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1Corinthians 6: 19-20
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Articles of Interest:
Taken from "Fitness News & Views"
The Monthly Newsletter Publication of
Graham Fitness
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*People who skip breakfast are increasing their risk of weight gain and possibly setting themselves up for diabetes and heart disease as well.
*Consumer Reports quotes a study completed last year on over 4000 people who lost weight and kept it off, That study done by Brown Medical School found that 78% ate breakfast daily. It confirms the results of an earlier study from the University of Massachusetts which showed that people who miss breakfast are 4 times more likely to be obese. What’s more, an English study found that omitting breakfast seems to raise “bad” (LDL) cholesterol and lowers the body’s sensitivity to insulin, factors which could increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes. A healthy breakfast includes fruit, whole grain cereal or bread, and low-fat or skim milk.
*The bottled water craze started about 20 years ago in the United States. In recent years, sales of bottled water have exploded as a result of a perception by the public that bottled water is safer and purer than city tap water. However, that’s just not the case. Tap water has to meet higher standards than bottled water. Every test result I can find shows tap water as safe, if not safer, than bottled water.
*The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a New York based political action group, independently studied over 1000 samples of 103 brands of bottled water over a four year period and found that although most of them were of high quality, some were contaminated with chemicals and bacteria. On the other hand, everywhere in the United States, tap water must meet stringent regulatory standards set by the EPA. The FDA is responsible for the safety of bottled water, but the rules are less rigorous. What’s more, bottled water that is packaged and sold within the same state is not even subject to the FDA regulations.
*Many people believe that the water sold in the bottles with the beautiful labels comes from the springs or glaciers depicted on the labels, but often it’s just not the case. Everest water comes not from Mount Everest but from Corpus Christi, Texas. Glacier Clear water doesn’t come from an Alaskan glacier but from the tap in Greenville, Tennessee. Dasani and Aquafina are reprocessed tap water from cities around the country. In Detroit, Aquafina water comes from the Detroit River. In fact, about 25% of bottled water is nothing more than tap water.
*So why would anybody pay up to 500 times more for bottled water? Well, lots of people say it tastes better, but in blind test after blind test, tap water outperforms bottled water. Don’t believe me. Try it yourself. Have someone prepare 3 or 4 samples of different bottled waters and a sample of tap water and taste them blindfolded. The truth is what you’re actually paying for is marketing and packaging, not safety or purity or taste. I’ll just have a glass of tap water, thank you.
*Instead of breath mints, here’s an idea for fresh breath. Carry some parsley with you in a baggie and whenever you want to freshen the breath, eat some. Parsley is tasty and very low in calories. In addition, it’s loaded with healthy vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamins A and C. And you thought parsley was just a garnish.
*Incidentally, you might want to take a tooth pick with you as well, because parsley tends to get stuck in your teeth, and you know what that can do to a smile even if your breath is wonderful.
*Usually when someone says they want to lose weight, what they really mean is they want to lose body fat (adipose tissue). Unfortunately, most people have no idea what their body fat is, much less what is acceptable, so let me see if I can shine some light on the subject.
*If you weigh 150 pounds and have a body fat of 20%, your body consists of 30 pounds of fat and 120 pounds of lean body mass (muscle, bone, organ tissue, and blood).
*A certain amount of body fat is necessary for good health. Fat regulates body temperatures, insulates internal organs, and is the primary source for the body’s energy storage. A man needs between 2 and 4% body fat for these purposes. A woman, about 10 to 12%.
*Women athletes usually carry 14 to 20% of their total weight as fat. Men athletes, between 6 and 13%. Anything up to 17% for men and 24% for women is considered acceptable. Women with more than 32% fat are obese, as are men with more than 25%.
*There are several ways to determine your body fat, but most of them are expensive or inaccurate or both. The most accurate way that is affordable is to have your body fat taken by a trained professional using a skin caliper. Incidentally, this is a standard part of my Fitness Profile, so let me know if I can help you.
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*If you have lower back problems, you don’t have to avoid exercise. Truth is, in most cases, the best thing you can do for a bad back is exercise. Here are two exercises most people can do to help build those core muscles which include your abdominals and lower back. To be safe, check with your doctor before doing these.
*First are crunches. These will build strength in the abs. One caution though, they will not help you lose the fat in the abs. As I said in the previous article, you cannot spot reduce, but you can build muscle. Unfortunately, you won’t see that rippling six-pack until the fat is gone, and that only comes off by eating fewer calories than you are burning.
