Physical Funness for the Motion Starved

Fit more fun into your fitness while exploring the outdoors.

Category Archives: Food


by Leave a comment

Iron, not just for Popeye!

Popeye The Sailor Man

You know that you need to make sure that get enough iron in your diet, but do you actually know why?

Iron does many things in our bodies but mainly it carries oxygen from our lungs throughout our bodies. Iron also helps our muscles store and use oxygen. Too little iron in the body will result in iron deficiency and eventually anemia. The terms anemia and iron deficiency, are often used interchangeably but there is a difference. Iron deficiency refers to depleted iron stores without functional or health impairment, anemia, being more serious, affects the functioning of several organ systems.

How do you know if you’re iron deficient? — It’s pretty clear. Do you feel tired all the time, dizzy; get headaches, or leg pains?  These are a sampling of the symptoms, and are especially common in women and intense exercisers.

So, how much iron do you need? — Premenopausal women need 18 milligrams of iron daily and men require 10.

Think you need more iron? — First you need to understand that there are two kinds of iron. Heme and non-heme iron. Heme comes from blood or meat and non-heme comes from plant sources. When consuming iron from non-heme sources you’ll need to help your body absorb the iron by also eating Vitamin C. Vitamin C helps your body absorb the non-heme iron foods you eat, especially when the food containing non-heme iron and the vitamin-C rich food are eaten at the same meal.

Here’s where you can find the best sources of iron — If you opt for the heme form of iron, go for animal products such as liver, clams, salmon, oysters, and sardines. A nice steak will work too. Good non-heme sources are: oats, soybeans, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, spinach, eggs, black currants, fish, dried fruits (figs, apricots), nuts, fortified breakfast cereals, chocolates, tofu; almonds, avocados, beets, dates, kidney and lima beans, lentils, peaches, pears, brown rice and wheat bran, and sesame seeds.

Fun fact — Cooking in a cast iron skillet increases the iron content in food. The longer the food is in contact with the skillet, the more it absorbs.

Just for fun pay attention to your iron intake for a few days and see how you measure up. I’ll bet you aren’t getting enough. Figure it out and prove me wrong! Here’s a chart to help you calculate.

P.s. You do realize that I am not a doctor, right? I just research things that interest me and then share the broken down, nuts and bolts version with you. If you think you have a health problem of any sort it’s important that you contact your healthcare provider.


by 2 Comments

Is it Friday yet?

Geez, I’m not feeling it this week. Not feeling the love! Call me Cranky Kelley. Why? Who the hell knows? I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Everything in my life is moving along smoothly. I have everything and more that should make a person “happy. ” I think the problem is that I need an adventure, some “drama” or some “trouble,” something problematic to talk about. Doing the same wonderful thing day after day does not suit me. I need trouble.

With that I feel that I’ve become boring. I can’t think of anything to talk about that is in the least bit interesting. I have notes on Iron Deficiency and Dry Skin, things that might interest you, but alas…they bore me so I can’t finish them.

When I was young my Dad told me, “ If you don’t bring anything to the party, then you don’t belong there.” Meaning, if you don’t add positively to a situation, then you’re a drip! Another saying I subscribe to is “If you don’t have anything interesting to say, shut the hell up!” That’s how I’ve been feeling the last few days. With that, I shall shut the hell up and offer you a few words that I have stolen from various magazines.

  • Slice a bagel lengthwise into thirds. Keep the ends and toss out the center. You will have the illusion that you’re eating the full bagel, and you’ll save 120 calories.
  • Eat Canadian bacon rather than sausage or regular bacon with your breakfast and you’ll save 100-200 calories.
  • Eat a tablespoon of peanuts and a tablespoon of chocolate chips instead of a pack of Peanut M&M’s and you’ll save 127 calories.

There you go…


by Leave a comment

Like a dog sits for treats, I exercise for cookies

I made some cookies this weekend. They were “healthy” cookies. Meaning, the original recipe had been revised to cut calories and fat in an effort to make a healthier, more figure friendly treat. The problem I have with these sorts of treats is two-fold. First, I find that people think that because something is low-calorie/fat that makes it okay for them to eat twice as much. Second, in my experience these “healthy” foods usually aren’t as fulfilling as their not so healthy counterparts and not worth a single calorie, certainly not 100 plus.

While I’m very conscious of what I put into my mouth, I’m clearly of the thinking that if you’re going to eat something, it should be the very best of it’s kind available to you. Meaning, it should be fully worth the calories it contains.  With that, I am mindful of the relationship between what goes in my mouth and what has been, or is expected to be immediately burned off.

