Affordable, high-quality food: $1 a day is all it takes

Over the last couple of months, we've acquired our orders from Big Coulee Farms, our supplier of pastured beef, pork, chicken, and turkey. We were excited to have our turkeys in time for Thanksgiving, and just last week, we had our first meal of pork chops in many months. We only ordered chickens in bulk last year, so when Rusty and Agnes ran out of pork chops we were out of luck until our own order was ready this year. They tasted even better than I remember them. Sorry, there is no photo, we all ate them before I even thought of breaking out the camera or iPhone for a photo. Here is a shot of the freezer and the pork. I'll try to add a photo of the finished dinner product in a future post.

Freezer full of goodness.

Just yesterday I called BCF and spoke to Vicky to order some eggs for this coming week. It was then that she informed me our split side of beef would also be ready for pick-up. When I got off the telephone, I added up our total costs for the bulk orders that will last us until next fall (note: this is not counting bi-weekly eggs in this total). It breaks down like this:

• 8 chickens ~$250
• 3 turkeys ~ $280
• 1 pig $594
• beef, split side (1/4 beef) ~ $507
• total = ~ $1,630

I don't have the totals for the poultry close to hand, so include the "~" as a qualifier in my totals. Bear in mind that each of our chickens can easily last for two meals for our famiy of four, and then be turned into stock, the turkeys are 18-19 pounds, our pork was just shy of 99 pounds, and we will be getting more than 60 pounds of beef, I figure. Quite a few meals of humanely, naturally-raised, pasture-fed livestock. It can't get much better than that.

One criticism that people level against eating pasture-raised animals is that the costs are prohibitively expensive. Yes, I realize that not everyone has a large freezer. But given what I am about to describe, it may be worth the initial start-up expense. These simple calculations show that even our large order, when considered in a per day, per person manner, works out to be pretty darned cost effective. You be the judge.

For $1,630 this works out to about $135 per month, about $30 per week, or $1.11 per day, per person for our family of four. When I look at it this way, it makes me wonder why it took us so long to "see the light" and start feeding our family this way. The next time that you hear someone talking about how they can't afford to eat real, healthy food, ask yourself this: Do you spend $1 per day on what you consume? Of course you do. Shouldn't you get your money's worth?

UPDATE 17 November 2012: I just picked up our split side of beef - it came to 82.4 lbs! So we have we now have about 275 pounds of pasture-raised beef, pork, chicken, and turkey in our freezer. 

sturdyteam registered for MS Walk 2012

sturdyteam at the 2011 MS Walk

We are once again completing the MS Walk (in Edmonton again this year) to raise awareness of and funds for MS research and related programs. As many (most, all?) know, I was diagnosed with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis in 2009. The disease initially affected my vision and balance. I have been on 2 different medications in the past almost 3 years, Rebif and now Copaxone. (both are injectable - I have written about this before). I have also completely overhauled my diet, fitness, and lifestyle. I won't bore you with the details, but many of the links on the side of my blog lead to other sites that are in line with my changes. Things have been going very well with only small bumps in the road (mostly from the medications themselves). I do not know for certain how much of this is due to the medications, other significant lifestyle changes I have made, or just luck. I guess it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Nothing sounds sweeter than people telling me that "they had no idea" that I had MS. I hope to keep it this way. Please consider sponsoring us and supporting this worthwhile cause. 

21.4 minutes or 4 years - you decide

This is my 100th blog post and it may be one of the most important I have written (some might argue that none up until now were important, so at least I am marking the 100th milestone by upping my game). 


Many people feel that they don't have adequate time to eat properly (i.e., eat real, actual food, not the latest cure-all supplement or meal replacement) or to exercise (read: move your body). Well, in a new study reported on today, that 21.4 minutes per day that you save not exercising (they recommend a paltry 150 minutes a week or 21.4 minutes a day) will cost you 4 years that you could have lived. It's your choice: 21.4 minutes per day of some form of activity, or meet your maker 4 years sooner. Moreover, consuming 5 or more servings per day of fruits and vegetables can also add an extra 1.3 years on average to your life. The arithmetic is simple: a little investment now will pay dividends later.

Stand UP!

Here's my most recent "invention" - a stand-up workstation in my departmental office. I have been using this for about a month and really enjoy it. I encourage all to give this a whirl. There have been recent studies related to the perils of all the sitting we do each day (see Mark Sisson's post here, for instance), so, I got off my keester, literally, and did something about it.

