Category Archives: natural living
the way we live, eat, sleep, breathe, act, and think affects our physical health. my process toward living life more naturally.
bookworm wednesday – born to run
as i was writing yesterday’s post about how this book had a significant impact on my approach toward running, i had to exercise some real restraint not to gush about how great it really is, beyond running inspiration. today’s bookworm review is of a book that i believe has a very broad appeal: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (4.5 of 5 stars)
if you enjoy epic stories, you’ll like this book. if you are awed by incredible physical feats, you’ll like this book. if you are delighted by interesting characters, you’ll like this book. if you are fascinated by anatomy and physiology, you’ll like this book. if you are intrigued by different cultures, interested in science or history, or excited by adventure, you will like this book.
mcdougall’s writing style seamlessly transitions back and forth between research and information and the compelling narrative. it is his own story—his search for an answer to the nagging question of why running caused him nothing but pain.
much of the book is spent uncovering the secrets of the reclusive tarahumara indians, who for centuries have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest over the savage terrain of mexico’s copper canyon and enjoy every mile of it. but mcdougall also takes you from the high-tech science labs at harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across north america, meeting fascinating people all along the way.
i loved marveling over the ultra-athletes, learning awesome scientific and cultural facts, and feeling encouraged about my own potential. i would recommend this book to anyone. it is entertaining and informative, no matter what your interests.
(re)born to run – the formula
yesterday i confessed that i was once a slave to miserable running, but now i’ve been set free. today i’ll share the recipe that saved me as a runner.
as i mentioned, the advice i’d always received on increasing my distance–and enjoyment–usually boiled down to three main components: good form, good shoes, and good music. yet my early attempts to improve those things did not result in a notable difference. here’s why i took another look at all three variables.
running form
when i first encountered “natural running,” i was skeptical. but what i was hearing made sense, so i checked out the audio version of danny dreyer’s chi running from the library. i listened while performing the exercises according to the prompts, and was soon quite comfortable with the postures.
i’m not going to get into the specifics of how i adjusted my form based on the book, because for that you’ll have to read the book. 
suffice it to say that i began working with my momentum, and gravity, to keep the movement unbroken and efficient.
it felt good, but habits, doubts, and the structure of my shoes caused me to waver back and forth between my old posture and the new. it wasn’t until i read the incredible book born to run by christopher mcdougall that i decided to really go for it.
and oh, i’m glad i did. completely committing to the new form was seriously like unlocking the shackles from around my ankles. it felt easy, light, and natural.
running shoe
a quality shoe is supposed to be the foundation of good running, right? well, it turns out that the real foundation is your foot, not engineered in a research lab, but created by the Maker of everything. the best running shoe doesn’t try to stabilize or correct your natural foot strike, but is designed to complement it.
after listening to dryer’s techniques, i transitioned into a more “minimalist” shoe–still from a trusted brand, but with more flexibility and less rise in the heel. truthfully, this did not work for me. i think it was the same case as above: caught in the middle, not quite dedicated to a new stride or truly natural footwear.
when mcdougal’s story inspired me to go all in, i sought out the most natural footwear possible. (this included a brief trial of running barefoot. since i love to go shoeless as much as possible, anyway, i thought it would be great. but it’s just not practical if you like to run outside.)
once i discovered the best running shoe ever, i never looked back. if changing my form was like being released from my chains, finding this shoe was like being propelled forward by an invisible jet pack. browse around newton’s articles and videos to learn more about why this shoe is so life-changing.
running music
i am very motivated by music. it stimulates creativity when i work, energizes me when i do chores, cheers me when i’m in a funk, and inspires me to dance, always. naturally, i assumed the songs that give me extra oomph at the gym would also drive me forward on a run. not so.
well, they certainly motivated me to move, but the variance in rhythm made my pace just as erratic, which meant i was either sprinting and winded, or adopting a bounding stride to move in time with the music.
natural running proponents recommend maintaining a cadence of around 170-180 footfalls per minute, regardless of your speed. so i collected a list of songs that play at 170-180 beats per minute, and deleted everything outside of the tempo range from my playlist. suddenly running was like dancing, because i could move in sync with the music! when your foot strikes the ground with each drum beat, it almost seems as if your feet are creating the sounds. okay, maybe that’s just my active imagination.
with the new tunes, i will honestly continue running when i would other wise deem myself pooped, simply to finish the song. and then the next song often changes my quitter mind again. i wouldn’t leave the dance floor if they played another great tune, why would i stop running to the beat of a great song?
natural form + smart shoe + right music = t’s running bliss
i spent the first few decades of my life convinced i was just not made to run, when all i needed was a fresh approach to these three major elements. you may have already discovered the resources that i have. you ma disagree with the concept of natural running. all i know is that i can go three times as far as i could before these changes, and it doesn’t seem like work at all. although it’s still difficult to imagine running 26.2 miles, for the first time i am considering signing up for a half marathon!
i can’t promise this formula will work exactly the same for you, but if you’ve been frustrated or discouraged by running, maybe it can be a blueprint for your new life as a runner!*
if you run, what are your keys to running happiness? if you live in the okc area, do you want a running partner?
