Sticking to your workout

Here's a good article that appeared in Men's Health, written by Adam Campbell on how to stick to your workout.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Switch your training partners
Working out with a partner who will hold you accountable for showing up at the gym works well—for a while. But the more familiar you are with the partner, the easier it becomes to back out of workout plans. "Close friends and family members don't always make the best training partners because they may allow you to slack off or cancel workouts," says Jacqueline Wagner, C.S.C.S., a trainer in New York City. To keep this from happening, find a new, less forgiving workout partner every few months.

I think what happens if you workout with someone that you don't know, you get self-conscious, but that can actually motivate you because you don't want the other person to think you're a slacker. So, you end up not only showing up for every workout, but you also workout at a nice high intensity.

Here's another one:

Think about fat
Your body is storing and burning fat simultaneously, but it's always doing one faster than the other. "Understanding that you're getting either fatter or leaner at any one time will keep you body-conscious so you won't overeat or underexercise," says Alwyn Cosgrove, C.S.C.S., owner of Results Fitness Training in Santa Clarita, California.

I would also add that it's important not to undereat and overexercise. You need fuel in order to burn fat, at the same time, you need recovery time in order for your body to repair the muscles you destroyed during the workout. It's all about finding that balance.

Last one:

Plan your workouts in advance
At the start of each month, schedule all of your workouts at once, and cross them off as they're completed. For an average month, you might try for a total of 16 workouts. If any are left undone at the end of the month, tack them on to the following month. And make sure you have a contingency plan for bad weather and unscheduled meetings. "You're about 40 percent more likely to work out if you have strategies to help you overcome these obstacles," says Rod Dishman, Ph.D., an exercise scientist at the University of Georgia.

Would you build a house without a plan written out first? No. That's why you need a plan to reach your fitness goals. Layout a workout for a full month and you've got a plan. Just make sure you follow it!

Oh, can't get away without posting another picture of the new addition to my family:



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Weekend

Sorry folks. Didn't get chance to research for today's blog. Will be able to in the next couple of days. Been dealing with this new precious little puppy all weekend long. You know how it goes.

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Free Friday

Things have been rather crazy the last couple of days with something that I've been preparing so it's a free friday on the blog.

Have a good weekend and come back on Monday when I return.

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Children and Diabetes

This really shouldn't come as a surprise but, the number of children being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes is at an alarming rate:

In another sign of the alarming childhood obesity epidemic in the United States, researchers report a 200 percent increase in the number of children hospitalized for type 2 diabetes.

Just a reminder about what exactly Type 2 diabetes is:

Type 2 diabetes, which used to be called adult onset diabetes because it was rarely seen in children, is typically diagnosed in patients who are overweight. Left untreated, it can lead to such complications as heart disease, blindness, nerve damage and kidney damage.

When most kids were diagnosed with diabetes, it was the type 1 version, which is the result of genetics mostly. Type 2 diabetes is mainly caused by diet, a very poor diet. The comparison in this study between both types in kids is startling:

They found that rates of hospitalization for type 1 diabetes increased 15 percent between 1997 and 2003, while rates of hospitalizations for type 2 diabetes increased 200 percent.

So the big question is, what steps can parents take to help prevent their child(ren) from getting type 2 diabetes?

First, parents need to realize that they have to change their own health behavior before they can really effectively change their child's. If you as a parent have your cupboards stocked with junk food, eat out more than once a week, and don't exercise, then how is your child supposed to live a healthy lifestyle if you yourself aren't providing an environment that encourages that?

Here's some tips:

- Make eating healthy a family goal, where everyone is going to do it. Go through every spot in your house and throw out any and all junk food.
- Stay away from fast food. Enough said.
- Go out and get some family exercise. Play catch with your kid, walk the dog, teach your child games that you used to play as a kid (kick the can comes to mind).
- Limit your's and your child television time. Let's say no more than an hour at night before they go to bed.
- On the same note, limit the time your child spends in front of a computer or playing video games. The goal is, limit tv, internet, and other computer games and exchange that with outdoor games where your child is getting exercise and not even knowing it.

