New Years Fitness Resolution - Have You Been Keeping Up?

Lately I've been working out 5 days a week, at least 1 hour a workout.

Some people might think that working out that much is kind of extreme...but in fact, it's quite healthy.

Think about this, that's only 5 hours in a week.

Doing some math, most people are awake 16 hours each day. So that means I'm just working about a little over 4% of the time that I'm awake.

Some people might say..."I have a fulltime job and kids to take care of".

Look at things this way, let's cut that in half since most people work 8 hours a day. So that means instead of 4%, I'm spending close to 11 person of my available time.

Even if you had other jobs or kids to take care of, don't you think that spending a smaller fraction of your time to keep your body healthy is important?

Is Colon Health Plus a Scam?

The other day I told my friend about a colon cleansing pill called Colon Health Plus+. Most people don't really know what colon cleansing is or what it actually does. So the first thing that he asked me if it was a scam.

I could understand. When people are uncertain about something (especially something they've never heard about), they thing it doesn't work.

So Does It Really Work?

Yes and no. So what do I mean about this? If you don't know by now, I'm really into working out. I like pumping iron and doing cardio. If you're looking for a pill to replace that, then you're looking for the magic pill. So quite simply, no, it will not replace exercise.

What it does do is clear out a lot of toxins from your system. We have major organs like the kidneys, liver, and skin to help clear out toxic waste. However, most people don't take care of their bodies as best as they could. Nobody is perfect and we many people do drink sodas, milkshakes, and alcohol. There are many other things that aren't great for us. The main idea is that our elimination organs can use some help. So about the other answer (the Yes), this one in particular helps clear out toxins from your digestive tract.

Click here for more details on this blog about Colon Health Plus+.

Detoxifying Your Body with Colon Health Plus

By the time that you finish reading this page, I guarantee that you'll learn so much about improving your colon health - things that your school professor never told you about. We'll teach you about products to avoid and the products which will clean your colon by flushing out toxic waste, which in turn will help you lose weight and gain energy.

Over the years I've seen a lot of colon health products on the market. However, not all of them are safe for your body. The bad thing is that some of these companies just push out a bunch of hype and they're not even regulated by the FDA. After doing some research, I've decided to publish some of these findings.

One huge problem is that there are lots of supplement providers that are releasing new colon health products to market. When there's a huge need, these companies are willing to fill it. Most of these corporations understand that people are on the look out for new ways to help with loosing weight or detoxify their body. So they are pretty quick in trying to push out trendy products into the market. What makes it more confusing for consumers is that large companies have this huge budget allowing them to advertise on television, radio and also in newspapers. Companies with enough money to buy expensive forms of advertisements continue to have the most success, because they are the most visible. While these companies are huge, it doesn't mean that they are the best choice.

Before I get started, I'd like to offer you some background on why colon cleansing is so important.

In our age of fast food restaurants and microwave dinners, many toxins can build up in our bodies, making us feel sluggish and out of sorts. The fatigue, bloating and constipation that results from toxic buildup can steal our zeal for life and our desire to spend time with friends and family.

Even though following proper eating habits and an appropriate exercise program will get your body into better shape, there will still be a certain amount of built up bacteria and toxins that remain in your digestive tract. If toxins are left in your body then they will infiltrate your bloodstream and cause unpleasant side effects to your health and energy.

Colon cleansing is an excellent way to remove toxins and give you back your energy in full force.

Why Detox? Why Not?

In order to function properly, your computer's hard drive periodically needs to be cleared of outdated files as well as potentially harmful viruses. Similarly, your body needs cleansing on a regulary basis so that it too can perform in its optimum condition. Colon cleansing is a natural means of aiding your body in the detoxification process, removing the environmental and food-related toxins that have accrued in your body tissues and digestive tract.

Mucoid plaque, chemicals used to process foods, bacteria, parasites and fecal matter are among the toxins that may be stored in your colon.

Colon cleansing is a safe and gentle method of toxin removal. When your goal is to cleanse your body, it makes little logical sense to introduce into it unnatural, aggressive chemicals!

What You Need To Know About Colon Cleansing Procedures

Enemas and colonics have been pretty popular. Though popular for cleansing colons, these methods can be harmful. Can you think about putting an instrument through the rear. Of primary concern is the physical damage that can happen if the procedure is not done correctly. There are people that will re-use these devices. What happens here is that they risk the chance of introducing unhealthy bacteria into the colon and infections can also occur. There are certain people that complete this type of procedure regularly. This could make your bowel movements weak. They don't know it, but they are causing harm to their bodies instead of revigorating it and getting rid of toxins. Please speak with a doctor before using these procedures as you don't want to do any damage to your body.

