Archive for the ‘Physical’ Category

7 Protein Fast Facts

Sunday, July 25th, 2010
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

Proteins are found in all living cells and are necessary for the proper functioning of organisms. They are essential for the growth and repair of tissue and are found in meats, animal products and legumes.

1. Proteins are made up of amino acids that are joined together in a chain-like structure.

2. Humans protein is made up of 22 different amino acids, 13 of which are produced by the body. The other 9 amino acids are defined as essential amino acids as they can only be obtained from food.

3. A complete protein is a food that contains all 9 essential amino acids and can often be found in meats, fish, eggs, milk and cheese.

4. Plant-based proteins are often deficient in one or more essential amino acids, making them an incomplete protein. As long as you eat a balanced diet, you need not worry about getting all essential amino acids if you are on a vegetarian diet.

5. One gram of protein is equal to 4 calories.

6. A biological value (BV) is a measurement of protein used to express the quality and efficiency that the protein can be used by the body. Eggs are considered the highest quality protein (second only to mother’s milk) as nearly all the nitrogen from its amino acids can be utilized by the body.

7. Excess protein is stored as fat as the body cannot hold onto extra protein.

Click HERE to read the full Astro Nutrition article.

Diet Drinks Linked to Premature Births

Sunday, July 18th, 2010
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

Danish researchers are reporting that drinking lots of artificially sweetened beverages during pregnancy may be linked with an increased risk of premature birth.

Women who had at least one serving of artificially sweetened soda a day while they were pregnant were 38 percent more likely to deliver preterm than women who drank no diet soda at all.


Researchers looked at nearly 60,000 Danish women who reported on their diet, including how many soft drinks they had each day, at around 25 weeks of pregnancy. Around 5 percent of women delivered their babies before 37 weeks.

Click HERE to read the full article.

Exercise can be fun

Saturday, May 1st, 2010
by shankins | No Comments »

My husband and I have different needs for social interaction. This affects how we approach many things in life, even how we exercise. I like to turn my Ipod on and just go for a run. It is good stress relief for me; I am by myself and I don’t think about anything, I just move my legs. My husband likes to play a game of Ultimate Frisbee or volleyball with his friends, or go swing dancing, or rock climbing, etc. We joke with each other because I’m often trying to get him to join the gym with me and he always says no because it’s not fun. I tell him that it’s exercise, it doesn’t have to be fun! But at the end of the day we have both had some good physical activity and are healthier for it.

The problem most of us have with exercise is the lack of motivation. There is no quick fix, no miracle pill/diet, no amount of support underwear to fix the problem. We just have to incorporate some movement into our day, and we don’t have to make it difficult. A good way to get in a great workout in a short amount of time is to do some interval workouts. There was a recent fitness study done that shows that doing intervals increases the calories you burn by 30% over working out at one pace. You can do this by going for a jog and walking for 2 minutes then jogging for 2 minutes, and continuing this for the duration while you are out. You can do this for running, biking, swimming, while pushing the stroller, etc. For some more inspiration check out No Excuses Workouts.

So whether you are a gym junkie or just enjoy some fresh air while walking to your mailbox, remember that all movement is beneficial. And if you listen to my husband, we might as well make it fun while we are at it.

Should I eat Breakfast if I am not Hungry?

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

In a great article found HERE Michael May MD explains some of the possible reasons that skipping breakfast is associated with higher body weight. Hopefully these will give you some insights about your own choices and help you make decisions from the “inside out” about eating breakfast:

- It may affect your metabolism. When you skip breakfast, you’re not just skipping a meal. For example, if you ate dinner at 6 and didn’t eat again until lunch, that’s 18 hours. Imagine what your body is thinking: I’m starving!

- When you go too long without eating, you’ll get overly hungry and that can lead to overeating. The reason is that hunger is a physical sign that your blood sugar is low and your body needs fuel. When you ignore it for too long, you may develop more extreme symptoms of hunger, including difficulty making decisions about what and how much too eat. You may also eat too fast to not notice how full you are until it is too late.

- Some people who don’t eat breakfast aren’t hungry when they get up because they ate a lot at night.That is the issue that needs to be addressed.

- Some people who eat a lot at night wake up feeling guilty and regretful so they skip breakfast to make up for it. When you finally start eating in the afternoon or evening, you’re again overly hungry, so you overeat and feel like you failed (again), so the whole cycle repeats itself.

- Some people wake up and immediately jump into their day – racing around taking care of other people, stressed out, rushing to work, slamming down caffeine, etc., never taking the time to notice, much less take care of, their own needs, including hunger. No wonder the donuts that show up in the breakroom at 10am are so hard to resist!

- Some people say that when they eat breakfast, they are hungry all day. In actuality that can be a good thing because it may mean your metabolism is revving up.

- But some people tried to eat breakfast in the past but felt hungry all day because they ate carbs with no protein.

