Thursday, December 31, 2015

What I think I Look Like when I run....




Happy New Year

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”
Neil Gaiman





Happy New Year form Alpha Edge Fitness






Wednesday, December 30, 2015

The Most Popular Articles of 2015, Your Excuse is Invalid, I Need to Get in Shape Before I go to the Gym

December 27, 2015

THE MOST POPULAR ARTICLES OF 2015

I hope your had a wonderful holiday and are making plans for 2016.

The New Year is upon us and the fitness scammers and charlatans will be out in force to take advantage of the “New Years Resolutionist”.

It’s a good time to review some of the articles of 2015 on this subject and some of the most popular articles on subjects that are appropriate for making plans and setting goals for this time of year.

I’ll re-post some of these articles each day over the next week or so. You can also go to any of the articles of 2015 at the bottom of the right hand column of the website, alphaedgefitness.com

Thank you all for helping making 2015 a very good year for Alpha Edge Fitness. 2016 promises to be even better.

____________________________________________________________________________________
(#5)

YOUR EXCUSE IS INVALID!

I’m not going to tell you all the benefits of exercise/fitness. You’ve heard them all before.

The purpose of this post is not to motivate you to start a fitness program. The purpose is to get you to examine your reason(s) for not starting a fitness program.  A lot of people will use any excuse they can (real or imagined) to avoid exercise.

“I’m not able to do anything like that”, “I’m too old”, “I don’t have time”, “and I don’t want to get hurt”
Sound familiar?

“I’m not able to do anything like that”
Let’s start here. In one of the gyms where I train there are:
·         Two double amputees (legs)
·         One single amputee (right arm)
·         Several members in wheel chairs
·         A number of members on either scooters or walkers
·         One member, in his forty’s ,who has been on crutches since birth
·         One member missing his left hand and half his left forearm since birth

All these people are there several times each week. And this list includes only the ones who train at the same times I do. The gym is open 24 hours a day.

Sometimes you can work through a valid impairment sometimes not. But there are almost always ways to work around it!







“I’m too old for that”
In another gym where I train (I train in 3 different gyms), I am the youngest member. I’m 65 years old.
They do cardio, free weights, machines, swimming, tennis, pickle ball, and water polo. Some are better at their chosen form of exercise that I will ever be.




“I don’t have time”
This is the most used excuse of all. A one hour workout is 4% of your day! The average American spends more than 5 hours per day watching TV and more than 11 hours on digital media!

“I don’t have time is the adult version of “The dog ate my homework”.



There are many examples of fitness competitors with 3 kids and 2 jobs. So let’s cut the crap about you “not having time” to train, shall we? Dani shugart



“I don’t want to get hurt”
You are going to have muscle soreness, you are going to have occasional tendonitis, you may have some occasional joint soreness….until you body gets used to doing something besides lying on the sofa watching the “Kardasians”.

No pain, No gain is bunk. If you learn good form, good habits, and manage your workout properly and with some common sense you can avoid any kind of serious injury.


And then there are those sometimes called “Haters”.

Anytime you try to better yourself you’ll suddenly be surrounded by people trying to stop you. Action, it seems, offends the inactive. They’ll be subtle about it by trying to get you to cheat on your nutrition or skip workouts. They’ll express false worry, plant negativity. They’ll even get mad at you. You have unintentionally pointed out their weakness.   

There will always be people who will try to talk you out of doing that they think will make you better than them. There will always also be people who, because of their lack of understanding, will try to talk you down out of actual concern.
  
So far I’ve describing other people. Let’s get a little more personal:

·         I am 65 years old.
·         I have Plantar’s Faciatis in my right foot.
·         I’ve had a broken right ankle which locks up on occasion.
·         I’ve had knee surgery 3 times. One was so bad that I’m told it’s in a medical text book somewhereMy left knee still has the lateral stability somewhat less than Jell-o!
·         I’ve had 2 serious rotator cuff tears.
·         I have Polysistic Kidey Disease. Because of this I’ve had high blood pressure since my mid-thirties.
·         I’m a cancer survivor ( 6+ years now)
·         and I have emvazeyma.
·         I have scoliosis of the lower thoracic spine. Mostly caused from favoring my left knee all these years.

