Archive for November, 2011
Living Healthily in a Non-Sterile Environment
Posted by este in Health and Fitness on November 17, 2011
Our society has become afraid of bacteria, the media promotes products such as antibacterial wipes for the home, and antibacterial gel for when we go outdoors. While most of us are not emetophobic, our fear of bacteria is due to manufacturers trying to cash in on their antibacterial products. Parents in particular are the target of these unscrupulous marketers.
Bacteria and virus exist all around us; it is in the air we breathe and the things that we touch. Our body is designed to keep out these pathogens, our skin impermeable to foreign bodies and our immune system is effective against invading microorganisms. Sunlight is particularly effective in killing bacteria and virus; ultraviolet rays are known to kill by damaging their DNA.
Antibacterial products are made out either alcohol, chlorhexidine or other chemicals proven to kill bacteria from a surface. Hospitals use these products to reduce bacterial load in the environment, because bacteria and viruses found in hospitals are potentially harmful if released into the environment. Measures have to be taken to avoid contaminating people or objects with potentially deadly bacteria such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or tubercle bacillus that cause tuberculosis.
In the community, sunlight should be enough because bacteria in the air would settle down as soon as the area is cleaned with antiseptic. Although it is important to clean our living environment regularly, regular disinfection is hardly necessary. The mass media tries to portray bacteria as the evil presence, but it is not so. It is only necessary for people with immune deficiencies to find it important to stay in a sterile environment, but the rest of us can live in harmony with bacteria.
Bacteria is useful in health and research, it is through escherichia coli that human insulin can be synthesized by using recombinant DNA technology. Without bacteria many research is impossible to perform, there will be no antibodies created to help treat diseases such as multiple sclerosis or osteoporosis. Bacteria have always been a useful tool in research of health.
Swine and avian flu are bacteria that used to be non-infectious to humans, but now we are also victim of these strains. Our immune system does not recognize these new strains as a threat, and therefore we fall sick. In a healthy person, rest and plenty of fluids should help the body recover; but the young and elderly have sub-optimal immune system and so would have some trouble fighting against the bacteria.
Even in these cases, using antibacterial products do not prove that the contagion would not spread. Even though every surface is being disinfected, we are still at the mercy of our surroundings and the air. We can disinfect the air in our home, but public places like schools and library do not practice disinfection as liberally, hence our hard work to avoid falling sick is thwarted by visiting places where sick people frequent.
So how do we prevent falling sick? Stress and dehydration can cause the body to become sluggish, and our immune system would suffer because of this. We should keep healthy by eating food high in nutrients and drink plenty of water, regular exercise is also important in keeping our mind and body strong. Sterilizing and disinfecting everything we own is not the way to live, because we cannot stay in a safe bubble forever, but we can be prepared for the invasion of infectious bacteria.
The Five Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes and How You Can Easily Avoid Them
Posted by este in Health and Fitness, Weight Loss on November 9, 2011
Do you feel overwhelmed by information on what to eat and how to exercise to lose weight and get the body you have always wished for?
Well, you’re not alone!
The media throws out information and, more frequently, misinformation on a regular basis – as it is what sells papers, magazines and diet books! You need to be a little more discerning to be able to filter the bad advice from the good, and that is where I am here to help!
Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes: Number 1 – Believing Everything You Read!
Rather than worry about dieting, you should go on a media diet instead! That will stop the incessant noise that is telling you to ‘eat this’ and ‘do that’ which really means ‘buy these useless products’!
Although in reality, that is easier said than done, as the misinformation is shouting at you from supposedly healthy food packaging (a contradiction in terms!) and from supermarkets insisting that you must buy more of their healthy products to lose weight (another contradiction in terms – since when did eating more of anything encourage weight loss?!)
