I found a breath of fresh diet-advice air recently. It happened in the form of a New York Times article written by Aaron Carroll, a professor of pediatrics at Indiana State University School of Medicine titled "Simple Rules for Healthy Eating".
Carroll advocates the smart, simple approach to eating that helped me lose 50 pounds and keep it off for more than a decade. Here's the condensed version:
Texas is having a travel moment. Our fair state got a cover spread recently in the New York Times travel section with Robert Draper's "Texas, 3 Ways" profiling Houston, El Paso and Dallas. The state capital earned the spotlight in the Wall Street Journal's "Austin, the Best New Barbecue Destination".
"Texas, 3 Ways"
Yoga in Klyde Warren Park/Image via Klyde Warren Park
Dallas
Klyde Warren Park gets the marquee treatment, describing the park over Woodall Rogers Freeway as an "eco-friendly shredder of stereotypes" with its weekend yoga, food trucks, free books and pet adoptions.
Is the big-haired, plasticity that is my home town gone? Hardly. I am living proof of that (yes, the hair is big but, no, I haven't gone under the knife). Dallas, though, has grown both literally and figuratively in a way that anyone who lived here in the 80's might not recognize.
Houston
I love that Draper chose to focus on Houston's thriving Asian community. Having gone to college at University of Houston, I discovered the wonderful Vietnamese community the Bayou City had to offer, mainly in food form. I lived on Kim Son's delicious cuisine before it was a chain and scouted tiny Vietnamese holes-in-the-wall downtown.
Draper is more interested in the unique spots on Bellaire Boulevard which are, undoubtedly, worth a visit, especially the Hong Kong City Mall. I would make the argument that Houston's Asian community is SO much more than one stretch of Bellaire Boulevard.
El Paso
I have only flown through El Paso and have never experienced the city. Given it's Mexican influences, I would love it.
I joke that Austin is the Brooklyn of Texas. This piece doesn't introduce those who know Austin to anything, food-wise, that's earth shattering. Author Adam Graham hit Salt Lick BBQ and Franklin's BBQ. Meat Craft is a relative newcomer to the mix that is worth a visit.
He does mention a hotel I haven't had the pleasure of visiting: Hotel Ella, an historic property dating back to 1900 that opened as a hotel in 2013.
Your Turn: Share Your Favorite Texas Travel Spot
Bahlmorhea State Park/Image via Texas Parks & Wildlife
Do you have a favorite Texas vacation destination? I love that whole Big Bend area, Balmorhea State Park, Marfa or a good trip to the Hill Country. What am I missing? Please share your favorite Texas travel stops in the comments section.
Then this Sunday's New York Times said it's all about four minutes.
Here's a quick excerpt from the story:
Half began a supervised exercise program that reiterated the
Norwegian researchers’ former routine. After briefly warming up, these
volunteers ran on a treadmill at 90 percent of their maximal heart rate —
a tiring pace, says Dr. Tjonna, at which “you cannot talk in full
sentences, but can use single words” — for four four-minute intervals,
with three minutes of slow walking between, followed by a brief
cool-down. The entire session was repeated three times a week for 10
weeks.
The second group, however, completed only one four-minute strenuous run. They, too, exercised three times a week for 10 weeks.
At
the end of the program, the men had increased their maximal oxygen
uptake, or endurance capacity, by an average of 10 percent or more, with
no significant differences in the gains between the two groups.
Crossfit gyms and spinning studios are the 2013 version of the cupcake craze. They're popping up everywhere from urban street corners to the burbs.
There's pilates, barre burn classes and boxing studios. The options are endless. Suggestions as to how much and when you should exercise are more confusing than a Kardashian family tree.
So what should you do? Here's my take culled over 25 years of exercising, playing sports, gaining weight, losing weight and keeping it off for more than a decade.
Is this the workout of your dreams? In your own home? No gym required?
Perhaps.
