jumping increases bone density

In the meantime, the current state-of-the-science message about exercise and bone building may be that, silly as it sounds, the best exercise is to simply jump up and down, for as long as the downstairs neighbor will tolerate. “Jumping is great, if your bones are strong enough to begin with,” Dr. Barry says. “You probably don’t need to do a lot either.” (If you have any history of fractures or a family history of osteoporosis, check with a physician before jumping.) In studies in Japan, having mice jump up and land 40 times during a week increased their bone density significantly after 24 weeks, a gain they maintained by hopping up and down only about 20 or 30 times each week after that.

India 2009 - upcoming posts outline

I have started working on documenting my trip to India. It seems logical to me that posts should be organized as outlined below (but it might slightly change once I start writing):

Posts about Hyderabad:


1. Hyderabad – first impressions
   
2. Hyderabad - Charminar
   
3. Hyderabad – Laad Bazaar
   
4. Hyderabad – Birla Mandir
   
5. Hyderabad – Golconda Fort
   
6. Streets of Hyderabad
   
   Posts from the trip to Ajanta and Ellora:
   
   
7. Ajanta
   
8. Ellora – Kailasanatha Temple
   
9. Ellora –other caves
   
10. Daulatabad Fort
    
11. Replica of Taj Mahal
    
12. He is Indian and she is white
    
13. India is great
    
    Posts from the trip to Hampi:
    
    
14. Hampi
    
15. Hampi Bazaar
    
16. Hampi – life at the river
    
17. Take a photo…
    
18. I can be a tourist attraction too!
    
19. Nancy – somebody to look up to
    
20. Your boyfriend must be rich
    
21. Holy cow
    
    General reflections/useful info:
    
    
22. Slams next door
    
23. Traveling on the Indian train
    
24. South Indian food
    
25. Indian clothes
    
26. Sari shopping
    
27. Fair and lovely
    
28. Structure of Indian society and “servants”
    
29. Arranged marriage
    
    Personal perspective:
    
    
30. What will people think aka ruining reputation
    
31. Preparations for the trip
    
32. More Indian than Indian girls
    
33. First week from Monika’s perspective
    
34. Second week from Monika’s perspective
    
35. Breaking point
    
36. Proper behavior
    
37. I’m just a human
    
38. Money can’t buy me
    
39. Let’s talk like adults
    
40. Fifth marriage
    

BodyPump at Bakar gym

Around a year ago I started going to the BodyPump class at the gym next to my work (Bakar at the Mission Bay UCSF campus). Even though my gym offers a BodyPump class on every single day of the week, the majority of the classes are at times that are not working well with my work and social life schedules... Because of that I was skipping many classes and I never had a feeling that I made a good progress at increasing my muscle strength or endurance.

After coming back from India I decided to go to the BodyPump class three times a week (on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5:30pm) no matter what. My spirits were pretty much down and I knew that one way of brining them up is by supplying my brain with endorphins. Actually other types of exercise (e.g. running) work on my brain much better than body pump, but I was not sure if I would have enough will power and persistence to kick my ass to go running regularly by myself, so I thought going for an organized class would work better at that time for me. That indeed was the case. Moreover, by now (in mere 5 weeks) I achieved the fitness level that fully satisfies me.

So what is BodyPump? It is a 60-minute long work out aimed at improving strength and endurance in all major muscle groups of the body. Each class consists of ten 4-5 minutes long parts that target different muscle groups and always happen in the same order:

1. warm up
2. legs/squats
3. chest
4. back
5. triceps
6. biceps
7. lunges
8. shoulders
9. abdominals
10. cool down/stretch

All exercises are accompanied by and choreographed to the music (mostly upbeat popular chart or classic rock releases) and between each track there is a short break to allow for stretching the muscle just exercised, and change weights for the next track.

As I mentioned above, my gym offers a BodyPump class on each single day of the week and has several instructors all of whom are great:

Monday - 5:30pm - Jeanine
Tuesday 12pm - Frances
Wednesday 5:30pm - Alan
Thursday 12pm - Frances
Friday 5:30pm - Chantilly
Saturday 8:30am - Katie
Sunday 9:30am - Alan

I am almost tempted to go to the class every day, but I know it would not be smart, as after such intense exercise muscles need some time to recover. But I will try to add Sunday morning class to my schedule.

There are multiple reasons why I like BodyPump. First and foremost, I would never do weightlifting by myself for such long length of time and in such consistent fashion targeting all the major body muscle groups. Second, I enjoy the fact that all exercises are accompanied by the music. Third, it is very satisfying to see that with each week I can lift more and more weight! Fourth, I like to see big muscle-pumped guys swallowing their egos... (I'm bad, I know...)

