Tough Home Workout -- Cathe's Power Hour

If you're not convinced that you can get a good workout at home, you haven't tried Power Hour. Cathe Friedrich is at her best in this workout from several years ago (2001). Power Hour has been compared to Body Pump classes in that the music is planned to go with the moves and each body part is complete at the end of each song.

Before I get too far from the photo, I have to say that my favorite cast member in Cathe's videos is on the right (Cathe's left). Her names is Rhonda and she is such a delight to work out with. She's always full of joy, no matter what she's doing. She has this mixture of grace and merriment that is a pleasure to behold. I know this may sound a little over the top in observing a background exerciser, but she's really that fun to have in my morning workouts :).

I won't review Power Hour in full (or even do it justice with a partial review -- you can find those here from the VF site). But I will just tell you that it's a great full body muscle endurance (high rep) workout that will challenge you at any level. I started doing it in 2001 and continued using it weekly throughout my last pregnancy. I had to lower the weights as I went, but it was still a solid workout that kept my body strong.

I did it today (that's me this very morning) as part of my STS-like periodization plan I'm doing right now. I do it every Monday for the first 4 weeks, (with Cathe's Legs & Glutes workout on Wednesdays, her Muscle Endurance workout on Fridays and cardio on the days in between).

I know many people say that they can't get motivated to work out from home -- that they need a friend or someone "live" to work out with to help them keep going. I find the opposite to be true for me. With a video workout, I can find the best instructors in the fitness industry who have well-planned workouts and know how to get you to work.

I do like some things about live classes, but there are many drawbacks. One is that I am never sure of what the teacher will deliver (and sometimes it's not suited to your body or mood. With videos, I can preview, read reviews, get an idea of what I'm in for before I begin. I especially like this for a yoga practice because some instructors or styles just lose my interest fast or don't feel right for my body. I've been stuck in a few classes where I don't want to offend the instructor by leaving, but just don't feel like I'm able to get into the practice (and battle with myself throughout, wanting to leave and just do yoga that's more suited to me).

I also like that in a home workout, I'm never thinking about any one else in the room -- what someone else may think of how I'm doing, or getting distracted myself by what others are doing. I can really focus on my workout and let it carry me to greater heights.

Wheat Breakfast Recipes -- Fruit Muffins, Scones & Cracked Wheat

I'm finding that I cook a lot with wheat -- I didn't realize I had so many recipes to share. I love to bake in the winter to keep the house warmer. It just feels nice too with the aroma of freshly baked goods. Even if I'm eating raw and mostly eat my sprouted wheat goods, it's hearty and healthy for the rest of my family.

Here's a favorite recipe that I morphed from a McDougall cookbook. I can apples every few years and use those for the muffins where it calls for apple sauce, but I'll write both. This recipe is so versatile. I've changed it up when I was out of apple juice and used grape juice instead, which made me think I should use berries to go with that stronger taste. That same day I realized my muffin pan was still at the school, so I made scones instead and they were an instant hit. I liked them because they had that muffin top wonder that tastes so much better than the bottom. So I'll post both recipes and will add at the bottom of each that they can be made into muffins or scones (or even a sweet bread if you have a mini-loaf pan). I've done all of the above.

Apple/Oatmeal Muffins
1/2 c. apple juice
1 c. canned apples or apple sauce
1/2 c. honey
2 eggs (optional if vegan -- bakes fine w/o them, just a little drier)
2 T oil (optional -- this was originally an oil-free recipe -- I find my kids like them better w/oil because they're more moist, but they bake just fine without the oil too)
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. salt
3 c. wheat flour
2 c. oatmeal (old fashioned)

Mix ingredients -- wet first, then add in dry. Pour into muffin pan at 3/4 full. If you'd rather make them into scones, scoop w/ice cream scoop onto baking stone or sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. If you make mini-muffins, it will only take about 20 minutes. If you want to make it into mini-loaves, it will take more like 45 minutes. These freeze well to keep fresh if you can't eat them all within a few days.

