Guest Post: Hubby's Crash Course-Photography Lesson 101

I hope you guys enjoyed your weekend!  I sure have- I had the whole weekend off, even from blogging.  The post below is another guest post from the hubby.  I am incredibly biased, but I love when he steps in and shows things from his own perspective.  This post is another recap from our recent trip and I love his new skill of photography and am so happy to share it with you.  I hope you enjoy this post.
 
Hello Friends! While One Healthy Apple has already done a great job recapping our recent vacation to Australia and New Zealand, there is one other dimension to the trip that is worth sharing. This dimension is our (well, mostly mine) evolution in photography skills. The trip provided a great opportunity to familiarize myself with the new and relatively advanced camera, the Canon Rebel we recently purchased (after standing out at the recent Foodbuzz conference as what seemed like the only couple not taking food photos with a professional camera).  In addition to breaking in the camera, I also brought several photography books with us that I tried to draw upon throughout our trip.  After taking more than 800 photos on the trip, it is still unclear whether I have learned anything and whether I have any artistic ability when it comes to photography.  However, given the beauty of some of the places I was able to capture (please don't judge HOW they are captured - I'm still a beginner), good photographs were not difficult to take (or at least trying to take). I started with these in Sydney.

These photos made me question if I am better at capturing certain elements more than others. Am I a nature photographer? Do I have an eye for an urban theme? In New Zealand I tested my skills with nature shots.  I was especially impressed by sky and water.  New Zealand sky had a lot of character - dynamic, with clouds reflecting sun light and colors constantly changing, mirroring the diverse landscape of the island. Clouds were very low hanging and provided a dramatic look, covering the peaks of various mountains and hill tops. The sunsets sparking the New Zealand sky were even more beautiful. The views were so stunning that the photos (at least my photos) do not tell half the story, but here are a few anyway.

Water impressed us the most in New Zealand.  Whether in the ocean, inner lakes, or glaciers, its color was striking turquoise, one of the brightest colors on the island.  Its clarity allowed great reflections of the landscape around it, which I tried to capture.

I also tried taking artistic photos of One Healthy Apple or photos of us together.

On our trip, I learned as much about using light, exposure, and aperture, as I did about the two countries' history, culture, and culinary landscape.  But even after taking 800+ photos, the one lesson I learned, is that I have some stiff competition with One Healthy Apple's artistic photography level, and have admired her photos the most. Here are some of my favorites.

 

It's me again- see you later this week for some more regular posts.  I am participating in the Vegan For A Week Challenge, hosted by Morgan of Life After Bagels.  I'm excited to see how living the vegan lifestyle will work!

Guest Post: It's Harvest Time at the One Healthy Apple Home

Hi Guys!  I hope your week is going well.  I'm excited to bring you a guest post by the hubby.  I think you have met him before when he made his infamous blogging debut almost a year ago.  He's know around here as my partner in crime and blogging intern.  We also have lots of fun together.  I'll stop talking now (almost never happens) and let him take it away!

As promised by One Healthy Apple, it is that exciting time of the year to share my experience of growing an organic garden in our backyard. I should back up and state that my relationship with farming goes way back. My grandpa and parents have been growing crops on our land in the country in Russia well before I was born. Some of my earliest memories as a kid are associated with being forced to help them pick strawberries, pack tomatoes, and dry apple slices. I hated it all.

However, as I got older and One Healthy Apple and I bought a house, a sense of (land) ownership along with learning the health benefits of controlling what you put into your body completely changed my opinion about farming. It became one of my biggest hobbies and I caught myself visiting the garden every day (or multiple times in a day). 

I noticed that the growth of plants provided an enormous amount of motivation and encouragement as a reward for the effort of taking care of these plants. I learned that they really are living organisms that quickly respond to weather conditions, watering cycles, and other factors. 

Last summer was my "pilot" project where I dedicated a small piece of land in our backyard towards agricultural "experimentation". It was mostly designed to confirm that our soil is able to support the growth of plants, but in the process, produced delicious tomatoes that we ate all summer long. Eating these tomatoes reminded us of the unique taste quality of off-the branch just-picked food relative to anything else. The taste factor is further enhanced by the effort payoff as it is that much more enjoyable to eat something that has required a lot of effort, time, and sweat from you over the last few months.

After the success of the pilot project, I more than doubled the size of the garden this season. We spent the winter creating a compost pile with a bunch of food leftovers, ground coffee, and pulp from juicing. When spring came, our soil was better than ever and I diversified our crops by introducing the following species to our backyard:

• Tomatoes
• Beats
• Carrots
• Lettuce
• Peas
• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Herbs

While I learned that most of these plants will ripen at different times, we have been enjoying lettuce and cilantro for nearly the last month.

In addition, our beets just started ripening and we have been eating them over the last week. The tomatoes and peppers are almost ready and will soon be eaten (my mid-July). The food still tastes as good as ever and the ability pick food fresh from the garden when it's needed for cooking in the kitchen is indescribable.

I highly recommend trying organic gardening as a hobby for those of you that have some land and live in warmer climates. It's also a great workout and gives you a sense of ownership.  The next time some asks me where my food comes from, I can tell them 'from my backyard' and I have to say there is something great about that!


Thanks again for stopping by.  I'll be back later to do a product review in the coming week.