 I finally got around to posting this after seeing similar posts on Richard Nikoley's blog on John Durant's blog and with some prodding from one of my students (thanks to AM for that!).

Another reason to *not* sit too much. And here too (and the pressures between work and life).

It's all about you

People are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of good nutrition as a part of good overall health and well being. This is good. The problem is that everyone wants a quick fix to their problems, whether it is carrying too much weight, hypertension, digestive issues, or whatever. And they want their quick fix to "fit into" or to "work" with their very busy lives. 

But at the end of the day, the only person responsible for your health and wellness is you. Not your spouse, children, friends, relatives, neighbours, colleagues, and certainly not spokespeople for the current "solution" du jour.

You. 

And while you may be busy, or busier than the next person whom you compare yourself with, you control your health choices. And if you make poor, or suboptimal decisions, do you know who is going to pay the price?

You.

Oh, your family, friends and the like will be saddened that you have to spend time with doctors, in hospital or whatever. But they'll get over it. Eventually. You may not. In fact, your choices may result in very serious consequences and even contribute in a very real way to your eventual demise.

Now I'm not claiming that I have always made excellent, or even mediocre decisions at some points, when it comes to my health and wellness. It has been a long, ever-evolving process. I have made plenty of missteps along the way. I like to delude myself into thinking that I have learned from them and will avoid them in the future. Who knows? Only time will tell. 

What I do know is that each one of us as individuals have to decide for ourselves how to make the most of our time here, and that nutrition plays a key role. And nutrition starts with the consumption of food. Real food. Not as Michael Pollan calls it, "food-like substances". Food.

My own road has led me to adopt a Primal/Paleo style diet, that is leading more and more towards strict Paleo (started with no grains, legumes, sugar, processed food, and now moving towards an elimination of dairy too). I feel great, eat great food, and exercise in a manner that is consistent with our evolutionary history. 

I encourage everyone to more carefully consider their health and wellness as the primary focus at the centre of their busy lives, and not something peripheral that only needs to be dealt with when an MD directs them to "eat healthier and get some exercise".

Here's some banana-almond pancakes as a reward for reading this long-winded post. 

Summer Vacation and Primal Grannie

Here is a recent dessert; blueberries, grapes, walnuts and cream.

We are on vacation for the next little while so my posting will be limited. My knee is healing up, but still a bit twingy here and there. My fitness has mostly been walking and some limited bodyweight exercises. Also of note/interest: My 99 year old grandmother just joined me for a primal lunch of mixed greens, avocado, cold grilled strip loin with apple in a olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing! More posts may or may not follow in the next few days.

Get yer sleep!

In case you thought you were getting enough sleep by skimping and only getting 6-ish hours of sleep a night, think again. Recent results from a two week sleep study show that there are many problems displayed by subjects who were deprived, and that these were worse than the subjects themselves were even aware of. 

For years I skimped on my sleep, but in the past year or so (since my MS diagnosis) I have made a real effort to get enough sleep (i.e., more than 7 hours a night). So far it has gone pretty well and I feel good. This study makes me think I had better keep at it.

Spring is here! (For now, at least)

Here's the view from my front window about one week ago.

And here's the view on my walk this morning.

Needless to say the weather has had a hard time making up its mind lately, but it looks like spring is actually here to  stay. I have a fair bit to post about, but for now will just stick to an update on my workouts, post back tweak. I modified my exercise routines and took it easy when my back was stiff/sore and changed my LHT workout to one with dumbbells instead of a barbell. I also took a pass at sprinting on land and instead did a swim sprint workout and skipped my HIIT/Bodyweight workout (lots of jumping around in it). Other than that, and having a couple of extra easy days, all was as normal and now my back is, well, back (to normal). And with no ibuprofen or other meds.

Here's the deal.

