Powerade is a sports drink created, manufactured, and marketed by The Coca-Cola Company. We learned about it from a consultant who was dealing with our sore back. Powerade did not cure our sore back, but we found it to be useful when we were exercising.
The bees that make that honey are essentially slaves with short lives. It takes 12 bees to produce a teaspoon of honey during their lives. Several generations of the Coggshall family dealt with honey and beeswax. Some useful information about honey is at this link.
Soccer is a major sport in most countries, with some famous players. Unlike American football, where the players have protective suits, soccer doesn’t. And in American football, the players want to hold the ball. In soccer, the players (except the goalie) can’t touch with their hands. This makes it difficult to score, and the scores are low. We suggest that the soccer goal be enlarged so the scores are higher, making the game more interesting.
If one looks around during events, s/he immediately notices that people are too fat. There is a measure of how much they may weigh too much, called Body Mass Index
It is rare to find a situation where there are few downsides along with the upsides. But eating chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is such a situation. However, the sugar and fat are fattening, and there is a risk of migraines, poor bone health, and heavy metals.
We are an adventurous eater, so we bought a kiwano horned melon in Safeway, based on an article in Parade magazine. It was esoteric-looking, which was surprising at a store that is so mainstream. When we were preparing a small plate of fruit for breakfast we were baffled as to how to eat it. The Web advised us to slice it open and spoon the pulp directly from the rind. We are brave eaters of new foods, but this fruit exceeded our limits. Other fruits such as cantaloupes have seeds and goo inside them, but people (including us) throw the seeds and goo away. Apparently, it is a popular snack in Africa.
In yesteryears, there was a popular bread named WonderBread. Nutritionists said, “It’s a wonder it doesn’t kill you!” And there was a saying about the miracle of sliced bread. Today you can buy a variety of tasty and nutritious loaves—sliced or unsliced–from competent bakers or at farmers’ markets. But even those loaves don’t satisfy as much as ones that you have made yourself. We grew up next to our grandparents, and we loved it when our grandmother gave us a still-warm loaf (which was raised next to a wood-burning stove) for our next meal. In our case, we purchased a bread machine (ours is the Zojirushi), which does most of the work and ensures that our timing of the mixing and raising are correct. Most of our value-added is in choosing a recipe (we refer to The Bread Machine Cookbook, by Donna Rathmell German), assembling the ingredients, making sure that it is behaving properly in the early stages, and carefully removing the loaf from the machine (it doesn’t surrender its bounty without effort). The pandemic underscored the benefits of home baking.
Many people have lots of time and need to stay fit. Some are walking every day. But they also need to do things to maintain their strength and flexibility. Pushups and situps are ideal because they don’t take much space or time. How effective they are depends on how many repetitions they do and how they do them. Pushups are simpler and the main technique consideration is how wide apart their hands are. How many one should do depends on their age and gender. Situps use different muscles and there is a wider range of positions of one’s arms. How difficult it depends on where you put your arms. It’s basic engineering. Your body is like a bunch of chunks of meat: head, arms, torso, abdomen, legs. If you extend your arms over your head your situps will be a lot more difficult than if you keep them along your legs. Some people are fans of “crunches”, which are shorter and harder motions. Your choice is like choosing a religion.
There are multiple reasons that people may increase the number of alcoholic drinks they consume. The overall stress of the current pandemic leads people to turn to alcohol for relief. The absence of one’s numerous healthy alternatives, especially social ones that have been discontinued because of the pandemic can result in drinking with your spouse or other members of the household. And sitting in front of a TV set longer than in the pre-pandemic days expands the opportunity to drink. Examples are numerous.
Staying Fit Carefully in the CoronaVirus Era
The millions of people with time on their hands can use that extra time to stay fit. We have noticed a big increase of runners and walkers in our neighborhood. We are fortunate to live in California, where the weather is usually good, whereas people living in areas with poor weather need to do their exercise indoors. Those who are already disciplined to do exercises like Pilates or Yoga may not need any extra gear, but others need equipment such as stationary bicycles. Whether or not you use such equipment, you need to be careful.