Photo: Fazen
Hey, it's a new year, and a good time for new ventures and new experiences, right?
In "real life," The Lobster and I are challenging ourselves to get off our asses and meet new friends. We've started spending winters in San Diego, and wow, there are lots of nice people here! However, it took us a while to figure out that in order to meet these people, we actually have to venture outside of the house. Furthermore, it turns out you need to do things like initiate conversations with strangers, follow up when things click, and get dates on calendars... yikes!
But as you might predict, we're finding the effort is well worth it. Cool people who are fun to hang out with live here! And as any self-improvement guru will tell you, adding connectedness and a sense of community makes life richer and more meaningful. (Plus, it's great for rides to the airport).
The nice thing about the Blogosphere though, as opposed to real life, is that you can be the laziest health and fitness blogger on the planet, and rarely leave your blog "house," and fun helpful people will come visit you and entertain you and point you to new resources!
So, wanna meet some new webfriends, plus find out why you should eat more zombie food, and stop gorging on spandex no matter how delicious it tastes?
Say hello to...
The webcomic The Juanelo Show, brought to you in English by a talented and hardworking team of "translation monkeys." Nice folks behind this strip, and at least one of them reads Cranky Fitness, hooray! (Click to enlarge).
And meet the awesome Mary Sisson! She has a cool looking sci-fi ebook for sale, called Trang, as well as lots of info (and encouragement) on the DIY self-publishing front. She's the inspiration behind one of my new years resolutions, so you'll have to
The website Fitnessbeans, which is aimed a bit more at guys. Why is this awesome news for this blog, even though it has tons of female readers? Well, because (a) guys exercise resources like this one are often more straightforward and challenging than the "tiny pink weights" stuff aimed at women. Plus, (b) with a bunch of hetero female readers I love to find sites crammed with beefcake photos so I can slip them in totally gratuitiously! And they've got tons.
Photo: fitnessbeans
And finally, reader Our Lady of Forever Homes introduced me to a cool concept: Just1Moon, which hooks you up with a yahoo group and Facebook page to try to provide goal sharing and encouragement. And who doesn't need support and encouragement?
Now on to...
Stuff Copied from my Twitter feed 'cause I'm so damn lazy:
(Note: I've heard reports that my twitter feed isn't showing up on the blog, but I see it fine on my computer. Anyone else not seeing it on the right sidebar?)
Eat your way to a better brain! Study touts leafy greens, fish, nuts, and zombie food (organs).
Controversy:Is spandex making Americans fat? Wow, I had no idea people were eating that much of it! Oh wait, you mean... Never mind.
Study: eating fish boosts brain volume if you don't fry it. ("It" meaning the fish--but don't fry your brain either).
"Cancer Survivors Should Take Steps to Keep Healthy During Holidays" So the rest of the year, just say screw it?
Study: taking brief walk decreases desire to shove "fun-sized" chocolates down your gullet at work.
Vitamin D helps prevent fractures, but only with help from calcium. I'm guessin' Not Falling Down helps too.
Ab exercises for throughout the day--if you're don't mind looking like an ass in public. (btw, I've been that ass)
2 for 1: Active nonsmokers with good BMI, diet, cholesterol, BP & glucose at less risk of heart disease AND cancer.
Study: less risk of dementia for women who are active early in the day. So go early birds, chase those worms!
Study: gender differences in math/science due to cultural, not genetic factors. So time to get geeky, girls.
Low carb wins another round in diet wars: may work better than low cal for weight loss and lowering insulin.
Nice roundup of natural ways to lower blood sugar, if you've got the patience for a slideshow: (Or, hit print at top )
Marathon running can damage right ventrical: More study needed, but meanwhile, awesome excuse for not running one!
Study: upping fiber more crucial than nixing saturated fat to avoid metabolic syndrome. Thus the bacon kettlecorn spotted at Whole Foods?
Way More New and Old Friends to Thank!
