Month: December 2015

Categories
Sweat

The Top 10: Weight Loss Advice That Really Works

There are thousands of pieces of really bad weight loss advice out there. Crazy suggestions like “eat only orange foods,” or “breathe differently to lose weight,” do nothing to help you. After 17 years of maintaining a 150-pound weight loss, I’ve got 10 pieces of weight loss advice that really work, won’t drive you crazy, and can be used no matter who you are or how much weight you have to lose.

#10: Remember Quality of Calories Count

Don’t lose weight eating Cheetos and drinking soda. The quality of calories counts in weight loss. Not only is good food better for your health, but losing weight by eating healthy food gives you time to develop habits you can take with you into weight maintenance.

#9: Don’t Drink Your Calories

Calories in drinks are pointless. Why would you drink a 140 calorie Starbucks skinny caramel macchiato when you could have zero calorie water, an apple, and a piece of cheese for the same number of calories. Commit to eliminating or severely limiting your drink calories. If you must have the Starbucks drink, set aside one day a week for the treat.

#8: Balance Your Nutrient Intake Appropriately

Have a balance of carbs, fats, and protein each day. It is relatively easy to eliminate an entire food group for a short time and a whole lot more difficult to do so for a lifetime. Eating a realistic balance of nutrients will allow you to lose weight and more easily maintain your weight.

#7: Be a Joiner

Join a weight loss group, be active on a weight loss Facebook page, or get together regularly with friends who share your weight loss goals. Joining together with other people who want to lose weight is a great way to stay motivated, accountable, and successful.

#6: Look At the Whole of Your Life

Don’t look at weight loss in a vacuum. Learn to incorporate your new eating and exercise habits into your daily life. Some people get so focused on the weight loss process they forget to keep up with relationships. Your weight loss needs to fit in with your life, not become your whole life.

# 5: Adjust Your Calorie Intake Regularly.

As you lose weight, your body needs fewer calories to sustain itself. Regularly adjust your calorie intake downward by a few calories to account for that change. The exception to this is if you started out your diet by eating at the minimum recommended calorie allotment. Then, just keep doing what you are doing until you reach your goal weight.

#4: Don’t Eat Your Exercise Calories

If you burn 250 calories walking in the morning, don’t eat back those calories. For example, if you are eating 1,400 calories a day and burn 250 calories, don’t eat 1,650 calories that day. Stick to your 1,400 calories to lose weight more quickly.

#3: Address Emotional Eating Issues

Make sure you address the emotions that cause you to overeat. You may eat from stress, happiness, anger, sadness, boredom, or another emotion altogether. Talk to a trusted friend, share your feelings with your weight loss group, or get in touch with a counselor. Ignoring emotions just pushes the issue aside and it will resurface at some point and may cause you to gain back the weight you lost.

#2: Have a Restart Plan

It’s rare to find someone who lost all his or her weight the first time around. Make sure you have a restart plan for the inevitable slip-up or outright failure. A quick restart plan is to:

1) Assess What Went Wrong

2) Get Rid of Unhealthy Foods in the House

3) Write Down Your New Plan

4) Start Back Immediately

#1: Start With a Sustainable Plan

My best weight loss tip is to start with a sustainable plan in the first place. When I lost weight my philosophy was simple:

Lose weight in a way that doesn’t look any different than my weight maintenance will.

In other words, if you can’t sustain your weight loss diet for a lifetime, find another way to lose weight. Look for plans that encourage real food, a reasonable balance of nutrients, and realistic exercise amounts.

Categories
Nosh

Cliffnotes for GMOs: What You Need to Know in 800 Words or Less

If you’re ever in the mood for a migraine, start researching GMOs.

Seriously, I feel like I’m eight years old, playing an exhausting round of he-said-she-said. But I’m going to do my best to sort it all out for you in 800 words or less, because you deserve to not be so darn confused about the food you’re eating.

Are you ready? Deep breath. We can do this.

