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Pass the Butter

June 28th, 2010

This is interesting . .. . Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back. It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings.. DO YOU KNOW.. The difference between margarine and butter? Both have the same amount of calories. Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams; compared to 5 grams for margarine. Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study. Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods. Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few and only because they are added! Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods. Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years . And now, for Margarine.. Very High in Trans fatty acids, increases risk of coronary heart disease, increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol), lowers quality of breast milk, decreases immune response and decreases insulin response! So , butter is the healthier choice, but use it sparingly if you are counting calories.

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Using a Triathlon Training Schedule

April 17th, 2010

Triathlon exercising schedules are quite crucial on the achievement with the triathlete. Exercising for this exceptionally demanding sport is serious company. The triathlete can’t afford to “just wing it” when it comes to her exercising. It does no good to encounter each day time acquiring the attitude of “do I really feel like education today?” The response to that issue is most oftentimes heading to get “no”.

Now, this doesn’t imply that you will be lazy or unmotivated if you wake up and feel that way. It means you happen to be weary and sore mainly because you are pushing your self far more than what the average individual does when it comes to day-to-day physical activity. You can also be mentally exhausted. Make no mistake about it, this is such hard stuff you’re executing. You’ve got to get mentally ready each and every bit as a lot as physically ready for the large occasion, and that requires a toll on your own psychology. It could also be that you might be stressed out in the event you begin to believe that you don’t really feel like training for your day. (Triathlon exercising is actually a great method to offer with stress however the stress we’re discussing may be the pressure you place on yourself because you want to cross the finish line as close to getting #1 as attainable).

This is the time when the triathlon coaching schedule would play its role. When you’ve planned out and written head-on your instruction schedule, it relieves you from creating decisions on how to go about your exercising, how much you will need to drive all by yourself for your morning, what you will need to consume, and just about anything associated with your coaching and conditioning. In case your exercising routine says you are proceeding to do a entire body excess weight resistance instruction, wind sprints, “brick” coaching, and so forth. then it will likely not be a problem in the event you “don’t feel like it” for this day.

The only real issue graver than not training whatsoever is as well significantly training, wherein you push by yourself more challenging due to the fact that’s what’s stated on the education timetable but then all of the sudden you wind up not getting in a position to swim even a lap or you can hardly stand up, allow alone operate. You will not be taking times off or giving by yourself light days merely since you are weary or disappointed when you could have a triathlon instruction routine as your guidepost. You will possess the discipline which will enable you to progress to one more degree.

But another crucial factor of your triathlon instruction schedule would be to prepare by yourself to be in major condition just from the time you’ll need to be most–the precise competition morning. Some triathletes have their entire coaching timetable mapped out a year ahead of time with the big morning! The notion is always to perform by yourself up to your optimum output possible step by action so that you are not training as well a lot, burned out, or injured; then making specific you might have oneself peaked for the real race; also give yourself sufficient rest after the competitors to put together oneself to the following function. You may have to have to perform with a coach if you’re new to triathlon training so he can help you get about the “perfect” schedule for you personally.

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Establishing Healthy Habits for Weight Loss

March 6th, 2010

If you lose weight for only how-you-look reasons, it won’t last. There has to be a bigger “why” inside of you. True; being unhappy with how we look is likely the biggest catalyst that makes us WANT to improve, but it won’t sustain the fire. Think back to the last big change you made in your life. Was it to go back to school? Did you seek a different job? Maybe you started budgeting your money better? It has been said that almost every action is a response to seeking pleasure or avoiding pain. We have to want something badly enough to be willing to pay a price for it; we have to have some skin in the game. Regarding weight loss, will there be the pleasure of feeling and looking better or successfully avoiding the pain of feeling lousy and avoiding mirrors?
Create just one habit at a time…just a little thinking and a little working. You don’t need a complicated plan to start the snowball rolling down the mountain. Make one rule and make it your own.
• Don’t eat out for a month
• Pick one meal and make it a healthier alternative to what you’re eating now.
• Eat a vegetable or salad with lunch and dinner.
• Only eat whole-food snacks such as fruit.
• Have one protein shake per day as a snack.
• Don’t have seconds at dinner.
• Pick one late-night snack only and stick to it.

