Saturday, June 20, 2009

Summer; no excuses!

I was just contemplating the weather and the season. Most of us have just spent winter all bundled up and trying to minimize time spent in the driving wind and snow. Now it's getting warmer outside and the snow has gone. The trees have unfurled their last new leaf and the spring bloomers have fallen. It's officially summer now (officially as in on Sunday, June 21st) and with the winter chill should go your inhibitions about working out.

Okay, so you don't belong to a gym.
Okay, so maybe you don't have alot of equipment, or any equipment!
Okay, so you think you've "tried everyth..." Stop, don't even try it!

So does all this mean that you're condemned to being a slug? Gosh, I hope not! Then you're pants really WON'T fit! So now it's early summer. The weather is bright (unless you live in Connecticut in which case it's pretty rainy). All of us are able to find some grass somewhere and a big park if you're fortunate! So go out there and get moving.

How you ask? Well, what better way to find out what you like to do then by being unburdened by rules?! You know about pushups and sit ups, walking and running, walking lunges and some others. Start with what you know! Go for a walk or a run and work these other things in. There are no rules when you're on your own listening to your own body! Do what you feel!
  1. You can run zig-zags on the trail, you can run sideways even!
  2. Run to the light post and then do walking lunges to the next one. Repeat.
  3. Run backwards for 20 paces, then do 10 pushups, run forward to the next tree, then do 10 situps.

I find this kind of "play" very rewarding because there aren't any rules! It's almost like meditation because you are making up your workout as you go simply by being aware of what your body is telling your brain instead of the other way around! Nice swap for a change huh?

Don't think this entry is aimed at children because it involves fun, I'm aiming it at YOU! If you can learn to have fun in this one body of yours, you will find it hard to spend much time on the couch in front of the tube.

P.S. Don't worry about the weather either. Some of my favorite hiking and running memories have come from being rained on; and we're talking drenching driving rain! Even hot & humid days have their place. If you expose yourself to this type of weather then your body adapts to it so that future humid days won't seem quite as ugly as they used to seem! You know how you can't ever wait for the perfect moment for any one thing because then it will never come? Same thing here. Don't wait for the perfect weather because you will never notice how perfect it is until you get out into it! Enjoy!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Edit Your Shopping Cart, Edit Your Diet!

I admit it, there are some things that I buy at Costco. I know! I know it sounds so wrong! But with a careful eye there are actually some very good deals. It's like shopping at Marshall's or Goodwill, you have to be patient, open-minded but particular. If you go in LOOKING for inspiration then you will walk out with everything useless under the sun. Costco is a warehouse built by siren song. Or is that Walmart? Anyway.

The Costco near me sells whole organic chickens and ENORMOUS bags of organic baby spinach in addition to 5lb bags of frozen wild blueberries. I maintain hope that I will one day find some sort of free-range meat there, but until then I will settle for organic & antibiotic/hormone free. So my entire membership fee for the year supplies me with several bags of veggies, blueberries and chicken a week...thanks guys :)

However, it is not MY shopping list that is worth discussing. You hear about that often enough! What I like to do when I'm at Costco is scan through other people's shopping carts. It's a weird grocery store form of voyuerism, but I know you do it too! Or at least I recommend that you start. You can tell so much about people by what they are buying!

Then a light went on! People go to Costco and other such stores in order to get thing that they use in bulk. You don't buy 100 snack bags of fritos just for fun...usually. So the things that people put in their carts are what they primarily subsist on, or use, in their every day life. These particular items are used/eaten so often at home that it makes more sense to buy in bulk than it would be buy several times over at the grocery store. So if you are unhappy with your weight or health, then a good stern review of your grocery cart could yield an answer as to where you have gone wrong! If you are to look back at what you ate today, you may forget to list the 8 M&Ms you stole from your coworkers candy dish right? But if you look at your grocery cart with a critical eye you might catch wind of a pattern that is much worse than stealing from your coworkers candy dish!

Cart #1: HUGE multi-pack of toilet paper, 24-count bagels, 3lb cream cheese, double box of granola bars, huge shampoo pack, rack of ribs, 2lb package of sliced cheese, large quantity of deli meat, large box of frozen lasagna, double bag of white loaf bread, large box of those breakfast croissant things, triple pack of spaghetti sauce, double box of brownie mix

So you can probably guess what the person pushing this cart looked like (oh yeah, I am oddball enough to commit cart content to memory). It was being manned by a rather large (read obese) woman who was probably in her mid-40s. To be fair it is possible that this cart was being packed to prepare for a party, even though it was Tuesday afternoon.