You should note:
  • That NONE of the injuries were the direct result of resistance training!
  • As a matter of fact, training has caused a marked improvement in each and every one of them! 
  • AND if I had been stronger at the time of the injury I might not have been injured in the first place!

And in each case the doctors had me in resistance training within days or weeks of the injury!


My current dead lift is over 1.5x my body weight and improving every week.
My current raw barbell squat is almost 1.5 x my body weight.

I was still a member of the 1000 Pound Club at age 53 at 1275 pounds. (The total weight in 3 lifts-bench press, dead lift and squat). At age 65 I’m a little below 1000 pounds for the time being but I’m working on it.

 Only you can answer these questions:
·         Are my reasons for not getting more fit real or imaginary? Be totally honest with yourself.
·          Or are they totally invalid?
·         Will my condition (if any) require a special program or work-around?
·         Is my medical professional  Ok with the program I have planned?

I’m not telling you it will be easy. I’m telling you it will be worth it!





SEND ME YOUR REASONS FOR NOT GETTING MORE FIT.
IF I CAN SHOW YOU A WAY TO WORK AROUND OR FIX YOUR REASON I WILL DO THAT FOR FREE…..


______________________________________________________________________________________________

(#7)



“I NEED TO GET IN BETTER SHAPE BEFORE I GO TO A GYM”


I’ve been told this before. More than once.  And I’m 100% sure many other people have thought it.

I understand. A gym can be intimidating to individuals who have never been to a gym. But think about it. How many times have you heard someone say “I feel too bad to go to the doctor? I need to wait until I’m better” or “I’m bleeding too much to go to the emergency room. I’ll go when the bleeding stops”?

 Problem

What they are really saying is “I feel too overweight to be seen in the gym” or just as often “I feel too weak (or too skinny) to be seen in the gym”

In many cases the fitness industry has created this problem for themselves. The public sees too many fitness magazines, brochures, and articles showing perfectly chiseled men and perfectly shaped bikini models…. on the cover, in the articles and in the ads.

News flash folks! Those guys and girls in the magazines are not real!  They are photographed after weeks of preparation by the models. The lighting is professionally done, extensive make up is applied to face and body and they are all photo shopped.  No one looks that way every day! Even though they make their living posing for those shots. Even professional body builders only look “stage ready” for a few weeks out of the year. Any longer looking “stage ready” and their health begins to suffer.

The Solution

Simply pay a visit to your local gym. Ask to be shown around the facility. They will be happy to assign a staff member to show you around. Don’t just pay attention to the facility. Also pay attention to the members.  Sure, you’ll see a few hard core gym rats sporting tank tops and big arms. But you’ll see many more ordinary people just like you at various stages of their fitness journey.

Note that different facilities have different personalities. If you are uncomfortable you may want to stick to the friendly local gyms or the big box gyms as opposed to gyms with names like “Junk Yard Dogs” ”Prison Yard Strong” or “Curl ‘till You Puke  Fitness and Dance Studio”.

Pick your fitness center the same way you do your family doctor or your mechanic. Recommendations of people you trust, reputation, and your own comfort level.

One caveat; look for a gym where you can actually work on your goals and work hard. Some are nothing more than day care centers for adults who offer you tootsie rolls, free pizza and free donuts. I’m serious! Oh, and they’ll kick you out if you grunt.




Problem

Another problem can be vast array of shiny, complicated looking, and BIG equipment.  As physiology becomes better understood the number and variety of equipment and machines has multiplied.  I can show you 18 different machines or apparatus on which to do the equivalent of a bench press. A big box gym may have dozens of different machines and hundreds of pieces of other various equipment.

