April 16th, 2009

Brown fat has been in the news a lot lately and you're probably wondering what it is and more importantly, how it can help you lose weight. Brown fat it's a type of fat that is filled with mitochondria which burn a lot more energy than normal white fat. You can't really use it to lose weight because it's something you don't have any control over. If you go back to your high school biology class, the mitochondria is the power plant of the cell. Since brown fat has a lot more mitochondria than white fat, it burns a lot more energy.

It's thought that the purpose of brown fat is to help keep the body warm, especially in babies by burning fat and converting it to heat. Adults can keep warm by shivering but an infant's ability to shiver is limited. Researchers used to think that once we grew up, we lost most of out brown fat because instead of burning fat, our body could just shiver to stay warm. New studies have shown that some of us keep brown fat well into our adult years. So what does this have to do with weight loss? Nothing, yet. If researchers can figure out a way to stimulate brown fat, it could speed up the body's metabolism which will help burn more calories. Until then, you're stuck with dieting and exercise to lose weight. Sorry.

March 23th, 2009

It's been about two months since our country got a new First Lady and since then, everybody's been going crazy over her body. It seems kind of strange that we would fall in love with a first lady in that sort of way but First Ladies haven't been much to look at recently. We've had Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton and finally Laura Bush so it's no wonder everyone wants Michelle Obama's arms.

To get toned arms, you need to incorporate two new elements into your lifestyle: healthy diet and exercise. The reason that Michelle Obama's arms are toned is because she eats the right amount and kind of foods, and combines that with regular exercise.

Your first step is to fix your diet. Start by figuring out how many calories you need each day. Use the calorie calculator for an estimate. If you don't want to count your calories, you can start eating healthier by cutting all the junk out of your diet. Generally, healthy foods are more filling and lower in calories than unhealthy choices.

Get rid of all the foods that are high in sugar and refined-white flour (chips, white bread/pasta, soda, doughnuts & pastries, candy and most fruit juices). The sugar found in these foods are very likely to be stored as fat making your arms the opposite of toned.

Replace sugary snacks with foods that are high in fiber (100% whole wheat bread/pasta, fruits, vegetables, brown rice and oats). Foods that are high in fiber are digested a lot slower meaning that your body is much less likely to store these calories as fat right away.

Next, you'll need to work on your workout routine. To burn fat you ned to engage in cardiovascular exercise (running, swimming, biking and playing sports). These activities will burn calories and help you get rid of your arm fat. Cardio can be done 3-5 times per week. You also need to build some muscle to get a toned look. If you don't do any strength training, you'll be skinny, not toned.

Sample Arm Workout

• Shoulders
  • dumbbell press
  • barbell upright row
  • rear lateral raise
• Biceps
  • dumbbell curl
  • barbell curl
  • barbell reverse curl
• Triceps
  • close grip bench press
  • cable pushdowns
  • dips

You can do this workout 1-2 times per week. Do 2-3 sets per exercise and pick a weight that will allow you to complete 8-12 repetitions per set. Don't just count up to 8 or 12, if you can do more than 12, raise the weight and if you can't do at least 8, lower it. Your last repetition has to be your real last repetition, when you physically can't complete anymore.

Remember that you can't spot reduce. Your body picks where the weight comes off of and there's nothing you can do to alter this process. A reduced calorie intake that is combined with a good exercise routine will give you Michelle Obama's Arms.

Useful Tools

• Personalized and Complete Free Diet Plan and Workout Routine
• Guide to Reducing Body Fat
• Got any questions? Visit the Diet and Exercise Forums

January 4th, 2009

This is the time of year when everyone rushes out to buy a membership at their local gym. Gyms love January because it's typically the busiest time of the year. This year is unfortunately a bit different from others. With the country facing a recession, people are starting to ask if a gym membership is really necessary to have a successful New Year's Resolution.