It happens at least once a week that a new guy joins a class and thinks that he can lift more weight than all those tiny skinny looking girls around him. He takes as much weight as he would for his regular weight-lifting exercises and one minute into a track, he drops his bar and reduces the weight to the one that other people around him lift... In moments like this it is very difficult for me to control myself and suppress the smile that pops out on my face... :)

BTW, in the great Internets I found a smart guy's description of his first BodyPump class:
When I first entered the class, was shocked to find out that ladies outnumbered guys. Before the class started, like everyone else, I first took a platform (use as a bench), a bar and some weights. Once I felt that the weights were like plastic material, I was wondering whether guys can get a real workout with them. I have been doing weight training for close to two years, so, I took some heavy weight. Also, I told myself I better took more weights than the lady beside me. This choice was a big mistake indeed which I will share with you why. (...)
One should focus in the forms than taking heavy weights. I went for heavy weights and failed to maintain the correct postures after few repetitions. Worse, muscles sore like hell after the first class. So, swallow your ego.

Every three months the music, and therefore choreography, changes. Currently we are at the release number 71. Here are the weights I am lifting this week:

1. warm up - 20lbs
2. legs/squats - 48lbs
3. chest - 20lbs
4. back - 30.5lbs
5. triceps - 20lbs
6. biceps - 15lbs
7. lunges - 48lbs
8. shoulders - 20lbs
9. abdominals - 5.5lbs
10. cool down/stretch

in case of medical emergency...

Please do not take me to San Francisco General Hospital. According to this very informative webpage I would prefer to be admitted to UCSF Medical Center at Parnassus Avenue.

Europe: temporary schedule

13-17th December: Barcelona (SFO > LHR BA0826; LHR > MUC LH4757; MUC > BCN LH4484)

17th Dec, 6:50pm arrival at WAW (BCN > WAW LOT438)
18th Dec: Warszawa (I will be staying at Marta's place)

18th Dec (after 10pm) or 19th Dec (around 11am) arrival in Poznan
19th-21st Dec: Poznan (I will be staying at Ania's and Molli's place)

22nd Dec: Pila

23rd-27th: Krynica Gorska

28th-29th (?): Krakow

30th Dec: Pila

sometime after 30th of Dec and before 5th of January flight back to SF (I do not have a ticket yet - I will wait and see when the prices are reasonable)

PS I am proud to report that I have almost all Christmas gifts already!

Flying Objects

Yes, I started carrying my small camera around.

too cool not to share it

I posted it already on facebook, but not all of you use it, so here it comes again:
ScienceNOW news about oral sex in fruit bats and the original research article describing the study - do not forget to jump down to supplementary information and watch the attached S1 video.

Sponsored by Chinese tax payers :)

strange days

small electronic devices:


extreme buddhism:


moon more eerie than usual:


deep philosophical discussion in very unexpected circumstances:


della cooking thai(!) food and screwing up french chocolate mousse(!!!):


the world is on a downward spiral, i tell ya

Dia de los Muertos 2009

nothing twice

Nothing can ever happen twice.
In consequence, the sorry fact is
that we arrive here improvised
and leave without the chance to practice.

Even if there is no one dumber,
if you're the planet's biggest dunce,
you can't repeat the class in summer:
this course is only offered once.

No day copies yesterday,
no two nights will teach what bliss is
in precisely the same way,
with exactly the same kisses.

One day, perhaps, some idle tongue
mentions your name by accident:
I feel as if a rose were flung
into the room, all hue and scent.

The next day, though you're here with me,
I can't help looking at the clock:
A rose? A rose? What could that be?
Is it a flower or a rock?

Why do we treat the fleeting day
with so much needless fear and sorrow?
It's in its nature not to stay:
Today is always gone tomorrow.

With smiles and kisses, we prefer
to seek accord beneath our star,
although we're different (we concur)
just as two drops of water are.

by Wislawa Szymborska

have story, will write

I made a decision to write a book. I thought about it long and hard, and I decided that what I have to say might be interesting enough for others to read.

The book will be centered around my relationship with Anil, and more specifically, what we went through because of his family. It is probably a better material for a Bollywood/Hollywood movie rather than a book, but you have to start somewhere. And right now it seems more feasible to me to write a book rather than a screenplay (as I have no experience with writing screenplays).