Berry Scones
1/2 c. grape juice
1 c. apple sauce
1/2 c. honey
2 eggs (optional if vegan -- bakes fine w/o them, just a little drier)
2 T oil (optional -- this was originally an oil-free recipe -- I find my kids like them better w/oil because they're more moist, but they bake just fine without the oil too)
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. salt
3 c. wheat flour
2 c. oatmeal (old fashioned)
2 c. fresh or frozen berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

Mix ingredients -- wet first, then add in dry. Fold in berries at the end. If the berries are fresh, they may come apart when mixing -- you can coat the berries with a little unrefined sugar to keep them together if you'd like. Scoop batter w/ice cream scoop or large serving spoon onto baking stone or sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. If you'd like to make muffins, fill muffin tin to 3/4 full. If you make mini-muffins, it will only take about 20 minutes. If you want to make it into mini-loaves, it will take more like 45 minutes. These freeze well to keep fresh if you can't eat them all within a few days.

I'll have to make some and post a picture in the next few days.

-- I also like to make cracked wheat with just raisins and cinnamon (and often flax too) on cold mornings. If you haven't tasted plump cooked raisins, you're in for a treat!

Cracked Wheat & Raisins
3/4 c. cracked wheat (either by hand or from the store)
3 c. water
1/2 c. raisins (usually just a handful)
1 t. cinnamon
1 T. ground flax seed

Put wheat, raisins and water into pan, rice cooker, or large glass bowl. There are a variety of ways to cook your cracked wheat. I've done it in the microwave for about 14 minutes on high in a glass mixing bowl. It sometimes boils over and microwaving destroys nutrients, so I don't do it this way anymore. But it's still better for you than most cold cereals and is a hand option if you don't have a rice cooker or the time to stand near the stove.

If you have a rice cooker, follow the instructions for the cooker for brown rice and it will cook up the wheat just wonderfully. If you use a pan on the stove, let water rise to a boil, add wheat and raisins, let boil for about 15 minutes, stirring and watching so it won't burn.

Stir in cinnamon and flax seed when it's all cooked. (You can add them before cooking, but they often end up boiling out and drying on the top edges of the pan or bowl). The finished cooked wheat should be moist. If too much water has boiled out, just add in some hot water to moisten it up. Super soothing and wonderful to warm you up.

Wheat Recipes -- Waffles, Pancakes & French Toast

I didn't think good fluffy waffles were possible with just whole wheat, but I was wrong. I make them all the time and they're wonderful. Yes, they have more oil than pancakes, but they're a nice wholesome treat for mealtimes or dessert. We top them with real maple syrup or a variety of fruits -- fresh berries, peaches, mangos or cooked apples, berries, or peaches w/cinnamon. I usually put so much fruit on mine that you can't even see the waffles anymore. To me, it's like eating a pie or shortcake with a much healthier crust! Obviously, I don't eat these when I'm eating all raw, but it's great for the rest of my family and is something I can join in with when I'm eating a high raw diet.

Fluffy Whole Wheat Waffles
1 c. soy or almond milk
2 eggs
2 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 c. wheat flour
1/4 c. oil
2 T. honey or unrefined sugar

Mix by hand or in mixer. Pour onto hot waffle iron as directed by the appliance user guide. Save what you don't eat in a ziploc bag and reheat in the toaster for up to a week if refrigerated. I usually triple or quadruple the recipe to have them handy for quick breakfasts for my kids throughout the week.

-- I have one son who for some unknown reason loves pancakes, but won't eat the waffles. So I make pancakes more often than waffles. Sometimes I just use the waffle batter for pancakes too, but if I make them alone, I adapt the earlier recipe with 1/2 the oil or use this other great pancake recipe.

Wonderful Wheat Pancakes
3 c. wheat flour
1 t. salt
1 T. baking powder
2 eggs
3 c. soy or almond milk (sometimes I use 1 c. water and 2 c. milk)
1 1/2 T. oil

If you don't eat eggs or are out of them, you can omit the eggs and increase the soy milk by 1/4 c. and increase the baking powder by 1/2 T.

Mix all together and cook until bubbly, then flip. As you cook, the batter seems to thicken. I end up adding a bit of water or soy milk as I go.

-- It may seem basic to list a French Toast recipe, but I have a little recipe I came up with in my last pregnancy almost 6 years ago when I was craving French Toast daily. The combination of sweetness from the vanilla soy and added cinnamon is just great!

Sweet & Spice French Toast
2 eggs
1/2 c. vanilla soy milk
1/2 t. cinnamon
whole wheat bread

(I actually just pour in the soy milk and cinnamon and you can too if you don't feel like measuring, but these ratios are right, so you make it once, see the consistency and run with it from there).

Stir together in a flat dish. I usually use a glass bread pan because it's rectangular like the bread slices. Dip bread on both sides and cook over the stove until brown.

