Love these 2 songs right now

Poor Diet Linked To Poor Performance in School Children

In the first study of its kind, researchers have linked an overall poor diet with unfavorable school performance. Previous studies have linked certain nutrient deficiencies (e.g., iron, protein) with poor performance in school, but none have looked at an overall diet pattern.

The research was conducted on 2,200 elementary school children in Taiwan. Both parents and children filled out a questionnaire asking how frequently the children consumed certain food items. The items were then grouped into 4 categories, "highly nutrient dense foods" (including vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and eggs), "dairy products," "traditional Taiwanese foods" (including internal organ meats, seafood, and soy products), and "sweets and fried foods."

There was a substantial association between unfavorable overall performance in school and high intake of low-quality foods, such as sweets and fried foods. These same children were also likely to have a low intake of high-quality foods, such as vegetables, fruits, fish, eggs and dairy products. The greater the number of unhealthful eating patterns, the higher the risk for unfavorable school performance.

Bottom Line - Making sure your child eats a balanced diet that includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, and lean protein like fish, beans and low fat dairy may help them perform better at school. Limiting the fried foods and sugary sweets will help, too

Source: Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2007; 107:1935-1943


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Oh Carrie

Creed time

My favorite character from my favorite show...

A Higher Perspective

What troubles you is mostly trivial when viewed from the great perspective of all that is. Yet those troubles can feel much bigger when you look at them from the viewpoint of your self-imposed limitations.
Your ego will seek to convince you that nothing beyond you matters. Such thinking will keep you trapped in a prison of your own making.

Let go of the need to prove what you're worth. And you'll realize how uniquely valuable you already and always are.

As long as you remain on the same level as the obstacles in your life, those obstacles will prevent you from making progress. Yet from a higher perspective you'll discover many ways to get beyond them.

If you're confounded by some particular situation, step back and remind yourself, in your own way, of how truly beautiful and magnificent life can be. Feel yourself rising above the limitations that your ego has constructed.

Instead of being troubled by your troubles, let them be a catalyst for your own growth and for truly meaningful inspiration. Climb up to a higher perspective and find a path to the greatness that is within you.

-- Ralph Marston

In Ray We Trust

"The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus." Bruce Lee

He's getting better every day

Does it get any better?

Friday night at home watching my Celtics win yet another game, crushing their once-rival LA Lakers. As usual, Kobe leads all scorers and his team loses. I don't know why people actually like players like him. While Kobe has won a couple titles, he's the last person to admit it's because his team played well collectively. He won because of guys like Shaq, Derek Fisher, and Rick Fox. Anyway, before I get lost in another basketball rant, I was gonna head upstairs to finish some work when one of my all-time favorite movies came on right after the game...

"Casino." Of course I have it on DVD, but I couldnt resist staying up and watching. Something about that movie always fires me up. Could it be that the "F" bomb is dropped 422 times (yes I looked it up), the incredible double-disc soundtrack, or the fact DeNiro just fires me up? Either way, itll always be one of my favs.

Celtics kill the Lakers, DeNiro helps wack a couple people- does it get any better on a Friday night?

Enough with the Excuses Already!

"I don't have time"
"I can't afford a gym membership"
"It's boring"
"It's too hard"
"It's too hot/cold"
"I don't have an exercise partner"
"I'm gonna wait until after the holidays to start"

I have heard the last one so often lately- pathetic.

Best show on TV

Perfection in a jump shot

A Metro-west sports writer recently had what I found to be a perfect description of what it's like watching my favorite player:

"Ray Allen takes a pass out of the key and fires up a 3-pointer from the corner. Swish. Then another. Swish.Then another, and another. Every shot with an identical stroke and an identical result. Every muscle in his sleek frame repeating the exact twitch or ripple. It's like you're watching a video clip on a continuous loop. So repetitive. So captivating. Then he misses one, and you are stunned."

It doesn't get much better than that.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.........

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3076707/

"Not That There's Anything Wrong with That"

Got to see "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" tonight. I really liked it, although I'm STILL undecided whether or not I think Jessica Biel is hot. I find her a bit of a "two face," to use a Seinfeld reference.