Going Further:
(click image to look up)





4 Bad Habits can age you 12 Years

Saturday, April 10th, 2010
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

You already know that smoking, drinking too much alcohol, not getting enough exercise and eating a poor diet are all bad for you. But a new study of almost 5,000 British adults over 20 years dramatizes how such unhealthy habits add up to shorten your lifespan – especially in combination. Researchers looked at four risky behaviors: smoking tobacco, drinking more than two alcoholic beverages daily for women or three for men, getting less than two hours of physical activity weekly, and eating less than three servings daily of fruits and vegetables (most guidelines call for even more). Among people with all four bad habits, 29% died during the 20-year span. That compares with only 8% for people with none of the risky behaviors. The effect on mortality was the equivalent of adding 12 years to the age of the unhealthiest group, researchers said, adding, “You don’t need to be extreme. . . . It should be possible for most people to manage” to avoid these life-shortening habits. – Archives of Internal Medicine

Click HERE to discover 10 determinates of aging you can control

Green Activity

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

LONDON – Just five minutes of exercise a day in the great outdoors can improve mental health, according to a study released on Saturday, and policymakers should encourage more people to spend time in parks and gardens.

Researchers from the University of Essex found that as little as five minutes of a “green activity” such as walking, gardening, cycling or farming can boost mood and self esteem.

“We believe that there would be a large potential benefit to individuals, society and to the costs of the health service if all groups of people were to self-medicate more with green exercise,” Barton said in a statement about the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

They found that the greatest health changes occurred in the young and the mentally ill, although people of all ages and social groups benefited. The largest positive effect on self-esteem came from a five-minute dose of “green exercise.”

Click HERE to read the entire article

Let me Sleep on it

Friday, February 26th, 2010
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

Soren Kierkegaard said that “sleeping is the highest accomplishment of genius”. And, now a University of California Berkley may have just proven him right.

The study shows that even a 1 hour nap can significantly increase your brain power. Further, the study suggests that a two phased sleep schedule can actually make you smarter. In fact, the longer you spend awake without a sleep break, the more sluggish your brain becomes.

“Sleep not only rights the wrong of prolonged wakefulness but, at a neurocognitive level, it moves you beyond where you were before you took a nap,” said Matthew Walker, an assistant professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the lead investigator of these studies.

“I can’t imagine Mother Nature would have us spend 50 percent of the night going from one sleep stage to another for no reason,” Walker said. “Sleep is sophisticated. It acts locally to give us what we need.”

Click HERE to read the full article.

Going Further:
(Click on the image for more info)


I keep running so I can

Sunday, January 17th, 2010
by David Dahlin | No Comments »

I went running yesterday. As I was heading out, I thought, “why do I keep running?” My first thought was gratitude. I am so grateful that I can run. I am so grateful that my body is strong enough and pain-free enough that I can run. Being able to move quickly and freely is one of the great joys of being alive.

Then I thought, “the only way I will still be running in 5 years and in 10 years is if I keep running.” I want to be able to move quickly and freely at 60. But that won’t happen if I stop running now. So, I keep running so I can…keep running.

That’s a long term goal. Fortunately, running also has many short-term benefits. Yesterday’s were obvious. I live in Colorado and one of the amazing things about living here is that in the middle of winter, with snow still on the ground, we can have a 60 degree day. And yesterday was one of those beautiful reprieves from winter. I was able to run in shorts and a T-shirt. I felt free and healthy and happy to be alive. So, I run for the joy of the moment.

I also care about my fitness level. I care that I manage my weight so that those pounds don’t start slipping on. And running is great cardio work and a great calorie burner. So, I run to stay in shape.

So, I keep running. How about you?

10 Things That Don’t Cause Arthritis

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

Think that cracking your knuckles as a kid will cause arthritis later in life? Would it surprise you to know that there is no scientific evidence to support that? One of of every six adults in the United States suffers from Arthritis of some sort. Arthritis is quite simply any inflammation of a joint. However, in most cases arthritis develops for no know reason.

There are, however, a variety of theories (and in some case legends) about what does cause arthritis. Here are the top 10:

1. Overuse
2. The weather, or a damp cold breeze
3. Most medications
4. Infections and Vaccinations
5. The wrong diet
6. Cracking your knuckles
7. Getting older
8. Mental or emotional stress
9. Poor Posture
10. Inadequate calcium intake

Read the full article HERE

Straight to Your Hips? Not Quite

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

If you have read this blog for any length of time, then you know chief amongst my vices is my love for ice cream. So much so that my wife used to accuse me of being “addicted to carbohydrates”. Now medical research may prove her right…I hate it when that happens!

A recent study at the UT Southwestern Medical Center shows evidence that fat from certain types of foods makes it way to our brain and from there tells cells in your body to ignore the appetite suppression signals from leptin and insulin (both hormones involved in weight regulation). According to Dr. Deborah Clegg “Normally our body is primed to say when we’ve had enough, but that doesn’t always happen when we are eating something good.”

Dr Clegg goes on to say “What we’ve shown in this study is that someone’s entire brain chemistry can change in a very short period of time. Our findings suggest that when you eat something high in fat, your brain gets ‘hit’ with the fatty acids, and you become resistant to insulin and leptin. Since you’re not being told by the brain to stop eating, you overeat.”

This research may answer the question of people who indulge in over-consumption often feel hungrier right after.

Read the FULL ARTICLE

Design by CoPilot Creative Design by CoPilot Creative