Good evening!
The Farmer’s Market bread returns for its’ last hoorah! It was a bit stale today, so I made sure to warm it in the micro for 15 seconds and put extra Earth balance on it! Perfecto.
As for the whole wheat loaf I purchased, I tried freezing it. I have doubts it will taste fresh when I take it out though…I guess my eyes were bigger than my belly at the market on Saturday!!!! Another reason why grocery shopping when hungry is trouble. :tongue:
For dinner tonight, I made garlic scape infused quinoa…
First I boiled the water with a vegetable bouillon cube until it had fully dissolved (this is crucial for not having bland quinoa!). Then I added the quinoa and a few processed garlic scapes, along with sea salt, 1 tbsp cold-pressed sunflower oil, and black pepper. I cooked the quinoa in this heavenly mixture for about 15 minutes or so.
The kitchen smelled glorious! It was so tasty and fresh. Simple food is good food.
Because dinner was lacking some colour, I decided a juice would be made for an energizing dessert…
It was 1 beet, 2 carrots, 1/2 lemon, 1 tiny CSA apple.
Last night, I had a hankering for my GF + Vegan chewy crackers, however this time I wanted to turn them into Glo Dough and also try my hand at dehydrating them in the food dehydrator.
I took the original recipe that I created a while back and I changed it around. I was out of brown rice so I used all quinoa. Second, I added a ton of garlic scapes which gave it great pop of flavour. I also added a few other seasonings and seeds and I dehydrated them for about 3 hours.
Despite not having brown rice, they were deelish. However, because I used only quinoa they didn’t hold together very well and were extremely crumbly! It was missing the brown rice. When brown rice is cooked and processed it acts like a paste, holding everything together. Next time = brown rice!
The balls held together much better than the flatbreads and crackers did…
They are sooo addicting though. They were awesome slathered in hummus…I made a huge plate for lunch that I promptly inhaled and could not peel myself away to get the camera. Blogger fail, I know.
I suspect the crackers will be great sprinkled over salads too. I am going to work on the recipe a bit before I post it because I want to iron out the kinks first!
Check out day 4 of the amazing sprouting Green Onion! Note the smaller lil guys popping up! I added those yesterday. What shall we name it?
As for the trans-planted basil, it does not seem to be growing. I have even been talking to it when I eat my breakfast al fresco!
Is Your Desk Job Harming Your Health?
This morning, I read an interesting article on Health.com about desk jobs and the toll they can take on our health. I find this topic particularly interesting because I suffered from a lot of health problems when I was sitting for 12-14 hours a day while a grad student and researcher. I would often have a ton of back, neck, and shoulder pain, headaches, lethargy, not to mention feeling stir-crazy all day long!
Health.com reports that sitting for extended periods of time can cause ‘back pain, repetitive stress injuries, obesity and even an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease.’ Also, it can flatten out the curve of the lower back and put strain on the upper body, shoulders, and arms.
However, there are simple things that one can do to help reduce the negative impact that sitting for extended periods of time can have.
Health.com suggests…
1) Get moving! For 5 minutes every hour, get up and move around.
2) You need more than your daily gym workout. Just because you workout once a day does not mean you are ‘covered’ in terms of exercise if you are still sitting for 8-12 hours a day. Take several breaks throughout the day for 10-15 minutes to stretch and walk.
3) Practice good posture while sitting at your desk. An exercise ball or taking Pilates classes might help with this.
4) Have your desk assessed for proper ergonomic balance. Many workplaces now offer a physical therapist to come look at your workstation.
OSGMOM has always told me that I was a super active baby, toddler, and child always on the go. I could never sit still for long periods of time and was always moving around much to her chagrin. I have always had a love for physical work, especially working with my hands and I get this from my mom who is very artistic and loves to draw and paint. It is no wonder that a desk job + 3-4 hours of driving each day did not jive well with my personality!
When I left my research job and commute and started up the bakery, I went from sitting for 12-14 hours a day to standing for at least 10 hours a day. It was a huge shift for me and I suffered from other health issues such as bad foot pain (especially heel pain), sore shoulders, arms, thumbs, and elbows from doing repeated physical labour with my hands. I started wearing comfortable sneakers and using my cushion mat from Costco (it’s great by the way) and this has helped quite a bit, although it can still be hard to find a balance. Now I find that I look forward to sitting breaks to give my feet a rest, but if I am on the computer doing desk work for longer than 4 hours I really start to feel it in my back. I think with any job, it can be difficult to find that perfect balance for one’s body!