No, a gym membership isn't required to lose weight or get into shape. It can definitely help, but if your budget is already tight, paying monthly dues and signing a long term contract isn't affordable. Instead of focusing on exercise that you can only do in a gym, find a few workouts that you don't need any gym equipment for. Running, biking, jump ropes, push ups, pull ups (you can buy some inexpensive home pull up bars), sit ups and even weight lifting with heavy common household objects.

If there is anyway you can afford to become a member of a gym, I'd highly recommend it. It's not so much that the equipment will give you a better workout, but exercising is a lot easier when you have those machines available. You'll get a wider variety of exercises to choose from. Do you really want to exercise outside in the winter? You can also delay buying a gym membership. Plenty of people sign up on January 1st and quit their resolutions. You should start exercising without a gym to see if you can even keep it up. There's no point in spending money on something you won't use.

How to Join a Gym (without getting screwed)

Top 5 Ways to Exercise Without a Gym

January 2nd, 2009

Hope you had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Great New Year. Now that all of the holidays are out of the way, it's back to the business of staying healthy. The New Year is a time of renewal. Many people us it as a starting point for change and a lot of them actually succeed in improving their lives. Those who fail make the same mistakes: they have no clear goal, they don't keep track of their progress and most importantly, they don't realize how hard change can get.

When you start your new year's resolution, put your goal in writing and be very specific. Don't make it to lose weight or get into shape. While these are excellent goals to have, they're very open ended. You'll never know when you've completed them which can get frustrating if you're trying to find progress. A New Year's Resolution should be short term so can can complete it quickly and build up the confidence required to tackle bigger problems. A good resolution would be to lose 5 pounds or run a continuous mile by the end of the month. If you don't make a plan, you'll be lost and not know where to start.

You also need to keep track of your progress in writing. Keep a journal detailing your workouts, diets and accomplishments. By keeping a journal, you'll know whether you're moving towards or away from your goals. You can also keep track of mile times, calorie intakes and weigh-ins.

Finally, don't quit too soon. Change isn't always easy. It's actually quite hard. Don't let this deter you from reaching your goal. Realize that there will be some days when you don't feel like exercising or eating healthy foods. You'll pig out and watch TV. You should realize that days like this WILL happen. Even the healthiest people aren't always "on". Wake up the next day and get back into it. Cheat days can help you out. Good luck!

December 29th, 2008

With consumers spending less and profits declining, government tax revenues are starting to decrease at a time when unemployment benefits and Medicare are getting more expensive. A lot of states are now faced with fixing huge budget deficits and are looking to more creative ideas on how to make up the shortfall. New York's Governor Paterson has proposed among other options, an "obesity tax". This new tax would applied to all sugared beverages including non-diet fruit drinks that are less than 70% juice. Paterson believes that because soda is a cause of obesity, decreasing its consumption will lead to a healthier population. While this is probably true, is taxing us the right way to decrease consumption?

I say no. It's true that children who drink soda or other drinks high in sugar are much more likely to become obese. Children today eat more and exercise less which leads to health problems in kids that used to be reserved for adults. Type 2 diabetes used to be referred to as adult onset diabetes before children started getting it too. Should kids be drinking sodas at all? Governor Paterson would probably say no and if he has any kids, he has the right to control what they drink. The government shouldn't be in the business of making health, nutrition and exercise decisions for us by manipulating taxes. Taxes should be the same across the board for similar products. Why should orange juice or milk be differently than a soda? Can the government really make food decisions for us better than we can?

While a small tax on sugary drinks doesn't seem like a big deal, it's a very slippery slope. When the government decides that we as citizens are too dumb to decide what to put into our bodies, we lose our freedom of choice. If Governor Paterson is worried about the budget, he should call on all New Yorkers to help, he shouldn't be punishing those who choose to eat or drink certain foods. A tax reduces consumption and when everyone decides to give up soda for some other unhealthy choice, New York is going to be faced with another budget deficit. What food or activity will they decide to go after next? What do you think? Should taxes be used to adjust behaviors? Vote now in this week's health poll of the week.