The Cure for Winter Blues

Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty! I'm free at last!

I couldn't help but feel that way on Friday as I cruised along past thawing fields with winters last blanket of snow slowly melting away. The skies were blue and crisp and an intense spring sunshine made the last of the white glisten. The fresh air was like perfume and even the creepy looks I got from the cows as they wondered what I was doing out on my bike already were kind of encouraging.

There is nothing like getting back on the open road to liven up your spring training.

No, it's not green yet... and I still haven't seen my first of these guys...

...yet.

But the roads are dry, the sun is out and even if it only lasts a couple days before March rears its lion's head again, I've gotten the boost that I needed. I hope that you can too.

Go play outside! You'll be glad you did.

Foam Roller

Rollin', rollin', rollin' keep that foam roll rollin'.

What, you may ask, is a foam roller? It is a beautiful little piece of gear that probably costs 100 times as much to buy it as it did to make, but is still worth every dime I paid. See below.

The foam roller is the masseuse that you wish you could be for yourself. No money for a soigneur despite the hundreds of miles you spend on the bike. Use this little puppy to give yourself a good rub down and you'll be happy and maybe a little stretchier later.

The idea of the foam roller is to balance a part of your body (i.e. calf, thigh, lower back, gluts etc) on top of the roll and then slowly move back and forth. While you do this, the pressure stretches out your muscles and grinds through your tired limbs not unlike a deep tissue massage. The best part is that it's a pretty passive stretch so other than the pain of mashing your muscles it's fairly difficult to hurt yourself with this.

It works great. Especially after a hard weekend of riding and strength training, like I've been doing here in the early preseason, this thing can roll out my legs like nothing else. It's especially helpful on big muscles like your quads where it can be hard to manage a good rub down with your own hands.

Albeit, when you are really sore this feels more like torture than treatment, but I think we can all agree sometimes it takes a little good hurt to get rid of the bad hurt. (I'm sure that my neighbors probably think I'm being beaten by my wife because of my pathetic howling and wimpering when I use the foam roller after a really hard span of workouts.)

Where can you pick one up? Try REI or almost any other sports store. They usually cost about $25 (a lot cheaper than a professional massage and nearly as effective). Target and Wal-Mart frequently carry them too.

Simple Garlic Hummus

A tasty snack with good fat and a good price too.

1 can of chick peas (14 oz)

1/4 cup of yogurt

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

2 Tsp minced garlic

1.5 Tbsp olive oil

Salt- to taste

1 Tbsp Tahini (optional)

Combine all ingredients in your blender or food processor and mix until smooth. Mix less if you like your hummus a little coarser.

Serve with Pita bread, fresh vegetables, pretzels or any of your other favorite dipping delicacies.

Be Thankful

So much of exercise and fitness is about moving forward, getting better, improving on what you have and leaving the old obsolete version of you behind. But if that was the only message that I ever offered you here it would be incomplete.

When I write, I am very progress minded, and this is a lot of what fitness is about. Improving so that you get faster, stronger etc. However, there comes a point where you need to reflect on what you have gained and where you are. If you don't it will only lead to discontentment.

Today is Thanksgiving, so what better time to take pause and be thankful for whatever you have to be thankful for in life and in the theme of this blog here are a few things that I am thankful for...

...a healthy body to run, bike, swim, yoga (I don't know if I can use that as a verb), jump, row, and just plain play.

...my lovely wife who supports my crazy endeavors and family who backs me up.

...the privilege of being in medical school where I can learn all about the human body and how it works.

...friends and riding partners who like to do some of the same crazy stuff that I do

...Hey Cow

...A beautiful world to explore in so many different ways

...A safe place to live and sometimes to rest and recover when I need to

...Good food to eat and fuel my adventures

...A trusty steed to take me wherever my little heart desires

God has blessed me with all of these things and it just wouldn't make sense not to be grateful for them. I hope you take the time to stop and reflect on the good things in your life from time to time and not just when we have a holiday designed for it. Happy Thanksgiving!

Functional Fitness

In the continued spirit of the cross training season, I'd like to remind you about the concept of "functional fitness." It sounds nice, but what is it? It's the kind of fitness that says sure I can run a mile to catch that train. Or if you want I could dig post holes and build a fence. Or maybe you'd like me to pull things out of the attic? Then again the yard needs to be raked and it would be nice to be able to pick up my nephews without hurting my back.



