New Year New You

It's new years eve and as usual people are making resolutions about what they want to accomplish in the up coming year. Getting fit seems to be one of the biggest goals that most people set for themselves going into a new year. And while nothing really worth having is ever easy to attain, there are some simple steps that you can take to help you keep all your promises to yourself.

Tips For Resolutions

• Make your resolutions realistic. While it's always a good practice to reach for the stars, goals like everything in life have to be achieved in stages. Trying to accomplish to much to soon is a recipe for disappointment and ultimately failure.
• Some people define insanity as doing the same thing, the same way but expecting a different result. Don't set goals that you have tried year after year and failed to accomplish. If you are not committed to the task, don't try to fool yourself into thinking that you are. Again, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.
• Create a concrete plan. Written plans are more specific and more streamlined. All successful businesses start with a written plan, the same should be true with your fitness resolutions.
• Be flexible. The only constant in life is change. Be prepared to modify or even change your goals to fit your current situation. Plan on hitting bumps along the resolution road and be prepared with specific ways to overcome them. Examples: Finding time to workout with a busy workload or choosing an alternative to that fating meal.
• Tell friends and family about your goals. These are the people that should support you along your journey. They will also hold you accountable to yourself if you become complacent or tired. Remember, they are only there to help, the real work must be done by you.
• Revisit your goals often. Revisiting your goals allows you to determine if you are still going in the right direction to achieve them. It helps you to better prepare for the possible road blocks that could come and trip you up. It also give you an opportunity to refine or change goals that you may have already achieved.
• Finally, give it time. I've seen so many people give up on their resolutions simply because they weren't patient. You cannot change a lifetime of bad habits overnight. Give yourself time by setting a realistic timetable; six months or maybe the whole year. As much time as you need to accomplish your goals.

Statistic say that most people abandon their new years resolutions within six weeks of starting them. On average, about 20% of us keep our resolutions. Your goal for the new year is to keep each and every promise that you make to yourself. Follow my tips and I guarantee you will achieve everything you want in the upcoming year. See you on the other side. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Battle Of The Season

It's that time of year again, cold and flu season. Yep, the time when Americans race to their local clinics and hospitals to get shots for the flu and drink tea to battle colds. Did you know that the U.S. spends $20 billion a year on the common cold? Yes, you read right, the common cold costs the U.S. economy roughly $20 billion a year, much more than other conditions like asthma, heart failure, and emphysema.

"From a bottle of cough syrup to missed time at work and school, the price tag of catching a cold really adds up," says researcher A. Mark Fendrick, MD, with the Consortium for Health Outcomes, Innovation, and Cost Effectiveness Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine. In it, he reports the results from a nationwide telephone survey of more than 4,000 U.S. households. Nearly 75% reported suffering from a cold within the last year, with an average of 2.5 episodes.

The study reports that Americans spend $2.9 billion on over-the-counter drugs and another $400 million on prescription medicines for symptom relief. Also, more than $1.1 billion are spent annually on the estimated 41 million antibiotic prescriptions for cold sufferers -- even though antibiotics have no effect on a viral illness. When added to the workdays missed by employees suffering from a cold, the total economic impact of cold-related work loss exceeds $20 billion.

Wow! I've always believed that a healthy immune system was the way to combat the common cold. With that in mind, here are a few tips to help you battle the season:

• Take supplements daily. The daily supplementation of certain vitamins, minerals, and herbs will support the immune system to ward off infection. Some of the most effective supplements are; Vitamins A, C, and E, zinc and selenium.
• Wash your hands often. We've discussed before how much hand washing cuts down on viral transfer.
• Get proper rest. The body needs it to function and heal itself.
• Drink water. Staying hydrated helps all of the functions of the body operate more efficiently.
• Limit sugar intake. Sugar limits the production of white blood cells. White blood cells fight bacteria and virus’ in the human body. Without normal white blood cell production the immune system will not function.

This is it! Your guide to beating the common cold. Don't wait for your immune system to fail, be proactive and never catch a cold again. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

The Snack Attack!