When it comes to articles in the press, don’t forget, that the journo is simply a journo – they are not an expert! Even if they are referencing some out of context study, any link to ‘science’ is usually distant and used to give their statements more credibility. Their agenda – to write something exciting enough to be read but mainstream enough to be accepted. Controversy or something ‘flashy’ is what sells more products. The truth is not so sellable as everyone is after the ‘miracle cure’.
Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes: Number 2 – Searching for a Miracle Cure or Magic Pill!
The internet has a lot to answer for here – as it’s all to easy to start googling ‘fat loss’ and end up in that crazy, mesmirised state of ‘browsing’ where you end up believing claims that some incredible Amazonian berry is the previously unknown answer to all you needs.
Somehow, it’s just so, well, compelling….
The simple fact is that in fat loss, as in life, you get back what you put in. You put the effort in with sound and regular training and cleaning up your diet, and results will ‘miraculously’ appear!
Take the easy route and don’t put in the work, and suddenly it all seems so hard.
Take responsibility and consistent action and things fall into place – you can get incredible results, but the ‘Miracle Cure’ you’re searching for is all within you. You are the key, you have to do what needs to be done, and keep doing it!
Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes: Number 3 – You Think Aerobics is for Fat Loss
The media are obsessed with spouting the same, tired and out-dated concepts, leaving you to suffer the consequences of not getting the results you deserve!
Take advice, instead, from people who get results day after day with clients – and whose livelihoods depend on it.
Full body exercises allow your body to move all of its 600 muscles in a workout. You can generate resistance through your own bodyweight or by adding dumbbells or kettlebells to the mix.
Performing these kinds of exercises in a superset or circuit format, with minimal rest, can get your heart rate up as much, if not more, than plodding away on the cross trainer for another soul-destroying hour.
But there is more to it than that.
Full body movements are the movements we use in real, day to day life. And also in sports and other activities we may engage in from time to time. If you give your body the opportunity to perform these movements regularly, you’ll be fit enough for anything that comes your way!
Steady, long duration cardio is repetitive and can cause imbalances as well as make any underlying imbalance or injury worse. Full body resistance style workouts get you stronger and leaner, and reduce injuries linked to imbalances.
Steady state cardio or aerobics is very easy to adapt to, so you get fitter to start with, but then your body gets used to what you are doing. This goes for many popular gym classes – they simply do not progress you as you get fitter. You just need to wait outside a studio in your local gym to see that despite almost religious attendance, very few people actually get results.
Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes: Number 4 – You Think You Can Out-train a Bad Diet
This is the biggest myth out there!
As a personal trainer, I get clients coming to me all the time who think they are just coming to me for some exercise – ‘my diet’s fine, I just need some exercise and the weight will just drop off’ is a typical comment.
But, without looking at the nutrition side of things, you will not get results, or you will get slow and uninspiring progress at best! Some people even go backwards, as they subconsciously think they need more calories to make up for all their hard work in the gym! Or they increase the frequency of ‘treats’ as their regular training habit makes them feel so virtuous. Make sure you are making changes to your nutrition and build up over time if a big overhaul seems to much to take on. Why waste all your effort training hard only to put the wrong fuel in the tank?!
People comment to me all the time ‘I bet you can eat what you like, doing all that exercise’. Well, er, no. Us trainers have to be super careful – being busy and active all day and needing to be on form and energetic all day long means it can be even harder to get the calorie balance right. But we also know that we need to eat great quality foods, to keep us feeling and performing on top form. As much as we are human and certain things tempt us as much as they tempt you, we know how bad the wrong choices make us feel, so choose better choices more often because we want to!
It is about QUALITY and QUANTITY. Simply reducing calories and paying no attention to where they are coming from wreaks havioc with your blood sugar, creates cravings and increases the likelihood of binges, and messes up the vital hormones that regulate fat burning and fat storage, as well as energy and mood.
But you can also eat too much of the right stuff – so you do need to get the balance right. If you are gorging on nuts, drowning salads in olive oil or whatever, you may feel great, get fitter and look better, but the fat won’t be burned unless you need to burn it for fuel!