Oh yeah, those important kinds of things. Don't forget, fitness isn't really doing you a lot of good if it's not doing you a lot of good. (yeah, wrap your head around that...)



There are plenty health benefits to being fit: lower chances of coronary artery disease, improved mood, fewer chronic aches and pains. But those things are all future types of things and after a recent discussion on public health--and general observation of the world's obsession with instant gratification--we know that most people are less concerned about the future than they are about the here and now. So let's talk here and now.



My brother got into weight lifting a little bit in high school and was enjoying his new strength and muscles. Not that there's anything wrong with that! But then one day when he was just being lazy around the house my mom asked "So what are those [muscles] good for?" Ooooo....Point goes to Mom.



She has a good point though. I used to work at a health club teaching swimming lessons and would often see members come in who looked like they were way too clean to be working out and who spent most of their time building big muscles and toned bods just for the looks. But what are they good for? Put them to use!



Try things that give you functional fitness so that you can take advantage of being fit by doing everday real life types of things. Yoga workouts are great for building your core strength and helping prevent back injuries. Circuit workouts use your whole body, muscles and cardiovascular system. So does rowing! Kettlebells are great for stabilizing joints because they use multiple muscle groups instead of just isolating the good looking ones and are good at stimulating the muscles you use for picking things up (like the garbage). And you can still enjoy the other good looking benefits of the changes your body will make as it adapts to the stress you put yourself under.

The bottom line really is this: all that hard work you do ought be useful to you. Don't you think so? Staying fit and trim is functional because it prevents injury and helps you do everyday life types of things without stressing you out so much that you need a nap. When you take care of yourself it's not that big of a deal when you have to lift your luggage (and all your other family members) or carry it up the stairs, a walk in the park becomes a walk in the park instead of an exhausting amount of exertion and, who knows, your next landscaping job might be something you decide not to hire out. I have to say that these sorts of things all sound fantastic to me, and 100% worth it.

The next time you're working out, ask yourself "What is this good for?" The answer may be to win your next race, it might be to fit into smaller pants, it could even be because you want to be able to be able to keep up with your grandkids someday. Whatever your reason is, just make sure you have one. It will make your training all the more worthwhile and maybe even a little more FUNctional. (oof. That was bad wasn't it?)

Carbohydrates are not evil

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy that your body needs. That's right needs. Without carbs your body generally doesn't get enough high quality energy for your daily activities. Eating only protein leaves your body to starve in between meals (and especially overnight) because you cannot store protein and eating only fat in place of carbohydrate leads to LOTS of other problems.

If you want to do any kind of physical activity, carbohydrates are a necessity. They directly feed your muscle glycogen stores which are the primary source of energy for your muscles. Also, carbohydrates are the main way that your body feeds your brain the glucose that it needs. So fruits and veggies really are brain foods.

So why do carbohydrates get such a bad wrap? Mostly because our society has become so sedentary. It is easy to eat a lot of carbohydrates without even thinking about it, and when you eat too much at one time you wind up storing it as fat because you have more than you need for the time being. Also, diets like Atkins and South Beach have said "no carbohydrates = weight loss." Most people can't see through that to see that "no carbohydrates = water weight loss." When you have carbohydrates stored in your body you are also storing a significant amount of water with them, but when you cut out carbohydrate for long enough you also lose a lot of water resulting in a chronically dehydrated and lighter body. I think we can all agree that being well hydrated is a good thing, so if you are really wanting to be fit and healthy, cutting carbs out is not a sensible option (although cutting back may not be a bad idea).

Furthermore, your body knows what it needs, so the next time a carbohydrate deficient body gets any carbohydrates it latches on to them to store for later because it has been starving for carb. It may result in dropping some weight, but initially that weight is water weight and in the long term a significant amount of the weight that is lost is muscle. Additionally, the first carbohydrates it gets after starving for days weeks or months get stored right away and sometimes as fat. I don't know about you, but I'm most interested in losing fat, not storing it up to lose water or muscle.

