Fit body, smart brain

Some good info from an old timer (in awesome shape btw) fitness guru Clarence Bass.

Link shows that when they introduced a program called "Zero hour PE" in schools (example), the kids get smarter.

“The object of Zero Hour was to determine whether working out before school gives these kids a boost in reading ability and in the rest of their subjects,” Ratey explains.

There are many other aspects of the overall program, of course, but the main thing to understand is that this is not the typical team-oriented curriculum. The emphasis is on fitness instead of sports. The kids are encouraged to find an activity they enjoy: Eighteen choices are offered, ranging from rock climbing to aerobic dance. The idea is to find something that allows a student to experience success. Grades are based on effort rather than skill. “Any kid who wanted an A could get an A, if he worked for it,” a teacher explained. “Any time you got a personal best, no matter what it was, you moved up a letter grade.”

The kids learned about getting fit—and how it would make them perform better in the classroom.

To make a long story short, it worked. The kids got fitter and smarter.

First, the kids in Zero Hour were sent off to their first period class in a “state of heightened awareness” and prepared to learn. At the end of the semester, they showed a 17 percent improvement in reading and comprehension, compared with a 10.7 percent improvement for students who opted to sleep in and take standard PE class.

Again, the emphasis is NOT on expensive team sports here for cheering on some abstract notion of a town mascot or honor vs a neighboring rival. It's on individual fitness, where it should be IMO to serve the most students.

Red meat == increased health risks

I guess it shouldn't be news but ... there are those who promote paleolithic diets and whatnot too lately.

from Steve Edward's blog post about carnivores:

He quotes this study, which is extensive and large sample:

The findings appear in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine.

Over 10 years, eating the equivalent of a quarter-pound hamburger daily gave men in the study a 22 percent higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease. That's compared to those who ate the least red meat, just 5 ounces per week.

Women who ate large amounts of red meat had a 20 percent higher risk of dying of cancer and a 50 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease than women who ate less.

For processed meats, the increased risks for large quantities were slightly lower overall than for red meat. The researchers compared deaths in the people with the highest intakes to deaths in people with the lowest to calculate the increased risk.

People whose diets contained more white meat like chicken and fish had lower risks of death.

The researchers surveyed more than 545,000 people, ages 50 to 71 years old, on their eating habits, then followed them for 10 years. There were more than 70,000 deaths during that time.

More famous folks doing the X!

More and more stories of P90x making the rounds - cross posted from Carl's blog

Ray Lewis is doing it as is Ashton Kucher.

Lewis, a perennial probowler has some interesting comments that echo what TH says about the program

Lewis, who played a vital role in helping the Ravens reach the AFC Championship Game, said he has never felt better physically in 13 NFL seasons. He largely credits that to changing his approach to physical conditioning during every offseason. Lewis' theory: If you do the same thing, you'll get the same results.Lewis' newest routine includes a program called P90X, which operates on the principle of "muscle confusion." The concept is to constantly introduce the body to new movements and exercises so it won't plateau.

"I just incorporated it in a lot of different places in my workouts, and it's given me the challenge that I needed," Lewis said. "Greatness is not just one big thing -- it's a lot of small things done well.

And to think we who do it don't even have to be famous to choose this world-class regime (yet ;)

Great lesson this morning

And it applies to athletes too!

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

I took it to mean - be in it to win, first of all, exercise self-control in all things and exercise with a purpose. Subjugate the body to my will, so that I can be an example to others and not fail!

Yogurt keeps you healthy

The list is impressive and with the most up-to-date information we have.

From gum disease and halitosis to influenza, even AIDS, allergies and vaginal health, yogurt is one of the best examples of food as medicine.

Yogurt contains "probiotics", which literally means "pro-life".

Consumption of probiotics are linked to healthier body weight in women

They help with eczema.

One of the most digestible ways to add calcium to your diet, the fermentation that occurs aids the dairy digestion. It is effective against many forms of diarrhea.

