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WSUM: Health Tips on the Road!
‘Good Afternoon this is Caitlin Iverson hosting ‘Fit for Feats’. This is part 2 of the staying fit while traveling series. It’s summer time, which for most of us students that means travel/adventure and explore!
Traveling can seriously hinder exercise routines and especially derail healthy eating habits. Last week we took a round trip world tour with music hits from around the world. I provided some tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint as well as your caloric intake while exploring this blue planet.
Today we will take a roadtrip and discuss ways to be healthy on your adventures. Lets kick it off with some sweet tunes to start your roadtrip!
‘Get myself into it’– The Rapture
‘For the girl’ – The Fratellis
I hope those tunes got you moving, as a sweet mix is essential for long road trips.
My first tip for staying healthy on your roadtrip is to pack a kooler of healthy snacks that keep well like cut up fruits and veggies, and plenty of water.
If your trip is a bit longer and a kooler wont last look for places like Quik Trip that have ’500 Club Meals’, which are meals under 500 calories and include reduced or only healthy fats.
This is Caitlin Iverson with WSUM 91.7FM Madison. Stay tuned for more healthy traveling trips.
Air France ‘Beach Party’
Chairlift ‘Bruises’
On long roadtrip your body tends to lose energy from being stagnant in the car. Make sure to take advantage of breaks by moving your body at rest stops. I like to do a few yoga poses like forward flexion, front warrior and walking lunges. You could also pack a jump rope, soccer ball or even a Frisbee to get that heart rate up and enjoy some much needed playtime.
Thanks for tuning in today to Fit for Feats – aka feats of strength. Today we are chatting about staying healthy when you are traversing the terrain on the road.
Obviously packing food is nice in that you know exactly what you are eating, but if you can find a grocery store wherever you are staying, many hotels have refridgerators to store your fresh foods. Also, park the car and take a hike to explore the land!
These next few tunes have something to do with driving – hope you enjoy!
Gotye ‘Night Drive’
Gladys Night ‘Midnight train to Georgia’
Various Artists ‘I drove all night’
That last song needs a bit of introduction. Last year I was in costa rica and I asked a friend I had made to make a mix cd for my road trip. After he asked if I had ever heard of a man named Carlos Santa up in America, I wasn’t sure what would be on the mix. Of course I responded with a casual afrermation that Carlos Santa has made himself known up in America! This song was one of the many interesting and pecular tunes. Sometimes staying healthy also means being flexible with what is available!
My last travel tip for the day has to do with packing. As I mentioned before, packing healthy foods is ideal. Packing your own gym, to do your favorite body workouts, jump rope, p90x, suspension trainer like TRX or Jungle Gym are excellent additions to your trip. Whatever you do stay happy, as stress an derail even the best healthy intentions!
Thank you for sharing your time with me. Enjoy your day – make it healthy and happy!
The Beatles ‘All Together Now’
Wellness Wednesdays on WSUM Madison’s Student Radio
I host a talk show on Madison’s Student Radio WSUM 91.7 FM. I am live on Wednesdays at noon. The title of my show is … surprise, surprise ‘Fit for Feats’.
The byline:’What does health mean? Turns out you don’t need to sweat at the gym everyday in order to stay fit. That said, we do need to move, play and explore our environment. Speaking of our environment, what have you done for yours lately? Let’s chat about sustainability and how small changes overtime really do make a difference. I will ask some health professionals to join the show to help pique your interest in learning about your health: nutrition, fitness and that of this blue planet. Fit for Feats will also inspire and prepare you for feats of strength like swimming across Lake Monona, hike Devils Lake and bike the MS 150 (nothing too far out of reach for the typical Madisonian) plus the only bicep curls I’ll ask you to do will be with your water bottle!
My first show was on August 9th, literally the day after I got back to Madison from a summer of: Jamaica, Minnesota Wedding, 4th of July Madison, Istanbul for a Communication Conference, Turkey, and Montauk, New York. My show was more music than talking as I was a bit exhausted, but it had a stay healthy while you travel theme. Here is the playlist and my script. Currently wordpress wont let me upload an hour long mp3, but I will figure out how to podcast my show for you to listen … stay tuned!
‘Good Afternoon this is Caitlin Iverson hosting ‘Fit for Feats’. Its summer time which for most of us students that means travel/adventure and explore!
- Traveling can seriously hinder exercise routines and especially derail healthy eating habits. I have some tips for how to travel and stay healthy but first lets check out some tunes from around the world.
From Jamaica:
Sound dimension ‘Heavy Beat’
Major lazer – (recorded in Jamaica) ‘I’m not your lemonade’
I started this summer with an adventure in Jamaica thus started this program with some Jamaican beats. That first song was from sound dimension followed by Major Lazer who recorded that track in Jamaica
Before we get into tips for how to travel and stay healthy, lets hop across the pond to Africa.
Hop the pond to Africa
From Mali: Amadou & Mariam ‘I Follow you’
From Senegal: Youssou N’Dour ‘Wiri-Wiri’
I follow you from the Album Welcome to Mali was followed by Wiri-Wiri recorded in Senegal
- Traveling usually means that you are eating out more and cooking less. Grocery stores often have fresh fruits and veggies that you can snack on between meals – this helps both the pocket book and the body as hungry people tend to order more food.
