3 Free Weeks with NutriSystem

NutriSystem has been successfully helping people get thin and healthy for the past 35 years.  Start your weight loss today with NutriSystem and get 3 free weeks of food.

Champion Athletic Wear 50% Off

Champion has launched its first-ever direct-shopping website, ChampionCatalog.com, offering the widest selection of Champion Men’s & Women’s athletic wear anywhere.  You’ll find everything there from best-selling sports bras to comfortable T-shirts to high tech performance gear; Champion products offer high quality and great prices.

Check out the “Sale and Outlet” section of their site to find products that are at minimum 50% off, such as the popular All Men’s Double Dry Gear.

Up to 50% Off at Vitamin World

Vitamin World is having a 20 to 50% off site wide sale.  They have over 100,000 products to choose from so finding a product to fit your fitness needs should be easy.  Plus their products are very reasonably priced.

Resistance Bands vs. Weights

From the standpoint of basic exercise physics, weights and resistance bands have a lot in common. Both provide something for the muscle to work against beyond gravity. But their specific differences allow them to serve different goals.

Weights
A weight, whether in the form of a free weight or a stack on a machine gives you the opportunity to exert a varying degree of force. This makes it possible to adjust your workout intensity to fit a specific fitness goal or current fitness level.

Free weights are items like dumbbells or barbells. It is possible to get a better workout with free weights than a machine because of the lack of restricted movement. Lack of restricted movement is also what makes you more prone to injury, so be sure to use proper form.

Weight training improves strength over time. As you build strength you are improving coordination, creating a stable body environment for joints and making the heart work, which improves overall health.

Resistance Bands
Resistance bands offer similar benefits, along with some that are specific only to them. The workout they offer feels different than free weights even though many of the same free weight exercises can be done with resistance bands.

Resistance of the bands is constant, rather than the gravity dependent resistance of free weights. This can be an asset because with resistance bands you can also create resistance from directions that you can’t from free weights. The direction that the resistance comes from is reliant on how you use the band.

Beyond the valuable workout benefits there are convenience benefits to exercise bands, too. They are lightweight, ultra flexible, and easier to handle than small dumbbells. They are also fairly inexpensive which is nice for the budget-conscious exerciser.

Plus, Resistance bands are more portable than free weights. This allows you to get a good workout if you travel regularly without depending on the hotel gym. Also, if space in your home is a concern, they are ultra-easy to store, and can fit into a drawer or on a closet shelf with no problem.

Both resistance bands and free weights are effective in increasing lean body mass. Although if you’re looking to body build, it is suggested you combine free weights and resistance bands, with more of an emphasis on free weights.

No matter what equipment you choose, strength training combined with regular cardio is an easy and inexpensive way to stay in shape.

Nutritional Supplements: Are they Necessary?

A supplement, by definition, is something that accompanies something essential. But, in some cases, nutritional supplements can themselves be an essential part of a healthy nutrition regimen.

Whether because of a busy life style, or an individual genetic or physiological condition, there are those who benefit from nutritional supplements. Everyone requires a certain amount of vital biochemicals, with the proportion varying within a narrow range for almost everyone.

But diet doesn’t always supply those amounts, even when a sincere effort is made to eat properly. Some individuals have rigorous exercise routines, while others are forced to a more sedentary lifestyle because of work and family life. Most importantly, every individual is unique and therefore requires a particular amount of nutrient that differs slightly from others.

B-complex vitamins, for example, are essential for everyone. But the proper amount will vary depending on weight and unique physiology. For some people, an all-purpose daily vitamin pill is enough to supply any needed amount that doesn’t come from a balanced diet. The body has a well-tuned ability, in most cases, to absorb what’s needed and slough off the rest.

For others, added amounts or specialized types of supplements are a requirement for good health. Vitamin C is eliminated in the urine when consumed in excess amounts. But what is excess one day may not be enough the next, requiring tomorrow’s deficit to be made up through diet or supplements.

Taking Vitamin C once helped eliminate the dangers of scurvy and rickets. That’s rarely a problem in developed countries today, but there is strong evidence that it helps boost the immune system, leading to fewer colds and infections. Past claims overstated the facts, but Vitamin C remains a needed element.

Many people as they get older consume much less calcium. To an extent, that’s normal and healthy. Young adults don’t require anywhere near the amounts that they did when they were infants or young children.

But the curve picks up again later in life, as bones become less able to manufacture the appropriate amount. For many who are lactose intolerant, or simply don’t care for the taste of cow’s or goat’s milk, getting calcium in the form of a supplement is a great way to get that essential mineral.

Omega-3 are essential fatty acids that help reduce inflammation and prevent heart disease, to name only two benefits. But one of the main dietary sources – fish – isn’t to everyone’s taste. It’s also unfortunately the case that sometimes the local fish supply is temporarily unsafe. In those circumstances a nutritional supplement is an excellent alternative.

There are dozens of supplements that can help balance out hormonal deficiencies that many women and some men suffer from. Soy is one that can smooth out imbalances and help reduce PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome) or menopause symptoms. Others are helpful for thyroid imbalances.

Cortisol is another example. Naturally produced by most people in the proper amount, some people have a deficiency due to a gland weakened by disease, age or genetic condition. Those low in cortisol can suffer from fatigue, aching joints and other symptoms. Taken in the proper amounts, it can make a huge positive lifestyle difference.

Each person should undergo rigorous testing before taking anything more than an all-purpose daily vitamin or one of the more common supplements. Ginko, for example, can lead to excessive bleeding in some. You need to know which are safe for you. But once you have the results, taking nutritional supplements can make the difference between mediocre and optimal health.

