A Friendly Nudge
...because we could all use a little encouragement!
How did the food tasting experiment go? Any aha moments?
How are your exercise snacks going?
Any favorites yet?
I love helping people discover that they’re good cooks and that making delicious food is so much more doable and affordable than they realized. Once someone figures that out, magic starts to happen. If we give our bodies the protein and the nutrients that it’s looking for we don’t have to walk around hungry all the time and we don’t feel like a bottomless pit that never knows the wonderful feeling of satiety.
This week the food/cooking spotlight is on what I call breakfast hash. My version has ground beef, onions, mushrooms, red, yellow or orange bell peppers, kale and sometimes goat cheese. You could use ground pork, lamb or even turkey and easily add other or different vegetables or cheeses that you prefer. I always cook a big enough batch for 2 or 3 days worth of breakfast. That way all I have to do is warm it up and top it with a couple of fried eggs. And I’ll usually add some sauerkraut and salsa on top of the eggs to add some brightness and funk to the flavor. (Sauerkraut is also a great probiotic that supports gut health.)
One of James Clear’s (author of Atomic Habits) rules for habit formation is to make the new habit easy. Breakfast hash is a great way to put that rule into practice.
The first exercise snack that I’m going to suggest this week is to go for a walk. Extra points if you can go for a hike in nature. I understand that weather or mobility might overrule me, but if possible, get outside for a few minutes today.
Getting outside and moving is something that’s baked into our DNA. Walking gave us a huge evolutionary advantage–it’s a big piece of what makes us human and it’s a type of activity that our body craves and needs to stay healthy. Share in the comments your favorite form of outside activity.
The second snack for this week is another form of balance exercise. We’ll call it the Balance ABCs. Falls are the leading cause of accidental death in older adults, so everything we can do to improve our balance improves our odds of aging on our own terms. For this exercise, you’re going to stand on one leg and trace the ABCs with your other foot. Mine look like hieroglyphics, but I always did have funky handwriting.
Bird Dogs are such a great exercise because they check a lot of boxes. Core, shoulders, glutes, balance, coordination–there’s a lot to love. From a rep stand point, shoot for 10 but remember that if you start to feel your form fade at 6 that’s a sign to stop.
This is a great one to spread throughout the day!
This week we’re going to add a little mobility work to the party.
We spend a lot of time sitting on our hips, but unfortunately that doesn’t do anything to strengthen them or to improve our range of motion. This is an exercise that we can do while sitting that actually improves our strength and range of motion. Since this one pushes our hip flexors, adductors and has us doing hip internal rotation, it’s tougher than it looks so go easy on yourself.
My goal with the exercise snacks is to provide some variety without overwhelming you with too many options.
If you’re hunkered down in a blizzard, going outside for a stroll may not be an option, but otherwise I hope you’re able to enjoy some time outside this week.
The ABCs, Bird Dogs and Hip Internal Rotations from this week’s newsletter will pair nicely with some pushups, squats and carries from previous weeks.
I’d love to hear if you added your own special touches to this week’s breakfast hash.
See you next week.
Jim