Archive for the ‘General’ Category:
Weekly Roundup: Childhood Obesity, Breastmilk & Book Reviews
Lazy Man has some good tips for dealing with childhood obesity, here’s one: “Introduce your children to a wide variety of foods, including lots of fruits and vegetables. Consuming lots of fresh produce is a great way to promote healthy eating, and giving your kids variety increases the chances of them finding produce that they truly enjoy eating. A varied diet also has the benefit of a wide variety of nutrients, which is essential to healthy development.”
Thankfully, Ben and Jerry said no to breast milk in ice cream. PETA is craaaazy.
Thinking about getting a copy of Foods That Help You Lose Weight By Neal Barnard, Weight Ladder does a good review of the book.
Subscribe to the comments for this postDon’t Focus on the Scale
Israel recently posted that he would be ditching the scale and weekly weigh-ins because seeing only a one pound drop on Monday really threw his head in for a loop. He’s a smart guy, he knows that it’s just a number and that he’s not a failure, but he’s also human. I personally don’t focus on the scale because I’m human too and your health cannot be boiled down into a single number.
Since I’ve started biking and working out more, I’ve noticed that my weight hasn’t really changed too much but my athleticism has increased. Running is easier and I run faster. I feel healthier and more active, two things that mean more to me than seeing the number on the scale.
Hiking Is Fun But Dangerous
This weekend, my wife and I visited some friends who live in the Poughkeepsie, NY area and, among other things, hiking a little trail Saturday afternoon. It was labeled a “moderately difficult” trail that had an estimated three hours round-trip completion time so we headed up there around 2 pm. My wife and I, and our friends, were pretty ill prepared for the trail as we just thought it was some little path through the woods that would be fairly easy to complete. What we discovered was a trail that required us to get one some hands and knees, climbing over rocks, and looking for hand hand holds; not really difficult but hardly a walk around our local lake. We had no maps, a bottle of water, and our trust of the trail marking system of one white dash or two (and some park service tags). It wasn’t a big deal but when we did get mildly lost, it did give us a little warning that hiking is fun but can be dangerous if you’re ill prepared.
There are three things we should’ve brought that we didn’t:
- A Map: Before you slap yourself and say “Duh!” I have to warn that we thought the trail was just a little walk that could be finished in short order. The trail itself was clearly marked but we weren’t 100% where each trail went. The trail also ended up being far easier to go up than it was to go down, because of the rocks, so our original plan of just back-tracking was adjusted. Regardless, it was a mistake not to have a map (the trail head didn’t have maps either, something we assumed).
- Food: We only ate breakfast at noon and I was starving by the time we made it halfway through. That’s bad… we needed some trail mix!
- Water: We had enough water for our needs but you never know. If we really got lost, we wouldn’t have had enough water.
Even if you think it’s a short hike, be armed with a map and water and food. Don’t be a fool like me.
Why 8 Hours Of Sleep Matters
I’ve always heard that eight hours of sleep is the optimal amount of sleep every person needs, but I honestly get around 6-7 hours each night. After about that long, I start waking up and my brain starts thinking… and then I can’t get it to stop. After a while, it’s really just me lying in bed thinking about “stuff.” I don’t think it’s stress, I just think that I get enough sleep and my brain and body are just ready to get on with the day. After a certain point, I guess my body is tired of sleeping. 
New scientific research shows that going without enough sleep for more than an occasional day or two can wreak havoc on your health, memory, concentration, mood, and ability to make decisions - even if you think you’re doing fine.
I can recognize the signs of being tired. My brain gets a little duller, I have a harder time understanding and following what I read, and I start getting hungry when I know I’ve just eaten (it’s my body starving for energy because I’m tired I think). When I recognize that, I usually don’t try to fight through it, I do something else or I take a quick nap. Even if I don’t actually fall asleep, the break helps me power through rather than just drinking coffee or soda.
Anyway, it seems like the experts are now confident that 7-8 hours a night is the optimal amount. Sleep more and your waking hours will be more effective.
Make sleep work for you [Fortune Small Business]
Roundup: Welcome Mr. Low Body Fat & Other Goodies
Mr. Low Body Fat, the newest addition to the Fitness Health Network, has posted the newest inspirational post about Dr. Kal Chinyere (Lost 130+ Pounds!).
