DIET or DIE w/a T???

[queenbee]

Drinking Water During Workouts
The Advantage of Watered Down Exercising
-- By Zach Van Hart, Staff Writer


Welcome to Sweating 101. Question #1 – During one hour of vigorous exercise, how much does the average person sweat?
A. One tablespoon
B. One cup
C. One pint
D. One quart
Okay, pencils down. For all of those who answered D., congrats! To everyone else, better luck next time.

That’s right – one quart! As you can see, exercise saps a lot of water from our bodies. That’s why it’s very important to drink even more water while exercising. However, drinking water before and after exercise is just as important.

Start paying attention to your fluid intake 2-3 hours before you are going to exercise. Drink 2-3 cups of water during that time, and then drink another cup immediately before you start exercising.

Without this extra water, your muscles will become dehydrated. Muscle movement depends on how hydrated you are, so if they are dry, they will not work as well. As a result, your workout will not be as productive as you would like.

Once you start exercising, keep drinking water frequently. A good rule of thumb is to drink one cup every 15-20 minutes. Keep a water bottle with you. Take breaks to head to the water cooler. Do what it takes you keep yourself hydrated.

Even when you are done exercising, you need to keep replenishing your fluid levels. It’s recommended you drink another 2-3 cups within two hours after you have finished. Then drink water regularly afterwards.

The more you drink before, during, and after exercise, the more productive your workout will be. Do your body a favor and replenish that quart of fluids your body is losing while you work out. Your muscles will thank you later.

[queenbee]

What can I do to lose weight in my stomach? I’ve been doing lots of crunches but they don’t seem to help.


There is no way to target weight loss to a specific area of the body because your body decides where it wants to put on weight and where it wants to take it off. The midsection is a common "problem" area for many people.

The best way to lose fat is through cardiovascular exercise. It is important to do a variety of abdominal exercises (including crunches) to keep your core strong, but until that excess fat is gone, you will not see the muscle definition. So if you’re not doing cardio, crunches are not going to help get the six-pack you’ve been hoping for. Regular cardio exercise at a level that’s challenging for you is your best bet.

[queenbee]

What are the best foods for someone with high blood pressure?


Your sodium levels are most important, so when it comes to food choices, the less processing the better. Fresh foods contain much less sodium than boxed, canned or frozen.

Make sure you are getting at least 1000 mg calcium daily from low-fat dairy. And be sure to include at least 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables (little processing if possible) for the potassium benefits.

[queenbee]

When I eat, I’m still hungry. What can I do?


A lot of times, the main reason for a persistent appetite has to do with food quality rather than food quantity. Some examples of food choices that will leave you hungry:
• Eating junky carbs
• Not eating protein or enough protein
• Not eating complex carbs with a good dose of fiber
• Not eating enough fat

Concentrate on food quality and calorie distribution throughout the day. Try things like:
• Eat more calories during breakfast and lunch
• Have a good dose of protein with each meal
• Never eat carbs without protein
• Have some good fat at every meal
• Eat plenty of fiber
• Get some of that fiber from raw veggies (lots of chewing!)
• Drink plenty of water
• Have some protein and healthy fat, plus fiber with every meal, to provide satiety as well as slow the emptying time of the stomach.
• Try an apple and some nuts, or cheese and whole grain crackers.
• Start keeping a food diary of what you are eating. Note how much you eat and how you are feeling when you eat – is it true hunger, or is it related to boredom, depression, stress, anxiety, excitement, or fun? It may bring awareness to your eating habits.

[queenbee]

I have chronic fatigue syndrome, which makes exercise difficult. Any suggestions?


It's important for people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) to work in conjunction with their health care providers to start a healthy, reasonable exercise program. Physical activity should be gentle and should be increased slowly over time (in terms of frequency, intensity and duration). Some good examples include yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates, walking, stretching, light strength training, and water exercise. SparkPeople has articles on all of these forms of exercise in the Fitness Resource Center.

Let your doctor or physiotherapist be your guide when starting a fitness program. Here are some general suggestions:


Gradually work up to three workouts per week.

Pace yourself and listen to your body. Your tolerance to exercise will change often and day-to-day. Stop exercising before you feel exhausted.

Aerobic (cardio) exercise may or may not be for you. For some people with CFS, it worsens symptoms.

Exercise will be trial and error. Try to learn from your experiences. For example, if walking for 15 minutes worsens your symptoms, try walking for five minutes and see how that goes. It may be helpful to record your exercises and how you feel in a journal.

Remember to only start an exercise program after your doctor says it's okay. Hopefully he or she can also help monitor your symptoms and offer suggestions.

Written by Nicole Nichols, Certified Fitness Instructor

[queenbee]

How can I get rid of my cellulite? Will it go away when I lose weight?