You know what I'm talking about. It happens when you try to lose weight or decide that you want to eat healthier. You know, you start out really good, eating fruits and vegetables, good protein. Then comes the attack of the snacks!

You start craving your favorite junk foods; chips, cookies, donuts, sodas and just about anything fried. The drive to cheat becomes unbearable then, bam! Another one bites the dust.

Okay, lets be honest. No one ever really overcomes the desire to snack. We've been hardwired to snack. In fact, our metabolism works better when we snack. The problem is not snacking, but what we are snacking on.

So, the secret to gaining control over the snack attacks is not fighting it, but changing your choices of snack foods and drinks to give your body the boost and nutrients that it needs.

Tips On Snacking

• Give healthy snacks a chance. If you try some of the healthier snack alternatives out there, you may find that you enjoy them.
• Avoid trans fats. You've no doubt heard of the trouble with trans fats by now (they raise "bad" cholesterol and lower "good" cholesterol). Anything with "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" listed among the ingredients on the label is suspect.
• Be a label detective. Check out the Nutrition Information label on the back. This will tell you what the company calls a portion of that food. If the label says a serving is 1 ounce of chips and you eat 2 or 3 ounces, double or triple the nutrition information numbers.
• Don't snack if you aren't really hungry. Research has shown that when people who aren't hungry eat a snack, they tend not to reduce the number of calories they eat at dinner. The researchers believe this is evidence that snacking can play a role in obesity.
• Avoid high-fat snacks. There are lots of reasons to avoid fatty snacks, including the possibility that they actually encourage overeating.

You are not helpless when it comes to the snack attack. Follow these healthy tips and you will be well on your way to taming, if not totally controlling, your urge to dive into that tub of pudding. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Happy Holidays

It's that time of year again. When most people throw caution to the wind and celebrate the holidays by eating and eating and eating. While the holidays should be a time of celebration, over indulgence will only lead to remorse and excessive weight gain.

The American Heart Association Reports that some people gain as much as 5-10 pounds over the holiday season, between Thanksgiving and New Years. Holiday foods can be tempting, but you don't have to fall victim to the holiday bulge. Making a few changes to your holiday menu will help you enjoy your meal and leave the guilt behind.

Tips On Holiday Eating

• Make sure that you are exercising leading up to the holiday. You'll be less likely to sabotage your program by over indulgence.
• Plan a physical activity for after the meal, so that you're less likely to want to overeat.
• Eat small meals throughout the day rather than one large feast. You'll likely make smarter decisions when choosing foods this way.
• Make sure you fill your plate with a variety of foods. Don't forget your vegetables and use proper portions when choosing meats.
• Change how you cook a dish, use healthy oils, bake instead of fry and use herbs instead of salt.
• Find new healthy recipes to introduce to your family. This will allow you to create your own holiday tradition.

With a little bit of planning you can defy the odds and beat those holiday pounds. Eat more fruits and vegetables, drink your water and exercise. Then when you decide to treat yourself, don't over indulge and you can leave the holiday guilt behind. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Child's Play

We all know of the childhood obesity epidemic that our nation is facing. Children as young as elementary school age are facing ailments that have been traditionally seen in older adults, high cholesterol and painful joint conditions; a soaring incidence of type 2 diabetes, even a spike in childhood gallstones.

With one in three children in this country overweight or worse, the future health and productivity of an entire generation could be in jeopardy.

This is why it is so important for kids to get involved in physical activities. Every child and adolescent needs exercise. Regular exercise helps with weight control, helps strengthen bones, and can improve cardiovascular risk factors. Mental health may also benefit. An active childhood may also lay the groundwork for a lifetime of fitness.

As a trainer, I've trained many young athletes. I've been able to witness first hand the benefits that being physically active has had on them, not only physically but mentally as well. Research shows that exercise and sports can increase a child's self-esteem and academic performance while decreasing the likelihood of disease and drug use. There is also evidence that exercise in the form of organized sports can improve social relationships, help with physical challenges, and teach problem solving by providing honest competition.