The Herbal Cleanse

Well you don't have to try these aggressive methods if you don't want to and I'm not advising you to do them. There are herbs that can detox your body. If used properly, they can effectively break down fecal matter and help flush toxins out of your body.

Here is a brief breakdown of some powerful herbs that can help you detoxify your colon:

Aloe Vera – This famous ingredient contains Anthraquinone glucosides, which interact with normal intestinal bacteria in order to form molecules known as aglycones, which behave in the colon as a laxative.

Cascara Sagrada – Traditionally used by Native Americans, this ingredient aids in stimulating bowel movements.

Flaxseed – This well-known ingredient is rich in the dietary fiber that is needed to promote healthy digestion and reverse constipation.

Licorice Root – Used for urinary and digestive tract health in Traditional Chinese medicine. The Glycyrrhiza glabra it contains can boost energy and aids the colon by fighting off harmful bacteria, viruses and inflammations.

Psyllium Husks – It has been a natural bowel regulator for centuries. The fiber in Psylium Husks will aid the digestive system by turning into gelatin form when it becomes moist. This means that inside your bowels, it gathers and moves toxins through and out of the colon.

Senna Leaves – The people of southwestern Asia and Africa have been using senna leaves for thousands of years as a cleansing herb. The hydroxyanthracene glycosides contained in these leaves stimulate colon activity, soften stool and relieve constipation by increasing stool quantity.

It is possible to purchase the herbs separately spending more than one hundred dollars to complete a cleanse. You can also get Colon Health Plus+, which is an herbal cleanser for the colon. Colon Health Plus+ is a product that combines many of these natural ingredients in order to cleanse your digestive tract while helping to restore your bodys' health and function. They also have a free trial available.

I'm sure that you do not want to spend your money on products that don't work very well. The details of how it works are displayed in detail online. Visit the Colon Health Plus+ website today and learn more.

Have You Checked Your Body Fat?

For the longest time I used a regular spring scale to check out my weight. While those things aren't so accurate, they gave me an idea of how much I was gaining or losing. It didn't really matter if it was a few pounds off...I was more concerned about those post-holiday bulk-up periods - and I'm not talking about packing on the muscle either.

Not too long ago I decided to go on a natural detox diet program and I wanted to get a better picture of how it worked. So I decided to write things down on a journal. What I found was that my weight was changing every day. I soon realized that I needed a better scale to help me monitor my progress.

Your overall weight doesn't show the whole picture. I ended up getting a Conair Weight Watchers Scale. I could keep track of my BMI (Body Mass Index), my body water percentage, and my body fat percentage.

Your weight can fluctuate and it doesn't really mean too much if you're just gaining and losing water weight. If you're really interested in losing weight, it's a good idea to keep track of your body fat percentage. You'll get a better idea of how effective your diet or exercise program actually is.

Bend So Your Don’t Break - the Art of Stretching

Stretching is critical to anybody who exercises or plays any sport. When you see a muscle-bound guy, you probably assume that he can’t move as well as an average person. Well, you’re half right. Muscle-bound people are among the most and least fleible e on the planet. It all depends on whether they stretched as part of their muscle-building probram. Keep in mind that muscle is a highly pliable tissue, and, within the realm of human possibility, it will do pretty much what you tell it you want it to do.

For best results, stretch every day, before or after your workout or between sets. My favorite is between sets because it keeps you acive, and it keeps you opened up so you can use your full range of motion for the weight-training exercises you’re performing during that workout. Stretching during workouts tends to counterbalance the muscle group you’re working. For instance, when training your chest, a great stretch is opening your arms, grasping a post or weight rack, and stretching your pecs before you perform your next set.

You can also stretch for 5 to 15 minutes first thing in the morning or before bedtime. Keep in mind that stretching is exercise, too. If you do a lengthy stretch session right before your work-out, you may find that a weight-training session is more challenging because you’ve already taxed your muscles.

Here is a rundown on some of the various types of stretching you can include in your program.

(1) Static Stretching
This is the most common type of stretching that you see in the gym and among the safest and most effective. It’s the stretch-and-hold version. You move into a stretch and maintain it for 5 to 10 seconds, “sinking” into it and allowing your body to open up. For best results, perform at least three reps of static stretches –you’ll find that you go deeper with each successive stretch.

(2) Active Stretching (= Movement Stretching)
Half-way between static and ballistic stretching lies active stretching, where you move smoothly between one stretch and the next. You go through the same range of motion as you do for static stretching, but you don’t hold the stretch. Many underuse this form of stretching, but it can help open tight muscles. You often see athletes perform this type of stretch right before performance. Think of sprinters bending over to open their hamstrings or pulling their feet up behind them to open their quads.