Saturday 1 May

• made some vitamin D on the deck
• Walk about 1 hr 40 min to the lake (above, different day) and back

Sunday 2 May

• Walk ~ 30 min
• PM Yoga ~ 25 min

Monday 3 May

• Walk 20 min

Tuesday 4 May

• Yoga, 45 min, Rodney Yee's Energy Balance
• Walk, 25 min
• PM Yoga, freestyle ~ 25 min

Wednesday 5 May

• Walk, 20 min
• Swim, 1,000 m, 21:14 (much better than the last 2 weeks), 150 yd cool down
• Walk, 30 min

Thursday 6 May

• Walk, 20 min
• LHT/Wicked Awesome Dumbbell Workout
• One arm (right) neutral grip dead lift, biceps curl up to standing overhead press, Turkish getup, standing overhead press and biceps curl down to one arm deadlift down; repeat on left side
• Two arm deadlift up, lunge left/right, split squat left/right, two leg squat, two arm biceps curl to standing overhead press, biceps curl down, neutral grip deadlift down
• Repeated this X 10, first 2 with 2 X 20 lbs dumbbells and the last 8 wit 25 lbs dumbbells; TULs between about 1:30 to 1:50; need to keep really slow but a great workout; may need some heavier dumbbells!

Friday 7 May

• Walk, 25 min
• Swim, 1,000 m 21:10 (ish - watch FAIL stopping the timer) plus 50 yd cool down
• Walk, 25 min

Saturday 8 May

• Walks, 45 min, 20 min

That'll have to do for now...at least I am one less week behind. Soon I hope to turn to more posts about what I am up to or thinking about besides my workouts. 

On the lookout for fitness

The MS Walk was a great success on many fronts: fundraising, family bonding, raising awareness and a real sense that people with MS are not alone. And the 10 km walk was a great, relaxing way to spend the morning getting low level cardio the way we are meant to get it.

Here are my workouts for the past week. The only hiccup is a sore lower back that flared up after Wednesday's LHT/HIT session. It didn't happen until later after sitting for some time at my desk. The pain and stiffness in my back has been brewing for a bit and I think it is a combination of poor posture and extended periods of time sitting (especially at my desk in front of my computer) combined with less yoga/flexibility work than I should be doing (my yoga class at the University ended at the start of April and a new one starts in just under 2 weeks) and, possibly, a sight lapse in lifting form. I am more inclined to think it is the posture/sitting/reduced flexibility that are the more likely causes than the lifting, since I have been lifting for months with nothing similar, but have spent even more time sitting recently.
Anyway, I have been taking it a bit easy, as you'll read, to let things heal up. I'll just focus on walking, some swimming and yoga but not pushing any of these activities too hard.

Here's the deal.

Saturday 24 April

• Walk ~ 25 min 

Sunday 25 April

• St. Albert MS Walk 2010 - 10 km, 1 hr 43 minutes
• Walks X 2 ~ 58 min and 15 min (with the dogs who stayed home from the MS Walk - that is them "On Duty" in the photo at the top, not pining for us to return as they stay in their crates when we are out)

Monday 26 April

• Walks X 2 ~ 25 and 15 min
• Swim, 1,000 m, 21:55 (faster and easier than last week)

Tuesday 27 April

• Walks X 2 ~ 20 min each
• Yoga, Rodney Yee Strength and Flexibility DVD (did the "Flexibility" workout) ~ 28 min

Wednesday 28 April

• Walks X 2 ~ 20 min each
• LHT/HIT/SS:
• Bent over rows X 8, TUL = 1:42, 70 lb barbell
• Standing overhead press X 3.5/4.5, TUL = 1:08, 70 lb barbell
• Deadlifts X 5, TUL = 1:20, 110 lb barbell
• Bench press X 5, TUL =  60 s, 90 lb barbell
• Squats X 9.5, TUL = 1:53, 90 lb barbell
• as usual, having a rach to walk into for squats would make it easier to get to positive failure and then unload
• Yoga forward bends etc. to loosen stiff muscles in lower back

Thursday 29 April

• Walks X 2, ~ 20 min each
• Swim ~ 550 m, slow, 13:28

Friday 30 April

• Walks X 3, ~ 20, 20 and 30 min each
• back still a little stiff, maybe some yoga later or else just rest

I was going to add some food shots here too, but I think I'll save that for another post including tales of my first attempt at Thai red curry beef soup with coconut milk and cilantro! Until then.

sturdyteam at the 2010 St. Albert MS Walk

Well, we did it; 10 kms in 1:43, including the girls, sick spouse, and the girls' friend from school (who took the photo above). It started out quite gray and cloudy, but we didn't get rain or snow and they were forecasting both. There were a lot of people participating and tons volunteering. It was a great time and we plan to do it again next year for sure. The last time I checked we were over $3,400 in pledges. Thank you to all who donated! Here is the story in photos.

Morning weather.