First of all, GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. Sometimes you’ll hear the process referred to as Genetic Engineering (GE) or biotechnology. Scientists find some gene from one thing and stick it into the DNA of something else. If those “things” belong to the same family, it’s called cisgenic. If those “things” belong to different families, it’s called transgenic. So if, in theory, a scientist were to put a gene from a Granny Smith apple into the DNA code for Golden Delicious apples, that’s cisgenic, because they’re both apples; but it’s transgenic if they were to put a gene from a spider into the DNA code for a tomato, because spiders and tomatoes are not the same. Obviously, transgenic biotechnology is a touch more controversial. Cisgenic is basically what farmers have been doing forever, but they called it “cross-breeding” and it took a long time and less expensive equipment.

Keep breathing. We’ll get to the science and the name-calling gossip in just a second. Before that, one more very important point: the debate on GMOs is not just about your health. This debate is political and economic. It’s about our food and yet, in the end, it really has very little to do with the food at all. That’s why it’s so complicated. We aren’t just asking if GMOs are safe to consume; we’re also asking if they’re sustainable and ethical to produce. And that’s where the sparks really fly.

(SOME OF) THE PROS

– There is an overwhelming amount of evidence showing that genetically modified feed does not have an appreciable impact on animal health and productivity. In fact, a large number of international health organizations have made public statements regarding biotechnology’s safety.

– Genetically engineered crops are designed to reduce the need for toxic insecticides which do pose serious health risks, particularly for those working in the fields.

– European countries developed GMO bans not for health and safety reasons, but for political ones regarding self-sufficiency and protectionism. (See? Politics.)

– One initial study did not find an association between Bt corn (a GMO) and honeybee health, though the scientists emphasized that more research is needed in this area. Hold that thought.

– Crops genetically engineered for insecticide resistance promote more species diversity in the surrounding fields compared to conventional crops. Also, hold onto to that one.

(SOME OF) THE CONS

– Other studies have shown concerning associations between glyphosate, the herbicide used on “Round-Up Ready” (GMO) crops, and bee colony health. Anecdotal reports from beekeepers and farmers, though not the hallmark of flawless science, also appear a bit bleak. Oh, and Bt corn (a GMO) might also mean bad news for the butterflies.

– Despite claims that GMOs are intended to reduce the need for chemicals sprayed in fields, they actually result in higher herbicide use, which can lead to herbicide tolerance and “superweed” development. Exposure to these chemicals has been associated with cancer, Parkinson’s, hypothyroidism, and immune suppression.

– Health aside, biotechnology allows a company to put a patent on life. The companies then own those crops (and, now, animals) they engineer. That’s a scary thing.

– The Environmental Working Group published a report debunking the oft-made claim that we need GMOs to feed the world’s growing population. In short, traditionally bred crops far outperform the GE crops across the board.

THE BOTTOM LINE: FIT OR FLOP?

Here’s what my research taught me: GMOs are both helpful and harmful to crop diversity, bee colony health, monarch health, reduction of chemicals sprayed on crops, and sustainability, depending on who you ask. Every single argument from one side of the fence directly contradicts an argument made from the other side.

It makes me think that we don’t really know what effect these crops are having or will have on our planet. It also makes me wonder what phenomenal feats we could accomplish if we funneled all of that biotech money into some of the more traditional methods discussed in the EWG’s report.

If you ask me to evaluate the current evidence on safety, I have to give GMOs the thumbs up, but safety is only part of the story. There are also the farmers bullied by the likes of Monsanto, an agricultural system obfuscated by politics, and yet-to-be seen latent and long-term consequences of a science younger than I am. And to that, I say: FLOP.

Categories
Lifestyle

The Key to Creative Composting This Fall

Before you start bagging up all the excess dry leaves blanketing your front and backyard, why not consider turning them into rich compost? And it’s easier than you think. In fact, the leaves of one shade tree are worth their weight in compost gold. And in some cases, your fallen leaves can produce more nutrients for your soil than a bag of manure. What’s more, homemade compost supplemented with fallen leaves is free. This coupled with lawn and kitchen scraps, nutrient dense and widely available pumpkins, gourds, and winter squashes make for a healthy variety of garden gold just in time for spring planting. Here’s how to get started.

