Source: http://greatist.com/live/thyroid-disease-symptoms?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

As soon as our body starts to feel off, we immediately consider two explanations: Mercury is in retrograde, or there must be something wrong with our thyroid, according to Google. (Hint: Only one has solid science to back it up.) But can we really blame unwanted symptoms—from exhaustion to weight gain—on the thyroid, or is our scapegoating unwarranted?

The Need-to-Know

Turns out, you’re not wrong for thinking of it first. Almost every system in our body depends in some part on hormones produced by the thyroid, says Jordan Geller, M.D., attending physician and past clinical chief in the Division of Endocrinology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.

The gland, found in the front part of the neck and about the size and shape of a small butterfly, plays a role in metabolism, growth, and just about everything in your body, from the brains to the bowels to the heart, skin, and digestive system.

How does it work? The thyroid produces a hormone, thyroxine (or T4) that goes out to all our organs. Once it arrives at its destination organ, it’s converted into another hormone, triiodothyronine (or T3). There, it sets the pace for your cells, helping them do what they’re supposed to do. Basically, those hormones tell your heart to keep beating, your liver to…

Source: http://www.fannetasticfood.com/2016/02/01/weekend-adventures-20/

Hello my friends! What a difference a week makes in terms of weather – last weekend it was blizzarding, and this weekend it was sunny and warm (ish – felt warm to us anyway!). So weird – but awesome!

On Saturday morning, I met up with my friend Kathleen for a flexibility and strength workshop at Urban Athletic Club. It was really cool, but we thought it was going to be a workout, and after it was over, we were itching for some endorphins and some fresh air and decided to do a spur of the moment run. The Capital Crescent Trail is nice and clear of snow – perfect.

We weren’t planning to run so I didn’t have my watch (or proper running shoes, but I made it work), but I think we ended up covering 4 or 5 miles at a good clip. We were both so happy to be out getting some fresh…

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/01/463954925/crazy-for-jerky-an-ancient-trail-food-finds-new-fans?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

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All Things Considered

4:02

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Customers line up at the jerky bar at Buc-ee’s in New Braunfels, Texas. Buc-ee’s bills itself as the largest convenience store in the world and sells 37 dif…

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/01/465132866/farm-subsidies-persist-and-grow-despite-talk-of-reform?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

Farm subsidies don’t lack for critics. Free-market conservatives and welfare state-defending liberals alike have called for deep cuts in these payments to farmers. After all, farmers, as a group, are wealthier than the average American. Why should they get tens of billions of dollars each year in federal aid?

Two years ago, when the most recent Farm Bill emerged from Congress, the measure’s authors proudly announced what sounded like bold cuts in these controversial programs. The Senate Agriculture Committee noted in a press release that the new law would eliminate one big subsidy altogether and save taxpayers a total of $23.3 billion over the following 10 years.

Those projected savings, it turns out, were a mirage. According new estimates for Farm Bill spending over the next few years released by the Congressional Budget Office, total government aid to farmers will swell to $23.9 billion in 2017.

“What happened to the savings taxpayers were promised?” says Colin O’Neil, from the Environmental Working Group, a long-time opponent of farm subsidies.

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Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2016/02/food-navigators-special-edition-food-for-kids/

I greatly enjoy Food-Navigator’s collections of articles on specific topics.  Here’s one on marketing foods to kids.

While there is some evidence that the tide may now be turning on childhood obesity, 8.4% of US 2-5 year-olds; 17.7% of 6-11 year-olds and 20.5% of 12-19-year-olds are still obese, and many are lacking in essential nutrients from potassium, dietary fiber and calcium, to vitamin D. So how can the food industry respond to these concerns and develop more nutritious, but appealing snacks, meals and beverages for kids?

SPONSORED LINK: The Booming Kids’ Food & Beverage Market: Parents are looking for healthier options for their children, and smart food and beverage manufacturers are listening. See how to gain parents’ attention and innovate in the children’s food & beverage space…   Click Here
8 healthy food trends to watch in 2016 that could influence children’s eating:The shift towards cleaner, more nutrient dense foods will continue to spread in the US in the coming year with parents increasingly looking for healthy options for the whole family – including picky children, who in generations past might have been served chicken nuggets or mac and cheese instead of baked chicken and veggies. .. Read
True Drinks strikes budget-friendly balance between marketing AquaBall to kids and parents: A common conundrum for marketers of children’s food and beverages is how to engage two sets of stakeholders…

Source: http://www.sonima.com/videos/yogic-meditation/

Watch video on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4iHyenrywY

In yoga we seek to refine, transform, and find the better version of ourselves in a variety of ways. We do so physically, through asana practice, and mentally through a variety of distinct approaches. The ancient yoga texts known as the Yoga Sutras describes the process by which the mind becomes purified, meaning the individual has learned to identify with their own nature of well-being and bliss. By doing so, the practitioner heals a variety of afflicted emotional states. Coordinated practices of loving-kindness, compassion, equanimity, and sympathetic joy allow us to bring about this transformation of the mind. In this meditation, take a few moments to focus the mind on loving-kindness as a first step toward the mental transformation yoga can offer.