Carbohydrates come in all sorts of different foods. Whole unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables and grains are the best sources because they include other important vitamins and minerals with them, but there's nothing wrong with satisfying your sweet tooth from time to time with a chocolate bar. Whenever possible it's important to include some fiber or protein with carbs because carbohydrates do not trigger your "satiety switch" quite the same way as other nutrients. Satiety has to do with feeling full and satisfied and it takes longer for your body to realize this with carbohydrate than it does with fat or protein. Including enough fiber and staying well hydrated can help too.

The bottom line, carbohydrates are an essential part of your daily diet (and the FDA generally recommends that you get around 50-60% of your daily caloric intake from carbs). Not only that, but if you have even the slightest desire to live an active lifestyle you are going to need carbohydrates to fuel your fun.

Food is Fuel

...and you're body is a power plant. Think of it a lot like a steam engine when you fuel the fire in a steam engine there is more heat to create more steam and thus more power from the engine. The engine doesn't work unless there is fuel to burn. (for those of you who need a refresher on steam engines check out How Stuff Works)

The difference is that our bodies also have batteries. The problem being that the batteries for our body tend to come in the form of love-handles rather than the nice copper tops. That's right, fat is the human battery. It's the primary way that we store energy for using later and it's pretty stinking good at storing a lot of energy (we can talk more later about how fat really isn't a bad thing unless you have too much of it).

Food is fuel. Sounds great, but what does it really mean. It means that what you eat lets your body do what it needs to do. There are three main nutrients that give energy to your body, protein, fat and carbohydrate. There is potential energy stored up in all of the chemical bonds that exist in the foods you eat. When you eat, your body breaks those bonds and transfers the energy in them to make other molecules your body can use, primarily ATP. Don't worry that's about the end of the sciencey discussion for now. The bottom line being that if you don't eat, you don't get the energy you need to do the things you like to do like running, biking, swimming etc.

There are three main plans that your body has for the fuel you put into it: 1) turn it into glucose right away to maintain your blood sugar levels and feed your brain, 2) store some energy in small energy stores for muscles called glycogen so that your muscles have the immediate energy they need to do things like walk, jump, sit, stand, etc. and 3) store whatever is left as fat.

Your body's goal is always to use the fuel you give it, even if you give it too much. Now the trick is finding out how much fuel you need and to give yourself the right amount. A good place to start is by doing a simple calculation of a basal metabolic rate. There are lots of calculators on the internet that you can find which will help you do this. The basal metabolic rate really is just a starting point though, because this is the absolute minimum number of calories you need in a day. Which means that even someone who has a sedentary job will burn more calories than their BMR...albeit not a lot more. The more active you are the more calories you burn because your muscles are using more fuel. Makes enough sense, right? If you drove your car 100 miles a day it would need more gas than if you drove it 10 miles a day. It's the same idea. Some calculators will try to compensate for this by giving you an opportunity to estimate activity level, like this one I found or the Livestrong.com calorie calculator. These are only estimates, but they work fairly well.

Not all fuels are created equally, either because you are never getting just one nutrient from what you eat. This is a good thing too. Interestingly enough it is often found that natural whole foods frequently have a combination of nutrients and vitamins that complement each other in such a way to benefit your body. For instance, eating an orange or a bell pepper is a more efficient way for your body to obtain vitamin C than taking supplements...but now we're getting into vitamins and other add ons. They aren't really fuel, but they help your body do what it needs to do with the fuel. We'll leave that for later.

Ultimately you need to choose your fuel carefully. Most people would be quick to agree that eating all fat is no good, but eating all protein is also no good. Foods need to be balanced between nutrients (fat, protein and carbohydrate) and they need to be enough to meet your needs. A caloric deficit--which is what you usually aim for whenever you go on a diet--will make your body lose weight, but it will also stress your body. Remembering that food is fuel will help you realize that when you eat you should be considering the amount of energy you have used or will need to use. The key being balance and establishing a beneficial average quantity.

Until next time, fuel up!

An exercise in discipline

I recently gave a presentation at Wauwatosa East High School to a 10th grade health class about obesity in America and about childhood obesity in particular. The presentation ended with a challenge to the class to make a change in their lifestyle for 30 days that will help to keep them fit and healthy. Some of the options included: Eating smaller portions, walking/bike riding to school, doubling your water intake, sleeping 8-9 hours per night, not drinking soda etc.

