Collab #6: Super Dragon Fruit

Yet another Cacti Super Fruit! Who knew there were so many! Today Brigitte introduced me to the pitahaya or dragon fruit. This is the fruit of the cactus genus Hylocereus. It gets its name Dragon fruit because the skin of the fruit resembles the scales of a mythical dragon.

So what's so good about it? 

High in antioxidiants which help rid the body of free radicals and cancer-producing properties. Dragon fruit ranks high up on the antioxidant list with popular fruits like Acai berries.

Dragon Fruit is high in fiber which can help stabilize blood sugar. Fiber helps with suppressing sugar spikes and can help regulate diabetes.

Its low in calories and thanks to all that fiber you'll feel full longer after eating one of these. As opposed to eating a pack of chips which is very low in fiber and you'll be hungry in ten minutes

Antioxidants can help keep your skin tighter and looking younger. this means Dragon Fruit can actually slow down the aging of your skin cells.

It also works to improve the immune system thanks to being packed full with vitamins and minerals. some of these include:

• Vitamin C, B1, B2 and B3
• Calcium
• Phosphorous
• Iron
• Protein
• Niacin
• Fiber

So the next time you're in the grocery or your favorite fruit stall, keep your eyes peeled for these amazing fruits. Try one, I'm sure you won't regret it!

Collab #5: Peruvian Apple - Another Cactus Super Fruit

The Cereus Peruvianus Cactus is a columnar Cactus that can grow more than 30feet in height. it is also known by the name Peruvian Apple because of the fruits it produces. This cactus is actually native to Trinidad and Tobago. There is a fantastic specimen that is over 30feet tall and older than anyone who knows it can remember atop San Fernando Hill.

Before you go off thinking I've lost my mind this fruit is actually commercially produced on a large scale in arid eastern countries such as Israel and exported to countries across the world!

Brigitte has several of these plants in her collection and I had the opportunity to see and photograph the gorgeous flower of this cactus. The Cereus Peruvianus is a night blooming Cacti and this was the last flower until next year. This particular plant actually bloomed quite late this year as many of the others usually bloom earlier in August/September. Its flowers begin opening up around 9pm and are fully open by 11pm.

Here is a close up of the flower

The flowers, when pollinated, develop into rosy red fruits that are edible and very nutritious! The skin of the fruit is edible, so too are the seeds. The taste of the fruit reminds me pommerac although the texture is completely different. This fruit shares many of the health benefits as the Prickly Pear fruit. It too is a source of antioxidants and is high in vitamin C. 

Bottom line, it's a fruit and fruits are better than a pack of chips any day!

Collab #4: Prickly Pears Health Benefits

For our fourth collaboration Brigitte introduced me to the fruit of the Prickly Pear Cactus. This cactus is of the Opuntia family. Many of the members of this species are also edible and just last week we created the Nopal Salad which had as its main ingredient the pads of one of the Opuntia varities. I was surprised to discover that the Cacti bear fruits and even more surprised to discover that they are edible!

There was yet another surprise in store for me, the fruits of the prickly pear also known as 'tunas' have many health benefits.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are linked to reduction of certain degenrative diseases and protect against free radicals(unstable molecules that can damage your healthy cells). Prickly Pears are full of antioxidants.

Dietary Fiber

Dietary fiber does a lot of good for the body and has been shown to play a part in disease prevention including some types of cancer. The pears are also a good source of fiber. each pear has approximately 4grams of fiber which is 15% for men and 21% for women of the body's requirements(based on a 2000-calorie diet)

Vitamin C

We all know by now the importance of vitamin C. Since we were kids we know we have to drink orange juice and eat fruits for this essential vitamin. The Prickly pear fruit can provide almost a quarter of the body's necessary daily intake of vitamin C.

Essential Minerals

The prickly pear also provides 13% of your daily intake of copper, 40% of the recommended intake of Magnesium and small amounts of potassium, calcium and phosphorous.

