Protein Challenge - Let Me Eat Steak...and Pork and Chicken

The past few weeks of the Protein Challenge have sort of gone by in a blur. Actually, April in general went by in a flash! How is tomorrow the first day of May?!

So over the past two weeks, I've really tried to step up my protein game. Here are some of the awesome protein-rich meals I've had in the past 1-2 weeks.


Medium rare top sirloin at Medium Rare in Washington DC

Did you know that 3 oz of lean beef has an average of 154 calories? I have been able to eat 6-8 oz of beef at many meals and not have to worry about going over my caloric max for the day. I have eaten a lot of pork and chicken as well, but the photos in my kitchen don't look near as great as the plated restaurant meals!


Bacon, egg and cheese on whole wheat English muffin

 In addition to these delicious meals, I had a lot of string cheese, eggs and yogurt for breakfast and utilized beef jerky as my snack for the afternoon. For dinner, I focused on subbing out a dinner roll and instead eating cottage cheese as a side.


8 oz sirloin for my birthday - medium rare of course!

The results of this challenge have been phenomenal for me - I have noticed a significant decline in my desire for afternoon snacks, I have increased energy (not as tired at night) and I my average mile time improved by 4-8 seconds overall.

 

I will most definitely keep the increased protein intake going in my life - I have no reason to go back! Why would I stop a dietary pattern that has given me more energy, improved quality of life while helping me stay fit? I would be insane to stop!

 

All the more reason to keep chowing down on pork chops, steaks and chicken wings!

 

So now I hope with all my heart that you will sign up for the Protein Challenge yourself and start down the path to a healthier, more energetic lifestyle. You have absolutely nothing to lose (except a few pounds if you do it right)!

 

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

Protein Challenge: Week 1 Update

There's a lot more of this in my future. #eatbeef

So for the past 7+ days I have been journaling my food intake to keep track of how much protein I consume on a daily basis. I thought as a meatatarian, I would have absolutely no problem eating 30 grams of protein at every meal, for a total of 90 grams daily.

Boy, was I wrong.

Turns out, breakfast is difficult. Like, really difficult. Even on a protein-heavy day I may only be getting about 20 grams at breakfast, another 15-20 at lunch and then I am trying to amp it up at dinner to meet the 90 (and I'm falling short, often). But I have come to some cool conclusions, thus far:

1 - I am not craving snacks in the middle of the afternoon like I used to before starting the #proteinchallenge. I chalk this up to my increased protein keeping me feeling fuller, longer.
2 - I have gone running seven times since I started the challenge and I can honestly say that I'm running faster than normal. To be clear, I'm not cutting 30 seconds off of my average mile pace but I am noticing that my usual average of 8:45 per mile is now a lot closer to 8:37. I know, you're saying "whoopty do - 8 seconds/mile no big deal." But if you stretch that 8 seconds out over 13 miles it comes out to almost two minutes off of a half marathon! And I even ran at that faster pace while I was in Denver this week, where it was MUCH hillier and the air is a lot thinner (i.e. less oxygen) than in Kansas.
3 - We are running out of yogurt, string cheese and eggs a LOT more quickly than normal.

So, I'm really looking forward to the next 20 days of the challenge and I hope to be able to keep this lifestyle and diet change going long after the challenge is over.

If you want to sign up, you can EASILY do so by clicking here. The challenge is 30 days, starting from the day you sign up. So you could start today, next Thursday or even in mid-May and it would run for the following 30 days.

Who out there is also doing the Protein Challenge? How are you feeling?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Pounding the Pavement and Inhaling Protein

 

My feet and legs hurt - I think it's from kicking so much butt by breaking my 10K PR a week and a half ago. Or it could be because I need new running shoes. Either or.

Whatever the reason, I better get them quick, fast and in a hurry since I'm less than a month out from the race Kelly and I are running in Kansas City on April 18. Boy howdy, it's coming up fast!

From last Saturday to this coming Saturday, I'm scheduled to run roughly 35h miles but I'm a horrible traveling runner, meaning I don't do a good job of sticking to my training when I'm out-of-state, so I'll probably be relegated to about 25ish miles. Not bad, but not great.

I'm having trouble deciding/noticing if I'm getting any faster or more resilient during this round of training. I live in a holler among the Flint Hills, so GPS reception is sketchy and at any given time my Nike+ running app could be telling me I've run 1/2 mile farther than I actually have, which [falsely] leads me to believe I'm running 8:15 minute miles for 10 miles straight. Impossible? Absolutely not. Probably inaccurate? Yes.

So while I'm not sure if I'm going to break my PR next month, one thing that I'm certain about is that this girl is getting hangry quite often. Generally after a long run.

