Are you getting enough Potassium?

I brought up potassium last week as it is a very important mineral for anyone involved in fitness...well, it's important to everyone really.  Potassium, along with calcium, magnesium, sodium, and chloride, help to make up electrolytes which are required for every function in the body that is dependent upon our nervous system (muscle movement, breathing, digestion, thinking, etc.) We get these minerals through the food we eat, and lose them through excretion in various ways; specifically, when a person sweats allot-like bodybuilders, runners, tennis players, soccer, football etc-you lose lots of  sodium, chloride, and potassium.
I recently read that when a person smokes cigarettes, their cardiovascular system is robbed of potassium as well.

Many athletes know that muscle cramping can be a sign of potassium deficiency; other symptoms can include muscle weakness, numbness and tingling in the lower extremities, nausea, vomiting, confusion and irritability. Heartbeat irregularities are considered a classic sign of potassium deficiency.

Apparently, according to some of my research-most people do not get enough potassium. It is recommended that most people get about 3500mg of potassium a day; Studies show most people only get about 2650mg per day.

So, where do we get potassium? Below is a great list of awesome foods high in potassium.

Avocado - 1/2 medium - 550 mg

Banana - 1 medium - 451

Beef, ground - 3 ounces - 205

Black beans - 1 cup - 801

Broccoli, cooked - 1/2 cup - 228

Cantaloupe - 1 cup - 494

Carrot, raw - 1 medium - 233

Cauliflower, cooked - 1/2 cup - 200

Chicken - 3 ounces - 195

Chickpeas - 1 cup - 477

Corn - 1/2 cup - 204

Flounder - 3 ounces - 292

Kidney beans - 1 cup - 713

Kiwi - 1 medium - 252

Lentils - 1 cup - 731

Milk - 8 ounces - 381

Okra - 1/2 cup - 257

Orange - 1 medium - 250

Orange juice - 8 ounces - 474

Potatoes, baked with skin - 1 medium - 844

Prune Juice - 8 ounces - 706

Spinach, cooked - 1/2 cup - 419

Strawberries - 1 cup - 247

Sweet potatoes - 1 medium - 397

Tomato - 1 medium - 397

Tomato juice - 6 ounces - 658

Watermelon - 1 cup - 186

Wheat Germ - 1/4 cup - 259

Too much potassium ( more than 5000 milligrams) can upset the balance of minerals in your body and cause heart and kidney problems. Other potential side effects include muscle weakness, tingling in the hands, feet or tongue and a slow or irregular pulse.

So-what do you think? Are you getting enough potassium?
Ciao for now!

Source for chart and some text from McVitamins.com.

TASTY TUESDAY!

Crispy Chicken Nuggets:

I got this recipe from HERE; though I changed it a tad-I used quinoa flakes instead of oat bran. They turned out really yummy! You could add some zest though by adding some chili pepper or cumin to the dry mix. Very easy-and healthy! I served with baked sweet potato chips and a broccoli/tomato mix drizzled with the following sauce:

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp minced garlic

2 TB lemon juice

1 TB honey

3-4 TB olive oil

I found the nugget recipe through one of my favourite blogger/vloggers Jackie at GIRLWITHNONAME.

I love one of her most recent rants about "Yah, But"...ya know, when people come up with every excuse in the world to not take the advice you give them, when they ask for fitness tips.

Have a look!

Ciao for now!

Training Plan

So I have devised a little training program for my running; I still don't actually have a firm goal like an actual event, but I know that one of these days, something will come along. For now, I am just working on improving my running skills. This is based on a 3 day split...keeping in mind that I work out with weights 3 days as well.

Monday: Slow and easy; working on the mind/body focus-form, posture, breathing. This will be incorporating all of the focuses and skills I'm learning from the Chi Running book.

Wednesday: Sprints or hill repeats; depending on the weather-the hill would be very slick on a rainy day. I may occasionally utilise the treadmill on these days as well.

Friday: The long haul-5k and beyond; I'm working on getting the 5k time down to under 30 minutes, and then working on increasing my distance.

There you have it! 

Ciao for now!

Fit at Fifty!

