UltimateFitnessGear Archive Page
Saturday, August 30, 2008
By Suzy Buglewicz

Get off to a healthy start this school year by packing nutritious lunches that your kids will actually want to eat. Think you're too busy? Relax. All it takes is a little planning and creativity. A healthy lunch gives kids the energy they need to finish the school day and be ready to tackle homework and after-school activities. Read on for tips on filling your child's lunchbox with healthy, tasty meals that even the most finicky kid won't be able to resist.

Small changes add up. If cafeteria food, prepackaged lunchables, and snack cakes are on the lunch menu of choice in your family, take heart. It is possible to steer your kids toward healthier choices, one baby step at a time. By making small, gradual changes you can give your kids a big boost of nutrients. Aim for less fat, sugar, and calories and focus on increasing fiber, protein, and calcium. The next time you fill their lunchboxes, try these simple substitutions:

Instead of: Substitute with:

White bread Whole wheat bread
Processed lunch meat Leftover grilled or roasted chicken or other lean meats
Potato chips or fried snacks Popcorn or whole-grain crackers
Prepackaged snack cakes or cookies Homemade cookies or muffins
Fruit-flavored drinks or soda Milk, water, or 100% fruit juice

Remember your ABCs. A well-balanced lunch should give kids about 1/3 of their daily recommended allowance for calories, vitamins, and minerals. Nutrition experts recommend filling lunch boxes with foods high in vitamins A, B, and C for optimum health. For vitamin A, pack deep-yellow or orange fruits and vegetables like cantaloupe wedges, dried apricots, or baby carrots. Foods that contain lots of vitamin B like whole wheat crackers, peanut butter, raisins, and sunflower seeds provide essential carbs and protein. Good sources of vitamin C include half a cup of fresh citrus fruits like strawberries or pineapple along with yogurt or cheese for calcium.

Variety is the spice of life. If sack lunches have gotten mundane (peanut butter and jelly again?), try thinking outside the lunchbox. Offer kids a BLT or tuna salad, or fill a whole-grain bagel, pita, or tortilla with their favorite sandwich fillings. Kids also love to crunch. Instead of potato chips, try celery sticks filled with peanut butter or cream cheese and bite-size chunks of raw veggies like carrots and cucumber with low-fat dip. Make a kid-friendly homemade granola out of dried fruits, nuts, and any favored non-sugary cereal.

For extra-picky eaters, experiment with some of their favorites by introducing a new food alongside one of their familiar standbys. Or, try offering the same food prepared in a different way. Soups, stews, pasta salad, and dinner leftovers make healthy and creative lunch options and fit perfectly in an insulated thermos. Often, kids who don't like cooked vegetables will munch on raw ones, so rotate cut-up raw veggies like carrots, celery, broccoli, and squash, and include a container of their favorite dressing for dunking.

Get the kids involved. Kids who have a say in the foods they eat are more likely to finish their meals and make healthier choices. And getting 'em hooked on a nutritious diet at an early age will build lifelong healthy eating habits. Encourage your kids to help with shopping, menu planning, and preparing their lunches. Ask them what they like, and if it's not healthy, brainstorm with them for healthy alternatives to their favorites. When my kids get bored with sandwiches, they ask for soup or leftover chili in a thermos, or a bean and cheese burrito, quickly assembled, cooked in the microwave, and wrapped in foil to stay hot until lunchtime—prepared while they're eating breakfast!

Mini is huge. Kids love any kind of food in small sizes and portions because it's fun to eat and can be consumed quickly. Experiment with mini bagels filled with cheese, lean meats, or their favorite veggies and spreads. Popular mini foods include cubed cheese with whole-grain crackers, and mini muffins. Toss seedless grapes, strawberries, and cubed melon for a mini fruit bowl. Cut whole sandwiches in quarters or jazz them up by using cookie cutters to turn bread and cheese slices into their favorite shapes and characters.

Personalize prepackaged foods. The prepackaged lunches and snacks at the grocery store are designed to appeal to kids, but they are pricey and often loaded with extra fat, calories, and sodium. Compromise by offering your kids an assortment of food and let them assemble and personalize meals by themselves; their choices can include things like multigrain crackers, lean meats, cheeses, and an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables. For a healthier version of a personal pizza, pack separately an English muffin, shredded cheese, and tomato sauce. Kids will like the control they have as they recreate their own version of the store brands at a lower cost and higher nutritional value.

Handle with care. Pack school lunches in insulated lunch bags, which are sturdier than metal lunchboxes and paper bags and are better at maintaining temperature control. Be sure to include a freezer pack to keep perishable foods like meat and dairy from spoiling. Some lunch bags even come with separate compartments designed to keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. Use a thermos for hot foods like leftover spaghetti, soups, or even stir-fry. One final tip? Freeze your child's water bottle and put it in their lunchbox in the morning. It will double as an ice pack and be thawed by lunchtime.

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Thursday, August 28, 2008
By Joe Wilkes

What vegetable burns more calories than it contains? Celery has about 6 calories per stalk. But your body burns more calories than that in the digestion process. It's not the chewing and crunching but the digestion of the high amount of cellulose in your stomach that burns the calories.

What common bagel topping can show up as an opiate in drug tests? Poppy seeds are related closely enough to opium poppies that they can show up in a urine test as an opiate like heroin or morphine. The level is generally considered too low to be determined a "true positive," and most drug testing companies discount these results. However, just to be on the safe side, the federal prison system has banned its inmates from eating poppy seeds. And in case you were wondering, you could pretty much eat your weight in poppy seeds and not get high.

Which U.S. state eats more ice cream per capita than any other? Despite living in one of the coldest states in the Union, Alaskans eat twice as much ice cream as any other state.

What are the food additives cochineal and carminic acid made from? These scientific terms found in the ingredient lists of many foods, beverages, and cosmetics are fancy names for a red food coloring developed by the Aztecs, made of dried powdered beetles native to Central and South Americas. While their origins may be less than appetizing, they are perfectly safe to eat.

What do the letters in the canned meat product SPAM stand for? Salted Porky Anonymous Meat? Guess again. Originally it stood for SPiced hAM, named in a contest wherein the winner was awarded the princely sum of $100. The people at Hormel Foods say that while it does include ham and spices, it doesn't begin to describe the product that is SPAM, and they now maintain that SPAM stands merely for SPAM.

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
By Steve Edwards

There's a lot more you can do for your kids' education than lock them in bulletproof SUVs and wait in smog-choked lines of other SUVs to drop them at the steps of their schools. Teaching proper eating habits and providing time for exercise will do more for your children's potential to excel than any other thing that you, as a parent, can do.

Unfortunately, you may not get support from your school in these matters. Lack of funding and programs such as the ill-named "No Child Left Behind" are making it more and more difficult for your kids to eat well and exercise properly at school, thus making your parenting decisions more vital than ever before.