Soon you see the old habits fade and you won’t miss them! The new habit is simply standard operating procedure. You’ll see a little success and that will motivate you for more. Success really does beget success and the brain actually responds positively to the change…to the pleasure you feel by being satisfied with your progress.
The first step really is the hardest. If you make that step smaller—remember, I’m asking for one change—you’re more likely to take it. When you realize good things are happening, you may just pick up another new habit. Your brain will cement those patterns in place, making it easier to integrate the new behavior, and you’re on your way!
Move a mountain one pebble at a time…one habit at a time.

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Colorful Foods Suport Anti-Aging & Health

December 25th, 2009

For energy, fitness and all round anti aging health you need color in your diet. They don’t just look good on the plate – colorful foods do you good as well. Colorful food is good for you because each different color in the food relates to a different phyto-nutrient. Phyto-nutrients are simply nutrients derived from plants and different phyto-nutrients have different health and anti aging benefits.

A high level of antioxidants is the key to great anti aging nutrition. The best way to put together an antioxidant rich diet is to think primary colors when you shop for your fruit and vegetables. The more colorful and vibrant the better.

You probably already know that green veggies are important for your health. But you may not realize just how packed with good things leafy greens are. Green foods are full of chlorophyll and magnesium which is vital for the nerves, muscles and for balancing hormones.

Yellow foods such as sweetcorn and yellow bell peppers are rich in carotenoids – powerful antioxidants that protect you from damaging free radicals.

Mustard and the yellow spice turmeric are both rich in the pigment curcumin which is an especially powerful phytonutrient known to fight cancer and to reduce inflamation.

Inflammation is the most common cause of some of the worst diseases associated with aging.

Not only that but inflammation is cited by skin experts and dermatologists as the major factor in skin aging. Packing your diet with natural anti inflammatories like phytonutrients is important in keeping your youthful looks for longer.

Orange and red foods often derive their color from carotenoids such as beta carotene. Tomatoes and watermelon are rich in another carotenoid called lycopene. All these carotenoids are extremely strong antioxidants which fight skin aging and help to keep you looking younger and in the best of health.

Best sources of carotenoids are foods such as apricots, peaches, melons, watermelon, papaya, mango, carrots and tomatoes.

Beetroot, red grapes and berries get their red, blue and purple hues from a group of phytonutrients called flavonoids – hugely powerful antioxidants – some of them much more powerful than vitamin C.

Among the most powerful flavonoids are anthocyanidins which give the purple color to blueberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, acai berries and red grapes.

All these important phytonutrients each have a different role in the body and work together to keep you healthy.

So to be healthy and look younger as you get older – eat your way through a rainbow every day.

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Chewing

December 20th, 2009

Ever think about chewing your food properly? Read the following from Nutritionist Laura Rivkin:

We wait all day, thinking about what we are going to eat, yet when it comes time, we rush through the whole experience. We swallow our food practically whole, often while distracted, reading or watching television. In fact, we chew each bite an average of only eight times.

When it comes to increased health, it is not just what we eat, but how we eat. Digestion actually begins in the mouth, where food has its first chance to be broken down by the physical act of chewing and by its contact with the digestive enzymes contained in saliva. Saliva breaks down food in the mouth into simple sugars, creating a sweet taste. The more we chew, the sweeter our food becomes and the more we produce endorphins, the chemicals in our brains responsible for feeling good. Who thought that chewing could also help us reduce our cravings for sweets?

