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Welcome To UltimateFitnessGear Blog
Friday, June 27, 2008
P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Trainer - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear 
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
By Joe Wilkes
How much fiber should we be getting? If you believe the television commercials that run during the nightly news, we're not even coming close to getting what we need. Should we be taking pills or drinks or some other supplements to satisfy our fiber needs? I thought maybe I should be, until I went to the store and saw that a small can of a national brand of fiber costs over $12. $12? For something that is literally going to run right through me? Currently, all my extra disposable income is slated to run through the gas tank of my car, not my body, so I decided to take a look at foods that could beef up my fiber intake. First off, let's look at what the big deal about fiber is anyway. I used to think of fiber as stringy, ropy stuff, like the threads in celery or cabbage. But fiber has actually become a catchall term for any indigestible material that we consume, not all of which is actually fibrous. Cellulose, the building block of much of the fleshy part of fruits and veggies, is an example of non-fibrous fiber. There is soluble fiber, which dissolves in water and helps stabilize blood sugar by slowing the rate of digestion. There is also insoluble fiber, which, as its name would suggest, does not dissolve in water—although it does attract water in the intestinal tract and, well, without getting too graphic, is responsible for the trains running on time, keeping the mail moving, releasing the payload, etc. Most importantly, more and more studies are linking a high-fiber diet to a decreased risk of heart disease and diabetes. For optimal health, nutritionists recommend 30 to 38 grams of fiber every day for men and 21 to 25 grams of fiber every day for women. You can find the fiber content in labeled food as a subcategory under carbohydrates. If you're counting carbs, you can always subtract the amount of fiber from the total number of carbs, because the fiber will only be visiting your body for a little while, unlike the sugars, which, if not burned for fuel, will likely end up stored as fat. Most studies indicate that Americans don't get nearly enough fiber, especially with the proliferation of processed foods filled with white flour, which is made only from the fiber-less endosperm of the grain, with none of the bran and germ parts of the grain that provide the fiber. In fact, if you read labels, it's pretty rare to find any prepared food that has more than a gram or two of fiber. It can make you despair if you think about having to get to the 25 to 38 grams you need every day. So how can you get your daily dose of fiber without eating yourself into a coma? There are some fiber-rich superfoods that can help get you to your daily recommended allowance, without the coma. Legumes. The humble bean (and also chickpea, lentil, and pea) is chock-full of nutritious fiber. A cup of black beans or lentils contains a whopping 15 grams of fiber—half the daily minimum supply required for a man, and more than half of the minimum required for a woman. Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, have 13 grams of fiber. A cup of peas has 9 grams of fiber. The big winner is the cranberry bean with 18 grams of fiber and 17 grams of protein. Cranberry beans have a creamy texture and a chestnut-like flavor. And the best news about beans is that they're supercheap! Most dried beans run less than a dollar a pound. That's a lot cheaper than those gritty supplements, and much tastier. Bran. While not as great a source of fiber as beans, they're still pretty fiber-rich, and may not have the unpleasant auditory and olfactory effects associated with excessive bean consumption. A cup of bran flakes has about 7 grams of fiber and a cup of oatmeal has 4 grams of fiber. Substituting whole wheat products for their traditional white-flour counterparts is an easy way of working some fiber into your diet without much hassle. A cup of whole wheat spaghetti has over 6 grams of fiber and whole wheat bread has about 2 grams of fiber per slice. Prunes. Not just for old people anymore. Grandpa and Grandma knew what they were doing when they were suffering from constipation. A cup of prunes contains 8 grams of fiber, and their hydrated counterpart, plums, are also excellent sources of fiber—prunes/plums contain insoluble fiber in the skin and soluble fiber in the pulp. A two-for-one special! Artichokes. One medium artichoke contains 6.5 grams of fiber. One cup of artichoke hearts contains 14 grams of fiber and only 90 calories. One of my favorite snacks or appetizers is to get one of those little jars of marinated artichokes (in vinegar, not in oil) and treat myself to eating the whole jar as an afternoon snack or hors d'oeuvre before dinner. Tasty and filling, you'll eat less at dinner, and put a serious dent in your daily fiber tally. Brussels sprouts. Yes, they look like the alien heads from Mars Attacks!, but these little powerhouses pack almost 7 grams of fiber into a one-cup serving and only about 60 calories. Not everyone is enamored with their slightly chalky taste. I recommend a generous spritz of lemon juice and maybe a dash of soy sauce or Tabasco to enhance the flavor. A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese is delicious, too. Asian pear. According to the Micronutrient Center of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, the Asian pear is one of their five fiber-rich superfoods (legumes, bran, prunes, and quinoa are the others). One 3-inch diameter fruit contains a whopping 10 grams of fiber, the most of any similarly sized fruit. And because it has a higher water content than its European brethren, it only contains around 100 calories. So you