Fitness Deals—Part 1: Local Deals

Posted by JuryDuty - 08/27/08 at 01:08:12 pm

Gyminee members love a good deal. It’s easy to “go Pro” when it only costs $5/month.

You can find great deals on exercise equipment you use, too. You should rarely have to pay full price if you do your homework. Here are the best places to find new and used gym items locally at bargain basement prices:

• Garage Sales—Never overlook the bargains you’ll find from your neighbors. Anyone who hits the pavement on Saturday morning will tell you that there are countless elliptical machines, steppers and other popular equipment still in perfect shape, regardless of the owner’s New Years’ Resolutions. And the price is often the best you’ll find. Earlier this year, I happened upon a $350 recumbent bike in like-new condition for $25. Believe me when I say I’ve gotten my $25 out of it!
• Local Resell Shops—Don’t forget to visit local resale shops like Play It Again Sports for good deals on used equipment. From free weights to gear for specific sports, this is an easy way to pick up a good item for a good price when you need it quickly.
• Coupons—Don’t underestimate the power of coupons or other discounts when shopping locally. GNC offers a 20% discount to Gold Card members on the first week of each month. Energy bars are regularly on sale at drugstores like CVS or Walgreens and those sales can be stacked with coupons.
• “Secret Sales”—Finally, if you want to sign up for a national gym, keep an eye out for “secret sales.” Many larger local businesses have established relationships with gyms to offer their employees discounts—you may be eligible for one and not even know it. Other times you can find deals offered to current members who refer friends. And a couple times a year, Costco offers a 2-year pass to 24 Hour Fitness (All Sports clubs) for $289. That’s $12/month, which is hard to beat.

In Part 2, we’ll look at places to find great deals online.

What are some of the best local fitness deals you’ve come across?

–JuryDuty

(Christopher Maselli at WritingMomentum.com)

Breaking A Weight Loss Plateau

Posted by Susan - 08/27/08 at 11:08:17 am

At some point in your weight loss journey you will hit a plateau. This is especially true for those who are looking to lose those last 10 - 15 vanity pounds as your body prefers to hold on to that extra weight in case of an emergency (e.g., famine).

The key to moving past a plateau is to be honest about what is going on with both your diet and exercise routine.

The Diet. Losing weight is a numbers game (pun intended!) with the focus on creating a calorie deficit, while ensuring your deficit isn’t so great that you’re putting your body into starvation mode and slowing your metabolism. It’s about eating the right amount of food for your own body.

It’s imperative that you have the ability to accurately evaluate your diet which is why I am a BIG FAN of food journaling programs such as the one provided on Gyminee.com.

Food journaling programs provide you with the tools you need to evaluate your diet in detail, which makes it easier to pinpoint possible short-falls in your eating plan.

Your diet does not need to be perfect 100% of the time in order to continue to lose weight. Matter-of-fact, I subscribe to Dr. John Berardi’s 10% factor. As Dr. Berardi points out, the difference in results between 90% adherence and 100% adherence is negligible.

Let’s take a closer look at the 10% factor. If you eat 4 meals per day, that amounts to 28 meals per week. 10% of 28 is approximately 3 meals which means you get to eat 3 “imperfect” meals per week. These imperfect meals include both “junk food” and skipped feedings. Why skipped meals? Because severe calorie restriction slows the metabolism and leads to a reduction in your body’s ability to burn calories and fat. It’s as important to ensure you’re not under-eating as it is to ensure you’re not over-eating.

The Training Effect. The wondrous thing about the human body is its ability to adapt to physical stress. In order to change our body composition we need to continually stimulate our body and take it beyond its point of adaptation or comfort zone.

I learned this lesson the hard way, achieving limited results after spending hours in the gym doing the same cardio and strength training routine week after week. Once I started studying the physiology of exercise I came to understand that to lose weight you need to

1. Change your training routine every 4-weeks and,
2. Focus on quality, not quantity. Workouts don’t need to take hours; they need to be efficient.

If you’ve been exercising and watching your diet for a while and aren’t seeing results, it is likely due to one of the above. You need to evaluate and change your program on a regular basis to optimize results.