Chewing our food well maximizes assimilation, enabling  our bodies to absorb the nutrients in our food. It also increases our awareness of the food we are eating. When we are chewing well, we are more able to feel when we are full. In fact, chewing well can also eliminate digestive distress, promote healing and circulation, enhance our immunity, increase energy and endurance, improve skin health and stabilize weight. There are moving stories of concentration camp survivors who made it through the ordeal when others did not, due to chewing the meager amount of food they did have - up to 300 chews per bite of food!

Quiet can be confronting, with our constant mental diet of advertising, news, media, work and rush. Taking time with our meal, beginning with chewing, allows us to enjoy the whole experience of eating: the smells, the taste, the textures and our own anticipation. It helps us to give thanks, to show appreciation for the abundance we have in our lives and develops patience and self-control. For most of us 300 chews is pretty daunting and unrealistic. However, try chewing 30 chews per bite of food, and possibly, for the super challenge, to eat without reading or watching television. Rather than rushing through eating, what a shift it can be to savor and enjoy this thing we do all day, every day.

See Laura’s website at http://www.awholenewyou.org and put in your 30 chews!

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Overweight Kids

December 8th, 2009

Adolescents are the fastest-growing demographic sliding into worsening cultural weight gain and as a parent, it frankly saddens me. Last week I was at an 8 year old’s birthday party. About half of the kids were overweight. When it comes to the impact I’m talking about, research suggests not so much. Irreversible health damage and personality/behavioral change can be severe. When the Surgeon General issued the Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity in 2001, multiple health agencies collaborated to produce one of the greatest summaries I believe ever presented to Congress. Of the 10 critical facets colliding with our children, marketing, schools, public environment, and even the restaurant industry aren’t number one. We are. Parents are. Over 35% of food is now consumed outside the home, close to 80% of families are either single-parent or both-parents-working, and we live in a new era. When I was a boy my mom had to hunt for us to come in for lunch after we ran out the door in the morning. She had to call neighbors when it was dark to figure out where we were. Today we have to pull kids away from cell phones, computers, cable TV, and video games while picking up empty bags of potato chips and snacks. Think of all the variables that influence your children’s eating and activity. The only thing that loops them all together is you; the parent.

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How To Get Lean For Peak Performance

December 6th, 2009

There are lots of good books on endurance sports nutrition. But body weight and body composition are such major factors in endurance performance that they really deserve more attention.

Matt Fitzgerald has written  the first book exclusively focused on the issue of weight management for endurance athletes. That book, entitled Racing Weight: How to Get Lean and Fit for Peak Performance, has just been published. If you have ever struggled to reach and maintain your optimal racing weight, you’ll want to check it out.

Racing Weight is divided into three parts. Part I (“Finding Your Racing Weight”) covers the importance of being light and lean if you want to perform better and gives you some unique new tools to determine your own optimal performance weight and to track your progress toward it. In this section you will also find chapters that address seasonal considerations (which cover topics such as managing your weight during the off-season versus the competitive season), as well as sport-specific nutritional challenges, and tips for beginning endurance athletes.

Part II (“Five Steps to Your Racing Weight”) presents a five-step plan to get leaner and lighter in a way that maximizes performance and all-around health. Each step in the plan is based on the latest advances in the science of weight management, especially as they relate to endurance athletes, and on the practices that are proven to work best in the real world.

It common for endurance athletes, no matter how much they train, to be held back by excess body weight. If you are a triathlete, cyclist or runner, looking to continually improve, don’t overlook this issue.

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Buying a folding treadmill

December 5th, 2009

There may be a case when you want to buy a treadmill for use at home but you don’t have enough space to fit in a treadmill. Treadmills do require some floor area at your home. In such cases, it is best to go for a folding treadmill. Folding treadmills give you all the benefits of a treadmill in addition to saving your space. Folding treadmills can be tucked away neatly so that they do not occupy too much space at home and you can always unfold them when you need them again. So this is like getting the best of both worlds.