These are just some suggestions and should give you a starting point. Just taking these easy steps can help reduce the chances of health problems our children.

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Turkey Chili

I know. I'm a little late on this considering it's spring and normally chili is a winter thing but, this recipe can be used during any season. It's quick to make, very very tasty and very easy to make. Give it a try. You'll love it.

Turkey Chili

Ingredients:

· 1 pound of lean ground turkey
· 1 can (14 oz) Mexican-style diced tomatoes
· 1 can (15 ½ oz) black beans (drained and rinsed)
· 1 can (14 oz) whole kernel sweet corn (drained)
· 1 package (1 ½ oz) dried chili mix
· ¼ cup water

Cooking:

1. Brown the turkey over medium-high heat.
2. Drain grease from pan.
3. Add everything else and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

Nutritional Info:

· Feeds 4 people
· Per serving:
o 305 calories
o 35 grams of protein
o 34 grams of carbohydrates
o 4 grams of fat


Source: Men’s Health January/February 2001

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Eating Before Working Out

Earlier this week, a friend of mine said that her son was getting headaches and overall just not feeling well after his track practice. I told her that he should have a little something in his stomach before track practice and that should cure the problem. Sure enough, that did it.

Had the same situation occur last night in my kickboxing class. It was a pretty intense class and one student came up to me afterwards and said "ya know, it's amazing how much more energized you are with just having a banana before class."

I know there's a myth out there that working on an empty stomach will result in burning more of your body fat.

The reality is that the majority of the calories you burn during the workout is from carbohydrates from food and glucose in your blood, liver, and muscle. The reason for this is because those sources turn into the energy that you need for the activity that you're performing more quickly than converting body fat into that energy.

Don't get depressed about that. If your workout is intense enough, then after the workout your body goes into fat burning mode in order to repair muscle, build muscle, build up the bone mineral density in your bones, repair your nervous system, etc.

So by having a little bit to eat before you workout will give you the extra energy to keep the intensity up which will then result in more fat being burned AFTER the workout.

What to eat and how much? Well , don't make it a seven course meal. Just something like a quick shot of an energy drink, maybe a protein bar, a banana, a granola bar, something that has a little bit of protein, a moderate amount of carbs, and a minimal amount of dietary fat.

I'm going to say it again. Be more concerned about the intensity of your workout so you'll burn more calories AFTER the workout, not during the workout and getting a little bit of food in your body before the workout is going to help you keep that intensity up.

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Quick! Forget Everything I Told You!!

Okay, not really. But this may turn into more of an entertaining rant rather than an objective perspective on the issue.

This article talks about something that appears to be gaining a little bit of traction among various populations. I wouldn't necessary call it widespread but, it's getting more and more attention.

It's called CR: Calorie Restriction. But it's not just your run of the mill calorie restriction that is in normal diets. This is a more extreme calorie restriction to almost the point of starvation, sort of (more on that later).

The theory behind CR is that it has been shown to extend lives in various animals. Test on humans is just starting. The article goes on to say:

The mechanism by which calorie restriction slows aging in animals isn't yet understood. But it seems to depend on these basic mechanics: When you eat less than you need, your metabolism slows down. Your heart rate ebbs, your temperature drops. It's an evolutionary response meant to help us survive during famines (and it explains why some dieters have such difficulty losing weight).

I'll admit that I like that piece about how it may explain why dieters have difficulty losing weight when restricting calories too much. I think I preach that quite a bit that too low of a calorie restriction is not going to help with fat loss.

The author of this article is a former anorexic and ask this basic question and then moves on to try and get explanations of it throughout the rest of the article:

When I was being treated, my doctors invoked my low metabolism as a catchall for the physical damage I was doing. My low heart rate, amenorrhea (the loss of my period), and the goose bumps I got in 70-degree weather were all signs of illness. So, how can something that is a symptom of disease in one person be a marker of good health in another?

