Source: http://romanfitnesssystems.com/articles/loaded-carries/

Walking is one of the best ways to build muscle, gain strength, and shred fat.

No, really. It’s true. 

In a previous article here on RFS, my boy Tanner Baze wrote about the benefits cardio can have on your performance in the weight room. 

Today, we’re going to take it to another level of badassery. We’re bringing cardio to the weight room. 

I’m talking, of course, about loaded carries. 

What Are Loaded Carries?

Loaded carries were popularized by world-renowned strength coach Dan John, who calls them a “game changer” and believes that they should be a regular part of any athlete or strength competitor’s training program.

But you don’t have to be just an athlete or strongman to reap the benefits of loaded carries. Because they require minimal equipment, anyone can add them to their training program and instantly boost their level of badassness.

Here’s how: take an implement of your choosing (barbell, dumbbell, kettlebell, weight plate, etc.) and walk with it.

Congrats! You’re performing a loaded carry.

Simple right? Yet rarely do you ever see carries being performed in commercial gyms.

I’m here to change that.

There are many variations of a loaded carry, which …

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/15/459707633/the-book-of-pears-a-love-letter-to-a-once-pre-eminent-fruit?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

Author Joan Morgan says Beurré Superfin is one of her favorite pears. It’s “truly delicious: very buttery, juicy, cream to pale yellow flesh, intensely rich with plenty of sugar lemony acidity,” she writes in The Book of Pears.

Courtesy of Joan Morgan

Tour the produce section of a modern grocery store and you may conclude that we live in an age of unprecedented variety and abundance.

Indeed, it’s never been easier to experience exotic fruit flavors like durian, dragon fruit or lychee and find staple fruits like blueberries and oranges pretty much any time of year.

Additional Information:

The Book of Pears

The Definitive History and Guide to over 500 Varieties

by Joan Morgan

Hardcover, 304 pages |

purchase

Purchase Featured Book
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Source: http://summertomato.com/summer-tomato-holiday-wish-list-2015/

Photo by qousqous

Happy holidays fellow foodists!

For me, holiday shopping is one of those things that sends me hyperventilating into a paper bag. I feel like no matter how much time I spend trying to find the perfect gift, it always just falls flat. It stresses me out so much that I don’t even like receiving gifts, since they just make me feel bad about my own failed purchases. Ugh.

What I’m great at though is knowing what I like. After all these years there are actually very few things that I regularly use to keep myself healthy, so I feel confident about all these gift ideas if you’re shopping for the foodist in your life. Better yet? You don’t have to fight the crowds to get them.

Best of luck and have a lovely holiday season.

xo

Darya

Summer Tomato Holiday Wish List 2015
Foodist Kitchen gift membership $99

By far the most important skill I’ve developed in getting healthy is being able to cook at home regularly, and for me that meant learning to whip something up without a recipe. If you know anyone who struggles to find their way around the kitchen but really wants to learn, my program Foodist Kitchen is the perfect gift.

Foodist Kitchen helps you learn to cook without recipes in 30…

Source: http://www.thefitbits.com/2015/11/review-nathan-winter-running-cycling.html

You know when you’re running and your mankini falls down? It’s annoying, that is.

Alright it’s not quite a mankini, but the Bandolier reflective vest from Nathan Sports sure does look and feel like one. I get that its minimal design is meant to be more comfortable and ‘won’t interrupt arm movement while running’, but unfortunately there was quite a bit of additional arm movement going on my end to pull the bloody thing up.

Not sure if I had it on the wrong way round – at least if it was a mankini that would be obviously (and painfully) clear. But yeah, sorry Nathan, this one’s not for me.

Just as the clocks went back and daylight swiftly legged it, Nathan very kindly sent me a box of winter running goodies to test out and report back on. The Bandolier vest is unfortunately not something I can get on board with, but the rest of the kit is pretty great actually and works brilliantly for cycling as well as running.

Me and my mankini about to do some serious product testing

 To see: Zephyr Fire 100I’ve always carried water when running so have never been bothered about holding something in my hand along the way. This little beauty is lightweight, comfortable and nice and bright, with two brightness settings and one strobe – making a perfect companion f…

Source: http://greatist.com/grow/best-way-to-shower?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

Long, hot showers are one of life’s simple pleasures. But as wonderful as they are, sometimes you just need to get down and dirty (er, clean)—fast. So whether you slept through you alarm or just want to make sure you’re getting the best bang for your utility buck, here’s everything you need to know for the most effective suds session.

Get Ready for the Best Shower of Your Life 1. Cool it down.

Steaming hot showers may feel amazing, but the hot water dries out the moisture from our skin like nothing else, says Lauren Ploch, M.D., a dermatologist at New Orleans’ Ochsner Medical Center. The hot water removes more of your natural oils, so if you really need a fix, spend a couple minutes max in hot water, and then turn it down to lukewarm (a.k.a. not hot enough to make your skin red).

