Workout and Diet Advice for Women over 45

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:

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.

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!!

A slightly unusual blog post today – Allergies and new theories around them.  People in developing countries don’t have all the allergies and autoimmune diseases that we have.  So what is different?  One view that seems to be gaining support is that have created such a ‘clean’ environment around us and in our bodies, that we have gotten rid of even  the beneficial parasites? 

 I just read and report on where the scientific community is going  –  you can make up your own minds!

But check out a couple of websites……

Celiac Disease and Hook Worm Trials in Australia

In Parts 1, 2 and 3, I covered the leg workout, the chest and front delts workout, and the back and rear delts workout respectively, that I do in 15-20 minutes.  I add in 15 minutes to warm up and stretch, so in 30 minutes I can get a good workout when I am pressed for time.

This is part 4, and the final of the four-part series.  And to reiterate  –  the split I use may seem  a little unusual, though by now I suspect some of you are waiting anxiously for the final part.   I split the upper body into back, chest and arms and I split the shoulders over three days as well, so that I do some shoulders on each of the upper body days.  Any and all feedback on this routine is welcomed.

In Parts 1 and 2, I covered  the leg workout and the chest and front delts workout that I do in 15-20 minutes.  I add in 15 minutes to warm up and stretch, so in 30 minutes I can get a good workout when I am pressed for time.

This is part 3 of the four-part series.  And to reiterate  –  the split I use may seem  a little unusual, though by now some of you are really warming to it.  I split the upper body into back, chest and arms and I split the shoulders over three days as well, so that I do some shoulders on each of the upper body days.  I admit that I did not develop this routine; I was lucky enough to have a trainer share it with me.  I look forward to your feedback on this routine.

In Part 1, I outlined the leg workout that I do in 15-20 minutes.  I add in 15 minutes to warm up and stretch, so in 30 minutes I can get a good workout when I am pressed for time.

This is part 2 of the four-part series.  And some may find the split I use to be a little unusual.  I split the upper body into back, chest and arms and I split the shoulders over three days as well, so that I do some shoulders on each of the upper body days.  I almost hesitated to share this workout  – I have kept this little gem a secret for so long.  I also will admit that I did not develop this routine; I was lucky enough to have a trainer share it with me.  I look forward to your feedback on this routine.

In the LA Times Business section last weekend, Michael Hiltzik had a really interesting article, that anyone considering lap-band surgery should read.  A cautionary tale about selecting your surgeon/clinic carefully.  Read More

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.

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: