A few readers have asked me to offer up a list of my favorite books. That’s always a tough call since typically my favorite book is the one I’ve just finished (I also typically don’t finish a book I don’t like). Nevertheless, there are a few books that are probably more relevant to MDA and my health and fitness philosophies than others. In no particular order, here are five novels and five from the “health/medicine/fitness” category that come to mind as having shaped my worldview one way or another.
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Primal Lifestyle
As reports of tainted food continue to roll in, more Americans are questioning the safety of a now largely imported food supply. Add to these fears the lack of disclosure and labeling laws for foreign and domestic genetically modified foods, and consumers feel as though they’ve been hung out to dry by the food industry and the government agencies they expect will protect their families.
In the face of these concerns and in keeping with the recent trend toward “eating local,” CSA (community supported agriculture) farms present a reasonably priced alternative to grocery store fare. Consumers become “members” of the farms, buying a share of the annual yield, which can include not just vegetables and fruits but meat, poultry, eggs, coffee, and dairy items. Members often pay a fraction of what they would at the grocery store, especially for organic/grass-fed items. Deliveries come every week to two weeks and extend through the region’s growing and harvest season. Some CSAs offer special winter packages or holiday baskets.
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Primal Lifestyle
Back in September, we told you about a new independent film called King Corn that, as the title suggested, was poised to blow the roof off the concept of the American food industry by telling us that everything – and I mean everything – we eat contains corn!
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News
Ever heard of it?
If you are a regular to MDA and you subscribe to a Primal Health lifestyle I’m guessing it is likely. If not, now you have.
Crossfit is a type of physical training that blends power lifting, gymnastics and sprinting. Why do we like it? Because it fairly closely aligns with our Primal fitness philosophy in which variety, weight-bearing activity and anaerobic exercise is key. Here is a great description of CrossFit:
CrossFit maintains that proficiency is required in each of 10 fitness domains: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and accuracy. CrossFit uses free weights, kettlebells, gymnastics rings, pull-up bars and many calisthenics exercises. CrossFit may call on athletes to skip, run, row, climb ropes, jump up on boxes, flip giant tires, and carry odd objects. They can also squat and explode up to bounce medicine balls against walls.
CrossFit workouts typically call for athletes to work hard and fast, often with no rest. Many CrossFit gyms use scoring and ranking systems, transforming workouts into sport. CrossFit publishes its own journal and certifies its own trainers. Many CrossFit athletes and trainers see themselves as part of a contrarian insurgent movement that questions conventional fitness wisdom.
via Wikipedia
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Fitness, Lift Heavy Things, Sprint
There are many good things that could be said about NBC’s The Biggest Loser. I can give it accolades for its goal to help people lose weight through exercise and, more importantly, by completely re-thinking their diets. And I can praise it for the inspiration it has instilled in many people around the country to follow in the footsteps of the contestants on their own weight loss journeys.
But nobody’s perfect.
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Weight Loss
Ah, Wal-Mart. The unfurled flags, the cheery patriotism, the aw-shucks Americana.
Not.
Prices are always falling at Wal-Mart, but the speed with which this American corporation slashes its ethics continues to best even the cheapest foreign-made widget’s gleeful descent into the dollar bin.
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News
The world is moving faster and we are finding ever more ways to be connected. PDAs, cell phones, texting, twittering, blogging, wifi, Hotspots, iPhones, iPods – who can keep up? Life is stressful enough, but it seems every commercial I see these days is bragging about the featured product’s ability to give you more and faster ways to do work in your car, on the subway, even on your vacation!
Slow down and you risk watching the world (and possibly that hot career opportunity) speed by. Try to master it all and you risk burnout. It’s only been a decade since we all got truly accustomed to using and shopping the web and talking on our mobiles while we drive. I don’t have the cage-fighting skills my teen texters possess (though I get to pay the bills). I confess I’m amazed at how rapidly kids these days can consume and master new technology and media. But Vince Poscente makes an interesting argument in his new book The Age of Speed: rather than slow down and avoid joining the fray, jump in to avoid being stressed out by it. In other words, to beat the game, you have to play it, not sit it out. Is this hyper zen?
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Primal Lifestyle, Stress Management
If you have your DNA analyzed (say, by submitting a strand of hair or a scrape of skin cells), you might be surprised to learn that you are almost entirely made of…corn.
Or so we learn from a riot of an independent film just hitting the festival circuit. If you liked Supersize Me, King Corn is a film you don’t want to miss. I had the opportunity to review an advance copy earlier this year and I was thoroughly impressed by the quality and the information. The story is pretty humorous, to boot.
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News
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