Archive for November, 2010

For those of you that haven’t heard of Michael Pollan, he is an investigative journalist  who has uncovered the true nature of our food industry – much of which we have turned a blind eye to for decades. He has written In Defense of Food, Ominvore’s Dilemma, and The Botany of Desire as well as being one of the main players in the movies Food, Inc. and Fresh. It is well worth the time to either read his books or watch the movies.

In this short clip, the message is clear: Don’t eat what you see advertised on TV. The growers of wholesome, natural foods don’t have the budget to advertise on TV. If you’d like to see the whole video, click here.

Adventure Racing is the backbone of CrossFit Adventure. That is, after all, how we got our start. With the inception of our new gym, last year was a slow year for us racers. However, even with the limited number of races, two of our teams, Nervous Pees and Team Piranha, managed to tie for third place in the California ARA Championship for 2010 in the Sprint-All Female division. Check the results!! Next year will certainly prove to be a more lucrative year!!

This year we are going to expand our horizons. We won’t just be doing Big Blue Adventure races, although that will continue to be the mainstay of our events. We will also participate in a number of NorCal-AR races as well as several orienteering-only events. The first race is a sprint race put on by NorCal-AR and is rapidly approaching: Saturday, Mar. 12, 2011. Having done a sprint NorCal-AR race in 2009, I can tell you that they are a bit more difficult than the Big Blue Adventure sprint races. All the information you need to know about the event can be found here. There are two main differences to the Big Blue races. The first is that there WILL be orienteering involved with the sprint races. Most likely, there will be mandatory checkpoints and optional checkpoints – so you can make the race as easy or as hard as you’d like. The second big difference is that you will need to provide your own kayak. But for those of you that have participated in the Big Blue races, you know this is a good thing!! Carolyn and I will provide the logistics of renting and hauling the kayaks down to the race site.

We are planning on starting the training in January. But we can certainly get together for some informal runs, rides, or even kayaking before then. Below is a preview of the mountain bike section from the NorCal race I did in 2009. The venue will be the same as the race in Mar. 2011 (Henry Coe State Park).

With the recent elections (and my birthday) now a distant memory, take heart in the fact that you still have a huge influence over many issues. In learning all that I have about nutrition, I have noticed that the bottom line is at the heart of pretty much everything. If you dig deep enough, you’ll notice that money is behind most decisions made by corporations and government. Well guess what – WE are the ones giving them the money. You have more power than you think you do. If you continue to make healthy, responsible decisions with your money, your vote WILL be heard. Below are several examples of how you can vote with your dollars (Please follow this link to better understand the following issues):

 - Healthy, real food vs. processed sugar and corn made to look like food

 - Sustainably-made vs. resource intensive

 - Privately-owned, local businesses vs. corporations

 - Locally crafted vs. generic garbage

What are you supporting? Are your purchases in line with your beliefs or diametrically opposed to them? If so, what are you going to do to change that?

Astrid Vuong, a participant in our Intro to Exercise class, is a student at Bauman College in Berkeley. For those of you not familiar with Bauman College, it is a holistic nutrition school based on health – not disease. Many nutrition programs focus on disease and curing disease with supplements. Bauman College takes the approach of health. How can we keep people healthy with food? If you are at all interested in nutrition, I highly recommend you take a look at Bauman College and all of the programs, seminars, and workshops they offer. I will be letting you all know of the ones coming up that I think are very worthwhile and informative.

As part of her curriculum, Astrid has made several new dishes. One of which, she has graciously shared with yours truly – the Rainbow Vegetable Curry with Basmati Rice. It is delicious and definitely worth posting the recipe. Click below for the link to the pdf file: Rainbow Vegetable Curry

We’ve all heard how healthy olive oil is. When I talk with people, they are proud to tell me that they use nothing but olive oil – even for cooking. This is usually where the conversation turns. Olive oil really is not the best oil to cook with. It isn’t terrible as long as you cook at a medium low heat. Once it starts to smoke or turn brown, you NEED to dump it and start over. When this happens, the oil is breaking down and it is no longer olive oil. It becomes what is called an intercalator. An intercalator is a type of molecule that can bind or insert to DNA. This has the potential to create a mutation which can eventually lead to cancer. It’s better to not even take that chance!!

Better fats/oils to cook with include lard (yes, lard!!), coconut oil and palm oil. For a more comprehensive list of good and bad fats/oils to cook with, check out this post from Fitness Spotlight.