Cellulite, the dimpled appearance on the surface of the skin that is often described as "cottage cheese" or an "orange peel", is most common among women, especially on the thighs and buttocks. However, both men (about 10% of cases) and women can have cellulite, which can occur anywhere on the body, including the abdomen, arms and calves. Having some body fat is necessary and healthy for normal body functioning. Cellulite is simply visible subcutaneous ("below the skin") fat cells that bulge the skin.

While many people with cellulite feel self-conscious about it, simply having cellulite does not mean a person is overweight. Thin people, fit individuals, and even those who are at a healthy weight (and healthy body fat percentage) can have cellulite, just as some unfit and overweight people may not. Most women (90% or more) will have cellulite to some degree because they store more fat than men and their skin and fat cell structure is slightly different. Whether or not you develop cellulite depends on factors like genetics, gender and hormonal levels.

Because cellulite is fat, losing weight (if you are overweight) may help diminish the appearance of cellulite as the size of your fat cells decrease. There is no way to "spot train" any area of the body. Cardio exercise helps burn fat from all over the body and enhances fat loss. Strength training is important for both weight loss and overall health as well, but simply targeting the areas of your cellulite (hamstrings, buttocks, or abs for example) will not make it go away.

Many people can lose weight and notice an improved appearance in cellulite, but it's no guarantee. Because it's so closely linked to factors that you can't control (genetics, gender, hormones), losing weight may not completely get rid of cellulite.

Creams, treatments, massage techniques, and other cellulite therapies do NOT get rid of cellulite. While some products may help diminish the appearance of it through hydration or firming of the outer layers of the skin, these results are temporary won't result in weight loss.

For more information about gender differences in fat storage, read Coach Dean's article Does Gender Really Make a Difference?.

Additional resources about cellulite include:

Cellulite: Everything You Want to Know and More by Len Kravitz, Ph.D.
Cellulite from Wikipedia.org

Written by Nicole Nichols, B.S. & Certified Fitness Instructor

[queenbee]

Does sex count as cardio? How many calories does it burn?


We get this question a lot. And we don't list sex in our cardio tracker for several reasons.

For reference, a cardio workout is anything that raises your heart rate for an extended period of time, usually 20-30 minutes. It works all of the major muscle groups, and you should find yourself sweating and breathing hard during the most intense part of the workout.

Cardio works large muscle groups repetitively (such as how running uses your large leg & arm muscles and swimming uses your whole body). Sex does not typically use major muscle groups (or at least in a full range of motion the way that these examples do).

Cardio must reach a specific level of intensity, meaning that you must elevate your heart rate to an aerobic level and sustain it there—about 60-85% of your max heart rate, or on a Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale (where you estimate how hard you are working on a scale of 1-10, about a 6-8.5). Although you may be breathing heavily during sex, this isn’t necessarily because your heart rate is up. It has more to do with hormones and what’s going on with your nervous system. (Think of how your may breathe harder or feel your heart rate increase if you’re scared—that doesn’t mean you’re getting a cardio workout.)

How many calories you're burning during sex really depends on too many factors. It's like asking "does walking burn a lot of calories?" It depends on your speed, distance, duration, intensity, etc.

Now, if you really feel that your sexual activity meets all of these requirements—although I'd recommend taking your heart rate several times during it to make sure—then you could probably count it as cardio. But according to most calorie counters, the calorie burn is pretty minimal—less than walking and not much more than just sitting. Plus, how accurate is that?

It’s important to distinguish that not all activities are a workout. Sure, being "active" burns more calories than not being active. But just because you’re burning a few additional calories does not mean you are exercising or that you’re receiving the same benefits of a true workout.

[queenbee]

OK even if you don't join SPARK you have to go there for the information IT IS JUST TO GOOD.

Here is the page link for some of the Q & A I just posted.
www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts_questions.asp

Well why are you just sitting there, get to reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nataliewood]

Bee's right. I love this site. Hey Bee, we didn't order dessert today. Aren't you proud of us!

[braindead]

I came home and ate a bunch of Lindt chocolate!!! LOL!

[bb]

Brainy, you can afford a few extra calories now and then! You are looking good, girl!

[queenbee]

I love the Lindt white chocolate.

YA'LL DID GOOD NAT

see i make a good conscience

[braindead]

Thanks BB! I guess there is a good point to healthy eating! I do miss all that good stuff though!! I would have loved to have eaten a hamburger today!!! Gluten free bread is no good though. It is really really dry!

Bee, I happen to have some of that Lindt white chocolate at the moment. My girls love it!

[queenbee]

Isn't the white chocolate sinfully delicious???

[summerose]

Yep, any kind of chocolate is good!