Weight Loss – Myths and Reality

Few commercialized areas of science are as filled with myths as is the science of weight loss. Everyone wants a simple, safe, no-willpower solution to losing weight. Someday, we may actually get one. For now there are no magic cures. But there are quite a few myths that need to be exploded.  Here are a few.

Myth: Eating after 8 p.m. causes weight gain.
Reality: It doesn’t matter what time of day you eat, it’s how much you eat during the entire day and how much exercise you get that make you gain or lose weight. No matter when you eat your meals, your body will store extra calories as fat. If you want to have a snack before bedtime, make sure that you first think about how many calories you have already eaten that day.

Myth: Eating ice cream actually causes weight loss.

Reality: The so-called theory is that since ice cream is cold, and it takes energy (measured in calories) to warm it up, your body is consuming energy while eating it.

Your body does certainly require energy to warm up ice cream, and even to digest it. Any action the body takes requires energy, that’s basic physics applied to physiology. But the devil is in the details. Eating ice cream, usually high in fat and sugar, takes in far more calories than are used to warm and digest it. Sorry, you still need to go easy on the dessert.

Myth: Adding a pound of muscle makes the body burn an extra 50 calories.

Reality: A pound of new muscle will burn at most a dozen calories per hour. Just sitting consumes about 70 calories per hour.

Still, adding muscle is a good idea, since to do so requires high effort – either through running, weight training or other vigorous exercise. Mild exercise, such as riding an exercise bike, is good but tones more than builds muscle. The average man will burn about 350 calories in an hour long workout.

Vigorous exercise also raises the metabolic rate for a day, burning about 250 calories more than if one hadn’t exercised. A brisk walk outside or on a treadmill will do so also, but at a much lower level. It’s still a good idea to workout every other day and walk on the non-workout days. It keeps the muscles toned, stretched and helps prevent the lactic acid buildup that causes sore muscles.

Myth: High-protein/low-carbohydrate diets are a healthy way to lose weight.
Reality: A high-protein/low-carbohydrate diet provides most of your calories each day from protein foods (like meat, eggs, and cheese) and few calories from carbohydrate foods (like breads, pasta, potatoes, fruits, and vegetables). People often get bored with these diets because they crave the plant-based foods they are not allowed to have or can have only in very small amounts. These diets often lack key nutrients found in carbohydrate foods.

Many of these diets allow a lot of food high in fat, like bacon and cheese. High-fat diets can raise blood cholesterol levels, which increases a person’s risk for heart disease and certain cancers.

High-protein/low-carbohydrate diets may cause rapid weight loss–but most of it is water weight and lean muscle mass–not fat. You lose water because your kidneys try to get rid of the excess waste products of protein and fat, called ketones that your body makes.

This is not a healthy way to lose weight. It overworks your kidneys and can cause dehydration and headaches. It can also make you feel nauseous, tired, weak and dizzy. A buildup of ketones in your blood (called ketosis) can cause your body to produce high levels of uric acid, which is a risk factor for gout (a painful swelling of the joints) and kidney stones. Ketosis can be very risky for pregnant women and people with diabetes.

By following a reduced-calorie diet that is well-balanced between carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, you will still lose weight, and you will be more likely to keep the weight off.

The reality is if you take in more calories than your body uses, the remaining energy is stored generally in the form of chemical bonds in fatty tissues. When the body requires more energy that you’ve supplied, it will turn to those fat stores in order to get some needed energy. That leads to lower fat in the body and weight loss. That reality is best achieved by the old-fashioned combination of proper diet and adequate regular exercise.

A Fitness Overview

What Is Fitness?
Fitness is good health or physical condition, especially as the result of exercise and proper nutrition.  It also means having the energy and power to live well and feel as good as possible.  Taking steps to get more fit, even if little steps, can improve your level of fitness considerably.

Benefits of Fitness
Increasing ones fitness through physical activity is good for your heart, lungs, bones, and joints.  It lowers your risk for heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some cancers.  It can also help you sleep better, handle stress better, and keep your mind sharp.

When you stay fit, you burn more calories, even when you are at rest.  Plus, being fit gives you the energy to be more physically active and exercise harder and more efficiently.  It can also help maintain a proper weight.

The more obvious benefits, and in many cases the driving force behind one’s efforts to obtain a higher level of fitness are: increased muscle mass, toned legs, buttocks, arms, stomach and healthier looking skin. Along the way, the individual receives the added value of greater strength, improved balance, higher endurance and (often) a better frame of mind.

Types of Physical Activities
Different types of activities will emphasize one area more than another. Aerobic activities help the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, weight lifting focuses on building muscle tone and mass, yoga and Pilates helps balance, flexibility and muscular control. But each of these, and several more, help more than just the intended focus group. The body is an integrated system and improving one area almost always has beneficial consequences for others.

All those benefits, at least to a moderate degree, can be had for minimal daily effort. Moderate intensity activity for 30 minutes per day, at least five days per week, will go a long way toward optimizing fitness.

A brisk walk, taking the stairs up one or two flights, a short daily jog, jumping rope and many other simple activities can be carried out with no special equipment or training.

More intense activity, done properly, can raise that level even further. A vigorous tennis game, a few laps in the swimming pool, an hour on the treadmill or exercise bike, or any of a dozen others, can raise your fitness to a peak with only a moderate investment of time and money.

For the truly committed there are, of course, a thousand and one classes at the gym, and every conceivable kind of home fitness equipment to fit a variety of budgets. A daily routine consisting of using free weights, followed by a good jog around the park will keep all systems functioning well.

So find an activity that you enjoy, stay with it and begin living well.