I left thinking it was funny to challenge them and then not accept a similar challenge on my part. Studies have shown the impact that a community or social network have on the health of individuals in that network. It means that if two people in a group of 10 friends decide to quit smoking, the other 8 are more likely to quit smoking. Likewise if you are in a high school and 30 people in a class decide to stop drinking soda at lunch, the rest of the class is more likely to stop drinking soda. The opposite is true as well. It means that our community has profound effects on our health.

I decided that it would be silly to challenge them to improve their health and community's health without contributing to my own. So I chose two changes to make as well. The first is to drink 2 L of water a day. After the first couple days, during which I am sure I took at least 10 different trips to the bathroom, my body has gotten a little more used to it and it's going well. I actually noticed that I get less hungry during the day when I manage to reasonably space my portions out through the day. Additionally--and this may be pure coincidence--I am two pounds lighter than when I started this a week and a half ago or so. I've heard that staying hydrated actually keeps your body from storing excess water weight. It makes sense, but I didn't know if I actually believed it. So far, that seems to be true.

The other challenge I decided to accept was keeping a food journal. Talk about a Challenge with a capital 'C.' I did this for two months at the beginning of the year and counted calories in order to try and drop 5 pounds before starting the cycling season. And having done it once, I can honestly say that it is a very rewarding exercise no matter how demanding. You have the opportunity to go back and shine a light on your habits which can be a little embarrassing, but helpful regardless. For instance, I am learning right now that I have started eating dessert a bit more often than I used to (I wonder why...). However, I haven't been riding or exercising as much. Hmmm.... In my first journal I discovered that I don't eat veggies nearly as much as I should. It didn't have as much to do with my eating preferences as much as it did with when and where I would eat. Working in the evenings left me with fewer opportunities to cook dinner and in turn I ate fewer vegetables. Oops.

All this to say that we talk a lot about being healthy without ever taking the steps to become more healthy. As an amateur athlete and a future physician I would hate to be one talking about all the great strategies to be healthy without ever trying or employing them. So for now, I'm on the 30 day challenge along with several Milwaukee County high schoolers. Here's to making a positive change!

What you eat and what your body does with it...

Just a few weeks in a medical biochemistry class and it's hard not to think about what's going on inside of me and with my metabolism every time I sit down to eat. Better yet, though, it's hard not to think about how to better fuel myself when I ride/race/exercise.

With that said, I think that you will be in for some Biochemistry lessons over the course of the next several posts. I'll try to address carb metabolism, lipids (fats), a bit about protein and any other golden nuggets that I come along...and if you thought of McDonald's chicken nuggets when I said that, you might just want to tune in for more.

Nutrition science is pretty cool and I'll be sharing as I learn. Hopefully it's as cool to anyone who feels like reading as it is to me.

DON'T TEXT AND DRIVE!

Or should I say "dont txt and drive"? I can't believe the number of morons out there who are tapping away at their cell phone while on the road. You know who I'm talking about, the ones who forget to go at the green light because they're too busy having their conversation with 1000+ different people at once. The scariest one to me is the drivers I notice in rush hour who are doing it. The most frightening situations being when I look at the driver behind me in the rear view mirror and they are clearly split between the road and something in their hand or lap.

It has to stop! Recently, the Washington Post reported that 28% of traffic accidents involve drivers using cell phones (either texting or talking). That's worse than the number of accidents caused by drunk driving (5-10%). It's not just drivers who are having this problem. What about those pilots last year? The ones who went cruising past their destination because they weren't paying attention while they checked out "work schedules" on their laptops. Yeah, right.

Texting scares me as a driver, a passenger, a cyclist, a walker, or even just someone sitting on the side of the road. Although I'm more scared standing on the side of the road when someone is listening to their GPS without thinking about what they are actually doing.

The bottom line, think about what you're doing now and not about something that you're connected to through your latest electronic gadget. It'll be better for all of us.

Sunscreen, that magic white gook.

Sunscreen is yet another must have on any sunny riding day. I forgot mine yesterday morning. Oops. I know all of us cyclists are pretty stinking proud of our tan lines no matter how goofy they look. But face it, vanity really isn't worth the end result.

By now, just about everyone knows that UV light is the cause of skin damage from the sun. There are two types which are classified by the amount of energy they carry. UVB which is higher energy and tends to be the primary cause of sunburn and UVA which is equally dangerous in high doses, but less obvious.