The latest research from the American College of Sports Medicine's Health and Fitness Journalindicates all you need is a high intensity, seven-minute workout for fitness. Again, we're not talking about professional athletes or people who need to look a certain way for their jobs. This is about the average person. The key is you have to WORK for those seven minutes. Don't donkeyjack.
The study is pretty intensive in its scientific jargon. Sunday's New York Times Magazine does a good job putting the results in layman's terms.
At least that's what a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham determined. According to the results published in Exercise & Science in Sports & Medicine, four workouts a week might be the sweet spot.
"We think that the women in the twice-a-week and four-times-a-week groups felt more energized and physically capable" after several months of training than they had at the start of the study, says Gary Hunter, a U.A.B. professor who led the experiment. Based on conversations with the women, he says he thinks they began opting for stairs over escalators and walking for pleasure.
The women working out six times a week, though, reacted very differently. "They complained to us that working out six times a week took too much time," Dr. Hunter says. Rather, they felt pressed for time and reacted, it seems, by making choices like driving instead of walking and impatiently avoiding the stairs"
Just from my experience, I've found the less is more approach to be more effective. When I was training for marathons, I gained weight because I ate more and was so tired that I was pretty much a sloth the rest of the day. When I exercise too much during the week, say six times, the workouts aren't the highest quality. There's can be a "going through the motions" aspect to them. My sweet spot is around five workouts a week with one of those five being a simple power walk with the family. That's something any of us can do. The workouts don't have to be long ones either. 30-45 minutes of quality exercise. I did just that this Friday morning with one Texas Rangers executive before our day began at spring training.
The New York Times recently published a great series offering "The History of New York in 50 Objects" inspired by the BBC's radio series"A History of the World in 100 Objects." The idea was to feature tangible things that capture the essence and history of a city. New York items such as the ubiquitous MetroCard, the AIDS button, the Greek coffee cup and a bagel all immediately come to mind.
New Orleans Water Meter
New Orleans has things like the fabulous water meter lids. Las Vegas has casino tokens. Chicago has pizza. You get the idea.
What about Dallas? What captures the essence of our town?
Reunion Tower
Reunion Tower? That's a building. Pegasus? The new Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge? Sure, they come to mind but they don't quite fit the bill.
A large can of hair spray? A Neiman Marcus credit card? Big diamonds? A Mambo Taxi? Lee Harvey Oswald's bullet?
Those pop into my head immediately. But I struggle to think of something so iconic that truly screams DALLAS. Can you?
Is it because our city has a branding problem? Does Dallas have an identity? You can say it's one of commerce. Dallas is a relatively friendly environment in which to do business. I say this coming from a long line of self-made entrepreneurs. My grandfather was an early real estate developer in Oak Cliff. My stepfather had a gallery in Caruth Plaza for years. My mother still has her boutique residential real estate firm headquartered in Lakewood. My biological father started and sold an oil and natural gas company in the 70's before the big 1980's Dallas payday that had everyone building ranches in downtown Dallas or buying diamonds by the ton. You can make a lot of things happen in this town.
But can you name something, a simple tangible object that says "Dallas"? If you could tell the story of this city through items that represent it, what would be on the list? A State Fair of Texas food coupon? A Tolltag? Help me.
I love great hooch more than the next person. I will spend triple digits on a quality bottle of wine if it's part of an experience that my friends and I will cherish for years to come.
Praying this has been stored properly!
But even more than great pricey bottle, I love a good wine value. Eric Asimov has a great feature in Thursday's New York Times profiling what he considers "12 Values in American Wines".
Grignolino? From Napa Valley? While other producers have converted their
Napa vineyards of esoteric grapes into more lucrative cabernet
sauvignon, Heitz has held out and continues to make this ruby-colored
red, bone dry with dark, spicy flavors and a refreshing bitterness.
Both wonderful bottles and perfect hostess gifts that will never disappoint.
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