The crock-pot has earned a reputation as the lazy cook鈥檚 best friend, but it can also be an athlete鈥檚 secret weapon. Just ask , a classically trained chef and former triathlete whose high-quality performance food can all be prepared in a crock-pot, sometimes also known as a slow cooker. Based in Boulder, Colorado, Alexis also works as a culinary consultant for brands like and , so she鈥檚 intimately familiar with endurance fuel. Besides flavor and nutrition, most athletes prefer their fuel to be efficient. Enter the crock-pot.

Though it’s an incredibly simple kitchen tool, there are a few tips to remember before whipping out the crock-pot. First and foremost, keep the lid closed. It might be tempting to sneak a peek at how your food is looking throughout the day, but releasing the heat trapped inside even for a minute can push back your cooking time. Secondly, if you have a tiny bit of time beforehand (this tip isn’t for everyone) brown your meat ahead of time so the juices are sealed inside the cut. And lastly, don’t overfill the crock-pot!

Her go-to dish鈥攁 savory porridge鈥攊s the ultimate low-maintenance meal. And making it in a slow cooker means you can get it started before taking off for a long training day. The porridge features healthy fats, protein, salt, and both fast- and slow-digesting carbs, and the mild flavor means you can top it with whatever you鈥檙e craving. 鈥淭hrow on a couple eggs and vegetables for dinner. Or cook it overnight with almond milk, add fruit and seeds, and it鈥檚 breakfast,鈥� Alexis says.

Miso and Maple Grain Bowls

The post The Crock-Pot Is an Athlete’s Secret Weapon appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

In his new book, , Michael Easter investigates the connection between modern comforts and conveniences and some of our most pressing problems, like heart disease, diabetes, depression, and a sense of purposelessness. Turns out, engaging with a handful of evolutionary discomforts can dramatically improve our mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. One of those fruitful discomforts? Thinking about dying.

Death has always been the most uncomfortable fact of life. And as modern medicine, comforts, and conveniences have given us more years, we鈥檝e seemingly become less and less comfortable with life鈥檚 only guarantee. Roughly seven out of ten Westerners they feel uncomfortable with death. Only of people over 65 have considered how they want to die.

After someone dies we鈥檙e encouraged to stay busy to take our mind off it. A dead person鈥檚 body is immediately covered and sent to a mortician where it is prepared to look as youthful and alive as possible before one final, hour-long viewing, after which it is dropped into the ground of a perfectly manicured cemetery.

But new research is showing that death awareness is good for us. For example, had one group of people think about a painful visit to the dentist and the other contemplate their death. The death thinkers afterward said they were more happy and fulfilled in life. The scientists concluded, 鈥渄eath is a psychologically threatening fact, but when people contemplate it, apparently the automatic system begins to search for happy thoughts.鈥�

The country of Bhutan has made it part of its national curriculum to think about death anywhere from one to three times daily. The understanding that we鈥檙e all going to die is hammered into Bhutan鈥檚 collective conscience, and death is part of everyday life. Ashes of the dead are mixed with clay and molded into small pyramids, called tsa tsas, and placed along heavily trafficked areas like roadsides, in window sills, and public squares and parks. Bhutanese arts often center around death; paintings of vultures picking the flesh from corpses, dances that reenact dying. Funerals are a 21-day event where the dead body 鈥渓ives鈥� in its house before being slowly cremated over fragrant juniper trees in front of hundreds of friends and relatives.

All of this death is doing anything but bumming out the Bhutanese. Despite being ranked the 134th most developed nation on earth, extensive studies conducted by Japanese researchers have found that Bhutan is among the world鈥檚 20 happiest countries. But what you probably don鈥檛 know is how morbidity contributes to their feelings of happiness. And neither did I.

After four flights across 48 hours, 14 time zones, and 9,465 miles, I stepped off an aging 737 onto a runway 7,333 feet above sea level at Bhutan鈥檚 Paro International Airport. THE thin air filled my lungs as the sun illuminated the surrounding snow-capped Himalayan foothills. I was there to find out how Bhutan鈥檚 uncomfortable intimacy with death might improve my life鈥攁nd maybe yours too.

I鈥檇 arranged to meet with a host of characters, including government leaders who study happiness in Bhutan. But the most compelling men I met with were both leaders in the Buddhist faith.

The first was Khenpo Phuntsho Tashi. He knows as much about death as a living human can. He鈥檚 one of Bhutan鈥檚 leading Buddhist thinkers, and he鈥檚 found a niche in the study of death and dying. The Khenpo is the author of a 250-page book called 鈥淭he Fine Art of Living and Manifesting a Peaceful Death.鈥� And unlike many of Bhutan鈥檚 monks, the Khenpo is intimately familiar with what ails people in the West. Before he dedicated himself to his spiritual practice he lived in Atlanta, with a girlfriend who was the Dalai Lama鈥檚 translator. He, I thought, would be able to get to the heart and consequences of the West鈥檚 fear of death.

My boots kicked up a low-hanging dust as the Khenpo鈥檚 cliff-side shack came into view. It was wooden, tin-roofed, and in the shadow of Dakarpo. Dakarpo is an ancient Buddhist monastery built on an outcropping that overlooks the Shaba valley. Fifteen or so people walked clockwise around the white, fortress-like monastery. They chanted as they carefully stepped around its rocky terrain. Bhutanese mythology says a person will be cleared of all of his or her sins by circumventing the Dakarpo 108 times. Each lap takes roughly 25 minutes. The full 108 takes most pilgrims about four full days, a relatively small fee for absolute absolution.

The scent of burning incense crawled into my nose as I peeled back the heavy orange embroidered silk drape leading into the Khenpo鈥檚 room. Light was entering the room through a hazy window, catching smoke. It obscured a small altar anchored by a three-foot statue of the Buddha. Around it were smaller Buddhist statues, photographs, and burning sticks of champa. Through the smoke I saw the profile of a face. It was the Khenpo.

鈥淲elcome,鈥� said the Khenpo, his voice a heavily accented butter. I bowed and sat. 鈥淵ou want to talk about death?鈥�

I nodded. 鈥淗mmmm,鈥� he said. His chest slowly rose and fell in the silence.

鈥淵ou Americans are usually ignorant,鈥� he said, using a word often seen as an insult in the United States, but that by definition means 鈥渓acking awareness.鈥� In Bhutan and other Buddhist countries, 鈥渋gnorance鈥� is the rough English translation of 鈥淎vidy膩.鈥� That鈥檚 a that means having a misunderstanding of the true nature of your reality and the truth of your impermanence. 鈥淢ost Americans are unaware of how good you have it, and so many of you are miserable and chasing the wrong things.

鈥淵ou act like life is fulfilling a checklist. 鈥業 need to get a good wife or husband, then I get a good car, then I get a good house, then I get a promotion, then I get a better car and a better house and I make a name for myself and then 鈥︹�欌�� he rattled off more accomplishments that fulfill the American Dream. 鈥淏ut this plan will never materialize perfectly. And even if it does, then what? You don鈥檛 settle, you add more items to the checklist. It is the nature of desire to get one thing and immediately want the next thing, and this cycle of accomplishment and acquisitions won鈥檛 necessarily make you happy鈥攊f you have ten pairs of shoes you want 11 pairs.鈥�

The Khenpo then pointed out that by pursuing this checklist, we鈥檙e often forced into acts that take us away from that higher reality and happiness. He was echoing a sentiment shared among many leaders in the tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism. Sogral Rinpoche in his 1992 work The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying called this checklist phenomenon 鈥淲estern laziness.鈥� It consists of 鈥渃ramming our lives with compulsive activity, so that there is no time at all to confront the real issues 鈥� If we look into our lives, we will see clearly how many unimportant tasks, so-called 鈥榬esponsibilities鈥� accumulate to fill them up 鈥� Going on as we do, obsessively trying to improve our conditions, can become an end in itself and a pointless distraction.鈥�

The average American works 47 hours a week. Our entrepreneurs and 鈥減roductivity gurus鈥� preach that a 鈥済rind鈥� and 鈥渟hut up and work harder鈥� mentality is the secret to satisfaction. This upset in our work/life balance鈥攐r, perhaps, our problem integrating our work into our life and not the other way around鈥攆actors into why other research has shown that America is, in fact, less happy than it was decades ago.

