It's impossible to find a health related news article this week that DOESN'T have to do with Swine Flu (and refuse to write on it but if the coverage of this gets anymore insane, you might be in for a huge rant next week..).
So here's a quick 5 minute workout you can do that I came up with that will really work those abs.
Do all three of these exercise with no rest in between. Then rest 30 seconds and complete the circuit 2 more times:
1) Side Plank - 20 seconds each side
2) Mountain Climbers - 10 on each side
3) Plank - 30 seconds
Have a good weekend.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Facebook
Friday, May 1, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Overweight And Discrimination
This might get controversial but hey, whatever.
What do you think when you see someone that is overweight? When you meet someone at work that has just started and they are overweight, what are the first thoughts that go through your mind?
This article talks about how there's various movements going on to fight overweight discrimination. Whether it be the fact that some overweight folks are forced to buy two seats on a plane, or some of the research that seems to show overweight people earn less than non-overweight people regardless of job performance and overweight people are less likely to get promoted.
The first thing that I want to mention is that two-thirds of the adult population is overweight or obese in the country. The last part of the above paragraph raises some questions on the issue of overweight people not getting promoted and earning less.
If two-thirds of people are overweight and obese does that mean that all the skinny people are managers, CEOs, supervisors, etc keeping down the overweight people?
When thinking back at job interviews I've had over the last number of years, I don't recall all (or even most) of the interviewers being skinny minnies. In fact, I believe that most of them looked "normal." Meaning that most had a few extra pounds on them.
So if this type of discrimination is going on, doesn't it sound like it's an issue of overweight people discriminating against other overweight people?
If that is the case, is the discrimination happening because the overweight interviewer doesn't really think of themselves as being overweight?
My point is that I don't think this type of discrimination is as clear cut as discrimination against race, sex, sexual preference, etc since this could really be about people not seeing what they themselves are first and foremost and then discriminating against others for what they themselves are.
But back to my earlier questions. I'll admit it. In the past if I saw someone overweight sitting at a restaurant just gorging themselves terms like "lazy, depressed, unmotivated, disgusting" etc. came to mind. And I'll admit, it might have even come to mind when I saw someone overweight just walking down the street. At the same time though, I tend to feel sorry for the person because I know what kind of health issues they are bound to have (if they already haven't gotten them).
But one thing that does make me feel a little better is when I meet someone who is overweight but asks questions about exercise and diet. They ask questions that make me believe that they want to educate themselves to lose weight to reduce the chances that they will have health problems if they continue at their current weight (and let's not forget, even though anti-dieters say you can be overweight and healthy, NOT being overweight significantly reduces the chances of becoming un-healthy).
When someone like that approaches me, I see someone with drive, motivation, adaptability, and a desire for change.
I'm not sure where this anti-dieting movement is going to take us, and although I never condone any type of discrimination, this one might be one of the toughest to get past since it involves so many dynamics and it involves so many people.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Facebook
What do you think when you see someone that is overweight? When you meet someone at work that has just started and they are overweight, what are the first thoughts that go through your mind?
This article talks about how there's various movements going on to fight overweight discrimination. Whether it be the fact that some overweight folks are forced to buy two seats on a plane, or some of the research that seems to show overweight people earn less than non-overweight people regardless of job performance and overweight people are less likely to get promoted.
The first thing that I want to mention is that two-thirds of the adult population is overweight or obese in the country. The last part of the above paragraph raises some questions on the issue of overweight people not getting promoted and earning less.
If two-thirds of people are overweight and obese does that mean that all the skinny people are managers, CEOs, supervisors, etc keeping down the overweight people?
When thinking back at job interviews I've had over the last number of years, I don't recall all (or even most) of the interviewers being skinny minnies. In fact, I believe that most of them looked "normal." Meaning that most had a few extra pounds on them.
So if this type of discrimination is going on, doesn't it sound like it's an issue of overweight people discriminating against other overweight people?
If that is the case, is the discrimination happening because the overweight interviewer doesn't really think of themselves as being overweight?
My point is that I don't think this type of discrimination is as clear cut as discrimination against race, sex, sexual preference, etc since this could really be about people not seeing what they themselves are first and foremost and then discriminating against others for what they themselves are.
But back to my earlier questions. I'll admit it. In the past if I saw someone overweight sitting at a restaurant just gorging themselves terms like "lazy, depressed, unmotivated, disgusting" etc. came to mind. And I'll admit, it might have even come to mind when I saw someone overweight just walking down the street. At the same time though, I tend to feel sorry for the person because I know what kind of health issues they are bound to have (if they already haven't gotten them).
