Viva la Siesta!

What a week! A new round of clinicals/lecture/lab and an entire new frontier to conquer! I’ve been describing the overwhelmingness as “drowning” but it has now been downgraded to waterboarding (thus making it NOT qualify as torture).
As well, in the midst of all the academic chaos, several days ago, a very evil person stole my camera while I was at the gym. For those of you who know me, you know I always keep my camera on hand. I feel a bit lost without it and I am not having fun searching for a new one. I prefer not to choose one, instead I prefer for it to choose me. However, since yours truly is going “across the pond” in a few weeks, I need to start taking the camera search process a little more seriously……….

On a healthier note...One of my favorite websites to peruse is always the msn health and fitness site. Recently there was an article on it about the benefits of an afternoon nap, which made me very happy. It just goes to show all the more reason to move to Spain, because Spaniards are Vikings at afternoon siestas!
The article mentions that afternoon naps focus more on the brain rejuvenation than the body. The human body’s capability to learn will sometimes decline by 10 percent between noon and 6pm and a full cycle of REM sleep will help alleviate that. However, a full REM cycle of sleep can last between 90-110 minutes, which isn’t always time appropriate during the work day.
Through my laundry list of psychology classes and from personal experience, I have learned that a full sleep cycle in the middle of the day can leave you extremely groggy for an extended period of time, so I would just go with a cat nap of about 25-45 minutes. It’s enough to make you feel refreshed or “rebooted” for all you bloggers out there!
I also found this photo the other day of my favorite quadrupedal napper , my (not so) little Zuni and me. He was quite the cuddler!

Snack Product Review

I am happy to report that yours truly will be moving on in the program, along with the rest of my fellow classmates! Great job everyone! I look forward to our seemingly never-ending academic endeavors.

This cold weather and gray sky MUST turn around soon. Perhaps it's the winter blahs combined with academic stress but I need to shake this blue funk. Anyone up for a trip to Cuba? That should turn my spirits around. Some sunshine, some beaches, some mountains, some "socialism"........ how could anything go wrong? (cough cough)

Anyway, let's talk about snacks.....

Not sure about the rest of you but I am an official "snackaholic" and I am on a constant quest to find tasty, high nutrient, low calorie, and crunchy snacks. If I had a dollar for every minute I have spent reading snack food product nutrition labels, I wouldn't be writing this blog and we would all be relaxing at my luxury compound in the Galapagos.

When it comes to snacking, there are some snacks which are better than others. Years of research have been put into some of these little treasures and as always, you want to make sure you pay attention to the serving size. One of the things I like about the following snacks is that they actually have decent portion sizes compared to " 7 Doritos = 1 serving." Who on earth eats seven Doritos and feels satisfied?!?! Here are my crunchy faves:

Soy Crisps Although I could eat an entire bag (guilty), these little dudes give you a reasonable serving size, are high in soy protein, high in fiber and low in calories as well as low in fat.

Raw Almonds Although a serving of almonds is good for your health on several levels, you should be careful not to eat too many because they are still high in fat and calories. Granted, they predominantly contain good fat, a small amount can still really add up.

Low Fat Triscuits Very filling serving size, full of fiber and low in fat.

Orville Reddenbockers Light Microwave Popcorn 100 calorie bags A little high on the sodium side but very filling/crunchy, low in fat and a decent amount of dietary fiber.

Low Sodium Dry Roasted Peanuts Same vibe as almonds

Barbara's Snackimal Crackers For the sweet tooth, these have no refined sugars, gluten free, decent serving size, low fat and a little bit of dietary fiber.

Kashi Granola Bars--Dark Chocolate Walnut/Coconut Kashi is a gift from the Nutrition Dios. This particular bar is lowest in calories of their granola bar line and full of fiber, high in protein, and no refined sugars.

Cereals: Kashi Heart to Heart and Cascadian Farms Clifford Crunch Of all cereals on the market, these are two of the best in terms of largest serving with lowest calories, high protein, high fiber, lowest sugar (and no refined sugars). I love to put a serving in a bag and snack on it throughout the day.

Beefy Goodness

I would like to take this time to thank the beautiful 7-Story Downtown Louisville YMCA for being my saving grace of fitness this season. The Spin class and Cardio Lifting class are absolute Aces!

We all need to vary our lifting routines in order to avoid muscle-plateaus and I must say the Y’s lifting class is the perfect recipe. Not as great as British-Guatemalan military drills at the Iron Pit Gym but the Y’s class always guarantees at least one sore body part the following day.

Speaking of great places in Louisville, I took my first Brunch trip to Lynn’s Paradise Café today and had an amazing burger. Although I was extremely tempted by their Belgian Waffle, I decided to treat myself to a Grass-Fed Kentucky Beef Burger topped with Bleu Cheese Pimento Spread. OMG, it was heaven. (sadly, there was no room for dessert with the waffle)

Which brings me to my point of this blog entry and the “skinny” on grass-fed beef. For your information, a 3.5-ounce ( 100g) serving of grass-fed beef has only 2.4 grams of fat, compared with 16.3 grams for conventionally raised beef (if it doesn’t say “grass-fed” on the package, that means the cows have been stuffed full of hormones and artificial filler-foods).

Here’s the impressive info: Grass-fed beef contains more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has been shown to reduce abdominal fat while building lean muscle. It also has more omega-3s and less omega-6s than corn-fed beef. It’s the same with chickens. According to a recent study in the journal, Poultry Science, free-range chickens have significantly more omega-3s than grain-fed chickens do, and less saturated fat and fewer calories than tiny-cage grain-fed varieties.

However, although I would much prefer you eat a veggie burger, if you are going to have a burger, go with the grass-fed beef, your tummy and your corazon will thank you for it! Buen Provecho!