Fitness & Wellness

Not All Health Foods Are Healthy

Not All Health Foods Are Healthy

If you’re trying to eat healthy and just take the advice of television commercials or the hype on the labels, you’ll soon realize that not all health foods are healthy. One look at the label that reads like a college chemistry formula should scare you into doing far more research than ever. Even though that tub of margarine says vegan, it doesn’t mean its healthier than butter—especially butter from the milk of grass fed raised cows. Butter has been part of the human diet for almost 4000 years. It has just one, possibly two ingredients if its salted, unlike many of the margarine “health food” butters. Many of the “healthy” non-butter alternatives contain far more ingredients with things like “natural flavors” (code word for chemicals) and substances not in a whole food diet.

Fat free and low fat milk products should be eliminated from your shopping list.

There’s nothing wrong with a little fat in your diet. In fact, it actually may help you lose weight. It leaves you feeling fuller. Studies show that people who drink whole milk have a 46 percent lower risk of diabetes and 8 percent lower risk of obesity. When fat is removed from milk, it’s often replaced with sugar for added flavor. About everyone is now aware of the dangers of consuming sugar, so why add it to your diet when you don’t need it? The best milk to drink comes from cows that were pasture raised and is 100% organic. While raw milk isn’t allowed for sale in most areas, it’s a healthy option too.

Non-organic or overcooked meat can have its health risks.

When you eat meat, you eat what the animal ate. If it’s not organic, you could be consuming not only what the animal ate, but also what it was subjected to in life. If it had high amounts of hormones and antibiotics, that could be part of your meal, too. Consider the rise of superbugs. They not only occur because of over prescribing antibiotics, the use of antibiotics in the meat industry also fuels them. Overcooking meat also creates HCA—heterocyclic amines. These are listed as cancer causing agents.

Granola and granola bars may be just glorified candy bars.

You grab a granola bar or two for a snack and congratulate yourself on making such a healthy choice, but are you? Many of the bars have loads of added sugar, artificial flavor, preservatives and refined oils. When you read the label, it’s not just natural ingredients. High fiber bars are also poor contenders for since much of the fiber doesn’t come from traditional sources, but chicory root or other tasteless added fiber sources. You’re far better off eating granola bars where the fiber comes from whole grains or nuts. The shorter the list of ingredients, the better.

  • Don’t be tricked into buying food just because it says gluten free. Many foods are naturally gluten free. Unless you have celiac disease, choose your healthy product based on nutritional value.
  • Pre-prepared frozen diet food in a tray may look easy, but it often lacks the nutrients you need in a meal and frequently leaves you hungry. Fresh vegetables can make a quick meal that’s far more nutritious and with no extra chemicals or preservatives.
  • Frozen yogurt sounds like a healthy food, but it’s packed with sugar and flavoring. Just say no and grab a live culture yogurt—Greek is really tasty—and top it with fresh fruit.
  • Skip the veggie burger if it’s made from “textured vegetable protein” or soy. It doesn’t contain veggies. Look for alternatives that actually contain vegetables or grill a portabella mushroom burger for a real taste treat.

Warm Smoothies For A Chilly Morning Or Soothing Dinner

Warm Smoothies For A Chilly Morning Or Soothing Dinner

 
Everyone loves green smoothies and those icy cold drinks that cool you down and taste a bit like drinking a fruity malt, but did you know warm smoothies can be just as inviting, especially on cold days. Whether it’s winter or just a chilly spring or fall day, a warm smoothie can be just what you need to boost more vegetable intake and cut back on fruit that most cold smoothies contain.

Add some bone broth to your smoothie.