*if you explore any changes based on my recommendation, please read articles and books and watch videos to get more instruction before hitting the road. the info here is just a summary of my experience, not nearly an adequate explanation of natural running technique. also, please heed the advice to go shorter distances while your muscles get conditioned to a new kind of use. i tried too much, too soon, strained something in my foot, and couldn’t run for awhile. (no worries, i just spent my energy riding the slopes in colorado.)
image via guardian.co.uk
(re)born to run – the story
this is the story of how my lifelong abhorrence for running has been transformed into an all-out enthusiasm that makes me question my own identity. i’ve deciphered the secret code to my running happiness, and i’m a new person when i lace up my running shoes. the old me was hopelessly lost when it came to running:
before i graduated from high school, i had never run more than a mile or two at a time. i was fine with that–i hated running. i spent my teen extracurricular hours dancing at a local studio and for the school drill team (playing sports only for funsies at summer camp and church leagues), so team “conditioning” was not a part of my athletic training.
in college i made myself go 3.1 miles once a year for our sorority’s charity 5k. i joked that the stars had to align just so for me to have a good run: enough sleep, the perfect amount of the right food at the precise interval of time, the best time-of-the-month…i maintained that i was just not a “runner.”
in the years after college, a weekly-ish 2-3 mile jog worked it’s way in to my exercise routine, and i would complete the occasional 5k with respectable results, but i never got it. i enjoyed moving my body, but running didn’t feel like something i wanted to tolerate for more than thirty minutes–much less hours.
a handful of times i decided i was going to try to increase my distance, and my approach usually involved one of three things i heard often from runners: you need better form, better shoes, or better tunes.
following popular tips on posture and stride yielded minimal improvement. the latest high-tech shoes gave me a temporary spring in my step, but did nothing to increase my endurance. listening to my favorite upbeat music had mixed results: it inspired me to move, but messed up my breathing and pace.
i was focused on all the right areas, but in all the wrong ways.
tomorrow i’ll share how i looked at those three elements in a different way, and discovered a formula that really works for me.
image cropped from thisislondon.co.uk
fresh
fresh produce makes me giddy. when my fridge is stocked with flavorful veggies and my counter is overflowing with colorful fruit, i am thrilled. creating delicious meals is so much better with lots of fresh ingredients.
i like to purchase some produce at the ethnic markets around the city for the interesting variety they offer. there is a tiny, but well-known, mediterranean deli in okc that i frequent. the food is delicious and authentic, the owner always happy and helpful, and the small market is somehow stocked with every possible item you might want to put together a wonderful mediterranean meal. between stopping in occasionally for lunch, stocking up on fatayah and lebni for my titu, and general shopping trips for my own kitchen, i visit often enough that they know my “usual” order.
they have exotic produce choices like prickly pears, sweet limes, and unusual varieties of eggplant and cucumbers. recently i noticed some baskets filled with small orbs i couldn’t identify, and the friendly owner of the deli informed me that they are just the very fresh versions of familiar foods. so of course i bought some to try.
my first exploratory sample was these straight-off-the-tree pistachios. once you break through the thick skin, the recognizable clam-shaped shell is revealed, with the green nut inside. the shell and nut are not completely dried like the pistachios i’m used to eating, so they have a softer texture with less crunch. still yummy, but too much extra work to get inside.
these unripe dates were fun, because they tasted good crunchy or soft (but much better fully ripened). the difficult part was waiting for them to get soft and sweet before eating them. and the pit was harder to remove before they fully ripened.
i never would have guessed that this little pod contained a fresh green garbanzo bean! it was a strange to eat a handful of raw beans—they were soft and a little tangy. the flavor was nothing like the dried-then-cooked chickpea that i’m familiar with. i’m not sure exactly how one would use them…as is, cook from this stage, or dry then cook?
i also tried some fresh almonds that were white and kinda juicy beneath the fuzzy exterior. i like that they retain their natural water, because i usually soak my nuts prior to eating, anyway. but the flavor was not “nutty” to me (which i prefer), and some were still a bit jelly-like in the center (which i did not prefer).
in the end my adventure in eating fresh was short-lived, at least when it comes to beans and nuts. it was a fun experiment to share, but i don’t see these foods being in my regular rotation of snacks.
cooking up an un-cook book
it’s rewarding to see hard work come to fruition. the project i mentioned working on with chef mandy is almost complete! she’s crafted a brilliant set of recipes, and the publisher has designed a breathtaking piece of eye candy with so-vivid-you-could-lick-the-page photos on every spread. The Raw Food Feast: 7 Days Through the Rainbow is in the final stages of production, and i couldn’t be more excited about it’s june release!
the unique thing about this living cuisine cookbook is that it’s devised to help you organize and streamline your preparations so that you can easily put together three raw meals a day (plus a snack) with a real-life schedule. mandy provides a shopping list and menu for seven entire days, with each day’s recipes focusing around a different color of the rainbow. what a fantastic way to appreciate all the colorful produce God has created!
by concentrating on a few main ingredients to be used in several recipes, chef mandy shows you how to cut down on waste. this book makes it so easy to achieve raw food yummy-ness and reap the healthy benefits. there are even detailed step-by-step photos to accompany the instructions. another feature exclusive to this book is the demonstration of how to incorporate therapeutic-grade essential oils into the recipes, which adds a whole other dimension of taste and health advantages.
i can vouch that every single recipe is mouth-watering delicious. it was a ton of fun working with the team, and i feel very honored to be a part of this project. you can view more behind-the-scenes action of our adventures in recipe testing, planning, and final photo shoot here. so sorry – no food photos ’til the book is out! you can pre-order a copy now at the growing healthy homes store for only $16. Let me know if you want a signed copy!