Top with real maple syrup or fruit.

-- I'll post my sweet bread recipes either later today or tomorrow.

Wheat Recipes -- pizza dough & bread

Sorry I haven't posted much this week. It's Easter vacation, school is out and the house is hopping! We have three birthdays within a week and had the first party (with over 30 teenagers here) on Tuesday. Very fun, but doesn't leave much time for thought and writing! I figured I could focus enough to post a few good recipes. I hope I can anyway (music playing loudly in the background, children jumping around, etc. :))

A few years ago when I got into raw foods, I wanted to take some steps at getting food for my family healthier too. I decided to stop buying white flour and refined sugars. I know some people have wheat allergies and are cutting out wheat, but I find if I grind it up myself, I don't have problems with it like I do with refined wheat. My youngest son tested highly allergic to wheat a few years ago (was getting eczema from head to toe) and we found with a few mishaps that he actually doesn't have any problems with fresh whole wheat -- just with refined wheat products (especially white flour!) So we are grateful to know that. He's happy to be able to have toast and pancakes again. And I'm happy to not have to experiment with all the other grains that don't behave quite as nicely as wheat does.

I have many, many 5 gallon buckets full of hard red wheat and spring white wheat. Both grind up wonderfully for baking. I crack the red wheat for hot cereal and sprout the white wheat (mainly because it's newer -- the red wheat is 10-30 years old and stores well & tastes fresh for cooking, but won't sprout when it's that old). The hard red wheat is heavy and hearty. It's good for dense bread, sweet bread (like pumpkin, banana or apple), cookies that you don't mind gritty (like peanut butter, oatmeal, or chocolate chip), even brownies. The spring white wheat is lighter and better for lighter loaves such as homemade french bread, muffins, or anything that you don't want weighed down quite as much. Either works well for pancakes or waffles.

I've decided that if I do have pizza, it's with homemade crust, sauce, and veggies. I've tried raw pizza and it was about the biggest disappointment I've ever had in my raw food ventures. It took so much effort to make and didn't have any redeeming quality -- not a single one. So if I go for pizza, it will be one of my cooked creations. I have 2 crusts that work well -- one (Pizza Crust I) is just my homemade bread recipe. It's heavy, but good. I use it when I'm already making bread and just double the recipe to make pizza too. The other (Pizza Crust II) is actually a pizza crust recipe a friend gave me that I morphed a bit to make healthier.

Pizza Crust I (bread dough recipe)
Combine and let rise until foamy:
2 1/2 c. warm water
1/2 c. honey
1 1/2 T. yeast

Stir into a big bowl:
1/3. c. oil
1 t. salt
2-3 c. wheat flour

Add yeast mixture to wheat mixture; Stir in additional
5-6 c. wheat flour

Cover with damp towel and let rise until double (can let rise in oven at 170 degrees)
Knead a bit, shape into pizza rounds, let rise again for about 10-15 minutes)

Bake pizza at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.


Pizza Crust II
1 pkg. or T. yeast
1 c. warm water
1 T. unrefined sugar or honey
1 c. ice cold water
1 T. salt (less if you're restricting salt)
2 T. olive oil
5 - 5 1/2 c. wheat flour

In small bowl, stir yeast, warm water, and sugar -- let sit for 5 minutes until yeast becomes frothy.

In a bigger bowl, stir cold water, salt and oil. If you have a dough hook for your mixer, you can mix in half the flour. Otherwise, just stir by hand. Once mixed well, add in yeast mixture, then other half of flour until the dough is not sticky (but not too dry).

The actual recipe says to divide the dough into 2 balls and put each ball into a gallon ziploc bag in the refrigerator for 10 hours to 2 days. I've never done that, but you can try it if you'd like. I just let it rise at room temperature for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes -- until it's risen, then punch it down and form into 2 big pizzas (can stretch with hands or roll out with rolling pin). Sometimes I make personal mini-pizzas instead. I let it sit until it looks like it's raising a little bit (maybe 10-15 minutes while I make the sauce), then I add the sauce and toppings. Bake at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Quick Pizza Sauce
You can use any pasta sauce, but this homemade sauce tastes like it came from a pizzeria.
1 can (14 oz. or 1 3/4 c.) chopped or diced tomatoes
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
2 T. chopped fresh basil leaves (or 2 t. dried basil)
1 1/2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 t. dried oregano
1 1/2 t. unrefined sugar
1/2 t. chopped garlic
add salt to taste

I use the hand blender, but you could blend it in a regular blender too.