One of my favorite beef meals - smoked beef brisket.

After a long run, which I personally quantify as anything over six miles, I have a noticeable desire for protein, specifically meat. When I say “noticeable,” I mean that I must eat some sort of meat within a half hour or I may chew my arm off to suffice. Sometimes I will eat a few slices of lunch meat to hold me over until I can prepare a full meal or sometimes I will schedule my long runs so that I arrive back at my house roundabout the time my husband has finished grilling lunch or supper, which allows me to dive into a burger, steak or chop almost immediately after my workout. If I don’t get some sort of meat or protein in my system pronto, I feel very sluggish and have a hard time functioning the rest of the day.

Give me all of the flank steak. All. of. it.

Why am I craving protein? Well, that's easy: protein helps support a strong, lean body which is obviously important to me. Furthermore, a high-protein diet helps build and replenish muscles while at the same time providing the "full" feeling meaning if I'm full from steak I'm not chowing down on Cheetos or cupcakes. I get most of my protein from beef and pork but I am also a huge fan of scrambled eggs with ham and cheese and a big glass of milk. I personally believe that breakfast for supper is one of life's underappreciated treats. Actually, I think breakfast food anytime is pretty much the bees knees.

Anyhow, since I have no desire to stop running due to my fondness of my current pant size, I've got to devise a way to get more protein into my system in order to keep the Cheetos and cupcakes out of my system. Those items tend to mysteriously disappear shortly after they are purchased. Weird.

Next week, I'll have a protein update that I'm excited to share, a new meaty recipe and hopefully, some new kicks!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

I'm Not a Runner

 Kansas is pretty even when it's freezing and snowy!
My running path on Monday - it has since snowed two more inches.

I read a lot of news and while skimming for beef related articles, I come across a lot of health related news as well. And as someone who has initiated a lifestyle change, it's hard not to be drawn to these kinds of articles:
- 7 Things Runners Do On Long Runs (But Probably Won't Admit)
- 10 Running Goals You Should Make for 2015
- Do you give things up during #Lent? As #runners, here are some things we should never sacrifice
- 5 Core Workouts for Runners 

These pieces all have great tips for runners.

Keyword: runners.

Key note: I don't really consider myself a runner.

I feel very cocky when I utter the words "I'm a runner" and I feel super awkward when someone calls me one. This doesn't mean that I think those folks who say, "I'm a runner" are cocky, I'm just describing how I feel.



Cold? Run anyway.

The thing is that I feel like throwing the word "runner" around indicates that I do this for a living. Similar to people who say that they're writers, engineers or teachers. I feel like saying "I'm a runner" elevates me to a new level of professionalism and I definitely don't feel like a professional. Especially when I'm not breaking any speed barriers or winning half-marathons.

However, in the course of a week (2/15-2/21) I will have ran five times for a total of 20 miles and all of it in below-freezing weather. So maybe I am a runner after all, because a big part of running, training and racing is just getting out there and DOING IT. Nike is right, just doing it is a big accomplishment. There is no shortage of runners in the spring, summer and fall when the temperatures are warmer (although I despise hot weather more than freezing) but there are not near as many folks pounding the pavement/gravel when the ground is covered in snow and the wind is howling. So I guess Just Doing It is the qualifier for being a runner.

Just the thoughts of a "runner" who is FREEZING out here on the Kansas tundra prairie and really wishing for the temperature to get above 40°F for several days in a row.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

* If you are wanting to train for a half-marathon and are looking for a training schedule, check out the Hal Higdon's programs. This is the one I'm using for my next race.

I'm Pretty Good At This, But I Pretty Much Hate It

I'm not one for selfies - I'd rather be in group photos so here are my lovely kicks.

I ran long distances in middle and high school and I was pretty good at it.

Let's not confuse the above statement for "I love running" because that is inaccurate.

Being good at something doesn't necessarily mean you love it, which is why after I graduated high school I stopped running long distances for an entire decade.

Fast-forward to 2014 and a lifestyle that no longer had me riding two horses a day, practicing for basketball/volleyball/track/cheerleading/roping, walking all over campus or working 20 hours a week doing manual labor at a nursery (that's a tree nursery, not a kid one) and Buzzard was looking kind of frumpy. Picture that - a frumpy Buzzard.

I have some really smart, beautiful and talented friends who run and one of them, Kylee, unintentionally motivated me to run a half marathon. I don't think that was her intent but, if so, bravo to her because it got me off the couch, out of my office and onto the [gravel] roads of Kansas. I signed up for my first half marathon, the Glass City Half Marathon in Toledo on April 27, 2014, and the next step was to find a training program. I'm a big fan of Hal Higdon's programs - he'll whip you into shape and you won't even realize how hard you're working because it's gradual and planned. There's even an app for that!