A sedentary lifestyle can have detrimental affects on children now and later. Parents should encourage their children to be active and also be active with them. There are no shortcuts, start early and finish strong. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Benefits Of Eating Fish

On the one hand, fish is a low-fat, high-protein food that fits perfectly into a healthy diet—and should be enjoyed at least twice a week. Yet we are also told that eating fish can expose us to dangerous contaminants such as mercury, and chemicals such as PCBs. So is fish good or bad for us?

A report by the Institute of Medicine concludes that eating fish twice a week is indeed good for us—that the potential cardiovascular benefits outweigh the risks of exposure to contaminants, and that government agencies should do a better job of promoting this message.

Regular consumption of fish can reduce the risk of various diseases and disorders. Selected research findings include:

• Asthma – children who eat fish may be less likely to develop asthma.
• Brain and eyes – fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids can contribute to the health of brain tissue and the retina (the back of the eye).
• Cardiovascular disease – eating fish every week reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke by reducing blood clots and inflammation, improving blood vessel elasticity, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood fats and boosting ‘good’ cholesterol.
• Dementia – elderly people who eat fish or seafood at least once a week may have a lower risk of developing dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.
• Depression – people who regularly eat fish have a lower incidence of depression (depression is linked to low levels of omega 3 fatty acids in the brain).
• Diabetes – fish may help people with diabetes manage their blood sugar levels.
• Eyesight – breastfed babies of mothers who eat fish have better eyesight, perhaps due to the omega 3 fatty acids transmitted in breast milk.
• Inflammatory conditions – regular fish consumption may relieve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and autoimmune disease.
• Prematurity – eating fish during pregnancy may help reduce the risk of delivering a premature baby.

While it is recommended to eat one to two fish meals a week, it is wise to avoid fish high in mercury. Excess mercury appears to affect the nervous system, causing: numb or tingling fingers, lips and toes; developmental delays in walking and talking in children; muscle and joint pain; increased risk of heart attack.

Fish high in mercury include shark, swordfish (broadbill) and marlin, ray, gemfish, ling, orange roughy (sea perch) and southern blue fin tuna. Pregnant women, nursing mothers, women planning pregnancy and children up to six years old should avoid these fish. Bottom feeder species, such as catfish, may ingest more pollutants. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Grass Anyone?

Wheatgrass juice. That little cup of dark green juice pressed from young wheat plants can be found at virtually any health store and juice bar. Wheatgrass refers to the young grass of the common wheat plant, Triticum aestivum, that is freshly juiced or dried into powder form for animal and human consumption. It mainly provides chlorophyll, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and enzymes. Wheatgrass juice is extremely beneficial not only as food, but as an overall tonic for various ailments.

Wheatgrass is grown through a process known as sprouting. Sprouts are "complete foods" because they contain all other essential dietary nutrients, along with the enzymes to help assimilate them. They are easily digested and enter the bloodstream quickly. The nutrients in wheatgrass juice are completely assimilated by the human body in 20 minutes. For this reason sprouts are "quick energy" foods. Wheat sprouts contain four times more folic acid, and six times more Vitamin C, than unsprouted wheat or ordinary grass.

Benefits of Wheatgrass

• Wheatgrass energizes and reduces fatigue.
• It is a appetite suppressant.
• Wheatgrass juice improves metabolism.
• It improves digestion.
• Wheatgrass juice enriches the blood, removes blood disorders, & lowers blood pressure.
• Wheatgrass juice is antibacterial and helps cleanse the liver.
• Wheatgrass juice is good for skin problems and improves complexion, treats acne, and removes acne scars.
• Wheatgrass juice keeps hair from graying & removes dandruff.
• It boosts the immune system, calms the nervous system and promotes regularity & helps fight constipation.
• The chlorophyll present in wheatgrass will wash drug deposits from the body, neutralize toxins in the body, help purify the liver, and prevent aging. The chlorophyll also stabilizes blood sugar levels.

