photo courtesy of Uwe Hermann

So, I’m reading this article in RealAge about how certain cereals can be good for you because they protect your blood vessels. Important stuff because damaged blood vessels lead to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and heart disease. I finish the article, and what it really concludes is that consuming food with a high glycemic index (higher sugar, hence spiking your blood sugar) damages the cells that line the interior walls of your blood vessels.

We know that eating too many high glycemic foods leads to a potbelly, wide hips, and thunder thighs. These areas of fat accumulation draw heavily on the heart, forcing it to work harder. Now we know that that the high glycemic foods are giving us the double whammy of extra fat AND damaging the blood vessels. I guess Mom was right when she told us not to consume so much starch and sugar. This was long before we ever heard of a glycemic index.

And you say, “Hey Wide-Body, what are some examples of high glycemic foods?” Well Johnny, I’m glad you asked. Here’s an 8 oz high fructose corn syrup laced cookie. Now go sit in the corner, consume, and pass out while I give the readers some links to review.

You have some food and want to know, “What is the G.I. rating?” Check out this powered by the University of Sydney in Australia.
http://www.glycemicindex.com/

Do you just want a chart of foods you can review? Something to consider before you make a purchase? Here’s a link from the South Beach diet.
http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/glycemicfoodchart.htm

Do you want to know more about the glycemic index? Need some more details, not to mention another chart of foods? Check out these nutritional facts at:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/glycemic-index

So, what have we learned today? I’m writing this as I drink a cocktail (HIGH GI) and I will have a salad for dinner (low GI). So, I’m probably okay. All things in moderation, and enjoy life. Yep, I did not say that in the above post, but it’s not a bad philosophy. Don’t be stupid, push away from the pasta, bread, and sugary soda, but as long as you can balance yourself with other healthy foods, why be such a stoic?

Study references:

I’m sure you’ve had those scenarios where you are about to prepared a dish for dinner, and then you think, “If I eat that one more time, I just might lose my mind.” Yep, that was me on Sunday night. The wife purchased some summer squash for us to sauté with onions and olive oil. Add a little cracked black pepper, and it’s a nice healthy side dish. On Sunday, it sounds like hell on a plate. Fortunately the wife remembered the August issue of Eating Well has some squash recipes so you don’t get stuck in a rut. And I think I found a new favorite side dish. Think potato pancakes, but a lot healthier!

photo from eatingwell.com
PARMESAN SQUASH CAKES

NUTRITION PROFILE:
Low Calorie | Low Carb | Low Sodium | Healthy Weight

Makes 4 servings
ACTIVE TIME: 25 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 35 minutes
EASE OF PREPARATION: Moderate

1 large egg
2/3 cup finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups shredded seeded summer squash (2-3 medium, about 1 pound; see Tip)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Please go here for information on how to cook this dish.

NUTRITION INFORMATION:
Per serving:
130 calories;
8 g fat (3 g sat, 4 g mono);
62 mg cholesterol;
 9 g carbohydrate;
7 g protein;
1 g fiber;
322 mg sodium;
406 mg potassium.

Nutrition bonus:
 Vitamin C (35% daily value),
Calcium & Vitamin A (15% dv).
1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1 lean meat, 1/2 fat

WIDE-BODY NOTE: We were short of shallots, so I substituted some green onions and a bit of purple onion. I think chives would also be a great substitute. The flavor is really good with these cakes, but I want to experiment with them some more. Maybe a little cayenne pepper in the mix, maybe a small dab of sour cream or fresh parmesan as a topping would add some spice and a little creamy texture. Or try some fresh lemon zest for a little zip of citrus.

BONUS NOTE: My six year old that the cakes tasted pretty good. He is like a lot of other six year old boys in that they don’t like eating their vegetables. So, it was nice to see him eat this.

So you’ve decided to take your game to a new level. You’ve run some marathons, a sprint triathlon or two, and now you want a new challenge. You want to go for the Ironman. There are plenty of training materials out there to get you on track toward peak conditioning. Depending on your budget, there are plenty of “gee whiz” gadgets out there to enhance your performance. But where do you go if you want to get yourself in the right mental state? How do you get yourself mentally prepared for a race that is as strenuous as the Ironman?