A recent study of endurance athletes (which can be a stress on the immune system, or a help based on intensity) showed that regular consumption of probiotics can fight common cold virus!

CONCLUSIONS: Prophylactic administration of PCC was associated with a substantial reduction in the number of days and severity of respiratory illness in a cohort of highly trained distance runners.

Going a little further with this speculating, it's not hard to imagine that with the understanding of inflammation and the role of viruses in causing more serious disease such as heart disease and cancer, that over time you're adding to the quality and length of your healthy life by eating probiotics. Maybe all those ads in the 70s for 100+ Georgians really were accurate - the longevity may be in part from the yogurt!

Acknowledgements to Realage for providing much of this information. More of the list of what probiotics helps with is here

Allergic Rhinitis; Behcet’s Syndrome; Canker Sores; Colds (Prevention); Colon Cancer (Prevention); Constipation (Chronic); Diverticular Disease; Dyspepsia; Eczema; High Cholesterol; Immune Support; Inflammatory Bowel Disease ( Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease) ; Insomnia; Milk Allergies; Probiotics; Rheumatoid Arthritis; Ulcers; Vaginal Infection; Yeast Hypersensitivity Syndrome

A few shopping tips - nonfat or at the least low fat is preferred for weight management. There's a great mix of protein and good carbs in most yogurts. Many times I'll buy the bulk 2 pound container of non-fat and sweeten it myself with preserves or berries.

Great chocolate cake recipe

Cross-posted from Chalene's blog

Link

We've whipped up a cake SO chocolatey and decadent, your head may ACTUALLY explode. (Consider yourself warned -- we're not going to be responsible for sweeping up the mess.) You'll need four baking ramekins (about 4 inches in diameter) for this recipe -- pick some up at a store like Target. Enjoy!


Ingredients:
For Cake:
1 cup moist-style chocolate cake mix (1/4 of an 18.25-oz. box)
One 25-calorie packet diet hot cocoa mix
1/4 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)
1 tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
2 dashes salt


For Filling:
One-half Jell-O Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding Snack (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. fat-free liquid creamer (like Coffee-mate Fat Free Original)
1/2 tsp. light whipped butter or light buttery spread (like Brummel & Brown)


Directions:
Place the chocolate chips for the filling in a glass and set aside. Pour the creamer in a microwave-safe bowl with the butter, and heat in the microwave for about 15 seconds, until butter has melted and mixture is very hot. Pour the mixture over the chocolate chips and stir until they have dissolved. Allow to cool for several minutes. Add the pudding to the mixture and stir well. Spoon the chocolate mixture into four evenly spaced mounds on a plate. Place in the freezer for 25 minutes. (Don't over-freeze -- the mounds could stick to the plate.)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Place chocolate chips for the cake in a tall glass along with the contents of the cocoa packet. Add 1/4 cup boiling water and stir until chips and cocoa have dissolved. Add 1/2 cup cold water and stir well. Pour the contents of the glass into a mixing bowl. Add all of the remaining ingredients for the cake (cake mix, egg substitute, Splenda, and salt) to the mixing bowl, and whip batter with a whisk or fork for 2 minutes.


Once the chocolate mounds in the freezer are a little firm, spray four baking ramekins (each about 4 inches in diameter) with nonstick spray. Evenly spoon the cake batter (which will be a little thin, but don't worry!) into the ramekins. Remove chocolate mounds from the freezer, and place one in the center of each batter-filled ramekin. Put the ramekins in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Cakes will look shiny when done.


Carefully remove each ramekin from the oven. You can eat the cake right out of the ramekin (while the center is still gooey!), but make sure to let it cool a little bit, because the ramekin will be hot. Or you can wait until it has cooled completely and plate the cake by running a knife along the edges and flipping it upside down. (Then just pop it in the microwave for about 15 seconds to heat it back up.) Enjoy!


