Eat Well: A FeelGooder Guide to Getting Started

November 25, 2010 by

Lisa Johnson is a blogger for AOL and for LisaJohnsonFitness.com

I have evolved into a foodie over the years.  I started off as the Queen of Frozen Dinners, gleefully nuking my food so I could get on with the business of living.  Shockingly, I was sick all the time, constantly run down, and tired.  As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned the value of eating well.  It permeates the fabric of everything we do.  “Choose well and live well” is my motto these days.

I do not advocate vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore, although personally I consider myself a flexitarian.  I eat mostly vegetarian but I throw in a bit of meat protein every week.  I think everyone should eat what they want, but I do advocate quality.  Cut out the processed food, the trans fats, and heavy doses of sugar.  Make sure the meat you eat is raised well, to your level of ethics and morals.   Here are some ideas on how to do that,

Start with just one thing

Trying to overhaul your diet in one fell swoop is a recipe for disaster.  You’ll stall out in frustration.  Just pick one thing and try to improve that.  Once you feel comfortable with your dietary adjustment, you can add another change.  Most experts recommend starting with the “dirty dozen” of fruits and vegetables: twelve fruits and vegetables that absorb the highest percentage of insecticides and chemicals.  Another good place to start is with organic meat and dairy products.

Be open-minded

You’ll come home from the grocery store with something awful!  You’ll try cooking a new recipe and be appalled at what the final product is.  Just laugh it off and try again.  More than one evening meal has ended in pizza delivery because what I cooked either tasted horrible or I messed up the recipe somewhere.  But there have been great successes, too—new recipes that have become staples in my house because everyone loves them.  Be willing to experiment.  I have committed to bringing one new thing home from the grocery store every week and that has given me a new appreciation for pears, blue potatoes, arctic chard, pickles, plantains, and a whole bunch more food items.

Educate Yourself

As I walked out of the theater from Super Size Me, I happened to be across the street from a McDonald’s.  My stomach churned at the bright, happy golden arches.  Since then I’ve seen Food, Inc., read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, and watched Michael Pollan of Omnivore’s Dilemma speak.

I am always reading about how our food is produced.  The more I learn, the pickier I get. While I’ll never become vegan (it just isn’t for me), I only eat sustainable and humanely raised food and I try as much as possible to buy local and organic.  The sources listed above have dramatically changed how I feed myself and my family.

Cook for yourself

You don’t stock your pantry with high fructose corn syrup and you don’t dump a ton of salt in your dishes to mask the poor quality food you’re eating.  It probably wouldn’t occur to you to add sugar to your meat to sweeten it while cooking, right?  But restaurants and manufacturers regularly do this to their food, plus all the dreaded trans fat—perhaps one of the worst things we can put in our bodies. By cooking for yourself, you have complete control over what goes in your body.  The more you prepare your own foods, the better you’ll feel.  If this is a whole new concept to you, start small—just one meal per week.  Get a couple of basic recipes down and then add another meal in.  Again, think in baby steps, not drastic changes.

Share with others

I’ve gone from living out of my microwave to being known for my dinner parties.  I always make a point of using only the best ingredients I can find, and making sure they’re organic and sustainable.  I never tell my guests until after the “oohs and aahs” of dessert.  Then I let them know how healthily they were eating.  I have inspired a few friends to choose better cuts of meat and I’ve gotten almost everyone onto the “dirty dozen” bandwagon.  It feels pretty good to help those around me live a healthier life.

What do you do to eat well?  Are there steps you’ve taken to live more healthfully?  What’s your favorite healthy recipe?  I’d love to hear from you.

Other resources

Food Rules, a fast and informative read from Michael Pollan.  He developed the book as a handout for cardio doctors looking to help their patients eat better.

Eating Animals, a funny, touching book about an urban Dad (Safran Foer) exploring his food chain.  At moments it’s harrowing, but this book is incredibly well-researched and vetted by lawyers.  You can trust the information in this book and it’s very, very eye-opening.

Food, Inc., an incredible movie that succinctly shows you the factory farming system.  There is a good chance that this movie will change how you eat for the rest of your life.  I recommend not watching it on a full stomach.

Meatless Mondays, a movement started by a New York Times food writer to go vegetarian just one day a week.  The statistics on this site are incredible.  They show how just three simple meals per week can change the planet.

Jamie Oliver’s recipes.  Sign his petition to improve school lunches if you’re American.  You can roam around his site for quick, healthy recipes, which he designs for the busy family cook.  No crazy ingredients or complicated cooking processes.

