Next week: Walk @ lunch

Here’s a radical proposal for the workweek ahead: Let’s band together and take back the lunch hour. And once we get it back, let’s put it to good use.

Let’s take a walk.

A fact that will surprise few of you: In 2006, KFC — the fried chicken people — conducted a survey of working America’s lunchtime habits that found, among other things, that nearly two-thirds of worker bees surveyed declared the lunch “hour” to be “the biggest myth in office life.” In practice, 52 percent said they took less than 30 minutes for lunch and 58 percent reported that they eat at their desk and work through lunch. read more

Give a listen: Brains and a rowboat

How many times today did you walk into a room and forget why you were there, pick up the phone only to forget who you wanted to call, take a half hour to find where you put your car keys?

If you’re of a certain age — that being the middle one — more than once, no doubt. And no doubt when one of the above happened you took it as further proof that your brain continues its rapid descent into the abyss. Well, Ha! You’re wrong! read more

An unlikely road for Eat This Not That’s Matt Goulding

As he stood next to a stack of books and a table full of killer food Sunday afternoon at the Barnes & Noble across from Cary Towne Center, the icons of Matt Goulding’s life were within 50 yards. Across Maynard Street was Cary High School, where Goulding graduated in 1999; at the far end of the parking lot was Macaroni Grill where he rose from busboy to the chain restaurant’s chief antagonist (and more recently, a key ally). And the books next to him represented the franchise created by him and David Zinczenko and that has succeeded far beyond their — or anyone’s — dreams. read more

Let Mother Earth move you this weekend

While fitness and health experts would like you to get an hour’s exercise a day, they’ll tell you that, above all, the key thing is to just move. With that in mind, here are a number of Earth Day “just move” events this weekend. (Yes, technically Earth Day isn’t until Thursday. But Thursday doesn’t fall on a weekend, this Saturday and Sunday happen to.) read more

Explore the outdoors, discover yourself.