as he can while he’s still playing. "I know I won’t be able to have this impact forever, so I’m kind of in a rush to get stuff done," he says.

And he urges other to use their own influence in the same way — be it through their jobs, networks, or just via social media. A philanthropic spirit doesn't have to develop out of a fortuitous meeting in a foreign country. It can come out of any issue you see in your daily life that you want to improve.

Even the smallest contribution to a cause like Long's can have a huge impact. “We’ve definitely saved lives,” he says. "We've transformed communities."

Chris Long is one of more than 750 NFL players who will lace up for charitable causes as part of the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative. Starting Nov. 28, NFL players will reveal their custom cleats, many of which will be auctioned to raise money for the charitable organizations they support. For more information, visit www.nfl.com/mycausemycleats.

Health

4 simple hacks to help you meet your healthy eating goals

Trying to eat healthier? Try these 4 totally doable tricks.

Photo by Anna Pelzer on Unsplash

Most of us want to eat healthier but need some help to make it happen.

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When it comes to choosing what to eat, we live in a uniquely challenging era. Never before have humans known more about nutrition and how to eat for optimal health, and yet we’ve never been more surrounded by distractions and temptations that derail us from making healthy choices.

Some people might be able to decide “I’m going to eat healthier!” and do so without any problem, but those folks are unicorns. Most of us know what we should do, but need a little help making it happen—like some simple hacks, tips and tricks for avoiding pitfalls on the road to healthier eating.

While recognizing that what works for one person may not work for another, here are some helpful habits and approaches that might help you move closer to your healthy eating goals.

man pulling chip out of a chip bagOur mouths loves chips. Our bodies not so much.Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash

Goal: Snack on less junk food

Tip: Focus your willpower on the grocery store, not your home

Willpower is a limited commodity for most of us, and it is no match for a bag of potato chips sitting on top of the fridge. It’s just a fact. Channeling your willpower at the grocery store can save you from having to fight that battle at home. If you don’t bring chips into your house in the first place, you’ll find it a lot easier to reach for something healthier.

The key to successful shopping trips is to always go to the store with a specific list and a full stomach—you’ll feel much less tempted to buy the junky snack foods if you’re already satiated. Also, finding healthier alternatives that will still satisfy your cravings for salty or crunchy, or fatty foods helps. Sugar snap peas have a surprisingly satisfying crunch, apples and nut butter hit that sweet-and-salty craving, etc.

slice of cakeYou can eat well without giving up sweets completely.Photo by Caitlyn de Wild on Unsplash

Goal: Eat less sugar

Tip: Instead of “deprive,” think “delay” or “decrease and delight”

Sugar is a tricky one. Some people find it easier to cut out added sugars altogether, but that can create an all-or-nothing mindset that all too often results in “all.” Eating more whole foods and less processed foods can help us cut out a lot of ancillary sugar, but we still live in a world with birthday cakes and dessert courses.

One approach to dessert temptation is to delay instead of deprive. Tell yourself you can have any sweet you want…tomorrow. This mental trick flips the “I’ll just indulge today and start eating healthier tomorrow” idea on its head. It’s a lot easier to resist something you know you can have tomorrow than to say no to something you think you’ll never get to have again.

Another approach when you really want to enjoy a dessert at that moment is to decrease the amount and really truly savor it. Eat each bite slowly, delighting in the full taste and satisfaction of it. As soon as that delight starts to diminish, even a little, stop eating. You’ve gotten what you wanted out of it. You don’t have to finish it. (After all, you can always have more tomorrow!)

colorful fresh food on a plateA naturally colorful meal is a healthy meal.Photo by Anna Pelzer on Unsplash

Goal: Eat healthier meals

Tip: Focus on fresh foods and plan meals ahead of time

Meal planning is easier than ever before. The internet is filled with countless tools—everything from recipes to shopping lists to meal planning apps—and it’s as awesome as it is overwhelming.

Planning ahead takes the guesswork and decision fatigue out of cooking, preventing the inevitable “Let’s just order a pizza.” You can have a repeating 3-week or 4-week menu of your favorite meals so you never have to think about what you’re going to eat, or you can meal plan once a week to try new recipes and keep things fresh.

It might help to designate one day a week to “shop and chop”—getting and prepping the ingredients for the week’s meals so they’re ready to go in your fridge or freezer.

woman holding blueberries in her handsOrganic foods are better for the Earth and for us.Photo by andrew welch on Unsplash

Goal: Eat more organic/humanely raised food

Tip: Utilize the “dirty dozen” and “clean 15” lists to prioritize

Many people choose organic because they want to avoid pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals. Organic food is also better for the planet, and according to the Mayo Clinic, studies have shown that organic produce is higher in certain nutrients.

Most people don’t buy everything organic, but there are some foods that should take priority over others. Each year, researchers from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) analyze thousands of samples of dozens of fruits and vegetables. From this data, they create a list of the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean 15” fruits and vegetables, indicating what produce has the most and least pesticide residue. These lists give people a good place to start focusing their transition to more organic foods.

To make organic eating even simpler, you can shop O Organics® at your local Albertsons or Safeway stores. The O Organics brand offers a wide range of affordable USDA-certified organic products in every aisle. If you’re focusing on fresh foods, O Organics produce is always grown without synthetic pesticides, is farmed to conserve biodiversity, and is always non-GMO. All animal-based O Organics products are certified humane as well. Even switching part of your grocery list to organic can make a positive impact on the planet and the people you feed.

Healthy eating habits don’t have to be all or nothing, and they don’t have to be complicated. A few simple mindset changes at home and habit changes at the grocery store can make a big difference.

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