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan

Think back to think smarter

Posted by SonOfKrypton - 08/26/08 at 09:08:27 am

Have you ever heard that your IQ is constant?  That nothing you do can increase your God-given intelligence?  Doesn’t sit well with you - one who likes to improve as much of yourself as possible - does it?  Well, today we destroy that false paradigm.

In a first of its kind claim, Martin Buschkuehl, a psychology researcher based at the University of Bern, Switzerland, purports to have discovered a method that actually significantly improves ones ‘fluid intelligence’, a marker previously thought to have been genetically dictated.  Fluid intelligence is a measure of how one adapts to new scenarios and solves problems they’ve never encountered before.  It differs from crystallized intelligence which accounts for knowledge gained thru education and practiced skill sets - like math, science, and history.

It’s not unheard of that students who take many IQ tests generally improve their scores.  But they simply become better at taking the test, not at improving their intelligence.  Therefore, the results from their improved tests don’t translate into the real world and problems they encounter.

This is why Buschkuehl’s research is making waves.  He and his team were able to take 34 subjects, test their IQ’s, train them in a completely separate memory task, and watch their IQ test scores rise significantly.  This transfer of improved ability is rarely observed between any two tests.

The research team’s subjects trained in a complex routine called the “n-back task” — a strenuous visual/auditory memory test.  On average, they initially scored 10 questions correctly on the IQ test.  But after training with the “n-back task” for 25 minutes a day over a period of 19 days, they averaged 14.7 correct answers, an improvement of over 40 percent.  A control group for this experiment who did not train in the “n-back task” showed a minimal performance increase.

Buschkuehl and his team posit that the n-back task serves to improve working memory — a measure of how many pieces of information one’s head can hold simultaneously — as well as the brain’s ability to focus its attention.  Since the training improved performance in these underlying skills, positive results were also extended to the practitioners general intelligence.

A typical round of the n-back task goes like this:  participants are subjected to a sequence of images presented every few seconds.  In a 2-back (where 2 replaces the variable, n) task, you must identify when a certain image was shown two image ago.  However, this is the simplest version.  In more complicated n-back tasks, such as the one Buschkuehl’s subject underwent, you are simultaneously subjected to an audio sequence of letters, presented at the same time images are.  You are to indicate an image was shown two images ago while also indicating a letter was heard, two letters ago.  As you practice and your brain becomes more adept at handling 2-back, the challenge increases, all the way to 9-back.  Good luck with that.  Seriously.  

If you want to try your hand at n-back, try this free page.  Unfortunately, you are subjected to unremarkable sounds (not letters) with it, and as such, I’ve found it to not be as effective in truly practicing n-back as your brain has no previous associations with the sounds being thrown at you.  If any of you manage to find a better implementation of n-back online (with letters for audio), please post its location in the comments below.

If you’re interested in reading more about n-back, visit this ’Wired’ page.

And if you’re an owner of an iPhone or iPod Touch, there is a N-back implementation in the iTunes App Store named “IQ Boost”.  Read more about it here.  I’ve been training with it for the past week now so if you’re interested in how well the application works in hand, leave me a note on my Gyminee page and I’ll be sure to let you know!

Gym Quest - Part 2

Posted by GenaM - 08/24/08 at 04:08:13 pm

Last week’s blog dealt with what to look for in a gym. This week, we’ll discuss how you can have a successful gym experience. If you are an active Gyminee member, then obviously you’re serious about making a permanent lifestyle change or at least building on what you’ve already started. You want to do more than merely lose those extra pounds, you want to keep them off and be healthier. To make your health club experience a success, try these helpful hints:

• Small Triumphs Set realistic goals and celebrate the small improvements. “Start out small, so you can set yourself up for success,” says Marsha Taplett, a certified personal trainer in Arlington, Texas.As you focus on the small successes—especially the ones not associated with pounds or inches, like improved energy, keeping your workout schedule or healthier eating—you’ll be motivated to continue your program.

