KiFIT Personal Training and Nutrition Counseling

One of the best food evaluation links ever, IMO:

1. Enter Food Name; 2. Select a Category 3. After the short list of sub categories comes up, e.g. Raw, Cooked, Baked, etc., pick one for the final result.

New and interesting information on metabolic rate

What's New?

1. Vitamin Supplements

If you take vitamin supplements in hopes of warding off cancer and other illnesses, you may not be doing yourself any favors. In fact, a new study suggests you might even be increasing your cancer risk. Here is a great article by consumeraffairs.com that gives you the details. Based on a 29 Feb 2008 news release. You may be surprised. Since the middle of 2007 I have relegated my own daily multi-vitamin to a once or twice a month multi. Saves buckets of cash, and I feel absolutely fine with it.

"However, if you stop taking a multivitamin, the authors suggest you consider taking a vitamin D supplement. The typical diet for most men and women doesn't supply enough of this crucial vitamin, and while sun exposure boosts vitamin D production, it has health risks of its own." This from another article that discusses the safety of taking multi-vitamins. This parallels recommendations by both, Dr Rosenfeld and Dr Edell.

2. Telomeres

What are telomeres? They are the little 'end-caps' of DNA strings. The little yellowish spots in the microscopic image. The 2nd image shows an artist's conception that makes it a little clearer. Picture telomeres as the little plastic or rubber wrapper at the ends of a shoelace. What happens if that breaks or comes off? The shoelace will begin to fray and fall apart. Simplistically put, the telomeres (a more in-depth explanation here, and an easier, but maybe even more interesting one here) are important to cell replication. Telomeres, as you can read at the links, are important to a lot of cell processes, including limiting the number of replications, i.e. from allowing a cancerous run-away condition. Telomerase involves the use of telomeres in the treatment of age-related diseases and conditions.

It had long been known that telomeres get shorter as we age, allowing not exact replication to take place, and us to show signs of age. A five-year study of 2400 pairs of identical twins in England, revealed an important exercise and telomeres-lenght relationship. Identical twins allowed the researchers to factor-out genetic traits.

Here is what they discovered: A person exercising moderately 100 minutes a week, has telomeres approximately 5 years younger than their chronological age. A person excerising moderately 200 minutes a week, has telomeres approximately 10 years younger than their chronological age. What we don't know from this is how linear that relationship remains. I am sure we'll learn much more as the data is continued to be analyzed. Just to illustrate it, I plotted what they gave us in the third picture. I speculate that there will be a curve that shows that at some point there will be a region of diminishing returns. The orange dashes explain what I mean. Nature does not do well with straight lines. Let's wait then, impatiently, what else those good scientists will come up with. This was a stunning revelation already in that, for the first time, actual data explains why people who exercise seem to be younger in appearance and action.

3. The Importance of Lifestyle vs Genetics

A subsequent spin-off from the twins data, precisely because of the researchers' ability to factor-out genetic traits is this: Lifestyle, which in the fitness world is treasured so highly, has been found to be just a minor factor in the way a person physically turns out. Genetics are a way bigger part than we had heretofore thought. The bottom line here is that you have a given potential and only need to maintain that. Ok, that's lifestyle, but if you are, and always have been, a certain body type, chances are, lifestyle changes will do very little to change that. You can be quite chunky (based on frame, I don't mean grossly overweight), yet very healthy, or be rail- thin, and just as healthy.

To put this into proper perspective, one needs to make a couple of assumptions. First of all, that a baseline lifestyle would consist of eating right, and exercising moderately, or working physically. Any deviation from that, warrants some adjustment, and might already have given you some indications of concern. Secondly, that the lifestyle is one of choice, and not due to some illness or unusual circimstances. Meaning that you must have the freedom to modify your lifestyle to some extent.