Exercise
A growing body needs to exercise to develop properly. There's no science to dispute this, yet schools have begun to cut PE classes to minimal levels. Lack of exercise not only makes it harder for children to concentrate on classwork during the day but it is a leading cause in the childhood obesity epidemic that's sweeping the nation. "Over the last 25 years, caloric intake in toddlers and young kids has gone up three or four percent, but the level of physical activity has dropped nearly 20 percent to 25 percent," says Ken Reed, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Physical Education.

When I was in school, I had five recess periods, and my memories are of swarms of kids charging all over our exercise fields. In a survey of parents, I found that most kids have three or less periods of PE these days. Plus, it's becoming increasingly rare to walk to school, something that provided me and most of my classmates hours of random muscle-building, calorie-burning activity 5 days per week.

While there are plenty of studies that show the connection between physical fitness and academic performance, it's still a challenge for school administrators who feel they must focus on academics. One researcher, Dr. John Ratey of Harvard, does brain research on physical fitness and calls physical activity "Miracle-Gro for the brain." Despite this, it's still an uphill battle.

"The situation isn't good and it's getting worse," says Reed. "Physical activity levels have dropped dramatically in the last 25 years and we believe there's a direct link there to childhood obesity, as well as a dramatic increase in type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol levels in children. PE cuts are primarily due to budget problems in schools. Also, the focus is on the educational assessment test that almost every state has due to No Child Left Behind and other factors. The assessment test has become the scorecard for administrators and teachers. The focus is on reading, writing, and arithmetic. Parents are also picking up on the state assessment scores as their scorecards on how their school's doing, so they put more pressure on schools to focus on those academic areas. Something's got to give, and it's usually PE, music, and art classes." Beachbody® and Shaun T also knew they had to respond to this dire situation of cuts and lack of exercise through the creation of Shaun T's Fit Kids™ Club.

Diet
Then there's your child's diet to consider, which most likely won't be improved at school. According to statistics cited in Eric Schlosser's book, Fast Food Nation, the worst-quality food goes to fast food restaurants, schools, and pets, in that order—a pretty scary thought when we consider that fast food restaurants and the school cafeteria make up a large percentage of what is forming the dietary pattern of our future generations.

It's easy to see the food/performance relationship among school kids. One example is Appleton Central Alternative High School in Appleton, Wisconsin; the school implemented a health food program in 1997 and saw a dramatic increase in student performance. By removing soda and candy machines and changing the cafeteria fare from the standard burgers, fries, etc., to salads, veggies, whole-grain breads, fresh water, and healthy recipes, they saw grades go up, truancies go down, and disciplinary matters nearly vanish.

"I don't want to say better than ever, because it's always worked," said Dean of Students Greg Bretthauer recently, "but we've made minor revisions, based on experience, to improve it. We've incorporated flaxseed and focused on the omega content of foods. Made fresh water even more available. We have monthly fruit smoothie days, and have really worked to incorporate more education about eating away from school—trying to get students to follow through at home. We've found that diet does play a major role in increasing the ability [of students] to concentrate."

Adds teacher Mary Bruyette, "If you've been guzzling Mountain Dew and eating chips and you're flying all over the place, I don't think you're going to pick up a whole lot in class. Now I don't have to deal with daily discipline issues; that just isn't a factor here." While there's little doubt that better food will increase scholastic performance, there's also little chance it's going to happen on a wide scale anytime soon. "Our district is so strapped for cash that all they can look at is the bottom line," states Reed Bartlett, a teacher in the Riverside, California, school district. So we get cheap, low-quality food, and I don't see it changing anytime soon.

Weird science
It probably doesn't help that there's always a study out there for someone to fall back on and say things like, "See, it doesn't matter what the kids eat." Case in point: The infamous "sugar study" that came to the conclusion that diet played little to no role in children's behavior.

Since I can say, with 100 percent certainty, that I've never had a client who wasn't affected by what they ate, I'm pretty sure not many people will disagree with me that food can alter the way you feel, which can alter your behavior. Yet, according to Steven Pliszka, MD, professor of psychiatry at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, "The biggest myth of all is that food has any connection to behavior." Say what?

And there's more where that came from. Wesley Burks, MD, professor and chief of pediatric allergy and immunology at Duke University Medical Center states, "There haven't been any good scientific studies that show that there is an adverse effect on a child or adult's behavior chronically with the ingestion of foods." Perhaps not, but there's at least one school with thousands of real-world examples of diet playing a major role on behavior. In fact, the Appleton school tried an experiment where they served nothing but sugar-laced foods, caffeinated beverages, foods prepared with palm oils, etc., like "normal school kids get" and it had a significant effect. According to Bretthauer, "They ran around like hyped-up squirrels, felt sick, couldn't seem to concentrate. 'Pleeease,' they said. 'Don't have another one.'"

Scary science
Your kids are likely to live less time than you, which is one of the most alarming statistics I've seen recently, if not in my life. And that's the big-picture stuff. On a smaller scale, we see studies on the negative effects of many things associated with the daily lives of children.

Kids are drawn to bright colors, so marketers love to change the way food looks—just look at any chain restaurant's kid menu for examples. Yet eating foods with artificial colors and preservatives can cause negative behavior changes in children, according to a study published in the Archives of Diseases in Childhood. And that's just one. In a review of two dozen scientific studies, the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) contends that food dyes and certain foods can adversely affect children's behavior. In a 32-page report titled "Diet, ADHD, and Behavior," CSPI charges that federal agencies, professional organizations, and the food industry ignore the growing evidence that diet affects behavior.

And with researchers out there like Mina Dulcan, MD, head of child and adolescent psychiatry at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, it's hard to argue. She states, "The bottom line is that too much artificial food stuff isn't good for you, but I don't think you can believe that it's going to hurt your child's behavior or learning very much." Yet, in order for her statement to make sense, we would have to conclude that nothing you eat makes any difference in how your body responds. We know this to be false, making this statement—from a prominently credentialed professional—unequivocal nonsense.

It makes a lot more sense to listen to Reed, who states, "The country's decline in fitness levels, of adults and children, is negatively impacting productivity. This generation of kids is the first in 100 years to have a lower life expectancy than their parents. Fitness levels, as well as health issues like diabetes and high blood pressure, are much worse trend-wise than we've ever seen with teenagers and young children. The economic cost just in terms of health care costs is going to be dramatic. Then, when you factor in the loss in productivity, it's really going to be dramatic for our country if it's not turned around." What can you do?

Plenty. This isn't a red tape or lawmaker's issue. While those are factors, you are still the primary influence on your child's health. For one, make sure they have plenty of opportunities to exercise. The upside to the decline of PE is the availability of affordable extracurricular sporting activities. While your doctor may tell you that you can exist on 30 minutes of exercise three times per week, that ain't going to cut if for a healthy child. They need exercise and movement, and a lot of it.

Get 'em out there. "Even with the diets kids are getting in schools, if the kids were more active, they'd be better off," says Reed. But you're also a major contributor to your child's diet, which begins at home. If your school won't provide healthy meals, go on strike and utilize a lunch box. And remember that schools, both public and private, respond to public demand. As do politicians. Just because school menus are dismal and schools are cutting out PE and losing their funding doesn't mean this is the way of the future. If enough people demand that it changes, then it will.

