Best Beans and Tricky Trails

These are happy beans.

 With the topics of obesity, diabetes, and heart health on the mass media radar for more than a decade, we're obviously not getting 'er done and we need to start thinking outside of the box. I think our local state park has a great wellness program that more organizations and cities should utilize to motivate the populous into staying active. Let me share with you their exciting new discovery. I think you'll be inspired to start a program in your own community.

Our local state park has many trails of all different types of terrain and distances, but what's unique about their program has everything to do with cartography (maps) and way finding (signs). Imagine yourself on a run in the park and let's say a 6 mile run is your goal. With the superior state park wellness program, your six mile run will end up turning into ten miles. It's not because you've made the choice to keep running. But it's because the map they hand you at the entrance hasn't been updated since the 90's, it's as clear as mud in some areas because of the number of times it's been photocopied, and the signs along the trail are either missing their stick-on wording or they bare no relationship to the map or current reality.

There are several staggering benefits that spreading this type of miscommunication can provide .

• you'll run/hike/bike farther than you ever anticipated
• your body will learn to cope with far less water 
• you'll learn to do without nutrition (food is quite pesky and pricey anyway)
• you might even get lost for a day or more, and therefore maximize weight loss
• you'll increase your chance for injury and therefore workout your body's repair system
• you'll commune with nature: you'll truly "feel" the dirt (or maybe it's "feel like dirt" when it's over)

In an age of GPS watches, Google Earth, and the Internet, wellness programs don't need to take advantage of new technologies to improve their communications. From our research this past weekend, we've concluded, here at the Allergic to Sitting Institute, that the best solution to the bad-health epidemic is bad technical communications.

Don't have a state park near you where you can get lost? No problem. Create a local park of your own. All you will need is:

1. miles of land with lots of trees and bushes (the pricklier the better)
2. signs (doesn't really matter what's on them, just put them out there)
3. a bike or two to start marking down the trails (the more trail intersections the better)

With these tips in mind, you'll gain maximum confusion and increase the amount of exercise in your local population. I hope these tips and ideas have inspired you action. Together, we can all make a difference.

Best Beans
So this weekend, I attempted to create (for like the 3-4 time) gas-less beans. This is one of my ultimate cooking goals, you see. I believe I have succeeded. My recipe is below and I must say that I stole the idea from my mom and souped it up a bit more for maximum cooking power.

But remember, "friends don't let friends eat beans and run." We consumed these beans the day after our 6, I mean 10 mile run in the the park this past weekend. :) Thanks Kevin for suffering with me. I'll remember our adventure as, Lord willing, I run the Austin Marathon. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 cup of beans
• 2 cups of water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-2 cups of chicken or turkey broth

Directions
Soak dried beans in water over night. Rinse beans in a strainer. Cook them with broth and salt for at least 8 hours in a slow cooker on high. Add more water to make sure that all of the beans are submerged throughout the cooking process. Make sure you use fairly new dried beans. The older they are, the less they'll want to soften.