6.15
We're almost half way through 2019, can you believe it? I have realized in the last several weeks, since I ran the Spartan Ultra in April, that I need a new goal. I had my race calendar lined up for 2019, I thought, and then things changed.
Originally, I was going to do a couple of Spartan team events (they call them Hurricane Heats), but circumstances for our summer schedule have ebbed and flowed, and now those events may or may not work. Even with all that up in the air, I'm still training hard. I decided to roll with it.
I've realized after years of having a fitness habit, that it's best to keep in shape and keep things going. If I pull back and don't have a daily and weekly investment in my fitness, it is harder and harder to get back into the groove. In the next couple of weeks I'm going to look at the summer and fall schedules and see what will fit, and I'm confident that the final plan will likely be way better than the initial plan.
How about your fitness and wellness this year? There is plenty of time to make 2019 your best year yet, with a few PRs and some traveling adventures, and maybe some new wellness habits in your pantry. Recommit today to your health, to creating and living out great habits, and to taking someone along on your journey.
By the Way
Even when you don't have a well-designed workout or race plan, regular and consistent fitness will keep you ready for when the right opportunity arises. Keep your head in the game!
6.14
I've mentioned bone broth in previous posts, and have benefited from including stewed and slow-roasted meat dishes in my diet. A valuable sideline to the bone broth conversation is collagen. Collagen is an abundant, complex protein in our bodies, responsible for numerous restorative traits of our skin, joints and muscles, and as we age, we produce less and less collagen, and suffer the effects of that deficit.
We get collagen from roasted or stewed meat, mainly making the animal proteins in our food available for our metabolism. We can also boost our bodies collagen production by eating fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, garlic and onions. Gelatin is also a form of refined collagen, and yields many of the same benefits we gain from collagen in our diets.
Obviously, we can supplement with a collagen protein powder to make this valuable dietary asset available beyond mealtime. There are all kinds of collagen powders on the market, and innumerable collagen-enhanced foods (like snack foods and protein bars.) The point is to get an ample supply of naturally-occurring collagen in our daily diet.
Check out this article from Dr. Josh Axe to learn great details on collagen: What is Collagen
And here's a great article from Mark Sisson (author of Primal Blueprint) on 10 Reasons to Eat More Collagen
So work some collagen into your pantry and your diet. Our bodies are meant to benefit from this amino-acid-rich source of protein, especially as we age. Our bones, skin and joints will be glad we did.
By the Way
It's okay to eat the chicken skin from your chicken wings and legs - these are tremendous sources of collagen. Egg whites are as well. Consider stewing any and all kinds of bony meat cuts - things like ox tail, and shanks, and cuts of beef and chicken with the bones in. After a lengthy cooking time (think crock pot, not microwave) you'll have a great bone broth base for a few flavorful meals.
6.13
"Some of the most promising innovations in healthcare seem to be things we've recently discarded. Maybe we need food that wasn't developed in a lab. Maybe we need to talk face to face. Maybe we need some time outside."
That's a quote from the May issue of Outside magazine in a feature article on 'Nature Rx' stating, "a grassroots movement of physicians are prescribing time outdoors as the best possible cure for a growing list of ailments."
I've been a subscriber to Outside magazine on and off for almost 30 years, and it continues as a tremendous resource for living bravely, and making nature and simple nutrition part of our wellness journey. The benefits are real, and now, thankfully, there are numerous bodies of research developing around the reality of wellness through natural living and whole foods.
Growing up in the 70's, it was normal for my brother and me to spend a lot of time outside. Riding bikes, climbing trees, searching for crayfish in the local creek, adventuring in the nearby cornfields - it was all fair game. There are memories that still come flooding back at the simple suggestion of a smell or sound or a humid afternoon...
One aspect of nature's healing power is the reality of awe, and how it inspires our spirit and lends to our wellness. The Nature Rx article offered this on awe: "...the kind of amazement we experience during outdoor activities has a singular ability to predict lower stress and higher levels of well-being and life satisfaction." That's a great prescription for health, if you ask me.
The sense of awe and wonder is a main draw for me in my running habit, my training workouts, and Spartan racing. I don't wear earbuds or sunglasses (or even a hat) because I want the full experience of the glare of the sun in my eyes... I want to hear the woodpeckers and blue jays in the woods... every time I'm out, I want to be humbled by what God has placed in this world for us to enjoy.
There is a simple prescription from the Outside article that we can all benefit from: scrap your gym membership. Whatever we might possibly do at the gym, simply do outside. Yes, we may hike in the rain and run in the snow, or bake in the heat and humidity of a hot summer day. But if we prepare for those conditions and go play outside, our wellness will move ahead much more successfully.
By the Way
In order to be awesome, I think we must experience awe. One encouragement we've always given to our kids is, "Go Be Awesome". Being awesome looks different for each and every person, and certainly depends on our circumstances and giftedness, but I believe we all have the chance to be awesome every day. So go find a sunrise or a mountain peak or a soaring eagle or rushing river to inspire some awe in you today... then go be awesome.
