Happy Friday, Happy Friday, Happy Friday!

My -my! You readers have been giving me such great comments to respond to! I didn't want to limit my response in the comment section so I decided to just post!

Re: Heather of HangryPants
What is your school's gym like?

I wanted to mention that I already belong to a "private" gym because it is super cheap and has a huge resistance section & huge cardio section. They do not offer anything else really, so hence my search for a new gym! I do not mention my school gym because my school gym pretty much sucks. It's not awful but it has 2 elliptical machines, 1 treadmill, 2 stat bikes. The weight section is decent as are the resistance machines, but you have to sign up for a course, watch a video and take a quiz in order to use it. Isn't that awful? It is about the size of, if not smaller than, a small Starbucks. Oh and it has the STRANGEST hours! I can't even remember but one day it closes at 5, another it doesn't close until 9, some nights 7... in the mornings each day is different like 7-10 , 8-11, 9-10:30 . Then, it closes during lunch hours, re-opens for say 1-2 or 1-4 or something odd. It is just way to hard to keep track of.

My initial thought was that they didn't have enough students to work-study at the check in desk. So I emailed the powers that be and offered to work any or all hours they needed to keep it open. They said it wasn't the problem but that so many classes come in and out to use it for class. I was enraged by the un-fairness of having a sucky gym to begin with (at a school that is big on degrees in nutrition and physical fitness nonetheless) AND expecting all other students to adjust to an insane schedule. I have written a couple emails and apparently they are now working on re-modeling and adding another separate gym for students.


Re Food Guide Pyramids from class:
Unfortunately, the class will NOT dive into international food pyramids. Our professor is from Tawaiian, she mentioned other pyramids in class yesterday but I guess it was just a tease...

The course objectives:

• Practice Sanitation and safety principles in food preparation
• identify principles of food purchasing, handling and product selection
• predict scientific principles of food preparation methods
• practice accurate measuring with a variety of food compositions
• describe typical portions and predict probably cause of failures to acheive desired results
• Create palatable and attractive foods with optimal nutritional value
• Demonstrate Appropriate use and care of large and small kitchen equipment
• Determine recipe principles

( Re: Lara ) So its mostly a "cooking principles" lab plus basic class. This Food Principles class is a required, core course for an undergraduate degree in nutrition OR for the Dietetic Internship program required to obtain your Registered Dietician (R.D) licensure. Also required is a Human Nutrition course, which I took my freshman year at Penn State University, among several others. I mention these two because they are available at most schools that offer nutrition courses for anyone interested in pursuing this area more. Our book is a fantastic basic book for "Understanding Food" as it is titled. Unfortunately, it is expensive. My used copy was $137. However, if you are really interested in having a good reference it would be well worth it. The chapters are each about properties, common cooking methods, principles of each food type... i.e Chapter 3 is Meat

• Chp. 4 Poultry
• Chp. 7 Cheese
• Chp 9 Vegetables and Fruits
• Chp. 13 Quick Breads
• Chp 14 Yeast Breads
• Chp 17 Pastry
  

It goes more in depth than say, a good cookbook, about principles, chemical properties of the food and how they are a part of diet & nutrition.

Here are some interesting things from the first chapter:

Functional Food: A food or beverage that imparts a physiological benefit that enhances overall health, helps prevent or treat a disease or condition, or improves physical/mental performance.

Nutraceutical ( I knew I was spelling it wrong!) My class on Wednesdays is Vitamins, Minerals and Nutraceuticals! This definition, however, is from my Principles of Foods class text on tuesdays and thursdays.

- A bioactive compound (nutrients and non-nutrients) that has health benefits.
- I will be learning more about these so stay tuned! That definition is not very interesting!

"Food groups" were designed to visually illustrate the dietary recommendations ( for more check out www.mypyramid.gov or www.eatright.org, )
Food groups for the U.S Food Pyramid include

• fruits
• vegetables
• grains
• meat and legumes
• milk
• oils
• and there is a section (not a group) for discretionary calorie allowance

Here is a chart that I thought was a fairly easy way to understand/portion your diet to getting in the recommended food groups.

Desired Daily Calorie Range:	1600 kcal	1800 kcal
Fruits	1 1/2 cup	1 1/2 cup
Vegetables	2 cups	2 1/2 cups
Grains	5 oz.	6 oz.
Meat and Legumes	5 oz.	5 oz.
Milk	3 cups	3 cups
Oils	5 tsp	5 tsp
Discretionary Calorie Allowance	132 cal	195 cal
Repeated for Higher Calories:	2000 kcal	2600 kcal
Fruits	2 cups	2 cups
Vegetables	2 1/2 cups	3 1/2 cups
Grains	6 oz.	9 oz.
Meat and Legumes	5 1/2 oz.	6 1/2 oz
Milk	3 cups	3 cups
Oils	6 tsp	7 tsp
Discretionary Calorie Allowance	267 cal	410 cal

Hope this was interesting! That is my "Mind" section for the day!

Body:
I didn't realize that I didn't have a rest day this week, although I had "planned" for one on Tuesday. I may do some light yoga or some Dancing with The Stars Cardo DVD but we will see.

In general, my body feels ready for a workout but my mind feels sleepy a bit. The right side of my back is a little tender today, I believe from walking Jack Brown Pants and him pulling a ton and from the class yesterday- we all of a sudden started swinging are arms to the music-

I am so pumped about that gym yesterday, I really want to go back. My concern is that it is 4 x the cost of my current gym! As it rightfully should be for all the wonderful things it offers, but I don't know if I could swing that cost being in grad school and not having a "real" job (yet!). It is also difficult since I am capable of running outside (cost = $0) and doing home workouts (cost=$0). We will see...

Wednesday-Wednesday Running Mileage: 18 , Highlight of the Week: running a 6:30 mile, Running several miles at or under 7 minutes!

Mind:
See above!

Soul:
I am dropping off an application today and I hope I can find just a part time anything that would be enjoyable enough so that I can have some $$ in my bank account!

It's Friday!! Jeff time, Friend time, Lurlota time

Has anyone seen the Miracle on The Hudson news? Oh my gosh, I ate breakfast this morning and teared up! I cried out of pure joy that everyone made it out alive. That is probably one of my worst fears whenever I fly anywhere. Thank goodness, Thanks to the pilot and Thanks to God* ( or whichever Spirit or Faith you believe in).