To illustrate this: Were we to take a 1000 guys (guys, since I am using Arnold as an example) and have them all start from the point where Arnold embarked on his journey to be Mr. Olympia, do the same exercises, take the same drugs, suffer the same workout rages etc., we'd most likely still end up with just one Arnold and a whole lot of other people who are way off from their genetic centroid, but not in Arnold's class. And please, do not make the mistake of equating such an accomplishment with a state of good health, either mentally or physically. Some people are what is called "physically gifted", and even at that, it will take all of your time and in some cases massive amounts of drugs to drive you to such expremes. Physically gifted means that you have a genetic edge, like a world-class long distance runner who has such perfect feet and foot mechanics, that he runs in shoes the average person could not run a mile in, without being injured. I'm sure you get the point. Being physically gifted, is like having a talent for art, math, or music, for example, and not a matter of lifestyle. Once that genetic edge has been discovered, it will need to be developed to have any real significance. All of you who watch Amercian Idol, know this to be so.

So you say, and rightfully so, "Then what the heck am I doing all of this stuff for?"

The answer is, to be centered around your personal genetic potential.

" Meaning?"...Meaning that, if you are a moderately active person, who climbs stairs, walks a lot, and is working physically at your job, eat moderately and healthy, avoid fatty or greasy foods to any excess or completely, etc. more on that below, you are probably at what is called a plateau. That's not a bad place to be. You see, after a couple of decades of exercising in and out of the gym, I am essentially the same. Yes, I could change that at great cost to lifestyle and comfort, and might achieve, for a while, the shape or condition of a person with a different genetic makeup. Humans don't like extremes, not mentally, physically, or politically, and neither do our bodies. Extremes are extremely costly to maintain and therefore usually don't last forever, and are rarely maintained without a high physical or even mental price to be paid, over the long haul.

For the bodybuilder, pushing the body far away from the genetic centroid (comfort zone), requires increasing drug stacks and two or three gym sessions with extreme lifting efforts each day. Olympians, too, try to exploit a genetic edge or physical talent that they have. They and other physically gifted athletes will also push toward some extreme, to develop what they have as much as that is possible, without artificial means. They devote their usually short careers to that. Their extreme physical conditioning will fade as well, since it is virtually impossible to maintain for long periods of time, especially, against the normal aging process. People who push themselves to compete in physical fitness contests of all kinds know that. They hone themselves by dropping body fat, lifting or training more intensely, etc. etc. to be ready for the contest, and then, once it's over, return pretty much back to pre-show condition.

"Alright already, enough of this philosophizing, what are you telling us then?"

Be happy! Unless you are grossly over- or underweight, are moderately active and eat a reasonably healthy and varied diet, you are probably at or close to your genetic centroid, i.e. the shape you are born (genetically predisposed) with. Going away from that in either direction will have some consequences in happiness, lost time to enjoy life, or even health.

"Then why am I bothering to do cardio, lift weights, improve balance, core strength, and so forth?"

Fact is, that you may have already benefited from that. While the exercises won't take us far from our genetic centroid, they tone us, make us stronger, more flexible, more resistant to damage in case of accidents, improve body composition, give us faster recovery from illness, and lastly, don't forget item No. 1, the telomeres. They tend to make us appear and perform at a level younger than our chronological age. And I, for one, see nothing wrong with that.

"But, I never used to be this heavy, and just added a bunch of weight in the past several years, that's not my genetic centroid, as you call it. What's up with that?"

