Recommended Resources for Fitness and Nutrition

Whenever I give a talk or deliver a presentation, I pride myself on the Q&A. It’s my favorite part of the speech –  the opportunity to let my guard down and be myself. Well, a few weeks ago when I delivered the keynote for a group of professional women in Bozeman, MT, I was myself  alright – a forgetful, 48-year old female! Yep – I totally blanked on the answer to a question I was asked. That was a first (likely not a last), and I’m still replaying the embarrassing moment in my head.

Sadly, the woman who asked the question did not re-introduce herself afterwards when I could think a bit more coherently. So in case you are reading, I wanted to answer the question a bit more informatively than I did that day.

What resources would you recommend in the way of nutrition, fitness and health?

Here are a few resources to get me started. I’ll keep adding to the list as I continue to research, study and read!

Nutrition/Wellness Books

Marion Nestle – What to Eat

Michael Pollan – Omnivore’s Dilemma and Food Rules

Campbell and Campbell – The China Study

Matt Fitzgerald – Performance Nutrition for Runners

Kathy Freston – Quantum Wellness

Cookbooks

Chris Schlesinger – License to Grill

Jamie Oliver – Any cookbook but I especially like Jamie’s Food Revolution

Other recommended cookbooks, magazines and cooking blogs found here

Blogs/Websites

No Meat Athlete (Matt Frazier)

Ask Georgie (Georgie Fear, RD)

The Positivity Blog (Henrik Edberg)

Food Politics (Marion Nestle)

Runners World

Beef with Black Bean Sauce

By this time, you have probably surmised that I am a big Jamie Oliver fan. And you would be correct. Today’s entree originated from a recipe out of Jamie’s Food Revolution, Sizzling Beef with Scallions and Black Bean Sauce. Though the original recipe isn’t bad for you, I’ve spiced it up a bit, added some veggies and removed some sodium and cholesterol.

The portions below serve 2-3, all depending on how hungry you are. I multiplied the recipe by 3 when I had a dinner party, and it was just as delicious. The guests left happy that night.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• 1 – 1 1/4 pound top sirloin (filet even tastier, sirloin less pricey)
• 1 bunch asparagus (about 12-15 stalks, trimmed)
• 3 scallions
• 2 TBSP chopped ginger
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 2 TBSP black bean sauce
• 1 TBSP soy sauce
• 1 lime
• bunch of fresh cilantro

Pantry items:

• Rice
• Sesame oil (1-2 TBSP)

Step One: Prepare rice

Using 1 cup of brown or white race, add double the amount of water and simmer on low. Note that brown rice takes about twice as long to cook as white rice, so plan accordingly.

Step Two: Prep

Chop the ginger, garlic, scallions, beef and asparagus and place together in a bowl with 1 TBSP sesame oil and mix thoroughly.

Step Three: Cook

Preheat a skillet with another tablespoon of sesame oil. Add ingredients from previous step and cook about one minute on medium heat. Add the black bean sauce, soy and lime juice. Cook another minute or two (taste test to ensure the beef is cooked just right) and add about 1/4 cup chopped cilantro.

Step Four: Serve

Serve the beef mixture on top of the rice. Add more cilantro if you wish.

Note: Feel free to add/substitute vegetables according to your taste. Snow peas would be good, as would red peppers. The combination of black bean sauce, soy sauce and lime juice is a great base for lots of stir fries, even if you wish to leave out the meat.

Why Learning to Laugh is Good For Your Health

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Rendezvous Writer’s Conference in Boise. I also enjoyed the opportunity to speak on a panel with Bruce Ballenger about the ins and outs of writing how-to and creative non-fiction.

My favorite aspect of the whole weekend was hearing keynote speaker Laurie Notaro, bestselling author of numerous books, including her most recent, It Looked Different on the Model. In a nutshell, she was hilarious. A humor writer, she definitely lives up to her “paper” image in person!

I found her so endearing that I also attended her workshop on how to integrate humor in your writing. One of her recommendations that really resonated with me was finding the humor in any situation, whether at your own expense or someone else’s.  She takes a notebook with her everywhere she goes to write down the “little stuff” that might become a big ‘ole funny story.

Though I hope to embrace some of her humor techniques in my writing, my bigger aspiration is viewing the world through a humorous lens more often, much as she suggested. After all, there are many ways in which laughter can improve your health.

According to HealthGuide.org, these include:

As I mentioned in a recent keynote speech on work/life balance, we often create our own dramas in our professional and personal lives, enduring all the stress that accompanies it, throwing our lives completely off kilter. I have experienced this predicament over the past six weeks — buying and selling a home, moving into (and back out of) temporary living, packing, cleaning and losing a lot of hours of sleep. Though I would argue that some dramas were created for me, I certainly produced a few of my own.

What if we approached stressful situations and created satire instead of a sorrowful soliloquy? What if we transformed the seemingly mundane into belly busters? What if we simply smiled instead of frowning? I have been doing my best all week to envision myself drinking a beer on the porch of my new house, laughing about the sellers who wouldn’t fix our garage doors, the buyers who wanted to inspect and re-inspect our home, the mortgage broker who told us about a 1% origination fee two weeks before closing, all the boxes, my couch-less living room – and actually trying to live a life somewhere in between. Where’s the laughter when you really need it?