Create A Healthy Mix

Composting is based on a simple mix of a 4 to 1 ratio of carbon or “browns” and nitrogen or “greens”. Carbon-rich items or “browns” include fallen leaves, straw, peat moss, and saw dust. Nitrogen-rich items, on the other hand, or “greens” include kitchen scraps and lawn scraps.

Composting 101

Composting is actually quite simple and in the fall, fallen leaves make for easy composting. Start with 8 inches of leaves (your “browns”) and top with 2 inches of lawn or kitchen scraps (“greens”) to serve as a form of nitrogen. While most kitchen scraps like tea bags, fruits, vegetables, coffee grounds, old spices, popcorn, seaweed, hay, and even pet hair can be composted, meat, fish, dairy, and oil scraps should not be added to your composting bin because they go rancid, don’t break down and can contaminate your compost pile.

You also need to add some native soil in between the layers. This adds in beneficial bacteria which can help rapidly break down the compost. Composting is an aerobic process that requires oxygen from either turning a more sophisticated composting tumbler or using a pitchfork to aerate your compost pile.

Additionally, in order for your compost to break down properly it must heat up to somewhere between 90 and 140 degrees F. If it doesn’t, it becomes a smelly mess and could become contaminated. But not to worry, compost heats up naturally if you have the correct 4 to 1 ratio of carbon to nitrogen, it’s properly aerated and you have enough beneficial bacteria from the added soil.

Choosing a Compost Bin

I prefer a compost tumbler stored near my kitchen back door because it’s convenient to move my daily kitchen scraps from the kitchen to the bin. It also has a neat appearance, and it’s easy to aerate. But the simplest way to compost is to create a loose compost pile in your backyard in a corner away from your house (if you have critters you may want to protect with chicken wire). Start by spreading straw over about 3 square feet of ground to help aerate your pile. Then alternate greens to browns with a layer of soil in between. You’ll want to turn your pile about every three weeks to allow aerate with oxygen to help facilitate the process. Cover with plastic sheeting if necessary to keep your pile from becoming too moist.

Pumpkins, Gourds and Winter Squashes Are Perfect For Composting Too

If you have a plethora of pumpkins left over from Halloween, gourds and winter squashes don’t throw them away. They are a perfect addition to your compost pile. First remove any artificial additions like candles, ribbons, or other remnants that may contaminate your compost bin. If you’ve painted your pumpkin, it’s best not to add it to the compost bin at all because paint can contain chemicals which can contaminate your soil. You’ll also want to remove any seeds from pumpkins and winter squashes, because although they are natural, they may germinate in the compost bin. Cut the pumpkin into small pieces and add directly to the compost bin. If you don’t have a compost bin, dig a hole in a garden bed, add the pumpkin, and top with soil. Let Mother Nature do the rest of the work.

How To Know When Fall Compost Is Ready

When it comes to composting, patience is the name of the game. Compost can take anywhere from a few months to a full year to completely decompose and greatly depends on the weather. Warmer weather will facilitate quicker decomposition where cooler weather will slow the process down. You can tell when it’s ready because it looks and smells like a rich dark soil. The end product also shrinks down quite a bit in volume and becomes super crumbly.

Roots, sticks, and other intact fruits and vegetables can be pulled from the compost pile when it’s otherwise completely broken down to speed the process along. This makes the end product more uniform.

Even though the weather is a bit crisp and even cold depending on where you live, starting a compost pile in the fall can be ideal. Not only is there tons of “brown” matter just waiting to be composted, with any luck your pile will be ready for the spring planting season.

Categories
Wellbeing

Mom Helps Son And Other Adults With Special Needs Find Jobs In Puppy Treat Bakery

While many companies are simply cashing in on the all-natural trend, others, such as arcBARKS Dog Treat Company in Greensboro, South Carolina, are the real deal. The company’s dog treats include only peanut butter, oats, oil, flour, and one special ingredient: love. 

Pat Clapp started arcBARKS in partnership with the Arc of Greensboro, an organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to help her son David. arcBARKS employs adults with developmental disabilities from the community and distributes its treats to more than 100 locations throughout the state. 

