E&W Healthy Recipes: Baked Jerk Chicken Breast and Potatoes

If you love spice, and love to marinade your meat and vegetables before you cook them, you may want to look into cooking with jerk seasoning. Unlike a lot of other sauces and seasonings, it contains very few calories (about 5 calories for two full teaspoons), and you really don’t need too much of it to give your food some flavor. Other sauces like teriyaki can contain up to 200 calories to spice up the same amount of meat that a couple of teaspoons of jerk sauce would.

Ingredients – Serves 2
0.5 pounds of lean chicken breast (you can substitute the chicken breast for any other sort of lean meat, but realize that it may that a little longer to marinade)
2 teaspoons of jerk seasoning
½ teaspoon of dry hot pepper (I personally like to use yaji, which is the pepper used for suya)
½ Knorr or Maggi seasoning cube
6 Irish potatoes
1 bunch of broccoli
½ pound of Brussels sprouts
½ a medium-sized onion
Cooking spray
½ cup of water
1 ½ cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt

Directions
Chicken: 

1. Mix the jerk seasoning, pepper, seasoning cube, a dash of salt, and ¼ cup of water in a bowl until the mixture is even
2. Slice up the chicken breast into strips, and marinade the chicken breast in the mixture, making sure the chicken strips are completely covered. Leave for about 30 minutes.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. 
4. Spray a baking pan with the cooking spray to prevent the chicken from sticking
5. Lay out the chicken strips on the baking pan, and pour whatever is left of the jerk mixture on top of the chicken strips
6. Chop the onion and lay it on top of the chicken
7. Put in the chicken breast strips for about 15 minutes and then turn them over
8. Leave them for another 15 minutes
9. Done!

Potatoes:

1. Start the potatoes after the chicken is grilled so you can also give them a little of that jerk flavor
2. Take the chicken out of the baking pan when it is grilled to perfection but leave the oven on at 400 degrees
3. Peel and cut the potatoes into cubes
4. Put the diced potatoes in a bowl, throw on a dash of salt, and shake the bowl around to make sure it reaches all the potatoes
5. Pour in ½ cup of the chicken stock into the baking pan and mix up the remnants of the jerk mixture with the chicken stock
6. Put the potatoes in the new mixture and put the baking pan back into the oven for about 20 minutes
7. Turn the potatoes around and leave for another 25 minutes or until cooked
8. Voila!

Vegetables:

1. Put the broccoli and Brussels sprouts in a saucepan, and cook for about 5-10 minutes
2. Sieve out the water left over
3. Alternatively, you can steam the vegetables
4. Easy peasy!

Gravy:

1. Bring the rest of the chicken stock to a boil in a sauce pan and add a dash of salt
2. In a separate dish, dissolve the flour in the rest of the water
3. Gradually pour the dissolved flour into the boiling chicken stock, and make sure you keep stirring for consistency as it boils
4. If it is not thick enough, dissolve more flour and add until you reach the desired level of thickness
5. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes
6. It’s gravy, baby!

Serve your chicken, potatoes and gravy, and your veggies. Healthy, lovely, colorful, and delicious! Try it, and let me know how it works out.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

PS.
If you'd like to share your healthy recipes, please email us at editor@eightsandweights.com.

Home: It Really Is Where the Heart Is

As a continent, we have always had a lot of organizations coming in and going out trying to make a healthier, richer, better Africa. Since this website is dedicated to people from the continent, I really wanted to start the year off by taking a week to just focus on three organizations started by our own people doing things on the continent to try to make a change. These organizations were started by ordinary people who got up one day and thought “I can do something too!” so if you were thinking of a way to make a difference in your homeland, well, here is some inspiration. Eights and Weights got the chance to interview leaders from these three charities:

Donald Ogisi, Communications Director of Poverty Stops Here (PSH)

Saran Kaba Jones, Founder and Executive Director of Face Africa

Dr. Kingsley Kolapo Akinroye, Executive Director Research & Scientific Affairs of the Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF)

Eights & Weights: Tell us a little about your organization and its cause.

PSH: The mission of Poverty Stops Here is to combat extreme poverty in our world. We believe in transformative community development. Poverty Stops Here focuses on building partnerships with local organizations in Nigeria to help implement sustainable and community owned projects in three specific areas – Economic Development, Basic Health, and Education. These three areas are pivotal to the health of a community.