If you aren’t aware of the nutritional values of bone broth, it’s time to learn them. Bone broth is high in collagen, which is great for the skin. It also is high in calcium, protein, magnesium, boron, iron, vitamin A, phosphorus, vitamin D, potassium, vitamin K, vitamin C, zinc, copper, manganese and the B vitamins. It has many benefits for the body, including better joints, boosting the immune system, reducing cellulite, reducing allergies and treating leaky gut syndrome. You can make bone broth smoothies with any number of vegetables. I like to add a cup of dice carrots, 3 cups of Kale, a cup of leaks or onions chopped and cilantro (approximately 1/3 C) to four cups of bone broth. You can saute the veggies in coconut oil before you add the bone broth to make it tastier. Sprinkle in a little lemon juice and sea salt, then simmer for 25 minutes and blend. It’s a yummy drink that’s good both cold and hot, so if you have some leftover, store in the frig for later.

Try a hot smoothie for breakfast.

This is one of my favorite recipes, frankly it’s because it reminds me a bit of warm nutty pumpkin pie! Best of all, it’s pretty easy to make. You do have to cook a 1/2 large sweet potato, but if you peel it and cut it in cubes, that doesn’t take long. You can also cook and mash it ahead of time, then throw it in with the unsweetened almond milk that you heat on the stovetop to warm it. You need 1 cup of unsweetened almond mild, the half of a sweet potato cooked and mashed, 1/2 inch of ginger grated—use an inch if you like it, a teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup and 2 tablespoons of almond butter. Add a bit of nutmeg, clove and ground allspice if you want a flavor that’s even closer to pumpkin pie. Blend until smooth and serve warm. YUM!

Supplement your dinner menu with this smoothie.

You can have a salad and some soup when you add this warm smoothie that doubles as a drink and dessert. It tastes a lot like apple pie to me, but the flavor changed entirely when I added some nut butter to it. Use 1/2 plain yogurt or water, a whole apple peeled, cored and cut into small chunks, a splash of vanilla extract, plus half that amount of allspice and nutmeg. Top it off with a tablespoon of maple syrup and a scoop of vanilla protein powder. For the nutty flavor add a tablespoon or two of your favorite nut butter. Blend it and microwave until warm and sprinkle with cinnamon. Consider a “chunky” soup instead of a smoothie. Boil bone broth. Pour it over finely chopped veggies and let set a few minutes. The veggies will cook in the hot broth, but some will have a little crunch. It’s my version of pho that’s healthy and delicious.

  • Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave with slightly more than 3/4 cup of almond milk. Put two squares of dark chocolate, 1/4 c rolled oats, 1/2 a banana, almond milk, 1 tsp chia seeds a handful of almonds in the blender and mix with a few tablespoons of water and a tablespoon of the hot almond milk/chocolate mixture. Blend and slowly add the rest of the milk/chocolate mix for a warm breakfast smoothie.
  • Use hot green tea to make warm smoothies. Pour a tablespoon of cold water and a tablespoon of green tea into the blender with apples, bananas, peaches, berries, kale and/or dates. Blend until smooth and pour the mixture in your cup. Pour hot green tea over it and mix for a tasty warm smoothie.
  • Be careful of relying too heavily on smoothies for fruit and veggie requirements. Most are made with lots of fruit and very little vegetables. Warm soup-like smoothies provide more veggies.

Personal Training For People On The Go

Personal Training For People On The Go

If you’ve tried to schedule time at the gym and found it is almost impossible to fit into your schedule or you simply can’t get out of the house to do it, you need to consider the type of personal training for people on the go that works with your hours and situation. Even the best laid plans and scheduled times are sometimes difficult to keep, when it happens consistently, going back to the drawing board and creating another option is probably the best way to handle the situation.

Have the personal trainer come to you.

The gym might not be the best location for you, It might be far enough away that just driving there and home takes more time than the workout. You might be a new mother who isn’t ready to leave the baby in another’s care or a seasoned parent that doesn’t have a reliable sitter that can be there at a specific time. In cases like this, consider having the trainer come to your home. Seriously, for the $15 extra for an hour long session, you’ll probably save money over what it costs for a baby sitter and gas, especially if you have a longer drive.

