Friday, June 29, 2012

Time to Exercise


Daily we hear statements like, "Every 33 seconds an American dies of cardiovascular disease" or "more than 62% of Americans are considered obese." These statements may stir up urgency in many people, as they should, to try to avoid the pain, suffering and disease caused by obesity. Losing weight and getting fit can be the struggle of your lifetime. The need to change your lifestyle by eating healthier and exercising more can be difficult, but not impossible. Undeniably, it is true; the "Time to Exercise" is now.

This article covers 3 main points:


  • What TIME is the best TIME to exercise?

  • How much TIME should I exercise for?

  • I just don't have any TIME to exercise!

Read complete article at: http://womenspersonalfitness.net/catalog/index.php?main_page=page&id=26

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Thursday, June 21, 2012

Is drinking soda really that bad for you?


Read the low down on drinking soda. Great report from CNN News! Personally, I prefer Water.

Editor's note: Dr. Melina Jampolis, CNN's diet and fitness expert, is a physician nutrition specialist and the author of "The Calendar Diet: A Month by Month Guide to Losing Weight While Living Your Life."
(CNN) -- Q: I've heard so much about the dangers of drinking soda. Is it really all that bad for you? Or is it just empty calories?
You may have heard about a new study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Nutrition that found an increased risk of stroke in people who consumed more than one soda per day.
These findings are not surprising in light of the growing body of evidence linking intake of sugar sweetened beverages -- of which soda makes up the largest percentage -- and diseases such as......

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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Diabetes Prevention

Diabetes is probably the easiest of the silent diseases for you to predict.  A sedentary lifestyle paired with excess weight and the over consumption of high glycemic-index foods is a recipe for disaster that can lead to Type II diabetes.  Careful monitoring of your weight and your food choices will help you  prevent diabetes.
 
Focus on lean proteins at each meal, and restrict your sugar and starch intake.  You also need to choose fiber-rich whole grains to release glucose in a steady stream to moderate blood sugar levels.  Good food choices include:
  • Dietary fibers (Whole Grains)
  • Eggs
  • Flaxseed oil
  • Lamb
  • Lean Beef
  • Low-fat
  • cottage cheese
  • Nuts and seeds (raw): almonds, sesame seeds, hazelnuts,cashews
  • Poultry
  • Soy Products
  • Cold-water fish
  • Veal
  • Yogurt
  • Low glycemic vegetables
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Monday, June 18, 2012

Calcium Pills Linked to Heart Risk

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Weight Train for Weight Loss

Including weight training in your exercise/weight loss plan will make the overall difference in the outcome of your new healthy lifestyle/diet change.  Not only will you build more calorie burning muscle to aid with speedier fat burning, but your body strength and shape will transform. And muscle acts as an active furnace which increases your metabolism and burns fat all day, even while you sleep!
  • The library has an assortment of books to get you started at home lifting weights and/or exercising.
  • You don't need alot of hand weights. Plastic milk jugs filled with water at varied levels can work fine.
  • Use your own body weight with calisthenic type floor exercises (push ups, sit ups, etc). You will not only be strengthening your muscles but burning calories too.
  • Weight bearing exercise also increases bone density to avoid osteoporosis.  Burn fat & build bone density at the same time!
  • There are very few legitimate excuses as to why you cannot do an exercise program at home.
  • Exercise videos and DVDs can transform your living room into your gym!
  • The chances of you building the huge muscles you see in the magazines is slim unless this is what you intentionally train for.  Women cannot genetically build the huge muscles that men do.  The testosterone is just not there.
  • Weight training strengthens muscles to not only be stronger but lessen possible injuries.
  • Weight training increases your self-esteem and self-confidence as well as improve your balance and coordination.
  • This type of exercise improves overall health by enhancing your immune system, decreases blood pressure and risk of many diseases such as diabetes.
So, if you are not doing the above already, get started today! Go to your local library or book store to get your guide! Take your health into your own hands. When you feel sore from your first workout, remember that it only lasts until your body gets accustomed to the changes and that the soreness is your muscles saying “Thank You!”

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Monday, June 11, 2012

The Answer to Cancer – 5 Must have foods that can stop Cancer in it’s tracks.


Dr. Oz says, “Every one of us has cancer growing in us right now.” It’s called, cancer without disease, and we have the power to prevent it from becoming deadly.

Did you know that a microscopic tumor can grow up to 16,000 times its original size in as little as 2 weeks?

Cancer cells are fed by new blood vessels that are formed by a process called: “Angiogenesis.” Angiogenesis is a highly delicate balancing act. Cancer cells throw this balancing act out of whack by releasing chemicals that cause too many new blood vessels to develop. These excess blood vessels not only feed our healthy cells, but also those ravenously hungry, rogue cancer cells. The more fuel they receive, the more these microscopic malignancies grow and divide. That’s how the smallest cancer cells that live in all of us can morph quietly into life threatening tumors.

William W. Li, MD President, The Angiogenesis Foundation, Cambridge, Massachusetts states, “More than 70 major diseases affecting more than a billion people worldwide share abnormal angiogenesis as their common denominator. In particular, angiogenesis is a hallmark of every type of cancer. “It’s about you and what you choose to eat,” says Dr. Li. Over 100 foods contain inhibitors that prevent angiogenesis, but not all of these foods are created equal. Some are more potent than others.