This is far from a complete list of all the benefits that wheatgrass has to offer, but this information should be convincing enough to make you understand the importance of this herb. So next time you order a juice or a smoothie, go for an extra shot of wheat grass in it! Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Lose The Fat Keep The Muscle

I get questions often from folks in the gym who want to lose body fat but are afraid of losing muscle. The truth is that it is inevitable that during the mass building phase, body fat will increase. But getting down to that ideal cut look is not impossible and you don't have to sacrifice hard earned muscle to do it.

Tips To Reducing Fat & Keeping Muscle

• Lift Heavy While Dieting. The common mistake that many people make is that they want to "lift for high reps" to tone the muscles. Tone is a result of having a low body fat percentage, not the type of lifting you are performing. The reason you want to continue to lift heavy and make strength gains is that you want to make sure your body holds on to that hard earned muscle. If you lift light for high reps, your body doesn't have any reason to keep that muscle mass.
• Burn The Fat Slowly. Give yourself time to get lean. Many people decide they want to get in shape two months before summer or a vacation. This is not very effective. The slower you reduce body fat, the less likely you will lose muscle mass. This makes sense because in order to lose body fat you need to eat less calories than what you burn and you need to perform a significant amount of cardio. In order to drop fat quickly, you have to go too low in calories to maintain the current amount of muscle you have. You will lose muscle mass. If you create a slight calorie deficit and lose only 1 to 2 pounds a week, you are much better off.
• Perform Interval Training. I've written already about how I favor interval training. Interval training is the most effective way to lose body fat without sacrificing muscle. To see the evidence, let's compare these two types of cardio in a real world situation. Sprinters have much more muscle than marathon runners. Sprinters perform a quick burst of effort, followed by a period of resting. Marathon runners train using the "slow and steady cardio" that is recommended by most trainers. When you alternate intense sprinting followed by a minute or so of a less intense effort, you will burn body fat while keeping that hard earned muscle.
• Eat Clean But Be Realistic. If you try to go too strict on your diet, you won't be able to maintain your diet for very long. I personally follow an 80% -20% rule where 80% of the time I eat really clean. The other 20% gives me a chance to blow off steam and eat a little junk.

Follow these few tips and you'll be sure to have that cut look while keeping those bulging biceps intact. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Toxic Table

I think by now that its common knowledge that fast food is bad for you. After the movie "Super Size Me" came out, fast food restaurants were scrambling to try and add healthy choices to their menus. Recently however, researchers provided concrete scientific proof of just how detrimental to health fast food really is.

A University of Minnesota study published in the British-based journal The Lancet documents some of the health consequences of a fast food diet. The study examined the regular eating habits of 3,000 people between the ages of 18 and 30. After 15 years, they found that those who ate a fast food meal at least twice a week were at least 10 pounds fatter than those who ate fast food less than once a week. The study also showed that a regular fast-food diet raised the risk factors for type two diabetes, which is linked to obesity. Other studies have shown that fast food can lead to certain types of cancer.

Even more alarming is that fact that obesity rates for children have doubled over the past 20 years, and overweight children are being diagnosed with obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes, sleep apnea and respiratory illnesses. It is estimated that kids get up to 40 percent of their meals from fast-food chains.

Fast food chains do not alert their customers to the hazardously high calorie and fat content of the food they offer and the portions served by fast food chains are far larger than the recommended portion size for most foods. The high caloric content of these large servings leads to weight gain, obesity and other dangerous health problems.

Nutrients from the food we eat allow us to burn fat and be healthy. To say fast food has a “nutritional value” is an oxymoron. There is absolutely nothing nutritional about fast food. Fast food simply feeds hunger and/or your immediate craving. Fast food does not feed your body in the form of usable lasting energy or building materials, the essence your body thrives on for life itself. Stay away from fast food. Your body will thank you. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Reminder: I'm Positive! It Works!

