How Important is Vision, Really?

   

Great question!  One thing that sets Fitness Evolved is our focus on vision and recognition that we move through the world only as well as we see it.  

This can either be a good thing or a bad thing.  When your vision isn't as good as it could be, you stick your neck out to see better. You change your gait to walk without falling. You jut out your jaw. You move your head instead of your eyes to see something. In other words, you change your center of gravity and redistribute your weight... In order to see better.  All of these little things can lead to muscle imbalances, neck and jaw tension, headaches, etc. 

Neurologically speaking, vision is one of the most important functions for good brain health, mental clarity, and quality movement.   The vision center of the brain is one of the largest areas of the brain, and if you look at it from an "activation" standpoint, the visual cortex is the gait keeper for all of our cognitive, "higher order" functions. 

With neuralplasticity, we now know that anything we do can be improved- it doesn't decline just because we're aging!

In the coming weeks, we'll be rolling out a new sort of program that hasn't been done before- all with the purpose of helping you, our members and contacts, see better and improve your quality of life!  Stay tuned.  Until then...  

Flourless No Nut Chocolate Brownies

 

The Holidays are fast approaching, and it's time to start getting in your "practice reps" in making the yummy desserts you're going to dazzle your friends and family with!  Today's recipe comes from one of our new favorite blogs Digestible Kitchen.com.  It's full of great recipes as well as great, new nutrition information that we've been also researching and exploring over the past year.

One of the most delicious brownies you will ever taste. Deliciously chewy and chocolate with that lovely crisp edge which is so characteristic of a chocolate brownie. Packed full of good old fashioned nourishing ingredients, this brownie has no flour and no nuts, making it a truly "healthy" option. Emma and I love to enjoy these alongside a glass of whole milk, with spoonfuls of fresh cream* or a bowl of homemade vanilla ice cream (my recipe coming soon). Emma found this gem of a recipe on the internet mentioned by Cliff. I hope this digestible snack will become a family staple in your home, just as much as it is in ours.

I used a scone cutter to make the "brownies and cream" above.....quick, easy and rather pretty if you have friends visiting. The possibilities are endless!

A note for those intolerant to dairy and eggs, you may be interested to know (as was I) that intolerances and sensitivities are most commonly linked with hormonal imbalances, and by simply beginning to regulate hormones, by eating digestible foods and something as simple as a carrot salad daily, hormones will begin to balance.

from the pantry

2 eggs (from pastured chooks)

1 cup of cane sugar

1/2 cup cocoa - dutch process (see kitchen notes)

2 tablespoons of melted butter

a pinch of sea salt

let's begin

PREHEAT oven to 180'C (356'F)

LINE baking tray with some baking paper

PLACE all ingredients together in a bowl and whisk until combined

POUR into prepared baking tray

BAKE for about 12 minutes until the edges are firm when pocked with a knife

REMOVE from oven and allow to rest for about 15 minutes (if you can resist!)

ENJOY with spoonfuls of cream or homemade ice cream

kitchen notes

:: Increasing the amount of butter in the recipe will increase its gooeyness (is there such a word?!) I have made with up to 4 tablespoons of butter to achieve a rather yummy gooey brownie. Experiment to find what you like best!

:: I have switched from using raw cacao to simply dutch process cocoa

. When buying dutch process cocoa, check the ingredients to ensure you are buying only cocoa; as some of the brands contain artificial flavours.

:: when buying cream, especially thickened cream, again check the ingredients to (hopefully) find only "cream" - ironically I find the more expensive brands in the supermarket actually contain vegetable gums and other things I'd rather not be consuming.

:: for those who would like some more information on the whole sugar myth - take a read here.

A note from the FE Team:  We approve of all ingredients in this recipe (including the extra butter!) and gladly give you the "OK" to give it a shot.  If you try this recipe out, let us know how it goes.  And, we're more than willing to be your test subjects.  ;)

Enjoy!

More Shoe Science!

This is probably the topic that comes up most frequently, so we feel it's important to keep giving you information and resources on why we recommend the shoes that we do.

Science is starting to catch up with what we've been utilizing and teaching neurologically! This article from Science Daily.com entitled "'Mobility Shoes' Take a Load off for Knee Osteoarthritis Sufferers" talks about a study recently published in Arthritis & Rheumatism.  

In the study, they found that subjects wearing mobility, or "minimal", shoes for up to 6 hours day showed actual changes in their gait and the way their knees were loaded during walking.  This study was well done because it went longer than most do- it actually followed the subjects for 6 months, and saw improvements that lasted for the entire 6 months.    

We've seen, experientially here in the gym, how letting the joints in the feet do what they're designed to do- move!- affects strength, mobility, and performance.  It's great that research is catching up and backing that up!

If you need help picking out the right shoes for you, let us help you!  There are lots of options available now.  Here's a quick video that we posted a few months ago, but in case you missed it, has some great explanations as to why we recommend this type of footwear neurologically, and also easy tips to start to transition into a more mobile shoe:

Z Blog - Shoe Basics