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             Thanks for lucianvenutian for permission to use this Photo.

Exercise Tip:  Get the Most From Your Workout!! 

When using the treadmill, increase the incline/grade a bit.  Every 1% grade increases the calories you burn by 10%.  For example, a 150lb. person burns about 100 calories per mile walked (or ran).  At a 1% grade this increases the calories burned to 110 calories per mile, 2% to 120 calories per mile. 

10 Reasons To Lose Weight Now!! 

When you look good, you feel good.  So, not only does slimming down make you look and feel your best, it’s the best thing for your health, too.  You can significantly reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer, back pain, joint problems, and more.  In other words, you can maximize all the good things that life has to offer.  Here are 10 important reasons to get serious about losing weight…. 

1.  Slow down the aging process and actually look and feel younger

2.  Keeps your mind sharp

3.  Boost your immunity

4.  Increase energy level

5.  Reduce risk of breast cancer, heart disease and stroke

6.  Breathe easier

7.  Manage menopause more easily

8.  Reduce stress

9.  Live to see your grand-children

10. Feel Fabulous

Carla Hardy MS, CSCS
Fitness and Exercise Instructor
Ashworth University

           Thanks to Monica Semergiu for permission to use this Photo.

Experience has taught me that it really doesn’t matter how rational, educated, or seemingly healthy a person is—any one of us is susceptible to “chasing dragons” in search of that instant and painless answer to our problems.  Consider the aggressive expansion of an already billion dollar weight loss industry into younger and younger market sectors for additional proof.  Not quite as sinister, but perhaps more humorous is the following weight loss video by British hypnotist, Paul McKenna.  By blindfolding his study participants as they eat, McKenna is attempting to creatively demonstrate the often argued relationship between what we see and how much we actually desire to eat.  I’m not sure that this experiment is revelatory in any sense, but there are some interesting implications to consider regarding the role of visual perception, craving, and consumption.  Check out this video and let us know what’s the strangest weight loss method you’ve ever tried…

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

             Thanks to freeparking for permission to use this Photo.

There are many physiological changes that occur in a woman’s body and in the fetus during pregnancy. Many of these changes create a need for more nutrients. By being well informed of her options, a pregnant woman can meet her own nutritional needs and those of her baby. The bottom line is that proper nutrition plays a major role in reducing health risks during pregnancy. You’ll discover, too, that a woman’s nutritional needs post-partum (after the separation of birth) may actually be greater than they were during pregnancy.

With her doctor’s approval, a woman can and should engage in regular physical activity during the months when she is expecting. A friend of mine was marking chalk lines on softball fields the day before she gave birth, and another was teaching aerobics right up to her ninth month. The difference between an active, healthy pregnancy and one marked by serious health concerns may well be the woman’s overall nutritional status. Is her normal diet providing all the nutrients a healthy woman needs? Is she a smoker? Does she consume alcohol? Is illegal drug use threatening the future health of mother and child?

Pregnancy brings a whole new set of worries to all women, no matter how healthy and active they have been. While some health risks are unavoidable because they are hereditary or simply unforeseen, the nutritional status of most women is largely within their control. For instance, the majority of women in America appear to make conscious choices about what they eat and drink. However, it’s also their choice whether or not to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or take illegal drugs. If women choose a healthy diet and lifestyle, they shouldn’t have to worry about the effects of poor nutrition and unhealthy personal habits when they become pregnant.

Moderate physical activity has many benefits for a pregnant woman. For example, mild walking will help tone the mother’s muscles and will not put stress on her body or the growing fetus. However, experts recommend that someone who hasn’t been exercising prior to pregnancy should not begin a vigorous exercise routine on her own once she learns she’s expecting. Her growing baby has enough adaptations to make without also having to adapt to unaccustomed exercise. The general rule is this: Before beginning any strenuous exercise program, a pregnant woman should consult her physician to make sure her exercise plan is appropriate to her physical condition. (more…)

Photo courtesy of Okko_Pyykko

There’s one issue that hasn’t seen much airtime during the Presidential election, and you probably didn’t even realize its absence. That issue is crime, and it hasn’t come up because it’s just not as scary as it was in the past. In one of the great mysteries of criminology, crime began to fall in 1993 and continued to plummet throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century.

Experts have offered explanations ranging from higher incarceration rates to more cops on the streets to the legalization of abortion (this last theory, put forth by economist Steven Levitt in the best-selling Freakonomics, has since been disproved). But ultimately no one can pinpoint exactly what happened, mostly because no one really knows what causes crime as a broad, social phenomenon. If we can’t explain what causes it, we can’t understand what causes it to decline—and thus politicians can’t take credit for it or offer solutions.

But for all the head-scratching, there is one promising line of inquiry that’s only now beginning to see scholarly attention: the link between peoples’ health as children and their criminal activity as adults. Believe it or not, there’s been relatively little empirical work done to link childhood mental disorders and adult offenses. That’s changing. In November, The American Journal of Psychiatry published a study that asked whether “the national crisis in child community mental health services” contributes to “delinquency,” and whether more robust, timely responses to “youths with mental disorders” can reduce adult crime. The answers were “yes” on both points. (more…)

 
                   Thanks to Joey for permission to use this Photo.

We have a running debate chez Freberg regarding the best diet strategies. Mr. F dines on absolutely the same Jenny Craig options every day (Complete Start Cereal, Turkeyburger, Meatloaf, and Chocolate Cake). His motto for dieting has always been “Boring is Good.” I like variety, and order a bit of this and a bit of that for my weekly menus.

Caroline Goukens and her colleagues may have shed some light on our differences [1]. They demonstrate that hungry people react differently to menu choices than satiated people. In their experiments, hungry people (who hadn’t eaten for four hours before being tested) were more likely to crave variety in their snack choices than satiated people (who ate a piece of cake at the beginning of the experiment).  So does this mean that I’m hungrier most of the time than Mr. F? (more…)

                 Thanks to J. Parks for permission to use this Photo. 

