Here's an interesting study that made the press this week:
Are dietary patterns in childhood associated with IQ at 8 years of age? A population-based cohort study
http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2011/01/21/jech.2010.111955
It essentially associates junk food (processed, high sugar, high fat foods) at a younger age with lower IQ's later in life. It is perhaps an example of the mind-body connection. A healthy body contributes to a healthy mind in my estimation, and this is supporting proof. It would be interesting to evaluate the physical fitness of these kids and correlate that to their IQ.
Here's to healthy habits, healthy minds, and healthy bodies. Chew on that...
-cb
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The new year, the new (mobile) blog.
My goals for the new year are several-fold. I am going to discuss a few of them relating to fitness here.
This blog. My entries into this blog have been too few and I am going to make a dedicated effort to write more frequently. Mostly I want to write more because I have a lot to say and I hope that fitness enthusiasts will benefit. I cannot remember all the times there was something I wanted to share but did not because I was too busy with life. One solution is that I am now (with this blog entry) able to blog from my phone. I would also like to add more content, such as photos, to make this blog as enjoyable as it is interesting. I am really looking forward to mobile blogging!
My workouts. One accomplishment that I am especially glad about from 2009, is that I worked out 50 consecutive days at one point. This was no small feat but I am making it my goal to beat that number this year. Remember if you do something like workout several days in a row, that you have some workout days that are lighter to give your body a rest. On that note, my goal for my workouts will be consistent consistency.
My diet. Thanksgiving and Christmas are always the hardest times of the year to adhere to my diet. But the new year always brings an opportunity to renew your dietary practices. My goal will be to eat better and more healthy this year than I have ever eaten before. 2009 was okay but 2010, by comparison, will be incredible.
My workout music. As I have mentioned before, one of the things I love about working out is listening to music. My goal for 2010 is to continue to keep coming up with exhilarating mixes (PEM - performance enhancing music is what I call it) to workout to and share on this blog. This reminds me to mention that I have been listening to 2 good albums in the past couple of weeks with my workouts. They are This is war by 30 seconds to mars and The rising tied by Fort Minor. Both have some great workout songs.
That's it for now. This marks my first mobile blog entry. Good luck with your own workhorse goals! -cb
- Posted from my iPhone
This blog. My entries into this blog have been too few and I am going to make a dedicated effort to write more frequently. Mostly I want to write more because I have a lot to say and I hope that fitness enthusiasts will benefit. I cannot remember all the times there was something I wanted to share but did not because I was too busy with life. One solution is that I am now (with this blog entry) able to blog from my phone. I would also like to add more content, such as photos, to make this blog as enjoyable as it is interesting. I am really looking forward to mobile blogging!
My workouts. One accomplishment that I am especially glad about from 2009, is that I worked out 50 consecutive days at one point. This was no small feat but I am making it my goal to beat that number this year. Remember if you do something like workout several days in a row, that you have some workout days that are lighter to give your body a rest. On that note, my goal for my workouts will be consistent consistency.
My diet. Thanksgiving and Christmas are always the hardest times of the year to adhere to my diet. But the new year always brings an opportunity to renew your dietary practices. My goal will be to eat better and more healthy this year than I have ever eaten before. 2009 was okay but 2010, by comparison, will be incredible.
My workout music. As I have mentioned before, one of the things I love about working out is listening to music. My goal for 2010 is to continue to keep coming up with exhilarating mixes (PEM - performance enhancing music is what I call it) to workout to and share on this blog. This reminds me to mention that I have been listening to 2 good albums in the past couple of weeks with my workouts. They are This is war by 30 seconds to mars and The rising tied by Fort Minor. Both have some great workout songs.
That's it for now. This marks my first mobile blog entry. Good luck with your own workhorse goals! -cb
- Posted from my iPhone
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
August and everything after.
September, 2009. It has been a while. This summer has been filled with lots and lots of workouts. Not much blog writing time. It's also seen the ascent of some great new recipes, that I just can get enough of. So, here's a blog entry in honor of a good, healthy, but delicious diet. This little recipe takes about 10 minutes to make and is a great high protein post-workout meal, but also makes a great lunch. It's Bomber's Tuna Salad:
2 - 5oz. cans of tuna in water. I like the albacore. I rinse the can a few times with water to wash out salt.
1 Tbsp or less of Hellman's Low-fat mayonaise.
1 Tbsp or less of cold flax seed oil.
2 Tbsp French's No-fat honey mustard.
The following ingrediants I add to my personal taste.
Raisins
Pine nuts
Wheat germ
Celery
Cut apple
I mix everything together and enjoy on dry toasted high protein or high fiber wheat bread, on low fat saltines, or just as a salad itself. It's delicious.
Speaking of low-fat diets, a paper came out in the journal Cell today that characterizes the latest gene linked to obesity. Mice that had the IKKE gene knocked out, did not get obese when placed on a high fat diet. The group is already looking for inhibitors of the protein, inhibitors which one might predict would "protect" someone from becoming obese. The link to the summary is below.
The Protein Kinase IKKÉ› Regulates Energy Balance in Obese Mice
http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674(09)00793-4
I still say stick to a great diet. More recipes to come. Stay healthy this weekend!
2 - 5oz. cans of tuna in water. I like the albacore. I rinse the can a few times with water to wash out salt.
1 Tbsp or less of Hellman's Low-fat mayonaise.
1 Tbsp or less of cold flax seed oil.
2 Tbsp French's No-fat honey mustard.
The following ingrediants I add to my personal taste.
Raisins
Pine nuts
Wheat germ
Celery
Cut apple
I mix everything together and enjoy on dry toasted high protein or high fiber wheat bread, on low fat saltines, or just as a salad itself. It's delicious.
Speaking of low-fat diets, a paper came out in the journal Cell today that characterizes the latest gene linked to obesity. Mice that had the IKKE gene knocked out, did not get obese when placed on a high fat diet. The group is already looking for inhibitors of the protein, inhibitors which one might predict would "protect" someone from becoming obese. The link to the summary is below.
The Protein Kinase IKKÉ› Regulates Energy Balance in Obese Mice
http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674(09)00793-4
I still say stick to a great diet. More recipes to come. Stay healthy this weekend!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Two months of working out.
Wow. It's been about two months since I made my last entry. When I made that entry, I was just getting back into the swing of things after some [somewhat] minor abdominal surgery. Well, everything has been going well - so well, in fact I haven't had time to blog! Well, I'm back to a full 100%, and I'll let you know how my workouts have been going.
First, I eased into my workouts exceedingly slowly. I didn't want to mess anything up with the surgery. I had a small umbilical hernia [which I had before I started lifting - but it only got worse over the past year and a half]. A hernia is a defect in the abdominal wall. Mine was small, but caused an prominent "outie" bellybutton which I could push back in, or reduce, if it ever extended out a little. It was becoming more bothersome and would occasionally push out and cause me pain, so I had it corrected. This consisted of making a small incision over the belly button and suturing closed the defective abdominal wall. It was a day surgery, which I did on a Friday, so I recovered over the weekend and only missed one day of work [though the monday after was harsh!].
I went to the gym for the first time 13 days after my surgery, and did very minimal [very slow] stairs. I stuck with exercises that did not increase my intra-abdominal pressure, and never did anything that caused considerable pain. I very very slowly began going to the gym more regularly, only doing cardio, and by 8weeks, I was working a weight routine back into the mix. Between 8-10 weeks, I worked ab exercises back into the mix too, again exceedingly slowly.
Well, my slow but steady pace paid off, and now, as I said at the beginning of this blog entry, I'm am back to 100%. Cardio and health wise, I'm probably in the best shape of my life. Strength wise, I'm not as strong as I have been in the past, but I have focused more on cardiac workouts and toning. I have slimmed down for the summer and am now at ~170#'s.