5 Foods that can Prevent Cancer from growing inside you.
  • 1. Bok Choy – This type of Chinese cabbage contains brassinin; a powerful cancer-fighter, also found in broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Bok Choy should be eaten 3 times a week, in 1/2 cup servings to obtain its full benefits.
    2. Cooked Tomatoes – have more cancer-fighting properties than raw tomatoes. Both contain the molecule lycopene, (which is an anti-angiogenesis compound) but heating the tomato and adding olive oil changes its chemical structure and makes the benefits more readily available to your body. You should eat 2-3 (1/2 cup) servings of cooked tomatoes a week. In studies, men eating 2 to 3 servings of cooked tomatoes a week had a 50% reduction in the risk of developing prostate cancer.
    3. Flounder – This fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids and low in mercury. Three 6-ounce servings a week is ideal.
    4. Strawberries – The antioxidants in this berry help fight cancers. You should eat 1 cup a day, including the juice.
    5. Artichokes contain 3 different cancer-fighting molecules. Enjoy ¼ cup of hearts per day.
  • The important thing to understand is that these are foods in which there is evidence that they can reduce cancer. The servings and sizes are general guidelines. The more we eat of these foods, the better it is for us.

    Other great cancer inhibiting foods are:Green tea – Dunk Your Teabag. Dunking a tea bag up and down releases more cancer-fighting molecules than letting the bag just sit in the cup.
    Soybeans – Fermented soy, like the kind used in miso soup, contains four times more cancer fighters than regular soybeans.
    ChocolateCinnamon
    Chewing leafy greens helps to release enzymes that activate cancer-fighting molecules embedded deep in the leaves.
    Broccoli sprouts can contain more cancer-fighting properties than regular broccoli.
    Red Delicious and Granny Smith apples have twice as many cancer fighters as Fuji or Golden Delicious apples.
    The San Marzano tomato contains more cancer fighters than any other variety.
    Wine grapes grown in cooler climates have more cancer fighters than grapes grown in warmer climates.
We now know that all fruits and vegetables are not created equal – some are much more potent than others, based on their anti-angiogenesis profiles.

Dr. Oz says to choose one cancer fighting food for each meal. At 3 meals each day, that adds up to more than a thousand of cancer fighting food choices each year.

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Friday, June 8, 2012

Trail Love

Every time I speed walk my trail, I think about writing about the “Trail Love” I feel. So here it is.

We first encountered the trail years ago while living on the opposite side of town. We loved to inline skate the newly paved trail way that hugged the Portage Creek for a total of about 3 miles. In the beginning, there were not many visitors and it seemed like the trail was ours alone. For several years, we would drive across town as often as we could to “skate the trail.”

When the time came that we considered downsizing and moving, we knew we wanted to find a place close to the trail, so we could use it often. We found a place and fixed it up very near the trail. It’s a place where we could put our inline skates on in our living room, head out the door, down the street and onto the trail. We loved it!

In the earlier days, the trail/park has served us with play equipment for the grand kids, a great place to ride our bikes, skate and walk. We have even kayaked down the Portage Creek within the park! The added bonus of beautiful wild life is priceless. We have seen many deer, turkeys, red fox, rabbits, turtles, and heron over the years.

So, when I speed walk the trail, the first thing I notice are the other people. Some are regulars I see often and some not. There seems to be a bit of “trail camaraderie” present with people greeting each other with a “Good Morning” or “Hi” as we each are eager to do our own thing.

It doesn’t take long to smell the aromas of the air. Some musty, wet leaved smells are unlike anything else you’ve ever smelled. Sometimes there are floral smells from the wild flowers and sometimes I can smell the bakery waft from blocks away. It’s the deep breathing that encourages the smells to take note in my brain with love; I experience the love at that time. A bit of motivational reward for doing what I am doing. I also look forward to the change of seasons and conditions. This spring when the cottonwood trees had released their seed, I saw a magnificent “cottonwood seed tornado” as it blew and created the vortex right in front of me. The changing and dropping leaves are another joy. It just never ends.

I feel the same motivational reward looking and scanning the area for deer, their fawns or any other wild life I can see. I have been blessed so many times with close encounters with fawn and doe. I can see them so close in the wild. I think they are a little bit used to us trail users, but they will bolt away in a flash! Because I try to walk on a regular basis, I use this motivational reward as an incentive to get out and get my workout done! Instead of languishing in the mood of “I don’t feel like it,” I think about the incentive of “Trail Love,” and I find it easier to stay in the habit of speed walking the trail.

And in the meantime, I am getting my exercise in, getting my heart rate up, burning off whatever I shouldn’t have eaten the day before and hopefully staying healthy.

I’ve had this revelation happen to me over the years as I have struggled with my perpetual laziness. Even though I know I should get my workout in, there is a lazy Linda sitting on my left shoulder saying, “Let’s just sit on the couch and watch TV.”

So, the next time you are getting in your workout, don’t think about the hard work it will be, think instead about what you will like about your workout. Think about the benefits or love you may experience in your workout. If you don’t find you have any love in your workout, maybe you should re-evaluate what you’re doing and do an exercise that you enjoy or at least can find some enjoyable aspects of.

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