Good vs Bad - Vegetable Showdown

Vegetables are important regardless of your health situation. The minerals and vitamins found in vegetables are vital for proper body composition. What do you consider a healthy source for your vegetables?

There are many varieties of vegetables from potato's to tomato's but not all are made alike. Vitamins, mineral s and protein amounts vary from  plant to plant. This makes variety in your vegetable choices key to a healthy lifestyle. 




These vegetables are starchy and should be avoided

• Potatos
• Yams
• Sweet Potato's

Sorry, potato chips don't count as your vegetables for the day. In general, if you have to cook it in order to make it eatable, it's not very good for you.

Rich in vitamins and minerals

• Artichoke 
• Mushrooms 
• Asparagus 
• Mustard

• Onions 
• Beets 
• Parsley
• Bell Peppers 

• Parsnip 
• Broccoli 
• Peppers (all kinds)
• Brussels Sprouts 

• Pumpkin 
• Cabbage 
• Carrots 
• Radish 

• Cauliflower 
• Rutabaga
• Celery 
• Seaweed 

• Collards 
• Spinach
• Cucumber 
• Squash (all kinds) 

• Eggplant 
• Tomatillos 
• Endive Tomato
• Green Onions 

• Turnip Greens 
• Kale 
• Turnips

• Kohlrabi 
• Watercress 
• Lettuce

By taking advantage of the information available  you can make a healthy meal decision and not sabotage your fitness goals.

Bookmark this page on your computer or smartphone and reference it when your shopping.

For more information on paleo foods to eat and not to eat: 

http://desertcrossfit.typepad.com/Paleo_Food_List.pdf

Fighting Nature the Easy Way

Sometimes nature can be a pain. When nature makes life difficult, make it difficult back. I'm not talking about chemicals. When growing an organic garden, chemicals should never be used.

I would love to tell you that the seeds are planted. But that's not the case quite yet. The rain has moved in and put a damper on things. Until it stops raining, I can't really get anything done. So let's go over some of the dynamics of this organic garden and why grass is a pain in the ass.

The Garden

I'm not planning a large garden. The garden is oddly shaped so almost impossible to say how large it is but I would estimate about 1000 square feet. With this space I hope to find what will grow best. So this year is essentially a test season.

I decided to go with larger rows to enable more space in between for tilling purposes. Also, with a thicker base on the row, i'm going to try and stagger seeds in a zig-zag pattern over the top of the row to increase overall yield.

Building a Fence

We have the posts for the fence in the ground already. Spent a good couple hours packing dirt into the post hole to make sure it has a tight fit. Instead of using wire fencing, I have decided to use only logs from the property as my material, just making it up as I go.

This is something i am still figuring out, hopefully i'll have a post on this soon.

Battle with Nature

Grass in the region grows thick and vigorous. Breaking up the ground becomes almost impossible without putting in some hard work hours. I believe I've solved this problem using the method you see in the picture below.

By taking some very large cardboard boxes and laying them out of the ground, you cut off the light supply and choke the plants of oxygen and ventilation. The plants slowly become weaker and weaker before they eventually would die and simply break down into the soil. 

Using this method requires very little labor and is especially effective at weakening root systems. I left these cardboard boxes out for about 4 weeks before taking it off and tilling the ground. The difference was unbelievable.

Growing an organic can sure be fun but it is also a lot of work. As you can see nature is a real pain and you will always be fighting it. So fight nature with intelligent action and your project will become much easier. Hopefully the rain will let up and I can get back to work. 

Until then, enjoy these articles:

How healthy is an Avocado?
Hamburger & Sandwich Reinvented

Lettuce Wraps, The Paleo Buritto

One of the most difficult aspects of eating Paleo was not being able to eat grains. For me, this meant not being able to eat burritos, tacos and all that delicious Mexican food. In fact, before going Paleo, my diet would mostly consist of burrito's. I know this sounds pretty boring or every meal but it was the best way I could find to consume lots of veggies and still enjoy my meal.

Plan of Action

I knew i couldn't give up my favorite meal, so what was I to do? I did some research and found lettuce wraps!

This just looks delicious!   >   >    

There are many ways to make lettuce wraps. The ingredients are endless, and the best part? 

It's 100% Paleo!

Need some recipe ideas?

• www.food.com/recipe/p-f-changs-chicken-lettuce-wraps
• www.eatingwell.com/recipes/five_spice_turkey_lettuce_wraps
• http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chicken-lettuce-wraps

Work up an appetite with some at home body weight workouts

Growing a Small Organic Vegetable Garden : Part 1

Growing a small organic garden is a great way to spend your free time and has great payoffs, you get to grow your own food! This year i have decided grow a vegetable garden. I picked a spot, marked out some posts and got to work. It's been no easy task thus far, and I haven't even put any seeds in the ground yet! I've decided to document my progress in assuming that i will screw up eventually and someone else can learn from my mistakes. I'll be making lots of mistakes, I assure you.