But one thing that does make me feel a little better is when I meet someone who is overweight but asks questions about exercise and diet. They ask questions that make me believe that they want to educate themselves to lose weight to reduce the chances that they will have health problems if they continue at their current weight (and let's not forget, even though anti-dieters say you can be overweight and healthy, NOT being overweight significantly reduces the chances of becoming un-healthy).
When someone like that approaches me, I see someone with drive, motivation, adaptability, and a desire for change.
I'm not sure where this anti-dieting movement is going to take us, and although I never condone any type of discrimination, this one might be one of the toughest to get past since it involves so many dynamics and it involves so many people.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
HFCS - Good or Bad?
I haven't talked much about High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) on here. I guess the reason being is because as of late, I've always thought it was bad stuff, avoid at all costs, etc.
I came across this article though that says sure, it's bad, but it's not any worse than regular added sugar (doesn't that seem like a very odd argument to make?).
We all know what sugar is, and that it's been around for awhile, and that in high doses, it's not good and it can make your kids climb the ceiling or do something else that is well,,,,not good.
But HFCS we know little about because we haven't been able to see the full effects of it over long periods of time. It's very hard to find a sugary product without HFCS. It has pretty much taken over and the "sugar" that is added to regular soda (at least in North America).
I had read a while back (and for the life of me I can't find the link) that when HFCS is ingested, there is no mechanism in the body to tell the brain that it's coming in. In other words, the brain has no idea that calories are being consumed to turn on the signal at some point that we are full and no longer need more calories. So basically, these calories just "sneak in" and your insulin and blood sugar don't even move. Which is different with regular sugar when the insulin and blood sugar levels will react accordingly. I don't believe this has ever been proven at this point though.
But, I found another interesting study here that tested the different in cholesterol levels for those ingesting a fructose-sweetened drink and a glucose sweetened drink and found that LDL cholesterol was significantly higher among the group that drank the fructose sweetened drink after a period of time. The study stated though that this was strictly a study using fructose and not HFCS so it's unclear if the results would be the same (I would hope that would be the next step for another experiment).
So it's still up in the air and a mystery as to what HFCS is really doing to us. My guess? Considering that humans don't have the best track record with man-made products such as hydrogenated products (that I discussed here), I have to believe we could be headed towards another train wreck once more studies look into it.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Facebook
I came across this article though that says sure, it's bad, but it's not any worse than regular added sugar (doesn't that seem like a very odd argument to make?).
We all know what sugar is, and that it's been around for awhile, and that in high doses, it's not good and it can make your kids climb the ceiling or do something else that is well,,,,not good.
But HFCS we know little about because we haven't been able to see the full effects of it over long periods of time. It's very hard to find a sugary product without HFCS. It has pretty much taken over and the "sugar" that is added to regular soda (at least in North America).
I had read a while back (and for the life of me I can't find the link) that when HFCS is ingested, there is no mechanism in the body to tell the brain that it's coming in. In other words, the brain has no idea that calories are being consumed to turn on the signal at some point that we are full and no longer need more calories. So basically, these calories just "sneak in" and your insulin and blood sugar don't even move. Which is different with regular sugar when the insulin and blood sugar levels will react accordingly. I don't believe this has ever been proven at this point though.
But, I found another interesting study here that tested the different in cholesterol levels for those ingesting a fructose-sweetened drink and a glucose sweetened drink and found that LDL cholesterol was significantly higher among the group that drank the fructose sweetened drink after a period of time. The study stated though that this was strictly a study using fructose and not HFCS so it's unclear if the results would be the same (I would hope that would be the next step for another experiment).
So it's still up in the air and a mystery as to what HFCS is really doing to us. My guess? Considering that humans don't have the best track record with man-made products such as hydrogenated products (that I discussed here), I have to believe we could be headed towards another train wreck once more studies look into it.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Liquid Calories Re-visited
Back when I was in high school, I worked at a grocery store stocking groceries, cleaning out meat coolers, and bagging groceries for customers.
I still remember one gentleman (who was extremely overweight) who would stand at the checkout and had every high calorie food there was in the place. Sugar cereal, candy, pies, anything you could imagine. Then the last thing he would take out of his cart was a 12 pack of DIET Coke. I always remember laughing thinking, "Oh, I guess the Diet Coke equals it all out."
But I came across this story that made me think a little more.
I've written in the past here on how easy it is to consume a high amount of calories just from one bottle of regular soda. Without even thinking twice, people are putting between 200-300 calories in their bodies from a 20 oz bottle of regular soda.
This article talks about how if someone simply eliminate that regular soda (and keep eating the rest of their crappy diet), they could stabilize or lose weight.
I was a little disappointed though in the article when it gave the results of how much weight was actually lost:
Losing less than two pounds over a period of 18 months doesn't seem all that big of a deal to me.
