How fit are you? Measuring your fitness at home

"Your level of Fitness refers to your body’s ability to meet the demands of physical tasks while still having the energy and strength to feel as good as possible."

A few weeks ago, I had gone downstairs to fix myself something to eat before I got settled down to work. I had popped a bag of popcorn and picked up a medium-sized Julie mango for dinner (I prefer to eat light in the evenings to avoid the almost inevitable energy dip after eating in addition to the fact that I’m just tired). I took my meal up to my bedroom but realized I had forgotten my bottle of water. As I was making my second trip upstairs, I decided to run upstairs as I had usually done not more than a few months ago. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised when I found that these stairs aren't that easy to sprint up. I know my exercise routine has been on hiatus for a while but surely walking up and down these stairs everyday must have counted for something. So it got me thinking: what does it really mean to be fit? How do you even really know how fit you are? And, how can you improve fitness?

Your level of Fitness refers to your body’s ability to meet the demands of physical tasks while still having the energy and strength to feel as good as possible. This doesn't mean you have to be an athlete but it does mean that you should be able to be and feel at your best at all times. This lowers your risk for certain non-communicable lifestyle diseases.

Elliot's Pepper Farm - Jamaican Adventures

A tour of a local farm in the hills of St Catherine

View from the farm

I had a fabulous and very educational visit during my trip to Elliott's Scotch Bonnet Pepper farm located in the cool hills of St. Catherine last month. Today I'll share some of my amazing discoveries.

Chocolate at the Elliott Farm

Cocoa Powder 

Last week I took a trip to Point Hill, a district in the cool hills of St Catherine. On this trip, I  discovered many cool things. I'll eventually get to all of these discoveries but I'll begin with my discovery of the Cocoa Tree.

Calcium-The Vital Mineral

"Our bodies need enough calcium to maintain our blood and muscles, and it is usually done by storing a high concentration of calcium in our bone tissue."

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, calcium is important to keep our bones denser and stronger throughout our life. Apart from helping to keep our bones and teeth stronger, calcium plays a pivotal role in vascular contractions, secretion of hormones and enzymes, muscle function, intracellular signaling, and in performing critical metabolic functions. In order to perform these critical functions, our body needs to maintain enough calcium in our blood and muscles, which is usually done by storing a high concentration of calcium in our bone tissue.

Food Security

Jamaicans are struggling to come to grips with dramatic increases in the price of food. What is actually causing these increases?

There is a large consensus that this is due to the advent of the biofuel industry. It is believed that there is now competition between the consumers of food and consumers of fuel.   

At the beginning of 2006, there were the so-called “tortilla riots” in Mexico that were caused by ridiculous increases in the cost of cornflower. These increases were caused by a large-scale switch in the United States from using maize for food and instead for fuel- production. This of course meant the Mexicans were receiving less corn from their neighbors.