Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
I was talking to some people last night about diet and weight loss and the topic inevitably turned to the problem of where you can get healthy fast food. So here is a short list. Remember, even McDonalds has a number of healthy choices, so if you are unwilling to get a grilled chicken salad or sandwich, that is not the fault of the restaurant!
1) The deli at most major supermarkets have a host of healthy food including custom made subs and grilled chicken breasts. Add a side item of fruit or salad and you have a great lunch. Note- if you get a whole foot long sub, eat half of it and save the other half for later. Portion control is still very important!
2) Moe’s- Fast food Tex-Mex made to order. Get the children’s items since they are still more than enough. I usually get the Moo Moo Cow burrito with chicken, rice, a small amount of black beans and lettuce/tomatoes. It is still more than you really need for lunch even though it is a children’s item. Their regular size burritos are absurdly large. Remember to skip the high sugar/calorie soda and go for water or tea. Most people can cut 500 calories/day from their diet if they jsut drop the high calorie drinks from their diet.
3) Pizza Hut- OK, you think I’m crazy, but just like McDonalds, Pizza Hut has a pizza called “Fit’n Delicious” where each slice from a medium size pizza is about 170 calories. So 2 slices for lunch will keep you under 400 calories which is fine for most people. Add to that the fact that pizza is generally prety good nutririonally, and that takes away some of the guilt! It is always good to check out the nutririon facts on the companies website so you have an idea of what is good/bad. For instance, while the thin crust pizza is about 200 calories per slice, the pan pizza is more like 300. Adding sausage really kills the deal! Take 5 minutes before you go to lunch to check out their menu on-line and you will be way ahead in the diet and weight loss war.
Diet and Fat Loss Tips and Myths
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
This comes from an article over at MSN Health from Prevention Magazine. These all fall into the “details” category, but they are still helpful. If you like peppers, this is one that you will like.There are 11 tips so head over and read them all.
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Hot foods will fire up metabolism
True. Capsaicin, the bioactive compound that makes chile peppers exude heat, can turn your metabolism up a notch while also enhancing satiety and reducing hunger. Studies show that eating about 1 tablespoon of chopped red or green chile pepper, which is equal to 30 milligrams of capsaicin, resulted in up to a temporary 23% boost in metabolism. In another study, 0.9 grams of red pepper was given in capsule form or naturally in tomato juice before each meal. The researchers noted that the individuals reduced their total calorie intake by 10 or 16% percent, respectively, for 2 days after and still reported being full.
Tip: Sprinkle red pepper flakes onto pasta dishes and into chilis and stews; fresh chile peppers work well in salsas and add a fiery flavor to many other dishes.
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Sports, Supplements, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
It is really hard to come up with a list of what daily supplements you need to take because I don’t know your diet, lifestyle or other details that would be required to dial in an exact list. But here is a good start even if it is a shotgun approach.
First, unless you eat an incredibly good and varied diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts and proteins, you probably need to take a multivitamin each morning. Since I don’t know anyone who does eat like this, I think I’m safe suggesting this! Second, you need to take about 2 grams of vitamin C each day in (4) 500mg tablets with meals. Vitamin C is not the miracle that a lot of people think it is, but 2 grams a day will definitely have good long term effects. Lastly, you need to take an Omega 3 supplement if you don’t eat fish at least 3 times per week. You can get fish oil supplements pretty much anywhere including the grocery store. So think about adding these supplements to your daily routine if you aren’t already taking them. As I said, the object isn’t a sudden miraculous fix for a certain problem, it is long term health and wellness that you should be shooting for.
3 Great Foods for Muscle Growth
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Sports, Supplements, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
These are really simple and you already know about them, but many time we just need to be reminded of things we already know but don’t do! So try adding these 3 foods to your weekly diet for a more balanced nutrition plan.
1) Fish- fish is a great source of high quality, low fat protein and has the added benefit of being rich in omega 3 fatty acids. If you are like me and don’t like “fishy” tasting fish, try tuna or swordfish grilled or blackened. Good stuff!