Face Africa: Face Africa is a non-profit based in Massachusetts, and our aim is to provide clean and safe drinking water in communities in Liberia. There are lots of other issues in Africa, but clean water and sanitation are issues that affect the health of so many large communities.

NHF: The Nigerian Heart Foundation is an affiliate of the World Heart Federation, Geneva and a founding member of the African Heart Network. Its major objective is Heart-health and promotion of medical & scientific research in heart disease and related issues. Our mission is to build core awareness of the burden of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors among the general public, healthcare professionals, and policy makers, advocating measures to address the rising burden of cardiovascular disease particularly in Nigeria.

Eights & Weights: How was your charity started?
PSH: PSH began, and is sustained, by the simple idea that each of us can do something to combat extreme poverty in the world. We don’t have to leave it to big organizations or Celebrities. We might not be able to save the world today, but we can change one life; then another, and another. It is this simple idea that led Efosa Ojomo to initiate what became our first project - a hand pump well for the Village of Balogun in Osun State in Nigeria. He got together with some friends and they were able to successfully implement this project, bringing clean water to people who typically had to walk miles to find it. That was the start.

Since then, PSH has worked on a variety of projects, all with the same goal in mind…to bring sustainable change to the lives of people. Sustainability is the key.  As anyone who’s been involved in these sort of projects knows, it usually needs to be ongoing, rather than a one-off. That is why we partner with communities; to make sure that the change we bring is lasting.

Face Africa: I went back to visit Liberia in 2008 after almost 20 years, and I was taken aback by the level of devastation and damage that was all around me because of the war. My family had moved to the US when I was about 8 right before the war started so before my 2008 trip I hadn’t seen any of the effects of the war. I decided that I wanted to do something to help with the rebuilding efforts. Prior to that, I had done things on a smaller scale like sponsoring a young man’s education, but after that visit, I decided to do something on a much larger scale. And while education was important, there were other more pressing issues that needed to be addressed. One of these issues is the clean water and sanitation issue which is a major issue in the country. There were people dying from so many water borne illnesses that it seemed pointless sending them to school if they may not be healthy enough to wake up the next morning. So when I started Face Africa, I decided that that would be our area of focus for now. We do want to expand to education and health eventually.

NHF: NHF was inaugurated in July 1992 by a group of eminent Nigerian professionals from diverse backgrounds including medical practitioners and mass media experts. All NHF activities and programmes are geared towards achieving 3 goals: the promotion  of heart-health, the promotion and support of research on cardio vascular diseases, and public enlightenment on prevention of heart diseases.

Eights & Weights: What has the positive impact been so far in Africa? What countries in particular?
PSH: We are currently working with four different villages in Nigeria, one in Osun State and the others near Abuja, which is the Nigerian Capital. We have built wells in these villages, distributed mosquito nets, bought school supplies and provided over $8,000 for Small Business Investments and other Income Generation schemes. We have also helped to provide steady income for individuals, while providing easier access to water, and better health for the communities.

Face Africa: So far, our impact has just been on Liberia, but we are working towards getting involved in other post-conflict countries like Sierra Leone. It is a fairly young organization and we have only recently started implementing projects. We completed our first project in October 2009. The project was around building a water purification system in a little community in Liberia. The system now provides clean drinking water to about 600 people every day. Just last week, we completed our second water purification project in a village of about 300 people. The wells we build last a lifetime so the impacted people would definitely have access to clean water for the rest of their lives. That’s major. Also, because most of the homes in these villages don’t have bathrooms, sanitation is also a big issue. People may use the bushes as toilets and then the rain washes all the dirt, grime, and faeces into the same rivers where they get their water.  Therefore, in addition to water purification, we also focus on educating the villagers on hygiene and sanitation.

NHF: NHF was a founding member of African Heart Network (AHN) in collaboration with Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa and AHN has presence in 13 African Countries now namely Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Mozambique, Sudan, Tunisia etc.

NHF has initiated a Heart Check Labelling Programme which is a systematic endorsement of food items certifying them heart-friendly and healthy. Through this programme, NHF has collaborated with Grand Cereals, a subsidiary of UAC, to endorse a product called Grand Pure Soya Oil, after completion of rigorous laboratory analysis. Today, Grand Pure Soya Oil is available in most West African Countries, carrying the Heart Check logo on its product pack. And plans are on the way to collaborate with other Manufacturers on their products through a similar process.