A friend recently told me that he was just getting over depression. I was surprised because I see this person quite often and had no idea that he was having these feelings. I told him as much and his reply was " I didn't know that I was either until I wasn't." He went on to say that he knew a change was needed when he could no longer find the energy to do the things that he loved. His solution to recalibrating his life and regaining his positive outlook was to distance himself from what he saw as his problem, a toxic relationship. His situation started me thinking again about how important positive thinking is.

Somebody once told me that "If you only see darkness at the end of the tunnel its because you're on the outside looking in." It hard to explain to someone the importance of being optimistic, really, like the old island saying goes "Who feels it, knows it." But even though we all experience different types and levels of stress in our lives, the one thing that links us all is our attitude and how we choose to deal with these situations. We've spoken before about letting things go. If it's inevitable don't worry about it. Many of us spend so much time focusing on things that we can't change that we miss the opportunity to do real good with things that we can. And we all know that excessive stress and worry lead to health problems.

A study in the August 2002 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings reports that people who expect misfortune and who only see the darker side of life don't live as long as those with a more optimistic view. Researchers evaluated results from a personality test taken by participants more than 30 years ago and compared them to subsequent mortality rates. They found that people who scored high on optimism had a 50 percent lower risk of premature death than those who scored more pessimistic. Clearly, there is a link between positive thinking and quality of life.

Of course, life inevitably presents challenges and frustrations but it's up to you to look for ways to conquer them while improving your life and enhancing your overall being. You must find a way to stay as positive, vibrant, healthy and energetic as possible. Your life depends on it! Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Putting It All Together

For years I have been a proponent of cross training. Cross training is using two or more types of exercises in successive workouts. Cross training is a great way to condition different muscle groups, develop a new set of skills, and reduce boredom that develops after months of the same exercise routines.

Cross training increases your fitness and allows you the freedom to vary the stress placed on specific muscles or your cardiovascular system.

Cross Training Benefits

• Total-body fitness: With the possible exception of activities such as rowing and Nordic skiing, no single sport will provide a total-body workout. A steady diet of walking or running is great for the legs, great for the cardiovascular system, and certainly beneficial for overall health but doesn't do much for the arms, for example. Swimming is great for the upper body but doesn't have much to offer the lower body. Put walking or running together with swimming, however, or swimming with cycling, and you're working all of the body's major muscle groups for optimal health and greatly improved overall muscular fitness.
• Improved cardiovascular fitness: Cross-training allows you to tax your cardiovascular system more thoroughly than is likely with any single activity, and do it with less risk of injury. For example, you can walk or jog only a certain amount of time before your legs get tired and your feet start to complain. But you could run until your feet tell you you've had enough, then hop on your bike or into the pool and continue to exercise your cardiovascular system while "resting" the muscles you used while walking or running. This is a particularly effective way of exercising for those of us plagued by old injuries or arthritic problems.
• Injury prevention: Cross-training helps prevent injuries in several ways. First, by cross-training, you're spreading the physical stress of exercise over a greater area of the body, so you're less likely to overwork any single joint, muscle, or muscle group. For example, suppose you walk briskly for 30 minutes, three times a week; you'll gain all the health benefits provided by this type of activity, but if you're particularly heavy, or have some inherent weaknesses in your knees or feet, then a steady diet of walking could lead to injury, or at least to overtraining or discouragement. If you walked one day, cycled the second, and swam the third, however, you'd still be gaining the significant health benefits of aerobic activity but with much less chance of injury. Cross-training also helps prevent the muscle strength imbalances that can develop from single sports; for example, combining walking or jogging with cycling develops more balance between the muscles of the front and back of the legs.

Cross training increases your fitness and allows you to vary your workouts. With cross training, you can do one form of exercise each day, or more than one in a day. If you do both on the same day, you can change the order in which you do them. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Eat Your Way To Recovery

One of the keys to maximizing your hard work in the gym is to replenish yourself with the proper foods after training. Even if you don't feel like eating, your body needs the nutrients and protein to recover, repair and stimulate muscle growth. Exercise breaks your muscles down and taxes your immune system. To overcome this reality, you need to supply your body with foods that reduce the catabolic effect that exercise has on the body.

