Lori’s birthday was this weekend.
Celebrating at our house means a cook out, ran or shine. Lori favorite food is Mexican, her favorite Mexican is street tacos, and salsa.
She and Big did the cooking for this meal. In her old age she has gotten wise, and learned to wear gloves when dealing with any pepper hotter than a jalapeño.
I’ll do my best to get her to share these recipes.
Whew! Last week was my first week back from an ankle injury that just would not heal for about 8 weeks. Workouts did not go so well. I did do them just not well, typically I add just a bit more resistance each week, but I think I’ll just repeat last weeks for now.
04/29/13 Monday – (2) Circuits Weight Training & Light 5k Run.
04/30/13 Tuesday – Interval Training & Track Work
05/01/13 Wednesday – (2) Circuits of Weight Training & Light 5k Run
05/02/13 Thursday – Interval Training & Interval 5k
05/03/13 Friday – (2) Circuits of Weight Training & Light 5k Run
All of my weight training is done with kettle bells. If you don’t have any I’d recommend that you get some they are compact, and they get results. Below is my kettle bell circuit, videos are from Catalyst Athletics, and Bodybuilding.com they are a great resource. Where in the images and videos they use dumbbells I use kettlebells.
Kettle Bell Circuit
Interval Circuit
Track Workout (split table)
One of best ways to ensure you know what you are eating is to eat at home. With the kiddos and your extracurricular activities I know eating a home cooked meal is easier said than done. What you need is a plan. I thought I would share a page out of our Home Cooked Meal Play Book. One of our go to plans includes a whole chicken cooked over the grill on the weekend. A chicken can provide life saving left overs for week night meals. The chicken can be added to a stir fry, BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches, pastas, quesadilla, tacos, nachos, salads, anything. Here is one of our recipes we use to cook chickens on the grill.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
What is your go to menu item that saves your weeknights?
Remember food is only good for you if you can eat it!
-Nate
When someone mentions cooking lamb I cannot help but to be transported to the first time I had lamb with a school friend on a spring day. A Woolly Middle Eastern Man, his father, roasting a whole lamb speared on a spit over an open flame on his back lawn, as a large loving family waited eagerly to eat, it’s an image of awesomeness its something I strive to recreate when cooking for those around me.
This is an intimidating image, but it shouldn’t be. Lamb is easy to prepare simply dress it with some fresh herbs and a bit of smoke, and you will have a meal to remember.
Instructions:
Pour the olive oil into a small sauce pan, and heat over medium heat. Smash the garlic into a paste, mince the shallot, mint, and thyme, zest and juice the lemon. When oil is heated add the garlic, shallot, mint, thyme, zest, juice, cumin, and coriander to the oil. Allow to cook for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the grill for indirect grilling and generously season the lamb with salt and pepper. Next brush the lamb liberally with the oil. Grill over indirect heat, and brushing occasionally for a good while, at least 1:30 with my grill which usually maintains a temperature of 350F with a piece of meat this large.
Use an instant read thermometer to gauge your doneness that you prefer, we like medium rare.
Remember food is only good for you if you can eat it!
-Nate
Here is just another case of for the corporation by the corporation. When laws like these get passed I just want to pack up my bags and move away to a remote island.
I sat down to write a blog post about this law, but I just could write one better than the folks over at Worker’s World.
Here’s what they had to say:
On March 24, the pro-Monsanto “Farmer Assurance Provision, Section 735” rider was quietly slipped into the Agricultural Appropriations provisions of HR 933, the Continuing Resolution spending bill designed to avert a federal government shutdown.
Section 735 should have been labeled the “Monsanto Protection Act.” Now law for the next six months after President Barack Obama signed HR 933 on March 29, it allows agribusiness giant Monsanto to promote and plant genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically engineered (GE) seeds, free from any judicial litigation that might decide the crops are unsafe.
