Pumpkins

OK. Pumpkins are on the superfood list, but does anybody know of a way to cook them other than pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread? I've not found much out there...

Jason

Up the Ante

So far I have not found this challenge to be much of a challenge at all. I eat a bowl of oatmeal nearly every day for breakfast, and I'm done. I'm going to up the ante on this one to two superfoods every day. Just do it! Get 'er done! What are you waiting for? Insert company slogan here!

Jason

October Challenge - Eat at least one of the "Superfoods" every day

Did you know there are "superfoods?" These foods can help lower your cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. And, they can help put you in a better mood!

Work these foods into your diet this month, and see how you feel!

• Beans
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Oats
• Oranges
• Pumpkin
• Salmon
• Soy
• Spinach
• Tea (green or black)
• Tomatoes
• Turkey
• Walnuts
• Yogurt

For more details on each, see this article.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/superfoods-everyone-needs

Enjoy!

Jason

September Challenge - Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day

This one seems pretty straight-forward, right? Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Well, how much is a serving? I just had a salad at lunch that included two large cherry tomatos, two cucumber slices, and a pile of lettuce. Is that one serving? Two? I checked the following website to find out. Basically, one serving is about a half-cup.

http://nutrition.about.com/od/fruitsandvegetables/f/servingfruit.htm

Here are some examples:

Fruits

• one banana
• six strawberries
• two plums
• fifteen grapes
• one apple
• one peach
• one half cup of orange or other fruit juice

Vegetables

• five broccoli florets
• ten baby carrots
• one roma tomato
• 3/4 cup tomato juice
• half of a baked sweet potato
• one ear of corn
• four slices of an onion

Good luck!

Jason

Commuting Options

Well, after three and a half weeks of not driving to work by myself, I've come to a few conclusions. Driving is definitely the fastest option by far. Biking is probably my favorite, because I can exercise and commute at the same time. Public transportation is my least favorite. It takes longer than biking from my house to work, and it takes 3 to 4 times as long as driving. I am stuck with their time-tables, so I usually end up getting places 20 minutes early to avoid being late. And the fare actually costs me about three times as much as the gas it takes to drive there. If I worked downtown, it may be a different story, but I don't.

The only thing I haven't really tried, yet, is carpooling. I'll need to work on that one.

Jason

First week of commuting down!

This one hasn't been too bad so far, but I was lucky that the 100 degree week hit in July and not August! Here's a quick rundown.

• Monday - I rode my bike both to and from work. It took about 35-40 minutes from my door to my desk and vice versa.
• Tuesday - I rode my bike to work, and Janell picked me up on the way to the Hillsboro Farmers Market after work.
• Wednesday - I rode my bike to work, and then I unexpectedly caught a ride home with Trent after work.
• Thursday - I took the bus to work. It took about 45 minutes, and I had to leave home at 6:30 (and arrive at 7:15) to avoid an extra 20 minutes of waiting time for the one that gets me there closer to 8:00. I took the bus home and stopped for a chiropractor appointment on the way. It took about 45 minutes to get to the chiropractor's office. Afterwards, I waited about 15 minutes for the next bus and took a 5 minute ride home.
• Friday - I rode my bike both directions.

So far I've learned that my options to get to work are a 15 minute drive costing about $1 in gas each way, a 35 minute bike ride for free, or a 45-65 minute bus ride costing $2 each way where I can't control the time. Public transportation from my house to my work is a hard sell. There are a few other options I'll explore.

Jason

August Challenge - Don't ride to work in a car by yourself

Before we get to the August challenge, I have a few notes on the July challenge. First, I had the opportunity to watch television yesterday! It sucked. I surfed channels for about 20 minutes and realized that I wasn't having any fun and I wasn't enjoying myself, so I turned it off. Second, about halfway into the challenge, Janell caught me watching YouTube videos of old baseball players. Does that count as watching TV?

Now for August. This month's challenge is to not ride in a car by yourself to work. There are several options available.

1. Ride your bike. If you live within 10 miles of work, this is actually a pretty good option. I live 8 miles from work, and it takes me 35 minutes to ride there. Considering that my drive home is 25 minutes due to traffic, this is a pretty nice way to get my exercise (see the February challenge) and my commute in at the same time. It also helps that there is a gym with showers at my workplace. One thing I've learned from doing this in the past is that it helps to leave clean clothes and shower supplies at work so you don't have to carry them all on your bike or on your back.
2. Walk. This isn't an option for most people, but if it is take advantage of it!
3. Carpool. This is a very underutilized option. The two biggest gates for carpooling are not being willing to compromise with somebody else on a schedule and not being able to find somebody to carpool with. As for the schedule, all it takes is a bit of communication and a bit of effort. As for finding somebody, try carpool postings. There are plenty of them out there.
4. Public transportation. We are quite lucky to have a good public transportation system in Portland. Although I know that it will take me quite a bit longer to ride public transportation than to drive, or even to ride my bike for that matter, I'll give it a try this month and report my results.

As always, this will be easy for some, challenging for others, and impossible for a few. For those of you who don't work (retirees and stay-at-home parents) and those of you who simply can't carpool (real estate agents), I suggest you revisit one of the previous months you'd like to improve upon or pick something of your own!

January - Drink enough water

February - Exercise!

March - No Soda

April - No more than one alcoholic beverage a day

May - Floss every day

June - Minimize your impact (there is a lot of information in various posts)

July - No television

Good luck!

Jason