JadeFitness

Soy health claims...

Ok so I've been doing some reading on soy lately and I've come across a great resource page full of studies on soy and soy products. Some amazing stuff on here regarding the supposed health benefits of soy. There is also some insight into which soy products are actually safe and do have some health benefits.

Don’t be closed minded on this topic because you think you know that soy products are good for you...these are actual unbiased scientific studies done on soy…so read up.

Did you know that the Amercian Heart Association no longer supports health claims about soy endorsed by the U.S. government? Crazy hey!

Soy Studies

Is your trainer in shape?

Are you working with a fitness professional that doesn’t even seem to be in shape? If you were to ask them to see what their stomach/core looks like what would you see? Would you see a flat strong core or would you see a flabby out of shape stomach?
If you are paying someone to help you get healthy or in better shape you better be spending your money wisely with someone who is extremely healthy and in great shape…if not I recommend you move on. When I need a trainer, therapist, designer or instructor of any kind I’m looking for greatness otherwise what’s the point...right?

Brown Rice vs. White Rice

I've had quite a few questions regarding brown rice vs. white rice so I thought I'd post a great article I found on on the subject at findarticles.com.
brown rice vs white rice

Here is a snippet:
Whole Brown Rice is rice in its original form with the bran intact; white rice is brown rice that has gone through at least one of several processes, including polishing, parboiling and/or pre-cooking. However, trying to discern nutritional differences from various labels is difficult. Although most nutritionists favor whole foods over processed foods, on the nutritional information labels, brown rice and white rice come out looking pretty much the same.

How does that happen? The answer is in the processing. When the rice comes in from the field, the hull is removed and the result is whole brown rice. In this unprocessed state, whole brown rice offers a natural concentration of vitamins and minerals, including potassium, riboflavin, niacin and thiamin, and it still has its bran, which is a natural fiber.
To render brown rice white, manufacturers remove the bran by polishing the hulled rice. Ninety percent of white rice made in the United States is then enriched with powdered nutrients, which, according to the USA Rice Federation, replace everything that has been lost during polishing, except the fiber.

So basically white rice is a super processed food with very little nutritional value...similar to white bread. Guess what it does to your blood sugar levels...

Fit vs in Shape

Day after day I see people in the gym working their butts off...most of those people can do more pushups than they used to, run farther and harder then they used to and even squat more than they used to. So why does it seem like most of the people you see day in and day out in the gym dont change their body shape, lose weight etc...?

Read the post below for your answer!

Exercise and Nutrition Percentages

I've heard many theories on what percentage nutrition plays in helping people lose weight and body-fat.
I've read numbers ranging anywhere from 70%-90%, I personally know its well above 50% of the equation. What if it was only 50% though? If it was only 50% then that would still play A huge part in reaching your goals...it would be just as important as exercising.

Unfortunately most people fail on their fitness goals because they dont understand how important the nutrition part really is. Usually more effort gets put into exercise than nutrition. Food tends to be an afterthought...most people figure if they are not losing weight then it means they are arent working hard enough at the gym so its time to work even harder!

I find most people know exaclty when they'll be exercising that day but have no idea when or what they'll be eating during the day. They run out the door in the morning eating a bagel and coffee, they run out of the office to find something quick for lunch then come home after work starving and either order something out or throw together whatever is lying around the house for dinner. They may make somewhat healthy choices on those random meals but it takes more than eating somewhat healthy to lose that extra weight.

If this is you then you are currently putting less than 50% effort into your nutrition. How do you expect to achieve the body your after? If you make it to the gym randomly and eat healthy randomly then you will never reach what you are after...end of discussion.

If you are trying to physically change the way your body looks you have to have a plan...an exercise plan and a nutritional plan. If you dont know how to make a plan then its time to find someone who can help you make those plans...someone like me :)

I'm not saying you need to wake up Sunday morning and cook all your food for the week, put it in tupperware and baggies, label it and put it in the freezer for the week. Although thats how serious the professional fitness models are with their nutrition. I'm just saying you need to put at least as much focus into your eating plan as you do for your exercise plan and if you currently dont then that might be the reason you arent seeing progress.

Exercise, Nutrition and Recovery are the three main things you need to focus on if you want to achieve your fitness goals this coming year. You cant just focus on one!
Let me ask you a question. What would happen if you couldn't workout for a week? Ok so what would happen if you couldn't eat or sleep for a week?

Cardio

A few notes on what is considered to be cardio:

Walking the dog is a great form of exercise that is good for your joints and your heart, golfing can also be good for your heart if you walk all the holes and aren't stressed out the whole time :)
My point is neither of those can really be considered cardio. If you were power walking with your dog different story. If you ran from hole to hole with your clubs when golfing different story.

