Month: June 2004

If a pill could significantly lower the risk of heart attack, diabetes, stroke, osteoporosis and breast and colon cancer while reducing weight, cholesterol levels, constipation, depression and impotence and also increase muscle mass, flatten the belly and reshape the thighs even as it reduced the risk of age-related dementia and made you better-looking — and had no negative side effects — there would be panic in the streets. The American economy would tip into chaos. The military would have to be called in to secure supplies of the medication.

Luckily, there is no such pill.

But a large and growing body of credible research demonstrates that taking a good walk most days of the week can deliver all of the health benefits cited above and more (although we admit the “better-looking” part is harder to prove).

Yes, walking. You know: one foot in front of the other, repeat, rinse, repeat…

…[Early] in your walk your adrenal glands begin secreting adrenaline, which gets into your bloodstream and signals your heart to beat faster and causes your blood pressure to go up. The heart then begins to pump more blood away from the chest and into the muscles of the limbs you’re using to get yourself down the street. As a result, blood vessels in the arms and legs begin to expand as they’re fed more nutrients and oxygen by the blood.

As your heart rate climbs, you’re taking more breaths per minute, sometimes increasing your oxygen intake to 10 times the amount you’d be taking in if you were sitting still. As the muscles receive more blood, they begin to use up carbohydrates and sugar starches they’ve stored. Metabolism — the process by which the body breaks down materials and converts them to fuel — speeds up. As a result, so does digestion.

All this activity causes the brain to release endorphins into the bloodstream. Endorphins, which have chemical properties similar to opium, are responsible for blocking pain and ushering in that cozy sense of well-being you feel as soon as your walk ends. Additionally, exercise causes the brain to release an abundance of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which works to elevate mood.

And that’s all during the course of one walk. If you walk regularly, you can expect exponentially more benefits. [Redfearn]

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Redfearn, Suz. “Take a Walk.” The Washington Post. 1 October 2002. <www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A17484-2002Sep28> (7 June 2004).

Breakfast was a bowl of pineapple and banana slices, two slices of toasted whole wheat bread with homemade strawberry jam, and two cups of coffee. I weighed 158 pounds.

At the office, I had a cup of Earl Grey Tea

I made the four mile campus loop over lunch today. Along the way I stopped at Irving’s and had a pizza bagel and an orange dreamsicle, which — despite having what I would have said was a trademarked name — is a delightful cross between a smoothie and a milk shake made from orange juice and vanilla frozen yogurt.

Dinner was sheppard’s pie, a garden salad, a glass of Placido Primavera Sangiovese, and a bottle of Saranac Pale Ale with some vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Breakfast was a bowl of pineapple and banana slices, two slices of toasted Italian bread with homemade strawberry jam, a glass of orange juice, and three cups of coffee. I weighed 158 pounds.

Lunch was a couple of hands full of peanuts and a bottle of Saranac Pale Ale.

Dinner was fajitas. We used an extra steak that we had grilled and frozen a while ago. Gretchen made up some whole wheat tortillas. We fried up some onion and red bell pepper and finished them off with a little of our marinade. Some lettuce, some grated cheddar cheese, and a little of our homemade salsa completed the recipe. We washed them down with two bottles of Saranac Pale Ale. Tasty!

Breakfast was a bowl of pineapple and banana slices, two slices of toasted Italian bread with homemade strawberry jam, a glass of orange juice, and two cups of coffee. I weighed 158 pounds.

For lunch, Gretchen made a turkey rice soup. I had two bowls with two slices of Italian bread along with a bottle of Saranac Pale Ale.

We each had another bottle of Saranac Pale Ale while watching Smarty Jones run in the Belmont Stakes.

Dinner was a sloppy joe sandwiche on a homemade bun, a garden salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, and a Saranac Pale Ale.

Breakfast was a bowl of cold cereal with sliced banana, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of coffee. I weighed 157 pounds.

I had a cup of coffee at the office this morning.

I walked over to the HUB and had two slices of cheese pizza, a bag of potato chips, and a small sierra mist. On the way back, I walked through the State College Farmer’s Market. The local produce pretty much consisted of lettuce and strawberries. We have enough lettuce from the garden for now and we are getting strawberries in the CSA share. The walk was about three miles.

For dinner, Gretchen got us each an egg roll from Dorothy’s at the local Giant. Then we moved on to a spinach salad with radish slices and Balsamic Vinaigrette. Both the spinach and the radish were from the CSA, which Gretchen picked up today along with the rest of our weekly share. We each had two bottles of Saranac Pale Ale to drink. We finished with a strawberry sundae. Gretchen took the pint of strawberries that we got in our CSA share this week and used her Mom’s glaze pie filling recipe to make a fresh strawberry sauce for our dessert, which she served over French vanilla ice cream.

Glaze Pie Filling Recipe

…also makes a great dessert topping!

• 1 quart Fruit, cleaned, chunked, and divided into 1 cup and 3 cups
• ¾ cup Water
• 1 cup Sugar
• 3 tablespoons Corn Starch
• 1 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
• 1 pinch Salt

1. Combine 1 cup fruit and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for about four minutes.
2. Mix the sugar and corn starch and add to the saucepan.
3. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and clear.
4. Stir in the butter and the salt.
5. Cool.
6. Pour syrup over 3 cups fresh fruit.