Let me see if I can put it in a way that makes sense. It is a more natural thng for the body to store and to conserve fat, anticipating hard times, than to let go of it. Because, hard times were always just around the corner (even ice ages). Once the cold season orsevere lack of food came along, stored energy (fat) would be efficiently maintained and slowly used up. Unfortunately, we have no mechanism built-in, that makes us reduce food intake when we don't anticipate lean times. The body doesn't suddenly go into a high calorie burning phase, to make us nice and lean. That's done by our conscious effort only. So here we are, not only putting on fat, but also becoming more efficient at hanging on to it. Suddenly, we find ourselves at a new plateau, well above our regular weight. In this century, for us here in the Western countries, the time of having to consume stored fats never comes, and the body needs to handle and contain the excess. In this case, we will have to change our dietary habits, while continuing to stay physically active, to slowly nudge the body back to its previous, comfortable, and probably healthier level. Forcing this for a quick result with drugs or by other dramatic means usually has the body spring back to its new-found plateau. Like a hard push against a swing. It propels the body temporarily to a different place, but then it comes back to rest where it has been. If we want to be wherewe are not, we will have to move the whole swing, that is, change the rules and fundamentals. Exercise by itself can't do it. It helps, it builds muscle, it pushes us into periods of higher calorie burn rate and makes us stronger all around, and it teaches us disciplined behavior, but it simply can't take off all of those extra pounds we might be struggling with. That work is done at the dining table and even more so, with our shopping habits. I contend, that if it's not in the house, I won't go out of my way to get the 'bad' stuff to snack on (and don't have it delivered either).

4. Cardio Exercise

A recent study finds that cardio exercise can be more effective if split into two or more segments, divided by at least 20 minutes of different activities (such as lifting weights, for example). This reminds me of the already known benefits of interval exercises, in a way. Here is the advantage of exercising in two or more 10-minute segments divided by at least 20 minutes: Fat metabolizing is significantly enhanced during the second and third set of exercise. This is great, because breaking cardio into two or more parts (divide the workout and conquer the fat) makes the exercise easier AND more effective. IMO a true WIN-WIN recommendation. My theory on this is that, if we push a body during a long duration effort, it will take whatever it can metabolize and burn for energy - usually, that quick energy source is muscle. With this new modification, we won't let the body get into that condition. Before it gets to the muscle-burning phase, we slow it down and do something else that allows the body to rest or slow down, rather than to frantically try to find energy stores for marathon-type performance. Then, after keeping it in the slower fat-burning mode for 20 minutes, we jump back on the cardio machine for another 10 minutes. Repeat as necessary. Get the point? Do less, feel less exhausted, yet burn more fat by keeping the body in the fat-metobolization state.

Disregard the Google weight-loss ads. The article source is linked in there as well - The link to the Study

My take is that if you enjoy cardio exercise, then do it. To stay totally injury-free, try a low- to non-impact cardio exercise (e.g. the recumbent or upright cycle, Nautical machine, stairs, or maybe the elliptical machine) to improve your cardio-vascular condition. The amount of exercise you do and the intensity, make all the difference in the number of calories burned. The rest is mostly eating sensibly and the right type of foods.

4. Walking

Long-time Bodybuilders were found to have hardening of the arteries after years of heavy lifting. Each time we lift a heavy weight, the blood pressure momentarily spikes up. Hardening of the arteries is just the body's response to those pressure spikes. Adding a cardio exercise to their workout program completely reversed that condition. Most of them were told to just walk.

Walking for exercise is a much underrated activity. Before humans settled in specific locations, i.e.built cities, before agriculture, for 100s of thousands of years, they conquered the Earth by walking. Nomadic families didn't run, but walked endlessly. We are made to walk.

6. Natural Anti-depressant

Exercise makes you happy. It is a known depression fighter. Natural endorphins are activated and raise the overall sense of well-being.

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Here is an authoritative source on proper eating and a great resource for finding out about the value of your supplements: These are the Mayo Clinic's suggestions for heart-smart eating, while this link takes you to their evaluation of the popular Coenzime Q10 supplement.
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About lifting: In my opinion, the best illustrated books that show all of the muscles involved in each exercise, and show the exercises and how they are effective and correctly executed, are by Frederic Delavier. I found them both at amazon.com (and recently at Costco's as well) pretty inexpensive ($13 each). Be aware that the women's edition targets mainly legs. I found the Men's edition (actually, it shows women in there as well) and the new Strength Training Anatomy Workout to be much more universally useful.

