Here are the entrants: Good Luck!

Wheel

Today Brad trained Bruce (who by the way is in his 60′s and is in better shape than men 20 years younger!).  It was the ‘wheelbarrow’ technique and it’s an awesome way to hit the core ab muscles, shoulders, arms and chest.   More importantly it was FUN!! Way to go Brad to give Bruce a great workout.

Bruce doing the \”wheelbarrow\”

I’ve included a link to this story on the University’s website, and I found it compelling because of a) where it was conducted and b) I’ve heard rumors and read about this for years (just google “chocolate milk and recovery drink”).  I’ll let you make up your own mind, but I’ll give you my two cents:  Why not try it?  I’d be more skeptical if the study was funded by the American Dairy Farmers, but it wasn’t.

Instead, the University of Texas at Austin conducted the research and for those of you who don’t know, the Sports Medicine School at UTA is highly regarded as one of the best in the country and routinely turns out some of the best and brightest minds in the business.

*Make sure you still check the label of any chocolate milk and make sure there aren’t any added sugars such as HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) or Corn Syrup. I’ve found that Alpenrose is a good option, plus it’s local (see below).

Here’s the story and link: http://www.utexas.edu/news/2011/06/22/milk_studies/

In case you missed it, here’s the segment  from our last newsletter on the subject:

Farmers Markets – ‘tis the season!

The key to great health: exercise and good nutrition. No brainer! The key to good nutrition: prepare fresh food to eat daily. You should be eating out less and eating in more to maximize your health potential.  I recommend 90/10 ratio of eating at home vs. dining out. I do believe that in some cases supplementing for nutrients and vitamins is a good idea when you don’t have the time to shop for quality foods or cook. Many of you have times when you need to grab something fast, and in that case a bar or shake can’t hurt.

However, whenever possible you should be trying to gain those benefits from REAL whole foods. The nutrient value I suspect is going to be a lot better let alone taste!  Thus, I’m a big supporter of buying fresh veggies, fruit, grains and proteins. The best place to shop for quality vegetables and fruits is your local farmers market.  See the list of markets available and times they are open by clicking the link below.

http://www.portlandfarmersmarket.org/index.php/markets/

The total pot accumulation was $140 – ($20 if you missed your weekly goal). Now then, time to make a dinner reservation at Mortons’!

Brad – 1 week $20

Russell – 1 week $20

Jeff – 2 weeks $40

Gordon – 3 weeks $60

So the question is…who’s up for the challenge next time around? And how do we add to it? Suggestions are welcome…post your comment below.

Dr. J crushing it with TRX

The Nutrition Aspect:

The walking was the best part if you want exercise but the fast/junk food of course was NOT so good for the health. But hey, it’s vacation right?  And if you were to eat that way and walk all that way every day it would probably be a net zero effect.  But it was more shockingly clear to me after this visit that more and more Americans are NOT living that lifestyle of responsible movement/exercise BUT they still eat too much Junk Food, and too much Sugar.  There are too many people overweight in this country, and I believe (as do many other physicians and researchers) that it has now become an epidemic. BUT what I saw on vacation is that the saddest part to this epidemic is the fat/overweight Americans are perpetuating this epidimic by feeding their children the same crap junk food they eat and limiting their movement as well. I saw so many overweight kids (ages from 3 – at Disneyland that Walt himself would have been appalled.  AND the sad part was that these kids were being pushed (when their parents weren’t riding a rascal wheelchair cause they were too fat to move) in strollers when they should be walking!

I’ve become more and more the believer in the *damaging effects the increased amount of sugar is having on our health in American diets.  For more information on data that backs this up, please reference the video – “Sugar, the bitter truth”

Eating healthy on vacations can be challenging for sure. We are a fit family, and as such we plan our vacations around ways to keep eating healthy as best we can.  Unfortunately, it’s not always possible (nor always desirable ) to eat perfectly healthy while on vacation.  I must admit, a little junk food is good for the mind and soul sometimes, especially if you eat healthy 80% of the time and workout consistently. But case in-point, if you stay in a hotel that isn’t near a grocery store and you have to resort to eating out for most of your meals, (and in our case that included eating inside Disneyland at times) you can be tempted to eat high density calorie foods to often.

The best approach we found is splurge on junk food once or twice a day, but keep your dinner and breakfast a solid healthy meal. Most restaurants will over serve you, and if you are staying in a hotel, try to make sure you have a microwave and refrigerator in-room. Most hotels will gladly accommodate such needs.  That way you can portion control better and eat half your breakfast or dinner and save the rest for later the next day AND save money!