In a series of posts, each titled Calorie Learning: [something], I’m going to use a blog to communicate self-experimentation. To see the whole series, look in the category Calorie Learning (under Self-Experimentation).This research will be about how we (or at least I) learn to associate flavors with calories — more precisely, smells with calories. This learning is at the heart of the Shangri-La Diet, which derives from a theory that says the flavors of your food increase your set point if they are associated with calories. The stronger the association, the bigger the increase. Why study this?

1. Maybe I can improve the diet.

2. It matters. It happens with every bit of food you eat. It controls what you eat and your appearance (assuming my theory is right).

3. Little is known about it. As I wrote in the appendix to The Shangri-La Diet, Anthony Sclafani has studied this learning extensively in rats. No one has studied it extensively in people.

4. The experiments can be simple and easy — or at least that’s what I think now.

A few weeks ago, a friend told me how much she liked those cellophane-wrapped white-bread sandwiches sold in delis and bodegas. Egg salad sandwiches, for example. They were addictive, she said. That sounded about right: White bread (and bread in general) is digested very fast, witness its very high glycemic index. Fast digestion means the calorie signal it generates in the brain overlaps a great deal with the flavor signal it generates in the brain. The more overlap of the two signals, the stronger the association created. The stronger a flavor’s association with calories, the more you like it. (more…)

              Thanks to Tahoe Sunsets for permission to use this Photo.

The Center for Public Integrity, a public interest investigative journalism organization, has obtained copies of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study of environmental and health data in eight Great Lakes states that was scheduled for publication in July 2007.

The report, which pointed to elevated rates of lung, colon, and breast cancer; low birth weight; and infant mortality in several of the geographical areas of concern has not yet been made public. A few days before the report was slated to be released, it was pulled. Meanwhile, at precisely the same time, its lead author, Christopher De Rosa, has been removed from the position he held since 1992.  The Center for Public Integrity is asking why.

The study, “Public Health Implications of Hazardous Substances in Twenty-Six U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern” was developed by the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) at the request of the International Joint Commission, an independent U.S-Canadian organization that monitors and advises both governments on the use and quality of boundary waters. The CDC report brings together two sets of data: environmental data on known “areas of concern” — including superfund sites and hazardous waste dumps — and separate health data collected by county or, in some cases, smaller geographical regions. The study does not try to prove cause and effect. Instead, it outlines areas for further study and data collection on the link between pollution and health.”Let’s say we have a superfund site and we also find elevated risk of leukemia in the county — is that related? We don’t know, but people living in the area can logically argue that we ought to find out,” Dr. Peter Orris, a professor at the University of Illinois School of Public Health and one of the peer reviewers of the study told Oneworld.net. (more…)

Tea and coffee are the major sources of caffeine in our diet, but there are significant amounts to be found in less likely foods such as cocoa, chocolate bars, drinking chocolate, cola, sports drinks, some desserts and ice creams. Caffeine is also important ingredient in some cold and pain relief medications. Without doubt, caffeine acts as a stimulant, which can stave off fatigue and enhance mental performance when we are feeling sluggish. It stimulates the heart, open the airways and can even aid digestion by stimulating gastric juices. However, there is another side to this most acceptable of drugs.

Stress And Stimulation

Caffeine acts like stress on the body, causing the physical symptoms of the ‘flight or fight’ response. It stimulates the adrenal glands to release the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol which, in turn, cause the liver to break down its store of glycogen and release it as glucose into the bloodstream. In response, the pancreas releases insulin, which helps deposit the blood glucose into the body cells. As calcium is needed to increase the heart rate, improve muscle contraction and thicken the blood, this mineral is mobilized from the bones. In short, the body prepares for action.

The problem is that when we drink or eat caffeine, we are rarely preparing for any physical action. We are usually sitting down, eating and drinking, or having a cup of tea, coffee or cola at our desks to keep us going. In effect, the body has responded to a false alarm but the physical results of this state of alert remain the same. If caffeine were the only stressor in our lives then perhaps it would be less of a problem. However, the combination of stressors we all live with can make caffeine detrimental to our health. (more…)

Wellsphere is an online community devoted to fitness, exercise, and the overall promotion of a healthy lifestyle.  Think of Wellsphere as a social network for people interested in discussing the latest in health matters from a personal perspective.  I’ve actually developed a lot of good relationships there and learned a lot of useful tips along the way.  From weight loss advice to nutrition plans, there are informative discussions going on all the time.  Take a few minutes to check it out.  Perhaps there are elements of the Wellsphere community that you’d like to see included in our Ashworth Health Care community?  If so, please share your suggestions in the comments section.  Let’s open up the possibilities!

Carla Hardy MS, CSCS
Fitness and Exercise Instructor
Ashworth University

                 Thanks to Rinux for permission to use this Photo.

A Kaiser Permanente study released today virtually confirms the link between high caffeine intake during the pregnancy period and an increased risk of miscarriage.  This link has often been suspected by researchers, but past studies have proven inconclusive due to a lack of testing control over pregnancy symptoms such as nausea, which made it difficult to directly measure caffeine’s precise impact.  Although the conclusions of this study are troubling, mothers should also feel empowered to make healthier decisions regarding their consumption of caffeine.  Furthermore, the study provides expectant mothers with some practical advice to help balance their need for extra energy, i.e. switch to sources of natural energy such as walks, yoga, and dried fruits.  This is a must read article for all of our mothers to be out there.  Keep your Ashworth Health Care community updated if you begin to make some positive lifestyle changes in this area.  Take care! 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University