About the Author:
The former editor in chief of the French magazine PowerMag, Frédéric Delavier is currently a journalist for the French magazine Le Monde du Muscle and a contributor to several other muscle publications, including Men’s Health Germany. He is the author of the bestselling Strength Training Anatomy and Women’s Strength Training Anatomy, which have sold a combined 350,000 copies in the United States and have been translated into 15 languages.

Delavier is a gifted artist with an exceptional knowledge of human anatomy. He studied morphology and anatomy for five years at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and studied dissection for three years at the Paris Faculté de Médicine.

Delavier won the French powerlifting title in 1988 and makes annual presentations on the sports applications of biomechanics at conferences in Switzerland. His teaching efforts have earned him the Grand Prix de Techniques et de Pédagogie Sportive.

Delavier lives in Paris, France.

Or you can go here to see if you can get them (or any other book, for that matter) cheaper:

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Fitness as a Lifestyle:

1. Know What You Want!

Set a REALISTIC and achievable goal! See the twins study above. Know that you are only going to centroid yourself around your genetic potential with a relatively moderate effort.

2. Know yourself.

Analyze your habits, good or bad. Know your body and your genetic makeup. If you are, for example, a large-framed woman, don't look over at that petite, slender girly-girl and pick her as your goal. That will never be you. Same goes for the guys. If you are a small-boned man, don't think about being Arnold Schwarzenegger. That's out of the question. That goes with picking a ralistic goal, based on your body's genetic parameters and your psyche (i.e. personality traits). Behavioral adjustments need to be made as well. Let's say you are a smoker. Don't you think that you would have to break that habit first, before embarking on a fitness program? That's just being reasonable and realistic.

3. Nothing is free!

If at all possible, try to look past the hype and marketing of a multi-billion Dollar industry. Some of it may be fun, such as gym clothing, but beyond that, more TV advertised gym equipment ends up stored, forgotten, or sold within weeks, sometimes days after being purchased. The marketeers care about your money, not your condition - only you do that. If you are old enough to remember, you will notice that the same stuff is being marketed again and again, over the years, because the public has a very short memory and is eager to buy the easy way out. Beyond that, bright-eyed enthusiastic sales people will show you testimonials about the miraculous benefits of their respective supplements. It is a commercial battlefield for your attention, praying on your fears and hopes, hoping for your gullibility, and demanding your Dollars, all in the name of health, fitness, the ever elusive fountain of youth, amazing sex, and a long life free of illness. And as ever: Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware.

You’ve all read the hype. The “secrets” to losing weight, getting the killer six-pack abs or those 'buns of steel' are selling copy. Most of the devices, plans, and goodies are not about you and your body, they are about making money. They are exploiting everyone's desire to find the magic bullet. To get instant gratification and results in exchange for money. It's a societal weakness, perpetuated by those businesses that place supposedly quick and easy "solutions" before us. The other tactic is to try to scare us into using products that are rarely a good substitute for a whole and natural food diet and reasonable levels of exercise, and always, always cost more.

I should be so lucky. My dear friend Lisa, a lovely and talented master instructor and Reebok representative.

STEP 1

Prepare and Plan

Know what you're after. A little toning, some fun, some diversion, a break from a sedentary lifestyle, or to lose some weight that makes you feel physically uncomfortable, i.e. living up to your genetic potential. It does not have to be a gym activity either.

However, in every gym there will be personal trainers willing and able to give you all the assistance, advice, and support you need. It's what they do. They will establish a baseline for you, evaluate your present state of fitness and then take it from there. A good trainer will have you on a custom training program that is designed for your personal needs. Don't be afraid to be critical - it's your body. If anything hurts (I don't mean muscle soreness) or is beyond your current capabilities, don't do it! Two of the silliest sayings that came from the old gym and fitness culture were: 1) If it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger, and even worse 2) Work through the pain! I hope that we have finally grown beyond those stupidities.