Out into the wild I went, pounding the gravel in my Nike Free 5.0 runners.* I ran four times a week and finished well under my goal time of 2:11:00 (10 min/mile). After that emotional high of, "Holy crap I ran a half marathon" I signed up for another and ran the Sioux Falls Half Marathon with my close pal Becca and we both finished under 2:00 (new PR!). I started training for my third race that was to take place two days after Christmas but then I was an idiot and went skiing two weeks before the race. I played softball for 12 years and have bad knees - skiing is not such a great idea for me. My idiocy forced me not to run that race but since I am adamantly opposed to buying larger pants, I have recently started training for another race.

So I told you all of that nonsense to tell you this: I don't like running. What I do like is how I look when I'm in shape (bikini season is coming). Additionally, and probably most importantly, is my extreme love for food and equally as strong lack of moderation. I like ice cream. And donuts. And cookies. And Cheetos (crunchy, of course). And a whole lot of unhealthy fried things. Basically, I love carbs.

In short, I run to look good and eat whatever the hell I want. So if you see me chowing down on a chicken fried steak covered in gravy, it's probably because I ran 7+ miles that day and dammit, I earned it. Also, if I'm being honest, I'm very competitive and running allows me to set a goal and then exceed it. That gives me a "competitor's high."

Over the next ten weeks, I'll be posting my training schedule and, more than likely, food patterns for my next race in April, the Garmin Half Marathon in KC. I'm running it with my good friend Kelly and she too will be blogging about her training. Even though we are training for the same race, the posts will be different because we are different people with different food interests and goals.

The whole point of this post is that people run for different reasons -- their heart health, their body image, to eat what they want, to clear their head, to listen to their favorite tunes for hours on end, etc. Regardless of why people do it, the point is that we are all running the same race but for different reasons. And that's something to be celebrated.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

*Don't run long distances in Nikes. My chiropractor calls them sandals, so that should be your indication of how supportive Nikes are when running more than 10 miles on a regular basis. I was at the point where I could barely walk but for some reason, I kept running. Use your head, people. Invest in good running shoes. The cost of the shoes will be offset by the money you'll save from NOT going to the chiropractor twice a week.

Turning Over a New Leaf -- 101 in 1001 Update

Hey there - ho there! I am trying to do a better job of periodic updates on my 101 in 1001 list so I'm doing just that today.

You'll recall this list started on January 30, 2014 so I'm about 6.5 months into this current challenge and I'm already very pleased with the goals I've reached; not necessarily because there have been so many of them but because there have been some major lifestyle changes!

Without further ado, here are 12 of the 15 goals I have completed thus far:

Workout 3x/week for 3 months

Workout 3x/week for 6 months

Give up soda for a month

Try 5 new foods (reindeer, elk, red snapper, edamame, okra) - the first three were good, the fourth was ok and the last one sucked.

Make homemade bread without a bread maker - it was SO GOOD!

Go whitewater rafting

Go rock climbing, hiking etc - Did a whole heap of this while in Alaska (which was the trip of a lifetime, btw) 

Hiking up a mountain to climb a glacier - such a cool experience!

Get a RT/mention from someone famous on Twitter- Peta doesn't count

Do you see that BOB FREAKIN' SEGER mentioned me?!

 

Meet 5 social media friends IRL - Troy and Stacy Hadrick, Chuck Jolley, Janeal Yancey, Danielle (Beard) Hayden, Daniel Hayden, Stacy Bettinghouse

Check off some more concerts on my old soul music bucket list

Speak on behalf of agriculture 3x (1 - Women Managing the Farm Conference; 2 - Sigma Alpha at KSU; 3 - Agriculture Communicators of Tomorrow at KSU)

Prepare one new recipe per week for 8 weeks (chicken stir-fry, beer drenched pork chops, crockpot potato soup, lasagna soup, new flank steak marinade, stuffed burgers, fruit pizza, fiesta goulash)

• Most of those eight recipes are available on the recipe page - my favorite of those listed is a tie between the lasagna soup and the flank steak marinade (which both include beef)!

That was some DELISH flank steak!