can crunch your way to a cleaner colon. Quinoa. Relatively new to us in the U.S., quinoa has been a South American staple for over 6,000 years. The edible seeds of the quinoa plant have 10 grams of fiber in a one-cup serving and also 8 grams of protein—in fact, quinoa seeds contain many essential amino acids that are missing from rice, proving to be a good substitute for rice. If you check your local health food store, and even some supermarkets, you can find quinoa plain, and as a main ingredient in many cereals, breads, and salads. Nuts. Not just filling, heart-healthy snacks, nuts are great sources of fiber (but highly caloric, so nosh carefully). A quarter-cup of almonds has 4 grams of fiber and about 200 calories. It's another great snack for between meals. Watch out for the salt content in the hickory-smoked varieties. Also, it's a good idea to portion out a serving size beforehand, so you don't absentmindedly munch a thousand or so calories from a big bag. P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Trainer - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear
Monday, June 23, 2008
Lots of diet products have flooded the market saying that they contain green tea extract and claiming that green tea can help you lose weight but is there really a correlation between green tea and weight loss? There is no scientific proof that there is any direct relationship between green tea and weight loss but there are a lot of benefits to the body from drinking tea so it’s possible that green tea and weight loss could be related. Green tea is rich in antioxidants, which are great at helping your body fight free radicals and also help keep you healthy. The health benefits of green tea have been proven. So it’s possible that green tea and weight loss are indirectly related because if your body is healthy then it will function more efficiently and if your body is functioning at a highly efficient level your body will automatically boost your metabolism, burn more fat for energy and cause you to lose weight. But there is no direct evidencing linking green tea and weight loss so even though many of the diet pills and diet products claim that the green tea extract they contain will boost your metabolism and burn fat there is no real evidence to back up those claims. Green tea could be helpful in losing weight because it makes you healthier but there is no real proof that green tea or green tea extract will cause any direct fat burning or directly cause your metabolism to increase.
There are a lot of commercial green tea products available on the market that say that drinking green tea and weight loss are linked so that if you have a green tea instead of a soda you are burning fat but that is not true. When you buy a green tea beverage you are buying a refreshing beverage and that’s all. Look at the ingredients in that drink before you buy it and chances are good that it has sugar or a sugar substitute in it. A sugared tea isn’t going to help you lose weight even if it’s green tea. And green tea is no miracle product to help you lose weight. Everyone wants a quick fix and it’s nice to think that just drinking tea or just taking a pill with green tea extract in it could help you lose all that extra weight but there really is no magic pill or tea to help you lose weight. Experts agree that the only way to really and effectively lose weight is to control the calories that you eat and exercise more. There is just no getting around the fact that in order to lose weight and keep it off you have to do the work. You have to eat less and exercise more. Green tea is very healthy and you should drink it for that reason, and it’s very refreshing as well but there is no proven correlation between green tea and weight loss so if you’re taking green tea extract or drinking green tea to lose weight it probably won’t work. P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Trainer - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear
Saturday, June 21, 2008
By Joe Wilkes
How many minutes does it take the average person to fall asleep? Seven minutes. People who fall asleep in less than 5 minutes are more likely to be sleep-deprived. Ideally, a person should fall asleep in about 10 to 15 minutes. This means they are sleepy, but not exhausted, and are less likely to be groggy upon waking the next day. How many dreams does the average person experience each night? The average person experiences about five dreams a night, ranging in length from 10 to 45 minutes, with dreams generally lasting longer as the night progresses. Non-REM dreams are generally repetitive and dull, while REM dreams have the crazier, more vivid plots. Who is more prone to insomnia—women or men? Women are 20 to 50 percent more likely to suffer from insomnia than men. How long can the average human being live without sleep? The average person can only live for 10 days without sleep, as opposed to several weeks without food. The longest waking period on record is 18 days, 21 hours, and 40 minutes. Which country's citizens sleep the most and the least? Australians sleep the most, with 31 percent reporting more than nine hours of sleep per night. The Japanese sleep the least, with 41 percent getting less than six hours of sleep a night. Seven out of 10 of the most nocturnal nations are in Asia, but the real party animals are in Portugal, where 75 percent stay up past midnight (from Good Night: The Sleep Doctor's 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health by Dr. Michael Breus). P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Workout - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Fresh news for freshmen. The good news is that the "Freshman 15" is actually the "Freshman 5," according to a study released by the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. The bad news is that those who do gain weight during their freshman year tend to follow this road to obesity.