101 Things I Learned in Culinary School, written by Louis Eguaras with Matthew Frederick, is a great book about the cooking skills you need to cook easily.  I finally learned how to hold a knife properly after flipping through this great short read.

Basic Instincts: Why You Should Listen To Your Inner Animal

November 24, 2010 by

This guest post is by Lucas Kleinschmitt of www.GermanEfficiency.com.

You’re smart. You’re sophisticated. Your world is complex. In your life, there’re art and culture, education and social norms, business, networks, the Internet, Twitter, and Facebook. The number of choices you have available is infinite—and rising.

Your world is a paradox. It’s difficult. Sometimes, you feel overwhelmed by all the opportunities. What should you do next? And when? In which order?

Back to the basics

In the end, it all boils down to just two questions:

First: “What do you want?”, and then: “How will you get it?”

The second question is the reason we spend hundreds of dollars and thousands of hours on information products. The first question is the one that matters more.

Do you want a 5-star restaurant dinner? This or that person, and absolutely no other, as a date? Thirty thousand Twitter followers to support your highly complex new business venture?

No. Forgive me, but you’re simpler than that. I know I am.

Image by irishwildcatWe want an abundance of good food. Sex with an attractive partner. To be part of a social group. We want to leave our footprints on this planet in a way of which we can be proud.

We want to follow our basic instincts.

A happy person is…

2010 is great. I love the 21st century. But from time to time, we need to forget about it. We need to close our eyes and listen to our inner animal.

Slowly, the 5-star restaurant disappears. Twitter and Facebook vanish. Even your iPad is gone. Instead, you find a list of simple things. Things like:

  • healthy food
  • good personal relationships
  • making and raising kids
  • being part of a tribe
  • moving your body
  • breathing fresh air
  • making a difference

Suddenly, life is easy. You do sports. You invite your neighbor over. You cook with fresh vegetables. You help others. And, when you see something that needs changing, you change it.

Life really is that simple—in 2010 A.D., as it was in 10,000 B.C. Just follow your basic instincts. You know what to do.

Before I leave you now, I would like to give you a short quotation to think about:

“A happy man is too pleased with the present to worry about the future.”

That’s something Albert Einstein said, but I’m sure any chimp would agree.

Lucas Kleinschmitt teaches you personal productivity, made in Germany, for less stress and more success. Check out his brand-new blog at www.GermanEfficiency.com.

The Panorama of a Polymath’s Experience

November 22, 2010 by

This post is by Ben Harack, the polymath who founded Vision of Earth.

I feel like I am interested in more things than everyone else. Each passion I pursue leads me to more things that enjoy. Every thought seems to spawn two more, and every new experience deepens my wish to try new things.

You may share these experiences, or find them totally alien. In this piece I will talk about some of my history in the area of avidly pursuing my passions as a polymath. Not everything is rosy, but I would not choose to live any other way.

Between focus and frenzy

Too much focus on one issue, and you can become a myopic personality. Too much topic-switching can lead to scattered, fragmented knowledge or a life of chasing every shiny thing that moves.

Instead of letting every little interest run rampant, learn to focus on them one at a time. Multi-tasking is great, but if taken too far it fragments our consciousness to the extent that accomplishing anything becomes very difficult.

In order to be really useful, knowledge has to have some depth. We can imagine a specialist as a well full of water, and a polymath as a pond. If you spread yourself too thin, you become nothing more than a collection of puddles. I don’t think anyone wants to be accused of being as deep as a puddle.

A polymath has to have areas of some degree of specialization. They might have ten of them, but they are interested in each of these areas, and have gained significant knowledge in them. No one is a jack of all trades, but some of us choose to be a jack of many.

There is no sharp distinction between specialists and renaissance (wo)men. During my education for instance I heard the following question posed: Was Isaac Newton a physicist or a mathematician? Those familiar with his life and work will realize that this is a not an either-or. He excelled at both, and each facet supported his accomplishments in the other.

The quote that we all know (and which has been in use for hundreds of years) has an optional second half that few people know about: “Jack of all trades, master of none, though oftentimes better than master of one.”

Learning

My experience is that as I learn more varied fields of knowledge, new knowledge is easier to access. I find that new areas of knowledge begin to integrate more easily into knowledge that I already know. Each new field of specialty tends to fit itself neatly into the structure of everything I know about the world.

