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Archive | Health and Fitness

12 July 2010 ~ 0 Comments

Are you a Cardioholic – Part 2 – the Signs of Addiction

Following on from last week’s post – I don’t want to give the idea that I see lots of exercise as a negative.  I am all for lots of exercise, just as I am all for healthy eating.  However, becoming obsessed with what you do and do not eat, or becoming obsessed with exercising are still obsessions, still addictions.

  “…it can become a compulsion, an obsessive need to work out multiple times a day, hours at a time at the  utmost intensity your body allows”, says Susan Moore, the program coordinator at the Renfrew Center, a treatment facility  for eating disorders in Philadelphia.

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27 June 2010 ~ 2 Comments

Vegan Diet versus Diabetic Diet

From and article on WebMD (Oct 2008) and a more recent article in the IDEA magazine it would seem that studies show that a vegan diet may do a better job of reducing cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients than a diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

In the 2008 study, participants followed either a low-fat, low-glycemic vegan diet or guidelines prescribed by the ADA – for 22 weeks. All 99 participants had Type 2 Diabetes . Both men and women participated.

The study focused on two primary measures:

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07 June 2010 ~ 3 Comments

Staying Young While Growing Old

Hiking near San Diego

What do you think keeps you from staying young, as you get older?    Besides the too obvious answer of “age”……!   

Stop and think a little.  The answer I am heading toward may surprise you – in a word muscle tissue (OK that’s two words).  And it is the lack of muscle tissue that makes the aging process more pronounced.  Less muscle means lower metabolism since muscle tissue requires energy and calories to maintain itself, while fat needs much less.   More muscle means a leaner look since muscle takes up less space than fat.

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24 April 2010 ~ 0 Comments

Mind over Matter Revisited

More on how to change your attitude! A University of Chicago Booth School of Business research study had one group of participants visualizing eating an unpleasant food and the other group visualizing avoiding the unpleasant food. You guessed it – the first group formed a more favorable opinion of the food, the second group, nothing. Seems we are hardwired to equate avoidance with discomfort so the more you skip those hard-to-love-squats, the more you come to dislike them. By physically doing what you may dislike, you begin to change your attitude, because the brain equates taking action with a positive outcome. So either think about how much you love squats; or don’t think about them just do them!!

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16 February 2010 ~ 2 Comments

The 15-Minute Workout Routine – Part 1

Fifteen minute workouts!?
We are all pressed for time, and rather than skip a workout due to lack of time, it is great to have some exercises that we can simply do in less time and still feel that we got a good workout . I have taken the challenge to suggest such workouts, and will be blogging these suggestions for the time challenged over the next couple of weeks. The objective is to make the workouts shorter in duration and still be effective.

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19 January 2010 ~ 3 Comments

Women and Personal Trainers – Part 3 – When is it Time to ‘Fire’ your Trainer

In my previous blog post I discussed getting the most from your trainer; how to do it and what your responsibilities are as a client. So why are we talking about whether to end the relationship with the trainer? Fact is, like any relationship, things can feel ‘old and stale’, or we reach the point where we are no longer ‘feeling the love’. Though these generally apply to a male-female romantic relationship, the metaphor applies equally to the trainer-client relationship.
As women we are pretty sensitive and intuitive and can sense when things are ‘just not working’. If you are unsure of your instincts, then ask yourself the following questions:

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28 November 2009 ~ 0 Comments

How much Protein to include in your Diet?

Boy what an emotionally charged topic – with opinions all over the map.  The idea for this topic came to mind after I saw, in the space of a couple of days, radically opposing views on animal protein as a source of human nutrition.  On the one hand, an online body-building coach encourages high levels of animal protein along with lower levels of carbs and stated “don’t be afraid of the fat – butter, cheese, red meat etc.”   when one is keeping cards low.   This fits in with the many high protein diets that were all the rage for most of the last 6 or so years, and still are among many body-builders.  (And by the way the diets are not new just different; I recall early versions of them under the “high fat diets” of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, –  boy that seems like eons ago  –  and low to no carbs are standard diet procedure before a body-building contest.)   We know we need protein to feed our muscles, and the body-building approach is “more is better”.

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27 September 2009 ~ 1 Comment

Mud Runs

It is just what it sounds like  –  a grueling run through mud (not by accident) and a variety of obstacles.  The annual Mud Runs take place all over the US in Summer and Fall.  Here is a link to the search I just completed using Bing.  Google brings up a similar result.  Some are 5 miles or 10K (just over 6 miles).

Every year Camp Pendleton (in San Diego)  holds a variety of fitness activities that are open to the general public.  This includes Mud Runs –  more than one each year.  Below are some tips posted  on www.crossfitweekendwarriors.com earlier this year right before a Mud Run (June 10th ).  The tips are attributed to Ken Davis and give one a flavor of the challenge. Read on:

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12 April 2009 ~ 0 Comments

Brown Fat – What is it and how do you get it?

What a concept – if you have lots of brown fat you are a calorie burning machine!

Wait a minute – let’s look at all the facts.

  • Scientists have known about brown Adipose tissue (“brown fat”) for many years.  Didn’t think adults had it, until they recently found it in specific areas of the body.  Using PET-CT scans, the presence of brown fat in adults has been proven to exist. http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/10/brown.fat.obesity
  • Brown fat is activated in cold temperatures to burn calories for warmth.  So bundling up in the cold is unlikely to activate this tissue.
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