If you hop on an exercise bike, elliptical machine, treadmill etc...and chug along slowly at a turtles pace even though the resistance is set to 100 you aren't getting much benefit from that exercise. You would get much more benefit from working at a medium resistance and cranking up the intensity to the point where you are working hard and sweating.

Cardio is something that is meant to be tough...you sweat and you work hard.

If you are aren't sweating during what you consider to be cardio then you are mostly exercising your joints and your heart with minimal calorie expenditure. Don't get me wrong walking the dog, golfing, shopping, bike cruising on the sea wall etc... is still very beneficial for you it's just not going to help you lose that 5-10 pounds you put on from the holidays.

Just to put things into perspective here are some calorie expenditure rates for 30 minutes of exercise based on a 150 pound individual.

Walking at a medium brisk rate of 4mph you would burn around 175 calories per 30 minutes
Running at a brisk rate of 6mph burns around 340 calories per 30 minutes
Golfing (carrying clubs) burns around 153 calories per 30 minutes
Ice Hockey 235 calories for 30 minutes
Swimming 300+ calories
Vacuuming the house 85 calories :)

Remember if it was easy everyone would be in great shape!

Dirty Dozen/Cleanest 12

Ever wonder which non-organic vegetables and fruits contain the most pesticides?

The Enironmental Working Group (EWG) has produced a new wallet-size Shoppers' Guide listing the 12 fruits and vegetables that are the most contaminated with pesticides (the "Dirty Dozen"), as well as those that generally contain the lowest amount of pesticides (the "Cleanest 12").

You can get the printable pocket size version here:
www.foodnews.org

Dirty Dozen
Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Grapes (imported)
Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes

Cleanest 12
Onions
Avocado
Sweet Corn(Frozen)
Pineapples
Mango
Asparagus
Sweet Peas(Frozen)
Kiwi Fruit
Bananas
Cabbage
Broccoli
Papaya

For Health Reasons

Over the years working in a gym environment I've seen hundreds of people push themselves day in and day out in order to reach their fitness goals. If you were to ask any of them what their goals are most will tell you they want to lose weight or to tone up, some will even tell you they do it to be more fit. Very rarely though do I get people telling me they exercise for health reasons. Most of us are more focused on our waistlines and our muscle definition that we forget exercising is actually good for us.

To put things into perspective here is a small list of things exercise is also good at improving, besides just our appearance:

Improves memory.

Improves balance.

Boosts our immune system.

Combats Osteoporosis.

Releases and relieves Stress.

Improves our self-esteem.

Improves our mood.

Helps us sleep better.

Improves our Digestion.

Improves our Circulation.
Lowers cholesterol.

Helps us manage our blood pressure and blood sugar.

Strengthens abdominal muscles for those with lower back pain.

Joint lubrication and increased range of motion for those with arthritis.

Lowers your risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

Finding time...

When it comes to fitting in your exercise it can be easy to make excuses like: "I work too much to fit it into my schedule", "I'm too tired at the end of my day", I'm just down in the dumps today...maybe tomorrow" and my favorite "I just don't have the energy to workout".

When you first start exercising or when you are coming back from a break exercise takes motivation and energy. The thing is exercise gives us energy, it relieves stress, regulates our hormones and even helps us sleep better...so why wouldn't we do it on a regular basis?

If you keep telling yourself "I'll start fresh on Monday" then Monday will never come. Instead start today! Even if you exercise for 15 minutes once or twice this week and 20 minutes twice next week at least you will be starting down the path to regular exercise. I was watching an interview with Janet Jackson about losing all her weight recently and one of the key factors to her weight loss was 30 minutes of intense exercise 5 days a week. Just 30 minutes!

You are what you eat

I was reading a great article from Paul Chek the other day and I thought I'd share this portion of it.|

You’ve all heard, “You are what you eat.” Looking at this from another perspective, “You are what you didn’t eat!” The first statement suggests that we can only be as good as the food we consume because it provides the raw materials for cellular regeneration and healing of our body. The second statement indicates that we can only be as good as what you’ve eaten, therefore, if we do not eat high quality proteins, fats and carbohydrates, we can only be made of low quality proteins, fats and carbohydrates!

If you are living off processed foods, you are basically living off of dead foods. In fact it’s been said that the cardboard box many of these foods come in offers more nutrition than the so-called food inside the box! A tip off that the food may be of little value is if the word “fortified” is written on the label or box. Anytime a manufacturer has added vitamins and minerals to processed food, it means they killed anything of value that once existed in the food and are now trying to replace it with synthetic vitamins. If you or someone you know are eating such processed foods you are actually eating a non-food – something that could be considered a de-vitalizing agent. People that spend most of their day eating this way will find it very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve and maintain a peak state!

One thing I think most of us lose sight of in today’s world of high-power advertising and “food for shelf life, not nutrition,” is that everything we put in our mouth is ultimately being used to replace cells somewhere in your body – sometimes in as little as 24 hours.