Natural memory is best achieved through integration of new knowledge with things that you already know and attachment to things that you care about. As your experience broadens, you will find it easier to grasp new concepts and remember them.

Context is everything. Most scientific studies include investigations of how the new knowledge that they uncover will fit into what insights science has already gained. A key facet of contributing scientific knowledge is the effort to describe its broader implications. People of all backgrounds and perspectives are capable of doing this, and doing it well. I claim that the difference is that rather than merely researching the broad context of their work, polymaths live their context every day. Instead of turning our attention to the big picture every once in a while, we experience it constantly as our default way of viewing the world.

Health

Pursue a variety of physical activities. A complete list of my favored physical activities would be laboriously long, thanks in part to my father being a physical education teacher. Some of my current favorites are jogging, yoga, tai chi and frisbee. Having a variety of physical activities that you are comfortable with can be very useful when you move to a new home, or transfer to  a new workplace where your options for activities may be limited.

I also encourage people to embrace physical activities of different sorts. Cardiovascular health is incredibly important for longevity and quality of life, but so is mental health. Choosing activities that train the mind and teach emotional control can be as important as being able to run for an hour.

For instance, I have competed in the sport of badminton since I was quite young. I loved to play so much that eventually I finished seventh at the Canada Games in 2007. On the other end of the spectrum, I love golf. I claim that badminton is one of the most dynamic and physically demanding sports in the world, while golf can be a mental and emotional roller coaster. Each activity has distinct characteristics that make it challenging and healthy.

Relationships

A broad base of experience and knowledge means that you can identify with more people on a personal level. You will be able to see the world through more perspectives and carry on conversations on more topics that people care about. People identify strongly with their jobs so if you have similar experience it can provide a great basis for a growing relationship.

People are my true passion, and my interest in the universe is for connecting with other consciousnesses. If my pursuit of deep knowledge was pulling me away from people, I would abandon it. My experience is that as I have learned more, I care more for people. As I learn and care more, I am able to help more. My own well-being is fundamentally connected to others, leading to my efforts to connect with and help as much of humanity as I can.

Work and finance

Finding a job that will allow you to use all of your abilities may be impossible unless you create it yourself. Especially in the internet age, people have had great success using their different skills and interests to create multiple streams of income for themselves. ProBlogger, one of Darren’s other blogs, is the go-to resource for people looking to make a living online.

On the other end of things, it is possible to combine interests that are generally very disparate into a single effort. For instance, one of my most definite long-term goals is to combine my educational backgrounds in physics and psychology to pursue knowledge about consciousness and the universe. Perhaps in a decade or two you will be able to read a book of mine on the subject!

What to work at? Follow your passions while creating value for people. Even if a job only reflects part of who you are, it can still be very valuable for you, your employer, and your customers.

Your work should not be your life, unless you want it to be. My work with Vision of Earth grows directly out of who I am and what I want to do with my life. My work is not an intrusion into my life, it is part of the expression of my life.

Solving social problems

Social issues tend to be complicated and controversial. Deep knowledge of a variety of fields is extremely valuable when trying to address any of the big problems that our society is facing today.

Some problems are best approached with a new over-arching mindset or a re-invention of the fundamentals. These are things that can only be achieved by polymaths or specialists working very closely together in teams. I believe that omnology may be one of the waves of the future. I certainly intend to see how far I can take it!

Several of my professors in university, in varying fields, told me that they expect scientific leaps of the near future to be based heavily on interdisciplinary study. I feel that they are right. We have compartmentalized our knowledge to such an extent that its growth is often hidden from us. I think it is time to set knowledge and passions free.

If your life and knowledge is a building that’s always under construction, it makes sense that a broad and solid foundation will give you a great platform for reaching for the stars.

This post is by Ben Harack, the polymath who founded Vision of Earth. He has four degrees, is working on a fifth, and has lived his life passionately pursuing the knowledge and activities that he loves. He hopes to better his society by making deep knowledge understandable and accessible by the general public.

FeelGooder Fitness Tweak: Leaving Fatville

November 21, 2010 by

Lisa is a blogger at LisaJohnsonFitness.com

I talked with Anda T of Leaving Fatville about her weight loss goals, and I’m very pleased to have her as our first FeelGooder Fitness Tweak participant! Thanks Anda!

The situation

Anda has been steadily losing weight and is currently under 240 pounds, with a final goal of 170. She’s got a full-time job, a toddler, and a husband, and was recently diagnosed with asthma which has limited her cardio options to biking and walking. She is also dealing with a weak ankle. Anda would like to revamp her fitness routine so she can keep losing weight while staying within her doctor’s orders.