Make it a couple’s time or workout with a work friend.

If you have access to an open area where you work, consider the option of having a trainer come to you. You can make it even more cost effective by working out with a friend on your lunch hour. It’s just another $15 extra to add a friend and that reduces the cost for both of you. You and your significant other can make it a date night without the hassle of having to go out to the gym. Best of all, it’s far more fun to workout with someone else and there’s more motivation to continue when you workout with a friend. When we come to you, there’s no decision whether you’ll go to the gym.

Consider online training if you’re on the fly.

We are more and more technologically driven, even with fitness. There are apps for everything and now you can even have access to a personalized workout program online. Just imagine, you’re carrying your personal trainer with you continuously, so failing to workout isn’t an option. Online training has a customized program, aid in learning how to eat healthier and a great deal of information to help you get fitter faster. Most of all, you work with a personal trainer, so you’re held accountable for your success. Unlike a workout video, you have someone that holds you accountable.

  • With all the options for securing training beyond the confines of the gym, the excuse that there’s no time is removed, so you’re more apt to be successful.
  • Some people, particularly those who travel, work with a personal trainer in the gym, but also have the trainer create workouts for them when they’re on the road. It’s a great blend of face time and away time.
  • Online training is not only easily accessible and convenient, it’s also budget friendly. If you’ve always wanted to work with a personal trainer, but were on a limited budget, it’s a great way to get started.
  • No matter what option you choose for training, always make sure you find a program that includes both a nutritional plan and workout plan.

Does The P90X Workout Get Results

Does The P90X Workout Get Results

If you’re a sucker for watching infomercials or stay up late watching TV, you may have watched Tony Horton promoting the wonderful results of his P90X workout. You can get the whole miracle package for up to $350 and within 90 days looked ripped and fit, with a significant amount of body fat replaced with rippling muscles like Tony.   The question include, is this the real miracle that Tony says it is? Does everyone get results? Why does it work?
 

Tony says it causes “muscle confusion.”

While muscle confusion may be a new term, the concept isn’t new. If you do the same workout continuously, your body becomes adept at the movements and efficient. That efficiency means you’ll burn fewer calories, which can cause plateauing. Personal trainers have always varied the workout to prevent plateauing from occurring. It’s not a new concept, but it is a valid one. Your muscles aren’t confused, however, just not as efficient as they would become doing the same exercise continuously.

The workout uses a circuit format

The workout does contain most of the exercises you’ll get from any personal trainer. The program also has a nutrition plan. According to the plan, you’ll workout hard for an hour to an hour and a half, six to seven days a week. It offers workouts for specific muscle groups, plymetric workouts, yoga, Kenpo, stretching and core synergistics.

The problem is that it’s not for everyone.

  • Those severely out of shape shouldn’t attempt to tackle the workout. It’s great for those already fit, but can be extremely taxing and even dangerous for the obese, the out of shape and people with physical limitations. It does get your heart rate racing, but if you’re unfit, the chances of falling behind and eventually quitting are great. Unless Tony was working with you on a one-to-one basis, you won’t get the workout based on your fitness level. You also don’t have the advantage of someone watching you to ensure your form is perfect.
  • As a personal trainer, I understand the benefits of the P90X workout and find it great if you’re already in shape and want to try something different. I highly recommend a more personalized approach for everyone else.
  • The nutritional plan isn’t recommended for long term use. Therefore, you aren’t learning to make lifestyle changes to use the rest of your life. It has the same drawbacks of type of diet that isn’t healthy eating.
  • P90X doesn’t build strength as much as tone since there’s no rest between the exercises. You need to rest muscles between exercises for about a minute to build strength. If you want a workout designed specifically for your needs and one that holds you accountable, use the services of a personal trainer who creates a plan specifically for you.