The initial idea that I should write a book came from Anil around May this year when we got hit by the news that his mother was absolutely unhappy about us being together and would do ANYTHING to separate us. Since then he repeatedly encouraged me to write our story down. I used to laugh about it and I was dismissing the idea by claiming that it should be he who would write it down as he was the one that had to deal on almost daily basis with his mother.

After two weeks spent with Anil's family I feel I experienced enough to be able to competently (and entertainingly) write the story myself. You would just not believe what I went through. And survived. With dignity even. If there is a hell, this is exactly how it must look like - constant emotional turmoil and abuse.

The other argument that I should be the one that will be writing the story is that I will make it have a happy (Hollywood-style) ending. Even though real life is not about happy endings.

The fact that I am writing this post and I am ready to write a book and laugh about it, should tell you that I am completely emotionally detached from the situation, fully recovered and ready to move on. Thanks for all the support I got in meantime. You are the best friends ever.

naughty so naughty

I'm in dangerously crazy mood: Today I'm Monika that all of you love :)

Mt Woodson hike

On the second day of my stay in San Diego Bartek and I went for a hike to the top of Mt Woodson. It was a relatively challenging hike (6.4 miles/10 km long) with a total elevation gain of around 2'ooo ft (650m). What made it really challenging for me was that I was attempting it on day 8 of my fast... But I made it and I am very happy about that. It's good to know that if I ever get stuck or lost somewhere in the mountains, I still will be able to hike for a few days without providing any food to my body.

The hike starts at the Lake Poway:


Bartek on the way up:


There are great views from the trail into all directions:






Top of Mt Woodson does not look too attractive though...


Just near the top of the mountain there is this awesome rock formation, often referred to as "surfer's board":

Torrey Pines State Reserve

During my last visit to San Diego at the beginning of October, Bartek and I went hiking in Torrey Pines State Reserve. There are many short trails within this park (see map) and I believe we managed to cover almost all of them during a single afternoon.

The park is definitely worth a visit. It is very beautiful and relaxing, and, surprisingly, not overly crowded even on a weekend.

Bartek on a trail:

Beautiful California coast:

A Torrey Pine tree:

Interesting rock formation:

Fall in Yosemite

I have been to Yosemite NP three times this year: first time on the Memorial Day Weekend, second time at the end of July and third time just now, at the end of October. My very first visit to Yosemite NP was in September of 2007 with Ania and Molly: link.

Seeing the park during several different times of the year I have to conclude that the best time to visit is late fall (end of September - mid of November) as the weather is still good then and the number of tourists falls down drastically. Early spring might be a good time to visit the Yosemite Valley, but the rest of the park will most likely be not passable then yet because of the snow. If you decide to visit the park in the late fall it might be a good idea to sleep in a "heated and insulated tent" as we did it this time around, as nights get really cold. If you have a good sleeping bag then it might be still possible to sleep in your own tent.

Below are several photos taken during the last visit to Yosemite NP.

My travel companions: Tadhg, Eric, me, Garret & Nora:


Bridalveil Falls:


Vernal Falls (much less water than at the end of July!):


Beautiful fall morning nearby our campground at Curry Village:


Upper Yosemite Fall:


Meadow:


Siesta Lake:


Half Dome and Monika (from North Dome trail):

beautiful by carol king

song for today


You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes, you will
That you're beautiful as you feel

Waiting at the station with a workday wind a-blowing
I've got nothing to do but watch the passers-by
Mirrored in their faces I see frustration growing
And they don't see it showing, why do I?

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes, you will
That you're beautiful as you feel

I have often asked myself the reason for sadness
In a world where tears are just a lullaby
If there's any answer, maybe love can end the madness
Maybe not, oh, but we can only try

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes, you will
That you're beautiful as you feel

toxic parents

NYT has a piece on the subject that became an important part of my life recently: dealing with toxic parents.

My own mother can be pretty bad at times, but she is really nothing compared to Anil's mother, who is by far the most abusive person that I have ever met in my life. Anil is a wonderful person and deserves all the happiness in the world, so it breaks my heart to see him sacrifice his life for his crazy (literally) mother. It also saddens me that I do not know how to help him. Sometimes life can be frustrating and unfair.

fasting

On Saturday I have finished a 13-day-long fast. During that time I did not eat anything (except for medicine) and I was only drinking water and herbal teas.

There were several reasons why I was fasting:

1. Spiritual: To show to the universe (God) dedication to my cause.
   
2. Mental: I thought it would be a very good training of will power and that it would make me stronger: if I can live without food, I can live without anything else.
   
