• Home Page
• Computer Blog
• Chess Blog
• Exercise & Diet Blog
• Theology Blog
• Islamic Terrorism Blog
• Contact Us

Low Levels of Vitamin D Spell Trouble for Breast Cancer Patients

Vitamin D Use Linked to Lower Mortality in Kidney Patients

Low Vitamin D Tied to Depression in Older Adults

What’s The Best Exercise For Burning Those Unwanted Calories?

Weight-bearing activities that work against gravity — aerobic activities like walking, running, cross-country skiing, dancing, skating and stair-climbing — use proportionately more calories at a given level of effort than swimming, cycling or water aerobics.

The more muscle groups involved in your activities, the more calories you are likely to burn. That is why working out against gravity uses more calories than non-weight-bearing activities. On the other hand, because activities like swimming put less stress on weight-bearing joints, many people can do them for longer periods, making up for the lower caloric burn.

If your workout includes hills (real ones or on exercise equipment), you will use more calories per minute than doing the same activity on level ground. But if you engage in resistance exercises — working out with weights or on machines that strengthen various muscle groups — you may gain several pounds of muscle that partly offset the loss of body fat.

In other words, you may lose fewer pounds than if you expended the same number of calories on an aerobic activity (cardio) like brisk walking or swimming, but you will be stronger and better toned. With greater muscle mass, your basic metabolic rate will rise and you will burn more calories all day and night. And since muscle holds less water and takes up less room than the equivalent weight of fat, by shedding fat and gaining muscle you can lose inches and sizes without losing actual pounds on the scale.

Keep in mind, though, that the time spent doing resistance exercise burns fewer calories than if the same time were spent on aerobic activities (cardio).

World Record Weight Loss - Manuel Uribe

Activate Drinks: The Only Way to Drink Your Vitamins?

Functional beverages are this year's buzz product. Almost every week a new kind of enhanced water or drink is hitting the shelves.

One of these drinks is Activate - which, despite looking like any other flashy new drink - has a completely different mechanism for combining vitamins with liquid.

Continue reading...

Milk: Is it Healthy or Not?

I would be hard-pressed to find a food substance that attracts as much controversy as milk. Whether or not it is beneficial to overall health, whether or not it helps weight loss, whether we should buy raw or pasteurized, low fat vs. full fat - the list goes on and on. Hence, I hope to make an attempt to navigate through the speculation, possibilities and try to come up with some ideas on how to think about this issue.

Continue reading...

Helping Knees Heal Themselves

Cutting fat Lowers Risk for Prostate Cancer

Popcorn fans eat more whole grain: study

Some statins may protect against cancer: study

France reports levelling childhood obesity rates

Too much alcohol damages heart and arteries

Salmonella outbreak traced to tainted dog food

Chinese club moss may help Alzheimer’s

Soccer-Britain to review drinking powers after UEFA Cup trouble

Obesity tied to risk of psychiatric disorders

Genes Play Part in Prostate Cancer Among Races

Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Dry Dog Food

Stroke Patients at High Risk for Falls

Statins May Help Older Women Control Irregular Heartbeat

Weight-Loss Aids Bought on Internet Might Harm Your Heart

Weight Loss Tip #4: Balance Your Fitness Program

Mountain Climber exercise

Lisa over at Workout Mommy sent me a quick email after I commented about my lack of knowledge about an exercise called Mountain Climbers.

Mountain Climbers are an exercise that you do from almost a pushup position and kick you legs in and out. I could never describe it well but Workout Mommy has a quick 2 minute video where you can learn exactly how to do this great cardio exercise. Best of all you can do these Mountain Climbers in your house easily and they will help build your core strength as well as really improve your flexibility.

Chicago is staying fit this weekend

If you’re in a Chicago this weekend, it’s a good time to pull out your running shoes and gym clothes.

Tomorrow is Chicago’s fifth annual Chicago Moves Day. The event is sponsored by the Mayor’s Fitness Council, and dedicates an afternoon to encouraging Chicagoans to live a healthy lifestyle.

At the event you’ll find area fitness trainers, fitness classes for all ages, health screenings and more, or start the day with a 5k Run. The two-hour event is broken into 10 minute exercise segments, with classes like Firefighters workout with the Chicago Fire Department, Arthritis Exercise Class from the Arthritis Foundation and a Kids Cardio Kickbox.