“When customers buy arcBARKS treats, every box that you buy, no CEO is getting rich and no shareholders are benefitting,” Pat told local news station WFMY. “That’s the amazing thing about us.”

David has Down syndrome, and Pat realized as he got older that his options in Greensboro were becoming limited. arcBARKS has been a boon to the 18 treat chefs, who have a sense of purpose (and a sense of humor) crafting the locally sourced dog biscuits. The experience also gives employees the skills necessary to go beyond arcBARKS.

“These treats aren’t made on an assembly line somewhere, they’re not made by a machine,” Pat said. “The people that are making these are putting a little bit of themselves into it.”

Dogs seem to be quite fond of the treats, too.

“I’m not sure what it is…maybe’s it the no preservatives, maybe it’s that love I was talking about,” Pat said. “But these pickiest of picky dogs are eating our treats, and it’s the only treats they eat.”

Pat is thrilled with the happiness and confidence arcBARKS has brought to her son and his fellow workers. They’ve inspired her too. 

“A lot of times you’re missing out if you don’t have someone in your life who has special needs,” she said. “They’re incredible, incredible people, and I learn from them every day.”

To learn more about the company or to order some dog treats visit this website.

Categories
Lifestyle

What Knot To Do To Keep Your Hair

If you’re one of those guys who follows celebrity fashion trends and hairstyles (and even if you’re not), you’ve noticed that a growing number of men are tying their hair up into a single knot on the top or back of their head. If you’ve been tempted to do the same to your hair, you may want to reconsider. A number of dermatologists and other experts believe that these man buns (sometimes called bro buns, hipster buns, or Samurai top knots) may result in permanent hair loss.
Here’s how it works. Pulling the hair back tightly and keeping it there for long periods of time puts an unnatural amount of pressure on the hair follicles and roots. If you’re lucky, your hair will simply break, but it’ll grow back. If you’re not, you can develop a condition called traction alopecia, which is a name for “pulling your hair out and leaving bald patches that won’t ever fill back in.”
Most men who wear man buns have relatively long locks. But there are plenty of guys with shorter hair—maybe an inch or two long—who wrestle their hair into painful looking buns that end up roughly the size of a blueberry.
Interestingly, traction alopecia isn’t confined to hipsters. It’s actually relatively common among Sikh men whose tightly wound turbans can pull on the hair. It also affects women (and men) who wear their hair in corn rows or tight braids, and female dancers, among whom the condition is called “ballerina baldness.”
If losing your hair isn’t reason enough to dump the man bun, you may want to consider whether it’s having the desired effect. Grooming retailer West Coast Shaving recently did a survey of men’s grooming trends such as beards, stubble, use of premium products such as face cream, straight-razor shaving, and man buns. They found that women like every single one of them—except man buns.
Sixty-two percent of the women surveyed said they either don’t like (35.5 percent) or hate (27.4 percent) man buns. And asked whether they think a current or past significant other would look attractive when sporting a man bun, 74.2 percent said “no.” Worse yet, the top five adjectives that come to women’s mind when seeing a guy with a man bun are, in order, feminine, trendy, weird, sexy, and hot. In case you missed it, “feminine” was No. one. Not the image most fashion-conscious guys are trying to present.
On the other hand, women see beards (again, in order), as manly, sexy, rugged, hairy, and scratchy.
It’s pretty easy to reduce the risk that your hairstyle will lead to baldness.
First, give up the man bun. Please. Second, if you absolutely refuse to take good advice, at least make sure your hair is long—that blueberry bun is especially dangerous. Third, simply (and literally) loosen up—don’t make those rows, braids, knots, or even ponytails so tight.
Finally, don’t use rubber bands—they stick to your hair, get it all tangled, and tear it out. Instead, go for scrunchies, which are snag-free. They come in manly black and brown or, if looking feminine is your goal, in pinks and other colors as well as with attached bows and flowers.

Categories
Sweat

Fat Burners: Do They Burn Fat Or Just A Hole In Your Pocket?