(3) Ballistic Stretching
This type of stretching is one of the most effective, as well as one of the likeliest to cause injuries. By adding dynamic force to your movement, you are able to take your range of motion beyond you static stretch position, helping to increase flexibility. Gymnasts often use ballistic stretches. My advice is to attempt this type of stretching only under the guidance of a qualified trainer.

(4) Passive Stretching
You see this a lot at the gym – a trainer stretching out a client. Passive stretching is when you relax and allow someone else to stretch you out. I think this type of stretching is great at the end of the workout as a way to relax and get a quick jump on the recovery process.

(5) Yoga
Yoga has become enormously popular, and it’s not only a great stretch but also a good workout. You might be surprised by how challenging it can be, especially if you’re a little tight. (It’s even more beneficial for those who are tighter than most.) Yoga can be performed at home with a tape or in a studio or gym as part of a class. You can also mix and match some of your favorite poses or stretches to create your own personal stretching routine.

(6) Pilates
Similar to but slightly different form Yoga, Pilates emphasizes control in movement, teaching you how to use your full range of motion properly as you tone and elongate your body. Joseph Pilates originally designed his moves and programs for injured dancers. Over the past decade, it has ballooned into one of the most popular fitness trends.

Here’s a quick stretching routine that hits virtually the entire body using a combination of the technique outlined above.

A. Hamstrings (Passive)
Lie flat on your back and lift one leg skyward. Have your training partner gently move that straight leg in the direction of your chest, and hold for several seconds. Repeat seven or eight times. Do the same number of reps using the other leg.

B. Waist (Active)
Stand up straight with your feet planted shoulder-width apart. Twist your torso to the right and then to the left. (That equals one stretch.) Repeat 20 to 25 times.

C. Upper Back (Static)
Stand several feet away form a support you can grasp with both hands after leaning forward at the waist. Arch your back and hold that position for 10 to 20 seconds to stretch the upper half of your back.

D. Groin (Static)
Sit with your knees bent, so the soles of your feet are flush with each other. Use your elbows to press down gently on your knees until you feel a stretch spreading through your groin. Hold for 10 to 20 seconds. Repeat five times, pressing your knees down a little farther each time, if possible.

E. Chest (Static)
Stand next to a support and raise one arm until it’s parallel to the floor and in the same plane as your shoulders. Shift one foot in front of the other and lean forward until you feel a nice stretch spreading across your chest. Hold this position for about 30 seconds, and then repeat using your other arm.

Can Sugar Substitutes Make You Fat?

When it comes to dieting, most of us are willing to resort to a trick or two to help us curb our appetite and eat less — drinking water to fill up when we're hungry, for example, or opting for artificial sweeteners instead of sugar to get the same satisfying sweetness without the offending calories. But new research suggests that the body is not so easily fooled, and that sugar substitutes are no key to weight loss — perhaps helping to explain why, despite a plethora of low-calorie food and drink, Americans are heavier than ever.

In a series of experiments, scientists at Purdue University compared weight gain and eating habits in rats whose diets were supplemented with sweetened food containing either zero-calorie saccharin or sugar. The report, published in Behavioral Neuroscience, presents some counterintuitive findings: Animals fed with artificially sweetened yogurt over a two-week period consumed more calories and gained more weight — mostly in the form of fat — than animals eating yogurt flavored with glucose, a natural, high-calorie sweetener. It's a continuation of work the Purdue group began in 2004, when they reported that animals consuming saccharin-sweetened liquids and snacks tended to eat more than animals fed high-calorie, sweetened foods. The new study, say the scientists, offers stronger evidence that how we eat may depend on automatic, conditioned responses to food that are beyond our control.

What they mean is that like Pavlov's dog, trained to salivate at the sound of a bell, animals are similarly trained to anticipate lots of calories when they taste something sweet — in nature, sweet foods are usually loaded with calories. When an animal eats a saccharin-flavored food with no calories, however — disrupting the sweetness and calorie link — the animal tends to eat more and gain more weight, the new study shows. The study was even able to document at the physiological level that animals given artificial sweeteners responded differently to their food than those eating high-calorie sweetened foods. The sugar-fed rats, for example, showed the expected uptick in core body temperature at mealtime, corresponding to their anticipation of a bolus of calories that they would need to start burning off — a sort of metabolic revving of the energy engines. The saccharin-fed animals, on the other hand, showed no such rise in temperature. "The animals that had the artificial sweetener appear to have a different anticipatory response," says Susan Swithers, a professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University and a co-author of the study. "They don't anticipate as many calories arriving." The net result is a more sluggish metabolism that stores, rather than burns, incoming excess calories.

