August 27, 2013

Pork Butts and Wise Brains: Healthy Eating on the Road!



Blog regulars (hi, all 3 of you!) are aware that I am just now getting back from a house swap adventure in Toronto. And I've been threatening to do a post this week with a Healthy Eating on the Road theme, featuring a bunch of murky camera-phone pictures from our trip.

Gosh, can you contain your excitement? But then, just when I was hunkering down to slop together a bunch of trip pictures and contemplate the horror that is my email inbox, suddenly a new twist!

(Gratuitous Toronto museum photo.)

Yep, Rick Hanson's Wise Brain Bulletin just came out yesterday!

This is always cause for celebration, because it's a great read, and it's free, and if you haven't done so already you should definitely follow the link and sign up. But it just happens that this WBB is special... because it starts off with an ebook excerpt written by a foul-mouthed Wellness Coach and Health Blogger we happen to know.

So, I'd like to say a special hello to any Wise Brains who recklessly clicked on a link and found themselves at the weirdness that is Cranky Fitness! Where exclamation points are apparently on sale or something!

(And hey, speaking of Rick Hanson and wise things generally: Rick's new book, Hardwiring Happiness, is coming out soon and it looks like it's going to be great.  Plus he's got another free online interview series with even more experts talking about this stuff. More on that below).

Anyway, on realizing there could be a curious new visitor or two to the blog, my first instinct was to scuttle the lazy vacation post and put up something clever and practical and scholarly instead.

But then it occurred to me I'd have to write something clever and practical and scholarly.

Whoops.

So, welcome, wise-brained people, to the Healthy Eating Post-Toronto Cameraphone Photo Dump!

August 19, 2013

World Class Fitness Destination: Toronto!


So sure, this is not a comprehensive list of all the exercise and activity options while visiting Toronto. For example: the whole question of winter. I have no idea what the hell Canadians do about that. Does shivering count as cardio?

In fact, this is just a crapload of inexpertly taken camera-phone photos as we continued to enjoy our Toronto house-swap adventure. But I did at least have fitness in mind as I snapped a few of them. And I've organized them by Healthy Activity Theme. So potential Toronto visitors who are concerned about over-consumption of tempting treats like poutine and canine testicles may find some reassurance that you can make up for dietary sins with lots of exercise.

So, ready for our Toronto tour?

August 12, 2013

Death Ride


Note: Crabby is futzing around in Toronto this week and may or may not be back later on with a post of her own. She may also be tossing a few random trip photos up on the sad little Cranky Fitness Facebook page if you're really bored.

However, Crabby has left the blog in excellent hands today with an exciting account of, you guessed it, the Death Ride! The cool thing is that this way, you can go along for the ride yourself without experiencing sunburn or a sore ass or an untimely death.

So please welcome one of our favorite Cranketeers...

Death Ride Grandma! Take it away, DRG!!


Death Ride? Death Ride???

Why would anyone sign up for a ride with that name?

It’s a very popular ride. It accepts 3500 registrations, and around 3000 actually show up and try to ride it. It sells out within hours of opening the registration process. Yes, there are that many crazy people out there.

It says on the website that it involves 129 miles of riding with a total accumulated elevation gain of 15,000’. These exaggerations! From all I have seen and heard, it is only about 123 miles, and the climbing may be closer to 14,000’. It starts in Markleeville, California. It involves riding up and down both sides of Monitor Pass, both sides of Ebbetts Pass, and the east side of Carson Pass, plus any local roads required to get from one pass to the next. Plus returning to the start just when you think you’re through.

Spoiler alert: I didn’t finish.

August 09, 2013

Keeping Fit On the Road (Or Not): Crappy Travel Pictures Part I



Gosh, isn't it wonderful when a health blogger hits the road, and instead of sharing useful information they just slop a bunch of cameraphone pics into a blog post?

Um, well, ok, it's not wonderful, but that's what we got today. No one visits the blog over the weekend anyway, and there's a great guest post coming up next week.

Some of the photos do actually have something to do with health and fitness. But many are just gratuitous selfies and wifeys or are fascinating-to-no-one-but-me aspects of our campervan travel routine. Pretty much all of them highlight the fact I can't focus (literally or figuratively) to save my life.

So, care to join Crabby and The Lobster on Week One of our August Adventure?

Cheers!
Just beefin' up our Vitamin B consumption!


August 02, 2013

Train Your Brain, Cranky Style: Monthly Goal Support Post


Yep it's time to check in and see what everyone's been up to, as well as to find out who won the Airbac Backpack and the Extreme Makeover DVD's.

I also have a few thoughts on strengthening the most important body part you own to ensure maximum healthiness and happiness: your brain.

But this being Cranky Fitness, you can be sure my training suggestions are not going to include the typical crossword puzzles,  foreign language lessons, socializing when you'd rather stay home and sulk, or focusing on your freakin' breath for endless, endless, endless, endless, endless, endless minutes until your ass goes numb and you want to shoot yourself. (Um... speaking of which, anyone wanna know how that whole mediation thing is going? Drop down in the comments).

There are tons of ordinary practical lists on brain strengthening out there already.  This is more a Cranky Fitness style list that is so "meta" as to be virtually useless.

Sound like fun?