Her available equipment

stationary bike
walking shoes
five-pound ankle and hand weights

The plan: cardio

Anda needs to strengthen her ankle, keep her asthma in check, and continue with the weight loss. By gradually doing my recommended cardio plan, she should gain some ground back on her asthma, but needs to let it develop slowly; it’s not a race, it’s a journey.

1. Walk with the family twice a week on the weekends.

Plan for 30 minutes with her toddler in the stroller. If she’s up for it, plan a longer walk. Go as fast as possible without triggering the asthma. These walks will start everyone off on a healthy habit and it’s a great opportunity for family time. Don’t worry about the distance traveled, just measure time.

2. Hop on the stationary bike three times a week while watching TV.

Wait until after the little one goes to bed and watch shows with the husband. Make sure that the sole of your sneaker is parallel with the ground to avoid straining the ankle. Do 30 minutes minimum and push hard until just before triggering the asthma.

The plan: weight training

I’m going light with the weight training for now … it’ll be short and sweet, but will ease Anda into the routine of doing weight training.

1. Pushups

On the floor, from the knees (if this is too much, lean against the wall at an angle), start with five and work up to 15. Make sure to bend the elbows to 90 degrees on the down, pull your abs away from the floor (belly button to spine), and squeeze your backside. You want to be in a straight line from the back of your head to your knees.

2. Bicep curls

Take the five-pound weights and do bicep curls (you can do this while on the stationary bike to save time). Keep the elbows steady at your sides as if they’re velcroed to your shirt. Do one set of eight with palms facing the ceiling and one set of eight with thumbs up. Work up to two sets of 15.

3. Tricep extension

Keep those five pound weights. Do one arm at a time (you can also do this on the bike). Extend the arm overhead with the elbow bent. Extend the hand towards the ceiling keeping the upper arm quiet. The only body part that is moving is your lower arm and hand. Do two sets of eight on each side, working up to two sets of 15.

4. Write the alphabet with your toes

This is to help stabilize the ankle. Very carefully trace each letter of the alphabet in capital letters on the floor with your foot. Try to make them as perfect as possible. Do it on both feet, even the healthy one. This is an old physical therapy trick I learned when I was recovering from an injury. This exercise will flex and move all the muscles in your foot and should help to stabilize the ankle.

By all means, run this plan by your doctor to make sure he approves! Since Anda is under a doctor’s care, it is imperative that he knows what she’s doing so he can keep her on track, get her asthma under control, and help to continue her healthful weight loss.

Thanks Anda for being so brave and participating. Please let me know what you think and if you have any questions.

The Power of Touch

November 19, 2010 by

Image by Fr. Stephen, MSC

Do you realize how little we touch one another?

When I was 19 I had the opportunity to spend a couple of months living and working in a community development project in one of Bangkok’s largest slums. I learned a lot from that trip, and I’m sure it’ll come up in a future post, as it was a formative experience for me, but one of the lasting memories I have of that trip is the amount I was physically touched.

The first time it happened I was walking down the street with two local guys that I’d met the day before. They’d been friendly but we’d only just met and I’m not sure that I’d have called them friends just yet.

As we walked down the street, one of the men slipped his arm around my shoulder. A few minutes later the other took my hand. The three of us strolled down the street, arm in arm, hand in hand.

They were totally natural about it. I was in the middle, and I was freaking out, wondering if I was going to have to talk my way out of a compromising situation.

The thing was that there was nothing sexual about the touch of these guys. Over the coming weeks I saw and experienced it many times over. Men sitting arm in arm with each other, and women walking down the street hand in hand.

It took me a while to take off my Western Glasses and get used to it. The Thai people were just much more able to express their feelings and comfort with each other using touch than I’d ever been.

Interestingly, as I reflect back on those two months in a Thai slum, I realize that while I was in a fairly stressful situation, it was one of the times in my life that I felt most at peace and relaxed. There may be numerous reasons for that, but I suspect one was touch.

The Power of Touch

It has been well documented that touch is a very powerful thing.

Any parent doing a pre-natal class has it drummed into them. Babies that are touched regularly thrive, while those that aren’t touched, don’t.

Image by _Nezemnaya_

Touch is effectively our first language as a baby:

  • Touch helps create the bond between a baby and its parents.
  • Touch helps to calm and soothe a distressed baby.
  • Touch is thought to help in neurological developmen.
  • Touch is thought to help relieve physical discomfort.

