Eat This Not That: Part I

One of the ways that you can remove unhealthy chemicals and calories from your diet is substituting foods. Here are a few examples:

Use while wheat pasta instead of white flour pasta.
If there is a difference in taste, I have yet to find it. The whole wheat will help you feel fuller, longer.

Add oatmeal to your cereal.

We are not talking about the instant kind. Using less surgery cereal and more oatmeal will reduce the processed suger you take in. The fiber will also help lower your cholesterol levels.

Use chocolate drizzled strawberries instead of Candy.

They taste better. You get your chocolate fix, and no trans fats. Remember moderation on the chocolate. It's drizzled, not dipped.

Use frozen shrimp instead of fish sticks.

This is a very easy to prepare food. Since it is already cooked, just a few minutes in running water thaws them out. Great in salads and high in Vitamin D.

Use fresh herb or Ms. Dash instead of salt.

News flash. American food is already very high in salt. To us, salt in food makes the food taste better. It also increases our blood pressure, retains water (makes you look fat), and causes heart disease.

Use canned tomatoes instead of tomato sauce.

Read the labels. I'm looking at them right now.

One can of canned tomatoes

• 10.5 grams of suger
• 0 grams of fat
• 90 calories
• 220 mg of sodium

One can of tomato sauce

• 66 grams of suger
• 15 grams of fat
• 480 calories
• 3900 mg of sodium

A compromise would be one part tomato sauce to one can on canned tomatoes.

Hydration

Think of your blood cells as fish and your veins as a river. The fish can't get to where they need to go if the river is running dry. Stay hydrated. Water is very important in exercise. It allows your body to carry nutrients to your muscles and carry away waste.

In the summer heat, it keeps you cool. If you stop sweating, you had better stop exercising and start drinking.

In the winter cold, it allows warmth to be moved to your extremities. With out warmth, your fingers and toes will go numb or worse, Frost bite.

Some people say that they do not carry a hydration belt because of the extra weight. Come on. If you are extercising you should have lost a pound or two by now. This is good weight. It helps you exercise longer. Still, if you do not want to carry one, choose a route with plenty of drinking fountains. As a percaution, I carry a $5 bill in my running shoes. After a few minutes in the sun, it is dry and the store clerk will have no idea that it has been at the bottom of your sweaty sneakers for the past 3 months.

Stay Cool

Summer is still here. For those of you who are parents, I know that you are quietly counting down the days till the free day care kicks in. But the heat will be here for quite sometime. August can be a scorcher. Heat releated illness is no joke. Take the symptons seriously. While exercising, if you experience cramping, dizziness, cold or clammy skin, or fast or slow breathing, you may be in trouble. Seek a cool environment as soon as possible. Heatstroke is a life threating condition. This is one of those things where exercise will no longer be a benifit to you. Its best to retreat today, to live and fight another day.

Working with pain

I’m actually writing this article with a little bit of pain in my knee. I’ve written before about the good pain and the bad pain. This is clearly the bad pain. It shows up after about 3 miles or running. I’m well aware that I’m 37 now. I do have 2 “permanent” injuries that I will live with for ever. Both those injuries became permanent because I was stupid and did not stop exercising when I should have. I do not want this to be the third one.

Cross training is one way to deal with pain. I’m cross training on my bicycle right now. It offers my a low impact workout to stay in shape, while reducing the stress on my knee Now with wind chill I sometimes do this in the gym, but we do still have some mild days that I can go outside and exercise. Swimming is also a good activity to consider.

Finally rest. Your body is injured. Listen to it and just take a week off. Remember “Retreat today to live and fight another day.”

Burning Calories

Those of you in my unit know that I am not the best at counting calories while eating. As a matter of fact, many of you have noted that I eat a lot. Hey, I save my cheat day for drill weekend. I do like to know how I'm doing buring those calories. The link below takes you to Runners World magazines web site and their calorie counter. It is basic, but gives you an idea of how many calories you burned. Remember that 3500 colories equals 1 pound.

http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/caloriecalculator/0,7153,s6-242-306-313-0-0-0-0-0,00.html

When Lightning Strikes, Go Inside

Every year Americans are killed or injured from lightning. Here are some statistics from the NOAA:

• To date, in 2009, 24 people have been killed by lightning
• In 2008, 28 people died due to lightning strikes
• Hundreds of others were permanentlyinjured. Of the victims who were killed by lightning in 2008:
  
  • 100% outside
  • 79% male
  • 36% males between the ages of 20-25
  • 32% under a tree
  • 29% on or near the water

When you hear thunder, take your workout inside.