Solution

The staff will be happy (in fact they will probably insist) that a staff member or trainer show you how to use all the various pieces of equipment. Most are fairly simple despite their appearance. Any time you want to use a machine you are not familiar with. They have staff to assist you. Don’t try to fake it.

The fitness industry has their own rules of etiquette. But so do most other social venues. Classrooms, waiting rooms, restaurants, business meetings, and almost everywhere else you go. Gym rules are fairly straight forward and based mostly on common sense. For example; Don’t start a conversation with someone while he or she is holding 200 pounds of iron above their head. Don’t do barbell curls standing on a moving tread mill. Don’t spit in the water fountain. You get the picture….. 

I’ll post a list of rules of etiquette in a future article. Some are actually quite entertaining. On some, you’ll scratch your head and wonder why anyone even needs to state that rule. But think about some of the warnings on common household products: “Do not take these suppositories orally”,  “Do not use this hairdryer while sleeping”, TV antenna-“Do not attempt to install while drunk, pregnant or both”, baby clothes-“Remove child before washing”.

Problem

A misconception regarding the cost of gym membership can also be a deterrent (or excuse).

Solution

The old long term non-cancellable contracts sold to a third party finance company (or loan sharks) are a thing of the past.  I haven’t seen one of those for many years.  The business model has totally changed and competition has increased by leaps and bounds. For many gyms now, membership can be as little as $10/month with a minimal or no sign up fee. In my town there are at least 4 gyms within a five mile radius with monthly fees of $10/month with a sign up fee of $39 or less. And there is often at least one running specials with no sign up fee.

More and more health insurance companies, including Medicare Supplement companies will cover your cost of membership. If the tight fisted insurance companies think getting you more fit is in their best interest, how can argue with the fact that it’s in your best interest!

The best reason to go: Strong people live longer!




SEND YOU QUESTIONS TO alphaedgefitness@gmail.com  If I don’t have an answer find someone who does.



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Tuesday, December 29, 2015

The Most Popular Articles of 2015, Throw Away your Scales, N.E.A.T. Effects on Fat Burning

December 27, 2015

THE MOST POPULAR ARTICLES OF 2015

I hope your had a wonderful holiday and are making plans for 2016.

The New Year is upon us and the fitness scammers and charlatans will be out in force to take advantage of the “New Years Resolutionist”.

It’s a good time to review some of the articles of 2015 on this subject and some of the most popular articles on subjects that are appropriate for making plans and setting goals for this time of year.

I’ll re-post some of these articles each day over the next week or so. You can also go to any of the articles of 2015 at the bottom of the right hand column of the website.

Thank you all for helping making 2015 a very good year for Alpha Edge Fitness. 2016 promises to be even better.


_____________________________________________________________________________

(Tied for second most popular article in 2015)


THROW AWAY YOUR SCALES

Why do you insist on stepping on your bathroom scales every morning? Scales lie!

 First of all, many are terribly inaccurate. They rely on metal springs which expand and contract with temperature and humidity. So every time the temperature changes you might just get a different reading.

Second, your body changes from day to day depending on:
·        Stomach contents-Some foods digest slower than others so the contents in your stomach can easily add a pound or two.
·        What you ate the night before-Large pasta dinner last night? Carbs are first stored in your cells as glycogen (fuel!) But glycogen also attracts about 3 x its own weight in water in the cell
·        How much salt you had in the last 48 hours
·        Changes in your stress levels
·        What you drank the night before or the morning before you weigh-One liter of water weighs 2.2 pounds
·        The time of day you step on the scale

These are just a few of the reasons. Physiologically, there are many more.

It’s estimated that more people get discouraged and stray from their plan because of their scales than any other single cause.

Scales Lie!

Let’s say you lose 3 pounds of fat but gain 5 pounds of muscle. What does the scale tell you?

