March so far has been a great month health-wise. I've been keeping active, staying lean, and eating clean. Here's my current health activities and progress: Exercise: I'm still running at least 2 miles 3-4 times a week and dancing about 5 days a week (house, lindy hop). I wish I had time for more biking! I've actually managed to do…
Category: Health
My 10 Second Handstand Challenge
For the month of February, I decided to challenge myself to be able to hold a handstand for 10 seconds. I was inspired by this instructional video by Bay Area dancer Onisha that she posted at the end of January. You can see how I did in the video below. Enjoy! Now I'm thinking…
Making Good Food Choices and Anticipated “Fullness”
I've been thinking a lot about this article by neuroscientist Michael Graziano on the psychology of eating and "feeling full." There's some great points in there about the how the experience of "fullness" is a psychological state that has a complex set of triggers and associations. One thing he doesn't address is the anticipation of fullness when you…
Health-check: Feeling Fantastic and Fit in my Forties
This morning, I woke up early, did a 2.5 mile run, took a cold shower, and felt really great. I realized that, health-wise, I'm the best "me" that I can be. It's a great feeling, one that I can't remember the last time I experienced. The food and diet choices I'm making are smart ones, including cutting…
Rik’s 2015 Year in Pictures
Here's a quick pictorial rundown of 2015. It's a good reminder to me of what a remarkable year it has been! Dancing and Music This has been a great year for dance. I did a lot of house dancing in 2015, including organizing semi-regular practice sessions in the Golden Gate Park , taking classes with…
Homemade Kimchi in a Minute!
I shot some timelapse footage of me making homemade kimchi. It was super easy and fun! I'm using the Krautsource fermenting kit, which makes it really simple to do. Now the hard part is waiting… I prepared this based on the recipe for traditional kimchi from Krautsource.com. I had to modify the amounts since I was…
Cold Showers and Tackling the Hard Stuff: Crushing the 30-day Cold Shower Challenge
Today I completed a challenge that I told myself was impossible : the 30-Day Cold Shower Challenge. But the question everyone asks me is… Why? Why? Why would I do something so obviously uncomfortable to myself every morning? Well there’s actually a good bit of research into the health benefits of cold showers. These include : increased…
Exercise and Mental Toughness
I was running this morning and thinking about what the point of exercise is. I realized that beyond the obvious health benefits, that there's a lot of mental / emotional power-ups that exercise gives to you. I've long known that certain kinds of exercise effects my general sense of well-being, confidence, and happiness. Dancing, running,…
Health Update + Five Tips for Meeting Your Health and Fitness Goals
So for the past year or so, I have been doing a number of health and diet interventions to live more healthily and energetically. I've tried to avoid crash diets and short-term interventions, and instead focus on small, incremental changes that might have longer-term benefits down the line, as well as more immediate improvements today. I'm…
Update on High-Protein, Low-Carb, No-Dairy Breakfast Plan: No Effect!
About two months ago, I started a new diet plan. Very simply I substituted my normal breakfast for a high-protein, low-carb, no-dairy meal. In other words, I'm eating A LOT of eggs. The idea was to get a healthy start to the day and see how that effects the rest of my health. On the…