Lose Weight With 15 Minute Walks
The best way to change your behavior is by making small changes in your life.
If you’re a smoker, quitting cold turkey is very hard. It’s much easier to make small changes, like cutting back how many cigarettes you smoke, than it is to stop smoking entirely.
If you’re finding it difficult to find the time to exercise, try walking for 15 minutes a day. Nothing fancy or strenuous, just take a stroll around the office or the neighborhood, and add 15 minutes of extra exercise into your day. Walking and running burn the same number of calories, so you’re burning as many calories as a 15 minute jog (the difference is in the cardiovascular benefits, running strengthens your heart, lungs, etc.).
If a 15 minute walk isn’t in the cards, do something even simpler. Skip the elevator and use the stairs!
Coolest Fruit on Earth: Miracle Fruit Synsepalum dulcificum
I first read about this crazy berry, scientifically named the Synsepalum dulcificum, on Environmental Graffiti. It turns out that the small berry turns sour flavors into sweet flavors. There’s a protein in the Synsepalum dulcificum called miraculin (really???). Miraculin, when it comes into contact with acids, results in a sweet taste.
They learned about it in a New York Times article about the fantastic stuff. Turns out bartenders are playing with it, people are having flavor-tripping parties, and just having a grand old time.
How crazy?
CARRIE DASHOW dropped a large dollop of lemon sorbet into a glass of Guinness, stirred, drank and proclaimed that it tasted like a “chocolate shake.”
Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: “Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!”
Someone should try Dave’s Insanity Sauce!
America’s Unhealthiest Restaurants
Men’s Health recently published an article on America’s Unhealthiest Restaurants and a few of the restaurants on the list surprised me. They went to sixty-=six chain restaurants and gave each a grade based on a variety of factors. One metric they used was they calculated total number of calories per entree, which is an indicator of how of portion unhealthiness, as well as amount of fruit/veggie side dishes. There are more but I wanted to get to the results that surprised me.
Ruby Tuesdays scored a D+ and you’ll be surprised to learn that their burgers average seventy-five grams of fat a piece, which exceed the limit set out by the USDA! Baja Fresh scored a D- because a third of their menu choices had more than a thousand calories and too much sodium… the only safe option are the tacos.
Applebee’s, IHOP, Outback, and TGI Fridays alls cored an F because they don’t offer caloric information on their menu items.
How to Make Dentist Trips Less Painful
This morning I went to the dentist for a routine cleaning. For years, I dreaded going to the dentist. On routine cleanings I would have to endure the painful process of the scraping, the grinding of the water pick, and the grating whir of the polisher. My gums would bleed, my teeth would be sore for days, and I would feel helpless, waiting for the next time the dental assistant would inadvertently jam the pick into my gums. For those of you who cringed when I explained all that, you know exactly how I feel.
It wasn’t until the last year or two did I really stop fearing going to the dentist. The reason is because I started to take better care of my teeth. It sounds silly but regular and routine maintenance really did take what was a dreadful experience and turn it to a moderately uncomfortable experience. 
I don’t like lying backwards and having someone mess around in my mouth, but at least it was quicker and less painful.
What steps did I take?
- Brush properly – There are a million places you can go to read about brushing your teeth but the biggest lesson I learned was that you should brush and rinse until every tooth feels slick. If it feels slick and you’ve brushed it, you’re good to go.
- Floss regularly – This was the number one reason why my dentist trips are now less horrible. Floss removes the junk between your teeth and reduces the plaque buildup, which in turn reduces how many times the assistant needs to scrape away at it (and poke you!) to clean it out.
- Visit every six months – This is the number two reason. My insurance covers two visits a year, yours probably does too, and that means the amount of pain is lessened each time. It also means how much time you spend there is cut down too. I started going twice a year two years ago and in the last three trips, they’ve never had to use the water pick (that’s the water drill that has the ridiculously high whine when they use it, I hated it!).
The steps sounds so simple it’s stupid but they work. It takes only a minute to floss and a few minutes to brush properly, but it’ll save you years off your life in the pain it saves you from when you visit the dentist.