Because of this it's important to make sure your sunscreen covers for both UVA and UVB. Sunscreen is rated in sun protection factor which we all know is higher numbers for higher protection. The scale is roughly designed so that SPF 30 makes 30 hours in the sun the equivalent of 1 hour of unprotected exposure, SPF 15 then makes 15 hours exposed equivalent to 1 hour unprotected etc.

There is much debate these days about whether or not sunscreen is really doing any good in preventing skin cancer. But the evidence shows that it certainly doesn't hurt. Also, it definitely helps to slow the aging of skin caused by large amounts of sun exposure and damage. That is if you use it correctly. This means putting it on in advance and using enough which happens to be quite a lot.

The American Academy for Dermatology is crazy about sunscreen. They even recommend using it every day no matter what the weather is like. To me this a little extreme. But to my PA sister-in-law who now works at a dermatology clinic it makes perfect sense. I just can't muster up the will to slime my face every morning. It just feels kind of gross.

Ultimately no matter what your choice of shade, you need something. Sunglasses, hats, umbrellas, long sleeves, sunscreen and more will all do the trick. Funny, huh? We need a little light in our life to help us with Vitamin D and our mood, but too much is a bad thing. Sounds like lots of things in life...

So get outside and play, but don't forget your sunscreen.

我喜歡喝茶

Yeah, I'm surprised too.

It turns out I have to admit, 我喜歡喝茶 or "I like drinking tea" for those of you wondering.

In particular I like green tea (绿茶) especially with lemon. Maybe it's just a phase and will pass now that my sore throat and headache are gone, but I don't think so. And to my delight, green tea is actually quite good for you. The citrus from lemons supposedly even enhances the bioavailability of the catechins in green tea. That's technobabble for citrus makes it even better for you.

There are all sorts of anecdotal benefits of tea that have been around as long as tea itself. Which is pretty long since the experts at Wikipedia claim that tea is about as old as Chinese history (4000-5000 years give or take a century or two). Nowadays the big label on the box has to do with lots of antioxidants. The jury here is still out on the whole antioxidant craze, so for now I'm content to enjoy the anecdotes and--believe it or not--the scientific literature discussing the benefits of tea.

Perhaps more to come on the current antioxidant obsession in a later post, but for now it's tea time.

Green tea and varieties of green tea are the most common in China and is generally their beverage of choice over the black tea which has gained the most popularity among the tea people in the West (i.e. almost everywhere besides Asia). Although, Oolong (烏龍) tea which means "black dragon" tea, is also rather prominent. Let's face it all kinds of tea are popular in Asia. The phrase "all the tea in China" didn't just appear out of nowhere.

***A brief tea lesson. White Tea, Green Tea, Oolong and Black Tea are all technically the same thing. Sort of. They all come from the same plant, Camelia sinensis. They just represent different levels of processing or oxidation. The least processed being White Tea which is actually often made from buds of the tea plant and the most processed being Black Tea which is used in English Breakfast tea, Earl Gray etc.***

For me, though, I'm content to stay with the green stuff for now. Surprising, even to me, considering that some of my first experiences with green tea had me convinced that I was being fed grass clippings from the last time the lawn was mowed.

Green tea is a good middle of the road tea. It has half the caffeine of black tea and the most beneficial components because the level of processing is enough to bring them out without destroying them. Some of the purported benefits of green tea include: increased metabolic rate, a boost in mental alertness, a boost in the immune system, decreased cognitive decline in the elderly, and even an antidepressant effect. All of this coupled with the fact that a little caffeine comes in handy on study days makes it brain food that I can enjoy.

Now, obviously I don't know if all of that is true, BUT when it comes down to it tea isn't going to hurt me (unless it gives me kidney stones...which would hurt...a lot...). Regardless, it could help, so why not give it a try? It's an easy drink to make at home, costs about 12 cents per tea bag which can be used 1-3 times and has no calories. Except for the 15 calories that come from a tsp of sugar to sweeten it I'm not adding lots of extra fluff to my daily intake. Cool, huh?

That's my cup of tea. Enjoy!

