Agave, Peaches, And Jaws #35

Peaches are a delicious and very healthful fruit to eat.  High in vitamin A and potassium.  Peaches are sweet in taste and contain natural sugars which give you an energy boost when eaten after working out or late in the afternoon.  A medium size peach contains only around 40 calories and is great as a snack food for weight control. The vitamin A promotes good vision and is important to your retina. Vitamin A also promotes healthy skin.  Potassium is one of the more important minerals needed by the human body. It is virtually important to every element of your body and maintaining its good health.  Potassium helps in good cardiovascular health, and is vital to your brain function and the entire nervous system.

Agave nectar is something Cindy and I have tried and I will give you my report.
Agave comes from a plant of the same name grown in Mexico.  Most of what I have read about agave, and agave nectar, says almost all of the worlds supply is produced in Mexico.  It is a healthy alternative to processed sugar and honey as a sweetener in food and beverages.  We don't use much sugar in our home.  I do not add any sugar to anything I eat or drink.  That is not to say I don't have a sweet tooth, because I do. I am not a diabetic, and when possible, I avoid consuming  processed sugar.  The large amount of fruit I eat concerns me because of the natural sugar content.  As long as my body can absorb it I should be okay.  My sugar levels are checked every 6 months.  I should read more, but what I have read indicates natural sugars are more easily absorbed and processed by your body than processed (table) sugars.  Back to agave.  It is a natural  sweetener, with a low glycemic index rating, lower in calories than honey or table sugars.  What we bought is agave nectar and it comes packaged almost like pancake syrup, and a taste similar to it.  Honestly, I don't care much for the taste of agave.  As I said, we don't use sugar much to add to any foods.  I don't know of anything Cindy cooks for us that she is adding sugar to.  When we bought the agave, it came packaged as 2 bottles.  So we have one that someone can have or it is going away.  I prefer honey myself which is higher in calories than agave or table sugar.  I have not had any honey in quite a while.  I use to take some uncooked oatmeal in a small bowl, mixing in some sunflower kernels, walnuts, and maybe some pecans.  Then I would pour over a tablespoon of honey and mix in.  I really thought it was great and it satisfied my sweet cravings.

My daughter Michelle and her husband just competed in a triathlon in Florida.  It consisted of a 1/2 mile ocean swim. A 20 mile bike race, and 4 mile run to the finish.  There were over 700 total participants.  They both did really well.  Michelle finished 16th in her age group and her husband finished 13th in his.  They trained a lot for this event and I think they are going to compete next month in another triathlon in Nashville.  I'm glad to see them doing this, and that they are dedicated enough to go through the training in order to be competitive in each of the 3 segments of the event.

You can look through the website results of all the participants broken down by age groups.  The times are shown by each segment, then the total of the 3 establishes the finishing order.  In looking through the results, I saw where a couple of 79 and 70 year old guys competed.  The 79 year old must be one athletic guy. Based on his total time of 1: 54: 29 he would have finished in 15th place in the 25-29 year old age bracket.   If I had competed I would still be floating around in the ocean hoping Jaws is a vegetarian.

Healthy Food And President Clinton #34

I'm not posting as often as you are accustomed to me doing, only because I am not sure how many of you are getting bored about my exercising, and ideas on eating healthy, diet, weight control, and weight loss.  My weight seems to remain pretty constant varying around 3 - 4 pounds.  I read today where President Bill Clinton says he has been eating a vegan diet for the past year.  The difference between vegan and vegetarian being vegan eats no meat products, such as eggs, milk, cheese.  I would like to know exactly what President Clinton's diet is for a week.  There could be some of it I might like to try. You know, his previous eating habits, and health history are very similar to yours and mine.  Over weight, eating everything from fast food to lavish state dinners.  I always enjoyed a Saturday Night Live TV skit where President Clinton goes on a White House late night jog accompanied by a fleet of security. You soon discover his purpose is to jog down to the local McDonald's and gorge himself  on burgers and fries away from the scorn of Hillary.  I haven't read anything about his exercise regiment, assuming he does have one. The last photograph I saw of him he certainly looked fit and healthy. If he is listening to us, we would like to know more about his new healthy lifestyle, eating habits, and exercise routine.