When it comes to weight loss, everyone is looking for a short cut. It’s human nature to want to find the easiest and fastest way to your destination, especially when it comes to getting rid of body fat.
Our impatience and laziness make us a great target for supplement companies selling products claiming to help you get faster results with less work. Duh! Who doesn’t want that? That is why fat burners have exploded on the market. Even the name in and of itself is attractive.
I would love to set some of my own fat on fire right now and melt away my excess blubber, but I don’t think that is exactly how fat burners work.

How Fat Burners Work

Before I explain what a fat burner is, I should tell you what it is not. Fat burners are not diet pills. Most weight loss drugs are a prescription for people who have serious health risks and cannot control their weight with diet and exercise alone. There are some prescriptions that actually block fat from being absorbed and stored, but most old school diet pills contain a stimulant medication, like amphetamines, which are scheduled controlled substances by the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Today’s fat burners are typically classified as a thermogenic, which means to produce heat. While some thermogenics may have a mild appetite suppressant in them, they mostly increase body temperature through metabolic stimulation, enhance energy levels, and improve lipolysis (how you break down body fat for energy use).
If you attempt to read the ingredients on the label, don’t expect the information to be very clear. Some of the ingredients can exceed 20 characters in length if you can even read the ridiculously small fine print to begin with. Pronouncing the words can be just as difficult as actually making any sense of the label at all.
While there are some active ingredients you may recognize like caffeine anhydrous and green tea extract, the rest of the ingredients might as well be written in a different language. Common ingredients like hoodia gordonii, 7-ketodehydroepiandrosterone, garcinia cambogia (or hydrodroxycitric acid) and cissus quadrangularis require a translator and a scientist to fully explain.
Basically, the idea behind a fat burner is not necessarily to burn fat by itself, but to support fat loss in various ways.
Ingredients like caffeine and green tea help boost energy levels and mental alertness so you are more apt to stay moving and actually get your butt to the gym. Yohimbi, also known for possibly helping sexual dysfunction, increases blood flow. This increased blood flow supports fat loss by making the oxidation of fatty acids a little easier and may also help oxygen and nutrients get to working muscles.
Hoodia gordonii and garcinia cambogia support fat loss by suppressing the appetite. None of these ingredients alone really claim to give miraculous results, but what seems to make one fat burner better than the next is how they combine the ingredients for maximal results.

Pros and Cons

Sadly, since most of the ingredients in fat burners escape the level of scrutiny the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) puts on prescription drugs and over the counter medications, there is not as much research and solid evidence to really go on. In addition, it makes exploring new products a little risky.
Even though the FDA requires supplement companies register their facilities with the FDA, they are not required to get FDA approval before producing and selling supplements. This means you could be using a product that may eventually get pulled off shelves if they receive enough serious adverse event reports associated with that product (which they are required to report to the FDA).
I don’t know about you, but that is pretty scary if you think about it. Basically, consumers are the lab rats for supplement companies—and only time will tell if a product is harmful or not.
Another risk is the long list of possible side effects, even if a product is not supposed to be harmful. Fat burners can be dangerous for people with preexisting health issues like high blood pressure, heart palpitations, anxiety, insomnia and mental disorders.
Even healthy people may not be able to handle the side effects common with fat burners like the uncomfortable jitters and edginess that goes with taking stimulants. Then, there is always the chance of experiencing less dangerous side effects like stomach problems, headaches, hot flashes, irritability, irregularity and even addiction.
The only real pro, in my opinion, is the boost in energy it can give you. Dieting can leave you feeling lethargic and fatigued, with little energy left for exercise. If energy is your main issue, fat burners can give you the edge you need to not only get to the gym but to get through your workout on those difficult low-calorie days.

Fit or Flop?