I’m not telling you to not track your progress. Keeping track of your progress is vital. Just don’t rely on scales.

Government Body Mass Index (BMI) tables are no better. For one reason, the BMI tables require you to use scales. Weight is part of the formula. But the main reason is they are adjusted for “average” Americans. BMI is a ratio of weight to height-not fat. Nor does it distinguish between visceral fat (the fat around your organs that causes most health problems) and normal healthy fat.

A recent study by the International Journal of Obesity  found that men with a BMI of 25 (the cutoff for being overweight in men) had actual body fat ranging from 14 to 35!

According to government charts, the gentleman in the top picture ( Vin Diesel ) is overweight and the gentleman in the bottom picture (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is obese (BMI=37.4). Do you want to be the one to tell them?













Here’s another telling picture. Five pounds of fat next to five pounds of muscle.




 So how do you track your progress?

·        Another way to judge your progress, though impossible to track accurately, you already have; a mirror. But if you’ve ever watched some of the people walking around Walmart you know that mirrors must lie too. (It's called "Self-Image Bias")

·        Photographs- Take 3 pictures (front, side and back) back at least monthly and compare. Try to take each set under the same circumstances; lighting, time of day, distance, camera angle, etc. For some reason we have a more realistic view of ourselves in photographs than in a mirror.

·        A simple seamstress tape (about $1.19 at Wal-Mart)But, to be honest, it’s hard to get an accurate measurement on yourself.
        Build a simple excel spreadsheet or just a notebook and record your         measurements at least monthly. To be accurate ask someone else to take the      measurements. (spouse, workout partner, friend)
Record the following measurements: 
Neck                                                   chest                                                 
left upper arm                                     waist
Left forearm                                        left thigh                  
right upper arm                                   right thigh
right forearm                                       left calf
Right calf                                             Hips

These measurements won’t give you your body fat percentage but will help you track you progress.

Be sure to try to take the measurements at the same location each time.

·        If you don’t minding spending a little more you can purchase scales that will give you your weight, body fat percentage, lean mass percentage, and water weight by sending a small electrical current through you feet (Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis). They are battery operated and you can’t feel the current at all. Cost has come down lately ranging from $29 to $69. I can’t suggest any particular brands. The one I have is several years old. Many gyms have these on site.

·        More accurate than the scales is a system called EIM (Electrical Impedance Myography). It works similar to the electronic scales mentioned above by measuring electrical impedance at several locations on the body thus eliminating much of the error inherent with measuring impedance through the feet alone. Currently, the devices are more expensive than the scales. (Around $200)

·        To get a fairly accurate measurement of your body fat you can purchase an inexpensive set of calipers complete with instructions and charts at   http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/catalog/search-results.jsp#/store/?q=calipers&type=5&key=AllContent
Record your caliper measurements according to the instructions that come with your calipers. You’ll be taking measurements on several parts of your body. For more detailed instructions see http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/how-to-measure-your-body-fat.html
Don’t buy the most inexpensive (about $4). Spring for the $15-$30 choices. Accuracy is still dependent on you being able to measure at or close to the same point each time. But calipers are much more accurate than the tape. (The best option in my opinion)

·        A very accurate method to determine body fat percentage is immersion-they put you in a tank of water. (Hydrostatic weighing) I doubt the increase in accuracy would be worth the additional cost. Up to $75 for each visit

·        Dexa-scan. A type of x-ray and most accurate of all but with a cost of up to $150 per scan.

Accuracy is important. But for our purposes the change from week to week is much more important.





SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO alphaedgefitness@gmail.com  If I don’t have an answer I’ll find someone who does.  




____________________________________________________________________________________________

(Tied for Second Most Popular Article in 2015)



N.E.A.T. EFFECTS ON FAT BURNING


N.E.A.T. is an acronym for "Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis". That simply means the energy your body burns, not by exercise, but by your simple everyday movements....walking, standing up, eating, working in the yard, even figeting and talking.

