Get fitter, get smarter?

If you want to be smarter, more productive, happier, less stressed, regulate hormones, and more, John Ratey's book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science on Exercise and the Brain, will explain why and how aerobic activity can do all those things.

Also check out the video clips on John Medina's Brain Rules website. I think they're funny! Yes, the site promotes the book, but it has tips, tests and interesting info about how stress, sleep, lack of exercise and more, effect our brains today and into the future...

Multnomah County Library carries both of these titles. So take a bike ride to your local branch and check one out. Your brain will thank you!

Exercise is Medicine

When Zoloft was approved by the FDA for treatment of PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder), Dr. Kimberly Yonkers of Yale University said, "Women with PMDD have significant impairment. They snap at their children, their spouse, they can't do everything they need to do at home, they pass on social engagements, sometimes miss work." (Geez, based on those symptoms, I'd say everyone has PMDD!) It should also be noted that Pfizer, the manufacturer of Zoloft, funds Dr Yonkers research.

Anyway, it's reports like that and the advertising companies that make sure you hear about "illnesses" that drives up drug sales (and drive up insurance costs). Now I realize that there are some genuine need for medical treatment for mental and physical conditions, but these days it seems the drug industry wants to get everyone on a prescription.

I watched the documentary Selling Sickness recently and am now reading the book. Both will enlighten you about how the pharmaceutical industry are creating and selling illness. The drug companies are redefining the mild problems of everyday life--shyness, PMS, runny noses--as medical conditions. And conditions that put you at risk for some illnesses are marketed as diseases themselves, such as high cholesterol.

Can't get it up? Depressed? Anxious? Want to prevent or reverse osteoporosis? Uh, have diabetes? Are you fat? Having hot flashes? Shy? Madison Avenue develops campaigns telling consumers that they need a drug to deal with the realities of life. What they don't want you to know--and maybe you don't want to know either--is that for most conditions the one thing--the one free, accessible, easy-to-incorporate-into-your-life thing--to treat society's ailments is ...drum roll please...Exercise!

And you are less likely to suffer from 24 hour erections, oily discharge, excessive gas, moodiness, death, dry mouth, blindness, suicidal thoughts...just listen to those side effects in the commercials or read the fine print in magazines. Ugh!

There are no guarantees in life and certainly no magic pill, but if exercise can help you feel better, live longer, make you smarter, calmer, sexier, why resort to a drug when you can just
take it outside!

red lentil red sauce over creamy polenta

After reading Martha Holmberg's Two Cents: Cheap eats don't have to be yucky, I thought I throw in my 2 cents.

While I really appreciate the Slow Food Movement, after a day of riding my bike to and from the studio and running around Mt Tabor, I come home frickin' starving. The idea of making everything from scratch and eating at midnight is NOT an option.

So what's a starvin' girl to do? Here's a simple quick meal I made last night. You can always slow the process and make it more homemade, but time is of the essence when blood sugar levels are dropping and I'm on the verge of getting snippy.

We had red lentils in a spaghetti sauce, over polenta, with chopped chicken on top, plus a spinach salad. The lentils make the sauce thicker like a meat sauce but with fiber and without fat. Red lentils are quick cooking: about 1:3 ratio lentils to water, boil then simmer 'til soft, add the sauce (yes, I used a jar, but you can make your grandmother's recipe if you like), and simmer as you prep the rest of dinner.

My husband, who is clueless in the kitchen but learning, keeps an eye on the stove, sets the table, peels carrots, etc...We cook up the polenta and chicken on the stove top, prep the salad, and voila! Dinner is served.

The cost for it all? Even with most of it organic, it runs about $13. Makes about 6-8 servings so averages about $1.93 per serving. Cheaper than that crap at a fast food joint, better for you and you get leftovers! Enjoy...

Excuse #2: I'm not motivated to exercise

So you want to feel better, look better, maybe even live longer--with a quality of life worth living for. But you lack motivation to get off your butt and do what needs to be done, eh?

I know someone who's motivated by what she calls "scooter people". The folks who can no longer walk much so they get around on their Rascals. If you are inactive and gaining a few pounds every year, imagine yourself in 5, 10, 30 years from now. The sooner you address your health, the easier it will be to get in shape.

Things to help motivate you are:

• find a workout buddy and hold each other accountable
• hire a trainer. You're paying someone to get you safely moving and you're less likely to waste your appointment (and cash) lazing on the couch.
• a picture is worth a thousand words. Do you have photos of what you used to look like? Post them at the fridge, your cube, your bathroom mirror, next to your alarm clock. Anywhere you need a reminder of what you're working towards.
• do something you enjoy. I personally think the gym is boring, but I love dancing, hiking, cycling, walking. Nothing appeals to you? Give something a try for 10 minutes. You may find it's not so bad after all!
• sneak it in. Walk or cycle to work, to run errands, or visit friends. You're active, multitasking and being green.
• take a fitness class. Classes can be a fun, economical and social way to get moving. Plus the instructor can challenge you more than what you might do on your own. My friend Sara is taking all kinds of classes lately. Tumbling for adults, trapeze classes, pilates. You can sign up for soccer, adult dodge ball, square dancing.
  

Move it to lose it! Have fun and share your ideas!

Should you work with a trainer long distance?

Did you know you can work with a personal trainer without ever actually meeting in person? I have my reservations about this. For one, with all the trainers out there, why would someone living in, say, Tampa hire a trainer in Denver, sight unseen?

But I also see some more pros and cons in this approach to training. I've even considered adding this to my services, but the idea of never actually meeting face to face seems odd. Photographs are not the same as seeing a client's posture, form and fitness levels in person. I'm all about proper form, so I need to see you do a push up, make sure you can do lunges with proper form or confirm that you can handle jumping rope for more than 10 seconds.

The ideal candidate for this type of training would be someone who:

• has good kinesthetic awareness
• is self motivated and likes to challenge herself
• is eager to try new things
• has been active in the past or is currently exercising
• knows what she needs to do, but just needs a bit of accountability
• wants to update his current program

Not so good for folks who:

• are currently hard-core couch potatoes
• have several body mechanical issues
• have serious medical conditions
• are prone to injury while exercising
• are, uh, honestly just kind of lazy ;-)

Honestly I don't think everyone needs a personal trainer. But if you want to work with one, make sure you meet with her/him in person initially, and then at least every 1-3 months, as you work together.

10 tips to eating healthier

I get asked a lot, "what do you eat?" Well, I eat what I want, and like most folks who exercise regularly, I don't eat a bunch of junk food, processed food, or white stuff. To some extreme fitness fanatics and food snobs, maybe I do, but over all I think I do pretty well. (Remember, my motto is moderation!)

Anyway, here are 10 helpful hints to eating healthier.

1. Eat off your grandmother's china. Plates today are more the size of hub caps than dinner plates. The plates we use at home are smaller and have a wide rim so we can't fill the plate and over stuff ourselves. More about this and other tricks in the book Mindless Eating, Why We Eat More Than We Think. A fascinating read!
2. Eat some plant foods! I hear this all the time: it's too hard to eat veggies and fruits because "they go bad before I eat them." What's up with that? Wash it and eat it. Not really that hard at all. 
3. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. As you go in to your grocery store, take a look at how the center of the store is where they stock the prepared, processed, nutritionally void foods. You could easily get all you need for a nutritious meal by bypassing the center and hitting your produce, meat/seafood.dry bulk and dairy sections. If you're vegetarian or vegan you could just do the produce and bulk sections.
4. Fill 1/2 to 3/4 of your plate with produce. More nutrients and fiber, less calories. Simple!
5. Avoid "foods" that your great grandmother wouldn't recognize.
6. Drink water! Skip the sweetened varieties, tap-water-bottled-in-Arkansas-shipped-to-your-store, and even diet sodas. Why? See number 4 above.
7. Eat a rainbow. This is great with the kids, but can prompt us all to eat better. See how many colors of foods you can eat in a day. I'm talking oranges, black beans, red beets, purple cabbage and lemons, not lifesavers or those weird popsicle sticks thingies in unnatural colors.
8. Visit your local ethnic store. We can get in a rut and mindless toss the same-ol' same-ol' in our grocery carts each week. I sure can! I love to visit places like my local asian market and peruse the aisles looking at odd veggies. The staff and customers are often helpful, or get a book from the library in advance, or just whip our your smart phone and google for more info.
9. Visit your farmers' market. Here you'll find all kinds of cool stuff and people who grew it, so they will definitely have recipes and suggestions.
10. Do a meal share with your friends or sign up for a cooking class. I always love eating at my friends' houses because they make things I don't and vice versa. A pot luck or plan to prepare multiple servings of a meal prepared at home, then meet up and swap. Super fun and it stocks your freezer in no time! 

What do you do to eat healthier? Do share some tips!

Why making mistakes is good for you

I took a class through Art Media yesterday. It was on photo transfer and acrylic collage and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

At one point the instructor wanted to use one of my sample tests as an example of what "to avoid doing" with the technique we were exploring. She said it was a work of a fearless person because I wasn't afraid to screw up. I considered that a true compliment!

Sometimes we try something new and it goes all wrong. The great thing about mistakes is they are how we learn. We spend a lot of time trying to be perfect. Somewhere in elementary school we go from exploratory learning to black-and-white, right-or-wrong learning. I believe that's what causes so many of us to freeze up when faced with something we don't know how to do perfectly, or know the "correct" answer to. The greatest minds and inventions didn't come to light by being perfect. I look at trial-and-error experiments in my craft room as a good thing.  When I introduce a new format to a training group that goes over like a fart in church, it's progress.

My advice to you?  Get excited to try something new! Haven't ice skated in years but roller blading sounds like fun? Do it! Want to workout in the park but are afraid what others will think? Who gives a flying flip!? You are more likely to inspire someone to try what you're doing than to mock you. 

What could you do differently today or what have you always wanted to try for the first time? Be fearless! I bet you'll look back on those new experiences fondly. If you don't try, you'll just look back and wonder "what if?"

Go for it!