Benefits to a Healthy Lifestyle

Throughout the course of this blog we have been providing you with information on the fallacies behind certain health and fitness fads; while at the same time giving you information on how to live a healthy lifestyle. With all of this information available to you, why should you choose to live a healthy lifestyle? Why should you go through all the trouble of eating a healthy diet and working out properly? Well the answer is actually quite simple; it can increase the length and quality of your life.  When you live a healthy lifestyle you will see improvements in: mental health, energy and stamina, disease prevention, and beauty and appearance.  Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but to me that sounds like a good payoff to me.

            ”According to the ‘American Journal of Psychiatry,’ a Western diet high in saturated fat, refined carbohydrates and alcohol is associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety in women than a diet rich in fruit, vegetables and whole grains.” As you can clearly see from this credible source, healthy eating leads to good mental health.

            Now another huge benefit to living a healthy lifestyle is increased energy and stamina. “According to Science Daily, low-intensity exercise can decrease fatigue by 65 percent while boosting energy levels by up to 20 percent.” I can say from personal experience that this is in fact true. When I am consistent in working out and engaging in physical activity I feel less tired and I have more energy. Likewise, when I am out of shape and not consistent in working out I feel tired and drained of my energy.

            Along with increased energy one of the biggest benefits to living a healthy life style is disease prevention. In today’s society chronic diseases like heart disease, type II diabetes, and cancer are extremely prevalent. And a very high percentage of the U.S. population is either overweight or obese. Living a healthy lifestyle can help prevent these diseases; “lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and avoidance of harmful habits can go a long way toward preventing disease.” One thing that eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly can help prevent is cancer. Some health and fitness changes that you can make that will aid in preventing cancer include: eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking water, drinking less alcohol, and increasing physical activity. For an even more in depth list of things that will either increase or decrease the risk of cancer you can go to this website.

            Lastly, living a healthy lifestyle can have a positive effect on your beauty and appearance. Making healthy lifestyle choices are a key factor in maintaining a youthful appearance. Some examples of what a healthy diet can do for your appearance are: “vitamin A supports healthy skin, hair and nails, while antioxidants like vitamin C and selenium help prevent free radical damage involved in the aging process.”

            In all, it is very clear what the benefits to living a healthy lifestyle are. It increases your life expectancy while at the same time making you feel and look great. By committing yourself to living a healthy lifestyle you can expect to see improvements in: mental health, energy and stamina, disease prevention, and beauty and appearance. The following videos will continue to show and explain why you should live a healthy lifestyle.

On a final note, we hope that over the course of our blog we were able to educate you on the fallacies behind some of the biggest fitness and health fads out there today. We hope that we were able to provide you with the information and tools to live out a healthy lifestyle.

Additional sources: http://www.livestrong.com/article/370474-reasons-to-live-a-healthy-lifestyle/

Positive Body Image=Good Health

Body image, is the way we look at and view our bodies or how we think others view us.  Nearly all of us struggle to maintain a positive body image at some point in our lives.  Guys obsess about an Adonis physique, while women try to achieve model status.  It’s great that we have goals for ourselves and want to get fit.  I know I fantasize about having a Gisele Bundchen body, but I don’t compare myself to her and get down on myself for not having her “perfect” body.  I’m happy with my own body and I know that my body type is completely different than hers.  Others may fantasize about having a model body too, which is alright, but they make the mistake of comparing themselves to those “perfect” bodies.  Some people try everything to change themselves into a perfect image, including “quick fix” fad diets.  However, it doesn’t matter what they do, because in order to have a perfect body, you must find out what “your perfect” is (a healthy goal) and stop comparing yourself to others.  This negative view of yourself as not being “good enough” or “perfect” will prevent you from getting fit and being healthy.

Now, you’re probably wondering, “is there really a connection between body image and good health?”  The answer is YES!  In a study done by Columbia University, researchers found that people who were stressed about their body image, were more obese than people who weren’t stressed about their image.  There have been a number of other studies conducted that come up with this same result.  Many people with a poor image of themselves fall into negative habits, like eating disorders or become depressed or are/stay obese, none of which are healthy. 

Unfortunately you can’t just snap your fingers and think positively about yourself.  It takes time and work.  You also have to discover it for yourself.  No one can tell you to be a certain way and it becomes so.  Below is a list of some things to keep in mind, as you try to maintain a positive attitude about yourself, but remember, you have to work on these things and truly believe in having a positive body image.

