shannan 
"Each of us has within ourselves, a spirit, an energy, a superhero that is screaming to be revealed. The art of physique perfection, our sport, our journey, our discipline... bodybuilding... is a means of expressing that inner being."
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Archive for April, 2009
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
cravings…
*If you are craving CHOCOLATE, your body may be low in MAGNESIUM Try eating more raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruits.
* If you are craving SWEETS, your body may be low in CHROMIUM. Try eating more broccoli, grapes, cheese, dried beans, calves liver, chicken.
* If you are craving SWEETS, your body may be low in CARBON. Try eating more fresh fruits.
* If you are craving SWEETS, your body may be low in PHOSPHOROUS. Try eating more chicken, beef, liver, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, legumes, grains.
* If you are craving SWEETS, your body may be low in SULFUR. Try eating more cranberries, horseradish, cruciferous vegetables, kale, cabbage.
* If you are craving SWEETS, your body may be low in TRYPTOPHAN. Try eating more cheese, liver, lamb, raisins, sweet potato, spinach.
* If you are craving BREAD & TOAST, your body may be low in NITROGEN. Try eating more high-protein foods: fish, meat, nuts, beans.
* If you are craving OILY/FATTY FOODS, your body may be low in FAT or low in CALCIUM. If you are meeting your good fat requirements, try eating more mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame.
* If you are craving COFFEE & TEA, your body may be low in PHOSPHOROUS. Try eating more chicken, beef, liver, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, legumes.
* If you are craving COFFEE & TEA, your body may be low in SULFUR. Try eating more egg yolks, red peppers, muscle protein, garlic, onion, cruciferous vegetables.
* If you are craving COFFEE & TEA, your body may be low in NaCl (SALT). Try eating more sea salt, apple cider vinegar (you can put that on salad).
* If you are craving COFFEE & TEA, your body may be low in IRON. Try eating more meat, fish and poultry, seaweed, greens, black cherries.
* If you are craving ALCOHOL or RECREATIONAL DRUGS, your body may be low in PROTEIN. Try eating more meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, nuts.
* If you are craving ALCOHOL or RECREATIONAL DRUGS, your body may be low in AVENIN. Try eating more granola, oatmeal.
* If you are craving ALCOHOL or RECREATIONAL DRUGS, your body may be low in CALCIUM. Try eating more mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame.
* If you are craving ALCOHOL or RECREATIONAL DRUGS, your body may be low in GLUTAMINE. Try eating more glutamine powder (a supplement) for withdrawal, raw cabbage juice.
* If you are craving ALCOHOL or RECREATIONAL DRUGS, your body may be low in POTASSIUM. Try eating more sun-dried black olives, potato peel broth, seaweed, bitter greens.
* If you are craving CHEWING ICE, your body may be low in IRON. Try eating more meat, fish, poultry, seaweed, greens, black cherries.
* If you are craving BURNT FOOD, your body may be low in CARBON. Try eating more fresh fruit.
* If you are craving SODA & CARBONATED DRINKS, your body may be low in CALCIUM. Try eating more mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame.
* If you are craving SALTY FOOD, your body may be low in CHLORIDE. Try eating more raw goat milk, fish, unrefined sea salt.
* If you are craving ACIDIC FOODS, your body may be low in MAGNESIUM. Try eating more raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruits.
* If you are craving LIQUIDS RATHER THAN SOLIDS, your body may be low in WATER. Try to drink more water flavored with lemon or lime. You need 8 to 10 glasses per day and more when it’s hot or you are exercising!
* If you are craving SOLIDS, RATHER THAN LIQUIDS, your body may be low in WATER. Try to drink more water. Long-term, chronic dehydration results in losing your thirst. Flavor water with lemon or lime. You need 8 to 10 glasses per day and more when it’s hot or you are exercising!
* If you are craving COOL DRINKS, your body may be low in MANGANESE. Try eating more walnuts, almonds, pecans, pineapple, blueberries.
* If your cravings are PRE-MENSTRUAL, your body may be low in ZINC. Try eating more red meats (especially organ meats), seafood, leafy vegetables, root vegetables.
* If you are HABITUALLY OVEREATING, your body may be low in SILICON. Try eating more nuts, seeds; avoid refined starches.
* If you are HABITUALLY OVEREATING, your body may be low in TRYPTOPHAN. Try eating more cheese, liver, lamb, raisins, sweat potato, spinach.
* If you are HABITUALLY OVEREATING, your body may be low in TYROSINE. Try eating more Vitamin C supplements or orange, green, red fruits and vegetables.
* If you suffer from a LACK OF APPETITE, your body may be low in VITAMIN B1. Try eating more nuts, seeds, beans, liver and other organ meats.