There were a lot of familiar faces Sandler has used in his past movies. In addition there were some really random cameos (Dan Patrick and Dave Matthews)! A couple quick facts I found out:

-The book that Chuck (Adam Sandler) reads the kids as a bedtime story is "The Puppy Who Lost His Way", the same book Billy's 1st Grade teacher reads at story time in Billy Madison (1995).

-Steve Buscemi was actually a New York City Firefighter before he became an actor.


So....I'd definitely recommend this one. Let me know what you think.

What's in your fruits & vegetables?

When "going organic," consider the fruits & veggies that contain the greatest % of pesticides. For example, fruits to consider purachsing organic version of are peaches and apples. According to the USDA and the FDA, 97% of peaches and 92% of apples contain pesticides. Those fruits and vegetables that came out on top (contained few pesticides) include onions, avocados, pineapples, broccoli, and bananas.

Funny stuff

A couple clips from one of my favorite stand-ups:

Classic Carter

We're taking it back a few years with VC's dunk over Frenchman/NY Knick draft bust Frederic Weis. Bear in mind Weis is 7'2". Also, Carter almost whacks current Celtic Kevin Garnett with his right arm as he celebrates after the dunk!

Strength Training the Fountain of Youth?

http://coreperformance.com/article.php?p=3&s=1&atID=3&id=631

http://hbns.org/news/strength09-30-03.cfm

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56758

Sicko

Finally got to see Michael Moore's "Sicko" last night. At best it was so-so. I get a kick out of how people LOVE or HATE Moore. Like anyone with an opinion, he has good points and bad. My only knock is he tries to make issues (i.e. health care) black and white when, in fact, there are shades of gray. Here's a feedback posting I liked/agreed with from IMDB.com:
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Having read all the comments and reviews, this movie was pretty much what I expected. Moore does a really good job in making his point.

What bothered me a little was his black & white view of the healthcare industry - either it is public OR private. In reality, many western countries have a "hybrid" system. For example here in Finland we have a pretty reasonable public healthcare system (which by the way is not totally free for the patient, albeit very cheap), but in addition, we also have private clinics, if you want even faster service and are willing to pay extra. You can also get an insurance from private companies, which provides extra financial support and/or service in the private clinics in case of illness. Also some workplaces and institutes have free doctors.

A portion of the cost of medicines is substituted by the government in either case, and there is an annual limit after which they are totally substituted.

I think it would be pretty straightforward to establish this kind of system in the US. There is no need to socialize healthcare TOTALLY. There is no need for the insurance company to "go" (as Moore put it), they just need to step aside a little and stop being the main authority. Also, if insurance companies have to compete with FREE (health care), there is only one thing they can do: offer really good service!
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Long story short- I'm glad I didn't pay full price when this film was in the theatres as it wasn't that great.

Physicality of basketball

Nice article here. Be sure to check out the 2 video links at the end.

http://sbcoachescollege.com/articles/Basketball_Contact_Collision.html

Rainy days in Newburyport

I'm off to beautiful Newburyport today to start a 9-week group ex. class for city employees. I wish the weather were nicer out (it's pouring out), as that's a gorgeous town. Ah well. It'll be nice to get back there and reconnect with some of the people I taught a year ago.

Sox 3-4 hitters go late-night with Conan and Leno

Donning the pinstripes

The last 6 weeks or so, I've been taking a course @ Tufts University to become certified as a basketball official. The final exam was tonight and I passed! Pasing is an 86 and I scored a 90. Great stuff.

This is why he's my favorite Celtic

The pride of UCONN hits the game winner @ Toronto today...

Committee approves state ban on trans fat

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/11/02/committee_approves_state_ban_on_trans_fat/

Captain Varitek gives his Newton neighbors a treat on Halloween

This is why he's been my favorite player for so league:

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/11/02/fans_catch_treat_at_varitek_home/

Anti-running article

Another "anti-distance running" article from Coach Mike Boyle on Core Performance this week:

http://coreperformance.com/article.php?p=3&s=1&atID=3&id=625

"Spiderman" exercises

I love using these 2, moreso the second one, with clients to work hip mobility:

So happy together