Can you believe that the New Year is already 3 weeks in! I have already flown over 15,000 miles already! Time flies when you live on an airplane.. But the reality that life does not slow down for you should harden your resolve about obtaining optimal health in 2017.
If you are just picking this thing up, for the last few weeks I have been challenging each of you to step outside your comfort zone and cook, prepare, and eat two Vegetables each week that may not be in your regular shopping basket at the grocery store.
The global with eating varied veggies is that it not only expands your vegetable language, if you will, but it also ensures that you are consuming the widest variety of micronutrients that are necessary for great health.
This week I pose to you 2 veggies that are common though many dont usually cook with them at home. They are Beets and Watercress.
If there was one veggie that always walks around tougher and more potent than the others it would be the Beet. This Root Veggie has many different shades and colors but it is truly a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals. The dark color of the beet tells you that it is full of the phytophenols, otherwise big time cancer killers. Anti-inflammatory vegetables decrease organ inflammation as well as muscle inflammation; this means that free radicals are flushed out of the body even on the organ level.
Beets are really high in nitrates. Nitrates are synthesized in your liver and gut to produce Nitric Oxide which is a vast-dialator. Vado-dialators are chemicals that open the blood vessels allowing more blood to pass. This is important to atheltes who are either trying to build endurance and also trying to speed recovery. More blood to muscles = more oxygen!
Cooking whole beets is super simple. Simply clean the excess dirt off the skin after you purchase them, wrap them in foil and bake them like a potato. Once they have softened you can dice them, peel them, juice them... the choices are endless. I prefer mine with some got cheese and arugula!
Another way is to slice them into thin strips and bake them with salt and pepper. Basically you create Beet chips that are great as a snack you can feel good about eating.
Watercress came to mind tonight because it lies just outside most peoples grocery basket. Watercress is a superfood but it does not get the attention that kale and spinich do because of how it is grown and sold. Watercress is also an ancient green, used by many civilizations including. The Scottish and British. It has broad, small leaves and has a nice spice to it in the same way that arugula does.
Watercress also makes its way to my beet salad often!
As a superfood, Watercress combines the potency of Viamin K, A, C with the mineral profile that is super diverse. The gut health benefits are obvious but the real cool aspect to watercress is its ability to reduce the damage that the DNA in your cells undergo on a daily basis. Prolonging the life of your cells is akin to keeping you younger... longer. So eat some watercress, y'all.
I dont cook with it often but I am sure there are many ways that it can add some goodness to your prepared dishes. What I do use it for is toppings on sandwiches, salads, and anywhere I feel greens need to be added.
Watercress is not a GMO food as well which means that most of the product you can buy are going to pack the same healthy punch every time.
So once again the challenge has been thrown down to you amazing folks. I encourage you to get outside your comfort zone with these two veggies and have some fun with them. Obtaining optimal health is going to be the journey we go on together this year and I am feeling psyched about it. I'm working hard too. Lets do it!
Baseline:
:40 Plank Hold
:40 Lunges
:40 Plank Push Ups (from plank to elbows and back up)
:40 Squats
:40Superman Hold
:40 Jump Lunges
:40 Hollow Hold
:40 Jump Squats
:40 PLank Hold
Lunge Flow : Ankle Rotations, Elbow To Instep, Tspine Reach, Hamstring Pulses, Pigeon Stretch
Tricep Mobility W/ Band
Power Clean Progression:
7@ Each
-clean lift off
-jump shrug
-high hang muscle clean
-high hang power clean
-high hang squat clean
-mid thigh squat clean
-below knee squat clean
-below knee power clean
Take 10 Minutes to build to workout weight.
WOD:
"The Chief"
Compare to 9/14/15
5X 3 Min AMRAPS
Rest 1 minute between AMRAPS
3 Power Clean 135/95
6 Push Up
9 Squats