鈥淪o this checklist plan does not make you truly happy. Then what?鈥� said the Khenpo. He was silent. Left it open for me to ponder.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know. I鈥檓 an ignorant American,鈥� I said and smiled.

鈥淭hen you could be happier!鈥� he responded with a chuckle. 鈥淲hereas if you understand this cycle and nature of mind and you prioritize mindfulness then everything will be ok. Even if you don鈥檛 become rich. Fine, you鈥檙e mindful. Even if you don鈥檛 get a perfect wife? Fine, you鈥檙e mindful.鈥�

Ah, yes. 鈥淢indfulness.鈥� That squishy, what-the-fuck-does-that-even-mean word that鈥檚 so hot in America today but has, in fact, been a part of Eastern traditions since before Christ. It鈥檚 roughly defined as purposefully paying attention to what鈥檚 happening in the present moment without judgment, according to Jon Kabat Zinn, a profes-sor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and pioneer of mindfulness in the Western world. In other words, it鈥檚 being aware of what鈥檚 going on upstairs.

The Khenpo made mindfulness sound akin to jamming a stick into the spokes of the checklist and developing a state of okayness. In other words, whether I鈥檓 rich or poor or famous or a nobody, I should avoid becoming caught up in the narratives my mind spits out and just accept the direction of things. This will help me go beyond the checklist and be just fine.

The woman who took me through the cleansing ritual entered the room. She placed a plate of sliced cucumbers and mandarin wedges on the floor between the Khenpo and me. 鈥淎ll organic!,鈥� he said and grabbed a spear of cucumber. It crunched as he bit into it.

鈥淲ell, the Bhutanese, we also have ignorance, anger, and attachment. We have the same problems of the checklist. But I think less. This is because we apply what we call mindfulness of the body. We remember that everyone is dying right now,鈥� said the Khenpo. 鈥淓veryone will die. You are not singled out. Do you know this? To not think of death and not prepare for it 鈥� this is the root of ignorance.鈥�

Pretend you are walking along a trail, he explained, and there is a cliff in 500 yards. The catch: The cliff is death and we will all walk off it. 鈥淏uddha died. Jesus died. You will die. I will die. I would like to die on that bed,鈥� said the Khenpo, pointing to a twin mattress on the floor.

鈥淒on鈥檛 you want to know that there鈥檚 a cliff?鈥� he asked. Because only then can we change our course. We could take a more scenic route, notice the beauty of the trail before it ends, say the things we truly want to say to the people we鈥檙e walking it with.

鈥淲hen you start to understand that death is coming, that the cliff is coming, you see things differently. You change your mental course鈥攜ou naturally become more compassionate and mindful,鈥� said the Khenpo. 鈥淏ut Americans, they don鈥檛 want to hear about the cliff. They don鈥檛 think about death. After a funeral, they want to get their mind off the death and just eat cake. The Bhutanese, they want to know about the cliff and they will be happy to talk about death and ruin the cake eating.鈥�

鈥淪o remember,鈥� he continued. He was able to sustain the perfect upright lotus position while I was slumping and couldn鈥檛 feel my legs. 鈥淲e are all dying right now. To develop this mindfulness of death you have to think of Mitakpa.鈥�

鈥淢itakpa?鈥� I asked.

鈥淵es,鈥� he said. 鈥淢itakpa.鈥�

Before I could probe the Khenpo on Mitakpa鈥攚hat it is and what it might be able to do鈥攈is time was up and I was back in Dorji鈥檚 hatchback. We were like bouncy balls in the seats as gravity aggressively pulled the car over all the rocks and ruts that once thwarted us. As we descended I asked, 鈥淒orji, what is mitakpa?鈥� He looked at me and shook his head. 鈥淢i-tak-pa,鈥� I said.

鈥淥丑. Mitakpa,鈥� he replied, pronouncing the word less like an ignorant American. 鈥淭akpa 鈥榩ermanent,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淢i 鈥榥o.鈥� Mitakpa 鈥榥o permanent.鈥欌��

I began to ask him to explain further, but a Bhutanese traffic jam interrupted me. A herd of seven bulls and cows ambled up the one-lane road. Dorji pressed into the brake to slow the car to a crawl. The half-ton animals lazily parted around us. Their bells clanked as they slid down the length of the hatchback.

The next day, I headed into an apartment in the city of Thimpu to meet Lama Damcho Gyeltshen. He doesn鈥檛 ponder death in any abstract sense鈥攈e experiences it every day. He鈥檚 the head Lama at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital, the main hospital in Bhutan. It鈥檚 there that he councils the dying. After the Khenpo elucidated the problem and hinted at some solution, the Lama, I figured, might be able to expand.

The Lama was sitting on a platform that was covered in silk meditation pads. He hopped off of it as we entered. He and I shook hands and did a lot of smiling and nodding. He was bald, short, and doughy, with wire-framed glasses. His bright white smile popped against his blaze orange robes. He sat back atop the platform, in the lotus, while Jigme and I sat on the floor. Jigme explained what I was there to talk about. Death, dying, and the Bhutanese death complex.

鈥淲ell first I鈥檇 like to thank you for coming and reminding me of death because it is important for the mind,鈥� said the Lama. His words, naturally, set me up to ask why.

鈥淲hen people come into my hospital there is a chance they leave,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut there is also a high chance they do not leave. My job is to help people prepare for death. I have found that the people who have not thought about death are the ones who have regrets on their deathbeds. Because they have not used a necessary tool that could have made them live a fuller life.鈥� An American study conducted across various hospitals like the Yale Cancer Center, Dana -Farber Cancer Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital supports this notion. It found that dying patients who had open conversations about their death experienced better quality of life in the weeks and months leading to their passing, as judged by their family members and nurse practitioners.

鈥淭he mind is afflicted with many delusions. But they come down to three,鈥� continued the Lama. 鈥淎nd those are greed, anger, and ignorance. When your mind is not taken care of these three things have an advantage. The dying people I council 鈥� they suddenly do not care about getting famous, or their car or watch, or working more. They don鈥檛 care about the things that once angered them.鈥� In other words: When a person realizes death is imminent, their checklist and everyday bullshit becomes irrelevant and their mind begins to center on that which makes it happy. Research from Australia found that the top regrets of the dying include not living in the moment, working too often, and living a life the person thinks they should rather than one they truly want to.

鈥淲hereas those who have thought of their death and prepared for it,鈥� said the Lama, 鈥渢hey do not have those regrets. Because they have often not fallen so much into those delusions. They have lived in the moment. Maybe they have accomplished a lot. Maybe they have not. But regardless it has not affected their happiness as much 鈥︹�� He expanded on this phenomenon, explaining that a sort of cosmic psychic shift often occurs in the dying. It brings them closer to the things that matter in the end. A living person who thinks of dying will, yes, initially face mental discomfort, but they鈥檒l emerge on the other side having stolen a bit of this end-of-life magic.

鈥淲hat is mitakpa?鈥� I asked. 鈥淪omeone told me it translates to 鈥榥o permanent鈥︹�欌��

鈥淐lose. Mitakpa is impermanence,鈥� said the Lama. He raised an arm and finger, like a professor making a point. 鈥淚mpermanence, impermanence, impermanence.鈥� This, he said, is the cornerstone of Buddhist teachings. Nothing lasts and, therefore, nothing can be held onto. By trying to hold on to that which is changing, like our life itself, we ultimately end up suffering. Buddha鈥檚 final words were on impermanence, a reminder that all things die. 鈥淎ll things change. Whatever is born is subject to decay鈥︹�� he said. 鈥淎ll individual things pass away.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to preserve this precious understanding of mitakpa in your mind. It will significantly contribute to your happiness,鈥� said the Lama. He echoed the Khenpo鈥檚 sentiment. He explained that not thinking of mitakpa often leads a person to believe that 鈥渢hings will be better when I do X.鈥� Or with a false sense of permanence that causes a person to put off the things they truly want to do because 鈥淚 can do that when I retire.鈥�

鈥淏ut when you understand that nothing is permanent you cannot help but follow a better, happier path,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t calms your mind. You tend not to get overly excited, angry, or critical. With this principle, people interact with others and it improves their relationships. They become more grateful and gratuitous. Because they realize all their material goods and status will not matter in the end.鈥� And not just in Bhutan. A study in Psychological Science discovered that people who thought about their death were more likely to show concern for people around them. They did things like donating time, money, and even their blood to blood banks.

