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GIFT OTHERS OR YOURSELF WITH A LUSH© SHAMPOO BAR! There’s no worry about hauling around bottles of shampoo in a gym bag with one of these little “concentrated pucks” that will lather up nicely in a post-workout shower. The website description promises that the bar, “packed full of essential oils and fresh ingredients” will provide up to 80 washes.
I received one as a gift from my busy professional-woman daughter-in-law and tried it after a swim session. The following day my hair was very soft and manageable. I was advised that the conditioning effect of the shampoo oils might mean use of this other product would not be necessary after about a week’s worth of washes. I’ll need to test it a bit longer before fully evaluating its place in my line-up of go-to haircare products. However, it seemed such a terrific discovery for gifting fitness buffs of any gender that it’s being blogged about now. The bar is available in a number of different ingredient formulations, colors, and scents, each with a funky fun name and purpose. For example, there’s Lullaby for “sensitive noggins”, or Seanik for “big, beachy hair”, and Montalbano for shine. Environmentally-friendly selling points of such a product are the minimal packaging required (it came in a recyclable small brown paper bag) and the fact that water wasn’t included. On the official LUSHUSA.com website purchase price is identified as $10.95-$13.95. There a tin available for storage at $3.95. LUSH Handmade Cosmetics Ltd has a foundation in charity and environmental stewardship. The UK corporation’s official “stories” are published on the website, which describe various charitable campaigns. A Wikipedia entry provides other details. Gifts with prices under $15 that are useful, modern, charitable, and earth-friendly are not that easy to find. The LUSH© shampoo bar might fit an athlete on your list. RUN & MOVE HAPPY! https://www.lushusa.com/hair/shampoo-bars/ https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=30668246 https://www.lushusa.com/story?cid=article_we-believe-statement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lush_(company)
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REASONS TO COOK, COOL, THEN REHEAT RICE, POTATOES, & PASTA Michaela Mackenzie and other article writers have provide brief but understandable pieces about the health benefits of eating ‘resistant starch’ (RS).
The benefits, backed up by scientific research, include prevention of obesity caused by high fat diets, calorie reduction for weight loss purposes, better metabolic control (decreased blood glucose levels, improved insulin sensitivity, and lowered serum cholesterol levels), and colonic health. RS receives its name from the finding that the its structure allows it to escape digestion and absorption in the upper gastrointestinal tract, acting like dietary fiber. Instead RS arrives in the large intestine (colon) where it can be acted upon by beneficial bacteria, fermented, and converted to healthy lipids (small chain fatty acids), like a pre-biotic. Ingesting carbohydrate rich-foods with a greater percent RS generally lead to a low glycemic response for this reason. If starch isn’t broken down to glucose, which than will not be absorbed in the small intestine, there won’t be as much glucose making its way into the blood stream (glycemia) after a meal. Also, because of the decreased absorption, RS foods will contribute less calories to the diet (2-3 calories per gram of carbohydrate rather than the usual 4 calories per gram CHO). Starch in some raw foods can avoid digestion because it’s form causes it to be inaccessible to enzyme action (RS1 type). Other starch foods contain granules that resist digestion (RS2). Some starch in cooked food actually loses resistance after heating, but it reverts back to a resistant form if allowed to cool (it’s called retrograded starch, RS3). Artificially, starch can be structurally modified to become resistant (RS4). The Mackenzie article and others like it correctly champion the research that the cooled, previously cooked rice, potatoes, pasta, and even bread is higher in RS3. Leftovers assume a much more valued place at the table, once cooled and re-eaten they indicate, because of the boosted RS percent. Whatever the health benefits, eating COLD starch may not sound appealing to all. Yes, there are cold salads that we might enjoy as a side dish. Potato and pasta salads, for example. Some authors suggest letting French fries sit in the refrigerator before eating. And consuming cold oatmeal in the morning. Really? There’s great news if you would rather eat warm food. ADDITIONAL RESEARCH shows that several cycles of heating and cooling increase the amount of RS in foods. Scientific studies have looked at rice and potatoes and found this to be true. It’s possible that pasta, oats, legumes, and even bread (toast) that has been cooled then reheated will contain more RS too! Our family thinks that stew, marinara, and meat sauce tends to improve after being cooled and re-warmed. I make a big pot at night, place it in an ice bath to take away most of the heat, then put it away in the refrigerator for complete cooling. The next day, most is frozen in containers for future meals, but one batch is reserved for that night’s dinner. It would be convenient if pasta (noodles) can receive similar treatment with the same health benefit; boil rinse, cool, then re-heat (it won’t freeze well). The discussion on RS makes a great argument for preparing meals in advance, which are then cooled, perhaps frozen, and then re-warmed. And if there are leftover leftovers, foods undergoing a second or third cooling-reheating cycle will be all that much better it seems, in terms of metabolic health. There's an indication that pressure cooking starches may lead to higher percentages of RS in starches. RUN & MOVE HAPPY! https://www.shape.com/weight-loss/management/eating-type-carb-will-make-you-less-likely-gain-weight https://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/lowdown-resistant-starch https://www.verywellhealth.com/best-foods-to-eat-for-resistant-starch-4000028 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-foods-high-in-resistant-starch https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2911581/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3296917/ https://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-potato-nutrition/ https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-resistant-starch ...AND POSSIBLY 2020 AND BEYOND! THERE’S NO PHYSICAL EFFORT REQUIRED. In advance of the upcoming new year, consider starting to mentally plan how to kick-off 2019. If you’d like to hit the ground in early January with a simple but firm program of exercise and nutrition that won’t be abandoned in mid-February, now is the time to start organizing.
