Sick of your belly fat? Kick wheat to the curb and enjoy a flatter stomach!

U.S. Cardiologist, William Davis, states that not only is wheat the worst food for your heart, but it’s also the worst food for your abs.  In fact, wheat effects every organ system in your body, but its impact on your belly is its most visible characteristic.

You may be wondering how one little grain can have such an impact, but the facts speak for themselves.  Dr Davis’ patients who gave up wheat lost an average of 26.7 pounds each!

There’s a reason why wheat is so bad for us.  Back in the 1960s a group of scientists set out to make wheat easier to grow and more resistant to pests, which was fantastic for the farmers, but really bad for us.  Basically, genetic engineering transformed wheat into a super carbohydrate which wrecks havoc on your body and makes you fat.

Scarily, this even applies to “healthy” whole wheat!

So, the choice is yours… give up the wheat and see the difference in your belly.  Plus, dropping wheat from your diet will also dramatically slash your blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides and other markers of heart disease risk.

Make the change today and enjoy better health and a flatter stomach!

Information in this post sourced from Men’s Health Magazine.

Or so I thought!

A personal training client of mine told me her New Year’s Resolution and it is very different from the usual run of the mill promises you make to yourself.

She plans to look up more in 2012. That’s it! Look up more.

Hmm, if this is what you look like sitting at your desk... maybe it's time you looked up more too!

Her work involves a head down position and her body is wearing the bad posture with a high degree of pain and dysfunction. She exercises regularly but it’s not enough to undo the hours she spends with her eyes lowered. Did you know that your head weighs 5.5kg and for every centimetre forward your head moves, it increases the weight of your head by 1.8kg? And unfortunately, most people’s heads migrate a lot more than that-often up to 7.5cm forward and that means you’re carrying around a 19kg head. Your poor neck and back having to fight against the unrelenting force of gravity!!!

By simply lifting your head, you can de-stress your spinal structures enormously.  Try it now, lift your head to look straight ahead and notice how you promote a lengthened back, your abs work more, you look taller and I bet your shoulders aren’t as hunched.  Ever suffered pain between your shoulder blades or back of neck pain? Look up more frequently and you’ll feel the difference.

The other reason she gave me was that by looking down, she feels she misses things… opportunities! In fact she said by keeping her head down, she avoids so many things. Obviously it was a coping strategy at some point in her life but now she’s missing too many good things.

I wonder how many behavioural patterns we still use, even though we no longer need them.

Look up! You might be able to finally outgrow behaviours you don’t need.

I think I’ll give this a go and keep my eyes up, my chin up and give my body a break and see what life has to offer. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

If you want to feel healthy, well and full of energy... start exercising!

However, even if you don’t see a reduction in your waist measurement after the first few days, there are so many other benefits to exercise.  Here are just a few:

• Working out regularly helps lower your systolic blood pressure just as much as many medications do, which is great news for your heart.
• Your overall risk of developing cancer is reduced just by walking or cycling for an hour a day.
• Worried about how your bones are going to hold up in old age?  A mere 10 minutes of high impact exercise three times a week can boost your bone strength.
• Maintaining an active lifestyle cuts the risk of cognitive decline by around a third and also helps prevent depression.
• Dropping around 5-7% of your body weight can delay, and potentially prevent, Type II Diabetes.
• Exercising for 20-60 minutes three to five times a week can help treat irritable bowel syndrome.

And those are just a few of the health benefits of regular exercise.  So don’t be discouraged and give up if you haven’t seen a dramatic change to your waistline yet… if you keep persevering that will happen and in the meantime you’re doing wonders for the overall health of your body… even if you can’t see it!

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Great sources of Omega-3

What are they?

Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fat and are considered an essential fatty acid because they cannot be manufactured by the body. Which means we must obtain omega-3 from foods such as fish, nut and plant-based oils, such as canola oil and sunflower oils.

What are the sources of these Omega-3 Fatty Acids?

• Canola, Soybeans, Walnuts, and Flaxseed
• Oily fishes such as Herring, Mackerel, Salmon, and Sardines

What are the health benefits of Omega-3s?

For a start, they correct imbalances in modern diets that lead to health problems and can help lower the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer, as well as lower “bad” cholesterol and triglyceride levels, enhancing the elasticity of blood vessels and preventing the build-up of harmful fat deposits in the arteries.

Omega-3s can also aid brain and eye development and can help to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Omega-6 Fatty Acids

What are they?

Omega-6 fatty acid is also a polyunsaturated fat necessary for human health because it cannot be made in the body. Which means we must obtain omega-6 fatty acids by consuming foods such as meat, poultry and eggs.

What are the sources of Omega-6 Fatty Acids?

• Soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil , peanut oil, cottonseed oil, and rice bran oil
• Peanut oil, meat, eggs, dairy products

What are the health benefits of Omega-6 Fatty Acids?

Most omega-6 fatty acids are consumed in the diet from vegetable oils, such as linoleic acid. However, excessive amounts of linoleic acid can contribute to inflammation and result in heart disease, cancer, asthma, arthritis and depression.

Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids: Striking the Balance

The important thing is to find a balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the diet, so that both substances can work together to promote health. An improper balance and excess in omega-6 fatty acids promotes the health problems listed above. So a healthy diet should consist of roughly two to four times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids.

Note: a typical diet may contain 11 to 30 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids.

Omega-9 Fatty Acids

What are they?

Omega-9 fatty acids are from a family of unsaturated fats that are commonly found in vegetable and animal fats. These fatty acids are also known as oleic acids or monounsaturated fats and can often be found in canola, sunflower, olive and nut oils. Unlike omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, omega-9 fatty acids are produced by the body, but are still beneficial when they are obtained in food.

What are the sources of Omega-9 Fatty Acids?

• Oleic acid – Canola oil, Sunflower Oil, and Almonds

Specially developed oils for foodservice can reduce key factors that contribute to heart disease and diabetes. Canola, sunflower, olive, and nut oils have significant levels of omega-9 and oils produced from these sources have emerged as healthier, highly functional replacements for partially hydrogenated cooking oils, which are usually laden with unhealthy trans and saturated fats.

What are the health benefits of Omega-9 Fatty Acids?

Omega-9 fatty acids have been found to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Because they have been shown to increase “good” cholesterol and decrease “bad” cholesterol, they aid the elimination of plaque buildup in the arteries, which may cause heart attack or stroke.

How do they add up?

Omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9 fatty acids all serve different functions within the body. Which means to maintain overall heart health and general wellness we need to incorporate balanced proportions of both essential and non-essential fatty acids. In fact, adults should receive 20-35% of their energy from dietary fats, avoiding saturated and trans (”bad”) fats, and increasing omega-3 fatty acids.

I was astounded to hear she was drinking so little!!!  She also mentioned that she finds the taste of water bland.

This got me thinking… so I went and talked to a few of my team to see if they knew of the benefits of putting lemon in your water.  Those conversations made me realise that many people don’t know about the beneficial properties of lemon.

You see lemon is an acid, but the moment it is digested/consumed it goes through a transformation which gives it alkalinity benefits.  For those who don’t enjoy the bland taste of water, it’s a great way to bring flavour to your drink while also turning it into an alkaline drink, which gives it many, many more benefits.

Some of us fail to realise that a large part of our body is made up of water.  Muscles are 75% water, blood is 82% water, your lungs are 90% water and your all important brain is 76% water.  Even your bones are made up of 25% water!

So how much should we drink? A great rule of thumb is to start of by halving your body weight in ounces, which requires a quick conversion as this is an American formula.

Therefore, take your weight in kilos x 2.2.  Then half that figure. (90kg x 2.2 = 198   Then half it = 99)

For every ounce you should be drinking .0296 litres of water. (ounce / litre conv.)

For example, I’m 90 kilos (or 198lbs).  Using the above formula, I get 99 ounces (99 x .0296) = 2.95 litres of water.

Another simpler method which equates to pretty much the same answer is one litre per 30 kgs of body weight,  ie 58kg person 54/30 = 1.8 litres of water.

Do the sum for yourself and find out whether you’re drinking enough water.

Below, is a short video clip which talks about the added benefits to your health and well-being you can get just by adding lemon into your water.