How do you eat it? 

Like most other fruits! Peel, slice if you prefer and eat! Its not a complicated fruit at all. The seeds are also edible and if you enjoy strawberries you'll feel quite at home with the prickly pear. I found that the texture was very similar to the strawberry as well. The seeds were crunchy but very small and not difficult to work with.

If I can get a few more from Brigitte I'll coax them into my blender and see what other nutritional creations we can come up with.

The skeptic in me is gone. Cactus fruits are great! However you chose to enjoy this fruit, there's no doubt that it has many health benefits and tastes really great.

Collab #3: Southwest Nopales Salad

For our third collaboration Brigitte was again generous and brought with her several pads from her Opuntia Cactus. This species is very common in Mexico. The pads of the plant are called Nopal. The plant is a common ingredient in many Mexican cuisine dishes and can be eaten both raw and cooked. the pads of almost all Opuntia species are edible and so is the fruit.

We decided we would be a bit inventive and adopt a healthy approach and create our own dish with the nopales. We came up with our Southwest Nopales Salad and here it is!

You will need:
Cutting board
Knife
Tablespoon
bowl

Ingredients:
2 large Nopal Pads
2 medium tomatoes
1 small onion
1 lime wedge
sprig of parsley
salt
pepper

Step 1: Gather your ingredients.

Step 2: Slice and Dice

Step 3: Combine ingredients in a Salad Bowl. 

- Salt and pepper to taste

- Garnish with a slice of lime and a sprig of parsley.

Collab #2: Citrus Aloe Cocktail

For our second collaboration Brigitte and I got together to create a Citrus Aloe Cocktail. She was generous enough to contribute Aloe Leaves from her Aloe plants in her garden. My Grapefruit tree is bearing at the moment so we decided to try this combination for our cocktail. It turned out really well!

You will need:
Cutting board
Knife
Tablespoon
Blender
Cool straw

Ingredients:

1 large Aloe leaf

1 cup Citrus juice(In our case 1 large grapefruit provided the juice)

1 tablespoon of Vinegar(optional)

6 ice cubes(optional)

a pinch of salt(optional)
a few mint leaves
1 lime slice

Step 1: Gather your ingredients.

Step 2: Using a sharp knife peel the skin off the leaf

Step 3: Using a spoon remove the clear aloe gel and reserve

Step 4(optional): If your aloe gel has a yellow layer on it, use the vinegar to rinse it off. This yellowish fluid will make the drink bitter if left on.

Step 5: Add ice cubes to blender

Step 5: Add Aloe Gel to blender

Step 6: Add Grapefruit juice in a manly way

Step 7: Will it Blend?

Step 8: Pour into a tall glass. Garnish with crushed mint leaves and a slice of lime. I decided to add a splash of bitters as well.

Cactus Colab

Over the past few weeks my classmate Brigitte Singh, Owner of Cacti & Co. cacti and succulents shop, collaborated with me on several projects. We discussed several topics of both our interests while trying to come up with ideas for the colaboration. I shared witt her my interest in health, diet and overall fitness and my desire to adopt a healthier lifestyle. She shared with me her passion for gardening and plants, more specifically Cacti and Succulents. I learned a lot from her about these plants. During our discussions we found mutual ground and common interests in the potential health benefits of several species of cacti and succulents. We explored several species together and even worked together to create a food with a cactus as the main ingredient and a drink with a succulent as the main ingredient. I learned that cacti do flower and bear edible fruits that are apparently really good for you too.

We collaborated on the following projects:

Citrus Aloe Cocktail
Using Aloe as the main ingredient we created a refreshing drink.

 South-West Nopales Salad
This lovely salad was made with the pads of the Prickly Pear Cactus.

Prickly Pears
Eaten fresh and raw straight off the Opuntia Cactus.

Peruvian Apple

The fruit of the columnar Cereus Peruvianus cactus.

Pitaya
The fruit of the Dragon Fruit Cacti family.