"It's still alarming because that happened over six to seven months," Dr. Janis A. Randall Simpson told Reuters Health. "If young women going to university continue to put on weight at that rate it could be very problematic." The most interesting aspect to the study was that these women tended to neither overeat nor drink excessive amounts of alcohol. Most of the weight gain seemed to come from reducing their amount of physical activity. Simpson suggested that this may be because most girls play a sport or participate in PE in high school, while in college, they may spend this extra time studying. Source: Harding, A. "Freshman 5 may put young women on road to obesity." Reuters. June 16, 2008. P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Workout - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Breakfast is back! The "most important meal of the day" is back, according to Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, of the Hospital de Clinicas in Caracas, Venezuela. She conducted a study showing that those on a "big breakfast" diet lost weight better than those on a low-carb diet.
In the study, two groups ate low-calorie diets and lost similar amounts of weight during the initial phase. However, the low-carb group participants gained most of their weight back over time, whereas those who at a large breakfast continued to lose weight. And according to Jakubowicz, women who ate a big breakfast reported feeling less hungry, especially before lunch, and having fewer cravings for carbs than women on the low-carb diet. It's important to note that the "big breakfast" was highly nutritious, well balanced, and not "big" by most people's standards, around 600 calories—about half the daily caloric consumption of each participant. Source: "Big, Well-Balanced Breakfast Aids Weight Loss." Reuters. June 20, 2008. P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Workout - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Kids getting fitter? We may have finally turned the corner on the obesity epidemic. It looks as though all this yappin' everyone is doing (well, us anyway) is finally getting through. A study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has indicated that the percentage of American children who are obese has leveled off after increasing each year over the last 25 years.
Even so, across the board, experts warned that it was premature to celebrate. "That is a first encouraging finding in what has been unremittingly bad news," said Dr. David Ludwig, director of an obesity clinic at Children's Hospital Boston, to the Associated Press (AP). "But it's too soon to know if this really means we're beginning to make meaningful inroads into this epidemic. It may simply be a statistical fluke." According to the study, roughly 32 percent of children were overweight but not obese, 16 percent were obese, and 11 percent were extremely obese. Those levels held steady since 2005–06 after rising without interruption since 1980. CDC data reported last year showed that obesity rates for men also held steady from 2003–04 to 2005–06, at about 33 percent after two decades of increasing. The rate for women, 35 percent, remained at a plateau reached in 2003–04. "Without a substantial decline in prevalence, the full impact of the childhood epidemic will continue to mount in coming years," warned Ludwig. That is because it can take many years for obesity-related complications to translate into life-threatening events, including heart attacks and kidney failure. Dr. Reginald Washington, a children's heart specialist in Denver and member of an American Academy of Pediatrics obesity committee, summed up the situation to the AP, saying, "We still have a long way to go." Source: Tanner, L. "Heart Disease Study hints obesity epidemic among US children has peaked." AP News Wire. May 28, 2008. JAMA: JAMA; CDC: CDC. P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Workout - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear
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