Pizza Toppings
I don't put cheese on my pizza anymore, but I do for a few of my kids and my husband. For the rest of us, I add a mixture of mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions -- sometimes spinach too.

As for homemade bread -- the recipe I wrote for the pizza crust is my basic bread recipe -- only I form it into loaves at the end. I use Pampered Chef stones for baking 90% of the time. I like to bake bread in their mini-loaf stone that has 4 loaves in one pan. This is the perfect size for slices of homemade bread because it isn't so big that it falls apart. We use it mostly for dinner and toasting (in the mornings and for snacks).

All Wheat Bread
Combine and let rise until foamy:
2 1/2 c. warm water
1/2 c. honey
1 1/2 T. yeast

Stir into a big bowl:
1/3. c. oil
1 t. salt
2-3 c. wheat flour

Add yeast mixture to wheat mixture; Stir in additional
5-6 c. wheat flour

Cover with damp towel and let rise until double (can let rise in oven at 170 degrees)
Knead a bit, shape into loaves and let rise again for about 20-30 minutes (less time in oven).

Once it's risen the second time, bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes if large loaves, 15-20 minutes for mini-loaves. When it's finished baking, put a damp cloth on top of the bread while it cools and the crust will be much softer and more moist.  Also, I like to put a little butter (I use the non-dairy Earth Balance, but any will do) on top of the crust as it comes out of the oven.   It gives the crust a moister taste).


Tomorrow I'll post my wheat recipes for waffles, pancakes, and sweet breads. I'll eventually get to the cookies and brownies.

Next week, I'll talk more about sprouting and will post my favorite cracker recipes. Super yummy!

An Abundance of Allergies

I've had allergies about as far back as I can remember, well at least as far back as 2nd grade. I remember having the skin on my eye lids flake. I wasn't sure why this would happen. I went to the doctor and he told me it might help not to use finger nail polish or anything with perfume in it. That didn't last long, but it's still a distinct memory. I also remember having watery/itchy eyes and sneezing a lot. I have a class picture of everyone smiling happily into the sunlight. I'm smiling too, but my eyes are as red as can be and I look like it's painful for me to face the sun. I remember that paradox of loving the feeling of the sunshine, but rejecting the pain it was causing my eyes to feel that bright light.

So many of the allergy medications that are over the counter now were my prescriptions growing up - - Actifed, Dimetapp, Benedryl, Sudafed, Afrin nose drops. I can't remember the name of the eye drops I took, but they were in a dark bottle with a dropper and felt WONDERFUL to take.

I remember how groggy I felt when I was on antihistimines, but taking them was a way of life during the spring. When I was 28 years old, I recall listening to the radio and hearing about a new antihistimine that would be released that year called Loratadine, which did not cause drowsiness. That sounded like heaven to me (and was later known under it's brand name, Claritin). I was sad to find out that Claritin wasn't quite tough enough to really make an impact on my allergies, but it was a start.

Later a doctor told me I could take a nasal steroid inhaler much like an asthma inhaler to help my allergies. I took it for a few years and it was helpful. But since it was a steroid and took a few weeks to get into my system to be effective and had to be maintained, it was hard to determine if I still needed it a month or two later. If the allergens were gone and I was still taking it needlessly, I couldn't tell. If I stopped taking it to test it out, and found I still had allergies, it would take another 2 weeks for it to start working again. It wasn't until I heard a report that repeated use of this drug could cause holes in the nasal membrane that I decided to quit using it.

I took my share of asthma medications too. I never had asthma as a child, but developed it when I was in high school. It was mostly allergy induced and we lived amongst grassy fields. Sometimes my mom would drive me into town during the night when I wasn't breathing well and would have me spend the night at my grandma's house. The change in environment would make a difference. Oft times I'd drive home from high school and as soon as I'd get to the "valley" where it was more rural, my air paths would close up. So I took albuterol, steroids, Theodur pills, and drank a lot of ice water trying to sooth my air paths.

This went on throughout my life, except for my college years. I wasn't allergic to Utah. My body seemed to like the desert, even though my heart missed the ocean, the redwood trees and the green lush terrain. I did develop some eczema the last year there though that continued bothering me for another 20 years.