NHF has strong Tobacco reduction projects in Africa and is an active member of ATCA.  

NHF launched the 'Go Red for Women' in Nigeria in 2009. The event themed ‘It’s a Red Alert’ was to raise awareness that women are at the risk of cardiovascular disease and encourage them to care for themselves and their family through healthy eating, regular exercise, quitting smoking and regular health checkups.

NHF collaborates on Research projects with Federal Ministry of Health, World Health Organization , International Research Centre, Canada and other similar institutions to exchange experiences and to bench on best practises.

Eights & Weights: What’s your charity’s next big step? Anything in the works right now?
PSH: We have recently partnered with two local organizations (Hands at Work and Oria International) to help us execute our sustainable projects. These organizations are quite experienced with local projects. They have a good understanding of the nature of the challenges. As they say, two heads are better than one. Working with them means we can hopefully impact more lives in a positive way.

Our first project with Hands at Work will involve sponsoring 150 children in Ilaje Community in Lagos. We will also be partnering with a new village - Paikon Kore, Abuja. Here, we hope to invest $30,000 in Small Business Enterprises.

Face Africa: We’ve implemented two projects thus far, but this year, we are hoping to complete about six more well and sanitation projects in villages in Liberia. These villages would contain between 200 and 600 people. We will also be doing a much larger county-wide project in partnership with Unicef and Irish Aid, which should benefit about 20,000 people. So the impact next year will be much larger than what we’ve done so far.

NHF: We are working hard:
•    To see more African National Heart Foundations introduce the Nutrition Programme in various countries.
•    Towards the establishment of more National Heart Foundations in Africa
•    To strengthen the Advocacy & fundraising activities
•    To strengthen and promote Heart-health in Africa
•    To implement the proposal for a National Institute in Abuja, Nigeria

Eights & Weights: How can people find out more about your charity and how can the readers get involved?
PSH: There are 3 big ways you can help us. You can help us by raising awareness of our cause. Start a Local University Chapter or organize events. You can also purchase a T-Shirt (Take a picture and email it to us so we can upload it to our Facebook album). All the information you need is at http://www.povertystopshere.org/act.php. Or please visit our website at www.povertystopshere.org  or email info@povertystopshere.org with any questions.

Face Africa: To find out more, readers can go on our website www.faceafrica.org. It has some general information about the projects we are working on, and how people can help. Also, you can find some information on our Facebook fan page www.facebook.com/faceafrica or follow us on Twitter @faceafrica. We also have a blog we just started recently, which Andrea Cuttler updates and maintains to inform people who are interested about learning more about the organization. We would love people to donate because we always need extra money. But we are also always looking for volunteers who bring skills to the table.

NHF: If you are interested in becoming a member of this National Heart Foundation, please fill our Membership Form online at www.nigerianheart.org or visit us at our Corporate office at 4, Akanbi Danmola Street, Off Ribadu Street, Ikoyi, Lagos. If you have any questions, please email us at info@nigerianheart.org or give us a ring at +234 1 8923618 or +234 1 4715212.

These charities are all making a lot of difference in the place we all call home. Please get involved today. 

Cheers Eights & Weights!

New Year, New Challenge

Happy New Year readers! I hope you celebrated enough for the whole year. Now, it's time to get back to reality.

So I'm usually totally against New Year resolutions. It just sets us up for failure. I'd rather we see a problem, and go ahead and fix it. Don't wait till the New Year to make a resolution. That said, because the New Year signifies the end of the holidays, it is a good time for some reflection. It's time to think about what we want our goals to be over the next few months.

If you're trying to lose weight, think about what weight you'd like to be in March maybe and start working on a plan to get you there. If you're trying to build some muscle, think about what exercises you'd need to do, how much money you may need to spend, and how it all fits into your work and social life. If you're trying to put on weight the healthy way, also think about what food you should be eating so you can remain in good shape.

As you make your plans for the next few months, please share them with me. Email me at editor@eightsandweights.com!

Cheers Eights & Weights! Have a lovely week!