Yep-it's John's 50th birthday today! And yep...he does the splits! If you had told him fifteen years ago he'd be doing the splits at fifty, he would have laughed pretty hard. Not many men over six feet tall, weighing two hundred pounds and being heavy into body building would even contemplate the splits, or yoga or any of that funky stuff.
Well, here he is...still hitting the weights hard, only now he also does yoga seven days a week, can obviously do the splits-almost better than me, and at fifty years old feels even fitter than he did at forty...& doesn't look much older than that to boot! Healthy eating, consistent exercise habits, and a bit of spiritual growth thrown in for good measure adds up to FAB AT FIFTY!

Happy Birthday Honey!

Aha! Finally Gettin' It

Run like a child, relaxed and free;

That's what I'm learning from my book of Chi!

Chi Running that is (pronounced chee FYI). Chi is the physical energy that runs through each and every one of us; Chi Running is about utilising that energy and learning how to work with it, and get it to work for us to make running more joyful and injury free. It's about centering & relaxing, mind & body focusing, body sensing and so much more. I've only just begun, but I can say so far, from what I've read, it all just makes so much sense.

This book isn't just for beginners; Chi Running has helped seasoned athletes improve their skills by working with nature instead of against it.

I can already tell I will be able to utilise the tools in this book for so much besides just the running; weight training, yoga, meditation, walking....Life!

Though I've only read about a quarter of the book, by utilising some of the tools they've discussed so far, today I was finally able to run for a whole 5k again (have only done that once a couple of weeks ago); and I shaved a minute off of my time-woohoo!

Have a great weekend!

Ciao for now!

Has anyone else tried this?

Lemon juice in your water for potassium replacement. Apparently, about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice has 30mg of potassium which is about the amount of potassium found in an 8 oz serving of a commercial sports drink.
As you probably already know, when performing strenuous activities like running and heavy weight lifting, we lose allot of potassium and other minerals (electrolytes) through excessive sweating. Many athletes use sports drinks to replace these minerals; however, another additive in these sports drinks is often quite a bit of sugar.

So, I found this easy little recipe at About.com for making your own sports drink-without all that sugar.

1 cup (8 oz) water (not carbonated)


2 Tablespoons lemon juice

small pinch of salt

Flavoring and sweetener to taste

I'm not even bothering with the sweetener myself; I'm just adding the lemon straight to my jug of water-it's quite refreshing! I add a bit of sea salt to my foods when cooking, so I'm not bothering with salt in my water either.
You can find out more about sports drinks at ABOUT.COM

Ciao for now!

What a difference a good knife makes...

And a good pan! A couple of weeks ago I ordered and received my new Scanpan gear. I went with all Scanpan...and I am over the moon with it all. I can't believe what a difference good stuff makes-I enjoyed cooking before-but wow-I didn't realise what a difference it would make to not have to saw through everything-LOL!  And I am so over Teflon...I just think it's really bad for us-it chips off after a while, it has fumes...it cannot be good. I still have a few stainless steel pots for boiling, and I still love my cast iron wok-but for everything else-I'm a Scanpan girl now!

 I'd like to thank KEK for putting me on to http://www.yourhomedepot.com.au/ and Michelle Koen for her blog post about knives; though I didn't order the particular brands she mentioned...her info on what various knives are used for was really helpful.

I ended up ordering these:
Santoku

Cooks knife:

And a set of steak knives:

I also ordered a new fry pan, saute pan and sauce pan....LOVE THEM ALL.
So far-I really like the Scanpan line...and was really pleased with the Your Home Depot site-they processed the order the day I made it and I had the stuff in less than a week-and that's way up here in Far North Queensland!
That's all for now!
Ciao!

Now that's determination....

It's a bit painful just to watch-but you've got to admire the drive and determination! Inpsires me to go out and push just a tiny bit harder next time I jog! We have allot more in us then we give ourselves credit for sometimes!

Corn, Corn Everywhere

I just watched the movie KING CORN over the weekend-and it just reiterates what I've been reading in books and blogs about the negative affects of industrial corn; mainly that it is most likely the leader in the cause of obesity and other health problems in the western world. I highly recommend watching this movie! It will change your view of corn forever. The simple explanation is the fact that corn is very high in omega 6-and since it used in EVERYTHING from breads, to mixes, to sauces, sodas, cookies, to feed beef, fish, chickens...etc-the western diet ends up with an out of whack over the top amount of omega 6 compared to Omega 3-and in a nutshell this imbalance leads to obesity. I'm really over simplifying it-there is allot of science to it. Michael Pollan does an excellent job of explaining this in THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA(also highly recommended!).