Also, lobby government agencies and politicians. We live in a democracy. Take advantage of your rights.

"The Department of Health and Human Services should withdraw its printed and Internet documents that largely dismiss the effect of food ingredients on behavior. For starters, the FDA should halt distribution of a pamphlet on food additives that it co-published with an industry group, the International Food Information Council," said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of CSPI. "It's high time that the government—as well as doctors—provided the public with accurate information that might help many children."

The solution is for each one of us to keep trying. One person can—and always has—made a difference. Because one turns into two, which turns into three, and pretty soon you have an army on your side demanding change—take the Message Boards as an example of how unity can positively affect health and fitness. "If we could just get the soccer mom phenomenon working on physical education, we could rally parents and that would be a great advantage," says Reed.

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Sunday, August 24, 2008
By Joe Wilkes

Fall is upon us, which means that the new TV season has begun, baseball is heading into the postseason, and football is starting up. The weather's getting cooler and the couch will soon call for you to lay down in it with a warm blanket. Now keep in mind, we're not encouraging any couch potato behavior. We'd prefer that you pop in a 10 Minute Trainer video and use the couch as a towel rack. But we're all human, and it's almost impossible to resist the siren song of a playoff game or the return of Dancing with the Stars or Grey's Anatomy. Just because you're taking a couple of hours off to flatten your gluteal muscles and sofa cushions doesn't mean you have to stuff yourself with chips and cookies or other bagged diet killers. Here are 10 tasty and healthy snacks that are great for TV downtime.


Popcorn. It's not just for the movie theater anymore. In fact, you're better off skipping it at the movie theater. A bucket of oil-popped movie theater popcorn can contain as much fat as three to five double cheeseburgers. But air-popped popcorn is a pretty benign treat. Three cups of popcorn have just 93 calories and 1.5 grams of fat. Air-popped popcorn doesn't have much nutritive value outside of the energy you may get from the calories and some dietary fiber, but it can satisfy your munchies without getting you too far off the diet path. The best popcorn comes from your own hot-air popper—offering no additional fat or salt, unless you add it later. If you're going for microwave convenience, make sure you read the label carefully. Even some of the "healthy" brands contain a fair amount of fat and salt. And many microwave brands contain perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which has been linked to cancer. You might be better off making your own microwave popcorn. Just put a 1/4 cup of popcorn into a brown lunch bag, fold the top over tightly, and microwave at your usual popcorn setting. Try to avoid salt and butter. Instead, enjoy your favorite herbs, or a squeeze of lemon juice with some garlic powder or cayenne pepper.

Bean dip. Beans are a great source of protein and fiber and don't have tons of calories. One cup of canned pintos only has 206 calories; it also has 12 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber—almost half of your recommended daily allowance. And beans are incredibly filling. Even prepackaged bean dips are pretty decent (of course, always check the label for the fat and sodium contents). You can make your own dips, hot or cold, by food-processing canned black or pinto beans (my favorites are the ones canned with jalapeños). Add water to create your desired consistency, or you can also use fat-free refried beans. You could add some chopped bell or jalapeño peppers, green onions, or canned corn to add a crunchy texture or some chopped tomatoes for a little extra flavor and vitamins. Instead of fatty tortilla chips, use baked chips or, better yet, some raw, crunchy veggies, like carrots, celery, sliced bell peppers, broccoli, or cauliflower.

Salsa. This is the perfect mix of tomatoes, onions, and peppers—all members of the top tier of Michi's Ladder. And the great thing is that salsa is so low in calories and so high in fiber, you can basically eat it by the cupful and not gain weight. If you buy it at the store though, watch out for the salt content—that's the secret ingredient in most canned and jarred salsas. You're much better off making your own pico de gallo. Just dice tomatoes and onions and mix with as much minced jalapeño and/or garlic as you can stand. Add fresh cilantro, salt, and pepper to taste and toss the veggies in the juice of two limes. Let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving. You can eat it with baked chips or the crunchy veggies that also go great with the bean dip. The salsa and the bean dip also complement each other well, for the double dippers among us.

Crispbread crackers. These crunchy treats (including Wasa and Rykrisp brands) have around 30 calories a cracker (depending on the brand, flavor, and style) and a couple of grams of fiber in each one. For the Top Chef in you, they make great bases for some healthy ingredients from your refrigerator. Try a dollop of fat-free cottage cheese with a dash of hot sauce; a slice of turkey breast and roasted red pepper; a "schmear" of hummus and a couple of pitted olives; or a slice of tomato and a fresh basil leaf with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Even the pico de gallo recipe above with some shredded nonfat cheddar will make a tasty treat. By being creative with some wholesome ingredients, you'll forget all about the halcyon days of eating Ritz crackers washed down with aerosol cheese right from the can (sigh).

Pistachios. Pistachios are a great heart-healthy snack full of antioxidants, fiber, and unsaturated fats (the good kind). A 1/2-cup serving (with the shells, assuming you don't eat them) only has 170 calories, with 6 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber; however, that serving also has 14 grams of fat, so don't go nuts chowing down on a whole bag. Walnuts, peanuts, cashews, almonds, pecans, and other nuts all have their nutritional upsides, too, but the reason I think pistachios make great snacks are the shells. The shells are difficult to open, so rather than shoveling handfuls of pre-shelled nuts down your throat, eat shelled pistachios so that you're forced to slow down. Keep an eye on the sodium content when you buy the nuts. Either buy unsalted or low-salt versions. And forget those disgusting pink ones that taste like lipstick. Who needs to leave hot-pink fingerprints all over the couch? A lot of stores also sell flavored versions that aren't too salty. Chili-lime is one of my favorite flavors.

Edamame. The Japanese have one of the healthiest diets in the world and soybeans are a great staple of that diet. Edamame, the steamed or boiled soybean pods, contain all the essential amino acids, many essential fatty acids, and soy isoflavones. And a 1/2 cup of beans only contains 100 calories, 3 grams of fat, and 9 grams of carbs, with 8 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. Truly one of nature's perfect foods. And like pistachios, you can serve them in their shells, which slows down your face stuffing, giving you time to feel full before you've overeaten.

Mini-pizzas. Forget the frozen food section. Anyone with a toaster oven or a broiler pan can be his or her own Mama Celeste or Chef Boy-ar-dee. Just take half of a whole wheat English muffin (67 calories; 2 grams of fiber), add a little tomato sauce or low-sodium pizza or spaghetti sauce and a sprinkle of low-fat or nonfat mozzarella cheese, and voilà—tasty and healthy pizza! As with the crispbread crackers, your imagination's the only limit for toppings. Fresh herbs like basil and oregano are delicious. Peppers, mushrooms, and anchovies are popular and fairly healthy. Just stay away from processed meats like pepperoni, which are often loaded with saturated fat, carcinogenic nitrates, and sodium.