You'll notice that a lot of those goals are about living a more active, healthy lifestyle and trying new things, building relationships and growing as a person. Think I'm kidding? Look at some of these goals that I have started but not yet finished:

• Run 10 short distance races -- 5 and 10Ks (1 - Manhattan St Patrick's Day 10K; 2 - Color Run 5/31/14; 3 - The Amazing Grace 5K 7/5/14;
• Run 3 - half marathons (yes, you read that correctly) (1 - Glass City Half Marathon 4/27/14;
• Read the Bible from front to back (Old and New Testament) - Sharita showed me this great guide
• Triple the amount of $$ in my 401(k)
• Have zero credit card debt
• Cut my student loan debt in 1/2
• Make a 'Recipes' section on the blog and post 50 recipes
• Blog at least once per week for an entire year
• Fill a journal
• Read one book per month - revise and update book list to reflect what I've read
• Add 10 more books to our library (an actual printed copy) (1 - Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die by Willie Nelson; 2 - Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer; 3 - Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism by Temple Grandin; 4 - Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin;

Yes, I am apparently a "runner" again, although I really don't like calling myself that. I haven't used that phrase to describe myself since I graduated high school and stopped running cross country and track. But man, do I like being able to fit into jeans from my junior college years! I've also really enjoyed getting back into reading, something I haven't been able to do "for fun" for about six years.

I'd like to do another update in three months or so, but if I haven't accomplished more than a handful of goals by then, I may push it back. I really love lists and goals - this challenge keeps me accountable and gets me to try new things, step outside my comfort zone and do some exciting things!

So how are your lists coming? Have you achieved some of your goals? Weigh in below!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

The Next 101 in 1001

So, earlier this week we examined my inability to do simple math calculations like figuring out the end date for 1001 days. Today, I start the next chapter and get to work on my next 101 in 101. This list will be permanently hosted by the 101 in 1001 tab but I wanted to share it here first. Give it a read - what do you think?

Start date: January 30, 2014
End date: October 26, 2016

Healthy Living
Complete 30-day shred
Workout 3x/week for 3 months
Workout 3x/week for 6 months
Run 10 - 5Ks

Ten more 10Ks - no problem, right?

Run 3 - half marathons (yes, you read that correctly)
Go to the damn dentist
Get Lasik surgery
Give up soda for a month

Spiritual Growth/Paying it Forward and Marriage (because, clearly, these go hand-in-hand)
Tithe 10% of every paycheck for 6 months
Read the Bible from front to back (Old and New Testament) - Sharita showed me this great guide
Attend church regularly for a year (2x per month is regular for us since we're gone so much)
Pray out loud
Pray for strangers
Give until it hurts
Give a homeless person all the cash in my pocket (*note to self: start carrying cash)
Pay for next person's meal
Donate hair to Locks of Love
Read a marriage strengthening book with the Ninja
Finish our engagement, wedding and honeymoon scrapbook
Volunteer in my community 5 times
Donate to the foodbank

Learning New Skills and Trying New Things
Learn the basic of fitting a steer
Learn to change the oil in my truck
Take piano lessons
Teach myself one nice hair up-do for weddings and special occasions
Try 5 new foods
Take an online history course

Nurturing Relationships
Visit 5 [more] friends who don't live in Kansas
Engage in 3 father/daughter activities
Plan 3 mother/daughter things
Attend 5 more of little sister's events
Go out on 10 girl's nights
Go to a concert with little brother
Plan a tailgate
Host a dinner party
Write 20 thank you notes (handwritten)
Friendship photoshoot - rock the dress, KSU pride
Send Christmas cards at least one year

Domestication and DYI
Try one new recipe per week for 8 weeks
Complete two separate full-day sessions of cooking to fill the freezer
Make a perfect omelet (not a scromlet)
Make homemade bread without a bread maker
Learn basic sewing machine skills
Make a set of curtains using the sewing machine
Make some decorative pillows
Refurbish a dresser (or two)
Learn to make Grandma Buzzard's divinity candy, chicken n' noodles and other select recipes
Make and freeze/store my own salsa and red sauce
Plant a garden every year (if location permits)
Create a really cool DYI/craft project from scratch
Make/create 3 Christmas/birthday gifts
Make a cheesecake and an angel food cake from scratch

Financial Improvement
Save 10% of every paycheck for 6 months
Triple the amount of $$ in my 401(k)
Have zero credit card debt
Cut my student loan debt in 1/2
Take the Dave Ramsey finance course with the Ninja
Create a family budget and stick to it - evaluate and adjust after 3 months
Once every six months (for entirety of the 1001 days), complete a no-shopping month

Organized and Decorated Home
Frame and hang B.S. and M.S. degrees (as soon as my M.S. diploma arrives...)
The next time we move, organize and purge unneeded items
Organize and clean office so that it's functional for two people
Buy and hang wedding photos and select Kansas photography for the walls
Hang either a photo collage or cross collage on one of the walls

Adventures
Go whitewater rafting
Go rock climbing, hiking etc
Travel internationally
Go camping
Visit 5 states I've never been to before
Take a yearly family vacation
Meet someone famous
Go to an amusement park
Go pheasant hunting

Motivatated Thinking, Career and Writing/Blogging/Social Media
Write six chapters for my book
Have an article or blog post picked up by Huffington Post or similar outlet
Get a RT from someone famous - Peta doesn't count (been there, done that)
Make a 'Recipes' section on the blog and post 50 recipes
Blog at least once per week for an entire year
Fill a journal

Thanks for the nifty journal, Target. Oh, and of course what's a journal without a purple K-State pen?