N.E.A.T. is not all about your genetics or your metabolism. It's often simpler than that. 

Studies have shown that obese people "move" an average of 2.5 hours less per day than lean people! Which means obese people burn an average of 350 calories less per day than lean people.

Now you're probably thinking 350 calories per day is not a big deal. Let's do the math:
  • One pound of body weight ( fat and muscle) is 3500 calories
  • 3500 per pound divided by 350 equals one pound every 10 days
  • One pound every 10 days is 36 pounds per year!
Still think it's no big deal?

Exercise works better but if you're determined to keep using all those same old lame excuses,
Your Excuse is Invalid (article) at least move more in your daily activities. 
  1. Take the stairs instead of the elevator
  2. Stand more instead of sitting
  3. Stand up and walk around at least once an hour ( Your shoulders, back, hips and legs will thank you too)
  4. Rake the leaves
  5. Walk your dog more. He'll thank you too.
  6. Play with your kids or grand kids more
Notice that the things I mentioned not only help you with your weight problem but also improve your quality of life in general. There are dozens more. Use your imagination!



Send your questions or comments to alphaedgefitness@gmail.com


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Monday, December 28, 2015

Most Popular Fitness Articles of 2015, 7 Individuals Not to Rely on for Fitness Advice, 8 More Sources Not to Listen to for Fitness Advice

December 27, 2015

THE MOST POPULAR ARTICLES OF 2015

I hope your had a wonderful holiday and are making plans for 2016.

The New Year is upon us and the fitness scammers and charlatans will be out in force to take advantage of the “New Years Resolutionist”.

It’s a good time to review some of the articles of 2015 on this subject and some of the most popular articles on subjects that are appropriate for making plans and setting goals for this time of year.

I’ll re-post some of these articles each day over the next week or so. You can also go to any of the articles of 2015 at the bottom of the right hand column of the website.

Thank you all for helping making 2015 a very good year for Alpha Edge Fitness. 2016 promises to be even better.

_____________________________________________________________________


(Most popular article of 2015)


7 INDIVIDUALS NOT TO RELY ON FOR FITNESS ADVICE

Almost everyone in any given gym has their own way of doing things. Experienced gym goers have found things that work for them by trial and error. That doesn’t mean it will work for you


I started writing this post some time ago but it kept getting longer and longer and longer. When it comes to the media, the list of what and who you should not rely on seems to get longer every day.
So I had to decide how to divide the subject into more than one post. So here’s the first installment.


The largest health problems for American people, and people of most other developed nations, are obesity and chronic diseases associated with obesity. (Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer) And individuals suffering from these issues have become a marketing and/or scam artist’s dream. (Sometimes they are one and the same).

We are constantly bombarded with weight loss “breakthroughs”. Whether diet plans, meal plans, exercise “guru’s to the stars”, exercise equipment, or long lost “secret formulas” that guarantee you weight loss or muscle gain by drinking “Bohemian Koo-Koo Berry Juice”.

They “guarantee” you’ll lose 10 pounds the first week or 100 pounds in 3 months or whatever you want to hear. And we, as a population, are so desperate for quick and easy solution that we fall for it.  
Want to lose 50 pounds, “buy our revolutionary new machine that works in only 10 minutes a day” or “our revolutionary new diet pill” or “our complete meal plan in microwavable bowls, delivered right to your door”. 

So, who or what should you watch out for?



Professional bodybuilder’s workouts

You can learn a lot from magazines if you read the articles written by trainers and coaches. But don’t get caught up in all the workouts of the pros. Many of the pros have been at this for decades. Their workouts work for them. They probably won’t work for you. Their workouts and their nutrition plans are generally for a specific goal. Getting “show ready”, bulking up in the off season, targeting specific muscles that that are “lagging”.

They typically have coaches (plural), and nutrition experts. They may spend several hours a day in the gym. It’s their job!