Pita chips and hummus. Now you can open a Greek taverna in your living room. While some stores sell pita chips now, you can easily make your own with very little fuss and muss (and usually with much less fat and salt). A large whole wheat pita has 170 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and less than 2 grams of fat. To make chips, cut around the edge of the pita with a small paring knife, so you have two discs. Then with a knife or pizza cutter, cut the discs into eighths or smaller chip-size pieces. Arrange the pieces on an aluminum-foil-covered cookie sheet, lightly spray with some olive oil cooking spray, and sprinkle with a little salt or low-fat Parmesan cheese or your favorite dried herbs. Cook in the oven or toaster oven until lightly browned and crispy and serve with your favorite hummus or dip recipe. (Read "4 Hearty and Healthy Dips" in Related Articles below for a hummus recipe and some other healthy dip ideas.)

Relish tray. Some of my favorite snacks are pickled or brined anything—cucumbers, cauliflower, peppers, artichoke hearts, carrots, okra, baby corn, cornichons, cocktail onions, olives, sauerkraut, kimchi . . . even herring and hard-boiled eggs! Extremely low in calories, a plate full of pickled veggies on the coffee table is great for snacking. But watch out for the sodium! Certain store brands have more than others. The more ambitious might try marinating their fresh veggies in vinegar and a little heart-healthy olive oil, to control the amount of salt involved. If you use salty brands, you might consider rinsing them to get rid of some of the salt or mixing them on a plate with some fresh, unpickled vegetables to mitigate the salt intake.

Deviled eggs. Eggs, having once been considered a scourge of the heart-healthy diet, are now getting a better rap (read "The Good, the Bad, and the Eggly" for more on the ins and outs of eggs—see Related Articles below). What's indisputable is the health value of the whites. If you take the yolks out of the equation, the egg whites can prove to be small, healthy, high-protein delivery systems suitable for all kinds of nutritious creamy fillings. Cut a bunch of hard-boiled eggs in half, lengthwise, and scoop out and discard the yolks. Try mixing some nonfat cottage cheese with your favorite mix of mustard, curry powder, garlic, paprika, pepper, salt, or other spices and blending or food-processing until creamy. Spoon or pipe the mixture into the egg whites where the yolks used to be and you'll have a high-protein snack without the fat and cholesterol. You can also use the empty egg whites as scoops for your favorite healthy dip or salsa.

Of course, you can enjoy even more snack food if you can work some exercise into your TV watching. During playoff season, don't just save the stretching for the seventh inning. Try some exercises like Debbie Siebers' Slim in 6 Slim and Limber throughout the game. Or if you're settling in for a night in front of the tube, make a deal with yourself—you can veg out and watch The Office and 30 Rock if you turn off ER (come on, you can catch the entire series on DVD soon enough) and do Shaun T's Hip Hop Abs Fat Burning Cardio instead. If you watch a show like Heroes that motivates you to kick some butt, schedule some Turbo Jam time immediately after the show while your adrenaline's still pumping. Or if, like me, you've become enslaved to your DVR or TiVo, use it to your advantage and do a cooldown stretch to your favorite show as a reward for a well-done workout.

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Friday, August 22, 2008
By Joe Wilkes

September is National Mushroom Month! How well do you know your friendly fungi facts?

How many varieties of mushrooms exist? There are about 40,000 varieties of mushrooms. The button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), which is usually grown on farms, is the most popular. Crimini and portobello mushrooms are varieties of the button mushroom. Other popular edible mushrooms include chanterelles, morels, porcinis, shiitakes, oyster, and enoki. In the U.S. alone, there are over 10,000 species, but only 250 of them are edible. So, grazers, beware!

What has more potassium, a portobello mushroom or a banana? A portobello mushroom actually contains more potassium than a banana, and the banana's no slouch in the potassium department. However, it will probably be some time before we see tennis players munching on mushrooms between games to prevent cramping. Often considered to be nutritionally negligible, many varieties of mushrooms contain high levels of B vitamins, potassium, selenium, and phosphorus (some species even glow in the dark!). With practically no calories, why not indulge?

What is the most ever paid for a truffle? Stanley Ho, a casino owner from Macau, paid $330,000 for a 3.3-pound white truffle discovered near Pisa, Italy. October and November are prime truffle season; white truffles retail for around $1,500 to $3,000 a pound, and black truffles go for about $300 to $900 a pound. Pigs were traditionally used to find truffles as the scent of the truffle is similar to a boar sex hormone.

What is the largest mushroom on record? In eastern Oregon, there is a honey mushroom that covered 3.4 square miles of land when it was last measured, and it's still growing.

What is Quorn? Quorn is the brand name of a mycoprotein product made from fungus. Only approved by the Food and Drug Administration for sale in the U.S. in 2002, it has been a popular meat substitute in Europe since the 1980s. It is rich in protein and fiber but low in fat and cholesterol. It is mostly sold in frozen food dishes like faux meatballs and chicken nuggets.

Chalean Extreme - P90X Workout - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Trainer - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs


Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
By Andrea Pesce

Sitting at a desk for long periods of time can cause muscular tension. But you can prevent the buildup of stress in your muscles by taking a few minutes to stretch. Try these 5 easy exercises when you need to reenergize, or throughout the day to keep your muscles relaxed.

Head tilt. Put your right hand on your left shoulder. Tilt your right ear toward your right shoulder. Hold for five seconds. Switch sides.

Neck roll. Roll your head to the right, down to the front, then left. Do this slowly and smoothly, in both directions.

Shoulder circles. Make circles with your shoulders—up, back, and down. Switch directions. Do at least five circles in each direction.

Side stretch. Stretch your arms to the right side, then clasp your hands overhead. Keep your head straight forward but lean your upper body to the right side. You should feel this down your left side. Hold for five seconds. Switch sides.

Back release. Sit at the edge of your chair as tall as you can (be careful if it has wheels). Open your legs apart so your arms drop between them. Straighten your legs so your heels are on the floor but not your toes. Knees are relaxed and never locked. Bring your chin to your chest, and then roll down toward your feet, one vertebra at a time. You should feel this first in your neck, then your upper, middle, and lower back. This should be done slowly; relax into each part of the back. Roll up just as slowly. This stretch should take at least 30 seconds.

Chalean Extreme - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Trainer - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs


Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Monday, August 18, 2008
By Steve Edwards

One of the most frustrating scenarios we face is when we finally make that commitment to our health, begin to work out, and then find ourselves sidelined due to an injury. In this two-part series, we'll take a simple look at how to best avoid getting injured, and what to do should our precautions fail.


We'll all face an injury of some kind during our lifetimes. Accidents are unavoidable. But when you're exercising to improve your health, physical setbacks are more frustrating than normal. On the flip side, if you don't exercise, your body will age faster, break down quicker, and die younger. Looking at the big picture can help motivate you to Push Play. Nothing, however, can derail this motivation faster than a nagging injury. After all, you may only be exercising to make yourself feel better. And injuries make you feel worse. But before you resign yourself to the "what's the point?" attitude, read on. This week, we'll show you how to greatly reduce your chance of getting injured in the first place. Next week, we'll discuss how you can get back on your feet quickly when you do get injured.

Why we get injured
There are two types of injury: acute and chronic. An acute injury occurs when something overloads your system beyond its capacity to buffer it—like getting hit by a car or falling off your bike. A chronic injury is one that's created by overusing a body part until it breaks down.

Acute injuries can't be prevented. Nothing can prepare you for a car accident, unless you know how to construct a Batman suit. But you can prepare yourself to better fend off minor acute injuries. Exercise can fashion a somewhat natural Batman suit out of your body. It won't fend off a car, but it can prepare you to deal with adversity more efficiently.

Chronic injuries can almost always be avoided because overuse injuries are generally due to muscular imbalance and/or lack of proper range of motion. By properly training your body, muscles will be balanced, bones will be dense, and body parts will be supple. When you get this formula right, chronic injuries almost never happen.

But doing this is easier said than done. Even top-flight athletes have trouble with keeping their bodies in balance. The reason is that it takes both dedication and discipline. Most of us just want to do whatever it is we find entertaining when we exercise. The little things that keep us injury free can be mundane. As boring as this may be, it's a lot more fun than being injured. Let's take a look at the basics to staying healthy.

Warming up
Warming up properly seems like a waste of time. Who hasn't, at one time or another, jumped right into an intensive workout like P90X® or Turbo Jam® and walked away unscathed? But if you want to remain uninjured, nothing stacks the odds in your favor as much as thoroughly warming up your body to get it ready for the rigors of exercise.

Acute injuries aren't just accidents. Putting stress on a cold system can cause acute injury, even with resistance that you can normally handle easily. The reason is that when you're cold, your muscles are actually gel-like. As they warm up, they become more viscous, kind of like oil in your car engine. This process is called thixotropy. As you increase your heart rate, your core body temperature heats up. When this happens, your muscular viscosity decreases, and you become more supple and ready to handle the stresses of exercise.

A proper warm-up starts out slow and gradually increases in intensity. Once your blood is moving, easy, short stretches help elongate your muscles so that they're ready for the intense contractions that will happen later. Note that long, slow stretching should be avoided as part of the warm-up. The type of stretching that you do to increase your flexibility should be done post-exercise. Pre-exercise stretches should remain very low on the intensity scale. They serve only to loosen up the body to its current range-of-motion abilities, not to increase that range.

Cooling down
A good workout stresses your body. Your heart rate increases to near its maximum, and muscles are contracted at high speed. If you finish a hard workout and walk away without a cooldown, your body settles into a contracted state. When this happens, the damage incurred during the workout is exacerbated and your body can't recover well. A proper cooldown eases your heart rate and stretches out your muscle fibers. This begins the healing process and speeds up your recovery time.

A good cooldown consists of moving your body slower and slower, allowing your heart rate to drop. When it gets low—under 100 beats per minute—you should begin stretching out all of the muscles worked during the workout. It's best to start with easy ballistic stretches. These can be followed by slower, longer, static stretches. If you want to do a full-blown stretching session with the aim of increasing your body's range of motion, this is a good time to do that.

Staying limber
As stated before, working out contracts your muscles. To stay in balance, you need to stretch them out. Failing to stretch out your muscles leaves their fiber strands knotted close together. Muscles in this state are very susceptible to overload and, hence, injury. Properly stretched muscle fibers have far more of a buffer zone than unstretched ones. They can take the same force loads more easily because they have more room to contract. Staying limber is a good way to avoid injury.

Rehab before you need it
If you've ever been to a physical therapist, you've probably been given exercises that help rebuild an injured area. These tend to be low-intensity movements that not only stress your prime mover muscles but also the smaller muscles that stabilize the larger ones. For some reason, exercise programs often leave out training these smaller muscles. This is bad because when one muscle group is built up more than another, your body becomes imbalanced. When you have a muscular imbalance, you are highly likely to become injured. This leads to a quandary for many of us. We can't go to a physical therapist before we're injured, yet if we don't, it's hard to know when we're out of muscular balance.

Fortunately, most modern exercise programs consider this. P90X, for example, has many different workouts that focus on both prime mover and stabilizer muscles. But it's still easy to become out of balance because life often throws us into situations where muscular imbalance is likely to happen. Sports, yard work, and even sitting at a computer typing and "mousing" can create imbalance. How to offset this can be complicated, but here are some ideas.

Have an annual assessment from a physical therapist. They can put you through a series of exercises that can determine your muscular health. If they do find an imbalance, it can usually be cured with a few simple exercises. Remember those physical therapist visits. Whenever you get sent to a physical therapist, remember the exercises that you're given. Once you've injured an area, that area will always be susceptible to being reinjured. The exercises prescribed should be done, at least on occasion, for the rest of your life. If you have enough injuries (like me), your arsenal of rehab exercises begins to grow, and eventually, you'll know how to avoid all imbalances. Do yoga. It targets muscular balance more than any other type of exercise. Doing yoga for a day or so per week will keep your body both balanced and supple and greatly facilitate all other training. Try Yoga Booty Ballet to satisfy your yoga needs.

Total Body Solution. Debbie Siebers and neurophysiologist Chad Waterbury have created a new DVD program featuring a series of assessments and drills to increase range of motion, help relieve pain, and prevent strain in commonly stressed areas like the shoulders, neck, core, lower back, and knees. Click here to learn more.

Chalean Extreme - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Trainer - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs


Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Saturday, August 16, 2008
By DeLane McDuffie

School's finally in session! Remember these words? "Class, take out your pencils. We're going to have a pop quiz." Any unprepared kid hearing that was likely to grab a hall pass and "make a run for it." My favorite hideout was the cafeteria. So, in the spirit of roll call, long lunch lines, lunch ladies, and kickball in PE class, here's a quiz about something that we all like—food!

True or False: The croissant is a French creation. Contrary to popular belief, the croissant originated in Austria, not France. It was known by its German name, Kipfel. Back in 1683, the Ottoman Turkish army had the city of Vienna surrounded and on its knees. The Turkish army started to dig tunnels under the city walls, but the Viennese night-owl bakers heard the not-so-sweet sounds of digging and sounded the alarm, thus saving the city. After the Turks were driven away, the bakers commemorated the victory by making pastries in the shape of the crescent moon that was emblazoned on the flag of their nemesis.

What drink is partly responsible for Thanksgiving and an early American settlement? You probably know that the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. But do you know that the Mayflower docked because of the stormy weather and a shortage of food and . . . beer? Yep. You heard right. Beer was thought to be healthy and nutritious while H2O was untrustworthy because it was often contaminated. Once they hit the shore, the Pilgrims wasted little time setting up a brewery. Thanksgiving Day football just wouldn't be the same without it.

