Weekend musings, with links

Boston is buzzing with  preparations for tomorrow's big marathon, which will actually pass near my house as eager marathoners head into downtown Boston.  As I question whether or not I want to sign up to run a 5K, the impending marathon (which I will watch tomorrow) has made me wonder if I'm a slacker for being so adverse to going for a weekend jog.  This article from the Boston Globe doesn't really make me all that excited by the prospect of running, but provides some slightly helpful information for remaining relatively injury free throughout the running process.  But, this article hints at the thought that running shoes impede our ability to run correctly since these shoes encourage our heels to hit the ground first, which could compound knee joint pain, although there apparently isn't a lot of evidence out there to make much judgment either way.  So, should I put on my running shoes for optimal fitness?
This past week, the New York Times also pondered the "single best exercise."  While walking was entertained, especially for sedentary adults, researchers argued that for the already physically active, just walking isn't enough to cut it.  The best single exercises nominated?  Burpees and squats.  Burpees build "muscle and endurance," and squats work the biggest muscles in the body while fighting muscle loss equated with the aging process.  Overall, the article makes it clear that resistance training, done in the form of weight lifting or interval training, are the healthiest exercises, and weight lifting increases endurance more than cardio.  Plus, interval training can be a lot more fun than slugging away at a steady pace cardio workout.  The point I take away from this article: to be as healthy and fit as I can now and later in life, mixing up my daily workouts to be short, intense, and with lots of body weight and resistance training (a la CrossFit).

But while exercise is incredibly important and essential to our health and well-being, the foods we eat are a huge determining factor in our weight.  Even if a person exercises, if they eat too much of the wrong foods, they will gain weight.  While I'm not personally a big fan of running, this article from the Boston Globe reminds us that while exercises like running can be good for the body, diet is the main determining factor of weight loss.  Often times, runners compensate huge calorie deficits with mindless, indulgent eating (i.e., I ran seven miles yesterday, so I can eat all the bagels/cookies/pasta I want!)  With that said, dieting (meaning, hopping on the band wagon of a fad diet for temporary weight loss) is not the answer, which Darya Pino cleverly tells her readers in her "10 Reasons Dieting Is Idiotic." While I don't have all the answers to healthy eating, unprocessed, natural foods definitely seem the way to go.

No doubt, all of this is tough, hard work, especially as we've become, according to Richard Conniff, a "Fat Nation."  Between clever market from food companies, swelling food portions at restaurants, and jobs which encourage sitting rather than physical labor, it seems nearly impossible to make good choices against the waves of messages from food manufacturers who make money off of us eating their highly sweetened, highly processed crap, no matter how "healthy" they claim their food to be.  They inundate the market with cheap food and hundreds of new food products every year -- how do we stand a chance against them?  One solution that Conniff suggests is to act as a community to fight obesity together.  He totes Somerville, MA, as a prime example of taking the right steps to be healthy.  By adding bicycle lanes to roads, encouraging families to walk and exercise together, and by urging restaurants to serve up healthier food options, Conniff argues that Somerville empowers residents to make better lifestyle choices.  My two cents: changing food and exercise habits is a daunting process, but small changes go a long way.  Example: I quit Diet Coke cold turkey this summer and haven't looked back since.  It was a small step that has led me to better choices; my main drink of choice is now water, and I feel much more hydrated and satiated than I ever did in Diet Coke binge days.  Once you make these baby steps, other food choices fall into place.  It gets easier and better each day.  I promise.

While I am happy and excited to support my local marathoners tomorrow, I'm glad I get to be on the sidelines rather than pounding the pavement for over 26 miles.  I will get up in the morning, spend an hour at CRCF, cheer runners along, and go about my day.  I may be tempted to add a short run here and there in my exercise routine, but for the most part, I'll stick to my weight and interval training and do my best to keep up with my clean eating habits.  For me, it's the smartest and happiest choices I can make for a healthy life.

WOD and dinner ideas

Happy Friday!

Today, I thought I'd share my WOD along with my quick and easy dinner.  (I promise to come up with some more interesting dinners in the future).

After work and some errands, I went to the gym (not CrossFit.  Aside: I met my trainer through the gym where I've been working out, and she decided to open her own CrossFit, so I'll be there starting January 15! So, my CrossFit experience so far has just been with her.)  Anyway, I was originally thinking of doing some deadlifts, push presses, and kettlebell swings, but I changed my mind last minute.

I started off on my quest to learn how to do a pull up.  I started by trying my hand at kipping, hoping that the momentum could help me pull myself up.  I wasn't that successful, but I definitely had the "kipping" part down!  So, I decided to try negative pull ups.  I wasn't very good at slowly lowering myself down.  I think I'll have more success this way, but it's going to take time.  I could definitely feel the burn, though!  Awesome.

I did the rest of my workout on the track at the gym.

WOD (3 rounds):
spiderman crawls
(bicycle crunches
jumping jacks
push ups
squats
v sit crunches
wall sits (almost did burpees, but changed my mind))
400 m run

How I did it:
For round 1, I did a spiderman crawl 1/4 of the way around the track.  I stopped there, and did bicycle crunches in place for 30 seconds (I used my ipod as a timer).  I continued on with the spiderman crawl for another 1/4 of the track and did 30 second of jumping jacks in place; 1/4 spiderman crawls with bicycle crunches in place, 1/4 spiderman crawls and 30 second jumping jacks.  I then ran 400 meters (about 5 laps around the track).
For round 2, I followed the same pattern, but replaced the crunches and jumping jacks with 10 push ups and 20 squats, and followed it with another 400 meter run.
For round 3, same deal, but I did 15 v sit crunches and one minute walls sits and finished with another 400 meter run.  It was a very exciting work out, and what's great is that it is really customizable.  One problem:  I have short hair, and it's hard to pull back.  I have these really thin, stretchy headbands, but they're too big for my head and keep falling off.  Any suggestions on how I should pull back my hair?

For dinner, I threw together what I had in the house.  I cut up some peppers:

Put this rub on some chicken breast:

(I love it because it has very simple ingredients, and it's not too salty);

and I steamed the last of our green beans.  I grilled the chicken on the stove top, sauteed the peppers with a smidgen of olive oil, and read E.L. Doctorow's "Homer and Langley" while I waited for everything to finish.  

Final product:

Yum.

FYI -- the green beans are pre-cut.

Today, I saw this great NY Times article titled "Sustainable Food" that basically said that while everyone knows that successful dieting starts with eating real food (which we need to cook ourselves), that people today are less willing to cook than ever before because we feel we don't have enough time.  The author thinks a lack of time is a bogus excuse for not cooking (he cited the latest Nielsen ratings which revealed that the average American watches 35 hours of TV a week).  He also provides some basic, easy recipes (they aren't Primal, but they look pretty good).  I feel slightly vindicated in my desire to eat tasty, colorful salads for lunch.

What was the best part of your week? Any great workouts?