Archives for "Health"

I just read over an article that appeared on the MSN Health and Fitness website titled – Obesity rates jump in 28 states.

Simply put 2/3 of the states now have obesity rates above 25% of their population!

Please take what I am about to say with a grain of salt. In this world there are plenty of people, groups, organizations and even countries like to see the good old USA go away. Well if we keep going down this path all they have to do is wait us out and will do it ourselves.

To show how bad things have become back in 1991 (less than 20 years ago) not one state had their obesity rate above 20%. People wonder why health care cost have risen so fast? Well look at your waistline! 1/4 of all health cost can be traced back to obesity, just imagine if we were a fitter and healthier country the health care cost would be lower.

The fattest state? Mississippi. At this rate when we spell that state we better start adding in a few more “S’s” and a few more “P’s”. Mississippi has 33.8% of their population being obese. Notice I am not saying OVERWEIGHT in this article.

1. Mississippi
2. Alabama
3. Tennessee
4. West Virginia
5. Louisiana
6. Oklahoma
7. Kentucky
8. Arkansas
9. South Carolina
10. Michigan

See a trend here? Besides Michigan all the states on the list are considered southern states. Yes, income seems to be a driving factor but also the style of cooking generally found in this area of the country can not be discounted.

Healthiest?

1. Colorado
2. Connecticut
3. D.C.
4. Massachusetts
5. Hawaii
6. Vermont
7. Rhode Island Utah
8. Montana
9. New Jersey

Before any of you living in those states rejoice only Colorado finished with a number below 20%. So 1 in 4 of you in those states fall into the obese category. Only D.C. declined, so Colorado you probably will be above 20% pretty soon.

Another trend? Race does have a hand in this. Blacks and Latinos outweigh their white counterparts in 40 of the 50 states. There is a clear link between race, poverty and obesity.

How does this change?

White, Black, Latino, a south state, a north state it doesn’t matter. We are all in this boat together.

1. Eat out less, eat at home. Before there was a fast food restaurant on every corner, eating out was actually a luxury. Eat at home you might get to meet someone called family members.
2. Eating at home also means making smarter choices. It is easy to see “cheap” processed food is a cause of some of this. I know I am going to get an argument on this, but I have a problem with people saying fruits, vegetables, fish and so on are expensive. Have you ever heard of a farmer’s market? For those in the south, you might even have the luxury of having a fish market. “Cheap” food is quick and easy. Rip open a bag or box and add water is no way to eat.
3. If you eat out, eat less! Forget about the BIGGIE SIZE, for $1 more make it a large, eat only half of what is served because what is served is usually 2 servings or more. You don’t need to have an appetizer or a dessert.
4. Move! Get off your butt! Turn off the TV, put down the phone, stop tweeting and go for a walk!

These are 4 options, but it simply comes down to this. Unless you want to change, I mean really WANT TO CHANGE, nothing will. I seen it, I have heard it, but until you have your enough is enough moment nothing will happen.

Coming to terms with this obesity issue, don’t expect the government to help, don’t expect a weight loss program to help, don’t expect buying a gym membership to help. The only way to help is look in the mirror. YOU and only you (hopefully some help from loved ones and friends) will get you off this boat! Another way of putting it. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS!

Until next time… Your Fitness Buddy

It has been a few days since I really sat down to write out a few good blogs. One reason is life once again has been busy, but other reason I ordered a new book about fitness with the hopes it will have plenty of goodies to share with you about health and fitness. The book? It comes from Men’s Health and it is called The Big Book of Exercises. (There is also a Women’s version with pretty girl models instead of the dudes with the guns and abs)

From my early readings the book will help provide myself with the additional knowledge I am looking for to keep this health and fitness journey moving forward. Let’s just say there are tons of new ideas for exercise to help keep people moving forward in their health and fitness journey. Plus, I am always looking for more ideas to keep The Fitness Buddy moving forward.

So why am I going to take information from a book to give to you, if you can just go out and get the book yourself? Well it is a BIG BOOK and it could take you a while to get through and take some more time to figure out to use all the information. I hope to provide a condense or a concise version of the messages they are trying to provide to the masses. Remember you can still get the book at anytime, I sure the folks at Men’s Health won’t mind the free publicity I am giving them.

Today we are covering thoughts about the Core. Through my journey there is one thing and one thing that men and women seem to want; SIX PACK ABS! I mean just watch TV. Whether it is a TV show or the million commercials the six pack is everywhere. Are we so vain? YES. So we (the actual people that “exercise”) believe doing crunches and crunches alone will make those six pack abs shine and in turn by doing the crunch we will loose weight and get thinner.