The rider states that the U.S. Department of Agriculture “shall, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, immediately grant temporary permits to continue using the [GE] seed at the request of a farmer or producer [Monsanto].” The bill effectively requires the USDA to give Monsanto a green light to promote GMO seeds.
Even if a court review determines that a GMO crop harms humans, Section 735 allows the seeds to be planted once the USDA approves them. Public health lawyer Michele Simon says the Senate bill requires the USDA to “ignore any court ruling that would otherwise halt the planting of new genetically-engineered crops.” (nydailynews.com, March 25)
The rider’s wording is so controversial that even USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack called on the Office of General Council to review it, noting, “It appears to pre-empt judicial review of a deregulatory action which may make the provision unenforceable.” (politico.com, March 25)
Prior to the bill’s passage, 13 new GMO seed crops awaited USDA authorization. Now these endorsements are almost certainly guaranteed, even though previous legal challenges overturned USDA sanctions of other GMO crops. No doubt Monsanto and other GMO companies will use the next six months to fast track their new seeds.
Even more controversial than Section 735’s wording is that its primary beneficiary, Monsanto, wrote it. Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt (R), who drafted the rider with Monsanto, admitted as much to the New York Daily News with the excuse that “it is only a one-year protection.” (March 25)
This bill’s passage was a bipartisan effort. Despite a protest petition with 250,000 signers and a demonstration by farmers opposing it outside the White House on March 24, the entire Senate, led by Democrat Barbara Mikulski, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, passed the bill. Obama, who campaigned in 2007 for labeling GMO food, signed it.
GM Foods Dominate Food Supply
Genetically modified foods are overtaking the food supply. Nearly 80 percent of nonorganic processed foods, including those labeled “natural,” contain genetically engineered bacteria, viruses, antibiotic-resistant genes or imported DNA.
Through ownership of patents on 90 percent of all GE seeds, Monsanto effectively controls most of the U.S. food supply, and not just processed foods. In August, Walmart began selling fresh Monsanto GM sweet corn — the first to go straight from farm to table.
Under the brand name “Roundup Ready,” Monsanto sells seeds genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. GE seeds are designed to let farmers aerially spray fields to kill weeds while leaving crops intact.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says glyphosate, absorbed by the crops, has appeared in foods sold for consumption.
Monsanto also sells seeds engineered to produce their own pesticides. Bacillus thuringiensis genes are inserted into plant genomes. The plant cell then produces an insecticidal protein known as Bt, which is incorporated into food.
The EPA and FDA approved Monsanto’s sale of Bt seeds for potato plants, maize, soybeans and cotton. Some seeds can produce more than one Bt protein and be resistant to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup.
Monsanto tried, but failed, to insert a similar “protection act” into the Farm Bill of 2012. In defending Section 735’s provisions, Monsanto, DuPont and other GMO seed producers claim government restrictions are “unfair to farmers.” These corporations control 47 percent of the worldwide proprietary seed market.
Monsanto’s alleged “concern” for farmers has its limits. GMO seeds often end up in the fields of unsuspecting farmers who planted crops using traditional seeds. Inevitably, Monsanto’s “seed police” turn up at their doors armed with lawsuits claiming seed patent violations. The farmers are prohibited from recycling their own seeds and forced to pay hefty fines to Monsanto for having GMO crops they never planted in their fields.
Farmers buying Monsanto patented seeds must agree not to save the seeds for replanting or to sell seeds to other farmers. Each year farmers are forced to buy new seeds and more Roundup weed killer from Monsanto. Traditional seeds are disappearing. In the 1990s, pesticide manufacturers purchased seed companies, anticipating potential profits from monopolizing both aspects of farm production.
Roundup Ready Seeds Sicken Rats
Last fall, French scientists released a study that found rats fed on Monsanto’s GMO corn or exposed to Roundup Ready seeds suffered tumors and multiple organ damage. (Reuters, Sept. 19)
Gilles-Eric Seralini and colleagues at the University of Caen fed rats a diet containing NK603, a Roundup Ready seed variety, or gave them water with Roundup weed killer at U.S.-permitted levels. These rats died earlier than the control group.