*Do crunches by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Place your hands by your ears, but not interlaced behind your head. Keep your head off the floor and your chin off your chest. Now roll your shoulders up until they are off the floor. Your back should be off the floor up to about your shoulder blades. Now slowly roll back to the starting position. Concentrate on keeping your abs tight throughout this exercise. Do as many of these as you can. Rest and repeat 2 or 3 sets.
*I call the other exercise Superman. It is also called a back extension. Lie on your stomach on the floor with your arms extended forward and your legs straight out. Now lift one arm and the opposite leg simultaneously, i.e. the left arm and right leg. Lift them as high as you can then lower them. Repeat this exercise 12 times with each leg. Do 2 or 3 sets. A complete set is both legs.
*The American Heart Association has begun a huge awareness campaign designed to let women know that heart disease is their number one health enemy. Surprisingly, heart disease kills about 500,000 women each year, more than the next seven causes of death combined, including cancer. The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease says that more women than men die of heart disease each year.
*Risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, lack of exercise, obesity, stress, and a family history of heart disease and/or stroke.
Women should know their blood pressure and their cholesterol totals, including their HDL/LDL ratios. They should also stop smoking, start exercising about 30 minutes a day, and take omega 3 and folic acid supplements daily, according to the AHA.
*Recently a client of mine told me that eating properly is the hardest thing for him to do. As you know if you’ve been receiving this newsletter for any time, my formula for successful weight loss and fitness is a simple one: Eat healthy foods in moderation, and exercise correctly and consistently.
*At least it sounds simple, but it’s easier read than done. Why is eating healthy foods in moderation so difficult? Let’s face it, eating is more mental than physical. If we only ate what we need to survive, nobody would be overweight. But we don’t do that, and I don’t necessarily think we should. I don’t see anything wrong with an occasional hamburger or an ice cream cone once every couple of weeks. We don’t need to completely deprive ourselves of those special treats we desire. *It’s when we can’t control these things that we have to take some precautions. I don’t allow ice cream in the house, because I have no self-discipline when it’s around. On a recent Saturday evening, I bought a half gallon of ice cream. By Sunday evening it was gone. My son ate one small bowlful. I ate the rest. The next day, my wife fixed a pie for a church affair, but it didn’t turn out like she wanted and we kept it. One day later, it was gone. I ate it – all of it! Pies are also banned from the house.
*I control most of my sweet-tooth urges with low fat yogurt and Nature Valley Chewy Granola bars with yogurt on the bottom. Those that I can’t control, I must avoid. Most of us have these good-intention-busters. My advice is don’t allow them in the house. If you need a fix now and then, indulge it at a restaurant or ice cream parlor, but don’t bring the temptation into your home.
*If you’ve ever used a treadmill or elliptical machine, you may have noticed the word MET flashing across the screen and wondered what that is all about. MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent, and it’s a measurement of the intensity of your workout.
*One MET equals 1.2 calories burned per minute. So if you are working at 5 MET’s, you would be burning 6 calories a minute, or about 360 calories an hour.
*It’s not a measurement anybody ever uses. It’s much easier just to say you’re burning 360 calories an hour. But now that you know what it is, go ahead and use the info to amaze your friends. Say something like: “Yesterday I ran 30 minutes averaging 8 MET’s.” Then when they ask, you can smugly explain to them what that means. (Hint: You burned 288 calories during the 30 minute run.)
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*People often ask me why they need to incorporate weight lifting into their exercise routine. They understand the need for cardio exercise, and they know why they should eat properly, but why lift weights.
*In the first place, resistance training is necessary for weight loss. Every pound of muscle burns about 35 calories a day. A pound of fat by comparison burns about 2 calories a day. So the best way to increase your metabolism is to add muscle, and the best way to add muscle is to lift weights.
*But there are many other reasons to lift. Resistance exercise has been shown to have profound effects on the skeletal system. Bones actually become stronger when they are stressed. As a result, the ravages of osteoporosis can be reduced or eliminated by strength and resistance exercise. *Strong muscles around bones also greatly reduce the likelihood of fractures.
Lifting gives you strength for everyday activities, and resistance training decreases the risk of many injuries, such as strains and sprains. Strong abdominal muscles are your best weapon against back pain.
*Lifting weights will also make you look better. Ladies want toned arms, not flabby “bingo” arms. Men want muscular biceps and triceps. Ladies want tight well-defined abs. So do men.
*Finally, recent research demonstrates that strength training may positively affect health factors like insulin resistance, blood pressure, and the immune system, which could help ward off diabetes, heart disease, and many types of cancer.
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