Yesterday I wrote about portion sizes, complaining that good nutritional information tends to be published alongside luxuriously unhealthy recipes and other consumption-oriented material. On Wednesday the Free Press basically turns its Life and Entertaiment section into a Food section, with articles about cooking, recipes and a wine column. Today, I found an article out of the Canadian Press covering the start of Nutrition Month – March is Nutrition month for the Dieticians of Canada. This year they are emphasizing portion size.
Category: Fighting Dharma
Pro – The Movie
I saw the Winnipeg premiere of “Pro, A Feature Documentary” last night at the Imax theater in Portage Place. Woodcock Cycle, had promoted it at their store, on their web site, and through the Manitoba Cycling Association. The theater was nearly full, and I think most of the audience were fairly dedicated cyclists.
Portions
This won’t be a stunning insight for many people. I knew it in an abstract way, but I haven’t made a serious effort to live with it. If I, as an adult, am gaining weight in spite of regular exercise, I am eating too much. I eat too much because I eat what I buy or cook, and I am buying and serving large portions.
Late Winter Wax
I skied the Bluestem Trail at Bird’s Hill last Sunday and I drove to Portage and skied some of the Bittersweet trails at Rossendale yesterday. I had problems both days, and it has been a struggle. I am not as fit as I was in the fall, and it gets worse each week. The cycling dropped off in October, and I have not maintained the same level of activity. As Mike says, a weekly game of shinny without proper conditioning and stretching hurts and inspires a week of inactivity. It doesn’t cut it.
Mid-February
Last Thursday Mike and I went to R.A. Steen to skate on the outdoor ice, and we were drawn into a pickup game of shinny which was a lot of fun, as Mike has written. Like Mike, I confess to being a lousy hockey player. The sudden turns, stops and accelerations challenge my skating skill. The sprints challenged my lungs and my aerobic recovery, and the whole thing challenged some muscles that don’t come into play during cylcing and skiing. On Saturday and Sunday I found that it was painful to cough because my abdominal muscles were sore. But, like Mike I would do it again.
The Thursday night shinny was the first of three or four workouts over the last 4 days. I have skied twice, and I had a workout with a snow-shovel this morning.
Personal Time
I took some personal time on Thurday and Friday to drive to Bird’s Hill Park and ski. The weather had been above freezing balmy earlier in the week, and I wanted to ski on before the tracks got too icy. Thursday was cooler at about -8 C and Friday was about -12 C. Back in the (Swix) green wax range.
February Beef Stew
The first recipe I tried in the 2005 Canadian Living Slow Cooker cooking special was a success. I adapted it a bit, mainly in spicing and preparation. It makes about 6 good servings. It’s a simple beef vegetable stew.
Magazine Recipes
Canadian Living Magazine just had a special issue of slow cooker recipes. Canadian Living is a regular monthly publication with recipes, and articles on cooking, decorating and the domestic arts. I usually ignore the regular issues, although I guess it would be ok for a middle-aged metrosexual to browse. Canadian Living also publishes several cookbook specials every year. The cover on this one advertised that it had 135 slow cooker recipes, and tips and tricks, and when I flipped through it, there were several interesting recipes.
Windy Sunday
Steve and I drove to Bird’s Hill Park on Sunday (January 23). We had a good long ski – my longest this winter and Steve’s longest ski in 20 years. It was a good workout, probably the same as cycling 40 or 50k and the best workout I’ve had since November.
Not the Bike
The BBC Web site has a sports page with a cycling section, which has links to a cyber-area that they call the BBC Academy, which has more pages about cycling (and pages about other sports).
The lead news today is that the French judicial system has started to look at a doping allegations against Lance Armstrong. This should keep the sporting world’s eye on cycling and it may ensure that the 2005 Tour gets televised in North America. It’s a great event and TV has learned how to cover it well, but without a strong American presence like Armstrong (or Lemond before him) in the race, it doesn’t seem to be a marketable event in America.
Meanwhile Steve has come to the attention of Mike Magnuson, professor of literature, cyclist, author and redneck as he writes in the Glort blog. Magnuson, like other people we know, began to cycle a lot, almost obsessively, with positive results for his physical health and mental health. He lost weight and invested his energy in cycling and writing about it. Steve liked the book about cycling, but none of us have read any of his other books.