• Learn to understand that media images of the human body are not realistic and do not represent our diverse population.  Many of the actors and models you see are airbrushed or really glammed up.  Also, just because they “look” happy and are possibly thinner than you, doesn’t mean they are actually happy.
• Remember that there’s more to you, than the way you look  
• Try not to focus so much on your weight, but how your body feels.  Think about what you’re putting into your body and how you’re moving your body to make it feel good.
• Don’t try to fit into a type, but accept the type you are 
• There’s no such thing as a perfect body or image

Hydroxycut – Actual People, Harmful Results

If some of you out there are like me, infomercials have a weird voodoo power over your TV viewing habits.  It’s not that I find them all that entertaining, but somehow when I find myself on a channel broadcasting an infomercial, if I’ve been watching it for 30 seconds, I’m a goner.  It’s almost as if the person urging me to buy the magic bullet, or knives that cut through metal is slowly changing me into this fat old woman who sits in her La-Z-boy rocker with 20 cats all night, calling in to buy anything and everything off late running infomercials.  If we’re being logical, who is really going to be using these metal-cutting knives? Is there some sane use that I am unaware of, or are we limiting the manufacturing of these super knives specifically for butchers and serial killers?

            Getting back on point, I hope that most of you as readers agree with me that many of these products do not hold the usefulness that is advertized, but there is something about the diet and exercise infomercials that hold a power over Americans. Some of you may recognize this commercial for Hydroxycut, a prime example of a popular dietary supplement that is not all it’s cracked up to be.

            In the Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter, an article from September 2009 talks about the dangers of this product.  The article reported, “in [May 2009], the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked for a voluntary recall of 14 diet-aid products sold under the Hydroxycut brand”.  This recall occurred after a death linked to the products in 2007, as well as other cases of liver damage, one of such cases resulting in the need of a liver transplant.  Unlike standard drugs, the manufacturers are responsible for guaranteeing product safety; the government does not review the product before packages hit the shelves.  Because of the voluntary nature of reporting health problems related to products, the FDA didn’t learn of the Hydroxycut-related death until March 2009, over a year after the event occurred.  During this time, over 9 million units of Hydroxycut products were sold. 

            In the recent past, the companies behind products like Hydorxycut would simply settle court cases against their product with a hefty pay out.  Luckily, these companies are now required to report “adverse events” to the FDA as of 2007.  The article went into further detail discussing the laws passed to regulate dietary supplements, and the ways in which advertisements work around their limitations.  The article also ends with 5 keys to supplement smarts listed below:

1. Check with your doctor or healthcare provider.
2. Evaluate the reliability of promotional information and Web sites.
3. Investigate the so-called experts.
4. Does it sound too good to be true?
5. Don’t assume that, even if a product won’t help you, at least it won’t hurt you.

Check out the whole article titled, The Bad News About Products "Too Good to Be True". Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, 15260143, Sep2009, Vol. 27, Issue 7, which can be found in the Academic Search Premier database.

And here is a short video explaining how Hydroxycut works:

If fads are bad . . . what’s good?

The one of the best ways for people add years onto their healthy life expectancy is easy, improvement of cardiovascular fitness.  For an adult under the age of 65, this means following the basic recommendations from ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) and AHA (American Heart Association).  In this post we will only be dealing in detail with the cardio-relevant aspect of these recommendations.  Just for reference, the strength-training aspect calls for 8-10 strength exercises, doing 8-12 repetitions of each exercise twice a week.  Now in dealing with the cardio, the ACSM and AHA give two options. (1) Doing 5 days a week of moderately intense cardio 30 minutes a day or (2) Doing 3 days a wee of vigorously intense cardio 20 minutes a day.  Note: these are just baseline requirements for the average healthy adult to maintain health and reduce the risk for chronic disease.  To lose weight or maintain weight loss, 60-90 minutes of physical activity may be necessary per day.  Now if you were like me when first learning about these suggestions, you are asking yourself, what does it mean to be moderately or vigorously intense while working out?  And what exactly defines an activity as being “cardio”.  Moderate-intensity physical activity means you are putting enough effort in to raise your heart rate, and break a sweat, but you are still able to maintain a conversation.  Vigorously-intensity physical activity, on the other hand, involves a large increase in breathing or heart rate.  Conversation will be difficult or “broken” and this activity will be a challenge to an individual.  As for the second question, “cardio” physical activity requires your heart rate to be elevated for the entire work out.  This eliminates most sports.  Basketball, soccer, and tennis—these are all great ways to stay physically active, but there is no way you are kept in constant motion without breaks for 20-30 minutes at a time.   That being said, as long as you can find away to keep that heart rate up for the allotted time there are many different activities that can fulfill the recommendations for cardio fitness.  Some of the most common modes I have heard of are bicycling, running, swimming, or using an elliptical or stair master.

