I still don’t know where or how these originated, but they crack me up every time I run across one. As a guy who used to be in the paperback book business, I think they are really funny while pointing out some of the trials and tribulations of those under-appreciated ladies. They also forever alter any ideas you might entertain about staid ladies of the stacks.
Tony
Filed under librarian funnies, Uncategorized
Eat less; move more; live longer is still the mantra of this blog. Nonetheless, there are times when size matters. In this case, one brobdingnagian dessert … On the off-chance you aren’t familiar with that word, it’s current use simply means colossal. It refers back to Gulliver’s Travels and a land of giants.
As regular readers know I got back from Las Vegas last Thursday. I recounted the trip and some of the wonderful meals my girlfriend and I enjoyed there in What happens in Vegas ….. The meal I am about to describe to you could easily have originated in Las Vegas.
My girlfriend and I subscribe to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. On Sunday we attended its performance of Hamlet. Before the theater we always dine at Riva, a superb restaurant on Chicago’s famed Navy Pier.
Herewith the details of that meal and subsequent dessert. Continue reading
Filed under dessert, dining out, Las Vegas, Uncategorized
Here’s hoping you are about to have a great weekend. Enjoy! May the fourth be with you!
This is actually my dog, Gabi, checking the microwave lid for snacks.
Tony
Filed under funnies, Uncategorized, weekend funnies
As regular readers know, the mantra of this blog is eat less; move more; live longer. Moving more means discarding your sedentary lifestyle and exercising regularly. University of Colorado Boulder have uncorked a novel angle on exercising. Not cardio or weight bearing exercise, but a muscular challenge just the same. Following comes from CU Boulder Today, by Lisa Marshall.
Could working out five minutes a day, without lifting a single weight or jogging a single step, reduce your heart attack risk, help you think more clearly and boost your sports performance?
Preliminary evidence suggests yes.
Now, with a new grant from the National Institute on Aging, CU Boulder researchers have launched a clinical trial to learn more about the ultra-time-efficient exercise known as Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training (IMST).
“It’s basically strength-training for the muscles you breathe in with,” explains Daniel Craighead, a postdoctoral researcher in the Integrative Physiology department. “It’s something you can do quickly in your home or office, without having to change your clothes, and so far it looks like it is very beneficial to lower blood pressure and possibly boost cognitive and physical performance.” Continue reading
Filed under blood pressure, Exercise, exercise benefits, Uncategorized
Good Friday morning. Time for a visit to the internet animal kingdom, etc.
Have a great weekend!
Tony
Filed under Uncategorized, weekend funnies
Here we are at weekend time again, no need to beware the Ides of March. Hope you have a fun one. Consider the following as an overture …
Guess who has never seen snow before …
Tony
Filed under funnies, Uncategorized, weekend funnies
Because the weather appears to be mellowing, I am guessing that a lot more folks will be getting out their bikes to ride ‘in the new season.’ Here are a couple of stretches that I recommend you do before and after your ride.
I ride my bicycle virtually every day here in Chicago. Last year I averaged just over 17 miles per day for all 365 days for a total of 6350 miles for the year.
As you can imagine in a four season city like Chicago, I am not always able to ride at all, so I end up with some longer rides to compensate.
As a senior citizen riding the bike every day can sometimes stiffen up my leg muscles. I have found two wonderful stretches that do a super job of rejuvenating my legs on long rides. I usually do them after about ten miles so the muscles are warmed up. Every time I do them, I can always feel the energy flow back into my legs when I finish.
I have pictures of each stretch, but I want to explain how I do them as that makes the difference…
View original post 394 more words
Filed under biking, Exercise, exercise benefits, safe biking, stretching, Uncategorized, yoga, yoga benefits
Is it Friday already? Well, here is your harbinger of a fun weekend. Hope it works out that way.
Tony
Filed under Uncategorized
Now that much of the nation is over the Polar Vortex that came through , I thought it might be a good idea to revisit the idea of surviving and thriving in cold weather. Winter isn’t over yet.
Here are a couple of infographics that spell it out. But, if you want chapter and verse on the subject, please check out my post – Exercising outdoors in cold weather from a while back.
Tony
I have written repeatedly about the dangers of soft drinks, both sugary and artificial sweeteners. You can search the subject by punching soft drinks into the S E A R C H box at the right.