1. Drink at least five 250ml glasses of water a day - drink this amount and you’re 54% less likely to suffer a fatal heart attack than those who drink two glasses or less every day.
2. Laugh! - 15 minutes of laughter a day can improve blood flow to your heart by 50%.
3. Say NO to sugary cereals – yep, all they do is raise insulin and C-reactive protein levels plus lower good cholesterol – all things which boost your odds of developing heart disease.  Try Weet-Bix instead.
4. Say YES to chocolate – don’t get carried away, we’re not recommending a block a day.  But eating four grams of cocoa a day halves the risk of dying from heart disease.
5. Burn 4600 kilojoules a week – exercising regularly prevents the accumulation of visceral adipose tissue, belly fat which causes arterial inflammation and hypertension.
6. Set yourself a three drink limit – having a little discipline in your drinking could prevent a stroke.
7. Be positive - constant worrying and negative thinking can shorten your life by up to 16 years.
8. Eat Berries – cranberries, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are loaded with antioxidants, which can prevent strokes, keep you mentally sharp and ward of cancer.
9. Use Vinegar on your salad - eating it before a high-carb meal (such as pasta) slows the absorption of carbs into your bloodstream, which prevents the spikes in blood sugar and insulin that signal your body to store fat.
10. Light a Jasmine scented candle before bed – even for just one minute before going to bed causes people to fall asleep faster, toss and turn less and feel more refreshed in the morning.  On a side note, jasmine is also an aphrodisiac for men and women.

Oh, and here’s one more tip I just couldn’t resist… stay off the toilet during severe storms.  If lightening hits within 20 metres of your house, not only can it jump through phone and electrical lines, but it can also run through the plumbing!

Information in this post was sourced from Men’s Health Magazine.

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  Fish oil is your best protection against heart disease.

  Multivitamins – if you don’t get enough fruit and vegetables (which is probably you since 80% of men don’t get enough) look for a pill which provides 100% of your daily requirements for as many different vitamins and minerals as possible.  Make sure you choose a men’s formula without extra iron, since excess levels of iron can increase the risk of heart disease in men.

• Protein Powder – taking protein in powder form has the advantage of being convenient and low in calories.  If you drink a protein shake after every workout, it will speed up your muscle recovery and supply your body with the amino acids it needs for muscle growth.
• Creatine –  this energy source helps speed recovery and the growth of lean muscle mass after a workout.  It can be mixed with your protein powder at a dose of 3-5 grams per day after a workout.
• Green Tea – this one’s a goodie if you’re carrying a little extra around the middle, because green tea fights fat!  You’ve got two options here, either drink it or take a supplement, but you should take around 90 milligrams three times a day.
• Fish Oil – this is the best protection available against heart disease and you should take 1-2 grams a day.  Note: cheap brands will taste like fish and could leave you hiccuping herring all day!  A higher quality brand will have a much less fishy taste.  It should also be kept in the fridge.

And that, my friends, is the sum total of supplements you should be taking… anything else you can forget about.

Information in this post is sourced from Australian Men’s Fitness magazine.

Did you know in your lifetime you’re likely to travel around 128,000 kilometres on your feet?  That adds up to three times around the world!!!

Invest in a quality pair of workout shoes.

Your feet are quite literally the foundation of your body – through a series of complex and highly synchronised movements they support your entire body weight and allow you to be mobile.  And when you run, you impact the ground with up to four times your body weight!  Is it any wonder 20% of people experience foot pain during their life?

Plus, it’s worse for women, who are nine times more likely than men to develop foot problems due to improperly fitted shoes.

So, we need to take care of our feet and that means having the right workout shoes.  Before you start exercising, make sure you’ve been properly fitted with shoes which reflect the kind of exercise you’re going to be doing most.  Not only will your feet thank you for it, but you’ll also have a much better workout because your feet won’t be bothering you.

Upward Dog - just part of a great stress buster workout!

Instead of reaching for a big glass of red wine to help you relax, why not try a Yoga class?  Trust me, it’s the best stress buster around!  In fact, research shows yoga reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol and brings about a decidedly chilled state of mind.

Plus, it has some other great benefits:

• A gentle yoga workout several times a week can significantly reduce lower back pain.
• Yoga makes you happier – research has shown the feel-good brain chemical GABA increased by 27% after 60 minutes of Yoga.
• Interestingly, a study in America has found a strong association between Yoga and mindful eating, so if you’re having trouble sticking to the new diet, try doing Yoga regularly.

Why not come along and give a Yoga class a go… our timetable is packed full of stress buster workouts!