And they don’t look like the pictures in the magazine. Oh, they are big. And many of them are strong. But every photo you see is professionally shot with special lighting, makeup, spray tan and stylists. They may take days to shoot. And they are usually shot when the lifter is “stage ready”.

Most competitors at that level have a genetic makeup only a handful of people in the world can match. And the odds are that you aren’t one of them.

The biggest guy in the gym

You’d naturally thing that the biggest, strongest guy would know what he’s talking about. But if he’s that good, he’s probably been at it for years if not decades. He knows exactly what works for him. He’s learned the hard way what works. He’s progressed way beyond where you most likely are. His goals are going to be very, very different from yours and his program is going to reflect that fact. And, if he is that big, chances are genetics are involved.


Any guy who wears a weight belt for every exercise

He’s a tool…..




Anyone with a pink dumbbell in their hand

She’s probably skinny but probably not in good physical condition. There is a huge difference between skinny and fit. If her arms are only slightly larger than her wrist and elbow, and her muscles are “flat” with little definition, she’s doing it wrong!

 Her lack of muscle and fat means she was probably born with the genes.(Ectomorph) She’s wasting her time and will waste yours. There is a condition known as “skinny-fat”. There will be many more discussions about this term but, in short, it means skinny on the outside but carrying visceral, unhealthy fat on the inside.

She’s pretending or she’s terribly misinformed about fitness and probably reads too many women’s health magazines and has “drunk the kool-aid."


“Newbies”

They’ve been in the gym less than 6 to 12 months. They may have tried dozens of different approaches in that short period; never sticking with one long enough to find out if it really works. But they love to espouse to anyone who’ll listen about their latest and greatest program. Though they’ve only been using it 2 weeks.



The person on the treadmill for 90 minutes every day

Steady state cardio makes you god at one thing…..stead state cardio. Let me begin by saying I have no objections to steady state cardio. “Cardio” refers to your cardiovascular system which begins (and ends) with the heart. Cardio is good for the heart and the rest of the cardiovascular system. Do cardio to your heart’s content (pun intended). Will it help you lose fat? As a rule, for the first 30 minutes of steady state cardio you will burn no fat.

Why doesn’t it work? The short answer: “Adaptive Response”. The body is one of the most efficient and adaptive “machines” in existence. It responds to mechanical stress extremely fast and finds the most efficient way to deal with it. In this case, steady state cardio, being fairly low on the physical stress scale, is not much of a challenge for the body. It simply adjusts quickly to steady and predictable.  Lower heart rate, very, very minor hormone adjustment (if any) and Boom! Your body says “I’ve got this”. So quickly, in fact, you may actually gain weight doing steady state.
Remember, too, your body fights very hard to not use fat stores-its fuel of last resort.


Anyone offering unsolicited advice

Unless they are a trainer or an employee. Or unless you are doing something dangerous to yourself or others and they are trying to save your hide, they’re likely a “Newbie”. They’ve been in the gym for a month and have been reading “Muscle and Strength” or “Flex” and want to show off their new found knowledge, such as it is.




 Who should you listen to? Your trainer, your coach, but mostly, your own body.
 “You are different, just like everybody else”. In the beginning, it’s a game of trial and error. Set specific goals and educate yourself on what works for your goals. Getting fit and staying fit should be a long term goal. It might not be easy, but it’s worth it.




SEND YOU QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS TO: alphaedgefitness@gmail.com or leave a comment below



_________________________________________________________________________________



(4th Most Popular article of 2015)



MORE SOURCES NOT TO LISTEN TO FOR FITNESS ADVICE





Packaged weight loss programs

You know their names. Some have been around for decades. Many of you may have used their products or systems. They promise you that you can lose 5 pounds or 10 pounds in the first week. That’s probably true. And if you need to lose 5 pounds for a special occasion they will probably work for you. What if you want to lose 25 pounds and keep it off?  Their system or their meals will probably work. What then? Can you eat out of those plastic microwavable bowls for the rest of your life?