Here is my workout for today. I went to the MBNA Fitness Center again.

1. 5 minute warm-up on the treadmill at 4 mph
2. 12 repetitions at 110 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Compound Row
3. 5 repetitions at 65 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Overhead Press
4. 10 repetitions at 75 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Lateral Raise
5. 12² repetitions at 125 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Lower Back
6. 12² repetitions at 80 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Abdominal
7. 10 repetitions at 55 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Biceps Curl
8. 7 repetitions at 45 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Triceps Extension
9. 11 repetitions at 5 on the Hoist Prone Leg Curl
10. 12² repetitions at 95 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Leg Extension
11. 8 repetitions at 240 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Leg Press
12. 12² repetitions at 80 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Super Pullover
13. 12² repetitions at 120 pounds on the Nautilus Combo Lat Pulldown
14. 12¹ repetitions at 70 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Vertical Chest
15. 12¹ repetitions at 65 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Incline Press
16. 12² repetitions at 80 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Seated Dip
17. 12² repetitions at 95 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Adductor
18. 12 repetitions at 170 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Abductor
19. 8 repetitions at 4 on the Hoist Rear Delt
20. 10 repetitions at 95 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Pec Fly
21. 12² repetitions at 100 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Rotary Torso
22. 12³ repetitions at 160 on the Hoist Standing Calf
23. 5 minute cool-down on the treadmill at 4 mph.

Standard Disclaimer: Any set of twelve repetitions is an indication that the weight could be too light. Likewise, any set that is less then eight is an indication that the weight is too high. Work out at the weight where you can just manage eight repetitions and then work at that weight until you can get back to twelve. Stay at twelve for a three times — as indicated by the superscript — and then increase the weight by 5 pounds.

Breakfast was an over-easy, fried egg, two links of Ruth’s maple venison sausage, a glass of orange juice, and two cups of coffee.

We had our annual all-staff meeting today in one of the lecture halls in Osmond Laboratory. It is about three miles round trip, which I walked. It was from noon til three, and the first part was billed as an “ice cream social.” I sampled a little bit of the Penn State Creamery Heath Bar Crunch and a little of the Black Cow. Apart from that, I did not have any lunch.

Dinner was a garden salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, three slices of garlic toast, a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and a glass of Placido Primavera Sangiovese.

Breakfast was a bowl of cold cereal with banana slices and a glass of orange juice. I weighed 157 pounds.

Over lunch I walked the three mile circuit to the HUB and picked up some Panda Express California rolls (8), Inari rolls (3), and a green tea boba.

Dinner was whole wheat spaghetti with canned sauce from Ruth at the dairy farm down the street with some of her pork sausage browned up in it, as well, a garden salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, and 2 bottles of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

I went to the MBNA Fitness Center to work out again today. I normally go on Mondays, but yesterday was Memorial Day and the fitness center was closed.

1. 5 minute warm-up on the treadmill at 3.5 mph
2. 12 repetitions at 95 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Compound Row
3. 8 repetitions at 65 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Overhead Press
4. 9 repetitions at 75 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Lateral Raise
5. 12¹ repetitions at 125 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Lower Back
6. 12¹ repetitions at 80 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Abdominal
7. 10 repetitions at 55 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Biceps Curl
8. 12¹ repetitions at 45 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Triceps Extension
9. 8 repetitions at 5 on the Hoist Prone Leg Curl
10. 12¹ repetitions at 95 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Leg Extension
11. 10 repetitions at 240 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Leg Press
12. 12¹ repetitions at 80 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Super Pullover
13. 12¹ repetitions at 120 pounds on the Nautilus Combo Lat Pulldown
14. 6 repetitions at 80 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Vertical Chest
15. 8 repetitions at 65 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Incline Press
16. 12¹ repetitions at 80 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Seated Dip
17. 12¹ repetitions at 95 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Adductor
18. 12 repetitions at 155 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Abductor
19. 11 repetitions at 95 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Pec Fly
20. 12¹ repetitions at 100 pounds on the Nautilus Nitro Rotary Torso
21. 12² repetitions at 160 on the Hoist Standing Calf
22. 5 minute cool-down on the treadmill at 3.5 mph.

Standard Disclaimer: Any set of twelve repetitions is an indication that the weight could be too light. Likewise, any set that is less then eight is an indication that the weight is too high. Work out at the weight where you can just manage eight repetitions and then work at that weight until you can get back to twelve. Stay at twelve for a three times — as indicated by the superscript — and then increase the weight by 5 pounds.

Breakfast was a slice of cherry pie and two cups of coffee. I weighed 158 pounds (which sound like it is moving the wrong direction, but at the same time I seem to have lost another inch off of my waistline — perhaps something to do with working out and muscle being denser than fat?).

I had two cups of coffee at the office this morning.

I did the 4⅜ mile town loop over lunch. Along the way I stopped at Taco Bell for two bean burritos.

Dinner was two bowls of lo mein, a slice of cherry pie, and 1½ bottles of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.