Fitness

When were you last out of breath? Not just winded. I mean completely, thoroughly, can't-speak-for-a-minute, can't-think-straight out of breath? Was getting there glorious? Painful? Fun? In competitions, sprinters get there in ten seconds, though they recover fast. Kids do it a lot. Dogs seem to do it. Did it happen to you because you were doing something fun? Playful? Was it within the last week? Month? Year? Decade? Do you miss it? Was it because you were out of shape and got winded climbing a flight of stairs? Do you never want to feel that way again? I think playing or competing until you can't do any more must rank with the most fun and rewarding activities you can do.

Spring came late this year to New York City. Two days ago the weather was beautiful enough I had go running. I ran down to the Hudson and turned north, usually about a five-mile run when I turn around at 45th Street. The weather was so beautiful I kept going. Figuring out how much farther makes you balance enjoying the outdoors, risking being too tired to get back too far from home, overcoming a challenge, having to give up, stressing a body part you haven't exercised in a long time, getting a blister, and so on. The night before I had met a couple friends at a cafe on the river around 70th Street, so I decided to turn around there, making it a seven-and-a-half…

People talk down about processed food. I think it's important to clarify what "processed" means. Does peeling a banana qualify as processing it? Does frying something count? How is a Twinkie different than something you prepare yourself? For some reason, people like to argue with people about what they eat. I wish I could say I don't understand why but I used to too. Anyway, I found a definition that works for me. Or rather I found a division between what I avoid and what I eat that I think captures what people mean when they say they avoid processed foods. I avoid foods where someone removed the fiber. That knocks out corn syrup, white bread, fruit juice, refined sugar, most junk food, and the…

Food is like religion for many. I don't mean they worship it. I mean they believe things about it with no evidence and debate endlessly, claiming truth about unsubstantiated claims that they believe substantiated. In principle you can measure and experiment with it, but the number of variables is so great that experiments alter and reverse conclusions soon after. Someone told me something compelling on the issue. He said decades ago he heard a new claim about food. It was surprising, so he decided to wait for further confirmation. In particular, he said he would only act on new claims about food, no matter how scientific their basis seemed, if they endured at least five years. He has seen no claim stand five years without…