But seriously, though I’ll never be as funny as Laurie, I can still learn to take life in stride. Relax and let things go. Know that it will all work out in due time. Be patient.

And, most importantly, laugh!

P.S. Maybe I’ll write another post on the lovingly laughable aspects of moving – after we move!

A Kid’s Guide to Staying Fit

Today, I welcome guest blogger Luke Neely, my 8-yeard old who is constantly teaching me a thing or two about life. He is going to share with us his favorite ways to integrate exercise throughout his day.

I don’t know what all the fuss is. All you grown-ups complain about having no time to exercise, but it’s so easy to do – any time. Here are my top ten favorite ways to exercise.

1. Run everywhere. Going to the grocery store or Target is so boring, so I make it more fun by running down the aisles. Especially when my mom says no and I keep doing it. I also like to run at the airport, down the street with my dog Boedi and pretty much anywhere in public that scares my parents. You get everywhere faster by running, so why walk?

2. Climb everything. I’ve always enjoyed climbing on top of kitchen counters to reach cabinets, but now I can scale walls and climb really high in trees. In fact, the other night when my mom was playing tennis, she nearly had a heart attack when she saw how high I’d gotten in the tree next to the courts. Climbing rocks.

3. Dance. Even though my mom looks like a dork, it’s still fun to dance with her, especially when she swings me through her legs. I really like dancing on furniture and jumping off – I think I kinda look like Justin Bieber. I even did the moon walk in front of my school a few years back when I was a kid. Now, Mom has this program on her computer called photo booth, so I create videos of myself singing and dancing.

4. Slam it. Dunking basketballs using my Wii is pretty fun, but slamming it on my goal in the back yard is way cooler. I watched these NBA players dunk in a contest a while back, so now I try to imitate them while my mom rates me from 1-10. I get mad if I don’t get a 10 – I’ll probably be in that contest one day when I’m a pro.

5. Jump on beds. Yeah, I know my parents tell me their bed is about to cave in, but I just can’t help myself. Since they won’t get me a trampoline, I jump whenever they’re not looking.

6. Skip a lot. When’s the last time you tried this one? It’s faster than walking and lots more fun, too. It’s also impossible to skip without smiling, so it puts me in a good mood every time I do it.

7. Jump rope. We just started doing this at school and I love it. In fact, I am probably going to be professional soon, so my PE teacher gave me my own jump rope to take home. I even bet my mom $1 that she couldn’t do the criss cross, but she did it. I’my trying to figure out another jump she can’t do because I don’t like losing.

8. Wiggle. It’s really hard for me to sit still at school, when I’m reading, when I’m eating dinner or pretty much all the time. I still love that book Wiggle because it kinda reminds me of myself.

9. Ride bikes. My favorite way to do it is to pedal my heart out so my parents can’t keep up, then stop and rest. Then do it all over again. I also like to bounce up and down on my seat and hold my legs in the air. I hop over sidewalks and find dirt paths anywhere I can.  I can’t wait to go back to the BMX tracks and race against Dad. I just hope he doesn’t fall and hurt his shoulder like he did last summer.

10. Throw frisbee. Who cares if I pummel my neighbors’ flowers when I mis-fire? It’s just so darn fun to throw that disc.

Pan seared halibut

It’s halibut season again, and this is one of my favorite fish – especially prepared this simple, flavorful way. Halibut is a mild fish which takes on the flavor of a sauce very nicely. You simply have to be careful not to overcook halibut or it will dry out and taste terrible.

This particular recipe is versatile because you can pick and choose ingredients based on personal preference and/or what you have in the fridge. The only essential ones are the fish (of course!), tomatoes, basil, lemon and butter.

Recipe serves 2-3

Ingredients you’ll need:

• Halibut – 1 pound
• 1/2-3/4 cup of chopped tomatoes
• Handful of fresh basil
• 1 lemon

Pantry items:

• Butter (2-3 TBSP)
• Olive oil

Optional ingredients:

• Capers
• Garlic
• Scallions
• Shallots

Steps One: Prep

Season the fish with salt and pepper. Chop the tomatoes, garlic and scallions. A great substitution for garlic and/or scallions is shallots.

Clean and loosely chop basil. Note: I substituted parsely on this particular evening because I didn’t have fresh basil.

Step Two: Cook

Saute garlic, scallions and capers in olive oil a minute or so before adding the fish. If don’t like any of these ingredients, skip this step.

Sear the halibut on medium heat for a minute or two in oiled pan and flip.

Add tomatoes, basil, and butter. Squeeze the juice from a lemon on top. Turn down the heat and cook another 2-3 minutes until halibut is cooked through. Timing will depend on thickness of fish.

Note: Halibut turns from translucent to white when it’s ready. To be safe, check in the thickest part of the fish, and if it’s almost white, take it off the heat and let it finish cooking 1-2 minute off the stove.

Step 3: Serve

You can serve this with rice or couscous and a side vegetable. I generally like serving this with broccoli or spinach because these vegetables taste nice with the sauce. I chose a salad the other night because we have lots of fresh greens in our back yard right now.