Cancer Prevention through Nutrition

In the United States, Cancer follows only heart disease as the most frequent cause of death. Cancer isn't just one disease, it is many. Each type has it's own high-risk groups, its own attack and cure rates, and its own causes. Diet and obesity are major factors in 35 percent of cancer cases. 
Despite the gloomy news that two out of  every five of us will cancer, the encouraging news is that dietary changes can prevent perhaps one-third of cancer deaths. People who ate at least 5 servings a day of fruits and vegetables have a 40 percent lower risk for certain types of cancers (lung, colon, stomach, esophagus, and mouth).

One thought is that certain nutrients help deactivate harmful chemicals in the body known as free radicals. Free Radicals are unstable compounds that attack our bodies cell structures. They come from environmental pollutants and herbicides. Phytochemicals, are active compounds found in fruits and vegetables that provide protection against these free radicals and ward off cancer.

The following is a list of Disease fighting compounds or Phytochemicals:

Carotenoids- include compounds such as carotene, astaxanthin, and lycopene and are responsible for the orange, red, and pink colors of many common foods. They have exhibited anti-cancer properties. Sources are carrots, spinach, kale, and cantaloupe.

Vitamin C-  this vitamin guards against harmful reactions within the cells. Sources are kiwi, citrus, broccoli, green and red peppers, and strawberries. 200 milligrams a day is enough to saturate body tissues.

Vitamin E- this vitamin protects cell walls from free-radical damage. Sources are plant oils, almonds, peanuts, wheat germ, whole grains, and sunflower seeds.

Selenium- protects the cells walls and enhance the response of the immune system with increased resistance to cancer growth. Sources are tuna, eggs, garlic, whole grains.

As always, eating right, exercising, and living a healthy lifestyle, can all help prevent the onset of cancer and its consequences.

Bone Health: Diet and Exercise

Osteoporosis, or thinning of the bones with aging, results in hunched backs and brittle bones that break easily. Osteoporosis is a serious health concern, particularly among postmenopausal women. In a study that surveyed women 50 years or older, 40 percent had osteopenia (the early stage of osteoporosis) and 7 percent had osteoporosis and didn't even know it. If diagnosed with this condition, you are four times more likely to fracture a bone within the next 12 months; those with osteopenia were almost two times more likely. Osteoporosis is also a concern for men over the age of 70. Now that we know this information, it's vital that we continue to educate our youth that they need to start caring about their health at a very early age if they plan on living a long and healthy life.

The best news of all is that these two conditions are preventable. They are not an inevitable result of the aging process. You can greatly reduce the risk of developing osteopenia and osteoporosis with good-health and nutritional habits:

1- Calcium rich diet: If your diet is calcium rich from puberty to the age of about 30 your bones will grow  strong, helping reduce the rate of loss later in life. Calcium also reduces the risk of colon cancer and helps  blood pressure.
2- Regular Exercise: Weight-bearing aerobic and muscle building exercises will help strengthen and maintain bone mass as we age.
3- sodium intake: Too much salt interferes with the retention of calcium. Your best bet is to moderate your salt intake.
4- Eat more: Calcium-rich low-fat milk and yogurt. This will help boost Protein intake. Eat more good calories from vegetables, dairy, lean proteins, and whole grain carbohydrates for a well balanced meal plan. 


For more information on Osteoporosis, see the national Osteoporosis Foundation Web site,www.nof.org.


Information taken from: Sports Nutrition Guidebook (3rd. edition) Nancy Clark,MS,RD

Fiber for better Health

Fiber is the part of plant cells that humans can't digest. Having heard claims that fiber promotes regular bowel movements, lowers blood cholesterol, improves blood sugar control, and protects against colon cancer, active Americans are eating more high-fiber, carbohydrate-rich foods-- the fruits, vegetables, beans legumes, and whole grains. You should try to eat a variety of fiber-rich foods on a daily basis.


The two main types of fiber are:
A- Insoluble fiber. This type of fiber gives plants their structure. It does not dissolve in water. Common sources are wheat bran, vegetables, and whole grains. Insoluble fiber absorbs water, increases fecal bulk, and makes your  waste easier to pass.
B- Soluble fiber. This type of fiber forms a gel in water. It is in oatmeal, barley, and kidney beans ( as well as in pectin and guar gums, two fibers often added to foods and listed among the ingredients ).