• Schedule It Set an appointment to attend the gym at the same time each day—maybe during your lunch hour or directly after work. Making it a habit will help you stick with your routine.

• Buddy Up Get a workout partner to help keep you accountable and encourage you during your workout.“Having a partner to meet at the gym increases your chances of sticking with your program and seeing the results you desire,” says exercise physiologist Kelli Calabrese.

• Gotta Love It Participate in activities you like. Don’t feel pressured to do an activity just because it’s popular or because others have seen results. There are several activities to choose from—aerobics, kickboxing, cycling, walking, weight training, team sports and more. Finding one (or several) that you enjoy will keep you coming back.

Have you found ways to stay motivated at the gym or in your workout program? Let us know about them.

Gena Maselli
WritingMomentum.com

Gym Sins

Posted by JuryDuty - 08/22/08 at 02:08:50 pm

Newsweek recently reported on some of the most common Gym Sins. Two men wanted to get their true weight, so they weighed themselves in the nude…on the public scales outside the bathrooms. A woman decided to use the hot rocks in the sauna to grill her post-workout ham-and-cheese. A man gave his classmates an “uncomfortable view” when he wore shorts but no underwear in yoga class. And then there are tales of people falling asleep on the bench press between sets, talking loudly on their cell phones or singing karaoke to their iPod mix.

Proper gym etiquette is usually posted, or at least understood, in most establishments—but if someone is working out “in their own world,” that may not matter. Of course, one of the benefits of having a Gyminee Gymbuddy is that you can hold each other accountable without worrying about whether he or she wipes their sweat off the bench.

So this got me wondering, what are the funniest, most obnoxious, or downright irritating Gym Sins that you’ve experienced?

–JuryDuty

(Christopher Maselli at WritingMomentum.com)

Support Your Local Farmers

Posted by Brian - 08/21/08 at 08:08:29 am

Farming used to not only be a more respected line of work, but a necessity for feeding your family.   Food didn’t come from grocery store chains with over $70 billion dollars in revenue (1), but from the land and animals outside of your home and the sweat of your brow. Now days, we ignore the hard work of local, rise-with-the-sun, work-all-day farmers and turn to those national chains for our genetically enhanced fruits and vegetables, and grain-stuffed, inhumanely raised meats. Remember the “What is Food” post last month?  Food is supposed to be exactly how nature intended.  It’s not supposed to be genetically enhanced, and I’ve never seen nature’s cattle choosing to stuff themselves with grain containing antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, fertilizers, and protein supplements when there’s a large field of grass available.

Now, maybe this is specific to the area in which I live, but it seems to me that there has been positive movement lately toward buying more foods locally. Not that many years ago I didn’t hear much “support family farms” talk outside of the annual Farm Aid. For those who don’t know, Farm Aid was started 23 years ago in Champagne, Illinois by Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp as an annual benefit concert to raise money for family farms throughout the country.  In addition to the founding artists, it has featured such performances as Dave Matthews Band, Sheryl Crow, Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Buddy Guy, and Kenny Chesney.  But you don’t have to be a multi-millionaire recording artist with Sheryl Crow’s good looks (how hot is she at 46?!?!) to help support your local farmers.  There are several things that you can do in your area to benefit them, your health, and, often, your wallet.

1 - Farmer’s Markets

Farmer’s markets are, hands down, one the best ways to shop for food.  I can go to a farmer’s market, spend around $60, and walk away with enough fruits, vegetables, and meats to last me the entire week.  And that often includes some lamb that costs upwards of $8.00 /lb.  How many times can you say you’ve done that at the grocery store?  Although everything at the farmer’s market is natural and organic, those terms are too often haphazardly thrown around, so let’s just say that the food is straight from the ground/tree/animal to you…and it’s DE-licious!

In addition to the wonderful food you can buy there, farmer’s markets are a great way to make you feel a part of your community.  At the market I frequent, there are such things as stations where you can get fresh, cooked-to-order omelets and local coffee shops selling hot, incredible coffee in the morning.  It’s awesome to see people grabbing an omelet and some coffee, then sitting at one of the many cafeteria style tables, under the shade of a tent, and listening to the local musicians who often show up and play.