In 1994, we moved to our current spot on the earth where it's misty and green almost year round. It's beautiful and the air is clean and crisp, but we have an allergy season that's not just 3 months out of the year -- it's more like 9 months with a few minor breaks. This was incredibly taxing on my body for several years. There were times when I was pregnant that I wasn't advised to take antihistimines the first few months. I tried herbs, which offered limited relief. I suffered night after night . Nights are always the worst -- for allergies and asthma. I don't know how many times I've gone into the doctor to get help for my asthma and they listen to me breathe and tell me I sound pretty good. I think "You should have seen me last night!"

I could tell you story after story of the severity of it all -- of doctors saying I shouldn't let it get so bad, that it can be life threatening, where I've wondered how I could get my next breath - -or of doctors telling me that the levels of medication I was taking could be eating away at my bone marrow and causing other problems I didn't really want to face. I could tell you about the needle pokes in my arms to determine my allergies and allergy shots for over 3 years. That did nothing but give me swollen shoulder muscles as hard as a golf ball. I remember trying to play my piano lesson with ice on my arm it would burned so bad. Later in life, people told me that allergy shots had improved. Some said nothing had changed -- they worked for some, not for others.

I came to the point of questioning. Did I want to live the rest of my life this way? Did I want to move my family, who seem to love living here? -- (and if so, where? I did internet searches and conducted forum polls on where to live allergy free - - we looked into Utah again, but their air quality has gone downhill since I've lived there and I didn't know what that might do to my asthma since the smog gave me problems while living in L.A.) What if there was some national crisis or even local one and I wasn't able to get any medication for a month or more? Would I be able to function? Would I be able to care for my family? Why would God send us to live dependent upon man-made medication? It just didn't make sense to me.

I decided to see what I could do from the inside out. I decided to experiment with giving up Dairy. I loved milk, ice cream, and cheese, but was willing to give it up if it meant I could live without all the suffering throughout the year. It made a huge difference. Sometimes I'd question if just a little dairy (piece of pizza, just one ice cream cone) would bother me and within the hour, I'd be sneezing, itching, and having throbbing in my nasal cavities. Once I had these symptoms from driving home from Costco with a pizza in the car. Maybe it wasn't the case, but I was convinced that inhaling that fabulous smell for that 1/2 hour caused me problems.

As time passed, going without dairy was helpful, but didn't rid me of my allergies and asthma completely. So I looked into eating raw foods and taking bee pollen. Both were miraculous. I'm not always 100% with raw foods, so the bee pollen is a great supplement to keep me strong and defensive against the allergens. Once I went camping and the bee pollen (which needs to be refrigerated and was in the cooler) became wet and was ruined. So I didn't get to take it on the last day. I was okay because we were about 3 hours from home. But as soon as we drove back into our valley, my asthma acted up and my eyes started itching. I took some bee pollen that night and the next morning. By the next day, my asthma and allergies were gone again.

I'll have to write a whole post about bee pollen. (Edited to add -- I have -- here's the link for my bee pollen post). It's a wonder food and is interesting to learn about. I wondered if I could just go scrape it off of our car windows and eat that instead, but I'm sure there's dust and who knows what else on that - -I'll just go with what I find at the health food store.

One final story -- When I was expecting my last baby, I went through that first trimester w/o antihistimines, having a horrible time with allergies. We'd planned a month-long car trip to the midwest from the California coast. It took me 3 days of driving (or hitting the Wyoming desert) before I could breathe clearly and felt healthy and human again. I enjoyed the rest of our trip - - driving through 9 states and feeling wonderful. As we drove down the mountain towards our home, my ears, eyes, and nose started itching. My nose started to run. My eyes watered. And I realized, I've been all across the country and I'm allergic to where I live! But I've since learned that I can live anywhere I want and be allergy and asthma free. And I don't need to be on ANY medication -- preventative steroids that damage my body or rescue inhalers, antihistimines or herbs. Sure, it might seem like it's not as fun to not eat like I used to eat, but was it any fun to live with allergies my whole life? Not really. This is so much better. I'm so grateful for the knowledge I now have about nutrition and truly feeding my body to be strong. And I seek strength daily so I can bend my will to the truths that I now understand.

1 Rep Max

1 Rep Max -- that's a common term in body building, so I'm learning. I don't see myself as a body builder by any means. If anything, I lift weights to be strong enough to hold yoga poses better. And I really enjoy lifting weights. So it's a win win for me.

I'm taking it all to "the next level" with a periodization rotation starting on Monday. Cathe Friedrich says that every personal trainer she knows uses periodization with their clients. So it sounds like it must be a good way to progress with fitness. I'm excited to try it.