The list goes on—particularly in the early years, it’s widely accepted that touch is essential.

I still remember being taken to an orphanage on that same trip to Thailand, and seeing a room full of young children and babies in cots who were rarely touched. The looks on the faces of those children still haunt me. Distressed, lonely, and obviously physically unwell, these children were physically cared for, but something was missing—loving touch.

I still remember picking up one of the babies in that room. When I picked her up she was a very stressed little girl but over the next 30 minutes as I held her and massaged her little arms and cheeks she relaxed and the distress in her face melted away. Leaving her alone in her cot, perhaps never to be cuddled again, was one of the toughest things I’ve done.

Experiences like that have made me very aware of the importance of touch as I raise my own children today. My kids have been massaged, cuddled, kissed, and tickled since the days they were born. Of course the touch is backed up with love and care in other areas, but we’ve gone out of our way to use touch in day-to-day of life.

Touch beyond childhood

Somewhere along the line, physical touch slowly drops out of the lives of many of us. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it changes in nature.

I’m no sociologist but somewhere as we grow older and enter into adolescence touch tends to become sexualized. On some levels I guess that’s natural—we hit puberty, those hormones begin to pump around our bodies, our sexuality wakes up, and we begin to become aware of touch with new possibilities.

The problem is that for many of us non-sexual touch tends to exit life at this point.

Image by Patrick Gage

The need for touch doesn’t end, though—and that sets us up for something of a problem.

Sure, we still use it when greeting each other—handshakes, perhaps a hug or a kiss on the cheek—but part of me wonders whether we’re short-changing ourselves a little.

I’m not saying we all need to touch one another indiscriminately—there’s a need for common sense, boundaries, and appropriate touch—but it strikes me that perhaps as a society that we could learn a thing or two about this topic.

If touch is such a powerful thing, why do we reserve it for kids, fleeting greetings, or the bedroom?

Have your say

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this—either in comments below or on our Facebook page where we’ve already been chatting about touch and have had some interesting input on topics including touch in health care, pets, and the cultural differences of touch.

Five Pre-Flight Checks for Your New Fitness Routine

November 18, 2010 by

You’re ready!  You’ve flipped the switch and you’re in the starting gate, raring to go on this whole live-a-better-life thing.  You’re going to get plenty of sleep, spend time with your family, and finally get back into your college jeans.  Before you jump into a fitness routine, here are five things to ensure you’ll be successful.

Research your fitness goals.

You can’t just say, “I want to lose ten pounds.”  How are you going to lose ten pounds?  Will you join a gym or a running club?  Check out the local yoga studio? How are you going to get healthier? Deciding this in advance and researching your local options will guide you in the right direction. Google is a good resource, but don’t be afraid to ask your friends what they’re doing, too.

Get your people on board.

From roommates to spouses to kids to your pooch, make sure everyone is up for your lifestyle change.  If you’re in a family situation, you’re going to need support from everyone as you steal time away from them.  Or try to find a way to incorporate them into your new lifestyle: then everyone’s healthier and happier.

Keep track.

If you’re just getting back into fitness, you should know where you’re starting from.  Get on the scale, take some body measurements (waist, chest, and hips are a good start), and take a “before” picture.  You should also start tracking your workouts.  How many miles did you walk or jog? Make notes of the group exercise class you took at the gym. Track progress of the weight training routine that your personal trainer gave you. Whatever it is, however you’d like to track it, please do!  Online programs such as the Daily Mile or Map My Run can help, or you can go low-tech with a notebook and pencil. In any case, you’ll better appreciate how far you’ve come if you remember where you started from.

Make sure you’ve got the gear.

If your running sneakers are still in day-glo 1980s colors, it might be time to grab a new pair.  Ladies, make sure your sports bra is the right size and still, erm, doing its job.  Double-check that you’ve got a good water bottle too; you need to stay properly hydrated while you boost your activities.

Be open-minded.

Fitness trends are changing all the time.  We’ve gone from yoga to Zumba, from plyometrics to super-slow sets.  If something seems appealing, give it a go.  You might find a whole new form of movement that you love.  I skeptically began kayaking and absolutely love the cardio and upper body toning that I get from it.  That, plus I can do it with my family, and the scenery is always nice.

If you have any questions, ask away. I’d be happy to help you get started. What would you like to accomplish?  Share your fitness goals here.

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