Consult a physician before starting an exercise program.

Here is an interesting bit of information: At the beginning of each new year, the gyms are packed with well-intended "wannabes", who are trying to meet their newyears resolutions. By March, nearly all of them will be gone. By the middle of the year, just 3 - 4 percent of all of the newbies will remain and become long-term "gym rats". The gym business counts on that. That is their equivalent of life insurance companies' actuarian statistics. They know the loss rates and how much they will have to provide to the "survivors". It's their business model. Cold but true.

STEP 2

Enjoy the gym population

Feed off the motivation of others, and in time you will notice that they need you too. Have fun with them, try different things. If you find something you really like, you most likely will continue to do it.

Cross train. Go for bike rides, run, walk, do whatever makes you happy. Join in on the aerobics programs, balance that with resistance (weight lifting) training. Alternatives to aerobics are cardio machines and spinning classes. Resistance training may be using weight machines, free weights, or conditioning/body shaping classes. Record, or know your progress (if you have a trainer, he/she will do that for you), which, by the way is not necessarily measured in form of weight loss. Muscle is heavier than fat, and because of this, you may discover that you are gaining weight, yet becoming leaner.

Pursue an enjoyable cardio/aerobics and weight lifitng exercise regimen 3-5 times each week. When asked: "Which exercise is the best one to do?", the renowned fitness guru Covert Bailey answered, "The one that you like to do". Chances are, if you hate it, you won't do it very long. Experiment until you find the combination that you enjoy.

Spot Reduction!

If you have a belly or flabby arms, just work the afflicted area until it is lean. WRONG!! There is no such thing as spot reduction. Fat gets deposited according to your genetic code and will come off the same way. What you can do, is to work the area and make it firmer and stronger, but the fat will come off the arms, for example, even if you work only your legs (let's say, cycling) every day. It's one of those persistent myths that seem to have a life of its own. You have no control over the specific locations. Forget about fat reducing creams, or losing fat through saunas. One is a scam, and one will only dehydrate you, and both, like all of the other 'great' ideas out there, will cost money and are a waste of time. Of course, that is not saying you should not enjoy sitting around in a steam room or a sauna. Whatever you enjoy. Just know, that those things won't change you physically.

Rest!

Did I mention rest? Sufficient rest is almost as important as exercising. When we exercise we do not build muscle mass, we tear muscles down. That is called the catabolic phase. When we sleep, we enter the anabolic phase where we rebuild, repair and strengthen those worked muscles (the body's reaction to physical stresses. Also, give those muscles a rest. Give the muscles a break. Exercise the same muscle groups not for another 48 hours. Many people work out successfully by concentrating on each major muscle group just once a week.

One of the dedicated fitness professionals at 24 HR Fitness Centers - Sacramento area CLick on the image to visit Jen's website

STEP 3

Nutrition

This is the toughest part. Some exercise guru, when discussing running for weight loss said: " That means we'll have a whole lot of fat people out there running". By the way, one of the articles in this magazine discusses the 'Can Fat be Fit' issue.

If you're reading this, you are most likely interested in nutrition. The September 2007 Scientific Amercian Magazine is all about the latest findings in nutrition. Click on the image to see some of the contents. I think single issues can be purchased on line. If you can't afford it, or find it unavailable, read it in your local library.

It seems that nearly everything is Nutrition-related. The surely is some truth to the old saw, "You are what you eat".

For you ladies, here is the recommended Breast Cancer prevention diet plan (Tori Hudson, ND), which incidentally, happens to be also an excellent weight control plan:

While cancers can not always be prevented, due to certain genetic predispositions, some foods seem better to help out here, than others.

Fish (salmon, tuna, halibut, sardines, mackerel) at least twice a day, and take omega-3 fish oil supplements (Remember, any generic brand will do).