These are big for profit companies with shareholders looking for profits. How many new customers do you think they can attract? Their continued profits depend on repeat business!.  You lose the weight, (or your family can’t stand that awful smell any longer), you come off the plan, you gain the weight back and you become that repeat customer. Statistics indicate the up to 97% of people fail on the plans in the long term. 

Ever wonder why even their paid spokes persons can’t keep the weight off?


Anything seen on the “Biggest Loser”

The “Biggest Loser” implies to viewers that exercise must be dangerous and agonizing to work. Otherwise there’s no point in trying. They have morbidly obese contestants running sand hills and slip-and –slides. But what’s a torn ACL or two as long as the ratings are good? Former contestants have said producers and editors conveniently leave out most of the medevac rescues, stress fractures and bone and joint trauma.

They teach people that scale weight is all that matters. If you gain five pounds of muscle and lose five pounds of fat what does the scale say? On the show, if the scale doesn’t go down all that work was a waste.

The show overemphasizes cardio making the contestants injury prone and metabolically weak. How much impact can a foot or knee or hip handle with 300 to 500 pounds coming down on it repeatedly?


Any fitness advice from Opra

If you have followed Opra Winfrey for very long on TV do you really want to follow her fitness advice?
Talk about a weight loss/gain yoyo!




Popular women’s or men’s fitness/health magazines

If you want to try the latest receipt for Christmas cookies or pecan pie or learn “74 ways to improve your sex life” go for it. But don’t expect to learn how to get fit.

You’ll find lots of headlines about “Walking your way to fitness in 10 minutes a day” or “Eat whatever you want and lose 20 pounds the first week”….. Immediately followed by a caramel cake recipe.  Come on people! They are in the business to sell magazines and they do so by telling you what you want to hear. Which do you think sells magazines “Losing weight is easy and painless” or “You’ve got to work at losing weight and getting fit”?

Frankly, a lot of my future posts will be about debunking the cover stories on these magazines. They make my job easy!

Any “fitness guru to the stars”.

Yep. Just like the ones Opra uses…..

Most people who actually train celebrities don’t talk about it or use it in their marketing. The one’s who do probably trained one time with some star’s doctor’s secretary’s brother.

Any TV ad trying to sell you equipment or weight loss programs

An overweight and obese, unfit population is the biggest health issue of our time. Our existing population and the one that follows (your kids and grandkids) may be the first generation in recorded history to have a shorter lifespan than the one before.

Do you think the scammers and con-artists somehow overlooked this fact?

Get 6-pack abs by wearing the equivalent of saran wrap? Or by “shocking” you muscles with a 1.5 volt battery? A recently discovered secret plant from the Amazon?


SCAM ARTIST 2.jpg

Food labels

Do you think the FDA has your back? Think again.

“Whole wheat” or “whole grain” bread can contain as much seventy percent refined flour. “Heart Healthy” cereals like Raisin Bran or Cheerios can contain as much sugar as Fruity Pebbles.  Fruit juice has as much sugar as a soft drink. “Free range “chicken can mean there is a small hole the chickens are free to go out onto a concrete pad.

Much of the problem lies in the fact that we, as consumers, look at the fancy packaging and end up eating more of what we believe to be healthy. We see “fat free” or “low carb” and think we can eat all we want. Or we think “I had a low fat meal for lunch so I can eat more of this ice cream after dinner”.

Bottom line; read the nutrition label. Not just the flashy packaging.

Lots more about this in future posts….



Dr. OZ

Dr. Oz has been accused by many other doctors (over 1000 of them, as a matter of fact.) of promoting numerous products whose benefits have no scientific evidence regarding those benefits. He defends himself by saying the show is, in fact, not a medical show. Here’s just one of the news stories: http://www.livescience.com/50621-dr-oz-should-resign-poll.html







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