3. Practical: I felt overfed in India and I wanted to let my body recover from that.

Initially I was not sure for how long I would be fasting and if I should be drinking water during the fast or not. After doing lots of Internet research, I decided that fast shorter than 7 days does not make any sense (from medical point of view), and that the best would be something between 10 to 14 days. Briefly I also considered trying not to drink anything for a day or two, but I gave up that idea quickly as in meantime I got pretty sick and the doctor told me that my body seemed severely dehydrated (even though I was making sure to drink plenty of water).

Not eating was surprisingly easy. I had no problem controlling hunger or appetite (if I felt them at all), the only problem was controlling acquired behaviors. At work we often have free snacks lying around and whenever I would be passing next to them my legs would start walking in their direction. I had to constantly remind myself that I was fasting and that even if I weren't, I still should not be eating food that I did not prepare myself.

During the first week of fasting my stomach and intestine were moving around a lot and, because of that, I was in a slight discomfort all the time. But during the second week that feeling of discomfort was gone and I felt perfectly fine. I think from then onwards food could stop existing for me. Actually, that was a bit scary. I realized how easy it would be to starve myself to death. (Unless there is a "starvation threshold" and if you cross it, your body starts to ask for food again. Right now, I have no intention of investigating this issue on myself.)

The most positive aspect of fasting was amount of time that I saved on not doing shopping, not cooking, not eating and not cleaning after cooking. I think I counted that in this way I saved around 15h a week! Also, I was happy not to generate any trash for two weeks.

The negative aspect of fasting was that during the second week I became very weak and I was not able to do any sports. However, I also got sick then, so I am not sure how much my weakness was a result of disease and how much of the fast. I am also not sure if my fasting contributed to the disease or not. Still, during the first week of fast I was completely fine and I was able to do as much sports as I wanted. So maybe a week long fast is the way to go in future.

half way around the world

In a few hours I will board a plane heading in direction of India. 30 hours later I will be there... It will be the 27th country that I visited and my first real trip in Asia. (I've been to Azerbaijan before, but I was 10 then, so I do not remember much.)

I am very excited about this trip. I know that I will love India, its rich culture and wonderful colorfulness. I probably will have problem dealing with poor and sick people begging on the streets, but I will try to get over it as soon as possible. Everybody tries to scare me a bit that I will attract a lot of attention due to my blond hair, but I am not worried about that. I have traveled before in Africa for two months, so I am used to looking different than others and attracting attention. If anything, being different helps. People immediately recognize you as a tourist and try to help you as much as they can. They want you to have a good trip and fell in love with their country, city, village, culture. Men of course would not mind if you would fall in love with them too :) During my trip in Africa I was asked thousands of times if I am married and if I would like to get married :) I guess for man there to have a white, moreover blond, woman would mean going up a prestige ladder a lot. I have already decided that if Indian men will show similar interest in me, I will claim that I am engaged or married.

One big unknown of my trip is how meeting of my future parents in law will go. Needless to say, it is very important to me that they like me and that we get along, but those things are always difficult to predict. Especially if two very different cultures meet. So keep your fingers crossed that it goes well.

Greek yoghurt dessert with dates and honey

I specialize in quick and easy recipes that I like to believe are tasty too :)

Here is a Greek-style dessert that takes 2 minutes to make:


Ingredients (per serving):

100ml Greek style yoghurt
3 dates, cut into slices
1 tsp cranberries (I prefer orange-flavored ones over regular ones)
1 tbsp honey

Parmigiana di Zucchine

One of my favorite dishes is parmigiana di zucchine. I often prepare it when I have guests over for dinner as it seems to please everybody's taste. Every single guest that I have ever served this dish really liked it. Moreover, most of my friends like it so much, that they asked me for the recipe so that they could cook it for themselves.

Ingredients:

4-5 zucchini
10 oz mozzarella (sliced or grated)
3 tbsp olive oil
20 oz tomato sauce (I used to make my own tomato sauce, but I became lazy and now I buy ready one. I just usually add more freshly chopped oregano and basil to it.)
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
salt, pepper, oregano, basil
4 tbsp grated Parmesan

Preparation time: 1h (40 min of work, 20 min in the oven)
Servings: 6-8
Calories: 2010 (total), 350 (assuming 6 portions)
Protein: 96g/16g
Fiber: 35g/6g

Cooking instructions:

1. Peel the zucchini and slice it along the longer edge into around 4mm thick pieces.
   
2. Toss the zucchini in the scrambled egg (with pepper and salt) and then in flour.
   
3. Put 1 tbsp of olive oil in the large frying pan, heat it up and add zucchini. Fry it for 2-3 minutes on each side. After it is done (when the fork goes easily into it), place the zucchini onto a parchment paper to drain the excess of olive oil. Continue with frying the other slices of zucchini until all of them are ready.
   
