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UltimateFitnessGear Archive Page
Sunday, June 29, 2008
There is word of a new workout routine called ChaLean Extreme by Chalene Johnson. The same person who did the highly popular and very successful turbo jam workout series. This new workout is promising something different, something for both Men and Women, in a nutshell its a strength training program! Every 30 days the workout will change, every 30 days you will be doing a different style of lifting, which will keep your body progressing.
What can you get from 16 to 18 fat stripping workouts? Probably a lot, since the P90X workout has 12 workouts and is a 90 day program, the Chalene Extreme is looking like a close competitor to the P90X workout. Keep an eye out in early September 2008 to be one of the first to own the new Chalene Extreme Workout Routine by Chalene Johnson! P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Trainer - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear 
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
Friday, June 13, 2008
By Joe Wilkes
A couple of weeks ago, the Associated Professional Sleep Societies concluded its annual meeting in Baltimore. Many new theories about the health costs and benefits of a good or bad night's sleep were advanced, following on the heels of numerous sleep studies since the last time we talked about the effects of sleep on our health. Some of the results were quite a wake-up call. Although as it turns out, in many cases, a wake-up call is the last thing many of us need. Read on to learn about the latest findings in sleep research. 1. You should get 8 hours of sleep every night. The latest studies show that mortality rates were lowest among those who slept between 6.5 and 7.5 hours a night. People who slept much more or less had more health problems across the board. It was hard to tell why people who slept more had poorer health. There may have been a chicken-and-egg scenario where they may have slept more because they suffered from depression, alcoholism, or other debilitating mental illnesses that caused them to spend more time in bed. On the other hand, the people who didn't get enough sleep were prone to their own health problems, including problems resulting from stress and lack of concentration, alertness, and physical ability—not to mention falling asleep at the wheel. 2. You should keep the same bedtime every night. While it's preferable to keep a consistent routine and sleep schedule, it's not always possible. Experts now say that if you're a little more stressed out or anxious or just not tired, you're better off staying up than hitting the sack. Our bodies are the best gauge of when we need some shut-eye. Insomniacs often trap themselves into a cycle of anxiety wherein they can't get to sleep for fear of not being able to fall asleep. Instead of forcing yourself into bed at an arbitrary time when you're not tired, spend a little time doing a relaxing activity—reading, listening to music, meditating, taking a hot bath—and then go to bed when you feel like you're ready to lie down and close your eyes. Studies have shown that you're as likely to fall asleep then as when you force yourself to adhere to a self-imposed bedtime—you'll just enjoy the process of relaxing more and will sleep better. 3. Burning the midnight oil is more productive. Haven't we all pulled an all-nighter? It's a grand tradition that many feel provides its own inspiration. I know that I'm a self-avowed night owl, and you could never convince me that I could get more done in the morning than in the late hours of the night. But a study from the University of North Texas discovered that undergraduate students who were "morning" people had much higher grade point averages than their nocturnal counterparts. The night owls had significantly impaired concentration during the day and poorer memory. So apparently, "early to bed, early to rise" does "make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise" . . . or at least wise. The jury's still out on the others. 4. Exercising before bed will keep you awake. A Brazilian study showed that while heavy aerobic exercises and anaerobic/strength training exercises had little to poor effect on sleep patterns, light to moderate aerobic exercise, like a relaxing walk or a medium aerobic workout, actually helped people sleep better. The old saw about jumping around to "get the blood moving" actually proves to work the opposite way. People who engaged in a bit of light exercise before bed fell asleep more quickly and stayed asleep longer than the more sedentary members of the test group. A UCLA study also found that in older adults (59 to 86 years old), a regular tai chi regimen (regardless of when it was practiced) seemed to provide better sleep schedules and fewer sleep disturbances compared to doing nothing. 5. Sleep is the fountain of youth. That may be a stretch, but a University of Chicago study has shown a strong correlation between lack of deep sleep and physical decline as we age. They studied the level of human growth hormone production in study participants, and found that the people who slept longer in a state of deep sleep produced significantly more of the hormone, which contributes to muscle maintenance and lower body fat. When the participants' sleep was purposely disturbed by the scientists, they produced much less of the hormone. So both the quantity and the quality of the sleep was found to be important in the production of this antiaging hormone. Just think, if all those baseball players had gotten more good nights' sleep, we wouldn't be having Congressional hearings. 6. Insomniacs are more productive. A study from the Tufts New England Medical Centre in Boston found that in the four companies (airline, manufacturer, pharmaceutical company, and law firm) with a little over 4,000 total employees, the loss of productivity due to sleep issues added up to about $54 million. Much of these costs were attributed to prescriptions for sleep aids, sleep-related disorders like depression, and safety-related costs due to people falling asleep on the job. The rest had to do with general productivity loss. The study estimated the cost of insomnia as 2-1/2 weeks of productivity annually for every worker. 7. Spicy food gives you weird dreams. This actually may be true. A team of researchers from Australia found that participants who ate spicy meals before bed took longer to get to sleep and didn't sleep as long or as deeply as those who ate blander dishes. Some of the evidence is attributed to the obvious indigestion that can occur, but the slight elevation in body temperature caused by the zesty food was linked to poor sleep in previous studies. No real results as to the weird dreams or nightmares of the participants, but suffice it to say, spicy food doesn't equal sweet dreams or at least not good sleep. P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Workout - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
If you’re trying to lose weight then you should learn a little more about what causes weight gain and the math involved in losing weight. Each person needs to take in a different amount of calories everyday in order to maintain their weight. That is called a basal caloric need. Experts say that basal caloric need of most Americans is about 2,000 calories per day for those people who want to maintain their current weight. If you want to lose weight you need to take in about 1,500 calories a day. It’s really not that hard to cut about 500 calories out of your diet everyday. Just controlling your portion sizes and cutting out some of the extras can easily cut 500 calories from the amount that you eat everyday. But if you look at the calorie content of some of your favorite foods you might be shocked at how many calories they really have. If you want to know how many calories you need to burn for weight loss you are not alone. Experts say that you need to cut or burn 2,500 calories in order to lose one pound of fat. 2,500 calories is a lot of calories. Now that you know how many calories you need to burn for weight loss you can start planning ways to make that happen. A good way to plan out an effective strategy for weight loss is to make an appointment with a nutritionist and a personal trainer. A good nutritionist will tell you how many calories are needed for weight loss and how many calories you need to survive and together you and the nutritionist can work out a diet that will allow you to cut calories but still get the nutrition that you need.
Similarly a good personal trainer or fitness expert will know how many calories you need to burn for weight loss and how many calories you can burn doing different kinds of exercise. Together you can come up with a fitness plan that will help you burn the maximum amount of calories possible. Now that you know how many calories you need for weight loss how are you going to cut out some of those daily calories? There are lots of ways you can cut back on calories everyday. Instead of eating out for lunch everyday bring your own healthy bag lunch from home. Make a low fat sandwich of lean meat and bring fruit to eat with it or rice cakes if you want something crunchy. Or buy a bunch of low calorie and low fat frozen meals and keep them in the freezer at work. That way you will always have a healthy lunch as close as the microwave. You can also keep several cans of low calorie reduced sodium soup in your desk drawer for snacks or lunches. Replace the sodas you drink all day with water or tea. Give up that calorie laden mocha in the morning and replace it with plain coffee or coffee with low fat and no sugar cream. Being active and working out will cause you to lose the most weight. By moving your body you will be burning those calories and fat and therefore start to lose weight. A great workout program requires motivation and excitement, something everyone wants and needs. P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Workout - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear
Saturday, June 7, 2008
If you’re trying to lose weight you probably have read all kinds of weight loss tips from all kinds of experts. It seems like everyone has advice on how to lose weight or some weight loss tips that you need to follow. But most of the weight loss tips that people give are just old wives tales and won’t really help you lose weight. Some have no basis in medical fact and are just weight loss tips that get repeated so often that people believe them. One of the most common tip that people give is that you shouldn’t eat after 8 pm. Well, from a scientific standpoint when you eat has no bearing at all on what you weigh. So you could eat a salad at midnight and it wouldn’t make you gain weight. But eating an entire cake will make you gain weight and it doesn’t matter if it’s 11AM or 10PM. Some of the weight loss tips that people give out are based on fad diets and are really difficult for normal people to work into their everyday schedules. Eating nothing but cabbage or nothing but grapefruit or nothing but protein is not really all that easy to do and it’s practically impossible if you are trying to work, take care of your family, or do the other thousand things that you need to do each day. What you need are some practical tips, so here are some practical weight loss tips and trivia.
Losing weight is actually a very simple formula. Burn more calories than you take in. Your body burns calories for fuel so if your body needs energy and you have not taken in enough calories it will start to draw energy from the fat already in your body which will make you lose weight. One practical way to lose weight is to cut your calorie intake by one fourth each day. Most people eat about 2,000 calories per day so if you drop that by one fourth you’d be eating 1,500 calories per day. That might sound like a lot but it’s not that hard to cut 500 calories out of your daily diet. Just one or two lattes per day could make the difference since the average latte has between 300-500 calories. Instead of getting a Latte or a Mocha get plain coffee with non fat creamer. If you must have one fancy coffee drink get it made with skim milk and get a small, not a large. Portion sizes matter more than you think when it comes to weight loss. It’s ok to have a sweet treat or chips or fries once in awhile as long as it’s a small portion. Your stomach is about the size of your hands when they are cupped. So when you’re eating look at the portion you’re eating and remember that it’s going into a space the size of your cupped hands. That’s not a lot of space. Keeping your portions small will help you lose weight. P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Workout - Shaun T Rockin Body - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear
Thursday, June 5, 2008
By Joe Wilkes
June is National Dairy Month. How well do you know your dairy trivia? How many pounds of milk does it take to make one pound of butter? It takes 21.2 pounds of milk to make one pound of butter. It only takes 12 pounds of milk to make a gallon of ice cream and 10 pounds to make a pound of cheese. Butter gets its natural yellow color from the beta-carotene present in the grass that cows eat. What state produces the most milk? California produces the most—over 30 BILLION pounds. Wisconsin is runner-up with 23 billion pounds, but it's number one in cheese production. Wisconsin produces over 600 varieties of cheese and is the birthplace of the popular Colby cheese. California is number two in cheese production and is the birthplace of Monterey Jack cheese. It is also the largest producer of Hispanic-style semisoft cheese, the fastest-growing cheese variety in the country. How much milk does the average cow produce each year? The average dairy cow produces around 17,000 pounds of milk each year. To produce that, a single cow eats 50 pounds of grass or grain and drinks 50 gallons of water every day. What is the most popular breed of dairy cow in the U.S.? It's not even close. Holsteins make up about 95 percent of the U.S. dairy cow population. Jersey cows are a very distant second—they make up about 3 percent. Jersey cows are known for having a higher butterfat content in their milk. The black and white markings on Holsteins are as unique as human fingerprints. No two cows are alike. Who was the first person believed to be referred to as "The Big Cheese"? Thomas Jefferson can add this to his many notable achievements. While in his presidency in 1801, he received a gift of a 1,235-pound wheel of cheese—and a nickname was born. P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Workout - Shaun T Rockin Body - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear
Monday, June 2, 2008
By Joe Wilkes
Never let it be said that your local fast food establishment isn't doing its part to make sure you get your recommended daily allowance (RDA) of sodium. Why, some of them can give you your entire day's worth (2,400 mg) with one menu item! Rank these fast-food sodium Hall-of-Famers in order from least to most milligrams of sodium. McDonald's 5-Piece Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips – 1,680 mg of sodium. The Golden Arches were actually one of the better chains in terms of purveying salt. Granted, the bar is set pretty low, and you're still going to get plenty of salt when you hit Mickey D's. What's amazing is how unhealthy the Chicken Selects are. Premium must be McDonald's speak for "loaded with junk." With 660 calories, 40 grams of fat, and 1,680 mg of sodium, don't think you're doing yourself any favors by choosing this white-meat option. The Big Mac only has 540 calories, 29 grams of fat, and 1,040 grams of sodium. Not exactly health food, but if you're gonna splurge, don't assume it's the worst thing on the menu. Taco Bell Grilled Stuft Chicken Burrito – 2,160 mg of sodium. Make a run for the border before your heart gives out from hypertension. Taco Bell may have given us the concept of the fourth meal, but this burrito will ensure that you get almost your entire day's worth of sodium in one sitting. But don't worry, you can get up to your full daily allowed 2,400 mg by adding two or three packets of hot sauce. With only 370 mg of sodium, sodium watchers should check out the Crunchy Taco Supreme instead. KFC Chicken & Biscuit Bowl – 2,420 mg of sodium. If you're a frequent Beachbody® quiz taker, you'll recognize this little bowl of grossness from other quizzes. It also packs 870 calories and 44 grams of fat (a quarter of which are saturated and 4.5 of which are trans—the worst kind). Heard of heart-smart foods? This one's heart-stupid. It's pretty much caulk for your arteries with its fat content, and its sodium content will jack up your blood pressure to get it to flow through your poor, clogged veins. Try the Honey BBQ KFC Snacker instead. It only has 530 mg of sodium. That's still almost a fifth of your RDA, but about as good as you're going to do with the Colonel. Clearly, at least one of the secret herbs and spices is salt. Pizza Hut 6" Meat Lover's Personal Pan Pizza – 2,460 mg of sodium. This just edges out the KFC Chicken & Biscuit Bowl. Its fat and calories are also comparable. There aren't a lot of low-sodium options under the red roof, but a slice of the green pepper, red onion, and diced tomato Fit n' Delicious pizza will only run you about 420 mg. This is a good reminder about how much sodium processed meats bring to the table. Subway 6" Double Meat Italian BMT – 2,850 mg of sodium. This subway's first stop is at the salt mines. If this is what Jared ate to lose all that weight, some of that weight was probably kidney stones. And they even ask if you want extra salt on your sandwich. Classic. This again shows the salty secrets of processed meat. But even the more innocent meats at Subway, like turkey breast, are soaked with 1,000 mg of salt. Your best bet is to skip the meat and get the Veggie Delite sub. The 6" version "only" contains 500 mg of sodium. P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Workout - Shaun T Rockin Body - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs by: UltimateFitnessGear
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