* If you suffer from a LACK OF APPETITE, your body may be low in VITAMIN B3. Try eating more tuna, halibut, beef, chicken, turkey, pork, seeds and legumes.
* If you suffer from a LACK OF APPETITE, your body may be low in MANGANESE. Try eating more walnuts, almonds, pecans, pineapple, blueberries.
* If you suffer from a LACK OF APPETITE, your body may be low in CHLORIDE. Try eating more raw goat milk, unrefined sea salt.
* If you are craving TOBACCO, your body may be low in SILICON. Try eating more nuts, seeds; avoid refined starches.
* If you are craving TOBACCO, your body may be low in TYROSINE. Try eating more Vitamin C supplements or orange, green and red fruits and vegetables.
Enjoy- and fix those cravings !!!
Posted in Training
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Artificial Sweeteners
For those of us trying to reduce or eliminate sugar from our diets, artificial sweeteners such as Splenda and Equal are attractive alternatives. We’ve been told that they are the perfect sugar substitutes: as sweet as sugar, but no calories; as sweet as sugar, but no surge in insulin; as sweet as sugar, but no side effects or long-term health damage.
On the other side of the argument are responsible experts who say these sweeteners are unsafe — they claim at first to be healthy, only later to be proven to be full of side effects. For instance, some authorities say that Splenda has more in common with DDT than with food.
What should you think about artificial sweeteners? While OK in moderation, excessive consumption can derail your physique goals and even your health! Here is why:
Splenda — the public health experiment
“Low-sugar” is the successor to the “low-carb” craze, even though they are essentially the same thing. According to the New York Times, 11% of the food items on supermarket shelves will be labeled “reduced sugar” — most of those targeted at kids and their health-conscious moms. Sales in granulated sugar have dropped four percent in the past six months. What’s behind this trend? Splenda.
Products featuring Splenda are perceived as “natural” because even the FDA’s press release about sucralose parrots the claim that “it is made from sugar” — an assertion disputed by the Sugar Association, which is suing Splenda’s manufacturer (McNeil Nutritionals).
The FDA has no definition for “natural”. Splenda is the trade name for sucralose, a synthetic compound stumbled upon in 1976 by scientists in Britain seeking a new pesticide formulation. It is true that the Splenda molecule is comprised of sucrose (sugar) — except that three of the hydroxyl groups in the molecule have been replaced by three chlorine atoms. While some industry experts claim the molecule is similar to table salt or sugar, other independent researchers say it has more in common with pesticides.
Once it gets to the gut, sucralose goes largely unrecognized in the body as food — that’s why it has no calories. The majority of people don’t absorb a significant amount of Splenda in their small intestine — about 15% by some accounts. The irony is that your body tries to clear unrecognizable substances by digesting them, so it’s not unlikely that the healthier your gastrointestinal system is, the more you’ll absorb the chlorinated molecules of Splenda.
So, is Splenda safe? No one knows yet. There are no long-term studies of the side effects of Splenda in humans. The manufacturer’s own short-term studies showed that sucralose caused shrunken thymus glands and enlarged livers and kidneys in rodents. But in this case, the FDA decided that because these studies weren’t based on human test animals, they were not conclusive. Of course, there are countless examples of foods and drugs that have proved dangerous to humans that were first found to be dangerous to laboratory rats, and then again, countless others that have not. So the reality is that we are the guinea pigs for Splenda.
Splenda’s side effects
Observational evidence shows that there are side effects of Splenda, including skin rashes/flushing, panic-like agitation, dizziness and numbness, diarrhea, muscle aches, headaches, intestinal cramping, bladder issues, and stomach pain. These show up at one end of the spectrum — in the people who have an allergy or sensitivity to the sucralose molecule. But no one can say to what degree consuming Splenda affects the general public.
A similar course was charted by aspartame, the main ingredient in Equal and NutraSweet. Almost all of the independent research into aspartame found dangerous side effects in rodents. The FDA chose not to take these findings into account when it approved aspartame for public use. Over the course of 15 years, those same side effects increasingly appeared in humans. Not in everyone, of course — but in those who were vulnerable to the chemical structure of aspartame.
As food additives, artificial sweeteners are not subject to the same gauntlet of FDA safety trials as pharmaceuticals. Most of the testing is funded by the food industry, which has a vested interest in the outcome. This can lead to misleading claims on both sides.
But one thing is certain: some of the chemicals that comprise artificial sweeteners are known hazards — the degree to which you experience side effects just depends on your individual biochemistry. Manufacturers are banking on the fact that our bodies won’t absorb very much of these compounds at any one time. And many of us don’t. But what happens when we are ingesting a combination of artificial sweeteners like Splenda dozens of times a week through many different “low-sugar” or “sugar-free” products? Many of us consume Crystal Lite and chewing gum on a regular basis — both of which contain artificial sweeteners we may not account for!