Related: What to Do with Your Mind During Meditation

The post A Yogic Meditation on Love and Kindness appeared first on Sonima.

…

Source: http://tonygentilcore.com/2016/02/new-and-improved-group-training-membership/

I’m excited to announce the re-branding of my previously referred to Premium Workout Group.

It’s a group I’ve been running on Exercise.com for a little more than a year now. It allows people who otherwise wouldn’t have “access” to me to be able to follow monthly, canned programming in a structured, periodized, and properly progressed fashion.

I wouldn’t say it trumps in-person coaching…but it’s a nice alternative. And the participants seem to enjoy it.1

From Ali, 61, Personal Trainer:

“Tony’s workouts via Exercise.com are well thought out and easy to follow with video instruction. Every month there is a new program so I am never bored. Not only have I gotten stronger with Tony’s programs, I have eliminated a couple of nagging aches and pains.”

From some dude named Han Solo:

“I’m not as young as I used to be. And if I’m going to be galavanting all across the galaxy in 12 parsecs or less, I have to be in tip-top shape. Tony’s Group Training Membership is exactly what I needed, and has allowed me to not only help defeat the Empire, but arm wrestle Wookies to boot. Tony’s the man!”

I…

Source: http://greatist.com/live/messiness-can-be-good?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

The logic is familiar to every seven-year-old: Why do I have to make my bed if it’s just going to get messy again?

Eventually we surrender. As we learn to make our beds and do our chores, we grow up to embrace, and even fetishize, the virtue of cleanliness. We’re taught slogans like “cluttered desk, cluttered mind.” We feel pangs of anxiety when our garage is too dirty. We dust. We fret that our life is too jumbled, so maybe we try a time management system that involves books, software, and iPhone apps. We use these tools for a few weeks, then we fall off the wagon, so we feel more anxiety, then we try them again— this time for real— and then they fail again, and then again, until we say, screw it. Then we try them again.

But what if, at the age of seven, we were totally right? What if obsessing over cleanliness and order, for some of us, is just a big fat waste of time? This is the argument of Eric Abrahamson, a professor at the Columbia Business School and the co-author of A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder. His theory: When someone praises the merits of order, they rarely take into account the cost of that cleanup. Desks don’t clean themselves. Filing systems take work. (Cleanliness, just like booze, has a trade-off.)

When someone praises the merits of order, they rarely take into account the cost of that cleanup.

“There are often significant cost savings to be had by tolerating a certain level of messiness …

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/01/464854395/a-diet-high-in-fiber-may-help-protect-against-breast-cancer?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

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Morning Edition

1:54

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These fi…

Source: http://www.sonima.com/food/protein-powder/

Grabbing a protein smoothie after a hard workout is a no brainer. Trainers have long drilled it into your head that protein plays an important role in repairing and rebuilding the muscles that you’ve just broken down through exercise. Pro athletes and bodybuilders are experts at understanding this recovery process, using protein in many forms—powders, bars, lean meats, fish, nuts, and more—to promote muscle growth, improve athletic performance, and maintain a fit physique. For the average person, however, who just wants to stay trim, active, and healthy, they might not need the extra protein boost found in powders, such as whey, soy, and casein.

“Protein powders are for very few people. They’re an isolated nutrient that really wasn’t meant to be isolated in nature. They were created for convenience for bodybuilders who were looking to build mass and repair muscle. There’s really no nutritional need for protein powders,” explains performance nutritionist Adam Kelinson, author of The Athlete’s Plate: Read Food for High Performance and nutritional consultant for athletes and celebrities, including Prince, Hillary Swank, and Mariska Hargitay.

Despite the intent of their origins, these powders are becoming a household staple for folks who have no desire to bulk up. And while it’s difficult to turn into Mr. Universe overnight—building mass takes, time, rigorous workouts, and a very strict diet—…