Tommy Lundberg, an exercise researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden, and the author of The Physiology of Resistance Training, says that strength training is far more important than most people realize.
“You get improved glucose control, especially if you have Type 2 diabetes,” he says. “You feel better —which is a very important effect, as it can reduce stress levels — and you typically get better sleep. As you age, it helps you function better so you can carry out your daily activities for a longer period of time. It also helps reduce your risk of falls.” https://www.newsmax.com/health/health-news/strength-training-resistance-longevity/2024/01/24/id/1150856/
Still Not a Vegan?
On average, 86 percent of people surveyed for Statista’s Consumer Insights in 21 countries said that their diet contained meat – highlighting that despite the trend around meat substitutes and plant-based products, eating meat remains the norm almost everywhere in the world. To satisfy the world’s hunger for meat, 340 million tons of it were produced globally in 2021. Because meat consumption typically increases as countries grow wealthier, that number has been rising.
Eating Meat Is the Norm Almost Everywhere — https://www.statista.com/chart/24899/meat-consumption-by-country/
I had a vegan meal while posting this. Just sayin’.
Papa, Why Don’t You Celebrate Your Half-Birthday?
Today is my half-birthday on The Road to 70. The question came from my 6.5 year old granddaughter on her 6.5 half-birthday. My initial response was totally adult, something about not celebrating half-birthdays the older you get. But the more I pondered the question the more the real answer should have been why not? So for the first time in a very long time I am celebrating my half-birthday today. No party, no cake, no presents. I’m simply basking in having created the life I wanted and still being around to write about it.
I don’t feel old. I know I’m old. I felt old a few years back when this happened:
And unlike some of my relatives, I grew up.
I knew I grew up when I stopped buying/collecting guitars. I finally cured myself of the proper number of guitars equation.
(I think this one is still in a guitar bag somewhere in the house, forgotten until I saw this picture.)
Two I released into the wild that somehow ended up in Owasso Oklahoma.
After a four year hiatus due to The Great Pandemic I rejoined the Y and got back to some serious resistance training. It didn’t take long to discover various muscle groups of mine that had stopped working. Absolutely no surprises here since I sit on my butt for hours on end, working, writing, reading. So to commemorate my half-birthday and to prevent other muscle groups from withering away I started a new age-friendly exercise. Rucking.
There’s no denying rucking is an efficient workout. The added weight on your back strengthens your legs and trunk, while simultaneously giving you a low-impact cardio session. These benefits increase when you add hills to the mix. Heading uphill with a pack pushes your VO2 max, while going downhill challenges your stability and eccentric muscle control, according to longevity expert Peter Attita.
I Rucked Every Day for a Month—Here’s What I Learned — https://www.outsideonline.com/health/training-performance/30-days-of-rucking/
It was a short ruck, with maybe 15 pounds in my backpack and my calves are telling me I need to do this more often.
My half-birthday happened to fall on the last day of the NBA regular season. Although I wrote “no presents” it would be awfully wonderful if the Thunder finished the season with the number one seed going into the playoffs.
If any of my relatives in Oklahoma happen to read this post you can tell Tiny Human #1 I celebrated my half-birthday this year. And for the curious who would like to see a current snap of the 6.5 year old, here you go.
A Saturday Afternoon Confession (and Electronic Sticky Note)
Saturday 3/30
I haven’t been writing much lately. My personal journal shows numerous gaps. My blogs show numerous gaps and much longer gaps in between posts. The dearth of words scares me and the Master of Overthinking starts to ask the question why? The Mojo is not as strong as it has been in the past. Maybe it’s just from getting older. Or spending more time doing other things. I’m probably not writing as much because I AM spending more time doing other things.
Recently two different people who have known me a long time delivered the same message to me. One was my barber, the other a relative.
“You look thin. You’re keeping the weight off.”
“You’ve lost weight.”
The Master of Overthinking once more started to think. What changed? My weight is stable and fluctuates between 173 and 175. I’ve tweaked my diet many times but haven’t tweaked in quite some time. So what changed?
Towards the end of last year The Boss felt I needed to get out of the house more. She knows all too well I could go 100% hermit at this point in my life. The Boss posed a simple question:
“Why don’t you rejoin the Y?”
The Master of Overthinking thought about this. Too much togetherness? Does she need more alone time? Was I becoming a hermit?