A Block is Just a Block, and a Mile is Just a Mile

Okay, I see you bringing out your knives to stab me. But hold off for a second. When we were children, we were so excited at the opportunity to walk down the street, jump around in the backyard, and just do anything besides sit in the same position for hours. Today, as adults, we just want to sit. Yes, we work and all that. And we have more responsibility so we get tired at the end of the day. But children get tired too. They have to go to school, do homework, and argue with their parents all day. You get my point?

As a culture, we have to start changing the way we think. You might say that we can afford all the luxuries of life, so why should we give up our engines for a half hour walk when we could get where we are going in ten minutes? Well, so your body can thank you. That’s why. Growing up in the African culture, most of us had uncles, aunties, cousins, house girls, house boys, cooks, drivers, wash men, and whatever other form of help we could find. So we don’t even walk down the street anymore. Someone else makes the food, serves the food, cleans the house, drives you around, and if possible, they would wash us too. So it is difficult to start thinking that we need to start walking more. But yes, that’s what I’m trying to say in a roundabout fashion: We need to start walking more.

On days like this, where it is icy on the ground (depending on where you are) and all you want to do is stay home, I can understand your hesitance to even open your front door. But don’t you wake up in the AM to go to work, church, the mosque, and even grocery shopping? You get up to go to the club, visit your friends, do your laundry, and get your car oil changed. So why not start thinking of your body like your laundry? When all your clothes are dirty, you’d have nothing to wear. Or like your car? When you don’t change your oil, your car could go through serious problems. Your body is like a car. You have to fix it one way or the other. So it’s either you work with it now to keep it running right, or you try (emphasis on ‘try’) to fix it when it goes bad.

Walking for about half an hour every day helps us keep our engines running. Granted, it may not burn the amount of fat that running does, and it may not give us amazing muscles like yoga might, but it is a good start. Most of us are busy, but in watching people, I do not know anyone that I can really look at and say “This person cannot possibly spare half an hour today to take a walk.” People like to look busy, and so complain that they have no time to do anything, but when you look at their lives, they do have time. Even if they don’t, they can make time if it is important enough. So my question for you is why are our bodies not important enough???

Some of us really need to spend some time in hospitals or with dying people to realize that a little can go a long way. We cannot control everything, but we can control what we can control. We can control our legs, right? Make it fun! Walk to the mall, walk around with your little brothers, sisters, cousins, sons, daughters this Christmas. A little walking won’t kill you. It only takes about 3 minutes to walk a block, and twenty minutes to walk a mile at a regular pace. Just think about making it to the next street, and then the next street, and before you know it, BAM!, you’ve walked a mile.

So please take a walk today. A block is just that: a block.

Have the Merriest Christmas ever Eights & Weights!

It Is Cold! So Why Am I Running?

A few days ago I ran in the rain. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think it was raining that hard. But the stares I got on the street said otherwise. Or maybe that’s just because it was raining and freezing at the same time. So I guess this means people don’t like to run outside in the cold. Well, really, do you?

Since the winter is here, those who have to suffer through it would probably be looking for other ways to get their daily dose of calorie burn in. Here are a few great options:

Treadmill it: If you are privileged enough to have a gym close to you (and you are privileged enough to afford it), use it! It takes your body about 20 minutes to warm up when it’s freezing outside, so the treadmill doesn’t only keep you warm, it saves you time. Just remember to step up the incline to about 1 to mimic running in the street.

Workout DVDs: ‘Tis the season for workout DVDs! There are so many options out there now that are even more intense than going to aerobic classes. The only negative point here is that since it is just you and your telly, it takes a lot more drive to push yourself beyond your limits. When you go to an exercise class, it’s all about competition, but when you work out in your living room, you have the tendency to relax whenever you get a little tired. So just workout like there are people watching.

Attend a class: Which leads to the next point, go to an exercise class if you have one near you. The best overall workout classes are the kickboxing classes, the yoga classes, and the all-over aerobic classes. I know boys don’t usually like to go to exercise classes, but this is where you might benefit from working out like a girl. Exercise classes usually help with both the cardio and strength training portions of your workout.

Dance: I’ve probably said this before, but I really love people that can lock themselves up in a room, play a little music, and dance till they sweat. They are not trying to impress anyone, not trying to look cute, simply dancing to the music with complete abandon, and burning off some calories. Plus, you can do this at home so why not?

