Happy Thursday, (Green) Team!
If I knew a traditional Irish greeting I would certainly *insert it here* as everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, yes? For those of you who don’t know - St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday which has become a celebration of Irish culture over the years. Remembering a story told by our HR representative, George, I was forced to ask the question – where did the parties come from?
The story went like this: A child was helping the mother at suppertime. Getting the ham prepared to bake – the mother took the slab of meat, put it on the counter, and sliced off both ends. When the child asked why the mother had done this her response was “I don’t know. That’s just what my mother always did. Let’s go ask her!”
So off they went to ask the grandmother. Explaining that they were making ham for supper, the child again asked the question – this time to the grandmother. To which the grandmother replied, “I don’t know. That’s just what my mother always did. Let’s go ask her!”
Together, the three of them approached the great-grandmother. In a very loud voice, the child as his great-grandmother why she had always cut the ends off of the ham before preparing it for baking. The great-grandmother’s eyes twinkled and she laughed as she explained, “When I was a young child – about your age – we did not have very much money. We only had one pan big enough to bake a ham in, but that pan was still too small for the ham to fit in so we would cut the ends off of it so it would fit!
Moral of the story? Don’t be satisfied with the answer “Because that’s the way it has always been done.” Or “Because that’s what someone told me to do.”
Nutrition Tip of the Day: Ask questions. Do something different. Drive yourself to find out why. Don’t be cattle. Be a cat. You may find out that there is good reason for the process – or you may find out that there is a lot of wasted energy – or (as is the case with many nutritional recommendations) the conventional wisdom may be the problem. Go a step further and be satisfied that when someone asks why you do something – you can tell them exactly why!
So where did the parties on St. Patrick’s Day come from? Well – modern culture usually goes to excess on what are benign traditional standards. Think Halloween or Christmas. In this case, today was given status as an official feast day in which people attended church, wore green, and celebrated the lifting of Lenten restrictions on fasting and drinking. Hence all the eating and drinking. (Information mostly copied from Wikipedia)
And now we know!
Where does our lifestyle fit in to such a celebration? Well, for the most part we keep our alcohol consumption down. If you were to drink the recommendation is one or two glasses of a dry red wine or perhaps a NorCal Margarita (tequila, juice of a lime, and splash of soda water). More than that or different alcohols and we start introducing far more sugar into our system than desired, not to mention many of the other toxins that come with it. So, party on Garth! Just do so responsibly.
And enjoy a Gluten free and dairy free Irish soda bread :) such as Bonnie, of The Naked Kitchen, made for tonight’s party at CrossFit FiveStar. Her only recommendation was “sub honey for agave nectar (make sure to heat it a little and make it kinda runny; can use either a 1:1 ratio or go a little lighter on honey).”
There was a lot of buzz yesterday about the giving to others. Many stories were shared about the greatness within our group, received and given. You are all an inspiration to me and I am humbled to have become your friend.
It was also pointed out that I had missed getting a few links in there. My apologies! In addition, many asked for additional volunteer links if I had any so here you go!
· The Humane League of Lancaster
· Lancaster County 4-H Organization
· The FFA Organization (formerly Future Farmers of America)
· And the greatest VOLUNTEER job ever – in my humble opinion of course! ;-)
Comments of the Day:
· Gratefulness goes deeper than any artery, liver, kidney or other vital organ. It is an anchor root of peace.
· Loved your advice on GIVING to others. It always comes back to you in some form or another..My Faith has proven that.
· It was something I did because I didn’t have the heart to walk away.
No comments from me. You all speak volumes by your actions. Our words suffice only to document the good within you.
Workout of the Day:
Warm-up: 2 rounds of 15 – Jumping Jacks, Shoulder Mobility, Push-ups, Walking Lunges, Samson Stretch, Squat (hold bottom!)
Work-out: As Many Rounds as Possible in 20 Minutes (AMRAP 20) of 20 Dips, 15 V-Situps, 10 Supermans
For the dips, use two sturdy chairs or a bench. Use full range of motion – hands into the armpits! For an added challenge elevate your feet.
The V-situps are also known as jack-knife sit-ups. Try to keep your legs and arms as straight as possible and touch your toes. Bending the legs makes it easier.
For supermans, lie on your stomach with your legs straight and your arms above the head – tighten the back, glutes, and hams pulling your legs and arms off the deck 6 inches – then lower back down. That’s one.
The March Wellness Letter was just released! There’s some good information in here with the promotion of eating an array of colors (helps fight inflammation!) and a good, albeit short, list of calcium sources that are mostly on our food list (that is with the exception of the beans and tofu). Unfortunately, they haven’t yet embraced the fact that dietary fat is wholesome, filling, and healthy. In the meantime the Walk This Way challenge is ready for CNH employees to sign up! Get your registration in now and look for your pedometer in the coming weeks. I’d like to suggest that everyone in our group get their own pedometer if you cannot be a part of the company program and be part of the challenge anyway. Anyone want to try to keep up with me? I’m thinking somewhere between 22 and 22 ½ …million steps!
Reminder – next week our beginners guide goes out. In the meantime, I’ve attached a basic guide from Douglas Robb over at health-habits.ca to keep you informed. Also, let’s get those pictures and measurements done! Take some time to introduce someone to your new lifestyle this weekend – cnhnutrition.blogspot.com.
To you. Cheers!
Mike.
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