This is a myth!

Don’t me wrong you should work those abs, because a strong core is the starting point of most other exercises, but more on that in a bit.

So if you still think doing crunches will help you loose those unwanted pounds here is a fact that researchers at the University of Virgina found. It will take 250,000 crunches to burn one pound of fat. I will let you take a moment to fathom that… Another way of saying that would be  you must do 100 crunches a day for 7 years… another moment… Yes you are making those abdominal muscles stronger and the six pack is developing, but the crunches are doing nothing to take away the layer/s you have in front of those abdominal muscles. Folks it just doesn’t work that way, sorry. In order to loose the layer/s you must burn away more calories. This can be done a couple of different ways.

1. You can use a magical vibrating belt that will melt away those pounds… (just checking to see if you are paying attention, THE BELTS DO NOT WORK!) Don’t believe me ? Why do they have small print in their commercials? Hmmmmm

OK seriously here are the three choices (actually all three work together)

1. Cardio work, yes this means running, walking, skipping, jumping or doing something that involves you moving.
2. Along with cardio work, strength training. Involving more muscles working out means more calories burned. This also means, while you are trying for those wonderful six pack abs, the other muscles are getting stronger and leaner. The end result is the total package (meaning you) will look and feel better.
3. Nutrition (fancy word for what are you stuffing in your pie hole). I have discussed this in many previous blogs to loose that layer/s or what my wonderful wife Kim calls chubs, it is calories in and calories out. Plus the better the food the better for the body. (Look for a new blog soon about a lunch Kim and I had on Sunday, which will explain that a bit further.)

The substitute for the Crunch? The good old Plank! What is a plank?

1. Start be getting in a push up position, but bend your elbows and rest your weight on your forearms instead of your hands.
2. Your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. (Get that butt down!)
3. Brace your core by contracting your abs as if you were about to be punched in the gut.
4. Hold this position for 30 seconds and breath deep.
5. Helpful hints, squeezing your butt helps, elbows should be directly under you shoulders.

If you can’t hold this position for 30 seconds don’t get fustrated, hold for 5 to 10 seconds, rest for 5 and go again. It won’t take long for you to build to 30 seconds. Once you accomplish 30 seconds here is the next challenge. At home try to make it through the commercials of your favorite TV show.

There are numerous ways to progress from a plank and I will cover those soon, but stability exercises are very important. They help promote lower back health and will improve your performance in any sport you choose to do. Oh yea they also will develop those six pack abs that all of us vain Americans desire.

This is an article recently passed along to me. I will discuss after you read the article…

On NBC’s The Biggest Loser, trainer Jillian Michaels is known for her no-bull-allowed attitude in the gym as she attempts to help her obese pupils drop massive amounts of weight in a very short time. But one woman is now seeking class-action status for a lawsuit that claims Jillian should have had the same no-nonsense stance toward a diet supplement she’s lent her name to. In a suit filed yesterday in a Los Angeles court, Christie Christensen alleges false advertising of a product called Jillian Michaels Maximum Strength Calorie Control, which she claims did nothing to curb her appetite or help her shed pounds. At the crux of the lawsuit is the product’s slogan, “Two Capsules Before Main Meals and You Lose Weight… That’s It!“ In the suit, which also names manufacturer Basic Research and seeks unspecified damages, the plaintiff states, “Ms. Michaels knows better — taking two pills before eating does not miraculously cause weight loss.” The court filing states Christensen purchased the product because it was endorsed by Michaels, who also lends her name to at least four other diet supplements, along with a handful of other fitness products.

OK

Well I almost don’t know where I should begin. I am mostly sad. Let me say Jillian Michaels is someone I still look up too, but reading this article it proves it is easy to lose track of you message. She is still a great trainer and has turned dozens of lives around on The Biggest Loser, plus countless lives outside The Biggest Loser. But it is sad to say she has become a company and is also interested in selling products that “help” people lose weight. I can not say why she has gone this route, she is all about doing it the right way. Work hard, exercise, watch your diet and the pounds will come off. So I guess she is not immune to the almighty dollar, sad.

Now that has been said, there are no miracle pills! There are no short cuts. Should she be sued? No, because any person with common sense should know this. We are all adults and should be responsible for our actions. To blame someone else for the situation you placed yourself in, still is not correct no matter the product or message. Everyone has that little voice that tells you what is right, what is wrong or proceed with caution. Plus what is the saying? If it sounds to good to be true it probably is.