Nordic walking and regular walking

A comparison of Nordic walkers and regular walkers (without poles) yielded some encouraging results about Nordic walking. Here's some information:

• Participants: 11 women, 11 men. Late 20s to early 30s.
• Distance: 1,600 meters on 200-meter track.

Results:

Dimension	Women	Men
Oxygen consumption	Greater than regular walking	Greater than regular walking
Caloric expenditure	Greater than regular walking	Greater than regular walking
Heart rate	Greater than regular walking	Greater than regular walking

There's why the results are interesting:

• The age of the participants indicates Nordic walking is worthwhile for younger people. The stereotype is that Nordic walking is only for senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses.
• The greater oxygen consumption and caloric expenditure comes from involving muscles in the upper body.
• The greater  heart rate means a stronger heart and the ability to get to a fat burning zone.

Most interesting is another observation in the study that the improvements came "without significantly increasing perceived exertion."

Give Nordic walking a try.

#NordicWalkingGuy

Models of corporate workplace wellness programs

Found through a LinkedIn group, this article suggests ways to focus programs. A wellness program needs a focus so the organization can estimate the resources needed.

Types of program focus:

• Awareness. Promote wellness resources.
• Activity. Involve employees in doing some kind of general activity.
• Action. Connect employees to resources tailored to their health needs.
• Accountability. Connect wellness outcomes to things like insurance premiums.

Notice how the types of focus are levels of organizational involvement from somewhat passive to very paternalistic.

How to know which level to adopt? Think about your objectives and resources and which level best supports those objectives.

Happy planning from #NordicWalkingGuy!

Your best omelet now

I got the omelet maker listed below and tried it out. The omelet turned out very well and showed this to be a great way to make omelets.

Here's what I did:

1. Following the directions, I put the vegetables and meats in the container and microwaved them.
2. With the ingredients freshly steamed, I beat 2 eggs, poured them into the container, and microwaved the mixture. With this version, you don't have flip the egg over the ingredients as you see done in traditional omelet preparation.
3. At this point, you can enjoy your omelet. The container is flexible, so it's easy to take it out. You can either drop it into your plate or scoop it out with a spatula. Either way, it's easy.

I did deviate from the instructions because I like to prepare my omelets in a certain way.

1. After completing #3 above, I put the completed omelet into a frying pan that had a light layer of oil to brown it on both sides. The omelet was easy to flip with a spatula.
2. That's not all. I put the omelet back in the omelet maker, laid some cheese on top, and then spooned some canned zucchini on top (in the can, the zucchini is in a ragu). 
3. I closed the container and heated it in the microwave again. That melted the cheese, and the ragu with the canned zucchini gave it something of a Spanish omelet flavor.

Bon apetit from #NordicWalkingGuy!