In order to challenge yourself, you're supposed to calculate your 1 Rep Max which is the weight that challenges your body to just lift once (yet is possible). Instead of picking up really heavy weights that could injure you to try for one repetition, they have you pick a weight that you can lift 10 times that makes you struggle with the final few reps and maybe even stop a rep short. If you can lift easily the whole 10 reps or can even go a few more reps past the 10, it's not heavy enough. If you can't control your form because you're struggling too much, that's too heavy.

Once you get this figure for how heavy you can lift & be challenged with 10 reps, you can use one of three formulas found on Wikipedia to calculate your 1 rep max. There are online calculators that can compute it for you. This one in particular gives a slightly different figure depending on the weight lifting exercise you've done. The best I've found not only shows you the 1 rep max, but also the weight range for lifting for different periodization mesocylces -- muscle endurance (60-70% of 1 rep max), muscle conditioning (70-80% of 1 rep max), and muscle strengthening (80-90% of 1 rep max). I hope I haven't bored you to tears with this, but I'm just learning about it and it's pretty fun to see that there's truly a scientific approach to exercise here (that includes my past love -- math!)

I computed my 1 rep max today for quite a few exercises (all I could think of that are pretty standard for weight workouts).

Here's what I tested. I'll list the barbell poundage first:

Barbell Weight
Squats: 40#
Plie' Squats: 40#
Deadlifts: 40#
Dead Rows: 40#
Leg Press: 30#
Static Lunges: 30#
Chest Press: 40#
Upright Rows: 30#
Overhead Press: 30#
Close Grip Press: 35#
Bicep Curls: 30#

Dumbbell Weight
Rotators: 12#
Crazy Eights: 12#
Hammer Curls: 15#
Tricep Kickbacks: 10#
French Press: 20#
Lateral Raise: 12#
Chest Flies: 15#
Lat Rows: 24#
Rear Delt Raise: 15#
Front Raise*: 7#
Side Raise**: 8#
Lying overhead: 15#
One-arm Triceps: 10#

* I put 7# for this because 8 was just too much by rep 9, but I knew 5#s would be too light

**I'm not sure if my terminology is correct, but I differentiate the lat raise and the side raise with the lat raise having bent arms and side raises as straight arm.

I rarely lift as heavy as Cathe and her cast do in their workouts. I probably go lighter than I could do most of the time and was surprised that I was able to lift as heavy as I did.

Here's what I came up with after calculating the 1 rep max:

40# = 53
35# = 47
30# = 40
24# = 32
20# = 27
15# = 20
12# = 16
10# = 13
8# = 11
7# = 9
5# = 7

So what does this all mean? Here's the fun part because it's really not as complicated as it looks. I thought I'd have to make a chart (which I believe Cathe is going to include with the software for her Shock Training System when it's released), show the weight limits to use for each exercise for each Mesocycle. But I'm seeing with my mathematical eyes that all you do is use the weight you could lift for 10 for the second Mesocycle (or Conditioning workouts w/8-12 reps), go a few pounds lighter for the first Mesocycle (or Endurance workouts w/12-15 reps), and a little heavier for the third Mesocycle (or Strengthening/Building workouts w/ 4-8 reps). The difference between the mesocycle weight differences grow as the weight gets higher, but I think it will be pretty easy to eyeball after awhile.

Let me just leave you with a final example -- if I was able to lift 10 reps with a 10 pound dumbbell, my 1 rep max would be 13 pounds, which is helpful to know what not to lift beyond (or to use for computing the 3 differing mesocycle weights). But if I just eyeball it, I saw the Conditioning workout weight would just be close to the original 10# figure (the calculator said 9-10). The Endurance workout weight would be a little less -- I'd use an 8 pound weight (the calculator said 7-8). And for the Strengthening workout, I'd go a little heavier and use a 12 pound weight (the calculator said 10-12). If the starting weight was a 40 pound barbell, those increments would be greater -- 5 pound ranges within each Mesocycle instead of 2 pounds with the 10 pound weight.

Hope that's easy for you to understand. I'm sure there's a lot of information on this in books and on the internet, but since it's finally clicking for me, I thought I'd share just how it does. I'll let you know how I do next week. I'm sure I'll be sore. I haven't worked out with weights in a couple of weeks!