There are a lot of fitness equipment companies which offer folding treadmills at competitive prices. Usually folding treadmills are more expensive than their non-folding counterparts but they have more utility as they can be kept in the corner of your house and they are very easy to move around as well. After completing a workout you can fold them up and put them aside. Now you can exercise in the comfort of your home without having to worry about the space which is occupied by fitness equipment such as treadmills. After getting folded up they can cut their footprint to more than half of what they usually occupy thereby saving the precious floor media of the home without cluttering it. Folding treadmills are mainly used for walking, they are not meant for heavy use. You need a more stable frame for daily running.

Folding treadmills are becoming popular as people want equipment which they can use easily without having to step out of their home. There are all sorts of folding treadmills available in the market. There are models which folder automatically but those are more expensive ones and there are manual folding treadmills which you can fold up by your self. If you’re looking for the best folding treadmill, find out the latest model from the sources which could be online or off-line and check out the reviews. Perform folding treadmill is a popular choice among the fitness enthusiasts. If you find such treadmills expensive and a shot of money getting used folding treadmills may also be an option. There are a lot of places where you can find good deals on used folding treadmills, it could be your local dealer or the popular auction site like eBay

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Cut the Alcohol for Weight Loss

November 26th, 2009

A couple of weight lifter buddies of mine in college knew that beer was a means of excess calories that were just going to give their abs that flat affect. So they had decided to cut out all food for dinner and simply replace those calories with beer to continue to lose weight and get defined. All I can say is I would love to see their livers now. Guess what happened! Even though they cut out their night calories to make room for the beer calories, they could not budge the scale and their body fat percentage was actually increasing. What was going on here?

Basically it comes down to how the beer belly happens. Because of how alcohol is metabolized, shifts occur in the body’s ability to generate energy. When consuming alcohol, the cells make fatty acids and glycerol, the building blocks of fat. A metabolic shift to producing fat lends the body to store fat in most tissues, causing that beer belly. When it is all said and done, the liver processes most alcohol.  General alcohol consumption leads to synthesis of fat in the liver. The kidneys and lining of the heart can also accumulate lipids that interfere with their functioning.

So have you changed your eating habits and are still gaining weight? Well my question to you is how much alcohol are you are consuming?  It may come down to the simple calorie breakdown of alcohol.  Alcohol is seven calories per gram which makes it closer to fat at nine calories per gram compared to carbohydrates and proteins, which are four calories per gram. Just 12 ounces of beer, 1 ounces of hard liquor and 5 ounces of wine is 100 calories. A hundred extra calories a day beyond what you expend can lead to 10 pounds of weight gain a year. If you changed your eating habits, but are still topping off your day with a nice glass of wine, there is that extra 100 calories daily.

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Anti-Aging & Apples

October 18th, 2009

An apple a day…… This fruit is low in calories (about 80 calories each), rich in fiber including cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin and lignin (the latter is in the peel). It has numerous health benefits especially for those past middle age.

Quercetin found in apples is an important plant pigment flavonoids that serves as a building block for other members of the flavonoid family. Quercetin combats the “free radical” molecules that play a part in many diseases and aging. Including this fruit in your diet every day is a practical anti-aging diet activity.

In 2006 scientists from The Institute of Nutrition at Friedrich Schiller University in Germany found that “apple flavonoids modulate toxicological defense against colon cancer risk factors. In addition to the inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, this could be a mechanism of cancer risk reduction.”

Also, apples are one of the few fruits that provide ellagic acid which blocks the cancer causing effects of many pollutants including benzene compounds.

Apples have been shown to be effective in reducing others forms of cancer such as lung, breast cancer. Including apples,especially pesticide free or apples washed in special pesticide reducing solutions is a practical anti-cancer activity. And the Phytonutrients in the skin of apples have been shown to inhibit the growth of colon cancer cells by 43%

Studies show that 2 large apples a day causes a 16% drop in cholesterol levels. That is a much less expensive way to reduce your cholesterol - and you do not risk negative side effects of drugs. It appears that it is the high amount of pectin as well as the flavanoids in apples that makes for cholesterol reduction.