People have been using artificial sweeteners for decades. Some react poorly, some don’t — the problem is, you never know until you’re already sick. Scientists are calling Splenda a mild mutagen, based on how much is absorbed. Currently it is unknown what portion of the population is being exposed to the dangers of Splenda or already suffering from Splenda side effects. Until an independent, unbiased research group conducts long-term studies on humans, we cannot be certain.
Aspartame and saccharin: are they safer than Splenda?
Aside from Splenda, the most popular artificial sweeteners are aspartame (and its cousin, neotame) and saccharin. Foods with these additives are marketed to women as low-fat, low-sugar, and low-calorie.
Diet programs like Weight Watchers sell low-calorie foods that trade real nutrients for artificial ingredients, including sugar substitutes. Good nutrition takes more into account than calories and fat content — especially when it comes to how many artificial sweeteners we’re eating and what we’re mixing them with.
Dangers in aspartame
Aspartame, the main ingredient in Equal and NutraSweet, is responsible for the most serious cases of poisoning, because the body actually digests it. Aspartame should be avoided by most women, but particularly in those with neuropsychiatric concerns. Recent studies in Europe show that aspartame use can result in an accumulation of formaldehyde in the brain, which can damage your central nervous system and immune system and cause genetic trauma. The FDA admits this is true, but claims the amount is low enough in most that it shouldn’t raise concern.
Aspartame has had the most complaints of any food additive available to the public. It’s been linked with MS, lupus, fibromyalgia and other central nervous disorders. Possible side effects of aspartame include headaches, migraines, panic attacks, dizziness, irritability, nausea, intestinal discomfort, skin rash, and nervousness. Some researchers have linked aspartame with depression and manic episodes. It may also contribute to male infertility.
Saccharin
Saccharin, the first widely available chemical sweetener, is hardly mentioned any more. Better-tasting NutraSweet took its place in almost every diet soda, but saccharin is still an ingredient in some prepared foods, gum, and over-the-counter medicines. Remember those carcinogen warnings on the side of products that contained saccharin? They no longer appear because industry testing showed that saccharin only caused bladder cancer in rats. Most researchers agree that in sufficient doses, saccharin is carcinogenic in humans. What is unknown is how much saccharin an individual body can safely ingest!
That being said, some practitioners think saccharin in moderation is the best choice if you must have an artificially sweetened beverage or food product. It’s been around a relatively long time and seems to cause fewer problems than aspartame.
As with other sweeteners, it is a body toxin. It is not recommended for pregnant women, children or teenagers — despite the reduced sugar content — because of possible irreversible cell damage.
Short-circuiting the insulin spike
Basically, artificial sweeteners confuse your brain. The enzymes in your mouth begin a cascade that primes your cell receptors for an insulin surge, and when it doesn’t arrive your brain feels cheated. That’s why most diet sodas are loaded with caffeine — so you’ll still feel a jolt.
But even if your brain is distracted momentarily, soon enough it wants the energy boost you promised it — and you find yourself craving carbohydrates. In one study, people who used artificial sweeteners ate up to three times the amount of calories as the control group. But again, this is individual. It all comes down to the brain’s perception of calories, which can get thrown off whenever artificial ingredients are substituted for whole food.
It is true that many people are better able to break their addiction to sugar and maintain weight loss with the help of sugar substitutes. This is probably because insulin is not involved. Also, the substitutes are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, so you may use less of them. So in certain cases, moderate use of artificial sweeteners is okay — as long as you feel well. Mike personally recommends less than 9 packets (or the equivalent) per day — 5 per day if you are preparing for a contest.
Artificial sweeteners are chemicals, not food! They have no calories because they don’t nourish your body in anyway — they’re toxins your body has to clear, or, depending on how well you detoxify, store. They can be an acceptable complement and flavoring in a reasonable diet, but when used in excess, they can become a crutch that replaces the sugar dependency you were trying to overcome — with just as many negative side effects.
So Cheaters Beware! Be mindful of your artificial sweetener consumption. Don’t negate your hard work in the gym and discipline in other areas of your diet for an artificial sugar fix!
Posted in Training
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Have you ever really thought about what they mean by “get to the bottom of this?” The phrase really indicates that the best way to address a concern is to examine its origin. What, then, is the origin of nutrition? The grocery store. It’s the first line of defense against poor nutrition, so here’s how to shop right for healthier eating.
Action:
1. First and foremost, read the food labels to guarantee you’re purchasing the healthier foods.
2. On the label, consider the “calories from fat” field at the top of the nutrition section. If more than 10 to 20 percent of what you’re buying is comprised of fat, put it back on the shelf and find something else.