Example: Yesterday I didn’t do much. I cleaned house, baked cookies, talked on the phone for hours and worked on the computer. Sure, I moved around but I didn’t burn off any extra calories. Due to my low-level of movement I chose to eat foods that reflected how I spent my day.  I had yogurt and fruit for breakfast, a grilled chicken sandwich for lunch with some cherries and a big salad for dinner. For a snack I did treat myself to 3 of those “healthy cookies.” After all, I needed to test them. Today however, I went on a 10-mile trail run and participated in an hour of yoga along with a few other household duties. Due to my extended exercise I allowed myself to eat a little more than yesterday. The AM portion of my meals was pretty much the same as the day before, but for dinner I had a yummy pork chop smothered in a mushroom/onion gravy, mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. For dessert, I shared, homemade strawberry shortcake, with vanilla bean ice cream.

Do you get where I’m coming from? It’s pretty simple. Skip the “healthy” cookies, unless you actually like them. Either way, you gotta burn ‘em off. Don’t forget, always choose foods that are freshly made of natural, organic ingredients rather than ingredients you can’t pronounce. Make your eating experience worth the calories and you’ll eat less and feel better.

It’s called The Common Sense Diet.


by Leave a comment

I am one filthy hot mess!

Since I workout outside, there’s never a time when I don’t finish a workout without some sort of chunkage attached to my body in one way or another. Along with the chunkage my clothing is always soaking wet and often salt (from sweat) infused. I look pretty bad sometimes. Today an old Chinese couple seemed very impressed with, or possibly concerned by my appearance as I bounded through my stair climbing/run. I have no idea what they said as they smiled politely and yammered, they had quite a bit to say. It was the hand gesturing that made me come to the conclusion that it was my sweat-covered body and dusting of salt that caught their attention.

My point — No mater who you are, post workout you need to take the time to stretch, eat and clean your body, preferably in that order. You need to stretch out your muscles, feeding them with oxygen rich blood to alleviate soreness, prevent injury and prepare them for future workouts.

Eat as soon as possible after an intense workout — The rule of thumb is to eat a small protein/carb rich meal within one hour of your workout. I eat as soon as I can muster the strength. This window of time is when your body is best suited to replenish what it’s used during your workout, supporting better recovery. Eat real food or suck down a “recovery drink.” I’ve used both, but I prefer real food.

Hit the showers — You stink and there’s fungus growing on those wet cloths and in all your cracks and crevices. The best thing to do is to immediately change out of your wet cloths, stretch and eat. After you’ve eaten, get in the shower and loofah up. Don’t forget to moisturize, all that sweating dries your skin.

After that I usually lay on the floor with my legs up to rest my legs. Do what you like, just make sure to be good to your body and let it recover so it’ll be even stronger for the next workout.

Ooh! Don’t forget to rehydrate with water while you’re doing the above!

P.s. If you liked this post, you may find this earlier MS post interesting.


by Leave a comment

Yummy Ears

Corn Walnut & Feta Salad

Corn on the cob is one of the sheer joys of summer. I absolutely love corn, maybe a little too much. I’ve even been known to plant corn in my garden in San Francisco, which believe it or not yields a fine harvest.

The first thing I learned about corn when I started growing it was that corn is wind pollinated, not pollinated by bees. So, you have to plant corn in short rows in a block, rather than one or two long rows. I didn’t realize that so my very first crop didn’t turn out too well.

Since it’s corn season and we’re starting to see corn at the market I thought I’d take this opportunity to share a few notes about corn.

How to Choose Corn — Look for grassy green, tightly wrapped husks; glossy, pale yellow silks (sticky ones indicate freshly picked ears); and a moist stem. If the market lets you peek inside the husks, check for dried-out kernels; otherwise, squeeze the ear to make sure the kernels are closely spaced, firm, and round.

How to Store Corn — Corn is best eaten within 24 hours of purchasing it but unshucked ears in a bag will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

How to Use Corn — Fresh corn is most delicious at its simplest. Roasted on the grill or boiled and eaten right off the cob. Very fresh corn can be cut off the cob and tossed raw into salads.

To boil corn place shucked ears in a pot of cold water, as soon as the water boils the corn is done.

My very favorite Corn Salad Recipe — (found in Real Simple magazine a few years ago.) Serves 6

1-cup walnuts
4 cups fresh corn kernels (from 4 ears), raw or cooked (I use raw)
2 jalapenos, seeded and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled Feta (2 ounces)

Directions — Heat oven to 400° F. Spread the walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool and roughly chop. In a large bowl, combine the corn, jalapeños, lime juice, oil, walnuts, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle with the Feta before serving.

