Morgan Polotan
My condensed thoughts on health and fitness.
Measure What You Want to Change
Mar 4th
Do you know your measurements?
Why do you work out? Is it because the government told you it was good for you? Do you want to look better for the opposite sex? How about an increase in athletic performance? Perhaps you’re a weekend warrior who just needs enough energy to make it up and down the basketball court without collapsing on the floor. Whatever it is, you work out for a reason.
Would you be satisfied going to the gym for the rest of your life and staying exactly the same? I think not. So how do you know if you’re making More >
The Condensed Guide to Artificial Sweeteners
Mar 2nd
Good for your health?
Real Food Test: FAIL
Artificial sweeteners are synthetic sugar substitutes that attempt to duplicate the taste of sugar without the calories (if you’ve ever had a can of diet soda, you’ll know what I mean by “duplicated”).
Saccharin (Sweet N’ Low) Saccharin was the first artificial sweetener to be synthesized back in 1879, and is 300-500 times sweeter than sugar (sucrose). It is commonly added to toothpaste, diet foods and diet beverages. The FDA tried to ban it in 1977, but Congress stepped in and gave it a warning label, which it then repealed in 2001. Studies have linked it More >
The Condensed Guide to Trans Fats
Feb 27th
Real Food Test: FAIL
Where Did They Come From? Trans fats are created in the laboratory by adding hydrogen to unsaturated vegetable oils to make them more like saturated fats (hence the term “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil”). This extends their shelf life and also makes them more solid at room temperature. The technology to do this was first discovered in the 1890’s in England and brought to America in 1909 by Proctor & Gamble in the form of Crisco (partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil). Margarine was then created from partially hydrogenated soybean oil because it was cheaper to make than butter. Production of More >
The Condensed Guide to Alcohol
Feb 24th
This is what I look like when I drink.
Alcohol was the very first thing I eliminated from my diet in order to get healthy, mainly because I get “Asian flush” when I drink. Even if I didn’t get red from drinking, I would still try to minimize alcohol consumption because it’s nothing but empty calories, which can derail your weight loss efforts if you’re not careful. Mixed drinks can also add a ton of sugar. Not to mention the dangers of alcohol poisoning.
The Condensed Guide to Sugar
Feb 24th
REAL FOOD TEST Refined Sugar: FAIL High Fructose Corn Syrup: FAIL Agave Syrup: FAIL Natural Sugar: PASS
What Is It? Sugar is an informal term for a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose and fructose.
Refined Sugar Refined sugar was first produced in India around 350 A.D. by turning juice from the sugarcane plant into granulated crystals that were easier to transport. By 1750 sugar made up 1/5 of total imports to Europe, and by 1967 the average American consumed 114 pounds of the stuff per year. Refined sugar does not occur naturally in nature, and thus our bodies are not able to More >
Think You Don’t Like Raw Fish? Try Ceviche
Feb 22nd
One of the few ways I can stomach raw fish
This is one of my favorite recipes from Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon.
*denotes organic
1 pound wild caught halibut 1/2 cup lime juice* 2 diced fresh tomatoes* 1 diced red onion* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 small green chiles, diced 2 tbsps cilantro* 2 avocados*, cut into wedges
Cut fish into 1/2 inch cubes. Mix with lime juice and marinate in the fridge for 12 to 36 hours, stirring occasionally, until fish becomes opaque or “cooked.” Add tomatoes, onion, peppers, olive oil, cilantro, avocado and marinate another hour. Add sea More >
Weston Price Conference: Day 2
Nov 14th
Weston Price, D.D.S, author of Nutrition and Physical Degeneration and one of the great nutritional researchers of the 20th century
I’m sitting here with AnnMarie Michaels (@cheeseslave), Kelly (@KitchenKop), Jennifer McGruther (@NourishedMama), Alex Lewin (@Lactoferment), Kimberly Hartke (@KimberlyHartke), Kristin Canty (@KristinCanty), and Joanna Runciman (@ActualOrganics) in the lobby of the hotel after watching David Gumpert (@DavidGumpert) give the keynote address on the raw milk battle between activists and federal regulators.
We all listened to a great story from Kristin Canty about her upcoming film Farmageddon, which due to it’s top secret classification, I can’t comment on until a later post.
Today was another More >
Weston Price Conference: Day 1
Nov 13th
What a day. I’m exhausted. I woke up at 7 am and its now 9:30 pm as I write this post. To say I am experiencing information overload would be an understatement, but I’m loving every minute of it. Not to mention some of the best tasting, healthiest food I’ve ever tasted in my life (that one’s not an understatement). I don’t think I will be able to attend any other conference without being disappointed with the food quality.
For those who are unsure of what I’m talking about, let me explain. I flew from Boston, where I attend college, to More >
Tempo: The Final Word
Sep 24th
There is a lot of discussion around which tempo, or rep cadence is best, whether it is 2 / 2, 5 / 5, 6 / 3, etc (the 6 represents the eccentric, and the 3 the concentric part of the motion). I have experimented with different variations, and what I have found is this: go slow on the eccentric (or extending), fast on the concentric (or contracting), and pause to eliminate momentum.
It doesn’t so much matter exactly how many seconds a person lifts and lowers a weight. Specific rep cadences like 5 / 5 or 6 / 2 are More >
No Gym? No Problem.
Sep 24th
No gym? No problem.
Whether it’s because the gym is too expensive, too far, or too boring / intimidating / crowded, sometimes you just don’t want to go. And it’s wrong to think that you can’t get a good workout outside of the gym. In fact, the intensity level is often higher outside the gym because you are not bound by the social graces of working out at a fancy health club. This means you can do jumps til’ you puke and grunt and scream all you want (if that’s your thing).
This past weekend I put my Dad through a Playground Workout More >