Who helped coffee expand into the West? Long ago, coffee was all the rave in the Middle East and parts of Africa. However, when it first arrived in Europe in the late 1500s, Vatican priests didn't exactly roll out the red carpet. In fact, they wanted to ban the "evil" caffeinated beverage because of its Islamic connections. Then, Pope Clement VIII guzzled down a cup, loved it, and gave it his papal blessing. Europeans soon began knocking back coffee like it was going out of style. You and Starbucks can thank the pope for your morning joe.

This medical doctor forever changed the way we eat breakfast. Who is this person? There was a doctor at the end of the 19th century who was completely focused on making Americans' diets healthier. His main concern was the effect that food had on the digestive tract. He wanted to create a low-calorie, ready-made breakfast meal that would be easy on the stomach and sent to families nationwide—thus the advent of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg's toasted corn flakes.

What do a cherry pie and a UFO have in common? The saucer-like Pluto Platter toy was invented by Walter Morrison during the country's UFO craze in the 1940s and 1950s. However, it was the Wham-O toy company's (distributors of the Pluto Platter) discovery of a group of Yale University students, who were playing a game that involved flinging around a bunch of metal pie tins, that led to the connection between UFOs and pies. As a player threw a pie tin, he or she would yell out the pie company's name that was etched on the pie tin's surface. The Frisbie Pie Company would forever link pies, flying saucers, and Frisbees together.

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Thursday, August 14, 2008
By Monica Ciociola

Lack of time is one of the main excuses people give for not exercising regularly. Even those of you who have discovered the wonders of in-home fitness still find it difficult to juggle work, family, and fitness. We hear you asking for help, so here are six smart ways to find more time for your workout, whether it's Slim Training® with Slim in 6 or Tilting, Tucking & Tightening with Hip Hop Abs. With these tips, you can maintain any fitness resolution you make all year long.

Shop online. Now that you can basically order anything and everything over the Internet and have it delivered, consider doing some of your errands and shopping this way. Most major retailers have online stores, and provide shipping options. So there's no need to go to the mall or the post office.

Farm out some chores. Try dropping off your laundry for fluff 'n' fold—especially if you've already been spending money at the laundromat. You'll find that it doesn't cost that much more. Also, check out your local maid service. For a little extra money, you can save a couple of hours cleaning your home, not to mention the dozens of hours of procrastinating!

Wake up 30 minutes earlier. Work out before heading to the office. A little trick for waking up faster is to touch your toes as soon as you open your eyes—this brings blood to your head so you feel alert quicker. After your workout, you'll be more energized for the day ahead and hardly notice the lost sleep. Working out in the morning as opposed to midday or at night also saves you the double cost of showering, getting dressed, and making yourself beautiful.

Prepare meals in advance. Try to get most of your meal preparation for the week done over the weekend. That means washing all your lettuce, veggies, herbs, fish, and poultry up front, and stocking complete salads-in-a-bag to take to work. You can also prepare individual slices of poultry and fish and various veggies for dinner. Also, make vats of soup, pasta, and brown rice that you'll be able to microwave throughout the week. Filling up on healthy meals and having low-fat, good-for-you snacks readily available at work will reduce the temptation to sample the goodies from the office vending machine.

Take your DVDs with you. If you're traveling, make sure you pack your favorite fitness DVDs along with your laptop so you can work out wherever you are, whether it's at your in-laws' house, your friend's house, or in a hotel room.
Pop in a 20-minute workout. Beachbody makes some superfast and effective 10-to-20-minute workouts for when you're seriously short on time. Try the Turbo Jam 20 Minute Workout for an excellent calorie-blasting session, any of the 10 Minute Trainer workouts for excellent muscle-toning and fat-burning results in as little as 10 minutes, and the Great Body Guaranteed!™ collection to focus on specific trouble areas in even less than 10 minutes. It's only about 10 to 20 minutes, but the rewards stretch far beyond that to stronger bones and muscles, a sharper mind, and a lower risk of developing cancer and diabetes. And remember, working out reduces stress. You'll enjoy your free time much more if you're healthy and energized.

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
By Aaron Lowe

We've all been there—we've busted our tails with intense exercise programs like P90X, Turbo Jam and 10 Minute Trainer and deprived ourselves of the foods we loved. We've even sacrificed our social lives in the name of fitness, but, many times, all that hard work hasn't paid off as well as we wanted or thought it would. Dialing in the exercise routine is often the simple part of the equation. Getting your diet right, for most of us, is the complex part. What can really help with reaching your goals are nutritional supplements, and here are five ways in which they can support your health and fitness program.


Supplements provide nutrients that the body needs during and after exercise. When most of us think about taking a multivitamin, we think of it as basic nutritional insurance, and we are correct. But, there is a bigger role that basic multivitamins play. Your body has literally millions of biological actions going on at any moment, and all of them rely on nutrients from our diet to function. The body is very smart in its "pecking order" of distributing nutrients and will prioritize survival mechanisms over all others. What this means is that if the nutrients required to recover from a tough workout are needed for a survival mechanism, your recovery will not be as complete or as rapid because the body didn't get enough of what it needs. The final effect is that you may not be ready for your next workout, or your body won't improve at the pace that it could be improving. Simple insurance for making sure this doesn't happen is with a full-spectrum multivitamin like ActiVit.

Supplements can help support your immune health. Too much exercise can be as bad as too little, especially for the immune system. Pushing your body too hard, too often, and not allowing for full recovery is a recipe for over training, and that often leads to illness. Getting sick is not conducive to improvement in your fitness program, so you want to avoid it at all costs. Make sure that your body has the nutrients it needs to support immune function by emphasizing vitamins C and E; zinc and selenium; and beta-carotene. They are the major nutrient players in supporting immune health.

Supplements can help control calorie intake. Following a strict diet with fresh, healthy meals rich in fruits and vegetables is a noble goal that we should all strive to achieve. For us folks in the real world, however, career, kids, and life in general are serious obstacles. It's really common to have one "throwaway" meal every day. That's the meal that we grab on the go and try to make up for with the next meal. The problem is that those throwaway meals add up and we rarely make up for them.

One of the best ways to help you get through a busy day without hitting the local fast food drive-thru or vending machine is with a meal replacement drink mix, like Beachbody's Meal Replacement Shake. Keeping an easy-to-mix-and-consume drink handy at work and in your car is a smart way to avoid the fast food pitfalls. Not enough time to prepare that healthy breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Enjoy a meal replacement drink instead. Eschew that fat-, sugar-, and sodium-laden meal that will put you behind in your program, and you'll be proudly marching forward toward your goals. It really is one of the easiest ways to support your health and fitness program.

Supplements can help you safely burn fat when you're not exercising. What? Safely burn fat throughout the day? Is there a new pill on the market? No, but there is a substantial amount of research that suggests green tea enhances fat burning in the body without any negative side effects like jitters or sleeplessness. In fact, the same active ingredients in green tea that promote fat burning are also powerful antioxidants that protect your body from free radical damage. What more could one want? When you do shop for a green tea supplement, make sure it's a standardized extract that provides a known amount of polyphenols (the active ingredients in green tea). For example, ActiVit Metabolism Formula has the equivalent of three cups of green tea in one serving and is standardized for 60 percent of polyphenols. That's one of the strongest concentrations available on the market today.