Let's do this!

Lots of people up early for the walk.

And we're off!

Past St. Albert Place and the Sturgeon River.

Nice scenery on the walk.

About 3 kms in and still smiling.

We're on the right path at least.

Stroll around Lacombe Park Lake.

In the home stretch.

There it is!

Almost...

Success! Now where's the coffee?

Approval from my former student, Scott, who now works for the MS Society. Irony = lots.

Aren't they cute?

They're the reason why I walk: to find a cure so they don't have to deal with MS.

Work outs of the Week (and a bit)

I have been remiss in posting for a while. The end of the academic term is always busy and this one is no exception. The SO, kids and I are participating in our first MS Walk tomorrow morning at 9:00 am; 10 km and hopefully no rain or snow, or at least not too much of it.

Here's the workout deal for the past little while.

Thursday 15 April

• Walks X 2, 20 and 30 minutes, respectively 

Friday 16 April

• Sprinting: 
• walk ~ 10 min warm up; 6 X ~ 40-50 m @~50% with about 20 s between each; 6 X ~ 50 m @~ 75-80% with about 60 s between each (some of these ended in "tag" with Finlay); walk ~ 10 min cool down (nice, warm and sunny, ~ 18 C) 
• Walk ~ 25 min 

Saturday 17 April

• Walks X 2, 15 and ~ 35 min, respectively 

Sunday 18 April

• HIIT/Bodyweight: 
• 60 s each of: Jumping jacks (X 57), Burpees (X 15), Plank, Triceps dips (X 41), Prisoner squats (X 36), Wall sit, Side plank (left side), Lunge jumps (X 78), Side plank (right side), Wall sit (no push ups this time b/c of stiff lower back and tweaked right wrist) 
• Walks X 2, ~20 min each 

Monday 19 April

• Walks X 3, 20 min (kids to school), 50 min (from department around Hawerlak Park and back) and 40 minutes (very warm and sunny 20 C+) 

Tuesday 20 April

• Walks X 2, ~ 20 min each 
• Swim, 1,000m, 25:10 (slow!) 

Wednesday 21 April

• LHT/HIT/SS: 
• Bent over rows X 6, TUL = 1:23, 70 lb barbell 
• Standing overhead press, X 3.25, TUL = 1:07, 75 lb barbell 
• Deadlifts, X 4.5, TUL = 1:05, 110 lb barbell 
• Bench press, X 3, TUL = 43 s, 100 lb barbell 
• Squats, X 11, TUL = 1:43, 80 lb barbell 
• Walk ~ 20 min 

Thursday 22 April

• Walk ~ 35 min 

Friday 23 April

• Yoga - Eoin Finn Daily Dose of Bliss, 42 min 
• Walks X 2. 25-30 and 35+ minutes 

In virtually all cases, unless I am at work, all of my walks are with my small furry partners, Libby and Finlay, pictured at the top of this post. Finlay is hidden under the comforter behind Libby.

Florida Fitness

I have no other good reason for not posting for over two weeks other than the fury that characterizes the end of the academic term. Throw in a conference on the other corner of the continent (Melbourne Beach, Florida - the view one morning from my balcony is above) and a reasonably successful attempt at getting more quality sleep and well, here I am with some catching up to do. Because of this I may beak it up, posting the lost weeks of fitness and other miscellanea in separate posts.


Here's the Florida fitness deal:


Monday 22 March

• Walks X 3, ~ 20 min each

Tuesday 23 March

• Travel to Florida
• Ashtanga Yoga; ~ 40 minutes just before bed

Wednesday 24 March

• Walk, 60 minutes, barefoot on the beach (!!!!)

Thursday 25 March

• Ashtanga yoga; 40 minutes, sun salutations to the sunrise through the sliding doors and large windows that face the ocean in my room!!! See the photo above for a representative morning. What a way to start the day.

Friday 26 March

• HIIT/Bodyweight/LHT
• 60 s each of: Jumping jacks (X 53), Burpees (X 13), Wall sit, Plank, Prisoner squats (X ??), Side plank (Left side), Lunge jumps (X ??), Triceps dips (X 40), Side plank (Right side), Plank, Child's pose
• unreal, 11 minutes of exercise, < 15 minutes total duration, all done in my room, and all done in when complete

• Walk ~ 30 min on beach, barefoot

Saturday 27 March

• Sprinting (on the beach! wore shoes - need some 5 fingers):
• walk 5 min to warm up
• 6 X ~ 15 s @ 50% with about 30 s rest between each
• 6 X ~ 10-15 s @ 75-80% with about 60 s rest between each
• walk 5 min to cool down

• Walk ~ 40 min barefoot on the beach

Sunday 28 March

• Travel back to Edmonton/St. Albert
• Sprinting from one end of Denver International Airport Concourse B to the other, carrying briefcase!