Indoor sports: One of the great things about a sport like squash is that it is indoors. Apart from squash, a lot of other indoor sports burn a lot of calories. Some examples are swimming and indoor basketball. And there’s no better way to burn calories than during a competition. Lower fat, higher ego. Sounds lovely.

Partner up: Talking about competition, you usually burn the most calories when you think someone else is taking notes on your performance. So whatever type of workout you choose, you would probably be making it more effective if you choose to hook up with someone else. If your friend lifts 10 pounds, you’d want to lift 15. If he/she does 10 pushups, you’d want to do 20. Partnering up just makes you push yourself a little harder.

How do you plan to stay fit this winter? Would you be incorporating any of the tips above or do you have your tried and true winter workout solution? Share with us.

Oh, and Merry Christmas in advance for those who celebrate Christmas. Remember to apply the Holiday Eating Rules this Christmas!

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Interview with Ngo Okafor: "I can be Anything I Want to Be"

The most downloaded black male model on the internet. And yes, he is Nigerian. I got a chance to catch up with him on his current projects, and how he keeps in shape.

E&W: I know you have your hands in a lot of things, but when people ask you what you do, what do you say?

Ngo: I tell them that I’m a brand. The reason why I do so many things is because I have the opportunity to, and it’s all part of my brand. Because what I’m trying to promote is the idea that you can do anything if you just work hard and focus. I started out doing Computer Science, which is what I studied in college, and was successful at it. And then I went into modeling, put my energy into it, got pretty successful. And then I got into acting, and then boxing, and I’m getting successful at that too. I don’t want to put myself in a box so that if say I wake up one morning and want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, I can do it without hesitation. I have no desire to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, but you know what I mean.

E&W: I laugh. I mean you don’t see too many Nigerian men climbing mountains and what not.

Ngo: Exactly! But if I wanted to do anything, I want to wake up and feel like I can do it. I want people to hear my story and feel like they can do anything they want, and not fall into one box.

E&W: Tells us a little about your history and how you got into boxing, modeling, and acting?

Ngo: When the economy was going up and down, I got laid off from my job as an IT Specialist. That was great because it got me thinking and I realized that I didn’t want to go back to the corporate world. I felt like I wanted to try something new. The arts were really always at the back of my mind, but growing up Nigerian, it was always about science, science, science. There was a photographer at my gym that had always said he wanted to work with me, but I ignored it because I felt I had a comfortable job and I didn’t need to venture out.
So after I lost my job, I asked him to take some pictures. We took the pictures to modeling agencies and they really liked the images, so they agreed to represent me, and started sending me for jobs. I was really lucky that I started working right away.

E&W: With boxing you were pretty bold though, right? You said you started doing it seriously in your thirties?

Ngo: Yes, I remember my first day at the boxing gym was October 2005. That was the first day I ever walked into a boxing gym. I was so mesmerized that I started training every day. I felt like this was my chance to play a sport. Luckily, I advanced so much and won the Golden Glove championships twice within three years.

Readers, if you didn’t know, the New York Golden Glove Championship is like the most prestigious amateur boxing championship outside of the Olympics. People come from all over the world to fight in the Golden Glove because it’s a great place to showcase your talent.

E&W: So are you planning to go further with your boxing talent?

Ngo:  Right now, it’s not my goal. My goal was to compete in the tournament and win, and I did that. But as a competitive person, I do wonder from time to time about how I would do if I took boxing to the professional level. But I want to focus my energy more on acting and producing films. I still train every day though, and the truth is that in life, you never really know how much your goals can change from one day to the next.

E&W: So you’re Nigerian. Can you tell me a little about your ties to Nigeria right now?

Ngo: I was born in Massachusetts while my dad was getting his PhD. But he always knew that he wanted his kids to grow up in Nigeria, learn the culture, the language, and get close to family. So when he was done, we moved back. I was probably about a year and a half when we moved back, and I live in Nigeria till I was 18. Half of my life actually. 

E&W: Where in Nigeria did you grow up?

Ngo: I grew up in Enugu, which is in eastern Nigeria. My parents live in Maryland right now, but I still have a lot of family back in Nigeria so I do maintain a lot of ties back home.

E&W: Okay. So I know you were working on a documentary about your life in Nigeria. Can you tell us a little about that?

Ngo: Yes, it’s called ‘Triumph of the Will’. I’m still working on it right now, but we’re hoping to have it done early next year.