MAKES 4 SERVINGS


Serving Size: 1 individual lava cake, Calories: 182, Fat: 4.5g, Sodium: 433mg, Carbs: 32g, Fiber: 1.5g, Sugars: 18g, Protein: 4g

Ski week redux pt 1

Well, it turns out, P90x works for skiing!

I skied 6 days straight on my trip to Utah. They had just had 4 feet of snow, and another foot a few days later. In the old (40 pounds heavier) days I'd have had to take off a day or two, shorten things up and generally dog it for the second half of the week.

But now ... so much more stamina, ski til 4, jumps, deep snow, steeps - it's all fun and good. Hey, it's still strenuous. I'm still tired and sore; but I'm able to keep it up and enjoy that which gives me bliss so much longer and more. More memories to keep me going in the summer. More runs to get me better. Upward spiral of goodness! So for me ... P90x == more good times.

Summary:

Monday: flew in. Plane late thanks to the last part of the storm. Headed up to Deer Valley in Park City for a lovely lunch and hit the slopes for free using our Quickstart passes. By the way, don't let anyone tell you Deer has no steeps untracked or powder. Take them to Ontario Bowl. Here's a picture in there the day we arrived:



The snow was great ... although they had a lower layer of rain crust. So at lower altitudes and in the deeper layers it was a little dicey crust. But this is compared with the usual godlike dry powder we've come to expect in Utah. It was still pretty awesome!

Tuesday: Had to hit Alta. This is the church of skiing for me. I love the place. They get so much snow and I figured I better head there ASAP apres-storm to enjoy some remnants of untracked and chowdah before the masses ripped it up. Only slight issue was the cold. Locals kind of gave us the scare tactics on the cold, turns out it was sunny, light winds and about 0 to -5 at the summit. Fortunately we're New Englanders and can deal with that quite nicely. Even got sweaty a few times. Turns out some great runs and the snow was preserved dry and fluffy thanks to the weather. Greely on the Backside was great. Here's a picture of me (in black) and my buddy Dick in red near the bottom of that run.



As usual Wildcat held some of the nicer snow also, did the HighT and attempt to get to Rustler ... although we only made it to Lone Pine actually. It gets a little sketchy out there! (I'd say they could use more snow but that's a stretch, well of course they could always use more snow ;).

Superior looked grand all decked in white that day



Wednesday: Powder Mountain. First time there and a few words sum it up: Limitless untracked bottomless. Like all day. Got another foot overnight and through the day on top of 4 feet of storm snow which hadn't really been skied. It was awesome. Got a lot of video I will try and post, but for now - suffice to say I'll be back (and we did already, returning on Saturday). From green to double black everything was powder there, all 7000 acres. We scratched the surface (about all we could scratch given the snow) but there is a lot there. Worth the hour drive from SLC.

Thursday: Solitude. Bluebird, mid 20s. Honeycomb Canyon. More fresh and untracked. Another day in paradise! Tough one after Wednesday's ridiculousity at Powmow but not too tough to take advantage of many nice lines and undertracked snow. This place is yet another hidden gem, a bit smaller and underappreciated. Here's a nice shot of Honeycomb's majesty, we were in there most of the day.



Again, a ton of video, will add in a subsequent post.

Friday: Snowbird - got to ski Mineral basin first time. More goodness because it was closed most of the week. Still some great snow in the Gad area, also in Mineral. Here's a pic of us in Little CLoud.

Us in little cloud bowl:



Mineral's Bookends traverse - you don't want to fall here, there's a 30 foot rock face and more badness if you do. It's steeper than it looks thanks to a strange camera angle. But the snow on the other side - magnifique!



Saturday (Final ski day): Powmow again. Dickie got to try some Scott Missions. Good times, tried out Paradise lift and Powder Country and luckily the bus was running this time! Will post some video later.

Great times, and at 6 days in a row, by far, the most skiing I've done yet!