I swiped the following video from THE FOOD RENEGADE .  It's a quick and informative watch! The main source of info for this little video is  The Omnivores' Dilemma. Trust me...after watching this video, you will be going to your cupboards and realise that corn is in everything, and you will probably want to research it even more.


RFNH Corn Corn Everywhere Corn from FoodRenegade on Vimeo.

Ciao for now!

I challenge you....

I saw this guy-Chris Raine-on the news last night, and well anything to do with getting people to think about their drinking more is a great idea in my eyes! I am a bit biased...yes; but, well-ask yourself, could you go 3 months without drinking-could you? If not, I suppose you would have to ask yourself; "why not?"

Below is a blurb from the HELLO SUNDAY MORNING website..and a little video about the program. Though it's been more directed at folks from 18-30, the program is for ANYONE who wants to learn more about themselves and why they drink; and who knows..you may discover some things about yourself. Hmmmm.....I dare you to give it a go.

It's easy to get swept away in a drinking culture. Sometimes we just need a rope to pull us to dry land so we can get some perspective. Hello Sunday Morning is one such rope.
The program is open to anybody that is ready to go three months without drinking and find the reasons in their life to say Hello Sunday Morning!


Hello Sunday Morning - An Introduction from Hello Sunday Morning on Vimeo.

A couple of my favourite yoga poses

For those of you who have read my blog for a while, you would know that I've had hip and sacro illiac problems for a few years-and when I first started running that old hip really got aggravated; however-I found some new yoga stretches that I now do religiously as I sincerely believe they have helped to alleviate some of the pain in that hip area and has made it possible to run regularly and am now going distances (though still short in the big running picture) that I never even thought to attempt before.

So, I've been asked-what stretches are you doing now? I have quite an extensive sequence-but thought I'd pick out the ones that I really think are key to opening that hip area and stretching it out.

Below are a few pics with an explanation of the move: (All photos and text were taken from the YOGA JOURNAL site)

Pigeon Pose:

Begin on all fours, with your knees directly below your hips, and your hands slightly ahead of your shoulders. Slide your right knee forward to the back of your right wrist; at the same time angle your right shin under your torso and bring your right foot to the front of your left knee. The outside of your right shin will now rest on the floor. Slowly slide your left leg back, straightening the knee and descending the front of the thigh to the floor. Lower the outside of your right buttock to the floor. Position the right heel just in front of the left hip.


The right knee can angle slightly to the right, outside the line of the hip. Look back at your left leg. It should extend straight out of the hip (and not be angled off to the left), and rotated slightly inwardly, so its mid line presses against the floor. Exhale and lay your torso down on the inner right thigh for a few breaths. Stretch your arms forward.


Then slide your hands back toward the front shin and push your fingertips firmly to the floor. Lift your torso away from the thigh. Lengthen the lower back by pressing your tailbone down and forward; at the same time, and lift your pubis toward the navel. Roll your left hip point toward the right heel, and lengthen the left front groin.


If you can maintain the upright position of your pelvis without the support of your hands on the floor, bring your hands to the top rim of your pelvis. Push heavily down. Against this pressure, lift the lower rim of your rib cage. The back ribs should lift a little faster than the front. Without shortening the back of your neck, drop your head back. To lift your chest, push the top of your sternum (at the manubrium) straight up toward the ceiling.

Stay in this position for a minute. Then, with your hands back on the floor, carefully slide the left knee forward, then exhale and lift up and back into Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose). Take a few breaths, drop the knees to all-fours on another exhalation, and repeat with the legs reversed for the same length of time.

Gates Latch:

Kneel on the floor. Stretch your right leg out to the right and press the foot to the floor. Keep your left knee directly below your left hip (so the thigh is perpendicular to the floor), and align your right heel with the left knee. Turn your pelvis slightly to the right (so the left hip point comes forward of the right), but turn your upper torso back to the left. Point the kneecap toward the ceiling, which will require you to turn your right leg out.
As you inhale, bring your arms out to your sides, parallel to the floor, palms down. Bend to the right over the plane of the right leg and lay your right hand down on the shin, ankle, or the floor outside the right leg. Contract the right side of the torso and stretch the left. Place your left hand on the outer left hip and push the pelvis down toward the floor. Then slip the hand up to the lower left ribs and lift them toward the shoulder, creating space in the left waist.
With an inhalation, sweep the left arm over the back of the left ear. The side bend tends to drop the torso toward the floor. Without pushing the left hip back (continue to roll it slightly forward), turn the upper torso away from the floor.
Stay in this pose anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute. Come up as you inhale, reaching through the top arm to draw the torso upright. Bring the right knee back beside the left, and repeat with the legs reversed.