I'll get last week's fitness posted shortly...one more class to teach this term, and then it's time to make some progress on our research. Until next time.

Week of Fitness and Rest

Kind of an oxymoron of a title but true. I have made, and for the most part, succeeded at getting good, quality rest this week, on the order of 7-8 solid hours. No mean feat given that I have been waking at 6:00-6:30. This has really impacted me, I think, in a positive way. I have also decided to reduce, but not eliminate my caffeine (coffee) intake. Sad but true. I need to aim for low single digits in the number of total cups per day, preferably somewhere in the vicinity of 2-3. So far, so good. I had far less Friday, none yesterday, and 2 espressos today.

Here's the deal for a week of working out etc:

Sunday

• very short walks and some strolling while shopping; essentially a rest day

Monday

• Bodyweight/HIIT/LHT; 60 s each (with about 10-20 s between exercises):

• Jumping jacks X 57
• Prisoner squats X 28
• Burpees X ~15
• Wall sit
• Lunge jumps ~ 60
• Push ups X 26
• Air squats X 28
• Triceps dips X 31
• Plank
• Side plank (left side)
• Side plank (right side)
• Unilateral plank (left leg)
• Unilateral plank (right leg)
• Burpees X 10
• Wall sit

This took about 20 minutes total and I was done, dripping and breathless. I think I will sprinkle the planks throughout the workout next time, because 6 minutes in a row is too much.

• walk: 20 minutes

Time keeps flying

Once again the week passed by in a blur. Lots happening at work and at home. I visited the kids' school twice, once to talk about my work (that seemed to go well) and once with the SO to see informational/fundraising presentations by Daughter #1's grade (very well done I must say!). Things are ramping up a bit at work with talk and poster preparations for a local conference this coming Friday and then an international conference the following week. This on top of the usual manuscript editing, lecture preparation and lecturing, midterm administration etc. All in all, running on all cylinders. At least everything seems to be going more or less as planned.

On the exercise side of things, the workouts have been pretty good, even great. The only slight hiccup this past week is that my knees are giving me a bit of a twinge here and there. Nothing major, just letting me know that they are there and that I should pay attention to them. I am not certain what is causing this but I have played around with wearing my orthotics and, for the most part as I have been doing for a while, going without them. I don't notice any difference in the knee department but I do feel like the orthotics seem to overstretch my plantar fascia.

One thing I am thinking of trying this week is to replace my LHT/TUL/SS workout using weights with a bodyweight workout, in case the weighted squats and/or deadlifts are aggravating my knees. Richard over at Free the Animal recently posted about changing up his LHT routine and the positive results that he felt. Reading this and with my knees talking to me, I figure I should give it a whirl. Not to mention that I have been on the weights for a while now, and with reducing my LHT workouts to once a week I miss the bodyweight workouts that I used to do in addition to the LHT weight workouts. I came up with a couple of bodyweight/HIIT type workouts that take between 10-15 minutes of actual exercising and will work just about every muscle group and, if history holds, will leave me out of breath and wishing I was on the weights! I'll post again to update with what specifically I use for the workout; I plan to do this tomorrow morning.

In the midnight hour (and the rest of the week, too)

Given the time I am finishing this post and the subject of the photo above, I figured the title of the post was fitting. Not to mention, I haven't been away on purpose at this time of night very often lately.

I can't believe that here it is Saturday again. The week was filled with the usual things like taking the kids to school and to their activities and the normal work stuff (lectures, manuscript editing/writing etc.). We also had a prospective graduate student visit the lab so there were meetings and meals out to chat and for her to get to know what we are all about. On Friday, I participated in a "work/life balance forum" for the graduate students in the department. I didn't feel particularly "balanced", but my wife and I seem to make it work most times, so I guess I had something to offer.