3. Next, look at the carbohydrates section. Carbs are not inherently evil, but sugar is. Aim for foods in which the carbohydrate count comes mainly from fiber or “other carbs,” not sugar.
4. When considering light or low-fat foods, take a good look at the calorie count on the label. Many low-fat and light food manufacturers cut back on the fat as a sales gimmick, but to preserve taste, add tons of extra sugar. Make sure you buy low-fat, light and low-sugar.
5. Avoid temptation and cruise around the aisles only visiting those aisles where there is something you need.
6. Go prepared with a list of exactly what you need so that you don’t accidentally over-buy.
7. Be a lone wolf and shop by yourself so no one (like your children) can seduce you into buying unhealthy items to take home.
8. Eat before you shop so the devil on your shoulder doesn’t convince you that an impulse potato chip or candy purchase is a good idea.
Posted in Training
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
What you need @ the gym… You need— *aerobic room* treadmill, medicine ball, resistance band, body bar or barbell, and dumbbells…
Warmup 5-6 min
( in aerobic room ) 4 laps of side shuffles, repeat alternating direction
4 laps of jog forward / backward, alternating direction
4 laps of high knees forward / backward, alternating direction
4 laps of ‘karoking’ (grapevine)
4 laps alternating lunges…. then STRETCH
RUN 1/2 mile on treadmill (4-5 min )
set up stations… and perform each set 2 times through - 30 sec.@ each station
~ 18 min total
———————————–
Set 1:
medicine ball squat thrust
resistance band bicep curls
body bar wide stance squats
pony taps on step
alternating stationary lunges
Set 2:
medicine ball close grip pushups
resistance band upright rows
body bar squats w/ front raise
side to side agility on step
pop lunges
Set 3:
medicine ball walkouts
resistance band kickbacks
body bar squats w/ overhead press
in/outs on step
pop squats
* use length aerobic room * ~ 8 min
3 sets - bearcrawl down - sprint back
3 sets - jump squat down - back pedal back
3 sets - shuffle down and shuffle back
3 sets - quick plate drags
Stationary spot - 3 sets following ~10 min
* side to side hops 30 sec./ 5 pushups / 30 sec crunches
* front to back hops 30 sec / 5 pushups / 30 sec crunches
* mountain climbers 30 sec / 5 pushups / 30 sec crunches
cool down - 5 min walk on treadmill and STRETCH
Go home and eat a GOOOOOD healthy meal—-
Posted in Training
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
With my clients spanning over so many years now, it’s apparent how busy these people are and how more often than not, they’re usually extremely limited with time. Many are moms with busy schedules or, career men or women and have a limited window of time they can dedicate to their fitness each week. Most can only train three to four times per week at most if they are lucky. With that in mind, with time being our limiting factor, how can we maximize fat loss?
Is there a hierarchy of fat loss techniques?
Yes. Here it is:
1. Proper nutrition
Face it: you just can’t out-train a crappy diet. You must create a caloric deficit while eating enough protein and essential fats. There’s no way around this.
2. See number 1 above
Yep. It really is that important. Several trainers have espoused that the only difference between training for muscle gain and training for fat loss is your diet. I think that’s a massive oversimplification, but it does reinforce how important and effective correct nutrition is toward your ultimate goal.
3. Activities that burn calories, promote and maintain muscle mass, and elevate metabolism
The bulk of calories burned are determined by our resting metabolic rate or RMR. The amount of calories burned outside of our resting metabolism (through exercise, thermic effect of feeding, etc.) is a smaller contributor to overall calories burned per day. Weight training with increases in intensity and or amount of weight are paramount… as is intense heart pounding cardio.
RMR is largely a function of how much muscle you have on your body and how hard it works. Therefore, adding activities that promote or maintain muscle mass will make that muscle mass work harder and elevate the metabolic rate. This will become our number one training priority when developing fat loss programs.
4. Activities that burn calories and elevate metabolism
The next level of fat loss programming would be a similar activity. We’re still looking at activities that eat up calories and increase EPOC.
EPOC (Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption) is defined scientifically as the "recovery of metabolic rate back to pre-exercise levels" and "can require several minutes for light exercise and several hours for hard intervals."
Essentially, we’re looking for activities that keep us burning more calories after the exercise session.
5. Activities that burn calories, but don’t necessarily maintain muscle or elevate metabolism
This is the least effective tool in your arsenal, as it doesn’t burn much outside of the primary exercise session. Now let’s put this fat loss continuum together in terms of our progressive training hierarchy.
The 5 factors of FAT LOSS training–
1. Metabolic Resistance Training
We’re using resistance training as the cornerstone of our fat loss programming. Our goal is to work every muscle group hard, frequently, and with intensity that creates a massive "metabolic disturbance" or "afterburn," leaving the metabolism elevated for several hours post-workout.