Habits Of Healthy People

Habits Of Healthy People

There’s no magic to becoming fit. It’s nothing more than learning the habits of healthy people and develop those habits. Even though it’s not magic, it doesn’t mean it’s easy. In fact, if you have unhealthy habits, such as smoking, think of how hard it is to quit. In reality, you’re really relearning the habit of not smoking. It’s easy to identify some of the habits like not smoking, avoid illegal substances or excessive drinking, but not all habits are that easily identified.

Eat healthy whole foods.

Fit, healthy people sometimes grab a piece of pie or pig out on a bag of chips, but most of the time, they bypass processed foods and opt for whole foods or ones where they know the ingredients because they made the dish. Healthy eating includes lots of fruits and vegetables, lean meat or vegetarian alternative and whole grains. Sugar is limited in a healthy person’s diet. They don’t worry about calories, but make sure their plate is a rainbow of colors from the brilliant red of tomatoes to deep purple berries.

Healthy people exercise regularly.

Whether they have an organized exercise program at a gym or just are extremely active, healthy people are always on the move. One study showed that people with longer strides—meaning they walked faster—lived longer. Healthy people don’t spend leisure time in front of the computer or television. They’re more involved with activities that aren’t passive.

Healthy people drink plenty of water.

You’ll often find a healthy person has a water bottle in their car, in their hand or on their desk. They drink water throughout the day. Water is necessary to sustain life and too frequently people don’t get enough of it. It cleanses you from the inside and provides hydration for every cell in the body. Up to 60 percent of the average person’s body is water with the heart and brain being 73% water.

  • Healthy people stay positive and surround themselves with positive people. It’s hard to stay smiling if you have a Negative Nelly whispering in your ear. Studies show that people who smile live longer.
  • Healthy people get adequate sleep. Sleep is a time for the body and mind to renew and refresh. Lack of sleep is unhealthy for your heart.
  • Healthy people don’t sweat the small stuff and find that almost all of it is small stuff. They learn to handle stress.
  • Healthy people are grateful for what they have and happy for others that have more. They don’t bother being envious.

Ease Into Exercise

Ease Into Exercise

Not everyone works with a personal trainer who pushes them hard to achieve the best possible results. For those working out on their own, it may be better to ease into exercise to help prevent injury and avoid the aches and pains that often put exercising on the bench. Even trainers may recommend starting slow at first, particularly for those incredibly out of shape or who have health conditions that might be exacerbated by too much, too soon.

Listen to your body, no matter what your fitness level.

There are dangers in overdoing. One of the problems faced by anyone that wants to push their body to the limits is that they reach their limits and sometimes beyond. If you push your body beyond the point your body is prepared to handle, you can cause intense stress to the body. It’s the same stress that comes from a massive injury. The stress makes the muscle tissue rapidly break down, giving off byproducts from the cells in the process. One of those byproducts is myoglobin. If there’s too much to filter out of the blood, it can overwhelm the kidneys and lead to failure. That creates a condition called rhabdomyolysis. If no action is taken it can lead to death. Symptoms include a decreased amount of urine, muscle aches and weakness. The most easily recognized symptom is really dark, reddish colored urine.

Even if you’re taking it slow, always check with your health care professional before starting a workout program.

Going from couch potato to marathon runner doesn’t happen overnight and you shouldn’t push yourself like it does. Taking it easy at first is important. It doesn’t leave you turned off to exercise because of soreness and pain. It also doesn’t put you in danger of potential health problems. Sometimes, you have an underlying condition that isn’t diagnosed, so if you have an odd heartbeat, get leg cramps, feel dizzy, get short on breath when you normally wouldn’t or have chest pain, seek medical attention.

Don’t confuse a hard workout with overworking your body.

Sure you’re going to have aches and pains, that’s part of getting into shape, badge of honor that says you’ve worked hard. There’s a difference between a sore muscle, but goes away quickly, and unbearable pain. If you move your arm lightly and break out in a sweat from the pain, you have some real damage and need medical attention. Shortness of breath is normal with a exertion, It needs immediate medical attention if it occurs with minimal exertion or persits long after exercise ends.