Thai Baby Coconuts

A few summers ago, I attended a raw food expo in Ft. Bragg. At the end of one of the workshops, there was a question and answer segment. A woman raised her hand and asked, "What would you recommend eating to relieve stress?" The presenter just gave a blank look and didn't know what to answer, kind of shrugged his shoulders, and made some comment about finding a food that you like. I shot up my hand (one of those "I can't resist talking" moments like I had far too often in school) and said, "Baby coconut juice! I drink it in the late afternoon when stress hits -- it's wonderful! I call it my "happy juice!"

Immediately people in the class turned to me and started asking questions about it. I felt kind of bad for stealing the thunder from the instructor, but I was happy to share. Even as I left the class, a few people came up to me to find out how I open the coconut, what I do with the insides, etc. I felt like a whole class should be taught about the coconuts so more could know just how wonderful this food is. I've mentioned before that I'm not the greatest at repeating scientific facts on nutrients and all that. But I will direct you with some links and hopefully will just encourage you to try it. It's so refreshing!

I've had many a day when my energy plummets, stress hits, or I feel like taking a nap. I'll remember the coconut, break one open, just drink 1/2 of it and I'm not kidding, my energy peaks and I feel so great! I start smiling all over again. It truly is my happy juice. I've read that it is the highest natural source of electrolytes (which term I only know from Gatorade -- everyone thinks that's the best way to hydrate the body when sweating, hiking, or otherwise depleting, when it's full of artificial ingredients that aren't helpful to the body -- they'd be better off with a bottle of water). I've also read that its composition is comparable to plasma, which is the make-up of our bodies -- so maybe that's why it's so readily appreciated by the body. I don't know. I just know it's wonderfully refreshing.

What's more, it's great to have as a slush too. What I usually do is drink 1/2 of the juice that comes out, then I freeze the other half. If I want it later that day, I pull it out of the freezer at a slushy state. If I don't need it until the next day, I'll let it sit on the counter until it's more slushy. Have you ever had snow ice cream? (That's the photo btw, not the coconut juice slush). The way I used to eat snow ice cream was simple -- bring in the snow and add some maple syrup -- absolutely heavenly. And we didn't get snow often -- maybe once a year, so this was indeed a treat. But this coconut slush is just as good, if not better!

I learned about Thai baby coconuts from Alissa Cohen. She has a dvd that is a food preparation demonstration (have to say that instead of cooking demonstration, since she never really "cooks" (a little raw foodist joke :)) She talks about the health benefits, then holds the coconut in one hand and hacks at it with a butcher knife (saying that she's done this many times) to show how to open it. Pretty crazy. My style isn't much better, but I don't hold it in my hand. I hold it onto the cutting board so it doesn't move, then try to saw off the top, then use the bottom of the sharp part of the butcher knife to chip away at a hole in the top.

Then I can pour out the coconut water (fits into a 12 oz. mug). I usually cover the top of the coconut at that point with cellophane and put it back into the fridge. My 15 year old daughter loves to scoop them out (it's not a hard center like a brown coconut, more gel-ish), so I let her do it later. They keep for at least a week once opened. Breaking it open is a little harder. I just saw a YouTube video by GreenSmoothieGirl who has her son take the coconut (with hole in top and juice already gone) out to her front sidewalk, where he throws it down at the cement a few times until it breaks open. She says it's the easiest way to do it. I haven't tried it yet, but I have a few sons who would surely be willing to do the same, I'm sure.

Here's a pic of a coconut my daughter scooped clean for me (she looooooves to do that for me -- asks every time). The flesh is in my food processor, ready to make some raw Rocky Road Ice Cream.

Sometimes I have a coconut I've forgotten about in the back of the fridge and can tell it's old by the color of the coconut flesh -- it turns a bit lavendar and the water doesn't taste quite the same, but it's still good and hasn't made me sick from drinking it. I usually throw the flesh away at that point though.

If your grocer doesn't carry the baby coconuts, just ask. I've been able to find them at most health food stores and even at a traditional grocer (WinCo Foods). They're either shrink-wrapped by Melissa's Sweet Young (with a carrot through the logo -- very cute!) or just loose on a produce shelf with other stuff. They're always priced per item (not per pound), so I sort through and find the biggest ones I can. Watch out for mold or not so fresh looking outsides. The white part is supposed to be stringy & sort of fuzzy, but still a bit firm. The health food stores seem to go through them faster, but WinCo's seem to get old at times. Try one and let me know what you think. They have way more flavor that you'll ever expect. And get ready to smile!