It also bears to mention that there are clear similarities between CR and anorexia:

It states, "Anorexia: It's All About Appearance. Calorie Restriction: It's All About Health." The next point is that anorexia is the result of low self-esteem ("Anorexia: I Am Bad"), whereas CR is about loving and respecting yourself: "The inner monologue of a CR practitioner is 'Calorie Restriction is worth the effort because it may prolong my life and health.' "

Okay, now this is where I get a little rant in. You're following the same type of lifestyle but one is about appearances and the other is about improving health? So I could severely reduces my calories in order to "look good" and just say "nope, I'm not anorexic, I'm just trying to be healthy like the other CR drones."

Another interesting observation in the article is the reaction your body goes through when the calorie restriction kicks in:

Now I understand what happened better: My starvation triggered the release of endorphins. In evolutionary terms, this is designed to give humans heightened coping powers in an emergency. In my case, it gave me a sense of well-being and made me feel sharp and energetic. This feeling became an addiction, so that I pursued it even as my tolerance level rose and the same amount of endorphins no longer produced the same effect, at which point I became quite depressed[emphasis added].

I've talked about this a number of times. Once your body becomes accustomed to it, it adapts, and you no longer get the same effect. You need more (or less in this case) of the stimulant in order to get the desire effect. It becomes a downward spiral.

Now onto the second part of the article that gets into examples of people that are following CR.

The first example he talks about the experiences of one person doing CR:

These include obsessiveness, particularly about food; he adopted behaviors that are also common among anorexics, such as watching food shows on TV and seasoning food with salt or spices to a degree that most people would find unpleasant. He also describes experiencing a kind of emotional "smoothness" or placidity, which at a certain point morphed into a kind of deadening.

The article continues with his experiences:

Dean also discusses a common side effect of CR in men: loss of libido. Unlike the obsessive behaviors, which he succeeded in cutting out, he found he couldn't boost his sex drive. Instead, by mental effort, he turned the drawback into a benefit: He came to enjoy having more time and attention for things other than sex. Dean connects his loss of libido to a decline in other instincts that he identifies as conventionally masculine: He feels less aggressive and selfish, and has less of an urge to use people for his own ends.

okay Dean, you keep telling yourself that....

onto the next person, Al.

My next interview was so upsetting that it is difficult to write about, and it shows that CR can, in certain cases, lead to full-blown anorexia. I called Al at home; his voice was quiet and somewhat difficult to hear. I asked how many calories a day he ate (1,950, he said) and how much he weighed.

"Ninety-two," he answered. I hoped I'd heard wrong. "How tall are you?" I asked. "Five-four," he said. "But I used to be 5-feet-11." He paused. "Osteoporosis." His spine had compressed a full 7 inches—or perhaps he was bent over. I was glad we were on the phone and I couldn't see him.

It continues:

Al used to be a professor at a university; now he is on permanent disability. He has had pneumonia five or six times. In the middle of one of these episodes, he collapsed from low blood sugar and went into a coma. Al acknowledged that his CR has turned into anorexia. Nonetheless, he refused to criticize the theory behind it, and he spoke sharply about the damage Americans do to themselves by eating too much. "I firmly believe in caloric restriction," he said, before adding quietly: "I believe I've gone too far."

Okay, first, I guess I'm overall confused about how low in calories these people are actually going. It says that Al was taking in 1,950 calories a day. That doesn't seem extremely low to me.

Regardless, let's summarize what this all comes down to. You severely restrict your calories with the theory that you'll live longer. The side effects are, if you're a woman, menstruation will be screwed up, for a guy you lose your sex drive, you shrink in height and end up looking like Quasimodo, might end up in a coma, have to quit your job because you become permanently disabled, your immune system becomes useless, and you become frigid if the temperature goes below 70 degrees.

Do I really have to state the obvious question here?

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