鈥淗ow often should I be thinking about mitakpa?鈥� I asked.

鈥淵ou must think of mitakpa three times each day. Once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening. You must be curious about your death. You must understand you don鈥檛 know how you will die or where you will die. Just that you will die. And that death can come at any time,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he ancient monks would remind themselves of this every time they left their meditation cave. I, too, remind myself of this every time I walk out my front door.鈥�

We talked for a half-hour more about death and his work at the hospital. Then it was time for me to leave.

鈥淩emember,鈥� said the Lama as we were saying goodbye. 鈥淒eath can come at any time. Any time.鈥�

The next day I spent the morning hiking five steep miles to Paro Taksang, 鈥淭he Tiger鈥檚 Nest,鈥� a sacred 15th-century Buddhist monastery built in the traditional Bhutanese Dzong style. The monastery sits at 10,240 feet above sea level and clings to a cliff like a reptile on a vertical wall. It鈥檚 the location where in the eighth century Padmasambhava, a man considered the 鈥淪econd Buddha,鈥� meditated in a tiger-filled cave for three years, three months, three weeks, three days, and three hours.

I鈥檇 come to see the monastery鈥檚 famous artwork, much of which depicts death. It holds various images and statues of, for example, Mahakala, a protector god whose crown is ringed with skulls and whose sash is strung with severed heads. His Sanskrit name translates to 鈥渂eyond time鈥� or, more simply, 鈥渄eath.鈥�

As I exited the monastery and put my shoes back on, Dorji, my driver (Bhutanese law requires all tourists to hire a guide and a driver 鈥� my guide had conked out due to the altitude), hurriedly approached me. 鈥淪omeone sick,鈥� he said in his broken English. He pointed up the trail, to a set of steep stairs cut from a cliff that lead up to a small meditation hut next to a waterfall. Towards the top of the steps, a group of people huddled. They were all wearing either traditional Bhutanese ghos or monk robes. Dorji jogged towards the group. I followed. As I quickly stepped up the thin stairs I could see feet hanging from the edge of the steps.

A monk鈥攂ald head, thin glasses, maroon robes鈥攚as down on the steps, unconscious. I recalled some basic emergency wilderness training I took and checked his spine for signs of fracture. Nothing. A general understanding arose within the group. The man needed to be moved to flat ground so he could be airlifted out.

The stairs were too steep and thin for a group carry. So we carefully propped the monk onto the back of the largest driver, who hoofed him down the steps. With the help of the group, he laid the monk onto a flat grass patch along the cliffside trail.

The monk鈥檚 eyes were rolled back as if he was scrutinizing the brain above them. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to do CPR,鈥� I slowly told the group. They only partially understood me. As I knelt in front of him two tiny women, a mother and daughter who were both doctors in Hong Kong, were suddenly at my side. They were hiking to the monastery when they walked into this scene.

They pressed their fingers to the man鈥檚 neck to check vitals and agreed that CPR was needed. These two were surely better trained. But I was the only person with any training who was also large enough to optimally execute CPR on the 200-pound monk.

I tore open his robe, revealing a gold t-shirt. I dug my knees into the dirt, overlapped my hands, and placed the heel of my right hand on the monk鈥檚 sternum. Then I began hammering into his chest; 100 beats a minute as the daughter doctor began a timer.

I was unsure of the cultural implications of giving a monk mouth-to-mouth. So the younger Hong Kong doctor quickly instructed one of the other monks, a woman, on how to do it. She breathed into him, repeatedly pushing air into his lungs. Then I was back to compressing his chest.

鈥淭ime is 10:26,鈥� said the daughter. A crowd had formed around us, and a driver who was on the phone stepped into the group. 鈥淗elicopter cannot come,鈥� he told us. There was nowhere to land, and the cliffs were too close for an airlift.

The daughter checked the monk鈥檚 vitals. She shook her head. I continued pressing. Pressing, pressing, as hard as I could, thinking that if I could push hard enough it might kickstart his heart. We hit the fifteen-minute mark. His face was distant. 鈥�20 minutes 11 seconds,鈥� said the doctor. 鈥淵ou can stop.鈥� He was gone.

Here was a man who just minutes ago had hiked five steep miles. And he was joking and laughing and talking with friends along the way. Death can come at any time.

贵谤辞尘听THE COMFORT CRISIS: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self,听by Michael听Easter. Copyright 漏 2021 by Michael听Easter. Published by Rodale Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

The post The Secret to Happiness? Thinking About Death. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Despite some initial hesitations, Petri Hollm茅n had a hell of an Austrian ski trip. He and nine friends spent a textbook mountain weekend in St. Anton in early March, hammering the slopes by day, enjoying lagers and schnitzel by night. Sure, coronavirus听was a thing听in Europe听then. But the data showed that听infections听were mostly centered in northern Italy. There were supposedly only 20 or so cases in Austria鈥檚听entire 750,000-person Tyrol region. So why not ski?

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 notice anyone sneezing or coughing on my flights or on the chairlift. I used hand sanitizer and washed my hands like never before,鈥� says Hollm茅n, a fit听40-year old听Finnish entrepreneur. (Picture Bode Miller with a Finnish accent.) 鈥淚 got home Sunday evening, and by Tuesday, I heard that the area in听Tyrol I was in was declared .鈥�

Hollm茅n worked from home the next day out of precaution, even though he 鈥渇elt totally fine,鈥� he says. Thursday, too. But that morning, his 听fitness tracker鈥攚hich gives wearers a daily听鈥渞eadiness鈥� score听based on their level of recovery鈥攄isplayed an oddity. 鈥淢y score was 54,鈥� he says. 鈥淔or me听that is very, very low. I鈥檓 usually in the eighties听and nineties.鈥� Part of the reason Hollm茅n鈥檚 score was so low was听that his body temperature, which the ring measures along with听other biometrics like heart-rate variability听and respiratory rate to formulate that readiness score, was about two degrees higher than usual throughout the night.听

鈥淚 still felt fine, and I tested myself with a thermometer in the morning, and my body temperature was normal,鈥� he says.听Hollm茅n听was going to shrug the听temperature anomaly听off,听but听his wife, a medical researcher,听told him to check in with his doctor. 鈥淭hey had me come in for a test. The doctors came out with these space suits on and stuck a cotton stick up my nose,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd they called me back after an hour or two and said I was COVID positive.鈥澨�

Experiences like Hollm茅n鈥檚听are leading some wearables companies to partner with research institutions around the world. Eleven days after Hollm茅n received his test results, as states were locking down and 43,000 Americans tested positive, Oura ring users were posed听a question on the company鈥檚 app: Would you like to participate in a University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) study using Oura ring data to predict COVID-19?听Over 40,000 users and 3,000 frontline health care workers have since signed up (the health care workers received Oura听rings for free as part of the study). Each day听they report any symptoms and whether they鈥檝e knowingly come in contact with an infected person.听

Oura and other fitness-tracking companies, like 听and听, think body-temperature, breathing, and heart-rate data from their devices听can do more than assess听recovery and improve听fitness鈥攖hey听might also help users know when they鈥檙e getting sick听days before they do. And with that information, perhaps they wouldn鈥檛 go out to the grocery store and get close to others. Or visit an older relative. Or decide to go for a long run, which could potentially dampen their immune system enough to give the virus听an upper hand. If enough people were using trackers, public-health institutions could even use the data to create a sort of infectious disease 鈥渨eather map鈥� that alerts the public about trends in diseases like the coronavirus.