Full Pose

Full Parighasana is a deep side bend. From the starting position described in Step 2 above, lean to the side over the straight leg. Lower the underside of the torso as close as possible to the top of the straight leg. Press the back of the lower hand on the top of the foot, then sweep the top arm over the back of the ear and join the palms. Finish as described in Step 4 above.

Bound Ankle:

I think you can see how to do that one.

Fire Log Pose: (Love this one!)

Sit on one edge of a thickly-folded blanket, knees bent, feet on the floor. Lightly shrug your shoulders up, strongly roll the heads of your upper arm bones back, and press the bottom tips of your shoulder blades into your back.
Slide your left foot under your right leg to the outside of your right hip, and lay the outer leg on the floor. Then, stack your right leg on top of the left. Be sure the right ankle is outside the left knee (so the sole is perpendicular to the floor).
If you have more flexibility in the hips, you can slide your left shin forward directly below the right to increase the challenge; otherwise, keep the left heel beside the right hip. If you're tight in the hips, you may find that bringing the ankle to the outer knee is difficult or uncomfortable. In this case, simply sit with your shins crossed in Sukhasana (Easy Pose).
Press through your heels and spread your toes. Keeping your front torso long, exhale and fold (BEND) forward from your groins. Be sure not to round forward from your belly: Keep the space between your pubis and navel long. Lay your hands on the floor in front of your shins.
As you inhale, notice how your torso rises slightly; when it does, lengthen from your pubis to your sternum. Then on the next exhalation, fold deeper.
Hold 1 minute or more. Inhale the torso upright and uncross your legs to come out of the pose. Repeat for the same length of time with the left leg on top.

There ya go!
Ciao for now!

TASTY TUESDAY!

Quinoa Patties:

¾ C quinoa

1 ½ C chopped spinach

2 cloves garlic minced

½ C crumbled goat’s cheese feta

1 egg (or 2 eggwhites)

½ C chopped sun dried tomato


Rinse and cook the quinoa.

Once cooked, place in large mixing bowl, add all other ingredients and mix together until spinach is wilted.

Place patty size spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet.

Bake at 180 C (350F) for 15 -20 minutes, flip and bake for another 10-15 –until golden brown. I didn't quite cook mine long enough in the oven-so they aren't shaped particularly nicely-but they tasted damn good!

Ciao for now!

It's that time of year again....

and the young cassowary chicks are getting kicked out of the nest by their daddy's. Here is one young one that's been hanging around our back yard for the last couple of days. He/she's about 10 months old. He/she will grow to another quarter that size at least. BTW-these are flightless birds that date back to the stone age! They are now endangered as there are only about 1400 left in the wild due, of course, to habitat destruction mainly by humans but also feral pigs. They can only be found in the wild in North Queensland and in New Guinea. Below the video is a picture of an adult daddy w/a young chick. That pic was taken a couple years back at our first Queensland property.

Ciao for now!
Have a great weekend!

Focus on your ABILITIES

(Tricia Downing -USA Triathlon’s Physically Challenged Athlete of the Year for 2003)

I saw a news story last night about a paraplegic French backpacker who is on adventure tour around Australia to highlight the capabilities of physically challenged people. This coincides with Queensland's Disability Action Week and for me it is a perfect reminder of how many of us focus on our own negatives rather than the positives. He was out there wind surfing! In a wheel chair!

I say it's time we take a lesson from the physically challenged people of the world who live by the words "focus on my abilities, not my disabilities". So many of us, without disabilities tend to whine and complain about superficial things-picking ourselves apart-focusing on all of our own negatives. Why? What is the point? It's a very unhealthy, non-productive waste of time and energy! When I look at what so many of these people who are  paraplegics, amputees, and with heaps of other assumed physically limiting disabilities and see them accomplish some of the most mind boggling things (mountain climbing, triathlons, kayaking, sailing, you name it!), it really reminds me that I have NOTHING to complain about and should just get on with the task-whatever it may be. And stop pointing out my own supposed limitations and focus on what I am good at. That's what the physically challenged people do; they focus on their own strengths and utilise those to the max.