The folks at Endurance Nation, www.endurancenation.us , have put together four tips on how to be successful at race day. Bottom line, “race day is about execution, not fitness.” In other words, you have spent months on the physical fitness, but if you are mentally ready to execute on race day, you won’t be successful.

Below are the highlights. Details can be found here:

1. Execution
There is a need to generally understand the importance in timing at each stage, how to execute between stages, and know where you can or con not make up time. Perform poorly on the bike. That may be a 15 minute set back that can be made up for in the 26.2 run. Perform poorly in the run and it could end up being a very long run.

2. The Line
Everyone will reach a Line on the last leg where continuing to run at the same pace, or just continuing to run at all, will become very, very difficult. Your focus on Execution above is critical to help create conditions for success at the Line. Success at this point it defined as not slowing down.

3. The Box
Your method of executing and creating conditions for success at the Line is to use your Box. The space inside this Box is defined by what you can control. What you eat, the amount of sleep you get, your equipment, are all items you control, and thus in the box. Other competitors and the weather are out of your control and thus outside the box.

4. The One Thing
As your race day continues, you will eventually hit the Line. It's at this point that your body begins to debate, very loudly, with the mind. Unless you have a very clearly defined goal or compelling reason why you must continue, your body wins and your day will start...to get...very...long. Keep this goal or motivation in mind and use it as a lifeline that will bring you to the finish.


Number 4……No truer words have been said. In my last marathon, I got into some pain early but I kept myself going because I did not want to be seen as someone who walked a marathon. It was a pride thing for me, but it was my motivation that kept me going.

Are you drinking more green tea to increase your anti-oxidant intake? Ever heard of white tea? It’s a delicately light tasting tea, sometimes noted by a faint jasmine fragrance. But don’t let the light flavor fool into believing the tea has no substance. White tea packs a heavyweight punch in regards to anti-oxidants.

It turns out that those same super anti-oxidants may help you fight fat. Recent studies suggest that white tea could be a breakthrough for those folks wanting to lose weight.  Here is why:

Because white tea is less processed than green or black tea, it has more of certain active compounds, like epigallocatechin-3-gallate (an antioxidant) and methylxanthines (theobromine and caffeine). And researchers suspect that these compounds influence fat-cell metabolism by acting on the expression of certain genes.

Fat cells increase or decrease in size, according to your weight. And in a lab study, human fat cells treated with white tea extract accumulated significantly less fat. In fact, the white tea extract reduced the incorporation of fat by as much as 70 percent! The tea also seemed to stimulate the breakdown of fat from mature cells.

That is pretty exciting. Once difficult to find and expensive to buy, white tea is becoming more common and some large tea drink makers are bottling the brew.  Watch the calorie count because of excess sweeteners in these brews. No need to undo all the good of the anti-oxidants with too much sugar.

Details found here: http://www.realage.com/ct/eat-smart/food-and-nutrition/tip/8911

When folks mention that they are doing a “core exercise”, typically they are talking about just working out their stomach muscles. But a core workout is so much more. When you are on a bike and your core muscles fail, you end up hunching your back, creating back strain and pinching off your ability to get a full breath. That is why Selene Yeager, aka the Fit Chick from Bicycling Magazine and my not so secret exercise chick crush, has put together this set of videos showing how to really exercise the core, from the stomach, back, hips, glutes, and thighs. This is a complete set of core exercises that will strengthen you into your next season.

The first video below is the kickoff video and found here: http://www.bicycling.com/fitcore/home.html

The additional videos are found here:
http://www.bicycling.com/fitcore/slide2.html
http://www.bicycling.com/fitcore/slide3.html
http://www.bicycling.com/fitcore/slide4.html
http://www.bicycling.com/fitcore/slide5.html
http://www.bicycling.com/fitcore/slide6.html
http://www.bicycling.com/fitcore/slide7.html
http://www.bicycling.com/fitcore/slide8.html
http://www.bicycling.com/fitcore/slide9.html
http://www.bicycling.com/fitcore/slide10.html

Another recipe that is healthy, quick, and inexpensive. This one looks CRAZY good, and check out the price. Under a $1.50 per serving! YES!