4. Pre-warm the oven to 350F.
   
5. In a large baking dish layer: zucchini, tomato sauce, mozzarella, zucchini, tomato sauce, mozzarella, zucchini, Parmesan cheese.
   
6. Bake parmigina at 350° for 20 minutes, or until thoroughly heated and bubbly. Let stand for 8 to 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
   

This is how parmigiana looks before it is baked:

Salad with mango and avocado

Here is a recipe for a mango salad that I really like. It takes just a few minutes to make, but is very tasty. If you use the amounts of ingredients written below, it will be enough to feed 5-6 people.

Ingredients:

1.5 head of lettuce, chopped
1 mango, chopped
8 cherry tomatoes, cut into eights
1 cucumber, chopped
1 large medium-ripe avocado, chopped
juice of 2 lemons
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
5 tbsp sunflower seeds (roasted or not, whatever you prefer)
salt, pepper

I like to make this salad just before I eat it and I do not mix it till the last moment before eating:

Salad with avocado and olives

Here is a recipe for one of the salads that is a regular guest on my table. It is very simple, quick and easy to make, but also very tasty at the same time. In my house it lasts usually 2 days (with 2 people eating it).

Ingredients:

1 head of lettuce, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 medium-ripe avocado, chopped
15 Greek olives, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper

Mix all ingredients in a big bowl, cool for 30 minutes, serve:

Kauai - Alakai Swamp

Alakai Swamp is the highest located swamp in the world. Thanks to that, it has very specific ecosystem, full of plants and animals that are not present anywhere else in the world.

The swamp is located on a plateau near Mount Waiʻaleʻale, one of the wettest spots on Earth. It can be reached by the 3.5-mile (5.6 km) Alakaʻi Swamp Trail, which is often shrouded in mist. The trail connecting Waimea Canyon road with Alakaʻi Swamp Trail is called the Pihea Trail and it starts at the Puʻu o Kila lookout. The first mile of this trail runs along the ridge offering great views of Kalalau Valley:




As you can see mist and fog were our constant companions:


The forest through which we were hiking was very beautiful and it had also certain spooky quality about itself:


In parts, it was so wet and muddy that a boardwalk was placed there to facilitate hiking:


But there were also many places where there was no boardwalk and, moreover, there were obstacles that demanded some skills to cross:


Even though it was sometimes challenging to hike there, it was definitely worth the effort as the nature was simply stunning there:






My shoes are a testimony to how muddy this place was:


After the hike we stopped at Koke'e Lodge for a coffee and delicious chocolate-coconut cake. I wish I had asked for the recipe!

Kauai - Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon located in Western Kauai is often compared to Grand Canyon in Arizona. I have to admit that if I hadn't seen Grand Canyon before, I would definitely think that Waimea Canyon is the seventh world's wonder.

The canyon is pretty large: 10 miles (16km) long, 1 mile (1.6km) wide and 3'000 feet (900m) deep. It was formed both by the erosion and also by a catastrophic collapse of the volcano that created Kauaʻi. It is definitely beautiful and worth visiting. There are numerous lookouts into the canyon from the Waimea Canyon Road and there are also many hiking opportunities both within the canyon, as well as along its edges.

We decided to go for a hike leading to Waipo'o Falls. It was a nice short hike (~3.5 miles) offering spectacular views of the canyon. If you do not have a 4WD you need to park your car next to 14-mile marker on the highway and walk extra 0.5 mile on a dirt road. Soon the dirt road will meet the Canyon Trail, which runs parallel to the canyon rim. Views are tremendous from there (as you can see from the photos below). Waipo'o Falls, on the other hand, were truly disappointing. We definitely saw many way more spectacular waterfalls during our trip.

There are many viewpoints along Waimea Canyon Road that offer spectacular views of the canyon:








The path leading to the Canyon Trail:


We took short side trip to Cliff Viewpoint, from where there were outstanding views to the canyon:


My father pretends that he is deadly tired and can not walk anymore:




For some part, the Canyon Trail runs very close to the rim of the canyon:








Waipo'o Falls, not so impressive, ha?


Again, my father being silly and pretending that I am terrorizing him: