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Showing posts from May, 2023

Crop Top Crunch Time 2023

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Food Addiction?

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https://ift.tt/Cb8vkZ3 No wonder it is tough to retrain our brains to like healthier stuff! FOOD, FACTS and FADS Fatty and sugary foods train your brain to hate healthier options: Yale study By Emily Lefroy New York Post, March 22, 2023 “People crave fatty and sugary foods when they consume them daily — and the pattern can be hard to break, researchers at Yale University and the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Germany have determined in new research.”People crave fatty and sugary foods when they consume them daily — and the pattern can be hard to break, researchers at Yale University and the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Germany have determined in new research. The study, published online Wednesday in the journal Cell Metabolism, found eating a snack high in fat and sugar every day alters the reward circuits in human brains to create lasting preferences. Participants were divided into two groups and told to continue their normal eati...

Nice Summary Discussion About “Blue Zones”

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https://ift.tt/Kb7ak8q In her healthy living A to Z blog, Dr. Christine Rosenbloom posted “ B is for Blue Zones “, a summary of various “ blue zones ” around the world where people are healthier and live longer than the average for the rest of the world. They have a combination of healthy lifestyles and eating patterns that lead to this good result. As always, I enjoyed the “What Does It Mean for You?” section of her blog which gives simple ways to work these healthy changes into our lives. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/06/changing-the-way-america-eats-moves-and-connects-one-town-at-a-time/

Simple Meditation Instruction

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https://ift.tt/9RWPsNv The American Heart Association published a simple introduction to lovingkindness meditation, shown in this infographic: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/mental-health-and-wellbeing/loving-kindness-meditation-infographic I had discussed this form of meditation previously here (search for “lovingkindness” in that post). It is simple and effective, and many people find it pleasant. Two things stand out to me in the graphic, steps 1 and 4. It is important to direct kind feelings towards ourselves, as we are often our own worst critics. And choosing “someone difficult” helps develop forgiveness. After repeating the “may I…” phrases for a while, I just continue by imagining a feeling of love filling me on the in-breath, then flowing out into the world on the out-breath. I often find that meditation along these lines can leave me in a better mood than when I started.

Around The Reservoirs Plus Casa Loma Road

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https://ift.tt/t5yHwYD Yesterday my group did a brisk two-hour ride that went around Uvas Reservoir, headed out to the end of Casa Loma Road and back, then on the return went around Chesbro Reservoir. This has some climbing but not too steep so I took my recumbent. I was able to keep up at the front just fine in the flatter sections or shallow hills but was noticeably slower on the steeper climbs. On the way back there was a long section with a headwind, and it was fun to demonstrate the aerodynamic advantage of the recumbent. This ended up being a three-hour ride for me since I rode to the start and took a longer route home after lunch. Taking a break at Uvas Reservoir. Both Uvas and Chesbro were still full. The fog hadn’t burned off yet at this point, around 11:00 AM. The parking lot for Rancho Canada Del Oro Open Space at the end of Casa Loma Road A mama horse and her foal on a ranch on Casa Loma Road. The mama was staring intently at me at first then must have decided I m...

May Amazon Finds

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Green juice chat

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The Green Hills Are Turning…

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https://ift.tt/c0zv2aS Around this time of year, our green hills turn golden. It happens sometime in May about a month after the last rain. It doesn’t seem to matter whether we’ve had a dry rainy season or a wet one like this year. It’s still pretty during the transition which takes a couple of weeks. After that, we know we’re in summer mode. The East foothills from Peet Road I took the picture of the local hills during a pleasant local ride of two and a half hours. After a warmup, I tried a KOM attempt on the Strava segment “ FULL LOOP- Digital Drive Criterium “. I tied my previous best time of 1:39, I’ll have to push a little harder next time to beat that. The ride is shown in the youtube video below. With the action camera mounted on my handlebars, videos of recumbent rides are amusing because you can see the shoes bobbing up and down in front. Digital Drive Kom Attempt

How To Create A Home Gym On A Budget

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134: Getting more out of home workouts with Lauren George

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Beating the Heat on a Group Ride

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https://ift.tt/mjfo02p It got pretty warm in the afternoon here yesterday, so it was good that we finished our group ride not too much after noon when it was still in the 70s. After lunch, I still had a 3-mile ride to get home and it was getting hot. This was an outing to the southwest from Morgan Hill in the hills, then along a pleasant recreational path in Gilroy. On the way home, on Santa Teresa Boulevard, we had a stout headwind. I was riding my recumbent which has a bit of an aero advantage, so I was able to give some of the others a draft on the way home. The wind made for more work but did keep us cooler. CordeValle Resort and Golf Course Rest Stop at the Kirigin Winery at the top of Day Road Uvas Creek Preserve Next to the Gilroy Path

How to work out with a broken toe

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I Care Classic Tour

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https://ift.tt/sxSuC1A Yesterday the Almaden Super Lions Club from South San Jose put on the 30th edition of their I Care Classic Ride, which starts and finishes in Morgan Hill just under 2 miles from my home. The local medical device company Paramit Corporation graciously hosted us. I had originally signed up for the Century route but decided their longer rides had too much climbing for my recumbent, so I switched to the 50K route. Counting the ride to and from the start this ended up being about a 36-mile ride, taking me three hours and 15 minutes of riding time. This was a very pleasant ride on a nice late spring day. The volunteers from the club and some local Boy Scouts were great at the start (where there were bagels and other breakfast treats), at rest stops along the way, and at the finish, where they served a nice lunch. I rode it alone but had a good time chatting with the volunteers and other riders. Volunteers grilling our lunch at the finish. The 50K route toured...