The pectin in this fruit has been shown to regulates blood sugar - even in insulin dependent diabetics.

If you have diarrheal it is helped by apple pectin. In fact pectin is an ingredient in over the counter anti-diarrheal aids.Boron a Osteopenia (thin bones) and Osteoporosis (porous bones) are the bane of aging.

Apples contain boron, a trace mineral essential to Strong bone. Researchers in England found that low boron was also associated with rheumatoid arthritis and some studies show the boron can help reduce the pain of osteoarthritis. Finally, boron is essential for mental alertness.

The Quercetin in apples is believed to reduce cancer risk - including prostrate cancer, prevent heart attacks, ward off cataracts and macular degeneration, control asthma, help with Crohn’s disease, prevent gout attacks, and help heal of recurrent heartburn.

Eat that apple (or 2) a day. Buy organic or from your local farm.

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Sugar and Testosterone

September 13th, 2009

Another reason to skip the Fruit Loops and have an omelette - sugary foods can cause testosterone levels to drop by as much as 25 percent, regardless of whether a man has diabetes or normal glucose tolerance. The new findings mean that men with low testosterone should have their hormone levels retested after they fast overnight, as eating may transiently lower them, say the researchers.

The findings were presented at The Endocrine Society’s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. “Both the incidence of low testosterone [hypogonadism] in men and the annual number of testosterone prescriptions are increasing, likely as a result of the obesity epidemic and our aging population,” said researcher Frances Hayes, an endocrinologist at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. “The decision to prescribe testosterone therapy is based on the result of a blood sample, so obtaining an accurate measurement of testosterone is key to making a correct diagnosis of hypogonadism.”

Current guidelines for evaluating men with hypogonadism recommend measuring blood levels of testosterone on two or more occasions in the morning, when testosterone is highest. However, no guidelines exist on when to draw a testosterone sample in relation to food intake.

Previous research showed that a high level of insulin, the hormone primarily secreted after eating, is related to low testosterone levels. Like eating, glucose intake causes blood glucose (sugar) levels to rise, which stimulates the secretion of insulin. In the new study, the researchers examined the impact of a standard dose of glucose on testosterone levels in 74 men.

The authors found that the glucose solution decreased blood levels of testosterone by as much as 25 percent, regardless of whether the men had diabetes, prediabetes or normal glucose tolerance.

Two hours after glucose administration, the testosterone level remained much lower than before the test in 73 of the 74 men, a statistically significant difference, the authors say. Of the 66 men who had normal testosterone levels before the test, 15 percent became hypogonadal at one or more time points during the test.

The results did not differ by changes in insulin levels, according to the study abstract. Other hormones that could change testosterone measurements also did not appear to affect results. “More research is needed to find the factor or factors responsible for this drop in testosterone,” Hayes noted

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Caffeine Before a Workout?

August 2nd, 2009

According to a recent article in the New York Times, the caffeine you get from your  Starbucks fix can help your workout by as much as 5%. People not used to drinking coffee can have some effects such as frequent urination, but the positive effects keep working. However, when ingesting too much caffeine, negative effects, like elevated heart rate,  can out-weigh any performance enhancing benefits. But if you’ve got a race coming up that you want to do well at, you might try a cup an hour before. The story also suggests no caffeine a week before for best results. Being a long time caffeine junkie, there is no way that I’m going to cut out coffee for a day, let alone a week.Do you use coffee before a workout now? If so, can you tell the difference?