Meet 5 social media friends IRL
Get 1,000 likes on Buzzard's Beat Facebook page
Speak on behalf of agriculture 3x
Get Twitter verified

I want that little checkmark

Stuff Just For Me
Read one book per month - revise and update book list to reflect what I've read
Add 10 more books to our library (an actual printed copy)
Buy myself a designer handbag
Create a coffee-table book out of my travel photos
Go to another K-State football bowl game
Check off some more concerts on my old soul music bucket list
Attend the KSU basketball game when they retire Jacob Pullen's jersey
Write myself a letter to open in 5 years
Go vegetarian for two weeks - blog about the exhaustion
Buy a barrel saddle
Finish Friday on the barrels - exhibition and enter at a rodeo

Friday, the soon-to-be barrel horse

Start another young horse on barrels
Get inked
Buy a new [to me] Chevy
Eat mind-blowing steak at 3 premier steakhouses
Beat the Ninja at Scrabble 3 times (this will be a miracle)
Go to an away KSU or Chiefs football game, or away KSU b-ball game or away KSU baseball game
Make a new list when this one expires

 

Do we have any common goals? Am I crazy?

 

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

Cancer and Ode to a Cowboy

Some of you may have noticed a Facebook status I posted in late July about cancer and Alzheimer's needing to leave my family the hell alone. Alzheimer's has and continues to take a toll on the Frobose, Buzzard and Baker branches of my family and I don't know many people out there that cancer hasn't touched in some way.

Without delving into too much detail, because I am honestly not fond of sharing intimate minutia of my personal life with the interwebs [or anyone for that matter], my cousin Marty Buzzard quietly lost his long battle with cancer on July 31. I felt, and still feel, like someone jacked me in the aorta with a ton of bricks.

Marty, rest his blessed soul, was a quiet cowboy, however the few words he did offer were heavy with meaning, ultimately consistent with the rest of the Buzzard men. He loved his family and roping, playing basketball and causing a little bit of mischief along the way- an unexpected quality thanks in large part to his calm and reserved demeanor.

A kind and adept horseman, Marty always rode well-broke horses and valued behavior and skill over flash or style. Marty broke colts and rode outside horses for years with unmatched finesse, skill and patience, training his own horses and selling them after he made them into equines of worth. Rare in a multitude of fashions, he was a left-handed heeler and I never tired of watching him deliver a loop. As with all roping, heeling is an art and left-handed heeling is art in motion.

Marty had a horse named Rooster, a champagne amber gelding, who is by our stud Take Care O' Neall [you'll drool]. I liken Rooster and Marty to Doc and I and when Marty was in the later stages of his disease, my father took care of Rooster for long stretches of time so that the horse would remain in capable hands and not be sold during the mires of terminal illness.

You can imagine the shock I felt when I received a phone call from Podge a few weeks ago informing me that I had been given the ultimate gift; Rooster's torch had been handed off to me. The gamut of emotions I've experienced during the past few weeks has been jarring - I'm reeling from the shock of receiving such a special gift, humbled by the trust my cousin, father and grandfather have put in me to take care of Rooster and excitement at owning a son of our stud. Of course, he's not really mine, I'm just watching over him until he meets up with Marty again. However, until that fateful day arrives, I'm going to cherish the runs I'll make and the calves I'll capture on the gorgeous, well-bred, inestimable gelding.


Rooster the rodeo horse with Rooster the rodeo dog making a cameo

 

I'm certain I've never felt more of a higher calling to give an animal supreme care than this very instance and I know that Marty will never be far away.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

BOLD with BEEF!

I love beef and now that I can be BOLD with beef, I've even more jazzed up about my favorite protein source.

BOLD stands for Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet. The Iowa Beef Industry Council has recently brought light to research conducted at Penn State University that showed eating lean beef daily in a heart-healthy diet reduced the 'bad' cholesterol (LDL) by 10%. Also, in the January issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition it was determined that substituting lean beef for white meat – improved heart disease risk factors across the board. Wowza! That's a pretty big deal.

So why all the beef about beef? Because it's February and next week is Valentine's Day!

Question - what is the absolute BEST way to show someone special how much you love them?

Answer - buy them steak.

This is a proven fact and therefore no discussion will be taken about facts. Beef is best. Bazinga.