Odds are there are several farmer’s markets in your area that you may not know about it.  Check out these sites, which can direct you to ones close to you.

USDA Farmer’s Market Query

National Directory of Farmer’s Markets

Note: These searches are by no means definitive.  I know of several markets within 10-30 minutes of where I live that are not listed.

Or ask around!  There are more people doing their weekly shopping at farmer’s markets than you may realize.  Someone you know can probably help you get started.

2 - Join a CSA

Another option is to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  There is only one CSA in my area and although I would assume most of them operate similarly, your individual experience may vary.  The CSA that I have dealt with essentially works like a bank.  You start by making an opening deposit into an account at the beginning of the season and then you show up on a specific day of the week, at a specific location and get your share of the week’s yield of fruits and vegetables.  You share in the same risks and rewards the farmer does, so some weeks may be more plentiful than others.

Often, additional funds can be placed into you account and used to buy such things as eggs and meat.  It’s like using a debit card…only without the card.

3 - Buy local (grass-fed) meats

If you’re getting your meats from your farmer’s market or CSA, then you’ve already got this one covered, but it’s an important enough point that it warranted its own section.  Local, humanely raised, grass-fed meats are leaner, tastier, and have a better Omega 3-to-6 fatty acid ratio than the grain-fed, hormone pumped, filth…err…meat that’s sold in the grocery store.  We’ll dive into more of the specific differences between industrial and local meats in a future post, but suffice to say for the time being, the local stuff just better!

A friend and I just split 1/4 of a cow, purchased through the local CSA, that equated to 160lbs of meat for around $600 (yes, my freezer is almost overflowing).   And only about 50lbs of that was ground beef!!  The rest is steaks (ribeyes, T-bones, et al.), roasts, and even ribs.  That’s some high quality meat for only $3.75 a pound.  Last I checked (which has admittedly been a while) even a pound of grocery store ground beef was around $2.00.

Your Weekly Challenge

Here is your challenge for the week.  It’s easy and beneficial.  After you finish making that grocery list, either use the links mentioned in this article or consult a friend to find a farmer’s market near you.  Then, leave that list at home, and go to the market.  Buy enough meats, fruits, and vegetables to last you the week.  Then, at the end of the week, look at that grocery list again.  You’ll find that you’ve not only been eating tastier, healthier foods, but that most of the things on the list that weren’t available at the farmer’s market, you didn’t really need anyway.

Citations:

(1) - Wikipedia: Kroger

Gym Quest – Part 1

Posted by GenaM - 08/17/08 at 06:08:14 pm

All of us want to be in shape. We want to be healthy, have energy and still fit into the jeans that were hip during our heyday. To reach that personal utopia, we may need to join a gym… and that can be scary territory for the novice gym-goer. Visions of perfect Muscle and Fitness models lifting mega weights while we schlep our way through a beginning workout invade our minds, but don’t give up. You can find a gym that helps you reach your goals.

Exercise physiologist Kelli Calabrese encourages you to “remember that a fitness center is just a building with equipment and professionals that are there to help you. Don’t join the first center you see. Explore and ask questions.”

So what should you look for?

• Location Find a fitness center that’s convenient—one that’s close to your home or work with hours and classes that fit your schedule.

• Personality Look for a health club that fits you. Just like all people are different, the same is true for gyms. Some cater to professionals. Others to a 20-something crowd. Some provide childcare. Others are for women only. As you search, Marsha Taplett, a certified personal trainer in Arlington, Texas, suggests that you “ask yourself what you’re looking for in a gym. Do you need a gym just to workout or for other reasons like social interaction?”

• Environment “The facility should look and feel as if it is cleaned several times throughout the day,” Calabrese says. “How clean a club is will give you an indication of how well the club is run.”In addition to cleanliness, take note of the condition of the equipment. It should be in good working order with clear usage instructions. Avoid gyms that have broken or out-of-order equipment.

