Radioactive………..Kings of Leon’s new single made it onto the play list for our third boot camp because, well because I LOVE KINGS OF LEON. It’s a great song to workout to. Great tempo. They sing, “It’s in the water………..it’s in the story of where you came from….”
And that’s how I feel about exercise. It immediately transports us back to where we came from. It’s like jumping into a time machine and traveling backwards to childhood. To the innocence of long full days, running until you collapse, laughing until your sides hurt, climbing, crawling, rolling-continuous movement. One can only learn from movement, from change. From birth to childhood to adulthood we glean wisdom from that which forces us to travel beyond our boundaries. Lou Holtz once said, “you are either growing or dying.” You are either changing or moving or dying. Exercise changes us. It changes our cardiovascular capabilities, it changes our muscle tone, it changes our chemical makeup, it changes our appearance and transports us to places we never knew we could go.
Our boot camp shares the playground and field with the students of First Baptist and towards the end of our workout yesterday something caught my eye-the beautiful brightly colored parachute used by gym teachers. Back in grade school I had loved when the teacher dragged out the parachute in gym class. There was always something about the panorama of colors that contrasted greatly with the drab gym floor and walls. The First Baptist students giggled as the wind lifted the parachute and then it floated gently back down to cover their heads. The other students ran and frolicked on the playground and I was instantly struck with the thought that all of us at Hazel Parker were privileged to be out there on such an extraordinarily beautiful day enjoying the simplest of pleasures, sunshine and exercise. There were flushed cheeks and smiling faces everywhere on both the children and the boot campers and it dawned on me; we were one. They were young, we were older, but we were all co existing in childhood, in movement, in change.
I am going through a period in my personal life right now of tremendous change. I am having to travel beyond my boundaries to see what I am capable of and it is scary but it is also exciting because I am learning. Any pain I experience as a result of my life shift will be temporary. All pain is. Much like childbirth, it hurts, we recover and most of us go on to do it again. Thank you Mother Nature for helping us to forget! When I encourage the campers as they are moving through their challenging work out it is the following sentiment that I try to impart.; pain is temporary. You will recover; you will forget. I encourage them to race towards their boundaries and peer over the edge. I tell them they will survive. And they do.
Recipe:
Tidbit:
According to Dr. Randy Eichner, a Sports Medicine Expert, most subjects ate 1000 more calories than they reported and burned 250 less calories than they reported.
Recipe:
Salmon is nature’s perfect fish packed with Omega 3’s. I love Rachel Ray’s low carb recipe below which can be served with a simple spinach (always go dark green) salad on the side.
• 1/2 English (seedless) cucumber
• 2 small plum tomatoes
• 1 shallot or 1/4 red onion, finely chopped, divided
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus a drizzle
• 1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 skinless salmon fillets (6 ounces each)
• Seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay brand
PREPARATION
On a cutting board, dice the cucumber into quarter-inch pieces – to peel or not to peel is up to you. Seed and dice the tomatoes into quarter-inch pieces. Combine the cucumber, tomatoes and half of the shallot or red onion in a bowl and reserve.
In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, sugar and white wine vinegar and the remaining half of the shallots. Stream in the EVOO while continuing to whisk. Stir in the dill and season the dressing with salt and pepper, to taste.
Season the salmon with seafood seasoning and a little black pepper. Heat a nonstick skillet with a drizzle of EVOO over medium-high heat. Place the salmon rounded side down and cook until golden and a little crispy at the edges, 3-4 minutes. Flip and cook for 2 minutes more for a pink center, or 4 minutes for opaque fish.
Transfer the salmon to dinner or serving plates; top with the cucumber-tomato relish and cover with a liberal amount of dill dressing.
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