Well, I guess I could use more exercise. So I signed up at the Y and started getting back into my old routines at the beginning of the year. Four years ago I cancelled my membership due to the Covid pandemic. I didn’t want to keep paying monthly dues for something that wasn’t going to be used. I had always intended to rejoin at a later time. But one month came and went followed by the years. It was time to get back to old ways.
Due to the long layoff I focused first on resistance training. I had been doing resistance work at home with light weights and bands. I convinced myself that was enough to keep what was left of my muscle mass from shrinking to nothing. But adding a circuit of resistance machines has made a difference. I weigh the same but Mr. Muffin is smaller. After three months the changes are noticeable. When your barber notices the change…
To make a short story long I’m spending more of my time going to the Y. I’ve also been reading more and writing less. But I feel the Mojo returning. I’m back.
Electronic Sticky Note Time
Take-Out Style Vegetable Lo Mein from https://www.bluezones.com/recipe/take-out-style-vegetable-lo-mein/ which was reprinted from the Essential Wok Cookbook: A Simple Chinese Cookbook for Stir-Fry, Dim Sum, and Other Restaurant Favorites by Naomi Imatome-Yun, copyright ©2015.
OR…
Scary Charts 03.16.24
From 2019 to 2023, the all-food Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 25.0 percent—a higher increase than the all-items CPI, which grew 19.2 percent over the same period. Food price increases were below the 27.1-percent increase in transportation costs, but they rose faster than housing, medical care, and all other major categories. Food price increases in 2020–21 were largely driven by shifting consumption patterns and supply chain disruptions resulting from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2022, food prices increased faster than any year since 1979, partly due to a highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak that affected egg and poultry prices and the conflict in Ukraine which compounded other economy-wide inflationary pressures such as high energy costs. Food price growth slowed in 2023 as wholesale food prices and these other inflationary factors eased from 2022.https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/food-prices-and-spending/
I had just turned 65 when my contract was terminated. At the time I was working for a company that outsourced people with my skill set to companies that needed people with my skill set. I was fairly confident I would be placed with another client. During the call where I was told about the contract ending my boss asked,
“Are you going to retire or do you want to keep working?”
I was in reasonably good health and enjoying my job so I said I wanted to keep working. If my reasonably good health held up along with a willing employer I hoped to work until age 70 and defer collecting social security to achieve my maximum monthly retirement benefit. The promised 8% increase to my monthly benefit for each full year I delayed benefits beyond full retirement age was quite attractive. Plus if I expired first you know who would get this higher monthly payout until her expiration.
Well guess who’s turning 70 this year? So far, so good. And in all honesty I never factored inflation into my keep working until 70 strategy. But with most things costing more nowadays I’m twice as glad I made the decision to not retire. Now I’m crafting my work until 75 strategy. It focuses on diet, nutrition, exercise and other lifestyle issues. This is a food blog, after all.
Can you imagine how much you could save each month if you just subtracted your cellphone bill, internet, and cable/streaming subscriptions? Probably enough to cover the grocery bill and then some.
Plus, more young people have student loans than ever before, and everyone pays more for healthcare than in the past. I think this is one of the reasons higher food prices are so painful for so many households. There are so many other budgetary line items these days that an increase in grocery store prices becomes even more painful.
Inflation at the Grocery Store — https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2024/03/inflation-at-the-grocery-store/
Year in Review – 2023
But make it again and The Tiny Human may change her mind. ”I don’t like that!” which no parent has ever heard from their child.
Another year, another championship.
Our grand-donkey got painted for the 4th of July.
These people were aggressive and called my cell phone. I told them I’d be very happy to sell them a property I don’t own.
RIP.
Ski Chile ! (mountains all look the same to this Flatlander)
Future artist.
If you live in the US or Canada quit complaining.
YouTube put this suggestion at the top of my For You list of must watch videos.
AND I also get this in my feed:
But at least I’m not Cody.
I didn’t go to Maine.
A quiet anniversary dinner at home on New Year’s Eve.
In with the new and out with the old.
Trouble in Paradise,,,Confirmed
Two-thirds of those surveyed said they overindulge in food, nearly 45% said they take a break from exercise and more than half report feeling tired and have less time for themselves. Plus, a third admit they drink more alcohol during the holidays.
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Survey finds Americans struggle to maintain healthy habits during the holiday season.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 December 2023 —https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231204135305.htm
Trouble in Paradise (it’s Weight Gain Season again) confirmed.