Many of the study鈥檚听scientists were already using trackers in other research projects, but the focus shifted as COVID-19 tipped into a pandemic. 鈥淭he early data is very encouraging,鈥� says Benjamin Smarr, a professor of data science and bioengineering at the University of California at听San Diego, who is leading the Oura study along with UCSF colleagues. 鈥淲e鈥檙e noticing things change at least a few days ahead of a fever in most cases. The data is听very clear.鈥� In fact, the data is so encouraging that both the听 and the听 having players wear fitness-tracking devices鈥擶hoop bands for the former, Oura rings for the latter鈥攖o help detect COVID-19听symptoms as they听start to resume their seasons.听

On April 8, West Virginia University鈥檚 Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute launched a similar听study. It鈥檚听analyzing Oura data from over 1,000 hospital workers in New York City, Philadelphia, and Nashville, Tennessee, and听asking听the workers to enter psychological and cognitive information听about听their stress, anxiety, memory, and more听into a separate app created by researchers. The lead researchers of the听study recently announced that the ring, paired with their app鈥檚 algorithm, could predict COVID-19 symptoms three days before they start to manifest.听

Smarr鈥檚 study, in contrast, mainly tracks temperature data. 鈥淵ou tend to see daily temperature oscillations destabilize as the body begins to fight an infection,鈥� says Smarr. Such听changes usually occur at night and are comparable to skirmishes鈥攖he body鈥檚 early, imperceptible warning shots as it begins to fight a virus. 鈥淎 fever is not the start of the fight,鈥� says Smarr. 鈥淔ever is when things have gotten serious and your body is going to total war.鈥澨�

If a tracker could flag those skirmishes a few days in advance鈥攚hich is听when unaware carriers听are听likely to infect others,听because they have yet to be diagnosed with听COVID-19 but are still contagious鈥攗sers could change their behavior to avoid spreading the virus. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 really known whether wearables are useful in the field to inform public-health efforts or to inform individuals,鈥� says Smarr. 鈥淭hey absolutely are.鈥澨�

Previous studies have noted that activity trackers can be听irregular听when it comes to听certain metrics. Researchers at Stanford, for example, 听that calorie-burn data was in some cases off by as much as 93 percent听in the seven different trackers they tested. But more straightforward measurements, like temperature and heart and breathing rates, seem to be more reliable.听That same Stanford study, for example, showed that heart-rate data in six of the seven trackers was听accurate to within 5听percent. And a recent small study conducted by researchers at Oura and the University of Oulu in Finland found that Oura鈥檚听data on resting heart rate and heart-rate variability听was听accurate to within 0.01 to 1.6 percent听when compared to readings from a medical-grade ECG听machine. Another small , this one published in May by Arizona State听University researchers, found that the Whoop听device听assesses breathing rate nearly as well听as hospital devices.听

In early April, Whoop听partnered with CQUniversity听in Australia and the Cleveland Clinic to launch a study looking听to determine if听changes in respiratory rate could predict the infection. 鈥淐OVID-19 is known to impair lung function and cause respiratory symptoms (shortness of breath, hypoxia, tachypnea), so respiratory rate was a pretty obvious target for us to base a study on,鈥� Emily Capodilupo, vice president of data science and research at Whoop, wrote听in an email. Respiratory rate may be听a particularly good indicator to help detect the virus, Capodilupo says, because few things can cause a person鈥檚听respiratory rate to increase.听Whoop that the 271-patient听study听found that its听devices were able to detect 20 percent of COVID-19听cases two days prior to the onset of symptoms听and 80 percent of cases by the third day of symptoms. (While encouraging, it鈥檚 worth noting that the study has yet to be peer-reviewed.)听Both Duke and Stanford Universities are also currently conducting independent research to learn if they can predict COVID-19 through Garmin heart-rate data.

What makes these听trackers compelling to researchers is that they constantly measure your body鈥攄ay and night. This is different than, say, going to a doctor, who takes one measurement at one point in time.听鈥淵ou can think of it as analogous to your radio being on for one second a day versus all day,鈥� says Smarr. 鈥淲ith just a second, all you know is that a signal is coming through. Leave it on all day, and you can hear music.鈥� This means you can also notice an oddity that indicates an oncoming illness.

The field is promising, but don鈥檛 count on public-health salvation quite yet. Smarr says there won鈥檛 be one magic metric that will detect COVID-19 in anyone who has it. Human biology is intricate, and all data points must go through an intricate听set of algorithms. Those algorithms aren鈥檛 standardized and are still being figured out and tweaked by researchers.听It鈥檒l take time鈥攁nd lots of thinking on the part of Smarr and other researchers鈥攖o develop ones that can learn听how different individuals react to a virus. 鈥淯nfortunately, the 鈥榯here鈥檚 an app for that鈥� culture makes everyone think machine learning is magical. And it definitely struggles in the face of complex human biology,鈥� says Smarr.

Oura will soon听send participants antibody tests to confirm听whether or not they鈥檝e had COVID-19 during its听study with UCSF. (Whoop will also release its preliminary data soon.) The results听won鈥檛 guarantee the researchers completely accurate data鈥攖he that antibody tests can render false positives.听Still,听Oura鈥檚 CEO says the virus has forced his company to pivot from personal fitness and recovery to personal and public wellness.听

All the fitness-tracker companies mentioned in this story say they鈥檙e going to continue conducting more, bigger studies on different public-health topics,听even when COVID-19 is no longer a worldwide threat.听Says Smarr: 鈥淭his is a whole new way of approaching public health that we鈥檝e never had before, that we now get to contemplate.鈥�

The post Your Fitness Tracker Might Be Able to Predict COVID-19 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

I thought I鈥檇 given up playing Army around age nine. But in July, I found myself alone at a high school track on the outskirts of Las Vegas, trying to pass the new Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT).

I worked my way through five exercises: a set of three deadlifts, a behind-the-head medicine-ball throw, two minutes of hand-release push-ups (rest your torso on the ground and lift your hands at the bottom of each rep), a timed sprint-drag-carry, and pull-up leg tucks. The test wrapped up with a two-mile run. I hit a button on my stopwatch and sprinted into the Mojave Desert, finishing in 13 minutes 10 seconds. Each exercise is worth a maximum of 100 points, and I scored 547 out of 600. Not bad. For infantry the minimum to pass is 420. But the soldiers with the hardest jobs鈥擱angers, Night Stalkers, and Green Berets鈥攐ften score close to 600, according to multiple sources within the military. To find out if I was Special Forces material, I hatched a plan to train for four weeks and crush the test.

The Army is currently experiencing a fitness crisis. New recruits are often in bad shape, and more than half of U.S. soldiers are injured each year, often because they grind through boot-camp workouts without formal exercise training. As a result, the branch is now rethinking its approach. Step one: overhaul the test.

The ACFT鈥檚 predecessor was established in the early 1980s and consisted of two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups, and a two-mile run. It required no equipment and could be performed anywhere. 鈥淏ut it was only 40 percent predictive of how you鈥檇 perform in combat tasks,鈥� says Army major general Lonnie Hibbard. The exercises simply didn鈥檛 translate to the physical realities of modern warfare. The new version of the test is about 80 percent predictive, he says, because it evaluates agility, explosive power, and upper- and lower-body strength, not just muscular endurance. By October 2020, all recruits will take the updated exam when they enlist and every six months after that. Top Army officials would also like to roll out new on-base gyms staffed by certified trainers. If a soldier fails the test at any time, they鈥檒l be placed in a program to improve their fitness.

To prepare I called my friend Doug Kiessewetter, who serves in the Special Forces and helps run Soflete, a company that trains soldiers for Special Forces selection camps. When I mentioned the idea of a perfect score, he reined me in: 鈥淵our goal is to get the highest score possible, without getting injured.鈥� Seeing my weak push-ups score, Kiessewetter assigned me a handful of exercises to build muscular endurance in my chest and arms and instructed me to practice the test鈥檚 other four exercises to build efficiency. Each week I did an easy five-mile run, keeping my heart rate below 150, and a day of intervals at the track. In total I was working out about five days a week. Come test day, I felt ready.

First up: the deadlifts. Three hundred pounds was easy, so I added 20 more to the bar鈥攇ood enough for 98 points. (See 鈥淭est Yourself,鈥� below.) I maxed out the medicine-ball throw, sprint-drag-carry, and hanging leg raises, and managed 40 push-ups before my arms felt like they were full of battery acid. I failed at 50, earning 90 points. Then I flew through the two miles in 12 minutes 29 seconds for a final score of 588. I might鈥檝e kept on running to the recruiter鈥檚 office, but the endorphins wore off before I left the track.

Test Yourself

Here鈥檚 what it takes to pass the ACFT鈥攐r get a perfect score on each exercise.

Deadlift

Lift the heaviest weight you can听three times.

Max (100 points): 340 pounds
Pass (70 points): 180 pounds

Power Throw

Launch a ten-pound medicine ball听over your head and behind you.

Max (100 points): 13.5 yards
Pass (70 points): 8.5 yards

Hand-Release Push-Ups

Perform as many reps as possible in听two minutes.