Sleep, it does the body good

Crazy that I should be writing about this so soon in my medical education considering that most of my next four years and beyond will more than likely not be filled with enough sleep, but here I am nonetheless. So far, I have slept better than I ever have during undergrad. I think it largely has to do with being married. Life is a little more regimented when two people are trying to live in sync.

Actually, what got me thinking about this is that we have been talking about sleep during our intro Psych class at school. A little about dreams, a little about the benefits of sleep and a lot about getting enough of it.

Sleep is not well understood despite all the study that surrounds it. We know that we need it and we know that it's good for us. We also know that getting enough is crucial to functioning well and that not getting enough can be as dangerous as being intoxicated.

The side effects of sleep deprivation include but are not limited to:

• increased blood pressure
• body aches
• dizziness
• hallucinations
• slurred speech
• impaired cognitive ability
• weight gain
• poor memory recall
• death

Pretty crazy, huh?

Life is always better after a good night's sleep. It's hard to argue that when you've slept well you don't feel more able and more ready to attack a big day. Here are some tips to help your "Sleep Hygiene".

1. Develop bedtime rituals (i.e. reading, teeth brushing, snack etc.) and try to go to bed and get up at the same time each day
2. Don't nap if you can't limit your nap time
3. Avoid alcohol, caffeine and nicotine at least 4-6 hours before bed
4. Don't exercise within 4 hours of going to bed
5. Save your bed for sleep and not TV watching or reading or talking on the phone etc. This conditions your body to associate bed with sleep
6. If you can't fall asleep for 20 minutes or more get out of bed and do something boring until you feel sleepy (i.e. read molecular biology textbooks)

Those are just a few of the guidelines for setting a regular sleep schedule. As a student this can be difficult, but the benefits will pay out quickly. I'm going to try my hardest, though, we'll see how long it lasts before I'm here writing about my own sleep deprivation experiences.

Wear your helmet!

In the words of the ever present Nike ads, "Just do it!" There is no good reason not to wear a helmet. You may think there is a good reason not to wear it, but I assure you that you are wrong.

I actually talked to someone a couple days ago who told me that his reason for not wearing a helmet is because he heard of some study that showed drivers generally give cyclists without helmets more space on the road. You're kidding, right? Unfortunately he wasn't. I would like to point out that flat tires, stray dogs, other wobbly bike riders, cactus spines, roadkill, farm animals, low flying aircraft, komodo dragons, gale force winds and the rest of the world's hazards don't really care if you are wearing your helmet or not.

Having recently moved to the Milwaukee area I am stunned by the number of helmetless bike riders. You have the usual culprits: little kids in their driveways starting a lifelong habit of helmetlessness, the too cool teenagers riding to who knows where with the helmets on their handlebars because mom wouldn't let them leave the house without it but they can't stand to protect their noggins, then there's the old dude who's just out for a cruise on his decades old step through frame that you almost can't blame because they didn't have helmets when he was growing up in the stone age. There are a plethora of other culprits including fishing pole guy, errand girl and the worst of all...shirtless, tattooed, sideways baseball cap, "I ride with one hand on the wrong side of the road whenever possible with a passenger on the pegs" BMX rider with his knuckles scraping on the ground because the seat post is so low.

The options today are much better than they used to be...yes that is leather...

And you don't necessarily have to look like one of these guys either...

The selection of helmets is too wide to even get into right now. The bottom line is that there is sure to be a helmet that fits you comfortably and won't break the bank, so you have no excuse not to have one. Just be sure that you put it on the right way.

and not backwards...

Whether you call it a melon protector, a brain bucket, hard hat or what have you...put it on your head, not on your handlebars or in your backpack (trust me you're not fast enough to put it on before you hit the ground). Then get out there and ride like the wind.

Take the Stairs

New York City started putting these up last summer in an effort to combat some of the modern diseases compounded by city living (i.e. heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity etc). It's not a bad idea either. Stairs are the secret workout machine that nobody knows about and nobody needs to pay for. It's a tool for building self discipline as well. Something that we can all admit is helpful to have a little more of.

I for one am opting for the stairs at every opportunity at this point in life. With as many as 3 hours at a time spent sitting in lecture I need to move more every chance I get. And with the added weight of school books to carry upstairs the benefit is additive.

A quick check on with online calorie counter shows a significant difference in calories burned for a 175 lb person who spends 5 minutes walking stairs.