Although fat burners can be a good fit for healthy individuals who use fat burners responsibly to enhance their exercise and diet program, I would say fat burners are a flop for the majority of consumers who are looking for a short cut.
Unfortunately, most people are not buying fat burners to work harder and be more disciplined. Most people are buying them as an alternative to exercise and diet because they lack discipline.
Like most marketing campaigns, supplement companies often oversell their product and give you false hope or great expectations. These claims can set you up for failure if you don’t have a good understanding of what a fat burner really does.
If you are willing to put the time in the gym and stick to a diet, you will likely find that a fat burner can help you reach your goals with a little more ease and speed. I actually use fat burners simultaneously with diet and exercise when I’m preparing for a competition or photo shoot to get maximal results.
On the contrary, if you expect the weight to fall off without making any changes on your end, you might as well take the money you plan on spending on fat burners, put it in a barrel and set it on fire. At least, that way, you are just wasting your money without having to take all the risks.
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Categories
Sweat

A Race Through History

Many runners often joke that they plan their family vacations around particular races. I can’t say that I blame them, destination racing can be a great way to see a new city, as well as check another race or location off of your running list. But did you know that racing can also provide valuable history lessons?

It’s true!

While I wouldn’t necessarily write a letter to your son or daughter’s history teacher trying to excuse their absence so you can run another race JUST yet…there ARE races out there that will allow you to step back in time and learn a little bit about the past.

Gettysburg Marathon 

During the summer of 1863 Civil War’s most historic battle fought between the North and the South took place on the fields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. More than a century later, runners can now take part in the Gettysburg Marathon, a race that takes runners through the hallowed grounds of the battlefield. What’s more, runners “choose a side”, the North or the South, to race for. At the end of the race, points are tallied based upon runners finishing times, and the winning side earns a commemorative prize.

Alamo 13.1

In February of 1836, during Texas’ war for independence from Mexico, a group of 200 Texans defended the Alamo for 13 days, despite being vastly outnumbered by the Mexican forces. The defenders were eventually overpowered, but or Texans, the Battle of the Alamo became a symbol of heroism and their struggle for independence, which they won later that year. Now, runners can also “fight to the finish” at the Alamo 13.1 half marathon. The race starts and finishes at The Alamo, passing through historic San Antonio, Texas, along the way.

Escape from Alcatraz

Grab your swim goggles and bicycle: the ever popular Escape From Alcatraz is a triathlon. And it only makes sense, as Alcatraz Island and it’s now closed infamous military and federal prisons, are known for the numerous failed escapes through the freezing cold, shark infested water. In this triathlon, you can make your OWN escape from Alcatraz. The race starts with a 1.5-mile swim from Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay (though you get to start from a ferry, instead of the islands shoreline). The race continues with an 18-mile bike ride out the Great Highway, through the Golden Gate Park, and concludes with an 8 mile run through the Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Hatfield-McCoy Marathon 

The Hatfield & McCoy feud is considered to be one of the most famous family feuds in American history. The two families lived in the Tug River Valley that separates West Virginia and Kentucky. The feud covered everything from land ownership, livestock, love, and eventually even murder. At the Hatfield McCoy marathon, runners have a choice of races to participate in, depending on which family they are rooting for. A full marathon course, two separate half marathon courses, and the option of running BOTH half marathon courses allow runners which of the two states to start in (KY or WV) and which to “conquer”.

Old Sandwich Road Race

This half marathon, 10K , and 5K in Plymouth, Massachusetts, passes by historic sites that date back to the days of the early American pilgrims and settlers. The race follows the Old Sandwich Road, which was originally a trail used by the Wampanoag native American tribe, and later became the nation’s first true public road.

Athens Marathon

Why not run where the “marathon” began? Most runners already know the story, but let’s have a little historical refresher: In 490 BC the first battle for democracy was fought at the Greek village of Marathon. Though outnumbered by an invading Persian Army, the citizen-soldiers of Athens prevailed. Legend has it that, when the battle was won, the Athenian messenger Pheidippides ran twenty-four miles to Athens, carrying news of the victory. Once the message was delivered, the exhausted runner collapsed and died. The modern marathon commemorates this feat. Though fun fact: the marathon remained at a distance of 24 to 25 miles until the 1908 Olympic games held in London, when the extra mileage was added to supposedly accommodate Queen Alexandra and the British Royal family, for their viewing pleasure. 

Today, the 26.2 mile Athens Marathon follows what is believed to be the same course that Pheidippides ran. 

These are just a few of the countless races that cover historic grounds. Sure, theme parks and beautiful coast lines can be appealing, but think outside of the box: add a little historical education to your next race!