2. High Intensity Anaerobic Interval Training
The second key “ingredient” in fat loss programming is high intensity interval training (HIIT). I think readers of Figure Athlete are well aware of the benefits of interval work. It burns more calories than steady state and elevates metabolism significantly more than other forms of cardio.
The only downside is that it flat-out sucks to do! But after you accomplish it, it is a high like nothing else. You have achieved a huge calorie burn !!
3. Steady State High Intensity Aerobic Training
Tool number four is just hard cardio work. This time we’re burning calories. We aren’t working hard enough to increase EPOC significantly or to do anything beyond the session itself. But calories docount. Burning another 300 or so calories per day will add up.
4. Steady State Low Intensity Aerobic Training
This is just random activity, such as going for a walk in the park. It won’t burn a lot of calories or increase muscle or EPOC.
There isn’t very much research showing that low intensity aerobic training actually results in very much additional fat loss, but you’re gonna have to really work to convince me that moving more is going to hurt you when you’re in fat attack mode.
3. High Intensity Aerobic Interval Training
The next tool we’ll pull out is essentially a lower intensity interval method where we use aerobic intervals.
Two weeks of High-Intensity Aerobic Interval Training increases the capacity for fat oxidation during exercise in women.
This study looked at high-intensity aerobic interval training and its influence on fat oxidation. In summary, seven sessions of HIIT over two weeks induced marked increases in whole body and skeletal muscle capacity for fatty acid oxidation during exercise in moderately active women.
In layman’s terms, the interval work appeared to “up-regulate” fat burning enzymes.
This means we can burn more fat in other activities as a result of this inclusion. In other words, we get a bit more bang for our buck.
In other words, substrate utilization during exercise isn’t really an important variable in the big picture of fat loss. Total calories burned overall is.
If you have just 3 hours per week, use only #1 above: Metabolic Resistance Training.
This can be three, one-hour training sessions, or four 45-minute training sessions. It doesn’t seem to matter.
This type of training involves such things as barbell complexes, supersets, tri-sets, circuits, EDT work, and kettlebell or dumbbell combos.
Once you’re getting three hours per week of total body resistance training, in my experience I haven’t seen an additional effect in terms of fat loss by doing more. My guess is that, at that point, recovery starts to become a concern and intensity is impaired.
If you have 3-5 hours, use #1 and # 2: Weight Training plus HIIT work.
At this point, any additional work is usually in the form of high intensity interval training. I’m looking to burn up more calories and continue to elevate EPOC.
Interval training is like putting your savings into a high return investment account. Low intensity aerobics is like hiding it under your mattress. Both will work, but the return you get is radically different.
If you have 5-6 hours available, add #3: Aerobic Interval Training.
Aerobic interval training wins out at this point because it’s still higher intensity overall than steady state work, so it burns more calories. There appears to be a fat oxidation benefit and will still be easier to recover from than additional anaerobic work.
If you have 6-8 hours available, add #4.
If you’re not losing a lot of fat with six hours of training already, then I’d be taking a very close look at your diet. If everything is in place, but we just need to ramp up fat loss some more, then we’ll add in some hard cardio — a long run or bike ride with heart rate at 75% of max or higher.
Why not do as much of this as possible then? Well, the goal is to burn as many calories as we can without negatively impacting the intensity of our higher priority activities.
If you have even more time than that, add # 5.
Of course, I’m getting into fairy tale land at this point. I don’t think most of us have more than eight hours of training time available per week. But if we do, this is when any additional activity will help to burn up calories, which is never a bad thing.
A lot of fighters have used this activity to help make weight. This works because it burns up calories but doesn’t leave you tired for your strength training, sparring, or technical work.
That’s the key with the addition of this activity; just to move, get your body moving, and burn up some additional calories — but not to work so hard that it inhibits recovery and negatively affects our other training.
The research and the real world don’t really show massive changes from the inclusion of this type of activity. However, I think everything has its place. Remember, this is a hierarchy of training, and this is fifth on the list for a reason.
Smart guys call this NEAT: Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. I call it “moving a wee bit more than normal.”
Keep in mind that all I’ve said here is that harder training works better than easier training. It really is that simple.
Attack body fat with a passion and a single-minded goal. The best way to do this is with an all-out assault implementing the hierarchy described above.
Attack your body fat with a massive action plan for the next eight weeks and get a head start on your goals and resolutions finally !