Spring Slim Down 2023 Winners!

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Coyote-Bailey Time Trial Revisited

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https://ift.tt/YnKBWeR Once a month or so I like to retry the Strava segment that I created which is a time trial from the Coyote Creek Trail visitors’ center to the Bailey Ave underpass and back. Yesterday I did it again and finished in 46 min 27 sec, a 2-minute improvement over my previous try. My first effort on this segment was 58:34, but that included several mistakes I discussed here , including not eating breakfast and not wearing stiff biking shoes. When I corrected those errors I got it down to 51:30. In three more tries since then I’ve trimmed it to the current 46:27. That feels good because it shows steady improvement due to training. I’m certainly a lot slower than when I was younger, but still getting faster compared to my previous efforts as a 70-year-old. I’m still number two on the leaderboard, but closing in on number 1. Of course, the most important thing is improving vs. myself rather than comparing vs. others, but it is still motivating to have a target to chase! ...

CACAO-NUT PROTEIN BALLS

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Group Ride in the Hills East of Gilroy

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https://ift.tt/7HOqGDI After a hiatus of a few weeks due to rain and my trip to Phoenix, I got to ride with my Tuesday group. We started down in Gilroy so I took my e-assist bike to meet them there. We headed across the valley to the hills on the east side then did some climbing on some beautiful and lightly-trafficked country roads. It ended up being a 4 1/2 hour, 57-mile ride for me, including the extra mileage to and from Gilroy. I was tired afterward, but I recovered nicely overnight. Poppies in bloom across the street from my house Regrouping on Leavesley Ave Mendoza Ranch entrance to Harvey Bear Park A ranch across the street from Harvey Bear Old truss bridge on Gilroy Hot Springs Road. The hot springs, a famous resort in the area in its heyday, were bought by Henry Coe state park but have yet to be refurbished. so the road temporarily ends here. Ranch at the corner of Canada and Jamison Roads Canada Road, the last leg in the hills, heading west

Organifi green juice vs. Athletic Greens (AG1)

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Two Weekend Rides

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https://ift.tt/dctnl4K On Saturday I did a long brisk cruise northeast of Morgan Hill. I took the Coyote Creek trail to the first flooded section, which I detoured around using Monterey Highway. I rejoined the trail at Metcalf Road and went north to Silver Creek Road. I knew another section was flooded before Hellyer Park, so took another detour from Silver Creek to Hellyer Ave to the park. I wanted to see if I could get to the velodrome but found there was still a third flood right at the velodrome parking lot. Two weekends from now we’ll be having HPV fun day where human-powered vehicles of various types can use and race on the track. This confirmed that we’ll have to get there through the back entrance because there is no way that the flood will be gone in two weeks. I retraced my steps to get home, ending up with a ride of just over three hours. If anything the flood looks worse than a few weeks ago when I came by On Sunday I went to the Southeast on the rural roads through San...

Benefits of stretching in the morning

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A Break In The Rain

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https://ift.tt/NyhBxVI After about three weeks of sunshine, we got a few days of rain, which is welcome because I hope it will keep the hills green longer. Yesterday there was an interlude when it stopped and I went out for a two-hour ride. This was scheduled to be an LH (legs, hard) ride so I cruised out Coyote Creek trail for about an hour and did intervals on the way out. A good, exhilarating workout. These are stills taken with my little action camera that don’t do the real colors justice. Next time I’ll bring my higher-quality digital camera.

How Much Cardio Is Too Much?

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Ironman After Two Hip Replacements

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https://ift.tt/W1CNQJG http://www.Amazon.com/books In his book New Steel , Chris Bystriansky tells his story about getting both his hips replaced (within about a year) at a relatively young age due to a congenital condition that caused him to get osteoarthritis. He had been active in various sports like hockey and swimming growing up. He still participated in biking as an adult, including finishing some multi-day charity events like the MS 150 , until the arthritis limited his activities. After the surgeries, while rehabbing he initially set his sights fairly low, wanting to get back to walking normally. But then something planted the seed that because he was a swimmer and biker he could complete an Ironman triathlon. This caught my attention because I wondered how he could convince his surgeon it was ok for him to run a marathon on two artificial hips. But Chris had thought this through and realized that the overall cutoff times for Ironman-length triathlons are about 17 hours. ...

133: Eating more to lose weight with Giselle Schroer

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Exercising For the “Centenarian Decathlon”

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https://ift.tt/KlL7HIX I recently discussed Dr. Peter Attia’s book Outlive , about healthy living practices. I promised to go into more detail about his ideas on exercising for longevity, which he calls the “Centenarian Decathlon”. He emphasized three aspects of training specifically to stay healthy in the long term in his book: stability, strength, and cardiovascular training. He feels strongly about stability, which includes balance, core strength, proper alignment, and movement patterns. I have talked about balance training and gait training previously. But Dr. Attia also discussed the importance of proper alignment for safety during strength training. It is a good idea to work with a physical therapist or equivalent if you are concerned you may be deficient in any of these areas. For strength training, he concentrated on movements that help prevent loss of muscle as we age (sarcopenia) and also to prevent loss of bone density. Large compound movements are recommended such as de...

20 years of practicing yoga

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