Also, did you know that it's a leap year? Yep - 29 days and by no coincidence, there are also 29 cuts of lean beef for you to enjoy! My fellow advocate and friend, Jesse Bussard, has written a post about the 29 days 29 lean cuts epiphany and I think you should check it out.

So, directions for February:
1. Eat heart-healthy, lean beef everyday. For a list of the lean cuts, check here

2. On Valentine's Day take your sweetie out to a steak dinner - or buy steak and prepare it at home. That's what the hubsy and I are doing - but make sure you cook your beef to the proper temperatures!

3. Cheer for the Cats in our final few weeks of regular season play. This is also not up for discussion. Please do it (I even said please).

Have a great February and don't forget to enjoy lean, heart-healthy beef daily!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~
For more info visit http://www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/bold.aspx

Vegetarian Lifestyle Doesn't Always Mean Healthy

I like to read the headlines on Yahoo!....a lot.  That's where I find a lot of my fun nutrition and health facts. Recently, I found this gem: 10 Diet and Exercise Myths That Pack on Pounds. Guess what #8 is? “Myth: Becoming a vegetarian will help me drop a size.”

Thaaaat's right - ceasing meat consumption does not make one automatically lose weight. Why? Many vegetarians substitute cheese and dairy to get their protein, which also provides the daily requirement for calcium, however, dairy products generally have more fat than lean meat. That alone can work against one's weight loss goals significantly.

I've pasted some key elements of the article below:

Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, author of The Flexitarian Diet, explains common vegetarian beginners’ mistakes that may cause weight gain. Vegetarian “types” to avoid becoming:

Cheese-aholic vegetarians: They cut out meat from their diets and turn to cheese as a protein source. But cheese is a high-calorie, high-fat food and should be eaten in moderation.

Faux-meat fixators: All they eat is boxes of frozen faux meats, such as soy chicken nuggets, vegetarian sausage links, and veggie bacon strips. These products are okay once in a while, but they are heavily processed and can have a lot of sodium, resulting in bloating and water retention.

No-veggie vegetarians: A lot of vegetarians don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. They eat only grains, beans and veggie burgers, all of which can be high in calories.

Same-meal-minus-the-meat vegetarians: These people eat the same meals they did before, but without the meat. If they’re not replacing the protein, they’ll probably have a ferocious appetite and may be missing out on essential nutrients.

“Vegetarian” food label fans: These people find any recipe or packaging that contains the word “vegetarian” or “meatless” and then overeat that food. They often wind up taking in too much junk food. Be aware that the word “vegetarian” is not synonymous with“healthy” or “low calorie.”

Blatner recommends replacing meat with beans in recipes for an easy, healthy—and inexpensive—protein source. She advises new vegetarians—and those who want to dabble in a vegetarian diet—to start having fun with vegetarian recipes. “Find ones you like that you’re going to keep eating. Enjoy the journey of it.”

So if weight loss is your goal, don't automatically drop meat and expect to drop pounds as well. Consulting a nutritionist or dietitian is the best way to build a diet program that is best for you.

Are you a cheeseaholic? Or a meataholic? Vegeholic? What food could you absolutely not live without?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

**Disclaimer: I have nothing against vegetarians, I have several friends who don't eat meat. However, sometimes the myths that have become associated with giving up meat need to be dispelled.

Image from here

Hope that beef worked

Tomorrow I run my first distance race since 2003. Holy wow, that was a long time ago.

As I mentioned here, I'm running a 10k and although I don't have a Team BEEF jersey (yet), I'll still be sporting my I Heart Beef shirt with a big purple powercat on it! I hope all the beef I've been chowing down on will help me cross the finish line under an hour.

I haven't trained much the past two weeks because I've been grading essays and working on my thesis so wish me luck!

Until tomorrow,
~ Buzzard ~

Headlines...

Ok - I read a lot of online newspapers and newsletters every day -- more than the average person if I had to guess. I get my updates from MeatingPlace.com, FeedStuffs Foodlink, Animal Ag Alliance, Drovers CattleNetwork.com, the Dairy Herd Network, the Humane Society of the United States (keeping a watchful eye on the enemy), Pork Network, BEEF Daily, the Phil Reid Beef Blog, Ohio Ag Net, Science Digital and a few others. Add in the NY Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Yahoo! and Yahoo!7 (Australia's Yahoo) and MSN and MSN7 and I've got quite a bit of reading on a daily basis. As I'm reading I'm constantly thinking, 'Oh, I should blog about that' but I can't possibly blog about everything like I'd like to, so instead I have listed below sofe of the most interesting agriculture articles I have read over the past few days. Some are about policy, food and health, education, animal agriculture - you name it. I hope you enjoy!