E&W: You’re also releasing a calendar as part of the same project, right? 

Ngo: Yes, it will be part of the documentary because the funds that we raise from the sales of the calendar will go to charity in Nigeria, and the calendar sales will be shot as part of the documentary.

E&W: Can you tell us a little about what the documentary will be about?

Ngo: We’re basically going to try to show my life full circle. Coming from Nigeria definitely helped shape who I am. Nigerians are taught to be strong, tough, and proud from the day we’re born. The toughness has definitely helped me in the ring, but the pride was also what kept me from giving in whenever things got a little tough.

E&W: So when you say full circle, it’s your life coming from Nigeria here and how both cultures have affected you?
Ngo: Exactly. It’s just documenting what my life was like there, my life here, the modeling, acting, and boxing, and then going back and seeing things from a different perspective than when I was there.

E&W: So you’ll be shooting part of the documentary in Nigeria?

Ngo: Definitely. We’ll be shooting in Enugu, going to houses where I grew up, and the schools that I went to. I went to the University of Nsukka in Nigeria for a little bit as well. So we’ll also shoot out there.

E&W: Apart from the documentary, you also had a workout DVD a while back. Do you have any plans to release more?

Ngo: Hmmm… not right now. My focus right now is on acting and producing. I’m not a great multi-tasker. I’m the type of person that picks one thing to focus on at a time, excel at it, and then move on to the next thing.

E&W: For the documentary, workout DVD, calendar, or any other recent movies or projects you’ve worked on, have you had to do any special training? What was that like?

Ngo:For the DVD and the calendar, I had to switch up my training a little bit because the training for boxing and for modeling are very different. For modeling, you train more for leanness and the look. For boxing, it’s more about quickness and strength; a boxer is not too concerned about his looks. So for the DVD and calendar, it was a lot of lifting and dieting. I had to cut down my carbs. So my workout usually went like this: I would run for about 30 minutes and bike for 30 minutes in the morning. Then I would come back in the evening and do my strength training. For strength training, I usually split it into body parts per day. So arms one day, back and shoulders another, and then legs another day.

E&W: Wowee! That’s your schedule for when you want to build lean muscle. So if you were not training for your calendar, what would your normal workout schedule look like?

Ngo:Now my normal training is: boxing for about an hour, and then I would strength train. But one really important thing for me on a day to day basis is to keep my workout constantly changing. So I try to circuit train a lot with bits of cardio in between different sets when I strength train to keep my heart rate up. One thing I try to incorporate into my regular strength training is like six weeks of different body parts per day, and then six weeks of mixing up body parts each day. That is to make sure my body does not get too used to the workouts.

 

E&W: What about food? I think for most Africans, keeping our diet balanced is even more difficult than heading to the gym. What does your diet look like?

Ngo:Well, I can’t eat pounded yam and garri if I want to do a calendar. I would eat pounded yam and egusi soup every day for the rest of my life if I could. That’s my favorite meal. But to keep in shape, I wake up every morning and eat about four eggs and a bowl of oatmeal. For lunch, I usually do rice or potatoes with chicken or beef. I’m trying to eat my vegetables, so at night I usually eat some vegetables with some meat. I don’t do much snacking, so it’s three meals and that’s it.

E&W: What about supplements? Do you taken any?

Ngo: I try not to. Unless I’m training for a fight, I usually don’t do supplementation. I do the regular multivitamins daily and that’s enough for me. If I was training for a fight, I would take protein shakes during the day.

E&W: What’s your secret though? How do you keep so physically focused? Whether it’s exercise, food, or boxing, how do you stay on target?

Ngo: Fear. Fear of losing. The entertainment industry is not like medicine or engineering where there are thousands of positions. Instead, there are so few spots and so many people vying for that one job. When you rely on your body for your livelihood, that’s certainly good motivation.

E&W: Lastly, at Eights & Weights, we are very focused on the words ‘Healthy’ and ‘Happy’. What do these mean to you?

Ngo: Health and happiness to me is about freedom to think, freedom to do anything I want to do, and being able to do what I want to do health wise. I’m not talking about having a six pack. If I wanted to run up the stairs and not get breathless, I can do that. Health also consists of healthy thinking. Our minds control our bodies, and so whatever state of mind we are in usually reflects how we look. If I can control the way I think, I can get fitter. For example, if I am immediately inclined to take the stairs when the elevator is not working, that’s a sign that I’m thinking healthily. This is basically being mentally and physically ready and strong to do anything.