Posted in Training
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Though physicals and screenings are the best ways to catch signs and symptoms of cancer, you can be aware of changes in your own body that require action. Signs and symptoms will vary based on the location of the cancer, its size and whether it has spread. The American Cancer Society (ACS) reports on many common cancers worldwide. Some common cancers in the U.S., depending upon your sex and ethnic group, include skin, prostate, breast, lung and colorectal cancer.
Educate yourself on what to watch for today. The ACS warns that cancer may cause symptoms such as fever, fatigue or weight loss. Of course, these same symptoms may be from other conditions, so talk to your doctor to be safe. He will look for the signs of cancer during your exam. Also, while cancer cells may form a tumor that creates pain or noticeable symptoms, some cancers do not create noticeable symptoms until they are advanced.
Contact your doctor immediately to have the following symptoms diagnosed: a change in bowel or bladder habits; a sore that will not heal; thickening or a lump in a body part; unusual bleeding or discharge; indigestion or difficulty swallowing; change in a wart or mole; nagging cough/hoarseness; and unplanned weight changes.
Screenings can help doctors find some cancers in the early stages, when treatment is usually more effective. At 40 years of age and older, a woman can receive vital information when she has a mammogram performed every one or two years. To stay safe, you should receive routine pap smears in your twenties, or when you begin sexual activity. Between exams, seek medical attention for pelvic pain, as well as unexpected bleeding or discharges. If you are over 50, ask your physician about colorectal screening.
Physicians and health organizations provide information on specific cancers. For example, request a mole checklist to see if you need dermatological care. If you have been a smoker, review the symptoms of lung cancer. If you have signs or symptoms of a possible cancer, a combination of exams, lab tests and imaging can contribute to your diagnosis. Early detection and treatment helps reduce cancer deaths, so look, listen and feel for common cancer symptoms, and ask your doctor about screenings.
Posted in Training
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
Maintaining a healthy weight is important to help prevent diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Being overweight puts you at greater risk for many medical conditions and can create unnecessary stress on the joints. Losing weight is hard work and should be done slowly so the body can adapt to the changes. Unless you are under a doctor’s care, you should not lose more then 1 to 2 lbs. per week. This is a safe amount of weight that will allow your body to slowly adjust to the changes and you will be more successful at keeping it off. Losing any more weight then that can lead to severe health problems. You need to make sure you are eating a well balanced diet in order to maintain good overall health.
Your body needs protein to survive. It is a major component of all cells, including muscle and bone. You need it for healthy growth, development and to strengthen your immune system in order to fight off infections. If you do not get enough protein in your diet, your body will begin to break down the muscles and other organs to get it. So you end up not losing fat but actually harming your body. The second problem is that when you gain the weight back, it is usually in the form of fat rather than regaining the lost muscle.
If your diet is deficient in calcium and vitamin D, you are putting yourself at risk for osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a condition where the bones become frail and are more susceptible to fractures. Fractures can happen due to a fall, however you can also develop small compression fractures in your spine from just bending or moving the wrong way. Another issue is that osteoporosis may be present without any symptoms. You only know if you have it by getting a bone density test. So while you may be losing weight, you may also be unknowingly loosing bone and may need to go on medication to rebuild it.
Your heart is responsible for pumping blood and oxygen throughout your body. When you gain or lose weight, your heart must adjust to accommodate more or less body weight. Since your heart is a muscle, rapid weight loss or constantly losing and then gaining weight can place a lot of stress on your heart. As your weight changes so does your blood pressure and heart rate. You may also experience irregular heart rhythms and eventually heart failure. It is actually better for your heart to maintain a set weight then to continually gain and lose weight.
Most people who try rapid weight loss programs usually end up gaining the weight back, and sometimes they gain back more then they lost. Since rapid weight loss programs severely restrict your diet, they are not something you can stay on for long periods. Many people end up feeling deprived. Inadequate nutrition can also leave you feeling tired, moody, depressed and anxious. Eventually this will lead to not only breaking the diet, but binging on the foods that have been restricted. You may end up giving up on your program completely and returning to unhealthy patterns of overeating.
To successfully and safely lose weight and keep it off takes hard work and commitment. You need a combination of diet and exercise and a gradual change in lifestyle habits. You need to develop an eating plan that will not only be for 6 or 8 weeks, but one that lasts for years and even for the rest of your life. If you are unsure of where to begin, consider seeing a Registered Dietitian (RD) as a start. Though I personally believe that most RD’s recommended diets are too high in carbohydrates, it is most likely going to be a better diet than the one an overweight person is currently on. Maybe even seek out a qualified personal trainer who is qualified in nutition and nutritional counsiling as a way to begin a new life long eating regimine.
