Day 354 – I Love Three Day Weekends!
Another great day. I walked six miles this afternoon, rather than the four I was planning on. In addition, I did a full Tabata jump rope workout. My score was 22. If you don’t know what a Tabata score is, is is the least number of reps you could do in any of the eight sets. I don’t think 22 jumps is a bad beginning.
After the exercise, my wife and I went blackberry picking. No, we didn’t pick out another new Blackberry, we went picking fresh blackberries! Mmmm! We didn’t think we were going to find much, but we ended up with enough for her to make a fresh cobbler for her and the boys. She left me about 1/2 cup for my snack tonight. They weren’t the sweetest blackberries, but they were still good!
Eating was also good again today. Breakfast was a terrific Fuji Apple with three tablespoons of Super Pecan Butter. Lunch was three ribs, a serving of green beans, a serving of cole slaw, and three Roma Tomatoes. Supper was Green Beans, Cole Slaw, and Cabbage Salad. BTW, if you haven’t checked out my Cabbage Salad recipe yet, click on the link – you will enjoy it! After supper I had a sf juice popsicle and a very, very small bowl of Grape Nuts with 1/2 cup of the fresh blueberries and Splenda. The milk was 2%, but was also very, very little. I will have one square of 85% cacoa chocolate and a little peanut butter before bed.
A few interesting stories/posts/news I came across in the last week or so:
Darya over at Summer Tomato shared the following:
- Metabolic Syndrome May Make Breast Cancer More Likely. This is another reason for you ladies to get more healthy.
- Michelle at Find Your Balance tells us why we need fat.
Hanlie at Fertile Healthy shared several links today, one of them really caught my eye: Studies Show When A Calorie Isn’t Just a Calorie. This led me to another article titled : Why a Calorie Isn’t Just a Calorie. Both articles talk about the value of eating volume foods, which give you more bank for your buck. For example, two apples will fill you up better than one Twinkie, but they have the same calories. While this is interesting, I would like to see studies done on the accuracy of calorie counting. There are so many variables. While I think it is a good guideline, I don’t think it is always accurate. Primarily because we all don’t know what our Basal Metabolic Rate is, we don’t really know what our caloric needs are. We are just guessing.
Mark, over at Mark’s Daily Apple posted the following:
- Engaging ATP-PC: The Primal Energy Pathway
- The Power of Positive Thinking
- and perhaps my favorite posts of Mark’s for the week – The Definitive Guide to Low Level Aerobic Activity
While I normally agree with what I read at Fitness Spotlight, I don’t agree with all the points made by Scott on Are Raw Vegetables Healthier Than Cooked Vegetables? I happen to think that fresh vegetables are typically healthier than cooked, but that doesn’t mean I eat all raw, as you all know.
Mike at Fitness Spotlight had some good points on Secrets to Hacking the BBQs and Parties, while Still Burning the Fat!
Last of all, Action Jackson gives a pretty good description of the kind of struggles we all face, as well as some comments about what we need to do about it.
Thank you for the links.
Good Luck to you
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South Beach Steve Reply:
July 4th, 2009 at 9:28 am
No problem Mike – have a great day!
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Thanks for the shout-out! Even reading those two articles, the researchers are still missing the point. Forget about weight loss! Concentrate on getting healthy! Then we won’t have to debate the merits of apples over Twinkies. The best way to eat is nutrient-dense food, i.e. food with lots of vitamins, minerals, flavenoids, etc per calorie. They are usually also the foods with lots of volume per calorie.
We will never be able to measure our caloric need accurately, nor our metabolic rate, as this varies throughout the day and is affected by the body pH, the hormonal function, the level of hydration, the level of toxicity, our sun exposure, our sleep cycles and the time of the month. So I laugh at all these devices people are so addicted to that supposedly tell them how many calories they’ve burned. It’s all nonsense!
I agree with you on the raw foods issue. There are definite health benefits in a diet high in fresh raw fruit and vegetables, but of course we can cook the starchy ones. I aim for about 75% raw and I’ve experienced great health improvements in many areas. I will never be 100% raw, although I do have 100% days on occasion.
Happy Independence Day!
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South Beach Steve Reply:
July 4th, 2009 at 9:30 am
No problem Hanlie – there was a lot of good information in your post. Speaking of calories – I have never counted calories, but I do often look to see how much my workout has burned. I also feel this is off too, but it is a good gauge to me on how effective of a workout I have done.
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You be getting some great walks in!!!! way to go!
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South Beach Steve Reply:
July 4th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Thanks Ron, I have been enjoying them.
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very useful links, thanks! i have had metabolic syndrome so that one is particularly interesting. i feel like i was just on the cusp of diabetes when i started this last january. keep it up steve!
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South Beach Steve Reply:
July 4th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Rachel, this hit home for me too. I also had metabolic syndrome, so this hits close to home for me. Thanks for the encouragement. Make it a great day!
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