Soluble fiber lowers blood cholesterol, can stabilize blood glucose levels, and are a great choice for preexercise snacks. Soluble fibers also transport bile acids ( needed to make cholesterol ) out of the body. 

MYTH: Despite popular belief, fiber does not increase the time it takes for food to pass through your system. Fiber may increase fecal weight and the number of trips to the bathroom, but it usually does not increase transit time. Transit time depends on the person according to stress, exercise, and diet.              

Eat right, your system will cleanse itself right, and you'll feel better with the help of Fiber.

Information from: Sports Nutrition Guidebook (third edition) Nancy Clark,MS,RD
                                              

Anti-Aging: It's never to late

Age - as you grow older, your risk of contracting hypokinetic diseases increase. For example, the risk of heart disease is approximately three times as great after sixty as before. The risk of back pain and ulcer disease is considerably greater after forty. Now the good news, all of these issues and more can be prevented and/or delayed considerably with the right knowledge, exercise, and nutrition programs.

Here are some factors that lead to diseases among  older adults

Reduced food intake due to:

-Decreased appetite due to lack of exercise

-Changes in taste, smell, and vision

-Dental problems

-Medications that restrict meal times or appetite

-Lack of mobility, money, and nutrition knowledge

Reduced nutrient absorption due to:

-Gastrointestinal changes

-Medications

Nutrients needed by older adults as they age:

-Protein,Essential fatty acids,Fiber,Water,B6 AND B12,Vitamin D and Calcium

  

Here are a few Health and Wellness Benefits from regular Exercise for Anti-Aging

- Improved ability to function in daily life

- Better short-term memory

- Fewer illnesses

- Greater mobility

- Greater independence

- Decrease in dysfunctional years

- Better posture

- Improved sense of well-being

- Reduced risk of Heart attack, stroke, cancers, diabetes, low bone density(osteoporosis)

- Improved blood circulation and increased oxygen  carrying capacity of the blood

- Less chance of muscle and joint injuries

Here is a sample Anti-Aging exercise program

Weight resistance training 2x per week - 30 minutes

weight training to help strengthen and maintain muscle

Cardiovascular training 2x per week - 20 minutes

cardiovascular training to help strengthen the heart

 Flexibility training 4x per week 

 flexibility training to help keep muscles loose and bones in the correct positions

* stretch on the 4 days you train - 10-15 minutes 

The main key to anti-aging is to be physically active performing everyday functional movements that use the muscles you need on a daily basis  ( legs, arms, back, shoulders, and chest), and designing a meal plan that fits your individual needs.

Improve your Quality of Life = TRAIN WITH WAYNE

Pick One Goal and Stick to It

Your body is a wonderful machine, but it's also a very complex one. You have to understand how it works and reacts to the physical stresses you put it through.  If you don't, you could be asking your body to do two contradictory things at once.

How many people want to lose weight and get stronger? 

You're asking your body to do two different things metabolically,  which takes longer than just picking one goal at a time.    You're asking your body to lose weight by altering the meals that you eat, (see past post on eating to lose weight ) and you're also asking your body to get stronger.  As you adjust your food intake your body has to adapt to the change first before it can work toward another process. As you lose weight, you get weaker due to the body using resources differently.    

  Unless you have never exercised, the results that you get will be minimal at best. If you're new to physical activity, you have a chance to see results relatively fast if you stick with the program designed by the trainer. Why? Because any change to your meals and any physical exertion will show up due to the fact that it's new to your body, so you will see results.

The opposite applies to getting strong. Don't change your meals and work at getting stronger by performing compound exercises to meet that goal. As you see an increase in your strength, then you start to implement a change in your meal planning.

Keeping a log book is a great way to see strength gains from your exercise. WHY?   Meal planning is the most difficult change one can make to one's life -- it's a lifestyle change that takes a total commitment.  Psychologically, it will also help you to achieve success with one goal and then add on the next goal knowing you can do it instead of being overwhelmed trying to do too much at once.

Please pick one goal at a time and stick to it for two months. After that, start to plan your next step.         

The Body Machine

Imagine a manufacturing plant.  I bet the first thing you pictured is a room filled with intricate machinery.  If you neglect to oil it or if you shut it down and let it sit and rust....what happens?  Rust and ruin! You'd never do that, right?