2) Sweet Potatos- These are the miracle carbs. Very rich in vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants, they pack a whole lot of essential nutrition into a small package.
3) Yogurt- Low fat yogurt is another great tasting food that can help with muscle growth since it contains high quality protein, calcium and all the vitamins associated with milk products. If you are lactose intolerant, eating smaller amounts at one time will usually avoid stomach upset.
Adding these three foods to your diet on a weekily basis will give you an edge in your training and generally promote good nutritional balance.
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Seniors/fit, Sports, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
After my workout at the gym tonight, I’m convinced that each state needs to create a Spandex Licensing Board to prevent psychological damage to people who are forced to see other people in spandex that have no business even owning it. Let’s just says that there was a very large woman with a very, very large rear end that looked like it was made of Jello who really needs to have someone tell her that spandex is not the right choice for her figure. I had no idea that they even made spandex in sizes that big. That should be outlawed too. It was sort of like a train wreck. Tragic but fascinating- something that you can’t keep from staring at. Which brings me to my main point- with the “new normal” of everyone being overweight, it is not unusual to see people dressed in outfits that used to be reserved for fitness models. So please, look at a fitness magazine and if you don’t look exactly like one of the models, leave the spandex or tight fitting shorts at home.That goes for you guys too.
The positive side of this is that she was in the gym and she was working out pretty hard. That’s better than most people, so good for her.
Faith, Fitness and Weight Loss
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Spiritual/Emotional, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
People have many different reasons for wanting to lose weight that include health, longevity, vanity and even concern for others- not necessarily in that order of course. Another reason that few people think of is belief that God never designed or intended for us to be overweight, unhealthy and unhappy. So when I came across this article from Prevention magazine, I thought I’d link to is since it really does have some very good information and things to think about. One thing that seems to come through in all of these accounts is that it is not just about weight loss, it is about lifestyle and living right.
Kimberly Floyd knew how to lose weight: She studied nutrition and worked as a registered nurse for almost a decade. Floyd had reason, too: High blood pressure and stroke runs in her family. Yet when on break at the hospital, she would often down a burger and fries, and she grew to 240 pounds.
Then one evening in December 2003, when she was only 38, Floyd had severe chest pain. “I realized then this was not how I was supposed to live,” she says. Though she first became a Christian in her mid-20s, that moment redefined her faith.
“I felt like God has a purpose for my life, and I had to find strength to fulfill it.” She started reading the Bible and praying daily. Instead of focusing on shedding excess fat, she told herself: My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and I’ll do what it takes to stay healthy.
With that, making healthful choices became much easier. She swapped fast food for whole foods and added a daily walk to her routine. In a year and a half, she lost 85 pounds.
Floyd was so inspired that she began her own Christian weight loss-coaching program called Take Back Your Temple. “My message is about taking responsibility and making the most of all the gifts God has given you,” she says. “When you see your body as sacred, your desire to care for it intensifies.”
Exercise Benefits for the Elderly
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, General Fitness, Health, Seniors/fit, Spiritual/Emotional | Add Comment
We have all experienced the sensation of feeling sharper and more alert after exercise and some new research shows that it helps elderly people as well. This is common sense since exercise increases blood flow throughout the body and especially to the brain.
Brisk walking led to slight improvements on mental tests for older people with memory problems in what is billed as the first rigorous test of exercise on the aging brain.
The results from the small Australian study were only modest. But they back up observational studies showing potential mental benefits from physical activity.
The effects of exercise were at least as good, if not better, than those seen with drugs approved to aid mental function in Alzheimer’s disease, according to experts not involved in the study.
My mother, who is in her mid 70’s always feels better after her water aerobics class. The benefits are more far reaching than just mental sharpness, though. They also include better flexibility, less muscle stiffness and atrophy as well as relief from some symptoms of arthritis. So if you have an older person in your family, get them signed up for some sort of exercise program at the local YMCA/YWCA. It will really make a big difference in their life.