Supplements can support lean muscle gains. Most of us think of taking in extra protein when we think about gaining lean mass, but taking creatine is arguably one of the best ways to increase solid mass. This supplement took the world by storm when it was first introduced over a dozen years ago. It's one of the few that has stood the test of time because it works, and it's safe. Where it differs from protein is that it's nearly impossible to get an effective dose of creatine from diet alone. One would have to eat many, many pounds of red meat to get the suggested 5 grams of creatine daily. A supplement is simply the only way to get the quantity of creatine needed to have a physiological effect. Period!

Always remember this: A complete health and fitness program includes a comprehensive nutrition program that emphasizes those nutrients that are critical not only for overall good health but to support the program. If your diet doesn't provide an adequate amount of the nutrients needed, a supplement can fit the bill.

Chalene Extreme - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Workout DVDs


Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Sunday, August 10, 2008
By Steve Edwards

One of the most frustrating scenarios we face is when we finally make that commitment to our health, begin to work out, and then find ourselves sidelined due to an injury. In part two of this series (click here for part one), let's look at what to do when we're faced with an injury.

It's common to see athletes return from being injured better than they were before they got hurt. This is because when you're injured, you are forced to rebuild your body the correct way. Failure to do this could lead to being handicapped for life. If you "rebuild" correctly, however, you can easily return from most injuries not only feeling fitter but better able to stave off injuries in the future. Here's a quick guide on how to come back stronger and faster if you're injured.

Examining your injury
The first thing we need to do is assess our injuries. We're going to throw major trauma out of this discussion because in those situations you need professional health care right away. In situations of major trauma, you should follow your doctor's orders until they give you the go-ahead to do things on your own. At this point, you probably still have some physical limitations to consider, but once your doctor releases you, the information provided below for minor trauma becomes relevant.

Pain is generally associated with an injury, but all pain doesn't mean that you're injured. A fairly common occurrence—especially for people who haven't worked out before—is to confuse standard muscle breakdown for an injury. This may sound absurd, but it's not when you consider how the body becomes stronger. The kind of breakdown we instigate through training is, in fact, a type of injury. The only difference is that it's targeted breakdown to body parts that recover quickly. This is why recovery is such an important subject in fitness training. When you follow a workout program, the overload is progressive, meaning that the amount of breakdown increases over time. But when you overdo it during a workout, you create excessive muscular breakdown, which can feel like an injury.

Most other injuries that don't require immediate medical attention are called soft tissue injuries. These are referred to as sprains, twists, pulls, jams, etc., and are all different types of microtrauma to your ligaments or tendons. These injuries vary in severity. In some cases, you need to see a doctor to assess how serious an injury is—and whether it's something that needs medical attention. Minor cases are often left untreated. Leaving minor injuries untreated is an easy way to help an area turn into a chronic problem.

But whether you are beat up from training or have an injury, your recovery protocol is similar. All pain should be treated as an injury of some sort. The only variance should be in how aggressively you go about implementing the treatment listed below. For example, if you know that you have muscle breakdown from jumping too high during yesterday's P90X Plyometrics workout, you can be less diligent about certain protocol, like icing the "injured" region. Ice would still help the injured area recover more quickly, but given that you know it's not a real injury, you can be certain it will heal 100 percent anyway. Incidentally, an after-workout shake like P90X Results and Recovery Formula that enhances quick replenishment can help you know if you're injured or just overdid it. A properly timed recovery shake will improve muscle resynthesis so that you're less sore.

So, essentially, there are two types of injuries. Major, which means that you need to see a professional ASAP, and minor, which you can (and should) treat yourself. Keep in mind that a minor injury can become major. Therefore, keep a close eye on how your home treatment is progressing. If things continually get worse, it's always better to get to a doctor—the sooner the better.

Periodizational training for injuries
As soon as you notice an injury, whether you've twisted your ankle or noticed that a dull ache in your elbow seems to be getting worse, your protocol should be the same. Just like an exercise program, there is an injury treatment program that will have you following steps and progressing in phases. Consider that in most cases, the type of injury doesn't matter because these steps are the same. If your injury isn't so bad that you need to see a doctor, these are the steps that you should follow.

Step 1: Post-injury ASAP
When you get injured, your very first step is to assess the injury. Is it bloody, are you disfigured, can you mobilize the area, etc.? Your first step is to address whether or not you need to get to a hospital. If the answer is yes, you want to get there ASAP because the sooner the treatment is started, the easier your recovery period will be.

If no doc is on your agenda, your next step is to immobilize the injury. Adding further stress at this point can exacerbate the injury. So when you've hurt something, the first thing you want to do is to stop.

Next, you want to keep the area from becoming inflamed. If you're away from home and you need to keep moving, this can become step one. Taking anti-inflammatory medication, ibuprofen, or naproxen sodium should be the first thing you do, unless you have an issue with these medications.

You'll want to ice and elevate the area immediately. Of the two, icing is more effective. Doing both is best. Getting ice on an injury as soon as possible is probably the best way to speed up your recovery. It's almost hard to believe how effective keeping an area iced and elevated post-injury are for speeding recovery. By taking the time to do this, even when the injury isn't too severe, you can change something that could become a nagging, chronic problem into something that is gone so fast that you forget you were ever injured.

Ice helps with standard exercise recovery, too. If you know you've overdone your workout, immersing the affected areas in ice will greatly speed up your recovery. It's important to keep in mind that icing small areas, like your fingers, can lead to frostbite because you don't have enough circulation to melt the ice in those areas. The smaller the area, the shorter the time you should ice it. For fingers, don't exceed 10 or so minutes. For larger areas, like ankles, standard practice is to ice for 20 to 30 minutes. Post-icing: Allow the area to be fully warmed before icing again. During the acute stage of an injury, you can ice up to 5 times a day or so. Don't get discouraged if you can't do this. Any icing is much better than none.

Now rest. During the acute stage of this phase, you don't want to do any other exercise. This will cause breakdown that reduces your body's ability to repair the damaged area. The length of this period depends on the injury. For an injured finger, you might be able to move into the second phase the next day. For a larger body part, you might need a few days or more of downtime.

Step 2: Recovery
As soon as you can, you want to get the rest of your body moving again. This helps speed your recovery by reversing the atrophy that begins once you stop movement. What to do during this step varies a lot and is entirely dependent upon the location of your injury. The only constant is that you don't want to stress the injured area at all. Other than that, you can do any physical activity you want.

Step 3: Physical therapy
This is where you target the comeback for your injured area. Visiting a physical therapist can greatly help because, well, it's his or her job to help you recover. The training done generally starts with simple manipulations of the injured area. Once these can be done without pain, the intensity begins to increase.