Nutritional Information — 212 calories per serving, 6 grams protein, 3 grams fiber, 14 grams fat.


by Leave a comment

Geezzz, it’s just not getting much better…

MedBerries

It started on Friday (the 13th), I was meant to fly to San Diego for a Celebration of Life “Party.” Being the Ding Bat, that ageing is turning me into; I drove myself to the wrong airport. After sustaining a panic attach while being informed of my mistake, I finally got myself to San Diego where I realized that I had forgotten to pack a single piece of underwear. Given that I had to wear a dress to the party, this new development tossed me into another frenzy. In the end, I managed to survive the weekend in spite of the fact that at the party a man I’ve known for years called me aside and said with immense enthusiasm… “So, tell me about your partner!” It seems that because I’ve never spoken of the men in my life to this character and the fact that I live in San Francisco, he assumed I must be gay. Normally I could care less but on this day it just added to my emotional exhaustion.

I’m home now and have learned (according to my horoscope in Sunday’s SF Chronicle), that if I can’t “partner up” now, with Mars and Venus in my one-on-one sector, then it’s never going to happen. That’s just f’ing great! I have today, Tuesday, May 17th 2011 to find the man of my dreams and “partner up,” if I don’t, it’ll be just my cat and me until the day I die.

At this point I’ve decided the only thing that’ll make me feel better is to make chocolate dipped strawberries. I want chocolate chip cookies, a three-cheese pizza and a case of wine but I figure I should maintain some control. Just in case “he” shows up.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries — Easy, take a strawberry and dip it into melted chocolate, let it sit on a wax paper lined plate or tray and put in the frig till the chocolate is set.  You can roll the dipped berry in coconut or other nuts before setting if you like but remember the calorie count.

One cup of sliced strawberries contains about 49 calories and 3 grams of fiber plus a lot of other wonderful nutrients. Chocolate covered strawberries contain about 30 calories each. Not as bad as a cookie for sure. In my book a good substitute for those days when having chocolate is simply a must.

That’s all I got for you, gota get busy and hunt a man down.

See ya tomorrow.


by Leave a comment

Radishes, not just for garnish anymore!

Kelley's Roasted Radishes

Before you turn up your nose hear me out! I realize that most people view the radish as one of those things that’s put on a plate for color to make it look pretty. Not necessarily to be eaten. Well, I am here to ask you to give the radish a chance.

Did you know that radishes are a member of the same family as broccoli and cauliflower? They’re also full of fiber and one cup of radishes contains as much potassium as a banana. That’s impressive. Radishes also contain properties that help with digestion and liver function. All great things for those of us looking to drop a few lb’s or do some detoxing.

While radishes can be grown year round, those harvested during winter and spring tend to be more sweet and tender. So, now’s the time to dig in!

While I like to eat radishes raw, I also like to roast them. (Bet you never thought of that!)

Kelley’s Roasted Radishes

2 bunches medium radishes (any color you like, the more colors the merrier)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut washed and dried radishes in half and toss in olive oil and sea salt. Place radishes cut side down on baking sheet and roast until they’re crisp and tender, about 15 – 20 minutes.

I like to serve roasted radishes as a simple side dish or: spread rounds of toasted bread with goat cheese and place radishes on top. Sprinkle with chopped radish tops for extra value!

Come on, everyone deserves a second chance. Especially the radish!


by 1 Comment

Green goodness

Kelley's Rescued Favas

Fava beans are yummy. Ever have any? Problem is they’re a pain to prepare.

Traditionally, before you can eat a fava you have to shuck the green goodness from the pod, blanch them in boiling water and then shock ‘em in an ice bath.  After that you strip the tough outer skin off the bean, reducing it to the size of flat a kidney bean. I’ve always found this to be way too much work for a few beans.  You’d have to shuck for hours to get enough beans to feed more than a couple of people.

In Sunday’s Chronicle Food section there was an article about roasting fava beans. The article stated, that by roasting the beans you’re able to cut way down on the prep time. This sounded like a dream come true to me so off I ran to the farmers market where I filled my bag with favas.

Basically roasting a fava bean is just like roasting any other bean. You toss the clean beans (whole bean/pod) in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast them in the oven at 450 degrees until tender.  According to the article you can eat the entire fava like you would a green bean, or you can treat them like you would edamame and shuck the bean from the pod post roast.