BTW I’m hanging around 175 and SO FAR still hanging around 175.
Yeah!
Trouble in Paradise (it’s Weight Gain Season again)
“Competition puts hurdles in front of you that you have to clear.”
OKC Thunder coach Mark Daigneault
Here’s the same chart I posted from last year that is attributed to the New England Journal of Medicine. I could never find the original source article.
Take Home Lesson
“God speaks to us through signs. It is important to allow angels to act. When we see ourselves repeating our ordinary routine, we realize how much wealth surrounds our life. We understand each step, each attitude. We discover important things, and useless thoughts. At the end of a week – discipline is always fundamental – we are more conscious of our faults and distractions, but we also understand that, at times, there was no reason to act the way we did, that we followed our impulses, our intuition; and now we begin to understand this silent language which God uses in order to show us the true path. Call it intuition, signs, instinct, coincidence, any name will do – what matters is that through “conscious attention” we realize that we are often guided to the right decision. And this makes us stronger and more confident.”
Paulo Coelho
Happy Thanksgiving!
New and Improved! Sour Cream Chicken Enchillada Casserole
Updated 11.05.13
The Boss: “I’ll make the sauce.”
Me: “Why?”
The Boss: “Because your sauce is too thin and the casserole gets too runny.”
Recipes change with time and repeated preparations. But sometimes the changes you’ve made were not necessarily an improvement to the dish. Lesson learned. Time to update this family classic. You don’t want the original recipe. Don’t use One Rotisserire Chicken, 50 Meals – #3 Sour Cream Chicken Enchillada Casserole. Make this one.
Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- 8 ounces Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
- 4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 C butter
- 2 T. flour
- 3/4 C. sour cream
- 1 3/4 C. chicken broth
- 1 small can mild green chiles
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- Two rotisserie chickens, meat taken off the bones, cubed (yes two chickens)
- 18 yellow corn tortillas
- Saute onions in butter, add flour then broth. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Add chiles and sour cream and heat. Be careful to not let the sauce boil. Set aside.
- Butter a 9 x 12 casserole dish.
- Layer three corn tortillas. Cover generously with chicken. Add jack cheese. Sauce. Repeat.
- The final layer of corn tortillas is covered with sauce only, no cheese yet.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes covered until bubbly. Remove cover, add cheddar cheese to the top. Return to the oven for 10 minutes to allow cheese to melt.
- After cheese has melted, remove from the oven and allow to sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before serving.
This recipe started with a version from Delicioso! Cooking South Texas Style. The original recipe from the cookbook has sour cream sauce quantities similar to the updated version and not the too thin, too runny, bad quantities I had been using. The original also called for a full pound of Monterrey Jack cheese, no cheddar. Uh, no. Also included were jalapenos which would be wicked good but by subbing mild green chilies you get a child friendly dish if you know what I mean and I think you do.
Tips – Cut up the chicken first and snack on those tiny tidbits of meat that you have to pick off the bones with your fingers. Do not use pre-shredded cheese. Period. Trust your significant other when she says your sauce is too thin and it makes the casserole too runny. Make some fresh Guacamole – Asian Inspired and Updated and serve with chips. Beans and rice for sides obviously. Don’t forget the beer.
The Two Chicken Change to the Recipe –
Two birds because all of the ones you find in the grocery stores (not Costco) are really small. We used to call them Cornish Hens. Seriously, pigeons are bigger than the rotisserie chickens nowadays.
How To Reduce Your Risk of Developing DM2 (type 2 diabetes)
Replacing one serving of red meat a day with a serving of plant-based protein sources like nuts or legumes decreased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 30%, and substituting a serving of red meat for dairy decreased the risk by 22%.
More Than One Red Meat Serving A Week Can Increase Diabetes Risk — https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/10/19/more-than-one-red-meat-serving-a-week-can-increase-diabetes-risk-study-finds/
The Forbes article has links to other research studies on meat consumption and health.
Link to the Harvard press release — Red meat consumption associated with increased type 2 diabetes risk — https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/red-meat-consumption-associated-with-increased-type-2-diabetes-risk/
The study featured in the articles above was published on Thursday, October 19, in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
My Personal Opinion
If you eat meat, eat less. If you don’t eat meat, consider the occasional meal with meat for its nutritional benefits. My diet is approximately 75% meat-free, I do not have diabetes.
garyskitchen.net 