  • Choose something you like to do when starting an exercise program. If you like fast dancing, turn on the music and dance away, stopping when you feel it’s time. Record the number of minutes you’ve danced and try to increase that time a little each week.
  • Start with walking more. Take an early morning stroll. Park further from the store and walk. Take the stairs, not the elevator.
  • If you’ve been sedentary for a long time, get the help of a trainer who will help you learn the right way to do each exercise and make sure you aren’t overdoing.
  • Track your progress. Winners keep score.

Cleansing For Weight Loss

Cleansing For Weight Loss

Some people advocate cleansing for weight loss. I have mixed emotions about the safety and effectiveness of doing it. To complicate matters even more, there are all types of cleanses that are supposed to help you shed pounds. Each one works differently. For instance, a colon cleanse helps empty the colon of built up waste. There are several ways to cleanse the colon. Some people use it for weight loss. Other cleanses use detox diets and there’s a load of those too.

Is a cleanse really just another fad diet?

In some cases, the answer is an absolute YES! The Master Cleanse, has been around for ever using various other names. It consists of drinking only a concoction of lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper for 10 days. You do lose weight, but most of it is water weight and anything else is lean muscle mass. That’s not what you want. It makes it even harder to lose weight the more muscle mass you lose.

I can back one type of weight loss cleanse.

While it isn’t necessary to do a cleanse, it can help point you in the right direction if you use a whole food cleanse. These types of cleanses are a way to start eating healthier and make you more aware of foods to choose. You eat only high nutrient fresh fruits and vegetables with whole grains and lean meat. There’s absolutely no processed grains, added sugar or any processed food in this type of diet. It involves drinking plenty of water, too. This type of cleanse works toward changing your eating habits and palate. It can be a good introduction to healthy eating, making you aware of what is healthy and what is not.

A weight loss cleanse is just stricter healthy eating with exercise added for extra benefits.

By now you probably recognize that this type of cleanse is sustainable. It’s healthy for your body. While some cleanse diets don’t include exercise and only allow vegetables, you’re far better off sticking with the healthy diet that offers a source of protein and a balanced, but extremely clean diet with a program of regular exercise. The combination of the two create a whole new you that’s missing a few extra pounds.

  • Some people recommend nurturing yourself during a cleanse diet. They also highly recommend that during a cleanse you work hard to ensure you get at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep.
  • During a cleanse, you should drink an 8 ounce glass of water or two before and during meals.
  • When exercising during a cleanse, go for moderate exercise, rather than strenuous exercise. Get at least 150 to 250 minutes of moderate exercise, such as walking, per week.
  • When you use a whole food healthy cleanse, there’s no need for additional supplements or special tea.

Workouts For Real Life

Workouts For Real Life

Workouts for real life help your body prepare for those activities you do everyday. If you’ve ever bent down and picked up something relatively light, only to have a sharp, stabbing pain in your back that continued for days, you know what I mean. Functional fitness helps all the muscles of the body work together and gets you ready for tasks you would do daily, whether at home, work or play. It emphasizes core stability too.

Squats simulate getting up and out of a chair.

I remember a routine done by a comedian long ago talking about his father’s noise. It was that low growl older men made when getting up and out of a chair. While you may not be ready to make the noise, as you lose muscle fitness, eventually it will become more of a task. Just as picking up items off the floor can be challenging and even cause injury from the simple movement. Performing squats can keep your body fit for these types of tasks.

Kettlebells, fitness balls and weights are part of functional fitness training, but you can do functional fitness exercises without any equipment.

A reverse lunge with dumbbells incorporates movement, muscles working together while changing position and balance. It challenges core stability too. Opening up the hips and thorax area with certain exercises helps prevent back problems by loosening tight hips. Kettlebells workouts give a total body workout and helps coordinate the muscles to get them working together. Kettlebells also build core muscles, which is important in functional fitness. Fitness ball workouts also work on core stability.