So let's play and try to arrange thse foods to get a peak at how her family might eat in a typical day.

Breakfast: Microwaved sausage, egg, and cheese on a buttery croissant OR bagel & shmear

Lunch: White bread sandwich of deli meat and cheese (I can hope for lettuce & tomato)

Snack: Granola bar (or two)

Dinner: Pre-made meat Lasagna

Post-Dinner snack: Brownies!

Okie dokie...this would be what NOT to do. If you read my blog you probably know how I feel about this plan already. But this is SO typical for our country!!! I look at this and see sugar, sugar and sugar, with some bad fat thrown in for good measure...and a delicate smattering of protein. I am aware that I cannot see what this woman had in her crisper, but seeing as how all major meals were accounted for without stretching my imagination I feel like the above layout is probably not too far from the truth. I hope that there is a salad eaten with the lasagna and that the sandwich is piled high with cucumbers and grated carrots, dare I dream for sprouts too?! Her entire grocery cart that accounts for MANY meals tallied up a grand total of 20g of fiber (that is for both full bottles of spaghetti sauce). So you know no one is getting their daily allowance of this important component of a healthful diet.

So next time look at your grocery cart. What are you picking up? Does your cart look more like you ran into a cart at the farmer's market or in the Frito-Lay stock room? Are you looking at waxed skins or cardboard boxes? Unprocessed cuts of meat or meat with ingredients? Sometimes it's good to step back and be critical before you start wondering where it all went wrong!

[I may sound mean, but I actually do wish this woman that I am picking on (her family as well) a lifetime of good health. Let's all hope these folks see the dietary light!]

Saturday, June 6, 2009

All-natural Jerky on Etsy

As you know, I'm a Caveman.

Sometimes I need to get going in the morning and I just don't have time to make myself the proper Zone balance Caveman breakfast! Along time ago I let go of the notion of 'correct' breakfast foods and now I'll pretty much eat anything for breakfast. But it needs to be easy (and of course yummy). So I brainstormed and came up with JERKY!!

I have been making beef and turkey jerky for awhile now and boy, is it fun! I love trying different things then seeing what works and what doesn't. I haven't had too many dislikes yet, honestly. I have a good eye and hand for cooking.

So I've listed my favorite jerkies on Etsy so I can share them with others! I don't have a supply just laying around; every order will be made when ordered so I can assure you an absolutely fresh product.

Breakfast Style Jerky: This is so easy to eat and isn't chewy in the least (but please still chew it)!The awesome texture on this one was created by ground meat, crazy lean beef and crazy lean turkey ground together with spices, marinated and then formed into sausage patties. I was inspired by the lovely flavors that make breakfast sausage so good; fennel, coriander, a little agave for sweetness. There's a touch of red pepper as well, mmmm. I think you'll love it!

Steak Jerky: Have you ever had a piece of jerky that actually tasted like meat instead of marinade? They all taste like teriyaki, pepper, smoke...which is perfectly tasty and fine most of the time. Attempts to make Plain-flavor jerky fall flat when people just throw plain meat in the dehydrator. I've created a secret marinade that locks in the steak flavor! This tastes more like the steak you had last night for dinner than any jerky you've ever had!
  • Both of these are sold in Half-Pound bags and are awesome for meals or snacks on the go.
  • There is only enough salt to work with the heat to properly cure the meat.
  • NO artificial flavors or bogus tenderizers, curing agents etc etc. Simply put, no b.s.
  • Absolutely Caveman friendly jerky. When I DO use sweetener I use honey, agave, or stevia and never more than 2Tb (or equivalent) per pound of meat pre-dry! Any sweetener is listed in the description and can be swapped out or removed altogether at request.

Check it out at Etsy.com right here!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Newest Weight-Loss Supplement...

The companies haven't come right out and stated that taking their product will help you lose weight, but all their ads suggest that it will! Slender women dancing around in the morning light, a woman seeing her bikini and realizing that summer is quickly approaching and on and on.

Fiber.

That's right! Fiber seems to be the newest drug-free weight-loss supplement and I think it's SO STUPID! Fiber is not a supplement, it's a component of the foods we should already be eating. If you are eating right you DON'T need fiber supplements to poop. If you DO need to supplement then whatever you may think, you are not eating right. Sorry, you're just not (unless you have some diagnosed medical situation in which case you are excused).

Does it really sound realistic to say that you can lose weight and continue to eat white bread egg and bacon sandwiches for breakfast, sugary cereal bars for snacks, big processed meat sandwiches on cunningly labeled multi-grain breads for lunch with sugary soda, greasy processed chips for a snack, then white pasta with sugar-added pasta sauce for dinner with alcohol and then follow it all up with ice cream JUST AS LONG as you add a fiber supplement to your day? I'm praying you said no.