What to do first...

First off, I live in the Paficic Northwest in a little area called Skagit Valley. About 45 mins north of Seattle with views of the San Juan Islands, Olympic Mountains, and Mount Baker, the Skagit valley is famous for its annual Tulip Festival and rich culture. The temperate climate and mild temperatures makes it a perfect place to grow some vegetables. We grow organic vegetables here. It's no wonder farms in Skagit Valley were recently recognized as protected farmland.


I know a garden will grow here, it's just a matter of me not screwing it up. I attempted to do some research as to what specific strains grow well in the area but i became impatient and decided to experiment and find out for myself. So i bought them all.

Getting down and dirty

I'm currently using a craftsman tiller, as you can see in the picture to the right. It's a very powerful tiller but the ground in the area is fairly rocky with some small logs so I have been going through sheer pins like crazy. It's very good soil though so it's worth the time and effort. I eventually gave up using the tiller until i could get all the roots/weeds and rock out of the dirt with shovels. Had the girlfriend out there working too, she wasn't very happy with me.

Some other tools we were using:

• Shovel
• Rake
• Pick Ax (removing rocks and stump)
• Hoe

After getting all the rocks, weeds, and a small stump out, I was able to then till up the ground a little bit more in able to create some mounded rows of dirt. Interesting things happen when your "playing" in dirt, dogs decide they want to help. After watching our three poodles digging up our hard work, I decided it was time to invest in a fence.

The nice thing about living in the country is there is material all around you. With 10 Acres of forested land, fence posts were not scarce. In all, we used a total of three, 6 inch diameter Alder trees to create the posts for the fence. 16 posts, each at about 6 feet in length. Was a lot of work, but well worth the effort. Alder is a much harder wood and is can dull a chainsaw blade quickly. Since the logs being used were small in diameter, I decided to use an ax to cut down the tree's instead of the chain saw.  OK, i'll admit it, I just like using an ax and pretending i'm a viking. You can't say you wouldn't do the same.

After digging the holes for the posts, I couldn't decide if i should fill around the posts with cement or gravel. I figured cement would help the posts last longer, but since i did not de-bark the posts i figured they were going to decay fairly quickly anyways and decided to go with gravel to pack the posts in. Less work overall so I was happy with the decision.

At this point, I have all posts in the ground with a few of the fence posts still needing to be packed in. After this is done, I will go get some fencing material and use an air compressed staple gun to attach the fence material to the posts. I'll also leave an opening for a gate. But this will be in the next segment.

I will continue working on my small organic vegetable garden. Hopefully i can post some more updates soon.

To be continued...

Hamburger and Sandwich Reinvented

Subway, Quiznos, McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, etc... It's where Americans go for their burgers. But
what is actually on these burgers that is so "bad" for us. Hamburgers generally consists of hamburger buns, burger patties, condiments and some vegetables, a hamburger cant be that bad, can it?

A hamburger can be if built properly. Less bun, higher density protein in the meat (turkey or chicken burger), rationing condiments  and most importantly adding lots of vegetables. I love my veggies. They are the heart and soul of every meal I eat. Are you eating enough veggies?

First lets look at what you should stay away from. Most condiments are generally processed "food" with lots of added ingredients  However some similar products can be found at your local food co-op that use much safe ingredient.

• ketchup
• mayo
• mustard
• relish
• any processes sauce

In general these are products you want to stay away from for their high sodium and fat content and for the amount of processing most of these items go through. Keep in mind, products sold organically are safe the this article is referring to the use of these sauces in 'fast food settings where organic products are scarce.

I recently went to subway and got myself a sandwich. I like my veggies, you know this, so i asked for extra veggies. The photo to the left is what i got. I want more vegetables than this!

Is this enough veggies for you? It isn't for me. So what is the proper vegetable proportioning compared to protein and bread? Now of coarse bread is not paleo but most of us can't stay away from it 100%.

What veggies are you eating on you burger, sandwich, or wrap? The list probably looks like this.

• lettuce
• tomato

But what about these healthy veggies full of rich nutrients in a large variety.

• red onion
• avocado
• cucumber
• red, yellow or green pepper
• olives
• spinach
• red leaf lettuce
• cabbage
• sprouts
• mushrooms
• and more...

Add variety to your diet and add energy to your life. Make it a habit to add at least 4 of these veggies, this increase in vitamins and minerals could be enough to jump start that weight loss or maybe get in top shape for that upcoming marathon. There really isn't a bad side to eating more veggies, so why aren't you?