Speaking of balance, I did manage to maintain a good diet and keep up the exercise in spite of the busier than normal week. When going out to dinner I chose the grilled tuna salad for dinner and for lunch the next day wings with sweet potato fries. The fries were "lightly breaded" with something (likely a grain product) but on balance there was a higher sweet potato content than whatever the breading was made from. Tonight there were some wings and sweet potato fries again (habit? rut? you be the judge) and then some dry ribs. There was no breading on these fries (different restaurant) but there was something that may have been corn meal on the dry ribs. I need to ask about these things before ordering, but again, there was way more rib than the light coating, whatever it was made of.

There were also some fitness activities of many varieties this past week.

Here's the (long) deal:

Sunday:

• About a 30 minute walk at a brisk pace with the dogs.

Monday:

• LHT/TUL/SS;
• Bent over rows - X 13, TUL = 1:30, 60 lb barbell
• Standing overhead press - X 7.5, TUL = 1:09, 60 lb barbell (need to keep slow)
• Deadlifts - X 13, TUL = 2:31, 70 lb barbell (stopped when form broke down)
• Bench press - X 8, TUL = 56 s, 90 lb barbell
• Squats - X 10, TUL = 1:15, 80 lb barbell
• Curls - X 6.5, TUL = 59 s, 2 X 25 lb dumbbells

• I also went for a walk with the dogs in the morning (~ 40 min) and at night (~ 20 min brisk).

My week in review

This week was a busy one. Maybe a bit busier than normal and next week promises to be even be busier. I didn't even realize that it had been almost a week since my last post. I don't think I have any photos of my family, dogs, or cooking exploits, so I'll just stick provide a quick activity overview here.

Monday's exercise consisted on a 45 minute walk with the dogs after dropping the kids off at school, and another short one at night. Tuesday was much the same with a morning and night time walk. Wednesday I has a great Ashtanga yoga practice at the University and the usual short amble about to get the dogs to deliver their messages. Thursday I walked with the dogs in the morning and at night. Friday I had a solid 1,100 yd/1,000 m swim.

Here's the deal:

• 250 yds free in about 4:40
• 250 yds pull in about 4:38
• 250 yds free in about 4:40
• 375 yds pull in about 7:30

I felt pretty darn good, I think in part because I rested (other than some walking) on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Today I helped out one of my students by stacking some boxes in their moving van and may go for a short walk tonight, but I believe that allowing my body to really rest on days that I do not lift, swim, sprint or practice yoga is working out for me. I do kind of miss not sprinting this week, however, so I'll have to try to squeeze one in next week. If my body agrees with my decision, that is.

Second half of the week and weekend round up

Thursday the SO and I walked the kids and dogs to school. Later on I channelled some of daughter #1's sprinting fever and took Finaly and Libby along with the SO to the park at the kids' school for some outdoor sprinting in the snow, the first sprinting outside since last fall. .It was a great day, bright, sunny and right about +4 C.

Here's the deal:

• walk to the park ~ 10 minutes for warm up; stretch
• 6-7 X ~15s/~ 60 m @ 50% with about 20-30s rest between each
• 6 X ~12s/~60 m @ 85% with about 60 s rest between the first 3 and then less between the last 3
• walk home from the park ~ 10 minutes for cool down

Later on we walked to and from the school again to retrieve the kids.

On Friday, we (the SO and I) walked the kids to school and went for a bit more of a walk afterward (~ 25 minutes) and then I made it to the University and had a very good 1,000 m swim.

Here the swimming deal:

• 250 yds freestyle
• 250 kick (mostly all flutter kick, but some whip kick)
• 350 yds pull
• 250 yds free (a length or two of breast mixed in here)

It was pretty fair considering I am only swimming about once a week, down from the 2-3 times I used to swim.

Saturday I took it easy and just went for a walk with the SO of about 25 minutes before the pub night fundraiser - I had more confirmation that I am not young any more, and after that little excursion, I think it is just as well!

On Sunday the dogs and I took our kids and our friends kids (who slept over) sledding at the park. Here's a shot of our very own future skeleton racer, daughter #2, literally "heading down" the hill.

Later on that afternoon I cut my rest between lifting workouts from 7 to 6 days and did my LHT/SS (Lift Heavy Things/Super Slow) workout, with a couple of twists. Instead of only doing the "Big 5" a la Body By Science, I added 2 more exercises to make it a "Big 7".