Swithers stops short of saying that the animals in her study were compelled to overeat to compensate for phantom calories. But she says that the study does suggest artificial sweeteners somehow disrupt the body's ability to regulate incoming calories. "It's still a bit of a mystery why they are overeating, but we definitely have evidence that the animals getting artificially sweetened yogurt end up eating more calories than the ones getting calorically sweetened yogurt."

Though it's premature to generalize based on animal results that the same phenomena would hold true in people, Swithers says, she notes that other human studies have already shown a similar effect. A University of Texas Health Science Center survey in 2005 found that people who drink diet soft drinks may actually gain weight; in that study, for every can of diet soda people consumed each day, there was a 41% increased risk of being overweight. So even though her findings were in animals, says Swithers, they could lead to a better understanding of how the human body responds to food, and explain why eating low-calorie foods doesn't always lead to weight loss. "There is lots of evidence that we learn about the consequences about eating food," she says. "And we have physiological responses to food that are conditioned."

So does that mean you should ditch the artificial sweeteners and welcome sugar back into your life? Not exactly. Excess sugar in the diet can lead to diabetes and heart disease, even independent of its effect on weight. But it's worth remembering that when it comes to counting calories, it's not just the ones you eat that you have to worry about. The calories you give up matter too, and they may very well reappear in that extra helping of pasta or dessert that your body demands. Your body may actually be keeping better count than you are.

FAT Calories vs. CARB Calories - Which is Worse?

If you're one of millions of Americans trying to lose weight, you probably wish you had a more effective diet than the one you're on now. And if you're wondering whether Dean Ornish's low-fat diet will help you shed pounds better than Dr. Atkins' low-carb menu, the answer is simple: it doesn't matter.

Scientists know that on a molecular level, different types of starch and different types of fat have varying effects when they hit the body. But in terms of weight loss, low-fat diets and low-carb diets overall are equally effective (and, most of the time, neither will help you keep the weight off long-term), says Walter Willett, chair of the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. Here's why.

Q:Will eating a calorie of fat make you fatter than eating a calorie of carbohydrate?

A: From many kinds of studies conducted over years, we are quite confident now that a calorie from fat will cause a similar amount of weight gain as a calorie from carbohydrate. There are some interesting questions about whether eating carbohydrate calories versus fat calories will make you eat more calories, but based on what you put into your mouth, it's pretty clear that the source of the calories is really not important.

[Whether fats or carbohydrates are more filling] is one issue that's been raised — but it's been raised on both sides. The best way to get to the bottom line is to look at long-term studies where we randomize people to a high-fat/low-carb diet or to a low-fat/high-carb diet and follow them for at least a year or more. That kind of study takes into account the possibility that one kind of diet provides more satiety; so, over the long run you would see more weight loss on that diet. But those studies — half a dozen or more have been done — show quite clearly that the percentage of calories from fat has very little effect on long-term weight loss.


One possible footnote to this issue relates to some recent evidence on trans fats. We have seen in our studies that people who eat more trans fats seem to gain more weight, even when the total calories are the same. I was a little skeptical about that, in part because we're not quite sure we can measure calorie [intake] precisely enough. [It's hard for people to track their portion sizes to the gram, or even be sure of exactly what they're eating, especially if they ever eat out.] But in recent five-year feeding study in monkeys — they're animals so you can control their diets — the monkeys on the high-trans-fat diet gained more weight. They gained about 7% of their body weight over a five-year period, compared to the monkeys on a low-trans-fat diet, who gained about 1.5% of their body weight over five years.

So there may be something more complicated going on there. But there's not any good data [to explain why a calorie of trans fat should cause more weight gain than a calorie of something else]. It may be that on the high-trans-fat diet you're more likely to push those calories into your fat cells rather than your muscle cells — and muscles burn calories 24 hours a day. In the long run, that could make a difference in weight gain. But that's speculation. We're really not sure.

We've now looked at over 250,000 men and women for up to 30 years, and we [also] haven't seen that the percentage of calories from fat or from carbohydrates in your diet makes any difference in relation to heart attacks, various cancers or stroke. Having said that, the type of fat is very important, and so is the type of carbohydrate. So we find that trans fats, again, are particularly harmful with regard to type 2 diabetes and heart disease. On the other hand, unsaturated fats are actually beneficial in terms of reducing the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It's the same with carbohydrates. The total amount is not important. But high intake of refined starch and sugar is related to a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes, whereas high-fiber whole-grain carbohydrates are related to a lower risk. That's not too surprising, as we know that high intakes of sugar and refined starch have an adverse effect on blood glucose levels.

So the quality of the diet is really important, but just looking at fat versus carbohydrate misses where all the action is.