My review — Well, I did exactly as the recipe directed. I roasted the beans for 25 minutes, which turned out to be a bit too long.  A little disappointed but still excited I bit into one of the favas as if it were a green bean. Uck! I found the fibrous shell to be stringy and mushy so I scraped the notion of eating the pod/bean combo and took matters into my own hands.  I stripped beans from their mushy pods, tossed them on a plate, drizzled them with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of pecorino cheese. Saved! They were pretty good. Not as good as the blanched ones that take forever to prepare, but good. Certainly worth a try.  I’ll prepare favas this way again for certain.  The roasting method would be especially good if you wanted to mush the beans up with some garlic and spread the mixture on crostini with a little dusting of cheese.  When in doubt, add bread and cheese, you can’t go wrong.

P.s. According to the National Nutrient Database, one cup of cooked fava beans contain about 187 calories, 13g protein and 9g of fiber and are an excellent source of iron, among other things.  Pretty good for a little bean.


by 1 Comment

The yoke of the matter

Photo via, Lam-B on Flickr

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

I forgot that Easter was coming till I saw the food section of the SF Chronicle on Sunday. It didn’t mention Easter but it spoke of eggs, that’s what clued me in. For me Easter is about eating chocolate, decorating and then eating hardboiled eggs. Who has time for church with all the eating that needs to be done on Easter (blame it on my upbringing if that offends you)?

Anyway… I’ve always had a hard time with eggs. My grandmother once asked me if I liked eggs and I replied, “yea, when they’re in a cake.” More recently I’ve managed to grow a marginal fondness for eggs although I can never seem to figure out how to cook them correctly.  With that I decided to look into the matter.

Stuff I learned about eggs and chickens today.

Who knew? — Each breed of chicken has a specific earlobe color, which predicts the color of the eggshell.  Really? That’s just weird!

Dark is better — The color of the yoke is determined by what the chicken eats. Yoke color can range from light yellow to dark yellow/orange. The darker the yoke, the more nutrients in the chickens diet.

Green? — Ever notice a green or ashy ring around the yoke of a hardboiled egg? The ring forms when you overheat the egg.

Yuck, blood in the yoke — Many people believe that a blood speck in an egg means that it’s fertile. This however is not the case. A deficiency in the chickens diet can cause small blood spots in the yoke, which are unsightly but safe to eat. You can remove the speck using the tip of a knife.

Rotten egg  — Rotten eggs smell like sulfur. If it smells rotten it is rotten.  Also, rotten eggs will float when placed in pot of water, fresh eggs will sink and stay on the bottom.

How to boil an egg — This is where things get confusing, and frankly incredibly annoying. Apparently everybody has a different idea of how to boil an egg.  The Chronicle listed 4 different methods, all just slightly different.  Honestly!

The tips that seem to be somewhat consistent are, place the eggs (room temp eggs best) in a pot of enough cold water to cover them 1-2 inches. Bring to a vigorous bubble, but not rolling boil. Remove from heat, cover and let sit. The “sit” time is confusing, I’ve read, 8 – 15 minutes (maybe it depends on how “hard” you want your egg to be boiled?).  Then place eggs in an ice bath for easy pealing.

The count — One large chicken egg contains about 70 calories and 6 grams of protein. One large Reese’s peanut butter egg contains 180 calories, 4 grams of protein and is 53% fat. Yikes! Better stick with the chicken eggs.

I hope you learned something. I did but I’m still a little confused.


by 1 Comment

Pee-you!

We all know beans can do it. But what if you get gas sans those flatulence culprits?

It could be gas from your stomach that’s migrated down, or other foods you may not be aware of. Did you know some people even swallow air without knowing it?

If you have really stinky gas or know someone who does, how about some charcoal filters for your underpants? Seriously. They make them. I haven’t tried them, but here’s a funny video about the brand called, Subtle Butt.

Gas, flatulence, whatever you call it, you don’t want it! Here are 5 things to remember if you’re having trouble.

  • Eliminate carbonated drinks. These introduce gas into your stomach, which can end up in your intestines.
  • When stressed, try breathing in slowly through your nose and out through your mouth. Some people swallow air without realizing it, usually when they’re anxious. This can cause burping or flatulence.
  • Avoid antacids. Though they’re marketed as anti-gas, they actually create gas when they neutralize stomach acid.
  • Consider your food tolerance. For example, dairy products, onions and garlic cause some of us to blow.

I’ll leave it at that…

P.s. The average person passes gas about 12-25 times a day. That seems like a lot if you ask  me…