To learn more about Ngo’s projects, and to buy his calendars (ladies, you know you want to) and workout DVDs (guys, you know you want to), visit www.getingo.com. Look out for his documentary next year.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

The Modern Day Popeye's Spinach.

Well, I was chatting with a friend this week about how awesome Gatorade is. Let me give you a little background. It's not that I actually drink Gatorade, but I am an avid University of Florida alumnus, emphasis on 'avid', so I'll start by saying GO GATORS! And yes, just in case you were wondering, we did create Gatorade. Feel free to worship now.

Okay, okay, back to my topic. Energy drinks. What really is the difference between the various kinds? And do energy drinks really benefit the body at all? It's fairly easy to chug down an energy drink when you're about to head to the gym and your body feels tired. After all, it is called an ENERGY drink. But it's important to know what's in these drinks, and if they are giving you energy at the expense of something else. Here are a few highlights on energy drinks that I think are important to know:

Caffeine: When we hear the word caffeine, we automatically think of coffee, right? But caffeine is also in soda and energy drinks as well. Actually, the caffeine in energy drinks is usually just as much as that in coffee, and sometimes more depending on the type of coffee you drink (instant coffee usually contains less caffeine). So why is this bad? Well, caffeine stimulates your nervous system keeping you alert, but it also dehydrates you. So while the short term effect seems great, in the long run, you could be messing with your nervous system, especially if you become dependent on it for exercise. For a list of the caffeine content of energy drinks, check out this link: Caffeine Content of Beverages.

Taurine: This is an amino acid that helps to regulate your body's energy levels. The body already produces enough of this unless you are ill, but energy drinks usually contain more. So it is not certain if this ingredient helps the body in any way.

The 'Ades': Gatorade, Powerade, and all other sorts of electrolyte ades. There is a huge controversy about whether these are energy drinks or not. They are advertised as drinks that help replenish the body after a workout, and even give you energy before. And that's what energy drinks are right? Not really. These 'ades' help to hydrate the body where energy drinks actually do the reverse. They do not contain caffeine so they usually don't mess with your nervous system. What they contain is a proper blend of sugar, water, and salt to efficiently hydrate your cells. So they will provide you energy, but not necessarily in the instant way that caffeine does. Now even though I think Gatorade is fantastic (isn't the concept just genius?), be careful when you drink these because studies have shown that they may contribute to enamel erosion. In other words, you start getting grandma teeth at 25. Not a good look.

Ginseng: What the hell is Ginseng? Ginseng is an herb that helps to prevent fatigue. Right now, studies have shown no negative effects unless regularly consumed in very large quantities. So go ahead and have that ginseng. But remember that it's more about relieving stress and preventing fatigue than it is about giving you that instant energy that engorges your muscles so they start ripping through your shirt. Just saying.

Sugar content: Shocker! Energy drinks contain a lot of sugar. If you've ever been around a child that has just ingested way too much sugar, you know sugar gives you instant energy. And thus, it makes sense that drinks that are created to give you an instant energy boost do contain lots of sugar. So who cares? Why is tons and tons of sugar bad? For one, lots of sugar usually means lots of calories. Another demerit is that too much sugar intake has been linked to diabetes. And as we all know, diabetes is a disease that black people are already at risk for, so we should probably not be doing too much to push our bodies. Lastly, the more sugar your take in, the more sugar your body wants. Sugar is like cocaine really, except that it's legal and won't affect you if you take it in small quantities. The more you eat, the more you want. I think I'm in the wrong profession actually. I should have started selling desserts. Oh well...

In summary, energy drinks seem to help the body get that instant push, but should be taken carefully and infrequently. They do have some positive benefits, but the major drawback is the number of calories and the effect on your nervous system. Try not to get too dependent on them. Rather than take energy drinks, it seems better for the body if you eat energy boosting foods before you work out, and eat protein and carbs after you work out to repair your muscles and replenish your energy. And of course, if you play a lot of sports or work out a lot, the electrolyte drinks like Gatorade and Powerade are very useful because they help you stay properly hydrated though your game or your work out routine.

Are you seriously attached to your energy drinks? What's your drink of choice and why?

Have a lovely week Eights & Weights!