Research has shown that 30 minutes to 1 hour after exercise is the optimal time to replenish lost nutrients and stimulate muscle repair. Because the body is most receptive to nutrients during this timeframe, it is essential that you choose easily digestible carbohydrates and proteins for your body to absorb. To top up glycogen levels after exercise, the best foods to eat are carbohydrates with a moderate to high glycemic index. Studies have shown that adding protein will optimize your system's ability to repair muscle.

The best recovery foods offer quality carbohydrates without unnecessary fillers and sweeteners. Foods such as milk, yogurt, a small sandwich, an energy bar with at least 10 grams of protein or a sports nutrition shake are all good choices. Keep in mind that you are not looking to overdose on fat or sugar. While some fat has been shown to be beneficial in the recovery process, too much can actually slow done your body's absorption of the essential nutrients.

Here is the take home point. After a hard workout, athletes should consume a recovery beverage or snack that contains an adequate amount of high-quality protein with adequate carbohydrates in order to repair/stimulate muscle proteins and also replenish muscle glycogen levels. What you put in your body to support your health is just as important as the exercises that you perform. So make good choices. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

L-Carnitine = ...

Here at Fitness365, we believe in the benefits of supplementation to help our readers achieve their fitness goals. With that in mind, we profile different supplements that help with various aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Today we will be dealing with a supplement that I find very useful called l-carnitine.

There are two types of carnitines: l-carnitine and acetyl l-carnitine. Acetyl l-carnitine usually enhances mental clarity and focus, along with slight mood elevation, while the effects of l-carnitine tend to be more physical. L-Carnitine may provide physical energy while acetyl l-carnitine provides more mental energy. Both acetyl l-carnitine and l-carnitine are powerful antioxidants. This article will focus on the benefits of l-carnitine.

L-Carnitine is an amino acid-like and a vitamin B-like substance which can be supplied to the body through food as well as manufactured by the body itself. L-Carnintine assists in weight management by speeding up the rate at which fatty acids are broken down, increasing the resting metabolic rate and encourages muscle growth.

What makes l-carnitine such a powerful and useful supplement is it's effect on different areas of the human body. L-Carnitine has been shown to effect positively:

Muscles

• Increases strength and endurance.
• Relieves physical and mental fatigue.
• Promotes and maintains new development of muscle mass.
• Reduces muscle injuries and sore muscles.
• Accelerates regeneration.

Heart

• Increases cardiac output.
• Lowers the heart rate under stress.
• Reduces symptoms of heart failure, angina pectoris.

Immune Cells

• Supplies energy to immune cells.
• Increases activity of immune cells under stress.
• Doesn’t strain the immune system.

Liver

• Improves liver function.
• Reduces problems of fatty liver.
• Accelerates renewal of liver tissue.

L-Carnitine has been shown to be essential in weight loss and has anti-aging properties. L-Carnitine will give an energy boost, which in addition to converting body fat to fuel will elevate certain enzymes needed to metabolize sugars, starches, and other carbohydrates. This supplement is a daily requirement for any person looking to stay or become active. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Conditioning, Conditioning, Conditioning

Conditioning should be the foundation for any fitness program. To achieve complete health benefits from your workouts, you must add a conditioning (cardio) component. Regular cardio exercise will increase your stamina, help with weight loss, decrease your risk of heart disease, lower your blood pressure and actually reduce the risk of certain types of cancer. Aerobic exercise has also been shown to improve sleep patterns and help with depression.

There are three variables that you should consider when designing your conditioning program:

F.I.T

1. Frequency - is the number of aerobic conditioning sessions per week you do. Six sessions per week causes the best physiological response. However, if you have been sedentary, begin with 2-3 sessions per week and increase gradually for full cardiovascular health benefits.
2. Intensity - is related to the oxygen consumption and the energy demands of your muscles. The intensity at which you exercise is measured in heartbeats per minute (your pulse). For optimum conditioning, the target heart rate range is 65-80 percent of your maximum heart rate.
3. Time - is the amount of time that you maintain the proper intensity of your exercise session. It is recommended that you exercise for 30-50 minutes continuously to achieve the benefits of aerobic conditioning. If you are a beginner, start with 10-20 minutes.