Then, Saturday you can attend the final Self Magazine Workout in the Park. The event is similar to the one that took place in Central Park last week, just without the special appearance by Jillian (see our coverage). The cost is $25 at Lincoln Park, Grove 8, from 11am-3pm.

Whether you’re in Chicago or not, the 30 minutes of activity, 5 days a week that the Mayor’s Fitness Council recommends is an ideal way to incorporate more physical activity into your daily life. Ride a bike, take the stairs, walk the dog or swim laps- it all counts!

Sunny days are here again

I am very excited. The weather has gone good again and here I am in Calgary with temperatures around 25 Celcius today, thats in the 80s for those of you south of Canada.

This morning was my first ride in of the year in a T-shirt with no jacket on. It feels like a national holiday. I think I am going to take the long way home today and enjoy this nice day after a long cold winter.

Hopefully this weather inspires me to post a little more, my pace has slowed these last couple of weeks.

Food Find: Stacy’s Pita Chips

I told you’d there would be new things happening at Diets In Review. One of which will be a new segment in the Diet Blog called “Food Finds”. These will be healthy alternatives to some of the foods we love and crave. I’ll only post them if I’ve tried them myself and they promise to be something I will eat again. I mean, if you can convince a picky eater like me to dig in to something new, you’ve probably got a winner.

First up, Stacy’s Pita Chips. I’m not lying when I tell you chips are possibly my biggest vice. Nacho cheese, BBQ, plain - you name it, I can polish off a bag without even thinking twice. So I’ve been on a mission to replace these chips, or rather, that crunch that accompanies my sandwiches.

I found Stacy’s Pita Chips and I think this is where I’m going to stay. The calories and fat are both lower than regular chips, and they have more fiber. I won’t lie, not the impressive amount I’d hoped for. They also have 3 Weight Watchers Points per serving, for those of you counting.

I tried the Naked with Sea Salt and the Cinnamon Sugar. They are fantastic, super crunchy, delicious flavor and they go well with my sandwich. These pita chips are baked and proudly boast that they are all-natural.

Finishing off a whole bag still won’t do me any favors, but I can satisfy my need for crunch and not feel so bad about it.

Nutrition Facts from CalorieKing.com.

Gym Equipment Dangers Lurking

Top 8 Most Ridiculous Weight Loss Techniques

Obesity researcher Betty Kovacs and Self Magazine editor Erin Hobday collaborated on a NY Daily News piece that outlines the 8 most outrageous weight loss ideas. How they managed to whittle the list down to just 8 is an impressive feat! So here's the crazy 8:

Continue reading...

Laser therapy may speed Achilles tendon healing

Social factors affect mood-exercise link for women

Research links common chemicals to obesity

Unilever says new milkshake helps control appetite

Tackle obesity like smoking: researcher

Ads touting dairy for weight loss “misleading”

New charges allege Barry Bonds lied about steroids

Heart Disease Starts Early in Life

Common Drug Eases Leg Pain From Walking

Benchmarking your fitness level

You never know where you are going if you did not benchmark where you started and know where you are today.

Tough to keep up woth that sentence but I have run into a couple of people over the last few days that are not sure if they are moving forward or not. One girl that I know says that her weight stays in a five pound range and she started working out a couple weeks ago and says she is at the high end of her five pound range. The other person was watching the X-Weighted TV show and wanted to know how they exactly did the testing at the beginning of the show.

So here is a few things to look at today that will help you in benchmarking your fitness goals.

Most people trying to change their habits and get in better shape have a few things that they care about, Weight, food intake, strength, flexibility, and fitness stamina. (more…)

What Is Physical Fitness?

Physical Fitness consists of five basic components which involve the heart, lungs, strength, endurance, and flexibility.

1. Cardiorespiratory or “Cardio”

The ability to do moderately strenuous activity over a period of time. It reflects how well your heart and lungs work together to supply oxygen to your body during exertion and exercise.

2. Muscular Endurance

The ability to hold a particular position for a sustained period of time or repeat a movement many times. An example of this would be performing a particular exercise 20 to 30 times consecutively without stopping.

3. Muscular Strength

The ability to exert maximum force, such as lifting the heaviest weight one time. It is possible to have muscular strength in one area, say your arms, while lacking strength in another area, such as your legs. Find that happy medium.

4. Flexibility

The ability to move a joint through its full range of motion; the elasticity of the muscle. This is how limber or supple you are.

5. Body Composition

The proportion of fat in your body compared to your bone and muscle. It does not refer to your weight in pounds or your figure.

See all of Matt’s Fitness Tips.