Eat at least 5 or more servings of plant foods per day, including the following:

Limit alcohol intake

Smart and safe, anyway: Alcohol in women breaks down [is metabolized] at about half the rate it does in men - so long after we're sober again, and ready to take advantage of the situation on hand, you will still be legally drunk.

I do have about a glass or less of red wine (Merlot or Pinot Noir) a day with my meal.

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Arm yourself with knowledge. Read and understand the labels. They are better than ever before. Avoid saturated and hydrolized/partially hydrogenated fats and oils. Reduce the reliance on red meats (pork, btw, is NOT "the other white meat"). If possible, eat small portions of food 5-6 times a day. Fruit and vegetables are an extremely important part of this diet. Plan on some fruit or vegetarian days. Vegetarians are not whimps. There are some huge bodybuilders out there who follow a vegetarian diet. Look toward the Asian/Indian recipes as an alternative. Vegetarian meals don't have to be boring and bland. Spice them up. Spices are important anyway. Again, the Indians and Moroccans do that magnificently. People, like the cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish and the late Nathan Pritikin, long realized and advocated the benefits of a largely vegetarian diet, low in saturated fats, as a key element in every good nutritional program. Dr. Dean Ornish's book "Eat More, Weigh Less", is available as a paperback in most bookstores and at Amazon.com. Then there are the Mayo Clinic's suggestions to heart-smart eating.

Reduce salt!! Don't add salt to your food. There is salt in everything already. After a couple of weeks, you will discover that there are actually all kinds of different flavors out there, beyond salt.

Stay away from any extreme diet (also known as Fad Diets). For example something like a No Carb Diet. Those things are just fads. Someone takes one part of a larger study and writes a book and diet instructions based on that one part and makes a million dollars with it. In the end, you are fleeced of your money, have spent agonizing times denying food groups, and when all is said and done, you will not have changed, and may have gotten worse. We are omnivores, and moderation is one key ingrdient of a healthy lifestyle. Dr Dean Edell once wrote a book on it, and what he said is still true, "Eat Drink and be Merry", all in moderation. Let common sense be your guide.

While we are on nutrition, most of you are aware of the Food Pyramid. It's shown in all of the classrooms in this country and in countless government and private publications. It has been radically overhauled by the chief of the Harvard Medical Center Nutrition department, Dr. Willett. His initial article was published in the January 2003 issue of Scientific American Magazine. His neww food pyramid, incorporates the latest nutrition findings of recent years and is a dramatic change from the original. It has been widely discussed and for the first time includes something that many of us have long been aware of, "exercise". We now are finally not just talking about adding calories, but also of expending calories in a balanced way. Give that article a long hard look and learn what good nutrution is all about. You can also enlarge and print the picture of the new food pyramid.

Dr. Willett's New Food Pyramid (click on image to go to his article)

Here is a little something to remember: 1g fat = 9 calories. Fat is typically listed in grams. So, if the cookie has 80 calories, and 5g of fat, then 5g x 9calories = 45 calories of fat. This means that the cookie is (45/80=0.56) or 56% fat. That sounds very different from 5 grams, doesn't it?

Stay away from juices! Eat the fruit instead. To illustrate: How many oranges does it take to make one large glass of orange juice? Many more than you would be willing or able to eat in one sitting, but can easily slurp down in a few gulps. What you are getting is all of the sugar and liquid without the surrounding fiber. A double problem. The sugar will result in a steep rise in blood sugar, followed by an equally rapid insulin response. Anything else you eat, now that the cells are being energized by the sugar, will most likely be considered excess and stored as fat. What follows is the rapid depletion of the sugar and you will feel extremely hungry and sluggish a little while later. You have moved from being in a hyper glycemic state into a state of low blood sugar (hypo glycemic), and need to quickly replenish with food to continue to function. By eating the fruit, you still get the sugar, but now it is locked in the fiber of the fruit and thus released slowly. You get all of the benefits without the problems.

