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My Favorite Hippie Store

By On · Add Comment · In Beta carotene, carrot juice, cayenne pepper, chlorophyll, Erewhon Natural Foods, ginger, juice bar, vitamin A, wheatgrass
Just went to my favorite hippie store today–it’s been a long time. Erewhon, that natural-foods icon located near CBS on Beverly Boulevard, is the best place to go for natural foods and products, period. There have been a few imitators–good try all–but none live up to quality of Erewhon Natural Foods.

I’ve been going to hippie stores for as long as I can remember. I hail from the hippie capital of the world, you know–San Francisco. Anyway, I love the atmosphere at hippie stores and I love the natural products. They’re real natural products, not simply labeled as such like in some of the other fake hippie/yuppie stores that are popular right now. Back in the day–1970s-80s–you were a real freak if you shopped at hippie stores. Not anymore! It’s super-hip. But that’s cool–I think health is hip, too.

So something I really love about Erewhon is their juice bar. I usually like a big carrot juice with a shot of wheatgrass (my mom used to shove this stuff down our throats when my siblings and I were kids, but now I love it), but today I tried something new that I want to turn you all on to. Today I had a shot of wheatgrass juice with a shot of ginger juice and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Woowee! Was that ever the schwizzle! You have got to try it–it’ll knock your socks off.

Carrot juice is high in vitamin A (Beta carotene) and vitamin B. It’s high in minerals like calcium, copper, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphorous, chlorine, sulfur, and iron. It’s great for the eyes (great remedy for night blindness), the mucous membranes (think lining of nose, mouth, throat, digestive system, and eliminatory organs), the bones and the teeth.

Wheatgrass is high in chlorophyll, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and enzymes. It is good for:

  • improving the functions of the digestive system
  • preventing cancer, diabetes and heart disease
  • curing constipation
  • detoxifying heavy metals from the bloodstream
  • helping to make menopause more manageable
  • promoting general wellbeing.

Ginger is known as a digestive aid, increasing the production of digestive fluids and saliva. Ginger helps relieve indigestion, gas pains, diarrhea, and stomach cramping. Ginger has also been known to treat nausea, reduce inflammation, increase blood circulation, improve respiratory function, promote sweating (to break fevers), and detoxify the body.

Cayenne pepper has digestive benefits, circulatory benefits, and is used as a topical analgesic in many sports creams (it contains capsaicin–the chemical that causes heat). So all three together in a drink is…Booyah! Good stuff.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of checking out Erewhon, please do. As far as hippie stores go, it’s one of the best.

Update on the Campos Return to Fitness

By On · Add Comment · In bench press, chlorophyll, crunches, curls, dips, french presses, gym, handstands, lat pull downs, leg presses, plank pose, reverse crunches, seated rows, side plank, sleep, walking lunges, yoga

Well, I’ve made it a week and I haven’t died. But I sure am sore. Especially my legs. I’ve been to the gym five times since my proclamation at the beginning of the month, and I return tonight, tomorrow and the next day. Whew. I’m sweating already.

OK, here goes–I’ve been pounding my legs with walking lunges (left), leg presses and high-knee step ups on a platform four layers high (right). I’ve done preliminary bench presses, lat pull downs, and seated rows–all on machines, just to get my body warmed up. I started slow the first time, doing two sets of 8-10 reps depending on the exercise, and have increased it to two sets 10-12 reps of everything (except walking lunges, which I started with 40 steps and have increased to 60).

I’ve done some light arm work (biceps curls and French presses for the triceps) and my usual dips. And, of course, I’ve been doing my regular ab routine, which includes plank pose, side plank, crunches, reverse crunches, and hip raises. I just started working on the handstands the other day, just working on kicking up and holding. I can see this is going to be a challenge. I’ve also walked Runyon Canyon once, jogging the final 150 yards. That was tough, but fun. I kept hearing the theme from Rocky playing in my head oddly enough–I definitely need to get more original.

Been drinking lots of water, some chlorophyll, and taking some vitamins (just put in a big order for all kinds of good supplements, so that’ll increase within the next week or so). As I suspected, going to bed by 10 pm and waking up by 6 am has been my greatest challenge, but I’m optimistic. Heck, if I can do it even three times a week, I’ll be psyched. Getting enough sleep is huge for me, and it’s definitely my biggest neglect. Finally, I stretch every day, but haven’t yet made it to a yoga class. I will. I’ve still got time.

There it is. Nothing more to report….oh yeah…I have weighed myself. Check this out, this is interesting: I weighed in at 164 lbs. after the first week. What?!?! Did I measure wrong the first time? I’ve already lost three pounds? Ah, not so fast–I was back up to 165 the following session, then 166, and then 165 again, which is where I stand now. So, if you ever weigh yourself, understand that these fluctuations occur, especially in the beginning. Lots of times weight loss is due to water loss–never a good thing, so don’t get prematurely excited. A pound a week is healthy, and that’s what I’m shooting for. Alrighty then, till next time.

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