Max (100 points): 70
Pass (70 points): 30

Sprint-Drag-Carry

For 50 meters each, sprint, drag听90 pounds, side-shuffle, farmer鈥檚-carry听80 pounds, then sprint again.

Max (100 points): 1 minute 40 seconds
Pass (70 points): 2 minutes 9 seconds

Pull-Up Leg Tucks

While hanging from a pull-up bar, hoist yourself until your arms are at 90 degrees while bringing your knees into your chest, then lower. Complete as many as you can.

Max (100 points): 20
Pass (70 points): 5

Two-Mile Run

Finish as quickly as possible.

Max (100 points): 12 minutes 45 seconds
Pass (70 points): 18 minutes

The post Are You Army Fit? Take This Fitness Test to Find Out. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

When I gave up caffeine, the first day was like a scene out of Trainspotting. Picture a grown man balled up on the couch, sweating in November, on the cusp of vomiting, head split right in two. Then a low-grade headache that lasted for a week set in. But I was also sleeping sounder and longer, and,听despite a few mornings with a serious coffee craving,听I felt better. I didn鈥檛 have as much of an afternoon slump, and I was less irritable鈥擨 was听using my car听horn less, and I didn鈥檛 feel as annoyed听by things not going exactly how I planned. Within a few weeks,听I鈥檇 lost four pounds. I鈥檝e been off the stuff ever since.听

Caffeine can indeed be听a great thing, but it can also work against you. Your experience with the drug听depends on your biology and how much of it you take in. Before I decided to give up caffeine for good, I was drinking upward听of three cups a day. But conversations with people much smarter than myself鈥攂iochemists, nutritionists, sleep experts, neurologists鈥攍ed to me to believe that I was overdoing it at a rate that was bad for my health, sleep, disposition, and performance.

When you鈥檝e been mainlining caffeine for your entire adult life, it can be tricky to parse out how it impacts you. Start by analyzing听just how much you鈥檙e consuming, then check in with your physical and mental听states. If you think it might be time for an intervention, here鈥檚 some听advice on how to cut down.

How Much Are You Really Taking In?

of American adults ingest caffeine every day, and the average intake is about 300 milligrams, or roughly a medium-size听coffee. The humble听16-ounce听Starbucks drip coffee 310 milligrams. A 20-ounce light roast 听milligrams. So if you鈥檙e downing multiple cups a day, you could be ingesting听north of 1,000 milligrams.

Anything over 400 milligrams a day can bring about听side effects like headaches, insomnia, an upset stomach, and anxiety, according to the, and of Americans drink that or more regularly. However, there isn鈥檛 a hard number that is unhealthy for everyone, says Maggie Sweeney, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institute. Your response is likely influenced by your lifestyle and your听genes. , large amounts of caffeine can even increase the likelihood of having ministrokes (also called听transient ischemic attacks), during which blood flow to your brain is briefly cut off, says Chris Winter, a neurologist and author of . 鈥淚t鈥檚 really weird to see a 21-year-old who鈥檚 had lots of subtle vascular strokes over the years, and these tend to be people who were really pounding energy drinks,鈥� says Winter. 鈥淭here is certainly such a thing as too much caffeine.鈥�

When I did the math, I鈥檇 been consuming听roughly 1,200 milligrams throughout the day and had been every day since听2001. Caffeine has ,听meaning that if you drink 300 milligrams at noon, you will have about 150 milligrams in your system at 6 P.M., about 75 milligrams in your body at midnight, and so on. So听my body had likely spent almost two decades under the influence.听

Side Effects

I determined I might be overdoing caffeine after听talking with听Trevor Kashey, a registered dietitian nutritionist听who owns 听and holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry. He has his new clients鈥攚ho range from听average janes to听Olympians鈥攇o caffeine-free for two weeks as part of a larger approach to suss out foods that might be causing indigestion,听sleep issues, bloating, or sluggishness. Coffee is a well-known gastrointestinal irritant, Kashey and Sweeney both point out.

Caffeine also听blocks the action of adenosine, a chemical that occurs naturally in the brain and clues the body听in to fatigue. Meanwhile, it increases the release of cortisol, a hormone that exacerbates the stress response and can interrupt normal patterns of wakefulness and sleep, Sweeney says. Taking caffeine out of the equation means sleep听naturally听improves.

Plenty of research has shown听that ample sleep makes for a happier, healthier听mind and body. According to Kashey, those advantages could outweigh any听benefits听you鈥檇 see from caffeine. Winter听explains that better sleep often leads to better eating habits, which was likely why I dropped a few pounds in those early weeks.听 published by the American College of Chest Physicians found that sleep-deprived people ate nearly 600 more calories a day than people who got in a full night鈥檚 worth. When you鈥檙e tired, the hunger-inducing hormone ghrelin goes up, while the fullness-signaling hormone leptin goes down,听Winter says. If you're eliminating caffeine from听sweet coffee drinks or energy drinks, the benefits can be twofold, since you鈥檙e cutting a lot of sugar.听

Both Kashey and Sweeney also frequently hear from clients who say they feel less anxious after cutting their coffee intake. Caffeine has been implicated in anxiety in听 dating back to the late eighties, Sweeney says. The DSM-5, basically the bible for mental-health professionals, officially recognizes caffeine-induced anxiety disorder.听

How to Give It Up听

Kashey has a litmus test to determine if a client is due for a breakup with caffeine. 鈥淎sk someone to remove caffeine, and watch the look on their face,鈥� he says. Keep an eye out for听a flash of existential dread. Winter echoes the suggestion, explaining that your reaction to the idea of going caffeine-free should offer insight into whether you鈥檙e overdoing it. Sweeney relies on well-known signs of withdrawal, like headaches, fatigue, and irritability, to clue clients into their own dependence听and decide whether it鈥檚 time for a detox.

The good news: quitting doesn鈥檛 have to be hell. Sweeney听suggests gradually weaning yourself听off听caffeine. Just start mixing decaf into your caffeinated coffee. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a particularly heavy user, it may take several weeks to gradually reduce your caffeine consumption,鈥� she says. Drinking plenty of water and herbal tea can ease the transition as well.听

Winter described my method鈥攃old turkey鈥攁s 鈥渦nnecessary suffering.鈥� But it felt a lot more practical to me. (Kashey agreed: 鈥淭ake a shitty weekend with herbal tea and some aspirin,鈥� he says.) I鈥檓 glad I ripped off the Band-Aid and didn鈥檛 have to do any caffeine-mixing math. Plus, I got to see the results of a caffeine-free diet much more quickly.听

The post Are You Overdosing on Caffeine? appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

You may have noticed that cannabidiol, or CBD for short, has quickly become a booming industry. According to Hemp Business Journal, the market is poised to hit $1.9 billion by 2022, a 400 percent increase from 2017. With research suggesting that the extract, a nonpsychoactive component of cannabis and hemp, can reduce pain, inflammation, and anxiety, you can now find it in everything from lip balm to cooking oil. Not surprisingly, some hard-颅training athletes , including ultrarunners and professional football players, are fans of the stuff. There鈥檚 some debate when it comes to recommended dosage, but most experts agree that ten milligrams is a good place to start. If you鈥檙e looking to ease your way into the supplement, here鈥檚 a sampling of CBD-fortified provisions.

Livity Foods Everhemp Bar ($10)

The energy-bar aisle is a crowded place, but , with 25 milligrams of CBD and a solid nutritional profile: each 240-calorie bar has 14 grams of protein and a solid dose of omega-3鈥檚.

Luce Farm Hemp Honey ($50 for Six Ounces)

Stir a teaspoon of this 听into your morning coffee or yogurt for ten milligrams of CBD. For a less conventional fix, try it as an energy-gel substitute.

PureKana CBD Gummies ($38 for 20 Servings)

You might be tempted to blow through an entire bottle of 听in one sitting, but be mindful: each bear delivers 25 milligrams of CBD.

Hemp Health Pharma CBD Peanut Butter ($50 for Six Ounces)

Your favorite sandwich spread just . There鈥檚 roughly 14 milligrams of CBD and eight grams of protein per serving, though it鈥檚 also higher in carbs than most peanut butters.

To Whom It May Chocolates ($30 for Four)

come in four flavors, including cherry cayenne and smoked almond butter. Whichever you choose, each delectable piece contains 10 milligrams of CBD.

Tree Below Zero Soda ($7)

听is the perfect post-workout beverage, with 25 milligrams of CBD per can. It comes in four flavors, including mandarin blood orange and cranberry ginger. (Sweet lime, coming soon, will pack an added punch, with 75 extra milligrams of CBD.)

Buddha Teas CBD Tea Bundle ($70 for 72 Bags)

[Currently Out of Stock]听If you鈥檙e not a coffee drinker, check out 听of chamomile, mint, green, and turmeric ginger tea. Each bag delivers a flavorful organic cup and five milligrams of water-soluble CBD.

Delta Botanicals CBD Cooking Oil ($20 for 6.8 Ounces)

听of coconut and hemp oils lets you stir CBD into anything. There鈥檚 roughly 15 milligrams per tablespoon.

Str盲va Craft Focus Coffee Beans ($20 for 12 Ounces)

Consider brewing a cup of as part of your pre-run routine. The 30 milligrams of CBD is enough to potentially reduce on-trail joint aches.

The post The Best CBD-Infused Foods for Athletes appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Active people tend to overthink what food is doing for their body鈥擨s keto good for endurance? What鈥檚 the perfect post-training macro spread? Butter or no butter in my coffee?鈥攂ut underthink what it鈥檚 doing for their mind. Yet you鈥檝e probably noticed that what you eat impacts what鈥檚 going on upstairs. We鈥檝e all devoured a cheat meal and afterward felt off,听not just physically听but also mentally and emotionally. And new research suggests that the connection between diet and mental well-being is a little more nuanced than scientists once thought.

suggest what you might expect: eating junk isn鈥檛 great for your brain. People who consume plenty of fruit, vegetables, and fish seem to be less at risk of depression compared to those who favor fatty meats, processed carbs, and sweets.听But emerging research shows that even among healthy diets, some might be听better for mental health than others.听In a recent review published in , researchers analyzed 41 studies that sought to quantify听the impact of various diets听on clinical depression. The analysis accounted for a variety of eating plans听including听the Mediterranean diet, the听, and the听.

The winner? The听, which according to the 听features abundant fruits and vegetables, olive oil, dairy products like yogurt and cheese, cereals, beans,听fish and poultry, and moderate amounts of red meat and wine. (Sometimes it seems to be the best diet for just about everything: it , and it recently won the top spot in an听 of 40 diets based on metrics like being heart-healthy, plant heavy, and easy to adhere to.)

Drew Ramsey,听an associate professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and the author of听,听says the Mediterranean diet may have a positive effect on mental health because it helps听fight听inflammation. 鈥淢olecules that are responsible for inflammation influence things like your mood and energy levels,鈥� says Ramsey. 鈥淔or example, inflammation gets in the way of the brain鈥檚 self-repair process. Many antidepressant medications are also powerful anti-inflammatories that spur brain growth.鈥� The diet may also improve your gut microbiome, which听 suggests influences depression.

But don鈥檛 purge your refrigerator or medicine cabinet听quite yet. Observational nutrition studies, where听researchers ask participants to recall their eating patterns, can be unreliable, says Trevor Kashey, an Ohio-based registered dietitian. 鈥淧eople lie, don鈥檛 know how to track their intake, and have terrible memories,鈥� he says.

More importantly, every diet in the study showed some听positive impact on depression. 鈥淲hen we begin to dissect which particular healthy diet is optimal, it misses the point,鈥� says Ramsey. 鈥淭he big take home for individuals and for our mental health care systems is that food matters.鈥� The study itself concludes that 鈥渁dhering to a healthy diet, in particular a traditional Mediterranean diet, or avoiding a pro-inflammatory diet appears to confer some protection against depression.鈥�

To that end, Ramsey recently conducted a separate that looked at which foods are highest in the 12 nutrients associated with preventing or relieving depression. Low levels of, for example, are associated with depression, and the symptoms are often relieved by taking in more of those vitamins. The听听with purported mental-health benefits听is expansive, but vegetables, organ meats (like liver), fruits, and seafood took the top four categories.

No single food has magical powers, however. 鈥淲e want to shift [the conversation away] from singular foods and diets and into talking about food categories,鈥� says Ramsey. His study, for example, found that spinach, Swiss chard, kale, and lettuce听contain the highest antidepressant nutrients per serving, but that it didn鈥檛 really matter which leafy green you ate鈥攚hat matters is that leafy greens are a regular part of your food intake.

鈥淎s a clinical psychiatrist, it鈥檚 intriguing to think about food interventions and how they could shift an entire organism,鈥� says Ramsey. 鈥淲hat happens if I get someone using food for a more diverse microbiome, lower overall inflammation, and more connection to a sense of self-care? Those are all great things for someone struggling with mental and brain health.鈥�

These findings could have a big impact.听,听4听percent of men and 7听percent of women suffer from depression, and the disorder听can affect all facets of life, including productivity and athletic performance.听Nutrition is just one piece of the mental-health puzzle, but it has researchers excited. 鈥淚 really am a big fan of responsibly using medications and effective talk therapy to treat depression,鈥� says Ramsey. 鈥淏ut [focusing on] diet allows us to empower patients to think about their mental health as tied to nutrition.鈥�

The post How Your Diet Affects Your Mental Health appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Costco. A place where you can buy things like gasoline, durable goods, and鈥攎ost important鈥攈ealthy calories, all in bulk yet without sacrificing quality. That last item is exactly what outdoor athletes, who burn through energy at rapid-fire pace, need to fuel all those runs, rides, and ascents. The best part? Everything is outrageously cheap, debunking the idea that you have to spend a pretty penny to eat well or boost your performance. Rather than shop at pricey specialty markets or natural food stores, make this warehouse your go-to grocery and you鈥檒l save time, energy, and money.

鈥淚 actually give my clients a Costco shopping list,鈥� says Rachele Beck, a Wasatch Front鈥揵ased nutritionist who works with clients ranging from tech execs to professional outdoor athletes. 鈥淭here are so many healthy, economical options. It just makes it easy and affordable for people to eat healthy.鈥�

For first-timers, a trip to a Costco warehouse can be utterly overwhelming. The aisles aren鈥檛 marked鈥攁 major departure from the organized, easy-to-follow Whole Foods model. While it is at first frustrating, you鈥檒l soon realize that this chaos affords you the opportunity to explore and discover nutritional gems that you either haven鈥檛 heard of or wouldn鈥檛 buy in your regular market due to price. Costco鈥檚 shelves hold the best Saigon cinnamon you鈥檒l ever taste (11 ounces, $2.50), mass quantities of organic chia seeds (two pounds, $7.50), and gigantic jugs of pure, organic maple syrup (one liter, $11)鈥攁ll for a fraction of what you鈥檇 pay at a typical grocery store. Consider the syrup, which the average organic grocer sells for anywhere from $0.75 to $1.25 an ounce. Costco鈥檚? Less than $0.33 an ounce.

You鈥檒l leave the warehouse feeling like you get more than you paid for. Costco is bullish on organics, and the majority of its in-house brands, labeled Kirkland, are produced by some of the country鈥檚 most well-known food makers. For example, Starbucks roasts Kirkland coffee (two pounds, $10), Bumble Bee produces the albacore tuna (eight cans, $13), and Adams reportedly does Costco鈥檚 organic peanut butter (56 ounces, $10).

The place will save you time in two ways. First, when you buy in bulk, you come home with more, meaning you make fewer trips to the store. Second, Costco usually features just one or two versions of a given food. For example, instead of offering you, say, 11 different types of almond milks, eggs, or energy bars, the buyers pick what they consider to be one to three of the best takes on the product and offer only those at a competitive price. This also helps cut down on decision fatigue. (I repeatedly reached out to Costco for comment regarding how the team selects the items that make it to store shelves. They declined to divulge.)

A standard annual runs $60. If you do most of your shopping there, you鈥檒l make that up in no time. In fact, Beck鈥檚 husband is a certified financial planner and and swears by the value of Costco. 鈥淔or example, even though you have to buy a massive three-pound bag of organic spinach,鈥� Beck says, 鈥渋t鈥檚 only $5. That鈥檚 way more economical than buying the one-pound bag for $4 at the regular grocery store.鈥� Single and worried you won鈥檛 eat bulk items in time? Freeze them.

Another benefit: 鈥淐ostco鈥檚 food is usually much fresher than the grocery store鈥檚,鈥� Beck says. 鈥淭hey have so much traffic that they have to turn their food supply over much quicker.鈥�

If you鈥檙e a new (or soon to be) Costco membership holder, Beck鈥檚 expansive food list below will help you get your bearings. It focuses primarily on single-ingredient foods, which a recent found can help you lose weight no matter how you approach your diet.

Here are the list鈥檚 highlights鈥攄on鈥檛 worry, you don鈥檛 have to buy them all at once鈥攁nd a sample meal plan showing how you could put them together:

Fruits and Vegetables

• Organic spinach
• Baby kale
• Baby carrots
• Frozen mango chunks
• Organic lemons
• Sugar snap peas
• Frozen berry mix
• Romaine lettuce
• Cauliflower rice
• Yams
• Avocados
• Dried figs
• Bananas
• Broccoli

Meats

• Ground turkey
• Wild-caught frozen salmon burgers
• Boneless skinless frozen chicken breast
• Rotisserie chicken

Dairy

• Almond or coconut milk鈥攗nsweetened
• Kirkland 0% fat plain Greek yogurt

Carbs

• Quinoa
• Brown rice noodle ramen
• Organic raw-corn tortillas
• Lentils

Snacks, etc.

• Raw almonds
• Hummus
• RX Bars
• Nuttzo nut butter
• Harvest Stone organic quinoa crackers
• Kirkland protein bar鈥攇reat protein and a treat
• Hemp seeds
• Organic protein powder

Breakfast

Blend the following:

• Spinach (frozen)
• Bananas (frozen)
• One scoop protein powder
• Unsweetened almond milk
• Kirkland 0% Fat Greek Yogurt
• Kirkland frozen berry mix
• Raw almonds
• Hemp seeds

Lunch

Make a salad that includes the following:

• Baby kale or spinach
• Carrots
• Snap peas
• Broccoli
• Chopped wild-caught salmon burger
• Lentils

Dinner

Make a one-pan meal featuring:

• Quinoa, riced cauliflower, or saut茅ed yams
• Chicken breast or rotisserie chicken
• As many vegetables on the list as you like

Snacks

• Dried figs and protein shake
• Nut butter with a banana
• RX or protein bar
• Crackers and hummus and/or rotisserie chicken

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It鈥檚 4 p.m. on a Thursday, and I鈥檓 in for another beating. I enter the Roadrunner Athletic Club鈥攖he unpretentious, one-member, Las Vegas鈥揵ased gym inside my garage. I eye the lineup of dumbbells, kettlebells, and sandbags parked in front of my pickup, then drop to the yoga mat on the cement floor and begin to stretch for a workout. But something feels off.

As I sink into a hip stretch, my muscles are about as pliable as particle board. And when I stand to grab a 50-pound kettlebell, my strength wanes. The thought of repeatedly snatching the kettlebell from floor to overhead seems about as fun as dropping the weight on my face. I鈥檇 normally stuff these feelings and begin cranking my heart into overdrive. But today鈥檚 different. I take a deep breath, set down the weight, and change course鈥擨 go back inside, plop down on the couch, and start watching a late-鈥�90s episode of Cops.

It鈥檚 another day of my monthlong exercise program, an experiment where I鈥檓 doing away with any semblance of fitness planning and instead training entirely based on how I feel in the moment. And today? Today feels like a day where I鈥檒l benefit more from Netflix and chilling than I will from working up a sweat.

For half my life, I鈥檝e exercised four or five days every week for one hour鈥攗sually two or three precise lifting sessions and one or two prescripted aerobic workouts. I haven鈥檛 been 鈥渙ff鈥� an expert-designed fitness program for more than a couple weeks since the airing of the fourth season of The Sopranos. My interest in fitness started as a hobby in high school, grew in college, and eventually became part of my career, a decade of which has been spent writing about health, performance training, and nutrition.

So when my editor at 国产吃瓜黑料 asked me to see what would happen if I suppressed my affinity for exercise micromanagement and instead moved exactly how and when I felt like it, my reaction was mixed. I looked into the future and saw some possible good鈥攎aybe I鈥檇 uncover something about myself鈥攂ut far more bad. What if I lose a step, get hurt, or just come to the realization that I鈥檓 an inflexible fitness robot? Nevertheless, I accepted.

My editor鈥檚 instructions were simple: Take some basic fitness tests, exercise entirely by disposition for a month, take the tests again, then send me a story.

I tested my pushups, pullups, rear-foot elevated split squats, weighted walking lunges, and aerobic fitness. I also weighed myself on a scale.

Day one: I enter my garage. Absent from the work bench is the usual Excel spreadsheet that charts my month of training and lists the day鈥檚 workout.

I begin with some basic stretching, followed by a warmup of dumbbell . My hips feel a bit tight, and the exercise acts like a crowbar to pry them open, but I feel like going hard. I grab heavy dumbbells and do , an exercise that causes my upper legs to feel like blimps, so I know something鈥檚 working. Then I do because they鈥檙e easier on my shoulders and I can do more reps (which, admittedly, boosts my ego). Then I do weighted pullups because they鈥檙e more difficult and the weight vest makes me feel like I鈥檓 a kid playing army. Then I grab the dumbbells and do because I want sore hamstrings the next day. Finally, I do biceps curls, a bro-tastic exercise that I haven鈥檛 done since college, because, hey, why not? After doing four sets to failure of each of those exercises, I skip my regular core routine because I hate doing core work.

The next day, I don鈥檛 exercise because my legs felt like they鈥檝e received a few hundred bee stings. Some trainers say soreness is not a sign of a good workout, and they鈥檙e probably right, but this is a freeing, change-signaling soreness. I鈥檓 back in the gym improvising on day three.

This pattern continues for a month.

Many of my strength sessions hit the six fundamental movement patterns鈥攑ush, pull, hinge, squat, plank, and carry鈥攚hich my friend and renowned fitness expert Dan John make a good combo for most workouts. Some days I鈥檇 go hard and heavy, others were less aggressive. At times, a standard weight workout felt plain boring, and I鈥檇 do something a little more interesting, like . Occasionally, I鈥檇 keep it simple with something like 500 kettlebell swings and some pushups and pullups; other days, I鈥檇 give myself a basic goal of running, walking, or walking with weight from home to a location anywhere from one to five miles away and then back home.

At the end of the month, I retake the performance tests and measure my weight.

Not impressed with the data? Well, neither was I. That鈥檚 because the numbers do lie. They hide some critical truths鈥攖ruths that will likely change how I approach exercise from here on out. Here鈥檚 what my month of exercising by feel taught me.

Take the Long View

One day, I stood over a 75-pound kettlebell and planned to set a timer for five minutes and do as many reps as possible of the a rather technical exercise at a heavy weight for me. I wanted to do it, and my anarchic program said I should. But impulses also tell me to buy a motorcycle, eat Lucky Charms for every meal, and head down to the casinos near my home and play blackjack. In exercise, as in life, just because you want to do something doesn鈥檛 mean you should.

My goals have usually been performance oriented; for example, rowing 2,000 meters in less than seven minutes, running a sub-1:30 half marathon, deadlifting twice my bodyweight, doing 15 or more pullups. But once I hit those goals, I, like most people, extended them. Faster, heavier, more reps. I did 100 snatches in less than five minutes with a 55-pound kettlebell. Why not try with the 75-pounder?

Here鈥檚 why: The long view of why I train is that I want to feel good, be physically capable of doing the things I love, and infrequently visit the hospital from now until I die at, fingers crossed, a very old age. Ripping a big-ass weight from the ground a bunch of times may improve my capacity, but is it making me feel good and stay 鈥渉ealthy鈥�? That鈥檚 debatable.

Performance and health are not the same. 鈥淧erformance is about pushing boundaries. Health is about staying within them,鈥� says Trevor Kashey, an Ohio-based performance and nutrition coach. Like a Venn diagram, the benefits most people see from training for performance and/or health overlap. But the more you push performance, the further you get from health. 鈥淲here that exercising-yourself-into-pain-and-suffering threshold lies is totally individual and also determined by your training method of choice, because some training methods are inherently riskier,鈥� Kashey says.

Consider that found you need only burn roughly 1,000 calories or run seven miles each week to significantly reduce your mortality risk. A large body of evidence suggests having a larger amount of muscle improves health and disease outcomes. 鈥淏ut adequate isn鈥檛 really about building muscle,鈥� Kashey says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about loss prevention.鈥� That鈥檚 something you can do by eating enough protein and hitting minimal activity requirements.