Seralini noted that his study of rats throughout their two-year lifespan provided a more realistic view of the risks than the 90-day feeding trials typically used for GMO crop approvals. While Monsanto disputes this study, global concern is mounting over GMO foods.
No doubt Monsanto hopes that its six-month window of opportunity will quietly be extended through future congressional acts. Everyone who opposes the expanded use of GMO food should make sure this doesn’t happen.
Water serves in numerous roles in cellular functions; performs a variety of metabolic functions, interacts with nutrients to lubricate organs and joints. All the while transporting molecules throughout the body. One’s need for water is based on the type of foods ingested, intensity of activity, temperature, humidity, individual perspiration rates, age, and fitness level. Without question water is the most important nutritional aid for athletes. Below are some guide lines pulled from the International Society of Sport Nutrition “Essentials of Sports Nutrition and Supplements.”
The Strategy
Prime – Drink 32-48 ounces of water before an intense bout of training or event(1).
Perform – It’s been observed that performance declines when 2% of body weight is lost through perspiration. Normal sweet rate is between 0.5-2.0L per hour, thus replenishment of fluids should be 6-8 ounces of water every 5-15 minutes to prevent dehydration(1).
Recover – Drink 24 ounces of water for every pound lost during the activity (Don’t carry a scale with you? Personally, I assume I lost 1.5 pounds, and consume 28 ounces of water post workout.) If you are able to track your weight; sports nutritionalist state if one looses 2-3 pounds during an event then not enough
liquid was consumed (1).
Glucose Electrolyte Solution (a.k.a. sports drinks)
Consuming GES is an excepted method of hydrating and reducing fatigue. Research shows that individuals participating in intense training for more than 1 hour, especially in hot humid weather, benefit from ingesting GES in the following ways; consuming GES during a training secession will enhance endurance capacity, delay central fatigue, and improve immune function(1).
The Bottom Line
Be sure to stay hydrated out there this spring, and summer. Staying properly hydrated will fight off injury, sickness, improve performance, and mood.
Full Disclosure
I am not a physician, RD, or hold a PhD in Sports Science, or any other current credentials. This information is what I know to be the best information for staying hydrated. I would suggest you talk to your health care provider before pounding the pavement this summer, stay safe!
References
(1) International Society of Sports Nutrition Essentials of Sports Nutrition and Supplements, (c)2008 Humana Press
04/22/13 Monday – (2) Circuits Weight Training & Light 5k Run.
04/23/13 Tuesday – Interval Training & Track Work
04/24/13 Wednesday – (2) Circuits of Weight Training & Light 5k Run
04/25/13 Thursday – Interval Training & Interval 5k
04/26/13 Friday – (2) Circuits of Weight Training & Light 5k Run
All of my weight training is done with kettle bells. If you don’t have any I’d recommend that you get some they are compact, and they get results. Below is my kettle bell circuit, videos are from Catalyst Athletics, and Bodybuilding.com they are a great resource. Where in the images and videos they use dumbbells I use kettlebells.
Kettle Bell Circuit
Interval Circuit
Track Workout (split table)
Here is the split table for the track work out I’ll be doing feel free to use it to run along with me or develop you own track program.
