The Mis-Adventures of a Breakfast Cereal

Years ago we discovered Post's "Blueberry Morning" cereal, and loved it.

Then the entire country was politely informed that trans-fats, which had been in the food supply for decades ("because natural coconut oil was unhealthy"), were killing us softly. Blueberry Morning had trans-fats, so we stopped buying it.

A year or two later, Post dropped the trans-fat, and this fine breakfast cereal again became one of my favorites. The first two ingredients were corn meal and dried blueberries. Their inspiration, they said on the box, was a blueberry corn muffin. And this stuff was quite tasty! Blueberry Morning was low in sodium, nutritious, and contained no partially hydrogenated oils at all.

Partially hydrogenated oil (aka vegetable shortening) is the food additive that adds trans-fats, and is still found in numerous products labeled as "0 grams trans-fat! per serving". If the amount per serving is less than 0.5 grams, they can claim 0 grams. If the serving is 1/2 cup and you eat two cups, you could be eating nearly 2 grams, which is nearly 2 grams over the recommended safe levels. Trans-fats, dear friends, are the worst food additives since the "jagged metal Krusty-O" Bart Simpson found in his lucky box.

Back to Blueberry Morning. Just months ago, it underwent another re-formulation. "New! Improved!" The first two ingredients are now rice, and high-fructose corn syrup (i.e., sugar, created from in-bred corn, fed with petroleum-based fertilizers...yum!). Again, I stopped buying it. The first two ingredients have nearly zero nutritional value. I'd be better off with a bowl of packing peanuts. (Perhaps literally, since you can now get packing peanuts made of corn-starch! You just toss them in the sink and let them dissolve...)

Last night, at my favorite local grocer, I discovered that they had discovered one remaining old box of the prior (perfect) formulation. The box was beaten, tattered, stamped with an expiration date in the not too far future (Dec 07), and perhaps a little stained with rat urine, but the goram ingredients were corn meal and blueberries!

Breakfast this morning was...(say it with me)...a Blueberry Morning!

How to Get Bigger...Slower

The hurrier I go the behinder I get.

-- unknown

Continuing with a sporadic "Fitness Over Forty" theme, here are some not-so-hurried techniques for adding muscle without injury. Those in their 20's and 30's may want to read it, too. The same advice applies:

1. Give up

Quit measuring. Try to give up your calipers, measuring tapes, or scales. Try also to stop comparing yourself to others. The mirror, and how you feel, are all the sources of feedback you'll need.

Berating yourself for the past is not constructive. Nor is thinking that "it's impossible." "Giving up" on particular goals and images of yourself does not imply defeatism. It's an acknowledgement of the reality that you see in the mirror, and that there is only one person who can do anything about it, and that it's going to take many small steps. There is no quick fix, and you don't even need fixing!

The message of your own forms of constructive feedback should not be "I'd better push, push, push!"

For example, very little can be changed with the words "cold turkey." They imply a "never" or "always" which is setting yourself up for more negative feedback down the road.

2. Fewer sets, fewer reps

Some of the biggest natural bodybuilders I've met do not spend hours on the same muscle group. (Usually those who spend their lives at the gym are socializing most of the time anyway.)

Do three or four sets of 8-10 reps, and move on to the next exercise. Choose from one to three exercises for each muscle group. (For example, do three different chest exercises, then stop. You can always do the other three chest exercises next time.) Overworking the muscle via numerous reps is a good way to reduce muscle growth by courting injury.

3. No cheating

Full range of motion, and slow. 40-year old tendons do not like being shocked into growth. Instead, they tear. Think of yourself like a machine. A hydraulic machine. Smooth, constant, slow, powerful. Enough weight so it's very hard to finish 3 sets of 8. When the muscle fatigues, DO NOT force it. Forcing the rep is for the young, and (without a spotter) usually results in cheating, anyway. Just stop! You're done with that exercise for the day (and the next). After a few weeks, on a good day, you'll get those 3x8 done, and you can try increasing the weight next time (assuming you're having another good day.)

Don't be in a hurry. Let's face the facts, you have to live with some form of exercise (and your own body) for the rest of your life. Let the focus be on health and on how you feel. The rest (looks) will come.

4. Don't Ignore Your Legs.

There's a mildly magical formula for growth: Legs. Your body will react to leg weightlifting workouts with increased growth-hormone production. Real, and safe, hormone production. (Steroids and most supplements are for the young and foolish, too.) One leg workout per week, at least. All the same rules apply. If the workout doesn't make the muscle sore, or DOES make the joints sore, STOP. If it isn't clearly working the muscle you had intended to work (you can tell by which muscles are slightly sore in a day or two), the exercise could be putting you at risk.

5. If you smoke, QUIT!

Otherwise your body is going to spend too much time trying to rebuild lung tissue, etc. to spend any extra energy on growing muscles. Yes, some young studs will smoke in order to stay lean and "cut." That is, again, short-term thinking. They must have absolutely no idea how much they'll wish they hadn't smoked when they turn 40.

If you want to lose weight or stay "cut" then find some form of cardio exercise you can do for 30 minutes.