As you might have noticed, I tend to be terribly lazy and thus totally random about visiting blogs, responding to comments, passing on links etc. I would love to get better and translate all the gratitude in my head to actual public acknowledgement, because I LOVE all the folks who leave comments and email etc. I just sort of hope that those of you who brighten my day through the blog are psychic and totally get how much your comments and readership and support and ideas mean to me! And feel free to nudge me with an email or a comment if you have a special post you'd like to share in a future roundup, because I might well miss it on my own.
Anyway, has anyone else met any new friends or helpful resources lately, whether IRL or through the web? Thoughts on anything else? And again, thanks everyone!
I see the Twittery stuff fine on my iPad.
ReplyDeleteLinks for breakfast! Excellent!
I lived in San Diego for about a year and LOVED IT! It was my favorite place of the two places in Cali we lived before moving back to MA.
ReplyDeleteI am currently using the website Loseit.com and it posts when I workout to my twitter feed, someone else from loseit saw my feed and asked to be friends, it's great to be friends with people on loseit.com because they really encourage you and keep you motivated and that is one of my biggest challenges. I really like it and best of all, it's free! HA!
Glad you are making new friends
Great news about the early birds, because i am one.
ReplyDeleteLove how much time and energy they put into researching the fact that good diet, exercise, watching your numbers and not smoking are good for you.
Since i've never wanted to be in a marathon, i'll use the possible heart damage as my excuse.
Great to hear you liked SD, Moonlight Dancer, and thanks for the tip about loseit.com!
ReplyDeleteAnd messymimi, you can count me among those who will not be damaging any ventricles running marathons.
I'm not just an early bird. I'm crepuscular. Thank you for letting me finally use that word.
ReplyDeleteI used to live in San Diego and LOVED it!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOne question: if I eat someone else's brain, do I get all their knowledge?
I just stepped outside the office for lunch, and it's 78 degrees here in San Diego. What's not to love, right?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the shout-out, Crabby!
ReplyDeleteI guess I should plug myself now, right? (I told you I'm much better at production than marketing!) Trang was described by The New Podler Review of Books as "a clever throwback to the social sci-fi of yesteryear," which is probably about as good a description as any. It's averaging four stars on LibraryThing, which really pleases me. What else? It's also the first of a planned four-book series, with the second book, Trust, slated to come out this spring.
And if you're curious about self-publishing, I'm been blogging away about it like a lunatic for the past year, so definitely swing by ye olde Web site and have yourself a look/laugh as you watch me climb the learning curve!
But...I already have dementia early in the day. It's called Not Awake Yet.
ReplyDeleteMary Anne in Kentucky
I see your tweets!
ReplyDeleteI am an early bird too but some may say that does not mean I do NOT make sense! ;-)
San Diego is beautiful!!! If it were not for traffic, we would be so close since I am in Orange County! Glad you are making friends & yes, it is harder here... people don't always talk or even know who their neighbors are...
Thanks for the mention of Juanelo, Crabby! With your help, those monkeys will have a chance to feed their families a little longer...
ReplyDeleteOOOH LOVE THE LINKS.
ReplyDeleteand have something to add.
have you read MWF In Search of BFF?
youd love youd love.
I am definitely an early-bird, but I find this new year that I'm so busy, I'm also staying up really late.... which means I'm so exhausted by mid-afternoon that I rarely make sense. (Wait. Did that make sense? It's early....)
ReplyDeleteI am an early bird...tho not really naturally. It's when I get up to workout. Glad to know it's good for my brain too...my memory needs all the help it can get
ReplyDelete:)
Cranky, fit, and willing to post beefcake. You, madam, are a hero.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the giggles....Needed that today :)
ReplyDeleteI'm late as always, but I appreciate the links. Not only am I NOT an early worm, I am also slow at going through my reader. Glad to know that my inclination to not run is good for my heart, it might off set the 'heart-attack belly' that I now have new exercises to use to get rid of. lol
ReplyDelete