(Photo: Ammar Abd Rabbo)
Skip $40 Acai Berry Juices, Drink POM
When the fine folks at POM Wonderful emailed me to ask if they could send me a package of their pomegranate juice, I jumped at the chance because both my wife and I love the stuff. We enjoy it because we like the taste of pomegranate, the health benefits are just an added bonus. The reason why pomegranate is so good for you is because it is packed with antioxidants. They’ve spent millions on research (twenty five million to be exact) to confirm the benefits of pomegranates and discovered that it’s had a positive effect in a variety of areas including cardiovascular health, prostate health, erectile function, and in sheer antioxidant potency. But all that doesn’t matter to me and my wife, to be perfectly honest, we don’t look at POM Wonderful as some magic elixir… it’s juice and it tastes good.
However, if you’re one of the many thousands who pay $40 a bottle of acai berry products, consider buying something you can get at your local grocery store instead.
Understanding Your Metabolism
What exactly is your metabolism? It’s something that a lot of people don’t fully understand because there are a lot of myths and misunderstandings floating around out there. Metabolism, scientifically, is the breakdown of fuels in your diet. As you eat proteins, carbs, and fat, your body will convert those fuels into energy that you body can use. When you’re younger, your metabolism burns a lot of fuel; as you get older, your metabolism begins to slow down as your cells become less efficient and operate more slowly. The slowing down of your metabolism is a very real thing, let’s look at why this is.
One of the biggest reasons why your metabolism slows down has to do with your muscle mass. Muscle burns a tremendous amount of energy and as you age, the amount of muscle you have begins to fall. When you’re 60, you have far less muscle mass than when you were 20. Naturally, your metabolism is going to slow down because you won’t need as much fuel to keep your muscles running because your muscles are smaller!
So, why do you get fatter? Our body is trained to turn energy into fat, our body’s natural storage system. When you eat more than your body needs in terms of energy, the extra is stored as fat. Your body does this as a way to protect you because there may come a time when there is no food to eat and your body will need that fat.
There you have it! That’s in essence what your metabolism is and why it seems that it’s conspiring against you to make you fat.
Running & Walking Burns Equal Calories
Did you know that you burn the same number of calories when you run a mile versus when you walk a mile? They’re not identical but they’re pretty close. Surprising right?
Well, before you get too excited, know this: running is a lot better for you. Why? It’s better because it works out your muscles harder, including your heart. When you work your muscles, they get stronger. When you work your heart, it gets stronger.
So, even though a leisurely walk will burn as many calories as a run, a run is much better for your heart. However, the best counter against this is to walk briskly! As long as you get your heart rate up, your heart is working harder and you gain some health benefits because of it.
Dealing with Itchy, Dry Skin
There’s been a tremendous response to my article on itchy legs when running or walking, especially when it’s cold out, so I figured I could write a little about how I deal with itchy and dry skin when I’m not walking or running in the winter. You all probably know what I mean, you get out of the shower, you towel off, and your skin ends up being dry and itchy. It’s infuriating and it seems to only happen in the winter! The reason this happens is because most heating systems blow hot air (duh!) and that hot air is typically very dry. That dryness makes the air in your house very dry. When you combine that with a hot shower and a towel, you end up with skin that is very dry and thus itchy. So, how do you deal with this?
- Lotion. A bit of an obvious answer but lotion is the best response, especially for those designed for dry skin. You want to use it liberally because you need your skin to be healthy and well moisturized.
- Bundle up. The cold air does an excellent job of drying out your skin. If you have a hat and gloves, be sure to put them on even if you don’t think you’ll need them because the cold air can strip your skin of that moisture. This is why your hands are often drier than other parts of your body.
- Shave less frequently. Pulling a razor across your skin is bound to dry it out, you won’t notice it in the summer because there’s more moisture in the air, but it’s very obvious in the winter.
What’s your favorite tip for dealing with itchy, dry skin?
Avoid These Chinese Take Out Foods
Newsweek has a useful article today by Tina Peng titled Unhealthy Chinese-Food Choices listing the seven worst choices at a Chinese restaurant.
- Fried rice
- Lo mein
- Chow fun
- Crispy (orange) beef
- Lemon chicken
- General Tso’s chicken
- Barbequed spare ribs
Why were some of those foods bad? Fat, sodium, and calories. All pack more than you think but those are the worst offenders. What are good choices? “Stir-fried dishes, such as shrimp with garlic sauce, Szechuan shrimp, moo goo gai pan and chicken with black bean sauce all contain less than 1,000 calories a plate, she says, and vegetarian dishes such as Buddha’s Delight, stir-fried mixed vegetables, ma po tofu and Szechuan string beans also are healthier. Still, she cautions that these alternatives are all still heavy on the salt, so think about ordering the sauce on the side.”
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.