Let’s head north around the globe to Europe.
Europe
Fever ray – Swedish – ‘Seven’
Apparat – German – ‘Hallin’ From the Edge’
Im from Barcelona – Espanol – ‘Collection of Stamps’
This is Caitlin Iverson with Fit for Feats here at WSUM 91.7 FM Madison– today’s program has a healthy travel influence as I just flew home last night from Turkey with a stop over in Long Island, New York – so far we have heard beats from Jamaica, Africa, and Europe.
- Healthy traveling isn’t just about your body but also about how you treat the planet. Many countries have different disposal rules and regulations and my advice is do the best you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. Buy a water purifier so that you don’t need to buy plastic water bottles everyday
Let’s spend some time in Europe but check out some fantastic music from the UK
Florence and the Machine ‘Howl’
Fujiya & Miyagi ‘Collarbone’
Burial ‘Archangel’
Welcome back to Fit for Feats. Today’s topic: stay healthy while traveling this great blue planet!
- Sometimes the only exercise you can get while traveling is walking and dancing. My suggestion is to walk and dance as often as possible! Where ever you are when you travel one of the best ways to understand a culture is to listen to their music. Dancing is a way to communicate universally. I hope some of these tunes have made you want to move those bones.
Lets hop back across the pond on our round trip of the traveling beats – leaving the UK stopping over in Canada this is Elisane with Vaporous before coming home to the US.
Elisane ‘Vaporous’
Beats Antique – Cali with tribal influence, belly dancing – ‘Beauty Beats’
That last one was from Beats Antique a band from the US. Our round trip is complete thanks for tuning in and traveling to Jamaica, Africa, Europe and back to America. Tune in next week and I’ll discuss more healthy traveling tips, maybe with a more local vibe like a perfect playlist for hiking devils lake, or a road trip! This is Caitlin Iverson enjoy your beautiful day!
I’ll leave you with a song called Uncharted as this life certainly is!
Sara Bareilles ‘Uncharted’
WSUM streams live online at WSUM.org
Fit for Feats airs Wednesdays at 12pm
Too Many Veggies? Blanch Your Vegetables!
Do not let perfectly good produce go to waste! If your eyes were bigger than your stomach at the grocery store or farmers market this week what better way to preserve your vegetables than blanching. (Perhaps canning but that is for a different post.) This is also another option for bulk items from your CSA.
(What is a CSA?)
Community Shared Agriculture – I highly recommend looking into local CSAs – stay tuned for a post regarding how to pick a CSA
For Interested Madisonians : MACSAC is a great resource.
Friends of mine are just starting a barter CSA check out Bliss ‘n Blossom
What is Blanching?
Basically blanching preserves the color texture and flavor of your vegetables by means of plunging them into boiling water for a short time (few seconds to a few minutes) and then into ice water.
This process breaks down enzymes in the vegetables which allows them to keep longer. Blanching can even brighten the color of vegetables. For those with texture issues from fully cooked vegetables, blanching softens the texture while maintaining the crisp essence.
Benefits of Blanching:
- Perfect for veggie platters (crudités for you foodies)
- Preserve bulk vegetables in the freezer after blanching
- Enhance salad dressings and sautés as blanched veggies more readily take up flavors
Veggies I like to blanch:
Asparagus
Brussel Sprouts
Beets
Green Beans
Broccoli
- Kale
Colorful Carrots
Cauliflower
Zucchini
Spinach
How to Blanch your Vegetables!
1.As with any preparation step 1 ~ Wash your vegetables
2.If you are freezing immediately, cut them to size suitable for freezing
3.Bring water in a large pot to boil (optional add a small amount of salt in order to increase the boiling point)
4.While water heats fill a medium bowl with Ice Cold Water
5.Add a small amount of veggies at a time
6.Tip: keep the water boiling even after adding the veggies and boil until they start to soften ~ never hurts to test one!
7.Strain the Vegetables
8.Plunge them into ice cold water
9.Once cool (should take about as long as time in boiling water), Strain
10.If you are going to freeze them, don’t forget to label the date (after a year they are not so yummy)
11.If you would like to serve them warm – reheat them in any desirable fashion (just make sure you merely heat and not overcook!)
Blanching time will vary depending on the veggie and the size …
To look up the recommended time for your favorite veg : University of Missouri Extension
I’m also a fan of this post from Stretch Exercise Eat
We are Fit for Feats of Strength!
Fitness Is FUN
no more hamster races on the treadmill
Practical fitness incorporates alignment and stabilization, strength and then explosive functional power!
Check out a few fun things we do at the Monkey Bar Gym!
Snowshoe Relay, Cross Country Skiing, Snowboarding, Tubing — Winter Fest in Madison!
Winter Fest in Madison February 20-21 at the Capitol Loop! King Street will turn into a magical snowboard rail, State St will have ice sculptures, all blocks will have cross-country and snow shoe equipment to rent … for FREE!!!!
Running, Biking, Hiking, Skiing, Sculpting – What can’t you do in the ice and snow??
This event is to get people active in the winter – Fit for Feats Likes This!
Check out winter-fest.com