Perhaps the thing I am most proud of over the past two months is my diet. It has really been good - I'm making much of my food, and nearly always eating very healthy, in great control of my dietary intake, even when I eat out. If it is any inspiration for anyone out there trying to adhere to a diet, the diet part of my routine is possibly the hardest for me. I LOVE food! But I have been successful at eating good foods, that are good for me, and occasionally allowing myself small portions of foods that I love, but do not fall in line with the healthy nature of my dietary routine [like my absolute fav - pizza].
So my workout routine has been disciplined. I have really focused on cardio workouts with multiple days of 30min-1hour cardio workouts. Sometimes even longer. But I haven't neglected weights. To the contrary I have adhered to a very rigorous one muscle group per day each week. I cycled through chest, back, shoulders, arms, and legs each week, often with a day of circuit [one exercise for each of the muscle groups mentioned], and a day of cardio. Some weeks I would take a day of rest, or simply do light cardio. I would exercise abs twice weekly, and focus on calves at least once weekly.
When it comes to weights this has been my routine for sometime. This week I begin something anew. In my continual effort to change things up and keep my body guessing, I will start a routine that will look something like this: Chest/Tri's/Abs on day 1, Back/bi's/calves day 2, legs/abs day 3, and shoulders/arms/calves day 4. Day 5, oddly will be focused on the left side of my body, which is weaker than my right, to improve symmetry, and perhaps more legs, which I would like to focus on for this next month [I may split my legs workout into two days in this way]. Day 6 will focus on cardio exclusively, and day 7 will be for fun - mostly basketball.
I have also been incorporating swimming into my routine - but I am really not a good swimmer. All the more reason to improve and challenge myself! Likewise, while the weather where I live is nice [though hot] this time of year, I have been jogging outdoors more too.
As far as diet, I am going to continue with what I've been doing. I am planning on incorporating more complex carbs [I'm on a brown rice kick right now], and monitoring my meal times more carefully to look at when I'm putting food in my body.
So that's the update and the plan. The plan with this blog is to write when I can, and continue to bring fresh information and inspiration to anyone interested. Thanks for reading! -cb
First, I eased into my workouts exceedingly slowly. I didn't want to mess anything up with the surgery. I had a small umbilical hernia [which I had before I started lifting - but it only got worse over the past year and a half]. A hernia is a defect in the abdominal wall. Mine was small, but caused an prominent "outie" bellybutton which I could push back in, or reduce, if it ever extended out a little. It was becoming more bothersome and would occasionally push out and cause me pain, so I had it corrected. This consisted of making a small incision over the belly button and suturing closed the defective abdominal wall. It was a day surgery, which I did on a Friday, so I recovered over the weekend and only missed one day of work [though the monday after was harsh!].
I went to the gym for the first time 13 days after my surgery, and did very minimal [very slow] stairs. I stuck with exercises that did not increase my intra-abdominal pressure, and never did anything that caused considerable pain. I very very slowly began going to the gym more regularly, only doing cardio, and by 8weeks, I was working a weight routine back into the mix. Between 8-10 weeks, I worked ab exercises back into the mix too, again exceedingly slowly.
Well, my slow but steady pace paid off, and now, as I said at the beginning of this blog entry, I'm am back to 100%. Cardio and health wise, I'm probably in the best shape of my life. Strength wise, I'm not as strong as I have been in the past, but I have focused more on cardiac workouts and toning. I have slimmed down for the summer and am now at ~170#'s.
Perhaps the thing I am most proud of over the past two months is my diet. It has really been good - I'm making much of my food, and nearly always eating very healthy, in great control of my dietary intake, even when I eat out. If it is any inspiration for anyone out there trying to adhere to a diet, the diet part of my routine is possibly the hardest for me. I LOVE food! But I have been successful at eating good foods, that are good for me, and occasionally allowing myself small portions of foods that I love, but do not fall in line with the healthy nature of my dietary routine [like my absolute fav - pizza].
So my workout routine has been disciplined. I have really focused on cardio workouts with multiple days of 30min-1hour cardio workouts. Sometimes even longer. But I haven't neglected weights. To the contrary I have adhered to a very rigorous one muscle group per day each week. I cycled through chest, back, shoulders, arms, and legs each week, often with a day of circuit [one exercise for each of the muscle groups mentioned], and a day of cardio. Some weeks I would take a day of rest, or simply do light cardio. I would exercise abs twice weekly, and focus on calves at least once weekly.