Functional fitness workout help people of all ages.

You can modify the workouts to match the level of fitness of each person. Older individuals, particularly if they haven’t exercised in a long time may be best off starting with body weight or even water based functional fitness workouts. Of course, as with any program of exercise, checking with your health care professional is of utmost importance before beginning.

  • Consider all the daily moves you make, from reaching for something overhead, running up stairs, getting out of the car or even just vacuuming the floor. Preparing the body for these types of tasks is the goal of functional training.
  • Functional exercises focus on more than one joint and muscle group. It’s all about getting the muscles to work together as one. It’s utilizing the whole body with each exercise, even if part of it is just for support.
  • Functional fitness works on all types of fitness. It employs exercises to improve range of motion—flexibility, improves power—strength, balance and endurance.
  • You may already be doing many of the functional fitness exercises. It may be just a matter of working with a personal trainer to create a program that combines them safely.

Is Sugar Ruining Your Health?

Is Sugar Ruining Your Health?

You may avoid chocolate, candy, cakes and cookies, never letting a bit of carbonated soda touch your lips and think you have the sugar problem conquered. You may be wrong. Sugar seems to be in everything from the ketchup on your burger to commercial soups and bread. It’s often in the form of high fructose corn syrup, which is disguised by using other names such as natural corn syrup, isolated fructose and glucose/fructose syrup. My favorite is maize syrup. It sounds so natural, since maize is a derivation of the name the indigenous people of pre-Columbia America gave to corn. Sugar was never meant to be eaten in such quantity and studies show there’s a price to pay. Is sugar ruining your health? I believe the answer may be yes.

Sugar has an effect on the immune system that leaves you open to a number of conditions.

Your immune system fights off foreign invaders such as bacteria, fungi, virus and even cancer cells. It needs vitamin C to do it. When glucose is in your bloodstream, the structure is much like vitamin C. Phagocytes, white blood cells that envelop the offenders, grab it up instead and it leaves these cells almost powerless to fight. Even healthy foods can have the effect. Orange juice, for instance, raises blood glucose levels. However, if you eat the orange instead, the fiber in the orange slows down the absorption of glucose into the blood stream and allows the cells to work the way they were meant to work.

Sugar can cause insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance is the start of type II diabetes. It’s the precursor to metabolic syndrome, obesity and cardiovascular disease too. When there’s glucose in the bloodstream, the body produces insulin to unlock the cells so the glucose can get in and feed them. Sometimes, the cells don’t respond to the insulin, leaving the glucose free in the bloodstream, so the pancreas continues to produce more. It becomes a vicious circle with the pancreas working overtime. While scientists don’t know the exact reason that this occurs, they do know that obesity, lack of exercise, stress, poor diet and certain diseases can cause it.

Sugar can cause heart disease.

It’s known that excess sugar in the bloodstream can raise blood pressure and that a diet high in sugar, more than 25% of total calories, causes the liver to dump excess fats into the bloodstream. Both of these factors can boost the potential for heart disease. The American Heart Association suggests that women consume no more than 6 teaspoons of extra sugar daily, with men’s limits being about 9 teaspoons. Since a 12-ounce can of soda contains about 9 teaspoons of sugar, just one can would put most people over the limit.

  • Sugar can lead to a myriad of conditions that are as varied as weaker eyesight, arthritis, gall stones and varicose veins.
  • Sugar causes premature aging by combining with proteins in a process called glycation. They form a new molecule called advanced glycation end products—AGEs. These attack other cells like collagen and elastin that keep the skin firm, making you look older before you should.
  • Sugar can lead to emotional swings and contributes to anxiety and depression.
  • Consuming too much sugar is bad for the teeth, but also extremely bad for the memory. One study showed that sugar slows the brain and hinders memory and learning. Think about that the next time you forget where you left your keys.