Posted in Training
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
Seems like every other week a new story pops up about the health effects of caffeine, sometimes bad, sometimes good. The most current research suggests that there is no cause and effect relationship between drinking coffee and getting rheumatoid arthritis. In the case of osteoarthritis, research has mainly focused on bone loss, and so far, moderate coffee drinkers seem to be safe. So feel free to have that cup of coffee or tea today. But remember that moderation is the key. Just because no relationship has been established today doesn’t mean it might not be there tomorrow.
Moderation is still called for if you’re a coffee drinker who uses methotrexate. While research results have been mixed, there is some evidence that caffeine blocks methotrexate’s prime function, which is to direct one of the body’s naturally occurring anti-inflammatory agents to inflamed areas. You may also want to limit your caffeine intake if you use acetaminophen to treat your arthritis symptoms, especially if you use the extra-strength variety that has caffeine as one of its ingredients. This excess of caffeine could lead to liver or kidney damage. Combining coffee and corticosteroids is also a questionable practice, as you may find it causes or increases your incidence of insomnia.
Sure, coffee stains your teeth and might leave you sleepless, but it’s not without merit. Antioxidants in coffee may reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, gallstones, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. And in a surprising development, drinking four or more cups of coffee a day appears to lessen your risk of developing gout, an acute and exceedingly painful arthritic condition that attacks peripheral joints—especially the big toe.
We tend to equate caffeine with coffee, but many other beverages contain large quantities of it. For example, one cup of green tea has about 50 milligrams of caffeine and 80 to 100 milligrams of polyphenol, an antioxidant. Early research indicates that green tea benefits arthritis by reducing inflammation and slowing cartilage breakdown. Those studies were done on brewed tea, so dosages need to be established for capsules. But if you like tea, it’s just as easy to brew a cup each day.
Although coffee or other caffeinated beverages may have some benefits, too often they become our drug of choice when we feel tired. And no matter what new research favors or opposes the relationship between arthritis and the consumption of caffeinated beverages, there’s just no question that caffeine is a stimulant that keeps you from getting a decent night’s sleep. Sleep is good for everyone, but if you have arthritis in any of its myriad forms, it’s absolutely essential that you get adequate rest. So if you want to drink coffee or tea, do so in moderation.
Posted in Training
Friday, April 10th, 2009
8 basic diet tips
1. Drink plenty of water each day: Water to keep your cells hydrated and protected, to eliminate waste and ensure the health of your mucus membranes. Adequate hydration will improve a number of health problems. Drink more water and less sugar soda, or juice. Coffee is okay as is tea as long as it’s unsweetened tea.
Your body cannot adequately eliminate waste products without enough water. Especially with fiber intake, so water is that much more essential. We need to keep that fiber moving! Which bring me to my next tip…
2. Eat plenty of vegetables! Vegetables are very high in fiber, vitamin C, folic acid and minerals. They provide you with many health benefits. I also highly believe that the amount of work it takes to break down those fibrous veggies increases your metabolism!
-Fiber in vegetables slows the absorption of fat and toxins. One of the best ways to lose weight is to eat plenty of fiber. Eating adequate fiber can help normalize cholesterol levels and blood pressure too!
-Vegetables nourish the lining of the GI tract, produce vitamins and inhibit yeast and other undesirable organisms.
-Vegetables speed up bowel transit time, and reduces bowel toxicity!
-Vegetables contain folic acid, which is necessary to produce serotonin (preventing depression and overeating)! Also very important for pregnant women.
-The minerals in vegetables help prevent osteoporosis and help with muscle contraction. Most major functions of the body are dependent on minerals.
-Eating vegetables can reduce the instance of cancer and heart disease, increase your energy and mental clarity, reduce the problems caused by bowel and liver toxicity, and help reduce the symptoms of allergies, asthma, arthritis, skin problems, digestive problems, sinusitis, chronic pain and many other health problems. The list goes on and on…. That is why veggies are FREE in my meals.
-Eating vegetables helps bring vitamins and minerals to our bodies, aids in digestion, fills us up, and helps to alkalize the body amound many other pluses. Corn, peas and potatoes don’t count as vegetables, they are starches. Fruit is also good for you; it is a good source of vitamin C and fiber. Best to eat whole fruit than the fruit juices… when you drink just the juice you miss out on the fiber and you end up getting a lot more sugar, bad sugar than if you just ate the apple.
3. Avoid deep fried food, Trans fats, partially hydrogenated oil and hydrogenated oil. Hydrogenation is the food industry’s way of turning liquid oils into solid fats. This gives packaged foods a longer shelf life than if they were made with natural oils. Hydrogenation produces trans fats, which have been linked to a number of health problems such as cancer, pain and inclammation, heart disease, immune system problems, possibly ADD and depression,Muscle fatigue and skin problems. Remember, Not all fats are bad for you. Good fats include raw nuts, nut butters, virgin or extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, and avocados. Get rid of canola oil, it’s unhealthy in the long term of its use.