Farmed or Wild? What is the best salmon to buy?

Tennessee Establishes a Farm Animal Care Coalition (FAACT)

Is Skim Milk Making You Fat?

Curriculum Should Focus on Readin', Ritin' and Ranchin'

$2 Million Michigan Lottery Winner Defends Use of Food Stamps

What do you guys think? Is this something you'd like to see more of in the future or would you rather I continue to create my sarcastic, opinionated and fact filled posts on a regular basis?

Let me know what you're thinking!

Until next time
~ Buzzard ~

Move Over Lassie, Bessie's Moving In

Photo courtesy: www.dudelol.com

The abhorrent acts at the E6 Ranch have caused a tremendous uproar among the animal agriculture and animal rights crowds. Squabbling about whom should be punished, the timeliness of the video’s release and legislation that would forbid undercover videography have been rampant across the World Wide Web. I’ve been relatively active in the ‘comments’ section of many articles and have also been fielding comment traffic on this blog. One topic that seems to be resurfacing time and time again is the supposition by anti-agriculturalists that farm animals should be treated like dogs, cats and other household pets. Below are some comments highlighting these thoughts (commenter’s names have been omitted):

We gain much more by being responsible stewards of the lands and raising beautiful legumes and vegetables. Farm animals should be kept as pets only. This would create a better world for all of us.
- ‘Who Will Protect the Animals’, Mark Bittman

I imagine a large percentage of your readership, if they look deep in their own hearts, have at various times questioned the standard industry practices which cause physical and mental pain to creatures that have done nothing to deserve it. Many of you have at sometime in your life made the connection that a cow, pig, lamb, or even a chicken, have the same primal desires as the pets you relate to as family. It must be very difficult to find yourself in a livelihood that over time has accepted practices that are more and more cruel in order to improve the bottom line. I wish each of you strength to rediscover your innate kindness, and offer it to those most at your mercy.
- Five minutes with Nathan Runkle Executive Director of Mercy for Animals, Chuck Jolley

While I’ll ignore the blatant accusation that agriculturalists, particularly livestock farmers, have lost our ‘innate kindness’, I would like to broach the subject of ‘farm animals are pets.’ That just isn’t true.

I showed livestock in 4-H from the age of seven to twenty and while I’ll admit forming a bond with my animals, I fully understood that pigs are for pork, cattle are for beef and chickens end up on the Easter Sunday dinner table. Am I a black hearted person? NO. I’m an agriculturalist and future producer who knows firsthand the importance of meat in any diet. Ninety-seven percent of the U.S. population eats meat and that meat comes from American farmers and ranchers.

Hyatt and I were recently Skyping with my sisters-in-law, who show cattle and hogs in Ohio, and asked how the hogs were doing and of course we asked if any names had been chosen. The youngest daughter said, “Breakfast, lunch and dinner.” These girls take care of their animals by exercising, grooming, cleaning their pens and feeding them daily. They practice exemplary animal care and do, in fact, very much love their livestock. I know this because I’ve witnessed their tears as they say ‘goodbye’ at the state fair. However, they know that livestock are for meat consumption. If not for meat consumption, then why are they here?

Before I go on, and further anger a few readers, I want to reiterate that farmers and ranchers provide the utmost care for their livestock because it's the right thing to do. The incident at E6, while extremely unfortunate and horrible, is a rare incident and should NOT be considered a standard for the rest of the animal agriculture industry. There is no room in the industry for inconsiderate care as seen in the MFA video and it should be very clear that farmers and ranchers are just as outraged as consumers at the blatant disregard for animal well-being.

Let’s imagine that farm animals are indeed intended to be domesticated pets. What exactly are we to do with them when their lives end? Where do we house them – in the backyard? One must wonder if the individuals advocating for cattle as pets understand how expensive it is to raise and feed a single bovine. The economics of raising livestock as pets simply don't add up.

Furthermore, while I completely agree that we all should include fruits, veggies and whole grains in their diets, I know that meat is a more efficient way to obtain the daily requirements of protein and certain vitamins and minerals.

For example:
- Half the daily protein you need in your diet comes from only 3 oz of beef. If it’s 3 oz of lean beef, only 130 calories
- It would take 6 times as much peanut butter to get the same amount of protein as you would from one 3 oz piece of beef.
- Beef is a good source of essential vitamins and nutrients.
     o  Zinc - brain and immune function
     o Iron
     o Protein – builds muscle; helps fuel active lifestyle   
     o B6 – energy
     o B12 – energy
- You'd have to eat 8 stalks of celery to get the same amount of iron from 1 - 3 oz portion of brown sugar cured ham.
- Beef and chicken have almost no carbohydrates. Of the few cuts of pork that do contain carbs, each cut has less than 3 grams of carbohydrates per serving.
- There are 5 cuts of chicken that have fewer calories from fat than 1 ear of sweet corn.
- One sweet potato contains more calories than one 3 oz serving of roasted pork tenderloin.