I’m thinking this could also be a nifty little appetizer for your next cocktail party. Make the slices smaller, put them on a tray, and then eat them along with wine or other adult beverages.

If you have kids in the house, this could be another way have your kids help out in the kitchen. The kitchen prep looks easy, kids love pizza, and this looks healthier than the pizza you would pick up from the pizzeria.

Overall, the recipe looks like a winner. Thank you Eating Well magazine.

Arugula & Prosciutto Pizza

picture from eatingwell.com

NUTRITION PROFILE:
Low Calorie | Diabetes Appropriate | Healthy Weight

Makes 6 servings
ACTIVE TIME: 35 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 35 minutes
EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy
Cost per serving: Under $1.50

1 pound prepared pizza dough, preferably whole-wheat
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 ounces very thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into thin strips (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup shredded fontina or part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 cups packed coarsely chopped arugula
1 cup chopped tomato
Please go here for preparation and cooking instructions: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/arugula_prosciutto_pizza.html

NUTRITION INFORMATION:
Per serving: 306 calories
11 g fat (4 g sat, 5 g mono)
28 mg cholesterol
33 g carbohydrate
13 g protein
2 g fiber
600 mg sodium
140 mg potassium

2 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 high-fat meat, 1 fat

by REX

We all experience those periods where we just don’t feel like exercising. Admittedly, I have been fumbling through half efforts for the last couple of months. Nothing I do has felt right, left me feeling stale, uninspired, etc. I talked myself into buying a new pair of shoes since the others were worn out, ran four miles last night, and felt great!

Okay, so that works for me, but as I’ve noted in other postings about fitness personalities, that isn’t at all like how other folks approach fitness.

What if you are one of those folks who want to exercise, yet for some reason, just can’t get over the hurdle and make the consistent commitment? You’ve made commitments to other things. You are quite successful in life, yet you can’t seem to commit to exercise, and you wonder why. Well, if you are beating yourself up, telling yourself that you are “just lazy”, or “there must be something wrong with me”, then stop that destructive behavior. That negative attitude is just making it worse.

Really good, thought provoking article form Experience Life Magazine explores some of challenges people face when it comes to exercise. Highlights of the article are below. Please review the complete article here:

While a commitment to physical activity does require a certain amount of self-motivation, hardcore resistance to exercise is usually more than mere reluctance. Problematic belief systems, lifestyle patterns, depleting nutritional habits, low energy and a host of other unexpected causes can all contribute to an activity-averse profile.

Sound like you? Instead of beating yourself up, try acknowledging that you’re resistant to the idea of exercise (not lazy or incapable), then determine the source of the resistance so you can remove the real obstacles between you and your fitness goals. “The key is to meet yourself exactly where you are now,” says Bess Marcus, PhD, a clinical health psychologist and professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the Brown Medical School in Providence, R.I., and author of Motivating People to Be Physically Active (Human Kinetics, 2009).

Exercise challenges fall into two categories: excuses and barriers.

Barriers are generally environmental or physical limitations that can be minimized or overcome with some strategic environmental or methodological adjustments. For example, having a broken leg and lacking access to a safe, convenient space to exercise would both qualify as barriers: They throw up certain obstacles to exercise, but don’t prevent you from taking action to work around them.

An excuse, however, is more of an internal barrier: a self-legitimized reason why you feel unable to make it out on that 10-minute walk. Excuse-based exercise resistance is often trickier to resolve than barrier-based resistance because it stems from something deeper inside us.

“Struggling with regular exercise is typically not about scheduling time or having access to exercise equipment,” says Greene. “The real obstacle is usually your thoughts and feelings.”