Thinking back to my previous desk job, it would have been extremely hard for me to take mini walking breaks as this article suggests. I barely had enough time to go to the washroom at my old job and I was glued to my desk for hours on end. I think that it can be really hard for some employees to ‘claim’ that break time for their health, especially when their supervisor doesn’t take breaks either and doesn’t seem to encourage them.
At my old job we were supposed to get 1/2 hour for lunch and two 15 minute breaks, but I was lucky to have 10 minutes to inhale my lunch. Obviously, I was part of the problem by not ‘claiming’ my break in a more assertive manner, but sometimes it puts the employee in a precarious position because no one wants to look like a ‘slacker’ even if they are nothing of the sort.
Workplaces have made significant improvements over the past several years, but they have a long way to go before the majority of ‘desk-jockies’ are feeling at their optimum health.
I have lots of food for thought for you tonight…
- Do you have a desk job or a standing/physical type job? Do you like it?
- Do you feel like your workplace would support mini walking breaks during the day?
- Do you implement any of the above suggestions into your day?
- Do you think that you get enough breaks at your current job and does your supervisor support breaks? How long and how frequent at your breaks? Do you take them?
On that note I am going to get up from this desk, stretch, and do some yoga. Have a great night!
I am a Nutrition major, so my major has a lot of applications. I definitely want to do something where I can stay on my feet though!
I work at a desk job and it definitely takes a toll on my body. I try to get up and walk to the bathroom or water fountain every hour. I drink tons of water throughout the day and that’s not only good for my body but also forces me to get up and move!
and dont forget all those bathroom breaks! haha
Not only do I have a desk job, but I have to ask permission to leave my desk. Even to use the restroom! I daydream all the time of being able to do something else.
Seriously? That is horrible!
I feel that I am INCREDIBLY lucky with my office job. Not only does my workplace bring in ergonomic specialists and buy us wonderful chairs, but they schedule workouts thorough the day with a personal trainer, give us foam rollers to stretch and ab balls to sit on. Its amazing and despite not absolutely loving what I do, it keeps me from burning out.
I must try out those crackers/balls! I can never find crackers that are seedy enough for my liking at the grocery store.
Even though I’m sitting in lecture halls for a large chunk of my days, I’m constantly walking between classes. And if I feel like I’ve been sitting too long for one day, I’ll just take an extra stroll around campus.
Most of the year, my schedule tends to be: an hour at desk, two hours on my feet, two hours at my desk. I’m not very good at the sitting-at-my-desk part – I probably get up or move around every ten-twenty minutes. I’ve often joked to my coworkers that we should implement ten minutes of office yoga.
i love how garlic scape is appearing in so many meals! its like a lovely little visitor, and now i want to get my hands on some!
i’m a student still, so i would say half of my day is a lot of sitting and the other half is running around trying to get to places on time. my mom has always really been worried about my posture while using the computer so she actually got me a computer stand to prop up my computer… desk ergonomics are really helpful! now i look up instead of down at the computer screen, and that really helps keep my back/neck straight
I work at an Urgent Care Center at my air force base…12.5 hr shifts. My desk time usually just depends on how busy we are. We don’t get a lunch break, so I can either eat at my desk for about 5-10 mins or standing up in our break room. It is a good thing that I do stand/walk when we’re busy, but when I get home I’m too exhausted for a REAL work out! But I suppose it’s better than a desk job… :/ And it is a panama shift, so no complaints there!
Wow that sounds intense…but interesting!
I like Erin’s idea of walking over to talk to someone face to face rather than sending an email. Sometimes I email because I think I’m saving time, but I should take the 5 extra minutes to get up and walk for my health instead.
I have a very stressful (at times) desk job and have suffered for several years with major neck and shoulder issues.
It suck too because my boss hates ergonomic stuff and would rather have mid-century furniture that looks cool.
Maybe it would be a good idea to make a schedule and have a different desk stretch every hour – it would probably help to have a little daily routine like that. Any desk stretch suggestions?