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The Benefits of Triathlon Coaching

June 27th, 2009

Triathlon is sure one expensive sport, but the best investment can be a good coach. Triathlon requires a signifigant volume of training, and the integration of 3 different sports. Must of us settle for a shotgun approach and hope for the best. A coach will help design your training plan and help make your workouts effective. Bear in mind, that same as any fitness trainer, each triathlon coach has his/her own style, and  philosophy. You must talk with your coach,and discuss which workouts you like, which workouts you don’t like. You explain to them your time constraints and goals. It’s their job to take all the pieces of the puzzle and make them fit together. Your coach will know what workouts to emphasize, when to push you, when to back you off. Make sure your coach isn’t just churning out cookie-cutter programs. You want your program to be tailored to you.  The coach must be accessible, have solid credentials, and have a personality and approach that you are comfortable with. Your   program should fit your specific needs and cover all areas of training. What if you have a bad training day and your motivation to train is nil? Your coach should provide you the motivation to get you back out the door the next day. Your training plan should help you meet your goals. As long as you follow the prescribed plan the program should work for you. If it doesn’t, sit down with the coach and ask questions. You are paying for expertise, so you should get answers. Do your research, ask questions and select the right coach for you. Follow the plan. You need to work with the plan that you and your coach have designed. Have you wrked with a coach? Or do you think “I don’t like having someone tell me what to do”?

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Strength and Cycling

June 19th, 2009

More endurance athletes are adding strength training to their workouts. Their is no doubt about the health benefits of strength training, but does it help with performance of endurance based sports? After all, the more force that you can generate during running or cycling, the faster you will go. However, strength training does not seem to directly have an impact on endurance performance. Cycling or running is primarily an aerobic sport that usually spans  several minutes to many hours.. Time durations of around 4 minutes or more are mostly aerobic in nature, such that ~70% of the workload is generated through aerobic pathways.

Studies done by Jones and Carter (2000) state, “there are 4 key parameters of aerobic fitness that affect the nature of the velocity-time curve that can be measured in the human athlete”. They identify these parameters as “maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max), exercise economy, the lactate/ventilatory threshold and oxygen uptake kinetics”. Furthermore, they identify secondary factors, these being velocity at VO2 max (V-VO2 max), and maximal lactate steady state/critical power. Accordingly, strength is not considered to be an important or a considered part of endurance training.

Coyle et al. (1991) compared two groups of cyclists (elite and state class), and showed that 1 hour average power output was highly correlated to VO2 at blood lactate threshold (1mmol increase over baseline exercise rate). Coyle et al., found a greater percentage of type I fibres (slow-twitch, as opposed to fast twitch, type II fibres) and a greater muscle capillary density within the elite riders, compared to the state class riders.

Strength training does not stimulate capillary growth or develop mitochondria. Conversely, endurance training increases type I fibres, capillary density and mitochondrial volume (Åstrand and Rodahl, 1986).

Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) and peak oxygen uptake (VO2 peak) are defined as “the point at which oxygen consumption plateaus, and shows no further increases with an additional workload”. As VO2max/peak show an “individual’s capacity for aerobic energy transfer” and is “one of the more important factors that determines one’s ability to sustain high-intensity exercise for longer than 4 or 5 minutes”  the forces required to reach VO2max are well below those for maximal force and strength requirements.

If you are a runner, cyclist, or triathlete, keep lifting! Strength training, especially core exercises can prevent injury, and help maintain proper form. If you are an endurance athlete, do you lift? In the off season only?
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Should Professional Athletes Be Allowed to use Blood Doping?

June 14th, 2009

Blood doping  is the intravenous infusion of blood to produce an increase in the blood’s oxygen carrying capacity. It is a procedure that begins with a volume of a person’s blood being withdrawn, usually several weeks before a key competition. The blood is then centrifuged and the plasma components are immediately reinfused while the remaining red blood cells are placed in cold storage. The RBC’s are then reinfused back into the body, usually 1 to 7 days before a high endurance event. If done correctly, this process can increase the hemoglobin level and RBC count by up to 20%.

Blood doping is banned by the governing bodies of athletic competition. Do you think that this should be allowed? There are no controlled substances involved (EPO, steriods, etc), and it is difficult to detect. I think that it should be considered. If the pros are allowed to use some performance enhancing methods, maybe the use of performance enhancing drugs will be discouraged.

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