            I know as well as the next person how hard it can be to change your daily routine to fit in more exercise, but maybe seeing a list of a few of the long term benefits will help to amp you motivation:

•   Increased heart size
• Increased blood volume and capillary density
• Lower heart rate
• Lower blood pressure
• Reduced risk of heart attack or heart disease Decreased risk for stroke
• Improved insulin sensitivity (reduced risk for Type 2 diabetes)
•  Reduced risk of colon cancer
•  Reduced risk of colds and upper respiratory tract infections
• Decreased body fat
• Improved cognitive function
•  Improved ability to manage stress
• Decreased depression
• Decreased anxiety

And these are only some of the benefits!  A life change towards cardiovascular fitness can be rewarding in so many ways, but the key is to continue what you start.  A few tips I have for you are to:

                        -Make a change with a friend. Get a Y membership with your family. Or join a cardio class with a co-worker that meets before work, 3 or more days a week.  There truly is strength in numbers.

                        -Buy a pedometer or heart rate monitor.  These are great devices for measuring progress and staying positive.  I recently started using a Polar heart rate monitor and get a great sense of accomplishment as I work out.  I can motivate myself to say, “Stephanie, alright you’re at 172 bpm, 80% of your max heart rate! Keep it there for another 2 minutes!”  It may sound silly but it really works. 

                        -Take encouragement from the little victories.  Nothing is too small to be proud of.  Making it up the stairs without getting winded, being able to pull your belt just one more hole over, or jogging on the treadmill at just a slightly faster pace—these are all ways in which you can pump up yourself to go another day or week with cardio workouts.           

*Note: If using a typical max heart rate of 215 beats per minute, for a cardio workout, 70% of the max heart rate  (150 bpm) or above should be maintained.

                        -(And finally) Make it fun!  It is one thing to be extrinsically motivated to work out, for your health or appearance.  But there is much to be said for intrinsic motivation.  Enjoying what you’re doing is a surefire way to continue participation long-term.   So mix up your work out routine to prevent boredom.  Do your activities outside in a place you’ve never been in the city or countryside (don’t forget a map if you do!)  Anything you can modify to make the experience more pleasing will be worth the experiment.

The Food Pyramid and You

     They say your body is the most important thing you own, so you need to take care of it. The main focus of this blog is to address the things that are ideal for true fitness and to debunk the bull that serves as a money-making red herring. In this post, I will be discussing one of the obvious cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle: healthy eating! It’s something that confounds and confuses some, but it is really not that scary when you break it down. I am going to focus on the new food pyramid adopted by the USDA in 2005 and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans report to help you all with healthy eating habits. We feel that the best way to argue for healthy lifestyles against fads is to educate people in a down-to-earth way. In this respect this is not just a play-by-play of the food pyramid, but an argument and case for healthy lifestyles.

      The old food pyramid that you are probably all familiar with was officially replaced by the USDA a few years ago with a snazzy new design that you can see here. The new pyramid has the food groups stacked horizontally, which views the food groups as essentially coequal and not hierarchical. There is also a person moving up stairs along the side, indicating the importance of exercise, something not illustrated on the old pyramid. Also, the new pyramid design specifies quantities in cups and ounces as opposed to servings. I don’t know about you, but the whole idea of a “serving” was always confusing and never really uniform. I’m glad they made this switch. The pyramid also emphasizes that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to proper fitness, hence the name MyPyramid.

     As promised, I’m going to be going over tips and hints on healthy eating by looking at the food groups and analyzing the USDA’s dietary guidelines. First, we have grains. The USDA uses the simple slogan “make half your grains whole” when describing this food group. There are two different kinds of grains: whole grains and refined grains. Whole grains include the entire grain kernel, but refined grains have the bran and germ removed in order to keep better shelf life. However, while shelf life is improved, a lot of essential nutrients are lost, which is why whole grains are so important! I would advise you to check labels for whole grain foods.