For BREAKFAST, here's an idea to reduce the amount of sugar (and it can be huge) in cereals, while still keeping it interesting and enjoyable: My breakfast Cereal Mix suggestion

Here is a 2009, Men's Fitness Magazine Cereal Taste Test

Food supplements, sadly, unregulated by the FDA, are a multi-billion dollar business.

The ones we arepretty sure of:

1. Omega 3, part of the essential fatty acids (EFA). While I do eat fish, most of the week, I also supplement 1g (1000mg) of fish oil a day. On non-fish days, I double that.

Fish, generally salmon and most cold water fish are good sources of Omega 3. The easiest way to assure sufficient amounts of Omega-3, while still eating fish, is a daily fish oil capsule. You can buy the largest and least expensive. There are only three manufacturers in the USA and all are using the same formula. (remember, don't buy into the hype). I was using the Costco (Kirkland) brand, but recently switched to the Nature Made brand.

On May 27, 2003, the White House issued an incredible statement. It urged health agencies of the government to encourage Americans to increase their consumption of foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, while decreasing their intake of trans-fatty acids. This monumental directive was precipitated by new guidelines issued by the American Heart Association at that time, recommending you consume coldwater fish at least twice a week as well as other oils and food sources high in omega-3 fatty acids as a way to reduce your risk of heart disease. It is not every day that you see the White House/government take such a positive stance on your diet and endorse a particular nutritional supplement.

Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown in numerous major studies to provide tremendous benefits to your cardiovascular functionand may be important for improving ongoing brain function, promoting pain-free joints, diminishing danger from eye disease, managing depression and even reducing the risk of cancer.

2. Forget the Daily multi-vitamin, multi-mineral tablet. Better is a complete and varied diet. All I am taking these days is the already mentioned 1-2 grams of fish oil and 2000 IU of vitamin D. Can't run around naked in the sun for 15 minutes a day to get the required amount of Vitamin D. Neighbors can't handle it, you know how it is. Some vitamin supplements, such as vitamin E and Beta Carrotene, have actually been linked with increased rates of cancer.

3. Omega 6, part of the essential fatty acids (EFA) are polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Good dietary sources of omega-6 fatty acids include cereals, eggs, poultry, most vegetable oils, whole-grain breads, baked goods, and margarine (make that soft tub margerine, or better yet, the new "heart-smart" types that are being marketed, high in polyunsaturated fat). Avoid stick margarine. Any fat that hard can't ge good for you.

4. Protein

It has been recently noted that women are notorious in getting less protein than they require.

PLAIN NON-FAT Yogurt, non-fat or skim milk, as well as the soybean products, such as tofu and soy milk, are excellent sources of calcium and protein as well. Many athletes, especially those who don't eat much meat, supplement their diets with Whey and Soy Protein. Shop for price. Optimum Nutrition's 100% Pure Whey (sold in 5lb cans) seems to be one of the best deals out there. DON'T be taken by fancy lables and fancy prices. Some add vitamins, but it's the Whey Protein you want. You can get your vitamins from a good quality one-a-day multi-vitamin-multi-mineral tablet. As an aside, Glutamine is an energizing component (amino acid) of whey. It is recommended to the exercising population to consume as much as a gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. If you are a Costco member, Sam's might carry it too, there is a good Whey Protein bargain available there. At times I purchased Optimum Nutrition's 100% Pure Whey here: DPS Nutrition. I suggest to buy a large container first, and then get the cheaper, bagged refills.

5. Calcium supplements in conjunction with Vitamin D and load-bearing exercise. Just calcium supplements by themselves have been found to be insufficient.