 The heart is the body's manufacturing pump and cardiovascular workouts are what keeps it working, delivering blood to the lungs and to the rest of the body.  Each drop of blood carries nutrients and oxygen to cells of all the organs and tissues of the body and removes waste products from these same cells; they are your circulatory system. 

Steady heart exercise, over months and years, produces dramatic improvements in your circulatory system and may save your life.  Of course, it's not only the heart muscle that needs to be fit.  Exercise can help keep your vascular system (veins and arteries), your respiratory system and your muscle tissue working at peak activity levels.

Regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease.    Heart disease is currently the number one killer in our society.  Start slow...you should be able to carry on a conversation at the peak of your workout even if there is some heavy breathing...and build frequency, intensity and duration as your body becomes accustomed to the workout.  Pushing yourself too hard, too soon, is the most common cause of injury and one of the main reasons people give up on fitness too soon.

Don't let your machinery fall to ruin.  Get up and move even if it's just a fifteen minute walk.....it's a beginning.

Stretching - More than a Feel Good

Most of us know that stretching is important to avoid injury. But flexibility has been shown to also help prevent or alleviate musculoskeletal problems.  Many flexibility exercises are good for both fitness and therapeutic value.  Flexibility training has been shown to improve spinal mobility and the driving ability of older adults.  And it's also helped many women with dysmenorrhea.  Although stretching seems easy compared to a workout, be careful: overstretching can easily lead to injury and can hamper performance.

So how do you stretch properly?

There are three kinds of stretching:

• static - the muscle is slowly stretched and then held in that stretched position for several seconds.
• active- muscles are stretched by the active contraction of the opposing (antagonist) muscle. 
• ballistic - this method uses a bouncing technique that is advanced and should not be done by amateurs as it can easily lead to injury.

It is widely believed that static muscle stretching is effective in relieving muscle spasms, muscle soreness and shin splints.  A trainer can show you stretches for your back, hamstrings, hips, back, shoulder, glutes, calves and chest....even your feet.

Stretching before exercise is okay if a proper warm-up is done first. Stretching after your workout is always recommended.  Hold the stretch for about 30 seconds at first; you can build up to doing a 30-second stretch two or three times as you become accustomed to your new routine.

Stretching is a good way to ensure you continue to have good range of motion well into your old age.  And don't forget, "the shin bone's connected to the leg bone"......your thigh may be hurting because your hip is tight and needs to be stretched!  It's all connected so keep your whole body flexible by regularly stretching.

If you're unsure how to stretch safely, please seek help from a professional trainer. 

The Mind Muscle Results Connection

One of the biggest obstacles that everyone who exercises must overcome is the mind to muscle connection you need to develop in order to workout effectively and get results. Anyone ( at least they think they can ) can join a health club, walk over to a piece of workout equipment and think they're doing something good for themselves, when in all reality, they have no clue what muscle they should be feeling and how the exercise should feel. As stated in previous posts, it's not rocket science, but it is a science / if one doesn't know how to be physical, then how do you know what your feeling is correct / seat adjustments and technique are very important.

You must learn how too feel the work you are doing or your wasting time and money, and heading for what could be a serious injury. If exercise were that easy, everyone would be in tip top physical shape.

When you are using a particular muscle, you have too be able to feel the work you are doing in that muscle. That goes for any type of exercise also. An example is ( if your doing a leg extension for upper leg strength, then you shouldn't be feeling it in your lower leg calve region ) this tells me you have no mind to muscle connection with your upper leg - quadriceps muscle's. Another example is ( if your suppose to be working the backs of your arms - triceps muscles, then why are you feeling it in your shoulders,neck, and forearm muscles. Again this tells me you need educated guidance on what exactly you should be feeling.

Just like previous posts also state, results take time to see, they don't show up over night. Slow down, learn what you are doing, its a journey not a sprint.

Its just like riding a bike, once you learn, your brain takes a picture of what your doing and it remembers it every time you go to get on the bike. Same with exercise, your memory will kick in once you master the connection with your muscles, and you will get results.

Everything I state and have stated in past posts can be taught to anyone who is committed to improving their health and appearance.

The only way to learn is by getting with the right PROFESSIONAL TRAINER.

TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN, AND LIVE LIVE LIVE HEALTHY         

It's called TRAINING, not destroying : Learn your Limitations

Trainers see it happen all the time, people push themselves way too hard whether they are just starting to exercise or they have been active for years. A large number of health club members have no clue how to read what their bodies are telling them. We push and push, then give up after an injury or finally stop because we see no results from what we think is smart training.

Club members need to learn how to train the smart way within their limitations. Training is a life long activity, getting in physical shape just doesn't happen overnight. It takes months if not years of trial and error, feeling what exercises feel right and which ones don't, and learning how to listen to what your body is telling you about itself.

As long as one learns how to train according to what their bodies can handle, they will then see results from the time they've spent in the gym. If a person continues to push themselves past the danger zone of over-training and not listening to the bodies messages, they will not achieve any goals.

You should be doing some kind of different training on an every other day or workout basis. If you continue to train the same way, your body will look the same year after year. Stop pushing yourself so hard and learn the correct way too train. 

Exercising isn't rocket science, but it is a science in itself. There are many variables and many ways to get in shape to live a healthy life.

PLEASE GET A TRAINER AND GET RESULTS.

START TRAINING THE RIGHT WAY AND LEARN YOUR LIMITS.

Commit to your health

There are many people out there who have never really been committed to exercise. The main reason could be is that many of us just don't now how to be physical with our bodies. If you were the one who was always picked last for school kickball during recess, or maybe you were bullied, or it might just be that our parents never encouraged us to take care of our bodies and health. Nevertheless, all three can and will have a major impact on how you commit yourself to the lifestyle of health & fitness.

No one ever said it was easy, and still to this day, I also can find many other things to do instead of exercise. But I have to be honest with you also, as much as its a pain in the butt to drag yourself to the gym 4 -5 days a week, THE RESULTS MAKE IT ALL WORTH THE EFFORT.

If your one that feels intimidated, weak, overweight, and unsure what to do and how to go about the process of learning how to be healthy, then ASK for help from a professional who exercises for a living. That's right, there are some of us out there that train people for a living.

I found that the easiest way to learn how to exercise is meet with a trainer and commit yourself to 3 months work with that trainer. There are thousands of ways too exercise and get healthy. Not everyone has too lift HEAVY weights, run 5 miles a day, or for that matter eat like a bird.

Where there's a will there's a way, please don't let your past inexperience stop you from being fit for life.

Look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself its time to do something physical and get the right help so you can achieve a particular goal.

All it takes is 21 days to form a new habit, so how about the habit of being healthy. You can do it, never say never, and find a place to start your new habit today. How about spending the time on your health instead of in front of a t.v. or on the computer 10 hours a day.

 GET HEALTHY NOT HEAVY, MAKE THE COMMITMENT.         

Build Muscle to Lose more Weight

There comes a time in everyone's journey to lose weight where your body just completely stops responding to the shedding more pounds. At this time you must really evaluate your whole training program. There are only two adjustments you need to make.

# One is, you need to start an all out muscle building routine. Why? Your body will only lose so much weight, and at that point you need to build muscle to help the process of  fat burning to start up again. The more muscle you build the more fat you burn.

Lets break the myth right now ladies, YOU WON'T GET BIG LIKE A BODYBUILDER. It's impossible fora women or man for that matter, to put on the amount of muscle that they see professionals have on their bodies. If you were suppose to be a professional athlete, you would have been one by now. It takes years of hard core training to put on the amount of muscle you think your going to get.

 One pound of muscle burns an extra 50 - 100 calories a day with out doing any exercise at all. So add it up, 50 x 365 = 18,250 calories burned a year by just having one more pound of muscle on your body. The average muscle weight a person could gain in a year is about 6-7 pounds. Know lets add it up, 50 x 6 x 365= 109,500 calories that you can burn yearly. 3,500 calories = 1 pound. 109,500 divided by 3,500 = 31.2 pounds of fat that your body will burn by just gaining 6 pounds of muscle.

#Two is, your meal plan. As I mentioned in previous post, You must eat to lose weight. If you don't eat your body will respond in the opposite way. Instead burning fat, it will hang on to it.

Another little fact most people don't know is that if you lose weight and don't build muscle, your skin will start to sag and look as if you have 10 pound bags of potatoes hanging from the backs of your arms and 20 pounds of cheese on your rear ends.  