Here are some ideas: http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/231
Thanks Angela :) I’ll check it out
I work a desk job, and in the first year I gained at least 10 pounds. It took awhile for me to realize thats what was causing my weight gain. Now I make a point to get up and find people instead of just paging them over the intercom. Plus, I drink a lot more water and the bathroom is upstairs, so everytime I have to pee I get a little bit of exercise. It makes a difference!
I have a desk job, and I do sit a lot when I’m in the office. When I’m not slammed with work, I do feel comfortable enough to take a brief walk down the hall and walk up and down the stairs a few times in the building– but I definitely don’t do it as often as I should!
I’m really lucky in the fact that I often get to work from home, rather in the office, so I’m not stuck at a desk quite as much then. I usually will bounce on my rebounder from time to time, or do some random housework on a break. I definitely am the type that likes to move around during the day, too! I go stir crazy sitting in the office all day long!
A comment on the bread: It looked pretty European – or being German, it looked German – to me and we freeze whole wheat too. I cut it in slices and put 4-6 slices in a freezer bag, take them out an hour before we need it and maybe toast it a little depending on the bread and it tastes totally fresh. I don’t know how “German” yours is, but maybe that helped.
Concerning the desk – I write the abc several times with each of my feet while sitting and found that helped me stretch and prevent running injuries as well. Besides I walk around my office when I am on the phone. :-)
I always have that problem with bread; our family doesn’t really like bread (we’re asian, we eat rice) so a lot of it ends up in the freezer. That bread looks reeeeeally good, though :D And so does your quinoa!
I’m a student, and even when I’m not doing homework I find myself just slouched at the computer almost all of the day. I’m really trying hard to change this sedentary habit of mine, because I want to be active beyond just a 30 minute workout everyday… I mean, what percentage is that of the day? Ugh. Being sedentary is NOT good for my health :(
Wei-Wei
Even though I’m still in college and I don’t have a job, I still think about this sort of dilemma for my future job, whatever it may be. I’m the type of person who can’t sit still all day. I need to get up and move around, so when the time comes for me to go job hunting, I will keep all of these things in mind. My career will come secondary to my health.
~Amanda
I have a desk job, and would say that over all I don’t find it to be a problem, because of a few things. The first is I have a decent chair, the second is a have a huge monitor with a good docking station (monitor is at appropriate eye-level), and the third is good posture — I even have had a few people comment that I’m always sitting straight up (I had to work at this to make it a habit a few years ago). I definitely get up every hour or so, though I’m not sure it’s for more than 5 minutes to walk over to talk with someone. I also move my papers around on my desk so that my head isn’t turned in exactly the same position all day if I’m working on a writing project.
I currently work as a gym receptionist so I’m on my feet all day. At the beginning, my lower back hached like crazy but I’m use to it now. I make sure to switch my weight from one feet to the other every few minutes. Fortunately, my boss is very understanding and, as long as I don’t keep the costumers waiting at the front desk, I can take as many breaks as I want. It means that I can’t have more than a few minutes of break at a time though. I’m always stressed that I won’t hear the door opening. I bring a lot of small snacks so I don’t have to sit for a long time to eat them. It works for me!
Good advice!
A lot of may day is spent in front of a computer, planning lessons for my classes.
I notice the affects and I hate it. My eyes get so tired…
I know that I should be up and moving around, but sometimes I don’t make it a priority.
And do you ever notice that the more you sit in a day the more tired you are when you get home? …which means less motivation to exercise…I hate it!
Must keep thinking positively and making healthy decisions
YES! “And do you ever notice that the more you sit in a day the more tired you are when you get home? …which means less motivation to exercise…I hate it!”
I spent 3 years working at a desk job and couldn’t stand it – I need to be always moving as well. I was lucky in that at my workplace we were encouraged to be active at lunch, so I could go for an 8km run every lunchtime around Sydney Harbour, which was wonderful and made it just bearable. Then I left that to go back and do more full-time study at uni and spent hours and hours hunched over my laptop and would get a lot of pain in my neck and back. Now, I’m a high school teacher and I’m on my feet all day long, rarely sitting down for more than 10mins at a time to quickly eat lunch before heading off to playground duty or whatever. I wouldn’t change it for the world though :-)
Every time I’ve frozen bread, once it thaws it tastes prefectly fresh.
I have a desk job, but I only live 3 blocks away, so I am able to walk to work, walk home for lunch, go back and then walk home again at the end of the day. So, not so bad. Sometimes I get antsy and get up and walk around the office a bit :)