     Vegetables fall into one of five categories: dark green, orange, dry beans and peas, starchy vegetables, and others. The USDA suggests that you get some vegetables from each category. The good news is that 100% vegetable juice counts as vegetables. I don’t know about you all, but vegetables are a little awkward to work into your diet. It’s sometimes hard to cook good meals with unique vegetables, and eating a hunk of broccoli is really weird, but something like vegetable juice gives you a lot of the necessary veggies, and it's convenient. This is something you can shoehorn into your fast-paced lifestyle. Easy!

     Fruits are pretty self-explanatory and often easier to stomach than veggies. You know what they are, so go after them! Also, 100% fruit juice is another quick and easy way to help get some necessary fruits!

Dairy is any food or drink that is derived from milk that retains the calcium, thus butter, cream cheese, and cream are not dairy products. Try to make most of your dairy choices low-fat. Milk, cheese, and yogurt are all good!

     Now we come to proteins. Go lean is the name of the game for meats and poultry! It is also advised that you should go more towards fish as opposed to meats and poultry, as these have healthy oils. Vegetarian? Not a problem! Dry beans and peas, eggs, nuts, and seeds are also a great source of protein.

     

     As far as fats and oils go, try to limit them. The USDA has a few points of advice about how much to eat, where to get them, and what to look out for. There are a few too many facts to cover in a pithy paragraph about fats, so I advise you to go to mypyramid.gov to check out what they say. Everything I have mentioned has come from that website, so go there for all kinds of information and personalized fitness tools!

     So there you have it! Not too bad, eh? Many people argue that we don’t have time to be healthy, but here I argue that eating healthy is really not that hard, and it's great for your health! Just follow those rough guidelines above and stick within an appropriate number of daily calories, and you should be looking swell! Again, the main purpose of this blog is to argue in favor of a healthy eating lifestyle and to debunk everything otherwise. We believe that the best arguments are intertwined with proper education. We believe that by describing healthy eating in a easy way, we are doing our cause and our issue the best justice possible and countering the conception that healthy food can’t fit in a busy lifestyle.

The Pros and Cons of the Shake Weight

The Shake Weight, easily the biggest and most ridiculed fitness fad to come along within the last year. But does it work? If you go by what the makers of the Shake Weight advertise (to build up your arms, shoulders, and chest), yes it does work. There are numerous amounts of testimonials and reviews that show, despite the awkwardness, it does work as advertised. However, that is where the benefits of the Shake Weight end. The following two reviews from exercise professionals will show that the Shake Weight has benefits, but those benefits are very limited.

As you can see from these videos both of the reviewers agree that the Shake Weight indeed does work out your arms, and that’s about it. In both, they mentioned two major downsides to this huge fitness fad. The first and most obvious being how awkward it is to use it, and if you haven’t seen the South Park or SNL spoofs of the Shake Weight you can check them out here and here. Also, the reviews brought up another negative fact about the Shake Weight. That being the number of exercises you can do with the device is very limited, and I agree with that point. I myself have never used the Shake Weight, but from what I’ve seen there are three exercises that you can do with it. In contrast, with a set of dumbbells there are many more exercises that you are able to do. Another benefit that dumbbells have over the Shake Weight is the ability to work out a wider variety of muscle groups. With the Shake Weight you can work out your arms, shoulders, and maybe your chest; with a set of dumbbells you work out your: chest, shoulders, back, arms, and legs. You can essentially get a full-body work out with a set of dumbbells. You can find a complete list of dumbbell exercises here.

 Going back to the reviews, in the second review it was stated that another downside to the Shake Weight is it only works a very small range of motion. That is something that I feel is very important and should be taken into consideration when reviewing the Shake Weight. From my experiencing with sports, physical activity, and working out, I’ve learned that range of motion is  not only important to getting the most out of your work out, but also to taking care of your body. To get the most out of and really maximize your work out, you need your muscles to go through a full range of motion—full extension and contraction. This ensures that you reach all the fibers of your muscles. Range of motion is also important to taking care of your body. Going through a full range of motion in your exercises increases your joint flexibility and in turn decreases your risk for injury.

