Job Loyalty?

This isn't directly related to fitness/health but as overall well being and happiness are often tied to how one spends the majority of their time I suppose it's not that far off.

I'm not eluding to anything specific here, just having some thoughts (as I always do).

Should loyalty towards your employer rank higher than happiness for yourself?  Have you ever stayed in a job because you didn't want to mess things up for your employer?  When taking a job, do you continue to look and figure things can always change?

I do sometimes take an employer's feelings in to account, is this wrong?  When I think about it, it seems like it might be.  Hmmm.

Just curious about people's thoughts on this topic.  Happy Friday!!!  A much needed weekend!

Although it won't be too restful as I have my usual class tomorrow morning and then on Sunday I'm scheduled to participate in a 3 hour training ride for my upcoming Spin Odyssey event.  Yup, 3 hours!  I have taught 3 classes in one day, but not all in a row.  Should be interesting.  Think of me on Sunday when you're relaxing and enjoying your weekend.

Oh yeah, happy holiday I don't really believe it!  (that would be valentine's day)

Best Things to Do for Your Body - Part 1

Yay again to Women's Fitness magazine which always has interesting articles and features.  I've wanted to subscribe for months now but wanted a deal better than $0.99/issue.  Well this past weekend I bought an issue on the newsstand and when I saw that it was $4.99, the .99 didn't seem so bad.  Planning on subscribing within the week.  But anyway...

They published a list of called The 76 Best Things To Do For Your Body - Now
So i'm doing my part and sharing the info.  They challenge you to do five a week.

Know your body

• Know your body composition (unfortunately the BMI index isn't the best calculator, they encourage a bioelectric impedance analysis and say it's available at many gyms)
• Know your family's health history
• Know your cancer risk
• Know your cholesterol levels
• Know your resting heart rate (the lower the number the better) - take your pulse in the morning when you're most relaxed, measure the beats in 10seconds then multiply it by 6.  An ideal number is between 60-80 (lower if you're athletic).
• Know your waist to hip ratio - measure your waist at the smallest point, measure your hips at the widest.  Divide the first number by the second.  An ideal ratio is 0.8 or lower.

Salad

My amazing friend Jamie sent me this link to an article about salad greens.

It caught my attention even more as I went to the supermarket today and purchased a bag of salad greens.

The article says to wash any greens, even if they say they've already been washed or even triple washed.  I've never done this but am now thinking I should start.

Which brings me to another item...the salad spinner?  Anyone have one and would you recommend it?  My hesitation is that it's big and I have limited storage space.  Thoughts?

Spin Ride

I had read on another spinning blog an idea about doing an "all request" class.  I mentioned it to a couple of my classes and one seemed more interested than the other.  I brought in little slips of paper for them to write on, announced when i'd do the class and asked for requests.  I got requests from about 5 people, not nearly enough for a class so I polled some friends on facebook and then added their songs (as well as a few that I liked).

I didn't expect much from this ride and was pleasantly surprised when it turned out as good as it did.  The music was good and it was a tough workout (always good).

I hope you find it helpful!

Running down a dream - Tom Petty - 4:23
Warm up, my usual mix of seated flat and running (standing 2).

Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol - 4:28
Slow heavy seated climb.

Single Ladies - Beyonce - 3:47
Running

Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves - 3:57
Jumps for 2-3 minutes (I usually do 6 counts, switching to 4 for the last minute or so).

Please Don't Leave Me - Pink - 3:54
Seated Climb

Calle Ocho - Pitbull - 3:05
Climbing, 20s in standing 2, 20s in 3, 20s seated, adding after each completed set.  Sometimes I adjust this and spent more time in a standing climb.

No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand - 3:42
Jumps, again 2-3 minutes, starting with 6 counts, going to 4 counts half way through.

Independent Women - Neyo - 3:52
Seated climb.

Empire State of Mind - Jay Z - 4:37
Standing climb

Hot & Cold - Katie Perry - 3:40
Slight resistance, running on chorus, adding resistance as song progresses

SheWolf - Shakira - 3:08
Seated climb, standing climb on chorus

Beat It - Michael Jackson - 4:18
Standing climb, ending heavy

Cool down (don't remember my music here).

Happy spinning!

Hidden Sodium

I had a conversation with my  mother earlier today about how the Cosi multigrain bread really isn't any better than the rustic version.  She mentioned receiving something in the mail recently which talked about the sodium content in potato chips versus pancake mix and how you'd be surprised to learn which had more.

This got me thinking and made me want to look in to this further.  So here's what I found.

A generic 8oz bag of salted potato chips has 1348mg of sodium (56% of the daily value). 
One cup of pancake mix (poured from the box) contains 1579mg of sodium (66% of the daily value).

Would you have ever guessed that in terms of sodium pancakes are worse than potato chips?  I wouldn't!

Read those labels folks!

Artificial Sweetners

This is a topic I've wanted to address for some time now, however there's a TON of information out there and i'm skeptical of reliability.

My trusty Nutrition Action Healthletter just included a quick synopsis and I figured i'd paraphrase.  More to come when I have some extra spare time.

Acesulfame-potassium (honestly, I'm not even sure what this is) - Tests conducted in the 70's were mediocre although one suggested it may result in an increased cancer risk in female rats.

Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal) - Two recent rat studies show it may slightly increase cancer risk.  New studies should be done.

Saccharin (Sweet N' Low) - In animal studies it has caused cancer of the urinary bladder, uterus, ovaries, skin, blood vessels and other organs.

Stevia - It appears to be safe although it needs more independent testing.

Sucralose (Splenda) - It appears to be safe although there hasn't been a ton of independent testing.  It also apparently isn't as natural as ads have implied.

What does this all mean?  Honestly, i'm not sure.  Moderation perhaps?

My (version of) Pizza

Just like most NYers, I love pizza!
However since moving to CT I haven't really found a pizza place i'm enamored with.  Not to mention that when I eat pizza I SERIOUSLY overeat, not a good thing.
A couple of weeks ago it was a freezing night and I wanted pizza but didn't want to venture out (or order enough to hit a delivery minimum).  I looked through the fridge and realized that I had tomato sauce, part-skim mozzarella cheese and Arnold's sandwich flats.  The light bulb went off!
I put sauce and cheese on to one of the flats and then baked it in my toaster until the cheese had melted and browned a bit.
I must say it was delicious!  With only 100 calories in the sandwich flats, 1/4 cup cheese (80 calories) and several tablespoons of sauce (max of 80 calories), this was a healthy way to eat pizza.  Between you and me, it tasted better than some of the pizza I've had in CT.
This week I bought 100% whole wheat english muffins instead and am really looking forward to trying my pizza on them.
Pair it with a salad or a veggie and it's a very satisfying meal.  Bon appetit!