ActivityCalories burnedWalking 2 mph18Walking 3 mph29Walking 4 mph34Walking - up stairs53Total Calories Burned134

I've also heard that stair climbing is one of the most directly translated workouts from walking to bike riding. Imagine the muscles the you use when climbing a hill on your bike and when taking the stairs two at a time, they are very similar.

Whenever you get the chance, save a little electricity and burn a little bit extra of your own energy. You'll be happy you did in the long run.

Eat at Home

That's right, eat at home. In a world full of restaurants and fast food joints it's easy to convince yourself that it's easier to eat out and faster. But it's so much better for you to make your own food and share a meal with your family!

First let's evaluate this strictly on a convenience factor. While it may seem like you save a lot of time by going out to dinner, that's hardly ever true (unless you only visit McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell etc.) Let's say that dinner takes an hour to prepare and you spend 30 minutes eating. I'd say that's a fairly generous time allotment considering the number of families who dine and dash off to sporting events, school plays, PTA meetings, Wednesday night church and such. That's 1.5 hours of your evening.

Now let's take a look at a night out. Most people are willing to drive at least 20 minutes to go out to eat at a place that they like, often even more than that. There's 40 minutes right there. Not including the 15-20 minutes that it takes to be seated, order your food and have it brought to your table. Suddenly there's the hour that it took to make dinner and that's assuming that there was no traffic, you are the only one at the restaurant and you instantly knew which place to go for dinner without any delay in decision making. Not so fast and convenient now, is it?

Granted it's nice not to do the dishes, but is it worth paying $10 a plate or more just to have the dishes done when you could prepare the same meal for less than half the cost at home? And face it, $10 a plate these days is relatively moderate when you include taxes and tip (I doubt your tipping the server at home, although, maybe you should be).

Besides the time and money factors there is also the health factor. When you cook at home you know exactly what goes into your food and how much you are eating. Plus you rarely feel as obligated to stuff yourself and "get your money's worth" when you are eating at home instead of at a restaurant.

To illustrate, try this on for size: This winter I took my wife to dinner at a nearby restaurant as a special night out. I had a roasted red pepper stuffed chicken breast with mashed potatoes. Sounds tasty, no? I was curious about the nutrition facts for the meal and was shocked to find that the meal I had just eaten was around 1500 calories, not including my two large glasses of lemonade. I did not feel like I had stuffed myself despite eating over half a day's worth of calories. Admittedly, I was full, but not to the point of bursting or to the point at which I felt like I really shouldn't eat anything else that evening. In comparison, I had cooked a similar meal of stuffed chicken breasts at home during the spring and had an equally tasty dinner that was approximately half the calories of eating out.

Another danger to your health of eating out is feeling that you need to get your "money's worth" as I previously mentioned. The unfortunate American definition of this generally means More = Better. We opt for quantity over quality. Which leads to all sorts of problems that I will have to address at a later date.

All this to say that there are many benefits to eating at home, and you don't have to sacrifice flavor or quality. Not that eating out once in awhile is a bad thing. All things in moderation, right? Including moderation itself...hmmm...chew on that all you philosophers out there. But for now, try dining in a little more often. Make it a game and see what you can save by eating at home. Whether it's dollars or pounds it'll all add up in the end.

In case you need any other encouragement, have a taste of this...

Working out is good for your brain too.

I recently read an interesting article about the correlation between vigorous physical activity and GPA. While there have been many recent studies relating the mental and cognitive benefits for seniors who exercise, I haven't seen a whole lot on what goes on with a young brain with exercise. Studies show that there are strange correlations between being able to concentrate and the amount of physical activity one engages in. Even to the point where physical activity can help a person avoid taking medication for things like ADD (Riding is my Ritalin).

This past June, however, the American College of Sports medicine reported the results of a project that showed a positive correlation between GPA and exercise in undergraduate students who engaged in "vigorous" activity for at least 20 minutes a day. (vigorous means it's hard to talk while you are doing your exercise. Like Big Bob up there^) The study goes on to say that this correlation has been well established in elementary students and secondary students, but that no previous studies have significantly investigated the same phenomenon in college students.

I'm hoping that this finding extends to medical students too, given my pending return to the classroom. Looks like maybe I should be lobbying for a return to recess after lunch like back in the good old days.