So with all this being said what is my final opinion on the Shake Weight? I believe that the shake weight does have some benefits in that it has the ability to work out your arms and shoulders. However, I would not suggest that it be the only tool you use in your workout because of the limited number of exercise that you can do with it. What I would suggest is to use it as a compliment to your workout. Maybe use it in between sets of push-ups or dumbbell exercises, or even use it as a warm-up to your workout to get the blood pumping. In all, I would suggest just to get a set of dumbbells because there are a lot more exercise that you can do with them. You will be able to work out a wider variety of muscle groups, and the best results always take time.

Sources:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/145905-importance-of-range-of-motion/

http://www.gainingweight.info/the-importance-of-proper-weight-lifting-form/

South Beach Critique

In this blog, we will be analyzing various viewpoints from people advocating fad fitness. A major category of fad fitness is fad diets, and one of the key fad diets around is the South Beach Diet. The main premise of the South Beach Diet is that “good carbs” replace “bad carbs” and “good fats” replace “bad fats.” Here is a video advocating the South Beach Diet. The woman offers a list of all of the foods that dieters can and cannot eat during this diet, as well as several interesting mindsets.

One of the main flaws in this argument is in the approach to what can and cannot be eaten. While the food pyramid we’ve all come accustomed to may be slightly obsolete and flawed, it is a useful tool to analyze healthy diets. The woman in this video mentions cutting out carbs. This includes cutting out fruits and many vegetables. In one fell swoop, she eliminates the bottom two-thirds of the pyramid. There is a reason that these food groups form the foundation of the pyramid: these foods are the foundation of our diet! Humans are natural omnivores and cutting out many of these grains and plants is not healthy. She also mentions at about 5:00 and 7:45 that she see carbs and eating in a totally different light. This means that she has taken on the idea that fruits and vegetables and other grains are the enemy and need to be resisted and ignored.

Another fault in the woman’s presentation is her lack of emphasis on exercise. Any proper fitness routine needs to have exercise figured into it. The book she mentions in the beginning makes reference to what seem like light calisthenics. The book seems to endorse these light household exercises as opposed to rigorous, heart-rate-raising exercises that are part of proper health.

Another important and perhaps subtle flaw in the woman’s argument is her body image. At 1:45 and 8:45 she mentions that after dropping a lot of weight, she still considers herself fat. While it is the opinion of this blogger and likely most people that she doesn’t look fat at all, she still has the mentality that she is a fat person. It is this kind of distorted body image and unrealistic view of our bodies that make the diet industry people salivate. Combating fad fitness also means combating people’s distorted views of their bodies as well as distorted societal views of what is healthy and beautiful.

What we're about . . .

As a whole, our population, specifically Americans, has taken a turn for the lazy.  We have used our growing collective knowledge to make living easier, and it has taken a toll on our health.  This knowledge has given us electric scooters to ride through the grocery store, central vacuum cleaners to save us from lugging a big machine around the house, and even escalators that give the semblance of walking up stairs while leaving our leg muscles out of the picture.  Although some may chalk these inventions up to making life more efficient, the reality is that we as humans have made a habit of cutting corners we should probably be taking the time to walk around.  When it comes to healthy living, the front runners in the business of cutting corners are those looking to make a profit from our laziness—the marketers of what this blog has deemed “fad fitness”.   You may recognize these enablers of our increasingly lethargic lifestyle by what they advertize, such as the Shake Weight, the South Beach Diet, Hydroxycut, or many other products that promise fast results that seem too good to be true.  Some of you reading this may live by these products and swear to their results.  Others may already know that these "fat-burning", "muscle-building" mechanisms aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.  But if either of these statements is true, let me ask you; why are 34% of adults in the U.S. obese and another 34% overweight?  That is a total of 68%, over two-thirds, of U.S. adults who are at heightened risk for heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and other weight-related conditions.  While genetics do play a part in a person's weight, this health factor is highly dependent on lifestyle, meaning there is a choice involved.  Our hope with this blog is to educate readers on the fallacies behind these diet and exercise products, while providing tools to live out a healthy lifestyle.  We will look into why some of these products are popular, how they are, or aren’t promoting healthy habits, and specific ways you can improve your diet and exercise program.  Our population needs to take a turn for the active, and we hope to motivate and show viewers the best way to do just that.