Standing over the kettlebell, I realized that I fall somewhere in between exercising for maximum performance and exercising for health. While I know intellectually that pushing myself to hit faster splits or pump heavier weights just to say I can won鈥檛 necessarily leave me any healthier, I鈥檓 still inclined to do so. But without a specific performance goal, just being active regularly is enough to help me achieve longevity and positive health鈥攚hich should arguably be the goal in and of itself. The trick for me, I realized, is finding a happy medium鈥攃hoosing performance goals that don鈥檛 potentially leave me burned out or injured (my current track before this experiment), but also keep me motivated and excited about following some sort of training plan (which requires a little more direction than my approach over the past month).

Walking Is Ridiculously Underrated

Before this grand experiment, I was nearly always good for a couple weekly runs. But one day during this month, I laced up my running shoes and faced an alarming pre-run mental dialogue: I鈥檇 rather do my taxes inside a bullfighting arena than jog right now.

I鈥檇 normally just shut up and pound pavement. Sure, I haven鈥檛 ever regretted a run, but most of my runs have moments of sheer shittiness. So why bother? This experiment dictates that I 蝉丑辞耻濒诲苍鈥檛 run if I don鈥檛 want to. (So I didn鈥檛.) But I still wanted to do something active.

I leashed my dogs, and we walked my regular running route in the desert foothills behind our home. There was no pacing, no coordinated breathing, no considered foot-strike patterns. This was an unplugged, untimed, unmanaged experience, complete with stops to sniff around and soak in the surroundings.

Did my fitness suffer for it? Probably not all that much. Consider a that found no differences in body composition changes between people who did shorter, higher-intensity exercise bouts compared to people who did longer, lower-intensity exercise. Caloric burn is caloric burn, regardless of the burn rate. Other suggest walkers live just as long as more-intense exercisers. Of course, my walk took twice as long to see equal benefits, but it was worth the time鈥攁nd it made me feel fresher the next day.

Consider my friend , a 6'2″, 250-pound former UFC fighter who trains twice a day and is the fittest person I know. A few years back, he saw a drastic jump in his strength and endurance鈥攕omething that just doesn鈥檛 happen to people at his level of performance. Perplexed, Maximus analyzed what had changed and could only find one answer: He鈥檇 recently adopted a dog and was walking 30 to 60 minutes a day, which, he thinks, was helping him recover much faster.

Walks replaced my runs for the rest of the experiment. Most times I鈥檇 leave my phone at home so I could completely unplug and be present in nature, which gave me a physical and mental benefit. Research from the University of Utah shows that people who walk in nature without their phone scored better on memory tests and showed changes in their brain that suggest significant mental restoration compared to people who walked with their phone.

Yeah, I鈥檒l surely still run relatively frequently鈥攄ifferent heart rates do seem to deliver unique cardiovascular benefits鈥攂ut I鈥檒l also do a lot more walking.

Consult an Expert

I know more about health and fitness than the average person, but as a journalist, it鈥檚 my duty to not pose as an expert. Yet even certifiable experts鈥攖he ones with advanced degrees who conduct or follow research and work with clients 40 hours a week鈥攎ay not want to create their own programs, says , owner of Core, a Boston-based gym.

鈥淚 know the body and how to write solid training programs,鈥� Gentilcore says. 鈥淏ut the last person I want to write a program for is myself. Just like everyone else, I鈥檓 prone to my own biases and tend to gravitate toward what I鈥檓 good at or what鈥檚 鈥榚asy.鈥欌��

Take me, for example: By week two, my lower back ached鈥攂ecause I鈥檇 been neglecting the core work I loathe. By avoiding what you don鈥檛 want to do, you overlook what you鈥檙e bad at or just don鈥檛 like (like, ahem, running). And it鈥檚 often the latter that keeps your healthy and fills your fitness gaps. An expert-designed program holds you accountable and covers your blind spots.

The DIY method is probably not ideal for most people, because the vast majority don鈥檛 have a firm grasp on fitness program design, says Kevin Carr, co-founder of . 鈥淭here should be a balance between mobility, strength, power, and aerobic activity in your program. That鈥檚 true in individual training sessions as well as in how the workouts come together over weeks and months.鈥� When you don鈥檛 understand that, you end up having blind spots that hurt your fitness or set you up for injury.

Not all people can or will hire a coach, and that鈥檚 fine. Buy a program online, Carr says, and learn what constitutes a solid gym workout for most fitness goals. Do five to ten minutes of mobility work, followed by strength and power work where you push (like a pushup), pull (pullup), hinge (hip bridge), squat (squat), and plank. Finish with something that gets your heart rate up. That covers the five fundamental human-movement patterns and checks an aerobic box.

You Can Build Fitness Anywhere

There was one day during this period when I wanted to work out but had in-laws heading into town and a long list of chores. As someone who has always believed that exercise can only really happen in the gym or with a prescribed running workout, my lack of time should have posed a problem. Feeling innovative, I placed a 45-pound sandbag inside my backpack. Then I tossed the backpack over my shoulders and started crushing tasks: folding laundry, cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming, mopping鈥攅ach chore morphing into exercise thanks to the added weight.

I moved for two hours while wearing that pack. The military calls this rucking, and it鈥檚 an . It burns roughly three times the calories of walking, helps relieve and prevent back pain, makes you stronger everywhere, builds your endurance without impact, and rounds out your fitness.

That pack is forever my new chore buddy. Turns out you don鈥檛 always have to choose between exercise and getting shit done.

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Imagine this: You just spent the day giving your all on a big hike or ride, or a long day at work followed by an evening gym session. You arrive home tired and ravenous, without an ounce of give-a-shit to spare. Typically, you鈥檇 respond to this situation听by stopping at a drive-through or microwaving a plastic-enclosed food item with an ingredient list that鈥檚 75 percent unpronounceable.

There鈥檚 a better way, says , a classically-trained chef, nutrition consultant, and former professional endurance athlete. Take a natural carb, a bunch of vegetables, a dose of protein, thumb of fat, and some sauce, and throw it all into a pan, then let it rip for a few minutes. You鈥檒l have a delicious meal that covers all of your nutritional bases鈥攍ots of protein and your RDA of vegetables鈥攚ithout much cleanup.

鈥淚 love one-pan meals,鈥� says Alexis. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e stupid easy, and great for athletes because we often get home having under-eaten all day and we need a healthy meal.鈥�

Cultures from around the world have long had their own spins on the basic formula of combining the above ingredients. In Korea, there's bibimbap: rice with beef, pickled vegetables, chili paste, and a fried egg. In Spain, paella: rice, green beans, meat, seafood, spices, and beans. In Thailand, pad thai: rice noodles, meat, eggs, peanuts, spices, and vegetables. In America, the breakfast skillet: potatoes, eggs, bacon or ham, vegetables, and cheese. The flavor profiles you can create with the basic formula will keep you culinarily satisfied for years.

The meal is easy to customize for your nutritional needs, too. Need a lot of protein? Add a lot of meat. Trying to cut carbs? Go easy on the rice (or noodles, or potatoes, etc). Vegan? Use tofu instead of meat.

One-pan meals are best on week nights, when you have leftover grains and meat in the fridge, says Alexis.

Here鈥檚 the basic formula you鈥檒l toss on the pan:

• Two tablespoons oil
• Eight to 12 ounces of protein (eggs, chicken, shrimp, steak, tofu)
• Two cups of cooked grains, tubers, or pasta
• 1/4 cup sauce
• Four cups of vegetables (roasted, steamed, baked, or fresh)

And while you should feel free to let your creative culinary juices flow, we know that sometimes a little inspiration is much appreciated. Try one of听Alexis鈥� favorite combos, each ingredient portioned out according to the basic formula above:

1. Eggs + Black Rice + Miso-Turmeric Dressing + Avocado + Roasted Broccoli
2. Chicken + Rice + Maple-Soy Dressing + Kale + Radishes
3. Tofu + Blue Emmer + Sriracha Mayonnaise + Roasted Mushrooms + Butternut Squash + Torn Kale
4. Skirt Steak + Tagliatelle + Olive Oil + Harissa + Torn Olives + Kale Ribbons

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