But I think the argument still holds that I mentioned back in this post that if you simply drop your regular soda intake (especially if you're consuming more than 2 a day) over time those eliminated calories will add up to less pounds around your waistline.
But maybe another benefit of dropping those liquid calories is that you're not priming your body for more sweet tasting foods. In other words, maybe it needs to be researched whether drinking regular soda then also leads you to crave the sweeter foods that also happen to be the high calories garbage that is out there.
In the end, I might have been laughing at the guy at the counter buying all the high calorie food to go along with his Diet Coke but, in a way, at least he wasn't consuming as many calories as he could have.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Facebook
I still remember one gentleman (who was extremely overweight) who would stand at the checkout and had every high calorie food there was in the place. Sugar cereal, candy, pies, anything you could imagine. Then the last thing he would take out of his cart was a 12 pack of DIET Coke. I always remember laughing thinking, "Oh, I guess the Diet Coke equals it all out."
But I came across this story that made me think a little more.
I've written in the past here on how easy it is to consume a high amount of calories just from one bottle of regular soda. Without even thinking twice, people are putting between 200-300 calories in their bodies from a 20 oz bottle of regular soda.
This article talks about how if someone simply eliminate that regular soda (and keep eating the rest of their crappy diet), they could stabilize or lose weight.
I was a little disappointed though in the article when it gave the results of how much weight was actually lost:
The specific results:
* A reduction in liquid calorie intake was associated with a weight loss of 0.55 pounds (0.25 kg) at 6 months and 0.52 pounds (0.24 kg) at 18 months.
* Among sugar-sweetened beverages, a reduction of 1 serving daily was associated with a weight loss of 1.1 pounds (0.5 kg) at 6 months and 1.54 pounds (0.7 kg) at 18 months.
* Of the seven types of drinks examined, sugar-sweetened beverages were the only type significantly associated with weight change.
* At 37 percent, sugar-sweetened beverages were the leading source of liquid calories.
Losing less than two pounds over a period of 18 months doesn't seem all that big of a deal to me.
But I think the argument still holds that I mentioned back in this post that if you simply drop your regular soda intake (especially if you're consuming more than 2 a day) over time those eliminated calories will add up to less pounds around your waistline.
But maybe another benefit of dropping those liquid calories is that you're not priming your body for more sweet tasting foods. In other words, maybe it needs to be researched whether drinking regular soda then also leads you to crave the sweeter foods that also happen to be the high calories garbage that is out there.
In the end, I might have been laughing at the guy at the counter buying all the high calorie food to go along with his Diet Coke but, in a way, at least he wasn't consuming as many calories as he could have.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Monday, April 27, 2009
Smokers: Stop Being So Mad
I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. From time to time I'll have a cigar, but the next morning, I regret it with that awful taste in my mouth.
When talking with smokers about why is it that they smoke and what benefit it gives them, one of the most common answers is that it relaxes them.
This article talks about a study that found that one solution to get people to stop smoking could be anger management classes.
The study states that when smokers were playing a video game and not wearing a nicotine patch, they were more likely to be aggressive in a task they could do after completing a round of the game compared to when they were wearing a nicotine patch and were less aggressive.
Which I think leads to the question: Are smokers just more angry compared to the rest of the population as a whole or, are non-smokers just finding different ways of releasing the aggression without smoking?
If I had to guess, I'd have to say it's the latter. For smokers, maybe having a cigarette was the first variable that they encountered when they started going through stress as a teen, and have basically just stuck with it. Maybe others that never smoked (but more than likely have gone through just a much stress as the normal smoking population) had other ways of managing that stress and aggression.
Or maybe there is something more to this that smokers in general are just a more aggressive group and their only outlet is a drag (is that term even used anymore?)
Oh, by the way, one activity that is a GREAT stress reliever and aggression killer is exercise...
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Facebook
When talking with smokers about why is it that they smoke and what benefit it gives them, one of the most common answers is that it relaxes them.
This article talks about a study that found that one solution to get people to stop smoking could be anger management classes.
The study states that when smokers were playing a video game and not wearing a nicotine patch, they were more likely to be aggressive in a task they could do after completing a round of the game compared to when they were wearing a nicotine patch and were less aggressive.
Which I think leads to the question: Are smokers just more angry compared to the rest of the population as a whole or, are non-smokers just finding different ways of releasing the aggression without smoking?
If I had to guess, I'd have to say it's the latter. For smokers, maybe having a cigarette was the first variable that they encountered when they started going through stress as a teen, and have basically just stuck with it. Maybe others that never smoked (but more than likely have gone through just a much stress as the normal smoking population) had other ways of managing that stress and aggression.