• Staff Look for friendly, professionally-dressed employees. Then ask if the fitness staff is certified by a nationally recognized organization like the American Council on Exercise (ACE) or the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).“This would assure you that, at a minimum, the staff has completed courses in designing exercise programs for healthy adults and has an understanding of the exercise sciences,” Calabrese says.

If you know that gym life looms in your future, don’t distress. You can find the gym (or YMCA or community rec center) that fits your needs. Once you do, you’ll be on your way to getting reacquainted with those heyday jeans. Now, won’t that be paradise?

Do you have suggestions for finding the perfect gym or overcoming your gym phobia? We’d like to hear them!

Stay tuned: In next week’s blog, Gym Quest - Part 2, I’ll give tips for having a  successful health club experience.

But The Box Says Zero Trans Fat

Posted by Susan - 08/13/08 at 10:08:17 am

Trans fat is back in the news due to the announcement last month that California is the first state to ban trans fat from restaurants beginning in 2010.

As a quick primer, trans fats are vegetable fats that have been chemically altered by a process called hydrogenation.

The process of hydrogenation involves adding hydrogen to liquid unsaturated fats to provide greater stability. This stability means a longer shelf life for products containing trans fat due to the fact that the hydrogenation process makes the liquid fats solid at room temperature.

While this is obviously good news for the food manufacturers, it is bad for the consumer. While our digestive system views hydrogenated fat as food, the bloodstream cannot use it. The hydrogenated fat remains in the blood stream for an extended period of time and leads to the subsequent formation of plaque which, in turn, leads to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

The evils of trans fat have been well documented and in January 2006 it became mandatory for food manufacturer’s to list how much trans fat is in their products. Today it is commonplace to see the phrase “0 Grams Trans Fat” splattered across food packaging.

However, 2 1/2 years later, what many people don’t know is that while the nutrition label may say “0 Grams Trans Fat”, the product may still actually contain trans fat.

When the Food and Drug Administration passed this regulation there was a loophole created whereas any food that contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving can say it contains “0 grams of trans fat”. This enables some foods to appear much healthier than they really are.

Before you grab that box of crackers that you think may be good for you, check the ingredients listing and make certain that neither partially hydrogenated vegetable oil or vegetable shortening are listed.

If they are, you know that product contains trans fat and you can now make an educated decision – do you really want to put that into your body?

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan

Eat More of This, Lose More Weight

Posted by SonOfKrypton - 08/12/08 at 10:08:42 am

Want to lose more weight?  Set aside the cereal and bagels and crack open a couple of eggs.  Saint Louis University researchers recently discovered that people who eat eggs as part of their daily breakfast were more likely to ingest fewer calories the rest of the day than those who did not.  The experiment was set up so that participants were given two choices of breakfasts: 1) two scrambled eggs, two pieces of toast, and one tablespoon of reduced-calorie fruit spread or 2) a bagel, 2 tablespoons of cream cheese, and 3 ounces of nonfat yogurt.

Caloric-wise, these two breakfasts were equal.  Even so, the consumers of the breakfast including eggs didn’t feel as hungry and actually ingested an average of 264 fewer calories at the end of the day, and 418 fewer calories over a 24 hour period.  Considering that there are 3500 calories in a pound of fat, those eating egg rich breakfasts could be shedding a pound off their body weight every 9 days.  Researchers aren’t exactly certain why eggs keep your appetite down, but they speculate that the high protein and monounsaturated fat (the good kind) content of eggs lead to a greater satiety.

Ask Adam: Fresh, Frozen, or Canned?

Posted by Adam - 08/11/08 at 02:08:14 pm

As this is my first post, I would like to introduce myself somewhat. I am currently enrolled in North Carolina State University, double majoring in Nutrition and Food Science and Biology. Food, health, and nutrition has always been a passion of mine and Gyminee has wonderfully granted me the ability to post on their blogs, and in turn I would like to include the Gyminee community in my posts. Every week I will take either a submitted question or a question from the Gyminee forums and post a response. To submit a question simply email me. This weeks Ask Adam post I am taking from the topic “Frozen vegetables & fruit.”