At the end November in 2017, an Earned Runs blog post about mental planning referenced an article from Medium.com which suggested looking further ahead than 12 months, to the following year. A section from that post describes the piece: “A recent personal growth article in the medium.com digest, “medium.com/personal-growth/why-you-should-be-planning-for-2019-not-2018-c2d856e23a01Why You Should Be Planning for 2019, Not 2018” by Benjamin P Hardy suggests we look several years, instead of several months, ahead. The piece starts off with a reference to J.K. Rowling and her writing of the Harry Potter series of books. George Lucas and Star Wars is also mentioned. Attention getting! The author wanted readers to see that more may be possible if the much longer view is taken when planning future moves, (like Star Wars starting out with episodes 4, 5, and 6 rather than 1, 2, and 3 in the sci-fi classic). I had not thought this way since my medical school days, when 8 years of education and post-graduate training needed to be plotted, financed, scheduled, and completed. Certainly, there was no possibility of episode skipping back then! In this new context, I am starting to be excited about the prospect of a new multi-year future, and am passing it along here, as well as providing the link to the article. It’s the kind of Eureka! moment that I needed this month.” The remainder of the blog post offers suggestions on how to begin the mental planning process with regard to fitness. However, try to avoid assuming you should plan for the period from January to March, April, or May 2019. On your next long walk, run, or aerobic session at the gym, at a quiet time of the day when calm surroundings allow deep thinking, ask yourself whether the best period over which to plan ahead is months or years. Rather than taking for granted that your life is confined to following an annual cyclical course, imagine what might be if a much longer, point–to-point linear route was mapped. I had not thought I needed a plan with a range longer than one year’s duration in 2017. Now, in 2018, I do. I’m going for a walk now to start mulling it over… RUN & MOVE HAPPY! https://medium.com/personal-growth/why-you-should-be-planning-for-2019-not-2018-c2d856e23a01 WEEK 1, 'ON TO THE NEW YEAR 2018-19 5K TRAINING PLANS START TODAY. You have a had a bit of time to rest up after the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot. This plan will ease you back into the routine of training. RUNNERS: The runs take you back to you early training with run: walk sessions rather than continuous runs. You can do this. WALKERS: This is the first time a plan has been prepared for you. It’s a straight-forward program, borrowed from VeryWellfit.com, in which you walk 5 days a week. Each week the short sessions become progressively longer by only 5 minutes and the weekend long walk by 5-15 minutes.
Checking off each day’s workout as it is completed will ground you during these hectic December days and allow you to end 2018 on a positive health note and enter 2019 with confidence. Whether running or walking give these plans a try, if you’d like some structure to the next 4+ weeks, to be able to enjoy a fun 5K event as the old year gives way to the new. RUN & MOVE HAPPY! The full plans are posted on the RESOURCES page. JULIA MALACOFF WROTE AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE FOR SHAPE.com describing a practice which mental health experts treating eating disorders have been discussing for years, but is now a trend made more common through social media. In “What Is Body Checking and When Is It a Problem? There's a fine line between recording fitness progress and obsessing over it.”
Malacoff defines body checking as “constantly looking at your body for changes”. She warns that although tracking progress has been prescribed in the fitness industry as a way to motivate training and avoid obsession with body weighing, it “can also become an unhealthy practice”. An expert referenced by Malacoff offers a list of behaviors that may point to a problem. It can be a bit alarming to answer affirmatively to some of the posed questions. However, the article does a good job in explaining why initially healthy habits might become dangerous for some and remain helpful and harmless for others. By raising awareness, pieces like Malacoff ‘s and the warnings of nutrition and mental health experts might prevent some fitness enthusiasts from unknowingly putting themselves at risk for future problems. Greater use of social media seems to be an important factor influencing the increase in body checking noted by these experts. For those concerned, steps are outlined that might check and possibly reverse the progression of body checking habits into an unhealthy range. A phrase that stands out in the section that is aimed at helping over-checkers change their habits is one that bears repeating by many. “Notice what triggers body checking and see if those triggers can be removed or managed in other ways. TRY TO BE CURIOUS, NOT FURIOUS WITH YOURSELF. You are gathering information to try to make a positive change. It takes practice and patience.” [The all capital letters were added by Earned Runs] It may be difficult to recognize our own habits as unhealthy, but going into the holiday season we might be able to observe this side of ourselves more readily as we prepare to gather and party. If body checking is a concern, a New Year’s resolution to address this problem might be healthier than vowing to lose weight or get in shape in 2019. The full article is worth reading. RUN & MOVE HAPPY! https://www.shape.com/weight-loss/tips-plans/what-body-checking-is-it-unhealthy-habit https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2706972/ Behav Res Ther. 2007 Jan; 45(1): 113–121 |
BRIDGE TO PHYSICAL SELF
Running, walking, and fitness activities enable us to experience our physical selves in a world mostly accessed through use of fingers on a mobile device. AuthorEARNED RUNS is edited and authored by me, runner and founder. In 1978 I began participating in 10K road races before 5Ks were common. I've been a dietitian, practiced and taught clinical pathology, and been involved with research that utilized pathology. I am fascinated with understanding the origins of disease as well as health and longevity. Archives
November 2023
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