Or maybe there is something more to this that smokers in general are just a more aggressive group and their only outlet is a drag (is that term even used anymore?)
Oh, by the way, one activity that is a GREAT stress reliever and aggression killer is exercise...
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Friday, April 24, 2009
Sugary Drink Myth for Children
I can't remember what my mother use to give me when I was a kid and I had an upset stomach, throwing up, etc., but when I saw this article, it made me vaguely remember that I think she used to give me a flat soda. I do remember when I was older being given Vernors (those outside of Michigan and Ohio probably have no idea what that is but, trust me, once you've had it, you'll find a way to get it shipped to your state) and that actually worked pretty well.
What we're finding out now is that, it's not a good idea to be giving infants that are dehydrated flat soda or very high sugar drinks (this seems like a no brainer but, I guess it's not).
The recommendation is for a parent to give a child a drink that does have some sugar in it as well as salt, but not to the level of the regular sodas that are currently on the market.
I think it brings up a good question: What did they do 300 years, 1000 years, and 40,000 years ago when a child was dehydrated and there wasn't a soda vending machine within 50 feet?
Have we forgot about the simplest form of liquid that we can use to hydrate ourselves?: Water?
Have a good weekend everyone.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Facebook
What we're finding out now is that, it's not a good idea to be giving infants that are dehydrated flat soda or very high sugar drinks (this seems like a no brainer but, I guess it's not).
The recommendation is for a parent to give a child a drink that does have some sugar in it as well as salt, but not to the level of the regular sodas that are currently on the market.
I think it brings up a good question: What did they do 300 years, 1000 years, and 40,000 years ago when a child was dehydrated and there wasn't a soda vending machine within 50 feet?
Have we forgot about the simplest form of liquid that we can use to hydrate ourselves?: Water?
Have a good weekend everyone.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Biggest Loser Gone Bad
Reality TV shows. It's been a very long time since I watched one. I remember way back in the day watching the very first season of The Real World. I actually kept up with that show for a couple of seasons. But then it occurred to me: How real is this? A bunch of young adults being put into a house/apartment to live FREE, don't really need to have a job, and just sit around and argue with each other all day (although, I'm guessing a lot of what is filmed is just plain boring and all we get to see is the fights, romance, etc.). Is that what really happens in "the Real World?" Once I answered no to that question, I pretty much stopped watching further seasons of that show and have never really watched another reality TV show since then.
Earlier this week in this post, I talked about how it was amazing that some of these contestants that were on the show The Biggest Loser had lost so much weight in such a short period of time.
Well, there's some contestants it didn't work out so well. In this article, it talks about how the contestant that won season one had originally weighed 330 pounds before going on the show, got his weight down to 208, and is now currently back up to 300 pounds.
In fact if you flip through all of the seasons that are listed in the link to the people that they show, most have put back on weight. Some within 10 pounds of what they weighed after the show, some, well, more than that.
Which again pretty much shows that the "realitness" (I just made that word up) of reality shows is not very real. Very simply television is there for entertainment. 99.999999% of us are never going to be put into a situation where we'll be locked up in a house, with a trainer badgering us from sunrise to sunset about our workouts and eating for 3-4 months.
The aftermath of where the contestants went with after the show was over is going back into the REAL "real world" where they have jobs, family, obligations, etc. and they are not able to focus 100% of their time on food and exercise.
But, what the show has done is inspired a lot of people to go out and lose weight WITHIN their normal environment such as stories like this.
In a way, this reality show has inspired more true reality than could ever be scripted on a set.
Thanks to Chris Standish for the link.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Facebook
Earlier this week in this post, I talked about how it was amazing that some of these contestants that were on the show The Biggest Loser had lost so much weight in such a short period of time.
Well, there's some contestants it didn't work out so well. In this article, it talks about how the contestant that won season one had originally weighed 330 pounds before going on the show, got his weight down to 208, and is now currently back up to 300 pounds.
In fact if you flip through all of the seasons that are listed in the link to the people that they show, most have put back on weight. Some within 10 pounds of what they weighed after the show, some, well, more than that.
Which again pretty much shows that the "realitness" (I just made that word up) of reality shows is not very real. Very simply television is there for entertainment. 99.999999% of us are never going to be put into a situation where we'll be locked up in a house, with a trainer badgering us from sunrise to sunset about our workouts and eating for 3-4 months.
The aftermath of where the contestants went with after the show was over is going back into the REAL "real world" where they have jobs, family, obligations, etc. and they are not able to focus 100% of their time on food and exercise.
But, what the show has done is inspired a lot of people to go out and lose weight WITHIN their normal environment such as stories like this.
In a way, this reality show has inspired more true reality than could ever be scripted on a set.
Thanks to Chris Standish for the link.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