We could all accomplish so much more if we stopped wasting time focusing on our negatives and utilise our positives!  

Ciao for now!

Let's Cheer Each Other On!

Hi gang! How are you? I'm flipping fantastic! Workouts are super, running is going strong-I love my Saucony running shoes-they have made such a huge difference so I am feeling pretty much no pain in my hip-yahoo! Moving along into my 2nd year of sobriety...made it through the one year point last week. I'm even working on starting up a women's group here in Tully through the Women For Sobriety program I've been involved with over the last few months. You can click on their website at the side bar to see what a fabulous program it is for women seeking a sober life. By women for women-gotta love that!

Other than that, like I said, the running is going fabulous (jogged 30 straight minutes today 4.3K-woohoo!)-and one thing that is making it even more fun is logging onto the DAILY MILE to log runs, see what friends are doing, and CHEER EACH OTHER ON! It's totally free-and it's not just for running. You can log any type of workout-weights, cycling, swimming..whatever! It's just a fun and FREE way of keeping track of your workouts and get some motivation, inspiration and the occasional tips to keep you going strong. Look me up! Raechelle T.

That's it folks!
Ciao for now!

TASTY TUESDAY!

Quinoa Blueberry Cookies

These were so easy they should be illegal.

1 cup Quinoa flakes

1 cup almond meal

3 large egg whites (4 if smaller)

¼ cup honey

2 tsp cinnamon

100g dried blueberries

Mix it all up in a bowl. Place spoonfuls onto prepared bake sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 C, 350F. Too easy! And Packed full of protein! Quinoa has 14 g of protein for every 100 grams (3.5oz).

Enjoy!

I love my new.....

Just thought I'd share a few more things I bought during my trip to the states. I LOVE this Endure sports bra by Underarmour-It REALLY keeps the girls in place while running-even the day after a hard chest workout when I'm sore. I'm definitely going to invest in a couple more. Will have to check LINDY OLSEN

I am having fun with the Timex Ironman Road Trainer HRM. It's not as flash as some of the others-but it's giving me a good idea of my calories burned and my running times as well as the heart rate info. It really does help me to go that extra bit seeing it right there on my wrist. I got the man's version on the right-bigger display numbers so I can easily see without my glasses! Plus it's water proof-which is very important when you live in the tropics and have to run in down pours!

Last thing which I was reluctant to buy, but my girlfriend said she loved hers so much and talked me into it-and it's great! It's called the Vidalia Chop Wizard. It's great for onions, carrots, cucumber, zucchini, beets, you name it! THANKS JEANNINE! :-)

There you have it! Have a great week & Ciao for now!

Calling All Foodies! Your help is requested!

Hello blog land peeps! Hope you are up and running and ready for a great weekend! The sun is out for the 3rd day in a row up here- a new record...LOL!

So, today I'm calling out for input as my birthday is next week and I'm treating myself to some new cookware. I'm going to get some ceramic titanium (probably Scan Pan) pans and some new kitchen knives-and I want to know what brands YOU recommend. I suppose this is mostly for foodies in Australia as that's where I'm buying from. I'm looking for mid-priced, but good, long lasting quality. Also-do you know of any good online shops I can get either of these from?

I'm eagerly awaiting your recommendations! Thanks guys!
Ciao for now!

Breaking Through Barriers

Well, today, for the first time, I finally jogged a full 26 minutes without stopping-YAY! In the past I would stop at 24 minutes...and for some reason have just had this locked in my mind and wouldn't push through it. Key word here...WOULDN'T push through....not couldn't-there was no reason for me not to. I am not in pain, not breathing particularly hard-heart rate average was 150 with a peak of 167-so absolutely no reason other than a mental block. And I finally pushed through it. It's a small win-but a win all the same.

How many times have you seen someone with a new (or old) exercise, and they try once, fail-and that's it? Now they can't do it. They lock it in their brains that they just can't-and don't even try again!

Of course you can't if you don't work at it! And if you really have no desire to do it, then fine walk away-but if you say you really want to do it but you can't....I'm not buying it! You need to work at it; stretch a little further each day if your goal is to touch your toes, push another minute if you are working at running further and longer, you want to do a push up on your toes-get down on your knees and get lower and lower. You just have to challenge yourself-and push through the mental blocks.

If you say you can or you can't, you are always right!

PS-One year ago today I quit drinking for good. I said I would, and did.
Ciao for now!