Common Obstacles:
Low Self-Esteem: “The less deserving you feel, the harder it is to justify taking care of yourself through exercise,” says Greene. A related challenge involves body image — the notion that you’re somehow not fit-looking enough to do the things that fit people do.

The “Fixed Mindset”: If you’re used to succeeding wildly in other, more cerebral realms (being a lawyer, playing the piano, cooking gourmet meals), you might be hesitant to try an activity at which you may not excel. When we don’t perform up to our expectations (which we usually won’t do the first time we play racquetball, for instance), the fixed mindset internalizes it: We don’t think, I failed at this; we think, I am a failure

Perfectionism: Closely related to the fixed mindset is the demon of perfectionism, and exercise is easy prey. We’ve been led to believe that all exercise means a good sweat on a cardiovascular machine, followed by some strength training, followed by stretching — and anything other than that routine just doesn’t measure up.

Martyrdom: Chronic self-sacrifice, a trap into which many parents fall, is another common obstacle to healthy activity. When the priority seems to be on everything except you — kids, spouse, job, housework, volunteering — taking time to be active can often seem beyond reach.

“When you take on the martyr role and meet everybody else’s needs but your own, you eventually feel unworthy of taking time for yourself,” says Greene. This may be less a matter of low self-esteem than a loss of clarity about the essential role your own well-being

How to Overcome?

The Key: Write It Down
Greene recommends setting long-term goals as the key first step to overcoming exercise resistance. Write down your goals and identify what you want from exercise. Maybe you need more energy to take care of your aging parents, you want to thwart the cardiovascular disease that plagues your family, or you’d like more stamina to be able to play with your kids.

Set more-specific activity objectives you can hit easily from your current fitness level: whether it’s four 10-minute walks a week, three strength-training sessions or five 5-mile runs.

The next step is to log activity — any amount — in your journal. Marcus coauthored a study, published recently in Preventative Medicine, in which researchers asked 163 sedentary people to log their exercise stats on the Web. “The more times people came to the Web site, the better they did maintaining their exercise habits and meeting their goals,” she says.

Sometimes, overcoming exercise resistance simply requires that you expand, or even redefine, the very idea of exercise. For starters, exercise doesn’t always have to be running or playing basketball or going to aerobics. If you’re after basic health benefits (vs. optimal fitness), it’s about being active for 30 minutes a day, most days of the week.

There’s also no rule that says you have to bang out one 30-minute (or more) session every day. If you’re really stuck, start by dividing daily activity into 10-minute segments, or complete half your goal in the morning and half at night. And integrate as much activity as you can into your daily life: Use the stairs instead of the elevator, get off the bus two stops early and use a push mower to cut your grass. Every little bit counts.

How about eating healthy, good tasting food, that doesn’t take long to prepare, and is inexpensive? Yep, that sounds like the right combination for the busy wide-body family.

How about eating healthy, good tasting food, that doesn’t take long to prepare, and is inexpensive? Yep, that sounds like the right combination for the busy wide-body family.

When I saw the name of this savory recipe, I knew I was going to make it. YUM!

Steak & Potato Kebabs with Creamy Cilantro Sauce


picture from eatingwell.com

NUTRITION PROFILE:
Low Calorie | Low Sodium | Low Sat Fat | High Potassium | Heart Healthy | Diabetes Appropriate | Healthy Weight

Makes 4 servings
Costs Per Serving: $4.50

ACTIVE TIME: 40 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, minced
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar or cider vinegar
2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
8 new or baby red potatoes
1 1/4 pounds strip steak, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 poblano peppers or 1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large sweet onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
Please go here for the cooking instructions: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/steak_potato_kebabs.html

NUTRITION INFORMATION:
Per serving: 271 calories
 9 g fat (3 g sat, 4 g mono)
 65 mg cholesterol
17 g carbohydrate
30 g protein
2 g fiber
368 mg sodium
786 mg potassium.

Nutrition bonus:
 Vitamin C & Zinc (35% daily value)
Potassium (22% dv)
Iron (15% dv).

1 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 1 starch, 4 lean meat