Calorie comparisons for 25 grams of protein in different foods:
Peanut Butter - 7 tbsp – 670 calories
Black Beans 3- ½ cup servings – 374 calories
Raw Soy Tofu – 1 ¼ cups – 236 calories
Cubes Lean Beef – 3 ounces – 180 calories

I hope that these nutritional facts have provided some insight into the importance of meat in our diets.

In closing, I’m sharing a quote from a VERY reliable source that will be the subject of a later post. For now, I think it sufficiently sums up the purpose of livestock on Earth.

Genesis 9:3 - The Bible
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.

Get ready for some controversy on Buzzard’s Beat, folks.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

My Legs Might Fall Off

Well, it's official. I am running my first race since 2004 on May 29 of this year, the Sri Chinmoy Running Festival. I'll be running the 10k (does this count as two 5k's?). I started training on Saturday and I thought my legs were going to fall off on Sunday, I was so out of practice.

In order to train for this momentous occasion I'm going to be eating a lot of delicious beef. Beef, as you may know, is chock full of zinc, iron and protein and provides the energy needed to fuel a healthy lifestyle. Beef is also a good source of B vitamins which are essential for cell metabolism.

Additionally, there are 29 cuts of beef that qualify as 'lean' by the USDA, meaning they contain less than 10g of total fat, 4.5g or less of saturated fat, and less than 95mg of cholesterol per serving and per 100 grams. Some of these tasty lean choices are the 95% lean ground beef, sirloin, flank stank and T-Bone.

I'll be running almost everyday and doing toning exercises on non-run days so in order to fuel all this activity you can be sure I'm going to be consuming heaps of lean beef! I recently became a member of Team BEEF (formerly known as Team ZIP) and I'm very excited to run and show off my TEAM BEEF jersey which I hope to be receiving in the mail before the race. Check out the sweet jersey I'll be sporting!

Image courtesy http://teamzip.ning.com





Any of you experienced runners have any advice for me? I'd welcome your suggestions!

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

Whole Grain and Heart Healthy

The food industry is constantly changing - companies are always pushing lower fat, healthier foods.  No Trans Fat! Whole Grains! Low Sodium! are headlines that jump out at us from the label.  Interestingly enough, eating a diet rich with whole grains is something that can drastically improve both the quality and length of your life.  I've answered some FAQ'S about wholegrains below - I hope they help you enrich your diet!

What is a whole grain? A whole grain is one that includes all three parts of the grain: the germ, endosperm and bran. A wholegrain will sprout in the right conditions whereas a refined grain will not.  Some very common whole grains are: wheat, oat, barley, brown rice, maize and rye.  Some refined grain products are: white rice, white flour and hominy.

How can I determine if a product is wholegrain or not? Good question.  Look at the ingredient list - "wholewheat," "wholemeal," or "whole corn" as the first ingredient, the product is a wholegrain food item. However, if the whole grain product isn't listed until 2nd, that may indicate that the product is between 1-49% wholegrain.

Why should I eat whole grain products? Because they're very good for you!  Consumption of whole grains is consistently linked with a significant decrease in risk factors for cardiovascular disease.  They are also high in fiber which contributes to intestinal function and health. Regular wholegrain consumption lowers LDL and triglyceride levels, which contributes to an overall 26% reduction in coronary heart disease risk factors.  Additionally, wholegrain consumption is inversely related to diabetes and obesity.  In short, they help you manage your weight and lower your risk of heart disease.

A lot of people have told me that wholegrain products don't taste as good - I think it's just a matter of trying and buying a variety of products.  And, you don't have to eat all wholegrains all the time - 3 servings of wholegrains per day will yield the previously mentioned health attributes.  Barilla has done a great job of developing whole grain pastas that taste delicious.  If you prefer white bread over wheat (like myself), there are breads that look and taste like white bread and have the same nutritional benefits as regular whole-wheat or whole-grain bread. White whole-wheat bread is made with an albino variety of wheat, which is lighter in color and has a sweeter, milder flavor (Sara Lee has a variety of this).

It's very simple to incorporate whole grains into your diet.  Cook with brown rice instead of white.  Cheerios instead of Frosted Flakes.  Whole wheat bread instead of white enriched bread.  Pair a whole grain rice with a serving of delicious nutritious BEEF (loaded with zinc, iron and protein) and you've got a powerhouse meal! For more information on whole grains visit the Whole Grain Guide.

Until next time,
~Buzzard~