JD of Get Fit Slowly wonders if increasing portion sizes are affecting our health, I think they are. As portion sizes increase, mostly for competition reasons (store A has more than store B, store A must be better!), our own minds start to adjust to eating that much. As we eat more, our stomachs expand and we end up needing more food to get “full.” As proof positive, competitive eaters (think Kobayashi or Joey Chestnuts from the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest) will “prepare” for contests by drinking a ton of water so their stomachs expand.
Kevin of Weight Ladder has some good tips for keeping fit while injured.
I agree with Lazy Man, the cookie diet is ridiculous.
Israel of Fat Man Unleashed has lost 4.5 lbs. since last weigh in and his total weight loss since starting the 30-day Isagenix challenge is at 12 lbs.
Welcome Mr. Low Body Fat!
Today I’m proud to introduce a new addition to the Fitness Health Network, Mr. Low Body Fat!
The story of a 310 lb. college English professor transformed into a lean inspirational health machine is one that’s graced the pages of CNN. If you want to read Muata’s journey, he’s chronicled it for all to read and it’s very inspiring.
I also recommend subscribing to his RSS feed, I especially appreciate how honest he is with both himself and his reader and his level of candor is quite refreshing.
Top Ten Things Only Men Can Do
For your Wednesday afternoon enjoyment, I saw this AskMen.com gem of a top ten list - Top Ten Things Only Men Can Do.
One of my favorites has to be #9 - Hold our liquor simply because the photo is hilarious. I have to contest this one though because even though we may be able to hold our liquor better drink for drink, I think men have a greater propensity to drink more and thus find us less likely to hold our liquor for the entire night. I like the biological explanation though.
As for #5 - play real sports, I have to say that I had a friend once tell me, in jest, that the women’s sports look like men’s sports played underwater. I didn’t say that, a friend did, you judge its accuracy.
My absolute favorite is #3. I’ll leave that up to you to discover which one that is.
Post-Dinner Walks FTW
My wife and I have the great pleasure of living within walking distance of a nice man-made lake. The total distance from our front door, around the lake, and back is approximately three miles. Our neighbor, who has lived here for quite some time, gave us the estimate of the length and we’ve never had any reason to doubt it.
What we’ve started doing is walk around the lake after dinner as often as we possibly can. It’s not terribly strenuous but it’s a bit of added activity every day that has the potential of yielding good benefits down the road.
First, it gets us out and about. I spend most of my day on the computer, sedentary; so getting up and walking around more often is certainly a bonus. While I do go to Body Pump twice a week, every little bit extra certainly helps.
Second, it burns calories at a rate of 100 per mile so that’s 300 burned calories each time we go out. If there are 3500 calories per pound of fat, that’s a pound every 12 days if we’re running at equilibrium. In a year, that’s potential 31 pounds.
Lastly, it’s some good quality time where there are few distractions. We get a chance to chat and that’s priceless.
Muscle Doesn’t Turn Into Fat
Many many years ago, someone told me that if you kept bulking up and then stopped, all of your muscles would be converted into fat. That’s right, muscles that were not used would magically turn into fat.
Wrong.
Wrong and a bit insulting to one’s intelligence I might add. Muscle and fat are two entirely different tissues and there’s no way one could convert itself into the other, in either direction, so the mere idea of this is ludicrous.
How did this crazy myth come about? Likely as the result of poor conclusions made from observation. People who lift a lot tend to consume calories. When you stop lifting your muscles will begin to atrophy and the higher caloric levels, if they stay that way, will contribute to more fat in the body. Muscles shrink, fat stores increase, it looks, superficially, as though muscles as turned into fat.
Worst Drink Ever: Baskin-Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake
How would you like to consume 2,310 calories, 108 grams of fat (64 of which are saturated) and 266 grams of carbohydrates in one fell swoop? Drink a Baskin-Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake and you’ve pretty much just inhaled eleven Heath bars. Worst drink ever.
Check out the shake’s nutritional facts and awe at the fact that you get more than three days worth of saturated fat. Fortunately it does not contain Crustaceans (which include crab, crayfish, lobster and shrimp) because that would be way too much! To burn off that drink, it would take you FOUR HOURS on a treadmill going at a moderate pace.
Someone needs to draw skull and crossbones on that thing… it’s got some serious heart stopping power.