When it comes to weights this has been my routine for sometime. This week I begin something anew. In my continual effort to change things up and keep my body guessing, I will start a routine that will look something like this: Chest/Tri's/Abs on day 1, Back/bi's/calves day 2, legs/abs day 3, and shoulders/arms/calves day 4. Day 5, oddly will be focused on the left side of my body, which is weaker than my right, to improve symmetry, and perhaps more legs, which I would like to focus on for this next month [I may split my legs workout into two days in this way]. Day 6 will focus on cardio exclusively, and day 7 will be for fun - mostly basketball.
I have also been incorporating swimming into my routine - but I am really not a good swimmer. All the more reason to improve and challenge myself! Likewise, while the weather where I live is nice [though hot] this time of year, I have been jogging outdoors more too.
As far as diet, I am going to continue with what I've been doing. I am planning on incorporating more complex carbs [I'm on a brown rice kick right now], and monitoring my meal times more carefully to look at when I'm putting food in my body.
So that's the update and the plan. The plan with this blog is to write when I can, and continue to bring fresh information and inspiration to anyone interested. Thanks for reading! -cb
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
When you know you're back.
Sometimes when things start clicking, you know you're back. Well this evening was one of those times when I felt like I was back into it. Everything fell into place efficiently, and my diet and workout were coordinated perfectly. This is how I did it - and I made a really delicious meal while at it:
I came home from work and grabbed a pork tenderloin out of the fridge. It was a pretty lean cut, but I pared away any extra fat. Then I cut the pork into cubes, poked them with a fork, threw them in a ziploc, and added about 1/8 cup Iron Chef General Tso's sauce. I threw them back in the fridge and went to the gym where I had my 8th day in a row of light to medium cardio.
I burned ~400kcal in a little over 30min, then did 3 sets each of 3 range of motion exercises on machines, using ~50% of the amount of weight I normally would. Then I did some light stretching of my abdomen and went home.
I grabbed the pork out of the fridge, threw it in a bowl, sprinkled it with tenderizer and massaged it a little. Then I threw the meat on a hot skillet sprayed with fat free Pam and simultaneously started cooking some rice. While everything was cooking, I made a vanilla protein shake with a 1/2 banana, a little fiber and teaspoon or two of flax seed oil, blending it all into 1.5cups of skim milk. About the time everything was done cooking, I opened a can of chick peas.
I put a scoop of rice, a 1/2 can of chick peas, and 1/2 the pork on my plate and enjoyed it with my tasty protein shake. I saved the rest for lunch tomorrow and cleaned up. Everything fell into place, and I thought to myself that this is how every day should go. Today, I was back.
I came home from work and grabbed a pork tenderloin out of the fridge. It was a pretty lean cut, but I pared away any extra fat. Then I cut the pork into cubes, poked them with a fork, threw them in a ziploc, and added about 1/8 cup Iron Chef General Tso's sauce. I threw them back in the fridge and went to the gym where I had my 8th day in a row of light to medium cardio.
I burned ~400kcal in a little over 30min, then did 3 sets each of 3 range of motion exercises on machines, using ~50% of the amount of weight I normally would. Then I did some light stretching of my abdomen and went home.
I grabbed the pork out of the fridge, threw it in a bowl, sprinkled it with tenderizer and massaged it a little. Then I threw the meat on a hot skillet sprayed with fat free Pam and simultaneously started cooking some rice. While everything was cooking, I made a vanilla protein shake with a 1/2 banana, a little fiber and teaspoon or two of flax seed oil, blending it all into 1.5cups of skim milk. About the time everything was done cooking, I opened a can of chick peas.
I put a scoop of rice, a 1/2 can of chick peas, and 1/2 the pork on my plate and enjoyed it with my tasty protein shake. I saved the rest for lunch tomorrow and cleaned up. Everything fell into place, and I thought to myself that this is how every day should go. Today, I was back.
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