You've heard about soluble and insoluble fiber already in numerous t.v. commercials and magazine ads I'm sure. Real natural foods already contain both soluble and insoluble fiber in addition to quite a bit of water. Consider your average apple okay? This little pocket-sized orb of nutrition is actually about 84% water and has more than 3 g of fiber! So let's really look at this fiber thing.

Insoluble Fiber is the fiber that your body cannot break down and will go through your system without much change. This fiber is going to help "move things along", because it is not terribly processed there isn't much reason for it to stick around. So it absorbs a tremendous amount of water and moves quickly through your digestive system. It helps clean you out in other words. And contrary to what you may be thinking, this type of fiber does not cause gas. Repeat, does not cause gas. The bacteria in your system are actually what cause gas, but they cannot feed on this type of fiber and therefore cannot give off any gas of their own. This fiber is found in your fruit and vegetable skins, so do yourself a huge favor and just stop peeling your potatoes and cucumbers! (The skins will not give you gas!)

Soluble Fiber is the stuff that will gel up in your tummy and make you feel full. It's soluble in water, hence it's name. It also slows the emptying the contents of your stomach into your intestines which actually slows the digestion of the sugars and starches that were in your meal. This is extremely good news for diabetics who can help to control blood sugar spikes by making sure their meal includes soluble fiber! This fiber is the one that may cause you gas, and that is because this guy will ferment. Don't think it's gross, it's a good thing! This process results in the creation of short-chain fatty acids which help to lower bad choleseterol in the blood (think back to all those oatmeal and cheerios commercials) and will do all sorts of good things for your immunity cells, intestinal pH, and helps feed the happy GI bacteria. Soluble fiber is the type that you find inside your fruits and veggies, below the skin. It's also found in oats and such, any plant product that kind of gets gel-y when wet (think cooked oatmeal).

Water is not a fiber but it is such a crucial ingredient to add to make sure that the fiber categories I listed for you work properly in your system. Think about it, the fiber categories are named based on how they react to water. It's that important. With or without fiber, if you do not drink enough water then your body will be MAD at you and will punish you in every way that it can. Lack water and you will be tired, moody, headaches may set it and your bowels will be pissed off. This is your body's in-house memo system: "Dear Brain, We are having trouble working under these conditions. Please deliver water or all systems will strike and you will be sad. Thank you, Bowels"

The following has been copied from the MiraLAX website. Please note how it is that all these laxatives work.

Osmotic laxatives draw water back to the digestive tract,
replacing lost water, enabling a normal, complete bowel movement.
Bulk-forming (Fiber) laxatives: add psyllium (insoluble)
fiber to the stool. These can be used to supplement the fiber in your diet. However, they can sometimes ferment and cause gas.
Stimulant laxatives stimulate the walls of the intestine, causing the muscles to
contract and clear the bowel. They work quickly, but can sometimes cause cramps.
Lubricants, such as mineral oil, lubricate the walls of the
intestine so that stool can pass through more easily. They can sometimes
interfere with vitamin and nutrient absorption.
Saline laxatives
work by pulling water into the intestine. These laxatives can
remove electrolytes.

Wow. Fun huh? Notice how they all are trying to get water back to your digestive tract? That's because if you need one of the above mentioned supplements then you are lacking BOTH components in your diet, water and fiber. Please recall the apple I previously mentioned which has insoluble fiber in the skin, soluble fiber in the flesh and is 84% water? Yeah, that apple is looking pretty good about now, right?!

But okay, to be fair, fiber supplements aren't laxatives. But consider that same 1-serving apple that has about 3-4 g of fiber depending on it's size (and including the skin of course). Comparably, one serving of Benefiber has...drum roll please...1.5 g of soluble fiber. So you're still going to have to get your insoluble fiber somehow and it's pretty tricky to get insoluble without soluble because they are normally a joint package. So if you eat white bread and drink Benefiber, don't you think it just may be better for you to eat real whole-wheat bread and save your Benefiber pennies?

By eating unprocessed and whole un-messed with foods you are getting everything that you need in easy little nature-made packages! I was made by Nature, so I'm pretty sure that Nature knows how to most efficiently supply me with all the macro and micronutrients that I need. So I will eat from Nature.

But if you were made by a factory then by all means eat over-simplified boxed factory food and load up on supplements that replace what was originally removed in the processing. I'm sure the factory knows the best ways to provide you with your ideal weight, boundless health and vitality. Sure.