2. Keep it short.

Your shower should ideally last five to 10 minutes, says Marie Jhin, M.D., a San Francisco dermatologist. And remember, it’s all about quality, not quantity: Showering twice a day can seriously dry out your skin, Jhin says. Though it seems like more water means more moisture, it’s actually the opposite—over-showering strips the skin, making it even drier.

Refuse to accept a life without that toasty-warm, sinus-clearing shower feeling? Us too. One good alternative is a space h…

Source: http://www.theminimalists.com/tuesdays/

By Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus · Follow: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Exciting news! Join us for “Tuesdays with The Minimalists”: starting today, December 15, 2015, until the end of January 2016, The Minimalists will host live video Q&A sessions every Tuesday at 7 PM EST on Periscope.

These broadcasts are free for everyone. Bring your questions, your ears, and an open mind. You can ask us about anything: minimalism, decluttering, health, relationships, career advice, cultivating passion, charity work, social media, technology, gift-giving, blogging, writing, and more.

During each broadcast we’ll answer live questions, as well as preselected questions from members of our 100 Local Meetup Groups at Minimalist.org, including our new Online Meetup Group.

What if I don’t have the Periscope app? Don’t worry! You can still watch our live broadcasts in your web browser via our Periscope page.

What if I can’t attend the live broadcasts? No sweat! Periscope videos are available for 24 hours after each broadcast.

What if I have more in-depth questions? Awesome! We’re here to help—that’s why we’re launching The Minimalists Podcast in January…

Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2015/12/15488/

I’ve been asked to comment on the Associated Press investigation of slave-like working conditions in the Asian shrimp-processing industry.  It’s an ugly story, with seemingly everyone turning a blind eye to horrendous working conditions, child labor, and forced labor in order to keep the cost of shrimp—our number one seafood import—dirt cheap.

The AP quotes Susan Coppedge, the U.S. State Department’s new anti-trafficking ambassador.  Who knew that we even had an anti-trafficking ambassador?  But here’s the 2015 Trafficking report.

Ciooedge said

problems persist because brokers, boat captains and seafood firms aren’t held accountable and victims have no recourse.

“We have told Thailand to improve their anti-trafficking efforts, to increase their prosecutions, to provide services to victims,” she said. She added that American consumers “can speak through their wallets and tell companies: ‘We don’t want to buy things made with slavery.’”

The AP points out

Thailand is not the only source of slave-tainted seafood in the U.S., where nearly 90 percent of shrimp is imported.

The State Department’s annual anti-trafficking reports have tied such seafood to 55 countries on six continents, including major suppliers to the U.S. Earlier this year, the AP uncovered a slave island in Benjina, Indonesia, where hundreds of migra…

Source: http://greatist.com/discover/science-of-boobs-video?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

To say our society is obsessed with breasts is an understatement—after all 300,000 women go under the knife for breast augmentation every year in the U.S. alone. This video from our friends at asapSCIENCE does attempts to answer all of your burning questions about boobs. Turns out, for half of women, one breast is bigger than the other—most of the time it’s the left one. Perhaps most fascinating is how our bodies produce breast milk. Sometimes all it takes is a baby crying—and it doesn’t have to be your own—to trigger production.

…

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/11/459234455/boozing-at-the-office-holiday-party-use-our-tips-take-our-survey?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

Sipping on rum punch at the office party may be festive, but too much alcohol can lead to behavior that might embarrass you later

iStockphoto

Looking forward to sipping on spiked eggnog or rum punch while hobnobbing with the boss?

Dipping your cup into the punch bowl at the office holiday party may be festive, but too much alcohol can lead to behavior that might embarrass you later.

Not to fret: The Salt is here with tips to help you stay in control.

There are a couple of things to do before you put on your party shoes.

First, decide what kind of impression you want to make. “Do you want to be the life of the party, really?” asks therapist Patt Denning, who counsels on alcohol-related issues at the Center for Harm Reduction Therapy in the Bay Area.

Second, she says, decide ahead of time how many drinks will be optimal. “If you have one glass of wine, are you tipsy?” Or can you handle a few martinis …

Source: http://greatist.com/eat/how-to-make-healthy-ramen-bowl?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

In the past few years, ramen has gone from college student staple to quite possibly the hottest food trend. And when you have a true ramen bowl—one filled with more than just instant noodles, MSG, and questionable preservatives—you have a satisfying, balanced meal that you can’t help but slurp up immediately.

You don’t need to stand in line at a food truck or wait to snag a table at a restaurant to enjoy one. Make your own bowl at home, and you can go crazy with a variety of noodles, pile on the veggies for a bigger nutritional punch, try a new protein, and add whatever flavors you can think of to spice things up (literally, if you choose). Simply pick an item from each category in the chart (broth is optional), load up your bowl, and grab some chopsticks!

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