Aerobic exercises usually involve endurance activities, which don't necessarily require excessive speed. More specifically, you need to do exercises that get you breathing, that is continuous and uninterrupted and that uses the big muscles of the thighs and buttocks

Conditioning will not only help you feel better, work better and sleep better, but it offers you the health benefits necessary to help ward off major medical conditions and diseases in the future. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Think Before You Drink

“The French Paradox” is where it all began, with an episode on the popular CBS news program, “60 Minutes.”

How could it possibly be that the French, known for their heavy consumption of red wine, experienced fewer cardiovascular problems than Americans, where wine consumption was considerably less?

In the months and years that followed, researchers addressed this paradox scientifically, concluding that the drinking habits of the French were not necessarily the reason for lower rates of heart attacks. However, most people didn’t look beyond the headlines, and for more than a decade, not only wine, but alcohol itself has emerged as somewhat of a preventive measure for cardiovascular and other heart problems.

Research has continued to emphasize the dangers of alcohol use, and clarified that health benefits of moderate drinking were mostly confined to women past menopause and older men, hardly the group responsible for most of America’s alcohol consumption.

Any possible benefits associated with drinking would come from moderate use, defined as no more than a drink or two a day. However, this part of the research has been largely ignored by the news media and instead of influencing heavy drinkers to cut down on their alcohol intake, the research on alcohol and health has been used to encourage abstainers to sip a little wine and present drinkers not to feel guilty about their habit.

What it really boils down to is an effort by the alcohol industry to profit from the alleged benefits of alcohol consumption. As health protective as a glass or two of wine a day may be, there is also considerable data showing that light to moderate daily alcohol is a slippery slope that can lead some people to heavy drinking. Alcohol abuse is responsible for killing 100,000 American annually.

In general, we are best guided by the words of Abraham Lincoln: "It has long been recognized that the problems with alcohol relate not to the use of a bad thing, but to the abuse of a good thing." Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Age Is Only A Number

It is now known that psychological age correlates more closely to biological age than chronological age. If you have the attitude that you get better as you grow older in every way – physically, emotionally, spiritually and socially, then you will age in a much more graceful manner.

Although it is impossible to turn back time, there are many steps that you can take nowadays not just to slow down ageing, but also to reverse some of the signs of the ageing process that you may be experiencing. According to many studies, the key factor in fighting ageing is a balanced diet and nutrition, as the old saying "you are what you eat" is found to be truer than ever.

The radical changes in human life make it impossible to obtain maximum performance from our bodies if we are not eating the proper nutrients to stay healthy and full of vitality. The direct linked between diet and health has been proven by the many lifestyle diseases that are consequences of poor nutrition and junk food. In order to stay healthy and preserve our condition, increasing the amount of whole foods and decreasing the amount of processed foods we eat is essential. These are the keys to staying young.

Studies show that having a healthy diet significantly decreases free radical production as well as the risk of developing various types of cancer due to the lack of proper nutrients. A balanced diet helps promote anti-aging by lowering the cholesterol and triglycerides to healthy level a!nd also supports the liver, which is a powerful anti-ageing organ. As the body detoxifies more efficiently, all areas of health and the immune system will benefit from the reduction of toxins, a veritable boom for good health.

So it should be clear, good health is the only real fountain of youth. Had Ponce de Leon exercised, it may have been years before the new land was discovered. But now we know, keep training, eat right and get plenty of rest. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

Staying On The Good Foot

Many of my clients travel or a have limited amount of time for the gym. Some often forgo exercise because they aren't in a gym environment. My response to them is rather than abandon the quest for a healthier lifestyle, it’s possible to formulate a successful at-home or on the road exercise program that will keep you physically fit.