Drinking more than one soft drink daily — whether it’s regular or diet — may be associated with an increase in the risk factors for heart disease, Framingham researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com
“We were struck by the fact that it didn’t matter whether it was a diet or regular soda that participants consumed, the association with increased risk was present,” said Ramachandran Vasan, M.D., senior author of the Framingham Heart Study and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. “In those who drink one or more soft drinks daily, there was an association of an increased risk of developing the metabolic syndrome.”
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including excess waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL “good” cholesterol) and high fasting glucose levels. The presence of three or more of the factors increases a person’s risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
I truly believe that old saw “an ounce of prevention ….” So, here are some super positive ideas about protecting yourself from flu this season. Good luck!
Tony
Filed under Exercise, exercise benefits, flu season, flu shot, preventing the flu, Uncategorized
I know, I know … you have been waiting all week for these.
Tony
Filed under puns, Uncategorized
I have a bad case of arthritis in both my hands. I use exercise balls, ice packs and CBD oil for temporary pain relief. That is pretty much the only pain I deal with regularly. So, I guess I have a lot to be thankful for as a guy who turns 79 in January. I do realize, however, that many seniors are not so lucky. For them, I recommend these tips from the National Institute on Aging.
Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com
Exercising when you’re in pain can be hard. You might think that you should rest until your pain disappears. But depending on the type of pain you’re experiencing, exercise can help reduce your pain and improve your mood.
Most people living with chronic pain can exercise safely. In fact, research has shown that exercise combined with education can reduce one’s risk of lower back pain.
Follow these tips for exercising with pain:
Learn more about exercising with pain from Go4Life.
Filed under back pain, chronic pain, Exercise, exercise benefits, exercise frequency, joint pain, pain, Pain relief, Uncategorized
I am guilty of being a coffee lover. I am so bad that when I see someone on TV carrying a cardboard cup of the brew, I am tempted to make some for myself. So, the following was good news for me.
Scientists have now proved that drinking certain types of coffee can be beneficial to brain health, but how does this popular brew support cognitive function? A new study identifies some of the mechanisms that allow coffee to keep mental decline at bay.
Photo by Leah Kelley on Pexels.com
According to data from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA, about 54 percent of all adults in the United States drink coffee on a daily basis.
While drinking coffee can bring both benefits and risks for a person’s health, a 2016 study from the University of Ulster in Coleraine, United Kingdom, concluded that the health benefits of moderate coffee consumption “clearly outweigh” the potential risks.
One of these benefits is that coffee seems to protect the brain against cognitive impairments and boost thinking skills. Continue reading
Filed under aging brain, brain, brain function, brain health, coffee, Uncategorized
Although I like to keep my posts applicable to both men and women, I ran across this article down under and thought you might find it worthwhile reading as it applies to healthy brains.
We’re all living longer, and for many women our older years are our happiest.
Maintaining brain health is key to joining these lucky people living a long, happy and healthy life. But for many women, it’s the slow creep of dementia that leads to the demise of their health, and quality of life.
Two thirds of people living with dementia are women, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirms it is now the leading cause of death for women.
Yet there are few studies of how dementia progresses in women.
Two recent studies from the landmark 20-year Women’s Healthy Ageing Project at the University of Melbourne shed light on which women are most at risk of developing dementia, and how we can get in early to prevent or delay the disease.
Their results are timely, coming as the Australian Government considers the best ways to look after women’s health in the future, inviting submissions to its National Women’s Health Strategy for 2020 – 2030.
In research published in Brain Imaging and Behaviour, researchers found that a woman’s volume of grey matter in their brain at the age of 60 predicts their memory performance at 70.
Grey matter is the part of the brain that is controlled by the nerve cell bodies and it’s where the real processing happens, including speech, hearing, feelings, seeing and memory. White matter allows communication to and from grey matter areas, as well as between grey matter and other parts of the body.
In separate study published in the same journal, they also found that women with normal levels of the ‘good’ cholesterol, called HDL which carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver, in 1992 had less white matter damage in their brain a decade later when they conducted late-life brain MRI scans and cognitive assessments in 2012.
So, maintaining healthy levels of cholesterol impacts on the structure of the brain directly.
“Taken together, these findings show there are useful neuroimaging biomarkers for the prediction of cognitive decline in healthy older women,” says lead researcher Professor Cassandra Szoeke.
“They build on a growing body of research helping us pick up the warning signs of dementia earlier. In fact just this year the National Institute of Ageing published proposed criteria to diagnose dementia and pre-dementia on biomarkers, like brain scan results and body fluid measures of protein levels.”
Filed under Uncategorized
