Music to My Mouth

Eating fresh local food is like listening to live well-played acoustic music - nothing impeding your senses from enjoying something at its natural best.

Don't ask about the picture to the left. I just like it.

I read an article this morning in our local newspaper reminding me that more often than not, land owners and small farmers are deciding to continue the legacy of providing local fresh produce, meats and other products and doing their best to do so with as little help from man-made fertilizers and pesticides.

Now, I'm no Al Gorish green guy (what falsehood) or Euell Gibbons (ahead of the times in his day) pine nut, but unprocessed (uh, natural) foods taste so much better and are so much better for your bod.

Wow! I've Been Eating Since I Got Here.

I wrote this article several years ago when I was in the fitness biz, which I imagine I still am involved with in some fashion.

I can't say I have learned much more about holiday eating since then. Much still holds true and except for those who are predisposed to over-eating, we tend to eat more (or gain more body-fat) over the holiday season. This is not a shocker and I attribute this to four factors.

I Would Walk a Mile for a Camel, But...

Do you happen to remember the advertisement from the '60s for Camel cigarettes? I Would Walk a Mile for a Camel.

I wouldn't walk a mile for a camel unless it was to meet that talking one on the GEICO Hump Day commercial but, I've probably already been about 11,000 miles in my 7 year-old Skechers.

Now, this is the second article I have written on shoes, but this is not about tennis shoes as much as it is about darn good shoes for most any activity. Shoes are the most important clothing/accessory one puts on one's body, regardless of the activity. As the years pass, we wear our dogs out and we need to consider what we put them in. (See Tales from a Tennis Shoe - Sole Pathology.)

The Other Calf - Another Muscle Which Needs Attention

Actually, the topic here is not about another calf muscle, although the debate is ongoing about whether or not this muscle, the Soleus, may take claim to its own separate existence or is it part of what we most often think of as our calf muscles, the Gastrocnemius.

Regardless, it is there, right there below the Gastrocnemius, your most popular calf muscle.

Hey Rafa, How About Another Drink? - Pre-Hydrate, Hydrate and then Rehydrate

Recently, Rafael Nadal has been catching some heat from Federer for his lengthy breaks and according to a survey, about three-quarters of us fans are unhappy with his many mini-vacations during matches as well, although officials don't seem so awfully concerned. The whys and what-nots of this make for an interesting story I dare not venture into just now.

But, this does remind me of the lengthiest changeovers I ever experienced, accepted by all and for the right reason - we were all about to die.

In a Pickle

A few years ago, a good friend talked me into working at a craft show for a company which produces relishes, jams and jellies, salsas and pickles.

I had worked many a trade show when I was in telecommunications and they can be completely exhausting and sometimes utterly boring.

Working with MeadowCroft Farm is exhausting, but it is a blast, meeting virtually everyone that nears our booth and engaging them with conversation and sampling of our products. I only do this twice a year, when MeadowCroft is in town for a local show, and it's wonderful to see so many "old faces" I have seen show after show and the new ones I am certain we will see again at the next one.

Breast Cancer Cause Donations

The following information is for all those concerned with the donation which will be made to a breast cancer organization or charity by us (on behalf of our customer) for purchase of our breast cancer cause line of clothing, Win the Battle!

Black Beans and Oh, Whatever

This article originally published March 10, 2013, but I made the dish again on New Years day, in lieu of collards and black-eyed peas and I used fresh black beans. It was wonderful on a cloudy, mildly chilly day. Okay, I live in South Carolina (it truly wasn't that chilly) and the Gamecocks won the Capital One Bowl. There is no way I could have screwed this up.

Let's go back to March of last year:

Just Act! (He Survived)

In February of 2006, while at my desk, speaking with one of my members at the gym, one of our personal trainers shouted, "We have a member down".

From where I was, I got a glimpse of the scene, realizing a few people were assisting someone on the main work-out floor. I ran to the small white wall-mounted cabinet which contains the AED (Automated External Defibrillator) we had recently installed.

Tales from a Tennis Shoe - Sole Pathology

Before you buy that next pair of tennis shoes, throw out your old ones or set them aside for yard work, you may want to turn them over and take a close look at them. 

Chances are they still have enough life in them to tell you something about your body, your foot placement/gait and perhaps your tennis footwork in the most mechanical sense, not how fleet, agile and nimble you are on court.

I want to keep this article basic and as a bit of awareness because this topic can be very complex, but most definitely warrants attention.

I don't know when feet began to be referred to loosely, jokingly or affectionately as dogs, but they are. Our feet have been dogged out since we stood from a crawl and took our first step, or tried to. They get used and abused beginning each day when we first crawl, leap or fall out of bed.

Adding Up the Benefits of the Abds

Adductor Plated-Weight Exercise Machine

Yes that is spelled "Abds" intentionally and we went cheesy with "'Add'ing". 

We are not speaking of your abdominal muscles here (later, in another article), but those two muscles groups, one each, which are found in the upper outer-thigh located near the glutes, more named for their support of outward motion (than by anatomical name) from the vertical hip plane - abductors.

Their opposing inner-thigh muscles are the adductors.

Tennis and Fitness

Dainyell Fox
Tennis Pro and Personal Trainer

Tennis is a competitive sport and on most levels we are rewarded with the social aspects as well, yet, tennis is not a substitute for a complete form of physical health and the answer to all your fitness needs, even if you are a pro – ask them.

Tennis, recreationally or otherwise, requires much more from the human body and incorporates many  more movements (great stuff) and brings into play a variety of muscle groups, joints and associated tissues, than those required of most other sports (the studies have been done).

In light of this, nurturing these muscles and joints in some other fashion is not only critical in allowing one to continue to play the game for a lifetime, it allows you to have more fun on-court, experiencing less injuries - helping you reach the extra height needed to place more authority on the next overhead, approaching the net more quickly to finish off the point or ripping the next groundstroke with control for a put-a-way winner.