Working out in 2010 – 10 commandments (Part 2)

Hope you are all having a good Sunday!  Hubby is back with his guest port on working out in 2010 and I think it kinda rocks!  If you missed Part 1, please give it a quick read to see what was covered in Commandments 1-5!  In my 'legal' voice, all of the guidelines below are based on personal experience as neither of us are certified health or fitness professionals.  Please consult your doctor if you are just starting an exercise program.


6. Exercise Substitutions: after you build an exercise routine to fit your fitness goals, it is easy to get caught up in repeating the same exercise either every workout or every cycle of workouts.  For example, if you come to the gym to do cardio and lift chest every Sunday, you might get comfortable to run on a treadmill and do bench press after.  However, your body also gets used to this routine and therefore every workout has less and less benefit.   I like substituting comparable exercises with several alternating options for each.   This keeps the body constantly challenged because it does not get used to any specific exercise or order of exercises.  Maybe when you come to the gym next Sunday, you could do the Stairmaster (instead of the treadmill) and an alternative bench machine for chest (instead of a dumbbell bench press).  I generally try to substitute 50 percent of exercises during each cycle. 

7. Cardio Fundamentals: although I believe in exercising as part of a lifestyle, if I were forced to identify only one key element, I would go with cardio.  From the literature I have come across, it has the most significant health benefits.  But how does one maximize the effect of cardio workouts? For one, it is important to push yourself and vary exercises (see commandment #4).  Generally, the recommendation for the average person is to do at least 30 minutes of cardio for health.  But most people can’t even do it for this long…  Some ways around it are to go from the most difficult to the easiest.  For example, if you can only do 20 minutes on a treadmill but find it easy to do bicycle, do the treadmill first, and then continue on a bicycle.  Since you are already tired, the bicycle probably won’t seem as easy with your heart rate already up.  Another approach is to do intervals.  On a treadmill, I like doing minute sprints followed by several minutes of jogging.  You could also play around with inclines, especially those of you looking for a serious challenge.  Intervals could be used effectively to push cardio boundaries and could be adapted to any cardio workout.  Also, even though I try not to pick favorites (it would make it more difficult to stay true to commandment #4) I should admit that I have a favorite cardio workout: the stair climber (the kind that looks like a rotating escalator).  Elements of stair workouts have been long utilized by Soviet athletes and have proven the most effective.  In addition to cardio, it really works and strengthens many leg muscles – just try it!

8. Strength Training Fundamentals: when working out with dumbbells or on machines, conventional wisdom suggests 3 sets per exercise of 8 to 15 repetitions per set for optimum results.  If your goal is to bulk up, your reps should range between 8 and 10, while if you try to get lean, your reps should range between 13 and 15.  I also try to vary my exercises for each muscle group to include a balance of free weights, machines, and cable exercises.  Each one has unique benefits.  You should also make sure you take deep breaths and don’t ever hyperextend your knees or elbows.  Proper breathing provides strength for an additional rep or 2 that would not be possible when breath is held (just remember your yoga fundamentals).  For all standing exercises, keep your knees just a bit bent.

9. Strength Training Muscle Groups: in creating a routine, it is important to understand that all upper body muscle groups could be broken into two categories: push and pull.  Muscles groups that are worked out through pushing movements include chest, shoulders, and triceps, while back and biceps are pulling groups.  What this means for forming a routine is more complex.  For example, if you are more of a cardio person, perhaps you could combine back and biceps into one workout after you have done your share of cardio for the day (if you only do a few exercise for each muscle group).  For people that try to grow muscle mass (and therefore do more exercises per muscle group), I recommend isolating the push and pull muscles.  Lifting back and biceps on the same day would not produce the best results as biceps would already be worked through lifting back.  The combinations of muscle groups that could be worked out on the same day are infinite and should also be changed around every several months to prevent the body from getting used to any particular combination.  I generally do 2 (no more than 3) muscles per workout with strength training limited to 90 minutes (it usually takes me 60 to 70 minutes).  The following is my current cycle of work outs every other day:

• Day 1: back (6-7 exercises), traps (2 exercises) and triceps (4 exercises)
• Day 2: legs (5 exercises) and biceps (4 exercises)
• Day 3: chest (5 exercises) and shoulders (5 exercises)

I also like doing abs at the end of a workout, maybe once or twice a week, regardless of the prior muscle groups.  I usually do 2 to 3 sets of 2 exercises.

10. Anaerobic: I should admit that I know the least about this fitness area, but I have discovered that working out back and legs is more important than other body groups.  They are both large muscle groups, which is why I do more exercises when I work them out.  I also noticed that when I work out legs combined with any other upper-body muscle group, I get a much harder workout with a lot more sweating and calorie burning.  The reason is that in addition to just strength training, combining upper and lower body workouts has an anaerobic effect which is a different workout dimension on its own.  It feels more like doing cardio than anything else.  Perhaps there are other combinations, but I have not experimented with them yet.  I would recommend trying this approach to people even mostly interested in cardio. 

Although these commandments are meant to provide guidance for improved results in 2010, they are not a substitute, but rather supplement the most vital ingredient of the healthy living formula: attitude.  Attitude is the drive and inspiration to invest time and effort into long-term health.  Healthy results are slow to see and take a tremendous amount of hard work and sweat and time to be invested.  This is why I don’t order anything from the infomercials that promise anything in 5 minutes a day or do any dieting.  Good luck in 2010 everybody!

Thanks again for your support and for the positive feedback on hubby's posts.  I am being hauled off for a bike ride and a training session at the gym shortly!  I'll be back soon with regular posting!