Are frozen vegetables as healthy as non-frozen?

One of the most talked about topics in nutrition is that of fresh foods vs. pre-packaged foods in regards to nutritional value. While much goes into this topic, I will briefly cover the three most popular choices of produce: Fresh, Frozen, and Canned (I will not cover dried foods). Before I dive right in I need to back up and mention a few basic facts about nutrients. The first important lesson you need to know is that nutrients can be “destroyed” (a change in their chemical characteristics) or “lost” (removed from the food but not changed chemically) from food for various reasons. Nutrients can be “destroyed” as a result of:

• Exposure to air (oxygen)
• Exposure to heat
• Exposure to light (sunlight or artificial)

Nutrients can also be “lost” as a result of:

• Exposure to water

The amount of nutrients that are destroyed or lost depends on several things:

• The length of time of the exposure (more time= greater destruction/loss)
• The temperature (higher heat= greater destruction/loss)
• The amount of the water (more water= greater destruction/loss)
• The amount of the food’s surface area that is exposed (smaller pieces= greater destruction/loss)

Fresh

Fresh foods are generally the choice of many. Over the years people have been led to believe that you have to have FRESH fruits and vegetables to get the full benefits of their nutrients. However, the “fresh” fruits and veggies you buy at the grocery store or fresh market usually have traveled quite some distance to get there. Also, many grocery stores are open 24/7, so they may encounter 24 hour light for several days before being purchased. And lastly, IF they are pre-cut and unpackaged, the exposure to air and light is very high.

Frozen Food

Many people who shy away from frozen foods do so because of “loss of taste.” In terms of nutritional content though a couple things must be taken into consideration. Firstly, foods that are frozen are usually picked at their peak maturity when the nutrient content is likewise to be at its peak. Also, most fruits and vegetables are “flash frozen” which has nearly negligible effect on nutrient content. Keep in mind that as long as frozen foods are kept frozen, their nutrient levels remain stable.

Canned Food

Canning food is an interesting process. Canning involves heating foods to a very high temperature for a very short period of time to kill off any microorganisms. Because the time exposure to heat is so small, the nutrient destruction is very low. While preservatives are used, most of the time the amount is minimal as there is little need due to the flash heating. Also note that most canned food sits in water, so water soluble vitamins (the B’s and vitamin C) and various other minerals will actually leach out into the water of the can. Fortunatly, these “lost” vitamins and minerals can be “recaptured” by simply consuming the liquid.

Conclusion

Research has proven that “fresh” fruits and vegetables actually contain significantly less heat and light liable nutrients than frozen or canned foods. Other than this, the nutritional content is remarkably the same. Canned and frozen foods should not be identified as less healthy than fresh foods when the opposite is true and in canned foods there is actually some evidence that suggests phytochemicals in the carotenoid family (like beta-carotene, lycopene, and lutein) are made more available through the heating process.  For those of you who wish to find alternative choices with less preservatives, seek out your local farmers market and find the foods that were picked the most recent and ask them about their pesticide practices.

While this has been a brief overview of the topic, the choice is yours and my advice is to eat what you feel comfortable and what you find reasonable. Compare the nutritional information on the label of products with the USDA choice in the Gyminee database and see what adds up. Researching your own foods and knowing what you are eating is a great way to stay healthy!

Fun Nutrition Fact of The Week:
Everyone likes waffles right? But did you know that waffles have been around for thousands of years? The first waffles were cooked between two very hot metal plates by the ancient greeks. They were called obleios, and later called oublies in the middle ages. The word waffle originally comes from the Dutch version in the mid 1600s from the American Pilgrims who lived in Holland before coming to America. Waffle parties were very popular in the 18th century and Thomas Jefferson brought the first waffle iron to American from France. It was not until a century later that maply syrup became popular on waffles sold on street corners. In 1953 the first frozen waffle began being sold, the Eggo Waffle. 1964’s World Fair introduced the “Belgian Waffle” to the world, which were fatter and thicker. The rest, is history.

Have a question about food or nutrition? Send Adam an email for the Ask Adam series on Gyminee Blog.

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