I would hope that some of you out there are taking what I write about as encouragement if you have had heart health  problems.  I am real careful, or have tried to be, in not saying that if you haven't had a heart attack, and eat, exercise, diet and follow my lead you'll avoid what some of us have gone through. And you will be the better for it.  No, I am writing for as many to read as I can get, but I am writing for and to those who have had serious heart problems and are trying to return to normal and better health.  I don't think I knew what a dire situation I had gone through and the difficulty of getting to where I am now, health wise.  I received a lot of encouragement and am wanting to do the same for others.

My exercise program is going very well.  So well that I'm thinking I need to add some new workouts to it.  I'm not sure what but intend to changing some to keep from getting bored with my workout routine.  Also, some of the exercises that were new to me and were difficult and strenuous, are now much easier and not near as difficult to do.  I am hoping to get Cindy to work out some with me, I could perhaps use some of her exercises.

I knew the title of this post would wake everyone up.  I must have been getting bored or something.  I just ate one of the best peaches ever.  There is no way a hamburger could taste as good as that peach.  I'm going to go look up how healthy peaches are for me.  If I hear from Bill Clinton about joining our health blog I'll let you know.  Until then, we will have to be content in knowing Cindy and I ate a healthy brunch at the Clinton Presidential Library restaurant (Pig And Waffle At A Wedding #25).

Chicken, Walnuts, and Tomatoes #33

Eating healthy is something I enjoy as much as my daily exercising.  I don't think it is wise for you as you get older to look back with a lot of regrets about what you did or did not do.   But I do regret not eating healthy when I was  younger and had a young family.  I would have felt much better about myself, been more physically fit and healthy.

Chicken is the world's primary source of animal protein and a healthy alternative to red meat.  Chicken provides high amounts of protein, niacin, selenium, and vitamin B6.  Selenium is a trace mineral, and is of fundamental importance to human health.  It provides powerful antioxidants, and some studies reveal it reduces the risk of certain forms of cancer. And it lowers LDL cholesterol. Niacin which is vitamin B3 is also an antioxidant and helps lower bad cholesterol levels.  A 4 oz. serving of skinless chicken breast contains 233 calories and is very low in fat.  Cindy and I normally eat chicken 3 or 4 times a week. 

We also eat salads and I use walnuts in my salads, as well as eating them as a snack.  A very small handful is many calories. A quarter of cup contains 163 calories.  They are very high in vascular health benefits.  Along with strawberries and tomatoes they are some of the healthiest foods I eat.  Walnuts are one of the best plant sources of protein.  They are considered tree nuts along with macadamia, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans and pistachios.  All of which are high in calorie content.  My ceasing to eat red meats led me to eating walnuts for the protein.  They lower your cholesterol, and improve your blood vessel walls elasticity.  They contain and increase the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in your red blood cells.  If you have not tried them, I suggest putting some in your next salad.  I haven't found any kind of salad that they do not go well with.

For those who eat turkey, I found through researching several healthy food websites, that chicken and turkey were virtually identical in protein, fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol contents.  The one glaring difference, other than taste, was calories.  A 4 oz. serving of turkey is 153 calories which is 80 calories or 35% less than chicken.

Tomatoes are another of my favorite foods.  Mostly with salads, or for lunch, just some summer ripe sliced tomatoes, maybe with some canned tuna.   Too my surprise, many "health food experts" rate tomatoes as being either the number one or in the top 3 most healthy foods you can eat.  Very high in vitamins C, A and K.  Also containing many more healthy B vitamins, vitamin E and potassium.  Tomatoes are an excellent source of lycopene which is a powerful antioxidant in the prevention of heart disease and certain forms of cancer.  The nutrients are better absorbed by your body when eating tomatoes that have been processed, or cooked.  We eat cooked tomatoes in soups, meatless marinara sauce, and chili.  Tomatoes are also very low in calories, 38 in one cup.

Next time we we talk more health foods and exercising.