So lesson for today, BUILD MUSCLE AND MEAL PLAN CORRECTLY to achieve the results you want.     

Exercise Machine seat adjustments

I can picture it right now, someone siting in a weight resistance exercise machine in an unsafe manner. It's funny how everyone who joins fitness centers thinks that just getting into a machine is as easy as it looks. There are many variables that must be considered before you start pushing or pulling weight resistance on a piece of gym equipment. If your seat or any other adjustment is not set to your particular height, you are asking for major problems like injuries, or even death. 

Believe it or not, not being able to adjust the equipment the right way is why many of us don't use them. a properly adjusted machine will feel just that way, PROPER. Example: when you get in your car you adjust the seat to your comfort, not another person's. the same with weight resistance equipment, if your in it right your body will feel in alignment and you will be able to use the machine effectively to achieve results. 

It's not rocket science, but it's the main thing standing in your way from either an effective workout or road to injuries.

Your body knows when your in the right anatomical position. Your muscles are suppose to work in certain positions and planes ( angles ). When you work in these positions, your muscles will get stronger faster, you will avoid problems, and you will see and feel results.

Please, take the time and invest in a trainer to educate on how to safely use equipment in your gym.   

( Time and Education ) is the answer for getting results

This is the confusion: Strength, Fat burning, Losing weight, Toning and Shaping - ( which are the two most misused words ever when it comes to working out ) all take time and effort.  I hear people say they want to get all of these, yet they have no education on how to achieve just one of them. As a trainer, it's an insult that when we give people the key to success, they look at us as if we have six heads. All of the above takes lots of time to accomplish, no if's, ands, or buts.

-Strength takes months to see and feel

-Weight loss is a constant battle because we can't stick to our meal plans

-Burning fat is to hard of an effort for mostly all of us because we don't like our hearts beating at 150 beats per  minute as we run on a treadmill  for 30 minutes and months on end

-And I never heard of anyone being able to shape and tone fat, or loose skin hanging from your arms and your rear ends

ACHIEVING RESULTS AND GOALS TAKES SMART EFFORT , SMART WORKING HABITS, AND WORKING WITH A FITNESS TRAINER.

It didn't take a day or two to get yourself out of physical condition, so what makes you think you can completely change in a day or two.

Please stop and really think about what training professionals are telling you. We do this for a living and want you to see your goals met. Stop being so hard headed in thinking you can do it with out a trainer, it's impossible, it's not your calling to be a trainer, it's ours.

So let us do our jobs and help guide you into a healthy and fit lifestyle. We'll do the thinking for you, you just show up and let us perform our magic, you won't be sorry, you'll be healthy. 

Compound Exercises to Tone,Shape,Burn Fat,Get Stronger

As I started this journey 30+ years ago, I was taught that the use of Compound Exercise Movements would not only help me get stronger for the sports I  participated in, but would also help me continue with daily functions as I aged.

Compound Exercises are ones that use one large muscle group and one or more stabilizing muscle groups.

( Example: body weight squats use the large leg muscles but also activate the smaller calve,foot,hip,hamstring,  spinal erector muscles, and help with Balance and Coordination )

This exercise not only keeps your legs in shape and strong, it's also one that  burns body fat like no other.

Squats, Bench presses, shoulder presses, and back rows are all ones that everyone of us should do at least 2 to 3 times a week to keep muscle tone and shape, keep the body strong, and burn fat as we grow wiser in years. All of these give you the biggest bang for your buck and help eliminate wasted time at your fitness center.

Even if one is limited in the movements they can do, a personal trainer can find an exercise similar to these and help you achieve the results you need and desire.

I use these exercises as part of every workout I do and I can teach them to anyone no matter your age or even disability. So please stop wasting your time with the little useless nicky nack exercises we all read about in fly bye night magazines, and get with a trainer who has studied the human body through scientific evidence and practices what they preach.

P.S. I practice what I preach daily, and at 47 years of age I'm stronger now then when I was 25 years of age.

 

Exercising too much

Over my 30+ years of being in the fitness industry, one of the most common mistakes i notice all the time is how many people i see over doing it ( over-training ) as they try to get in shape. What makes this even more alarming is the fact that most people have very poor eating habits so they don't recover well after they exercise. Over-training is caused by constantly pushing oneself during workouts day after day with out days off to recuperate. Like i also said, people don't eat well to replace their energy and repair muscle breakdown. As one pushes themselves, they need food to replace what they have lost.