6. As you get older, (dang it!) there may be a case for Coenzyme Q10, read the link at the top of the page.

7. Save tons of money by rejecting the hype about all of the other supplements, unless prescribed by a doctor.

Long-time friend and ultra fit Fitness-Guru Cara

Calorie Counting

It's all about LIMO: Less In, More Out (calories, that is)

There is nothing wrong with counting calories. But, just as jumping on the weight scale every day, which is not considered a good gauge of "fatness" or leanness, there are other ways. Calories do give us a numerical idea of the energy potential that we are ingesting. The question is, how much is too much? Also, how little is too little. Sure, we can starve ourselves into an anorexic skeletal shadow of our present selves. Doable, but not desirable or healthy.

1. We want to be aware of the approximate numbers of calories we are eating.

2. We want to be aware of the calory densities in the foods that we are eating: Let me explain. A pound of spinach (yech!) is maybe only about 60 calories, but a pound of cheese will probably be (I'm guessing) 2-3000 calories (i.e. a pound of fat). Any question on calory density? It is obvious that fresh (or frozen) fruits and vegetables are very low in calories per weight. The reason is that they contain a large amounts of water. The calories in a pound of water? Zero.

3. We don't have to sit there with a calculator, but follow some sound and logical rules of eating. When snacking, snack on fruits and veggies. When thirsty, drink water. Those prudent habits must be developed to allow you to make progress. Then, if the other rules, such as minimizing sugars and fats are followed, you find yourself well on the way to a healthier and leaner self, living up to your genetic potential. Couple that with moderate exercise and a good dose of happiness and socializing, and you've got the secret formula.

4. For those who would like to count and know a little more, there is this to conside: Just breathing and maintaining a body temperature, usually well above that of the surrounding air, having a heart that pumps blood, and all the other bodily functions that keep us alive, will burn calories all of the time. So, even if we were to lie still for the whole day, a certain amount of calories will be burned. That amount is called the basic maintenance requirement. The minimum needed to live, to exist. The actual formula to determine that basic requirement is: body weight in kg (pounds x 0.45) x 24 cal. A rough rule of thumb says, add a zero to your body weight in pounds.

For example:

I weigh about 160 lbs, add a zero gives me 1600, or a minimum calory requirement of 1600 calories per day. The more precise formula is bodyweight in kilograms (lbs x .45) times 24 or in my case 160 x .45 x 24 = 1724. A relatively small difference. You can get nearly the same result by just adding 10% to your first number. In my example that would be: 160lbs, add a zero = 1600 calories, add 10%= 160 cals. Thus it's 1600 + 160 = 1760 calories. That's pretty close to the "precise" formula result, isn't it?

Why is this basic maintenance requirement amount important?

What many people don't seem to understand is, that once the maintenance requirement is taken care of, the calories consumed by additional activity are relatively few. While the effects of exercise are dramatic, the caloric expenditure, with exception of some extreme activities (e.g. bicyclist racing in the Tour d'France might easily consume 1600 calories in one hour), is a minor amount. For example, runnig a mile uses about 100 calories. I think that the calory counters of the cardio equipment we use, are very approximate at best and typically inflated. I am saying this to emphasize the importance of getting all of the basic maintenace requirement calories on a daily basis. Anything over and above is used for exercise, maintaining increased metabolic rates, and the building of muscles. So, dear readers, go forth and eat plenty of the right foods and exercise and have fun. You may be shocked to find out that as you a eat a little more often, and continue to exercise, you will slowly start losing fat and getting leaner. ..and that's no magic trick.

A reminder: Muscle is the engine that burns the most calories. Lift weights and increase your muscle mass and you'll be burning more calories day and night

The Chocolate Architect

Finally, don't suffer by denying yourself the occasional treat. Having a little bit of cheese, if you're a cheese lover, or chocolate, if you enjoy that, won't kill your program, nor put tons of weight on you. I make a pound of cheese last about one to two months. That's way less than an ounze a day. It keeps me from bingeing and suffering needlessly. Same with chocolate. Dark chocolate, btw, is a great bet. One ounce of this decadent goodie provides only 150 calories as well as heart healthy flavonols. Eat everything in reasonable and sensible proportions, and you'll be happier for it.

24 HR Fitness Friends

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