Fighting Fat Genetics With Exercise
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Sports, Supplements, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
OK, this goes in the “duh, common sense” category, but the science behind it is still interesting. Apparently, some people have a gene that predisposes them to being overweight or obese. The study done on the hard working Amish people simply shows that exercise (like hard work) overcomes the genetic flaw.You are not a slave to your genes!
Maybe you CAN blame being fat on your genes. But there’s a way to overcome that family history — just get three to four hours of moderate activity a day.
Sound pretty daunting?
Not for the Amish of Lancaster County, Pa., who were the focus of a new study on a common genetic variation that makes people more likely to gain weight. It turns out the variant’s effects can be blocked with physical activity — lots of it.
…The researchers found that Amish people with the genetic variant were no more likely to be overweight than those who had the regular version of the gene — as long as they got three to four hours of moderate activity every day. That included things like brisk walking, housecleaning and gardening.
And while physical activity is recommended for just about everyone, the study suggests that people with the gene variation need to be especially vigilant about getting exercise.
“These findings emphasize the important role of physical activity in public health efforts to combat obesity, particularly in genetically susceptible people,” the authors wrote in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine.
This is good news since a lot of people think that they are doomed to being fat. It is bad news since most people are lazy and still won’t do anything. Certainly one of the biggest problems we face as a society and culture is our prosperity- which obviously has the effect of killing us with diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, etc. When food is plentiful, cheap and very high in calories (sugar and fat) while at the same time we really need to do nothing physical to obtain that food, the result is exactly what we see in America today. And it is spreading around the world at an alarming pace. So remember, It is always diet and exercise- even if you have the “fat gene”.
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Seniors/fit, Sports, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
Wow… I saw this over at MSNBC and thought the story was just too weird to pass up. They didn’t have a picture of him, but it would be interesting to see just how he looks since it is very conceivable that you could eat a Big Mac every day and still stay in shape. But when you add in the obsessive-compulsive disorder, that seems unlikely unless he is equally O-C about working out. I have know people that were almost this bad with other foods like donuts and pizza. There is also specualtion about the addictive effects of MSG (monosodium glutamate) that is used as seasoning in fast foods and snack foods. Always check the label on snack food for MSG, since it has some bad side effects for a lot of people.
FOND DU LAC, Wis. – A 54-year-old man says his obsessive-compulsive disorder drove him to eat 23,000 Big Macs in 36 years.
Fifty-four-year-old Don Gorske says he hit the milestone last month, continuing a pleasurable obsession that began May 17, 1972 when he got his first car.
…The correctional-institution employee says he doesn’t care when people call his Big Mac obsession crazy. He says he’s in love with the burgers, which are the highlights of his days.
8-12 rep sets for strength and endurance
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Sports, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
I really needed to change my workout around from the standard pyramid up, pyramid down routine, so I went back to my trusty 8-12 reps for 5 sets for each exercise. There is real benefit in training each way, but it is easy to fall into a rut and actually start to lose ground. So every few months, make a big change in your routine and you will see and feel a difference.
If you are going to do the 8-12 rep workout, what you need to do is warm up with a couple of light sets and then pick a weight that you can do for 12 reps on your first set with difficulty- ie. the 12th rep should be a real struggle. For each of the folloing 4 sets, try to stay within 1 rep of the previous set. So, that means that set 2 would be 11, set 3 would be 10, etc. Do 2 or 3 exercises like this depending on the body part. For example, I do flat bench dumbbell presses, cable flys and incline presses for chest. After that, my chest is pretty fried. Same with legs. Just doing 5 sets of squats with a weight you can barely get 10 of on average will pretty much kill your legs. Add in lunges and hack squats and you will be crawling out of there. Give it a try and see if your strength, size and stamina go up. I’m betting they will!