Work on the quality first, and remember that veggies are the cornerstone. If I was only allowed 3 words of advice on nutrition, it would be ‘eat more veg’! Well, maybe, ‘quit processed food’. Hmmmm…. 3 words just isn’t quite enough.
Anyway, make sure you take nutrition into account alongside your training – they are partners that will, when combined, skyrocket your results. Any programme that promises results without taking both elements into account will not get the best results possible, but even more importantly, will not get results that you can maintain for life.
And surely that is what you want, right?
Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes: Number 5 – You Forget that the End Goal is Maintenance
When we set goals we focus on achieving a number on a scale (usually arbitrary and meaningless) or achieving a certain size (a better goal!) and think that when we get there, we can finally stop our quest and relax, satisfied with a job well done.
Unfortunately, the way we maintain the results is by continuing to practice the new habits and behaviours that we learned along the way! Which is why overly restrictive or unrealistic temporary methods will never work for the end result – maintaining what you have achieved.
It’s so easy to slip into the old bad habits – and it’s these habits that led to the weight gain in the first place.
Training, good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle is what gives you the results – you’re a product of your habits. Make sure that when you’re embarking on your fat loss and health journey you’re thinking about how these new habits will fit into your life – for good! When you get to your goal you can ease off a bit and indulge a little more often, but the general, day to day habits really need to stay the same.
If you take all these factors into account, your success is guaranteed!
Get Motivated and Get Moving
Posted by este in Exercise, Health and Fitness on November 3, 2011
Americans need to get moving and become fitter. As per estimates released by leading world health organizations, all Americans will be overweight by 2048 – that is, if we keep doing things the way we are. Americans must realize that all hope is not lost — yet. If we get together now and shake off our collective procrastination, we can become fitter, leaner and healthier. Achieving optimum fitness is good for our health – it rids our body of diseases and helps us enjoy life. So, if you want to get off that couch and start working out, now is the time to get started. Here are a few motivation techniques that will help you get going:
Fitness-motivation techniques from experienced physical trainers
1. Take part in a reality show (local or on TV) that rewards people if they shed weight. If there’s no such show around, start a local competition yourself and have some prizes sponsored by the neighboring gyms and health stores. Alternately, create a game with your family – whoever exercises the most in a span of 30 minutes gets a prize, or something like that.
2. Get a gym buddy. When you work out with a friend, time will fly even before you know it. Gymming will no longer be a daily routine – it will be a fun thing to do, just like watching football, and you will feel your fitness levels increase very soon. Remember to focus more on cardio workouts than strength training.
3. Take up a sport if you don’t prefer to gym it out. Sports enhance fitness levels and also help you increase your competitive quotient and make some cool friends as well. Take up tennis or squash if you want to lose weight fast.
4. No matter what, always stay dedicated and follow your schedule. If you harden your mental makeup and exercise regularly (at least 4 times in a week, and at least for 30 minutes daily), you will see some results within a month, and once you see results, that will be motivation enough to keep you going.
5. Set goals and rewards. The goal can be something like losing 1 pound in 7 days and the reward can be a treat for two at a football match or a movie or whatever it is you like. Just ensure that your reward does not allow you to gorge on food – a nibble here and there is okay though.
6. Pick up a few fitness magazines and see how fit people look like. Read about their lifestyle, eating habits and regimen. This can inspire you to do much more than you are currently doing. Imagine yourself completely fit and you’ll notice that just the thought of being fit brings a smile to your face and a proud feeling in your heart!
7. On the other side, imagine yourself to be a sick person and read up on what happens to overweight and obese people. Make fear your motivator because it can help you achieve take-off right into your fitness program.
These were a few motivational tips that will get you going straight into a fitness program. Enjoy what you do, knock off the extra kilos, and watch the sunlight stream right back into your life. Here’s to a fitter you!