4. Avoid refined sugar. Refined sugar increases insulin and adrenal hormone production and can cause Increased production of adrenal hormones, the body’s need for vitamins B and C, issues with emotional stress, stress on the adrenal glands, feed yeast which causes them to multiply and produce toxins, blood sugar swings and cravings, insulin insensitivity (adult onset diabetes), high cholesterol, pain and inflammation worse, aggravate allergies, sinusitis, asthma, irritable bowel, Candidas, migraine headaches, fatigue, depression and even heart disease.
WOW, WHAT A LIST….
5. Avoid refined carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates are grains that have had the fiber, vitamin E, B vitamins, bran and germ removed. Meaning the nutrients have been removed and you are left with the crappy part of the carbohydrate. They create all of the same health problems created by refined sugar!! If you see ENRICHED FLOUR, run for your life… all the good stuff has been removed and bad stuff is added to give it shelf life.
Refined carbohydrates fill you up temporarily-but not with the good for you vitamins and minerals. This stresses your digestive system and your endocrine system. Eating refined carbohydrates uses up existing vitamins and minerals. (ex: white bread, white rice, and pasta). If a product is NOT labeled whole grain. Read the labels on bread. Brown-colored bread labeled wheat bread isn’t usually whole wheat. If the label says enriched, white flour on it you’re not getting a whole grain. Also, use brown rice instead of white rice.
6. Avoid processed foods and chemical additives: Avoid processed foods and chemicals. Processed things that are not in their most natural state are to be avoided. Some examples are, cereals, cookies, cakes and baked goods, tortillas and most breads should be avoided, pasta, soda’s and juices as they are just white table sugar poured into water for you all to drink… dump it !! All these baked goods and sugary drinks have so many chemicals and perservatives to help them from spoiling and so they have a long shelf life…. no good !! If you want a cereal go for oatmeal or oatbran, healthy, full of fiber and satisfying. Great for diets unlike the sugared cereals.
7. Eat slowly, chew your food thoroughly. Your saliva has enzymes that facilitate digestion. Also, it is easier to digest small particles than large ones. Not chewing well stresses your digestive system and can lead to poor absorption of nutrients, digestive problems like gas and bloating and promote the growth of harmful bacteria in the digestive tract.
8. Never skip meals: Skipping meals stresses your adrenal glands. If you are trying to lose weight, not eating is a poor strategy because your metabolism will slow down to accommodate the reduction in calories. As a result you become fatigued and will ultimately gain weight. REMEMBER: Think of your system as a furnace and the food as coals. The more coals you put into your system the hotter it gets and the more it burns! This is your metabolism, take care of it !!!
Shannan
Posted in Training
Monday, April 6th, 2009
Most regular runners can tell you when they reach that perfect equilibrium of speed and comfort. The legs are loose, the heart is pumping and it feels like you could run at this pace forever.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison now have an explanation for this state of running nirvana, and we can thank our ancestors and some evolutionary biology for it.
For years, it has been thought that humans have a constant metabolic energy rate. It was assumed that you would require the same total energy to run one mile, no matter if you ran it in 5 minutes or 10 minutes. Even though your energy burn rate would be higher at faster speeds, you would get there in half the time.
Turns out, however, that each person has an optimal running pace that uses the least amount of oxygen to cover a given distance. The findings, by Karen Steudel, a zoology professor at Wisconsin, and Cara Wall-Scheffler of Seattle Pacific University, are detailed in latest online edition of the Journal of Human Evolution.
Steudel’s team tested both male and female runners at six different speeds on a treadmill while measuring their oxygen intake and carbon dioxide output. As expected, each runner had different levels of fitness and oxygen use but there were ideal speeds for each runner that required the least amount of energy.
Overall, the optimal speeds for the group were about 8.3 mph (about a 7:13 minutes per mile) for males and 6.5 mph (9:08 min/mile) for females.
The most interesting finding: At slower speeds, about 4.5 mph (13 min/mile), the metabolic efficiency was at its lowest. Steudel explains that at this speed, halfway between a walk and a jog, the runner’s gait can be awkward and unnatural.
“What that means is that there is an optimal speed that will get you there the cheapest,” Steudel says.
So, why is a zoology professor studying running efficiency? Steudel’s previous work has tried to build a theory of why our early ancestors evolved from moving on four limbs to two limbs, also known as bipedalism. She has found that human walking is a more efficient method of getting from point A to point B than on all fours. It might also have been an advantage for hunting.
This latest research could offer some more clues of how we moved on to running. Steudel explains, "This is a piece in the question of whether walking or running was more important in the evolution of the body-form of the genus Homo."
Interesting stuff–
Shannan
Posted in Training
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