The first thing to remember is that there are literally hundreds of books and videos available to help you stay fit without stepping foot in a gym. The beauty of exercising at home is that you can start with your own body weight then progress to basic equipment like a mat, steps, an exercise ball, elastic bands and dumbbells. It does not matter what form of exercise you decide on. What matters most when you exercise at home is that the exercise video you choose keeps you motivated and interested enough to exercise three to four times a week. If you look forward to your workout, you’re more likely not to skip it.

Tips For Home Exercise

• Set aside enough area to perform all of the movements that you want.
• Block out time to do your routine. Try to make it the same time whenever you exercise.
• Have a routine ready. Again, there are literally hundreds of routines available for you to choose.
• Make sure you wear exercise clothing. It helps set the tone.
• Have fun. You should enjoy yourself.
• Use music if it helps you to stay motivated.

Exercising on the road is similar to exercising at home. It take planning and motivation. Many hotels have fitness facilities in them. If your hotel does not, find out if they have an agreement with a nearby gym for hotel guest to exercise for free or at a reduced rate. If not, don't be discouraged because if you've planned ahead then you have the tools you need to create a great routine in your room.

Travel Exercise Tips

• Pack exercise shoes and clothes. You need to be ready to train and you will need to dress the part.
• Don't forget your jump rope. You can burn calories and shape up your legs and arms.
• Bring an exercise video or have a prepared routine. Find something that keeps you motivated.
• Don't forget the bands. Anyone who has used an elastic band knows how challenging a workout it will provide.
• Pack your ipod. Music can motivate and pump you up.

If you can, try to exercise at the same time that you work out when you're at home, which makes it more likely that you'll exercise. You can also try exercising in intervals throughout the day. You don't need a gym to stay in shape. All you need is a plan and motivation. Thanks for your ear and keep reading!

The Apple Of My Eye

I have a secret passion. I love apples. I enjoy Fuji, Red Delicious and Gala, but my favorite of all times is Granny Smith(don't ask). Of course, this article is not about me sharing my love for a particular fruit with you. No, in keeping with the theme of this blog, this article is about how this particular fruit can help you stay healthy and fit. Plus, they're delicious!

Apples are good for you. Not only are they delicious, they contain certain substances that would help to maintain healthy bodies. They are a good source of dietary fiber, they are rich in phytochemical(compounds found in plants, fruits, and vegetables that can act as anti-oxidants) and they are the best source for the mineral boron which helps to promote bone growth. Because of the high fiber and phytochemical content of apples, it has been found that eating apples helps to reduce blood cholesterol, improve bowel function, reduce risk of stroke, prostate cancer, Type II diabetes and even asthma. In addition, the high fiber content helps to slow the release of sugars into the body, helping to keep blood sugar levels steady.

Recent researches have shown that eating apples are linked to reduced cancer risk in several studies. Some examples are :

• Quercetin, a flavonoid abundant in apples has been found to help prevent the growth of prostate cancer cells.
• Phytonutrients in the skin of apples inhibited the growth of colon cancer cells by 43%.
• Dietary nutrients such as flavonoids (found in apples) have inhibitory effects on the development of carcinogenic substances in the bladder, thereby reducing the risk of bladder cancer, especially in smokers.

Besides the therapeutic benefits, apples are also found to play a role in inhibiting ageing-related problems, preventing wrinkles and promoting hair growth. It seems that an apple a day really does keep the doctor away.

Apples can be beneficial for weight loss because they are low in calories, fat and sodium and contain vitamins and minerals. These can all help to lose weight in different ways. The low calories mean we can eat apples without consuming too much energy. Lower sodium intake helps flush excess water weight from the body. While the vitamins benefit us by increasing health and vitality to keep us active throughout the day. Increased vitality helps burn extra calories to speed up weight loss.

As you can see apples are a great source of goodness and nutrition. A single apple contains no fat or cholesterol, and provides more fibre than a serving of oatmeal. So, if you're thinking of skipping meals, try munching apples. You can rest assured you're getting a healthy dose of essential nutrients. Plus, they're delicious. :) Thanks for your ear and keep reading!