| R Pace | R Pace | T Pace | R Pace | R Pace | T Pace | ||
| 5K Time | 200 | 400 | 400 | 5K Time | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 0:17:45 | 0:39 | 1:18 | 1:32 | 0:26:00 | 0:57 | 1:55 | 2:11 |
| 0:18:00 | 0:39 | 1:19 | 1:33 | 0:26:15 | 0:58 | 1:56 | 2:12 |
| 0:18:15 | 0:40 | 1:20 | 1:34 | 0:26:30 | 0:59 | 1:57 | 2:13 |
| 0:18:30 | 0:41 | 1:21 | 1:35 | 0:26:45 | 0:59 | 1:58 | 2:15 |
| 0:18:45 | 0:41 | 1:22 | 1:37 | 0:27:00 | 1:00 | 1:59 | 2:16 |
| 0:19:00 | 0:42 | 1:23 | 1:38 | 0:27:15 | 1:00 | 2:00 | 2:17 |
| 0:19:15 | 0:42 | 1:24 | 1:39 | 0:27:30 | 1:01 | 2:01 | 2:18 |
| 0:19:30 | 0:43 | 1:25 | 1:40 | 0:27:45 | 1:01 | 2:03 | 2:20 |
| 0:19:45 | 0:43 | 1:27 | 1:41 | 0:28:00 | 1:02 | 2:04 | 2:21 |
| 0:20:00 | 0:44 | 1:28 | 1:42 | 0:28:15 | 1:02 | 2:05 | 2:22 |
| 0:20:15 | 0:44 | 1:29 | 1:44 | 0:28:30 | 1:03 | 2:06 | 2:23 |
| 0:20:30 | 0:45 | 1:30 | 1:45 | 0:28:45 | 1:03 | 2:07 | 2:25 |
| 0:20:45 | 0:46 | 1:31 | 1:46 | 0:29:00 | 1:04 | 2:08 | 2:26 |
| 0:21:00 | 0:46 | 1:32 | 1:47 | 0:29:15 | 1:04 | 2:09 | 2:27 |
| 0:21:15 | 0:47 | 1:33 | 1:49 | 0:29:30 | 1:05 | 2:10 | 2:29 |
| 0:21:30 | 0:47 | 1:34 | 1:50 | 0:29:45 | 1:06 | 2:11 | 2:30 |
| 0:21:45 | 0:48 | 1:35 | 1:51 | 0:30:00 | 1:06 | 2:12 | 2:31 |
| 0:22:00 | 0:48 | 1:36 | 1:52 | 0:30:15 | 1:07 | 2:13 | 2:32 |
| 0:22:15 | 0:49 | 1:37 | 1:53 | 0:30:30 | 1:07 | 2:15 | 2:33 |
| 0:22:30 | 0:49 | 1:38 | 1:54 | 0:30:45 | 1:08 | 2:16 | 2:35 |
| 0:22:45 | 0:50 | 1:40 | 1:56 | 0:31:00 | 1:09 | 2:18 | 2:36 |
| 0:23:00 | 0:51 | 1:41 | 1:57 | 0:31:15 | 1:09 | 2:19 | 2:37 |
| 0:23:15 | 0:52 | 1:42 | 1:58 | 0:31:30 | 1:10 | 2:20 | 2:38 |
| 0:23:30 | 0:52 | 1:43 | 2:00 | 0:31:45 | 1:10 | 2:21 | 2:40 |
| 0:23:45 | 0:53 | 1:45 | 2:01 | 0:32:00 | 1:11 | 2:22 | 2:41 |
| 0:24:00 | 0:53 | 1:46 | 2:02 | 0:32:15 | 1:11 | 2:23 | 2:42 |
| 0:24:15 | 0:53 | 1:47 | 2:03 | 0:32:30 | 1:12 | 2:24 | 2:44 |
| 0:24:30 | 0:54 | 1:48 | 2:05 | 0:32:45 | 1:12 | 2:25 | 2:45 |
| 0:24:45 | 0:54 | 1:49 | 2:06 | 0:33:00 | 1:13 | 2:26 | 2:46 |
| 0:25:00 | 0:55 | 1:50 | 2:07 | 0:33:15 | 1:14 | 2:27 | 2:47 |
| 0:25:15 | 0:56 | 1:51 | 2:08 | 0:33:30 | 1:14 | 2:28 | 2:49 |
| 0:25:30 | 0:56 | 1:53 | 2:09 | 0:33:45 | 1:15 | 2:29 | 2:50 |
| 0:25:45 | 0:56 | 1:54 | 2:10 | 0:34:00 | 1:15 | 2:30 | 2:51 |
gritfuel 