Natural Air Purifier
(Bonus: Really cool looking plant.)

Benefits of Deadlifts and how to do them

The deadlift is the second most important exercise after Squats. This is because it works all your muscles and allows you to lift the heaviest weight possible. Some professional powerlifters have higher Squat numbers than Deadlift but it is rare and may be due to specific training methodologies or perhaps injury. Squats do wonders for building mass overall however the lower body sees a greater benefit(huge legs). The deadlift in my opinion is more overall than the Squat as it contributes to building the upper body and lower body more than any other exercise. Since I started Strength Training, I have increase both my Squat and my Deadlift 100lbs each.

As with all exercises, it is important to maintain correct technique when executing the lift. The deadlift is a simple exercise in hat you're basically picking up the weight off the floor however there are several things you need to be aware of to lift as much weight as possible and avoid injury. Here is an extract from an article posted by Medhi of Stronglifts on proper deadlift technique.

1. Stand with the bar above the center of your feet – your stance should be a bit more narrow than shoulder-width to give your arms room.
2. Grab the bar overhand;so your arms are vertical to the floor – if your hamstrings are tight, do Squat 2 stands to boost your hip flexibility.
3. Bend through your knees until your shins hit the bar which must remain above the middle of your feet. Shoulder-blades directly over the bar.
4. Lift your chest but don’t squeeze your shoulder-blades like on Squats. Just put your shoulders back & down, head inline with rest of your spine.
5. Pull - keep the bar close to your body, roll it over your knees and thighs until your hips and knees are locked. Do not lean back at the top.

Here are some more tips I picked up while learning to Deadlift over the past couple months.

• Remember to keep your spine neutral at all times.
• Its important to not let your back round at all at any time while pulling.
• Pull straight up. Don't let the bar drift forward.
• Drag the bar up against your shins and thighs. It can be painful at first but it helps with keeping it from drifting forward. Try not to take off any skin while you're at it!
• Squeeze the bar really hard like you're trying to crush it.
• Visualise pushing the flor. You'e not pulling the bar up into the air, imagine yu're pushing the world away from you.

Realistic Strength Goals and my progress

Goals are extremely important. setting realistic achievable goals is a challenge however. goals need to be measurable. Progress has to come in the form of hard numbers running, jumping and sometimes slowly creeping closer and closer to those preset goals.

"I want to be healthy"

"I want to get stronger."

"I hope to lose some fat."

"I wan to build some muscle."

These are some of the typical goals expressed by persons when they start going to the gym or try to change their diet. I focused on getting stronger. More strength means more muscle. More muscle means more work for the body and more calories burned. Hopefully after a while the balance will shift and the pounds will start dropping on their own.

A great set of goals then would be strength training goals. These goals are based on targets that are numbers set before hand. setting quantifiable targets and tracking your progress over time is better than setting targets and a time frame. Strength is not a sprint and giving yourself deadlines is not always the best way to approach it.

I did  considerable research on strength training programs before starting on my journey. I needed to set goals based on numbers. I searched around a bi and found a couple that suited me. Since I had planned to start the Stronglifts program I decided that the goals as laid out by the program would be a good place to start.

As I understand it some of the goals of Stronglifts are:

1.5x bodyweight Squat

1x bodyweight Bench Press 

2x bodyweight Deadlift

There is no fixed time frame to achieve these goals but following the Stronglifts program these goals should be attainable of you're starting with just the empty bar alone. I started the program at the same time I started this blog. It has been about two months and my lifts have gone up tremendously. I'm not quite to these goals as yet but here is my progress thus far:

Start Date: Monday September 29th 2014

Starting Weights:

Squat: 85lbs
Bench Press: 65lbs
Barbell Row: 65lbs
Overhead Press: 35lbs
Deadlift: 150lbs

Current weights:
Squat: 185lbs
Bench Press: 115lbs
Barbell Row: 120lbs
Overhead Press: 75lbs
Deadlift: 255lbs