Here's the LHT/SS deal:

• bent over row - TUL 1:06, 13 reps, 70 lb barbell
• standing overhead press - TUL 56 s, 7.5 reps, 70 lb barbell
• dead lift - TUL 2:00, 12 reps, 70 lb barbell
• bench press - TUL 1:26, 12 reps, 70 lb barbell
• squats - TUL 1:35, 14 reps, 70 lb barbell
• curls - (a) TUL 27 s, 2.5 reps, 70 lb barbell (b) TUL 1:43, 12.5 reps, 2 X 20 lb dumbbells
• pull ups - TUL ~ 20 s, 2.5 reps

I need to keep my form, but did a better job at it this time. I also need to start my watch before the barbell is on my shoulders for squats! For this workout I defined "failure" as when my form seriously broke down. This may not be "true" failure, but I think I will still get benefits while keeping myself safe and injury free by maintaining good form. Tomorrow, maybe I'll do some yoga in the morning.

Here's a couple of shots of my tasty brunch; a red onion, blue cheese and Hungarian salami omelette. This with a French press of my Greg Danks Burundi coffee and 18% cream was just about as close as you could get to a perfect brunch meal.

Oh, and here's a shot of Finlay watching the Canada-USA Olympic hockey game. His interest reflects the way the game went for Team Canada.

Family Day LHT/TUL workout through to Hump Day

For the Family Day Holiday I did a LHT/TUL Body By Science Big 5 for Free Weights workout. I am still tweaking things here and there, but this is coming along, and I think that lifting heacy only once a week (with some yoga, sprinting, swimming and walking) seems to be working for me.

Here's the deal:

Bent over row - 16 reps; TUL = 2:03; 60 lb barbell

Standing overhead press - 9.5 reps; TUL = 1:21; 60 lb barbell

Deadlift - 14 reps; TUL = 2:02; 90 lb barbell

Bench press - 6 reps; TUL = 48 s; 100 lb barbell

Squats - 17 reps; TUL = 1:50; 70 lb barbell

I still need to watch my form (back) on the deadlifts and maybe up the weight a bit on squats and the overhead press. The one issue with the squats is that I could really use a rack to get the bar heavy enough and into position more easily that just man handling it up the way I am doing now.

Later on Family Day the SO and I went for a nice, brisk 35 minute walk together with the dogs; I did the usual putzing with the dogs to get the "job" done before we all went to sleep. Tuesday I went for another walk with the dogs after taking the kids to school (about 35 minutes again) followed by the evening stroll.

This morning I got up early after a solid 7 hour(ish) sleep, and did a 53 minute Eoin Finn Yoga practice ("Strong, Free and Happy") before walking the kids to school with the dogs and SO and getting to work.

I got to sneak a peak at daughter #1's track meet at the University, but missed seeing her team win their heat (but I did see one of the boys' teams from her school win their heat). I'll try to channel their enthusiasm when I do my own sprint workout tomorrow, possibly on the same track!

Family Day and Valentine's Day Long Weekend

After I walked the kids (and dogs) to school in the morning, I managed to get some work done on a manuscript and then make it to the pool at the University on Friday for a steady 1,000 yard (20 minute) swim before an afternoon meeting. A good start to the day all around.

I started yesterday off great, receiving the new Blue Rodeo Double CD, The Things We Left Behind, and a large, dark chocolate heart from the local Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory from the SO - thanks honey! I reciprocated with the strawberries from the same local shop pictured here.

For lunch I fried up some French fries (done in bacon grease - no photo, I ate them too quickly!) and with half of an avocado and some fresh cut pineapple for dessert. After lunch the dogs and I went for a nice 40 minute (plus?) walk on a breeze, brisk day, before the SO and I went out for a fancy Valentine's Day dinner at a local restaurant. (I may blog about this experience later.)

We had a great time and lots of laughs. I think she is a closet food critic. My meal was 98% Primal, with only a small stick of phyllo pastry invading my yam and potato soup. My main course was bison rib eye (rare) served over tasty mashed potatoes, asparagus, yellow beet, bok choy, with a fruit compote and mustard sauce. More about the meal in a later post. The day ended with the normal "all business" dog stroll before bed.

The dogs and I went for a brisk 25 minute walk in the bright sunshine this afternoon. When I returned, I made this lunch that I dreamed up (and drooled about) on the walk; Smoked oysters on radishes or cucumber with old cheddar cheese, and avocado, polished off with a couple of squares of dark, 85% Lindt chocolate. Yummy!