I see individuals doing the same workouts all the time until they cause an injury and they lose motivation to continue with an exercise program.


The old saying goes like this, "we first must crawl before we walk".


You have to be able to design an exercise program that helps you get results and not be a chore or burden.
No one should be exercising more than 4-5 days a week. If you are, and your feeling burned out and not seeing results, then your over-training.


Everyone thinks their going to get in shape after just one week of exercise. This is a journey, not a sprint.
learning to moderately workout with a proper meal plan will get anyone results. Those who decide to beat themselves up in the gym without knowing what they are doing are heading for failure after failure-guaranteed.


Get with a trainer and do a little research yourself if your serious about changing your body and health, its the only way to succeed.

P.S.- Over- train, never gain results           Over -train, injuries will pop up and remain

          Over- train, drop out of exercise program and waste your gym membership       

Eat to lose weight and get results from exercise

To many times i hear that people who want to lose weight think they have to stop eating or eat just one meal a day. Your body only works one way when it comes to nutrition, feed it to get results. If you starve your body it will do the opposite of what you want because it knows your not giving it the fuel it needs to sustain itself during daily functions. It will hold on to the weight you want to lose because its unsure of when its next meal is coming. You can't trick your body, it knows your depriving it of vital nutrients it needs to function.


 The same goes for those who don't eat before workouts, your not getting the energy you need to effectively exercise, the next thing you know, your laying on the floor after you faint because you tried to run 5miles or do an aerobics class for an hour. I've been in this game a long time and you would think people would get the message,  but i guess not. 

So, good luck to all of you who think your going to get results by starving your body.

Why we all need a trainer

Everyday i see the same thing over and over and over, Members at  fitness clubs who try to lift to much weight, run as fast as they can the first day on the treadmill, don't know how to adjust the machines properly, do 5oo sit ups and get up and complain of back pain and why they haven't lost any inches around their waist line, lift the same 10 lbs. for arm curls for years on end and ask why they still have arms that flap in the wind like a flag, or can't figure out why they haven't lost weight yet because they've only eaten 1 meal in the last 24 hours.


It seems like people think that all they have to do is join the club and show up a few times a month and the results will appear out of thin air. Well i have some news for you, ITS NOT THAT SIMPLE. Why would you want to waste your hard earned $ and get nothing in return. We all join because we want to change something about ourselves, not just to throw $ away.


All it takes is a few extra dollars to invest in a trainer. He/She will educate you on the process and program they suggest for you to reach your goals.Why invest in a trainer? That's the only way any of us will understand what it takes to achieve results the safe and right way. Its all about education. Let the trainer do the thinking for you. All you need to do is show up for your appointments and put in the effort the trainer is asking for and your goals will be met sooner instead of never.


P.S. even trainers need trainers, i have one, we all don't know it all and there are many ways to exercise.


GET A TRAINER AND GET RESULTS    

Feel good about yourself first

Too many of us that join fitness centers overlook the first thing that we all should feel as we start exercising. we all look for the one that takes the longest to see ( visual- how we look to others and in the mirror ) first, or the second ( strength- "why am i not getting stronger everyday" ). the first one we all need to be in tune with is the way we FEEL, because we are finally trying to take care of ourselves. it takes weeks if not months to see both visual and physical results. that being said, now we know why most people stop going to the gym after only 3 weeks average.

Feeling good about yourself is 75% of the battle. you can't possibly change visually or physically overnight. if you feel good about what you are doing it will steamroll into something great. the mind is a powerful tool, and we all have one. take your time and the outcome will be worth it.

Give your workouts a chance, get with a trainer that you like and have them work with you for at least 3 months. this will build a good habit of consistency and you will be better educated on what it really takes to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. give it a chance, you'll like the results in the long run.

workout & wellness tips

I've decided to post many of the questions that my clients ask me currently and have asked over the years. Most of the questions seem to come from misinformation and just not being educated in the right way about health and fitness in general. I will give you fact based answers to help break myths, help you better understand what is being said, what is true and what is misleading or false. Look for me daily.   God Bless you       Wayne