Physical therapy exercises stress muscular balance. That is, they tend to target both the large prime mover muscles of an area along with the smaller stabilizer muscles. Because you focus on these in combination—which often doesn't happen during sports or training programs because they are based on changing only how you look—you will often return from an injury more balanced than you were prior to the injury. This is why many athletes come back from injuries stronger than they were before.

It's impossible, in the scope of this article, to explain all the types of exercises you could do for injured areas of your body. There are many references on this subject, including physical therapists. Beachbody® now offers a solution as well. Our Total Body Solution™ program covers basic movements that you would do for rehab. Keep in mind that you can also do these to help prevent injuries. Total Body Solution also has assessment movements that will show you if your body is out of balance.

You know that injuries are really just a part of life, as is how we respond to them. If regimented protocol is followed, you really have no reason to fear injuries. They, like most things in life, are simply a part of the process of living. How we deal with them can make them worse, or turn them into a positive.

Chalene Extreme - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Trainer - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs


Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Friday, August 8, 2008
By Joe Wilkes

August is National Watermelon Month! How much do you know about this picnic favorite?

Where was the first recorded watermelon harvest? The first harvest is believed to have occurred in Egypt over 5,000 years ago. Watermelon was reportedly first grown in the Kalahari Desert.

How much of the watermelon is actually water? A full 92 percent of the watermelon is water. In fact, the fruits were historically used as canteens.

What was the biggest watermelon ever grown? The world record holder is Lloyd Bright of Hope, Arkansas, who grew a 268.8-pound watermelon in 2005. That weight is even more than Hope's other famous export, former president Bill Clinton.

How are square watermelons made? In Japan, a technology was developed to grow watermelons in square glass boxes. This made the watermelons easier to stack. Watermelons are even more popular in Asia than in the U.S. China consumes 30 times as many watermelons as the U.S.

What two vitamins are watermelons highest in? Vitamins A and C. Watermelons are also good sources of potassium, magnesium, and lycopene. Watermelons (especially the rind) have high levels of citrulline, an amino acid that can produce Viagra-like effects in its consumers.

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
By Jude Buglewicz

Do you have more trouble choosing a workout program or starting the one you just bought? Are you an early morning exerciser or do you Push Play whenever you can grab a few minutes of uninterrupted time? See which of the six fitness personality types best describes you—then find out what you can do to ensure that you get your best results.

The Program Collector
You saw a Slim in 6 infomercial and eagerly ordered the product, only to stick it on a shelf unopened once you got it. Same with Power 90. Ditto with Turbo Jam. Your intentions were good at the time, but now you studiously avoid even looking at the DVD covers, let alone taking the discs out. It's a lot easier to keep watching TV and let time go drifting by.


Most common fitness lament: "I just don't feel like it."

Pitfall: No motivation. Or is it intimidation? Fear? You've never exercised regularly or, you're so out of practice, you're overwhelmed by the amount of work you think it will take. You may not have much confidence in your ability to pull it off.

Start with . . . Taking it one day at a time. Break down your overall goal of losing 35, 50, or 100 pounds into smaller, more easily attainable goals; work out for 10 minutes a day, then 15, 20, or whatever you can manage. Start slow and gradually build up to getting through a whole workout. It may take a couple of weeks. Watch Success Stories in the meantime, or check out the Photo Galleries on the Message Boards to get inspired all over again. If they can do it, so can you. Join a WOWY® Workout Group, find some Success Buddies, and set up a support system on the Message Boards. You're not in this alone.

Proof: Koko T. "One night, bloated, tired, and I'd say overweight, I saw an infomercial for Power 90 . . . I taped the infomercial so I could watch it again. Knowing myself, and knowing I was a lazy person with limited energy, I forgot about it and tried not to think about exercise and all that nutrition stuff. [Much later] I dug up the Power 90 infomercial, and went to the Beachbody site. I read the stories, saw the products, and wanted this to happen FAST. I ordered Slim in 6 because it was only a 42-day program, but sadly, when it arrived it just sat there for close to a year. Did I mention how lazy and unmotivated I can be? I hadn't even opened the package! . . . One day . . . I did the programs, I stayed with it, [and] I followed the nutrition guidelines and logged on to the Message Boards every chance I got. It wasn't magic. I am now the 'after' photo I always dreamed of [being]."

The Constant Staller

You can't piece together a regular exercise schedule no matter how hard you try. You're forever starting and restarting programs; the chaos of daily life inevitably intervenes and knocks you off track. It seems like every day someone's birthday celebration, a special event, a personal or work obligation, or a family emergency derails your most sincere fitness intentions. You're constantly postponing or rescheduling workouts, which means you're rarely ever working out at all.

Most common fitness lament: "I just don't have time!"

Pitfall: Distractions. You haven't made fitness a priority in your life, so anything and everything takes precedence over your workout.

Start with . . . Easing into a regular workout schedule. Early mornings might make the most sense for you, since once the day starts unfolding, your chances of escaping the rising momentum of responsibilities are nil. Getting your exercise out of the way first thing means you don't have to suffer the self-loathing associated with a missed workout. You can sail through the rest of the day guilt free. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to radically change your daily routine immediately, though. Start with just two or three workouts a week, and then add more as you get used to waking up early to exercise. Once you notice how much more energized you feel on those days, you'll be on your way to establishing a regular workout schedule.

Proof: Charline B. "To those of you who say, 'I just can't find the time to do this,' I am here to tell you that if you want this badly enough, you will do whatever it takes. I had to change my schedule and faithfully log in to WOWY (another GREAT Beachbody tool!) at 4:30 AM six days a week to get in my workouts. Trust me, I am NOT a morning person, but this way I KNOW I'll get in my workout. No excuses. The changes in my life have made it worth whatever it takes."

The Valiant Struggler

You exercise four to six times a week but hardly ever at the same time of day. You grab 20 minutes here, 40 minutes there, fitting in a workout whenever you can. Or maybe you've got a regular workout time, but your fitness "regimen" is all over the place—no rhyme or reason as to why you choose a sculpting or cardio routine. You do whatever workout fits your time frame or suits your daily mood—or spills out of the DVD cabinet.

Most common fitness lament: "I'm not seeing results!"

Pitfall: No game plan. Or no intensity.

Start with . . . A specific goal. Do you want to lose a certain number of pounds? Get your waist down to a certain number of inches? Fit into a specific dress or suit size? To sneak a little order into your routine while preserving your need for flexibility, try programs like Power Half Hour® and Slim Series®—they provide different kinds of workouts that you can customize to your needs, as well as recommended weekly plans, allowing you to add more cardio or targeted sculpting workouts depending on your goal. To ramp up the intensity, you can try working out with a progress tool like a heart rate monitor.

Proof: Anna Eriksson, Beachbody Product Development Director. "It wasn't until I strapped on my first heart rate monitor that I realized I'd been babying myself for quite a while. Later, I was asked to try a couple of workouts using a particular resistance band, a heavier band than I normally use. And what do you know? When I stopped, my arms felt . . . not sore . . . but worked—just by Pushing Play and ramping up the intensity."

The Intellectual Benchwarmer

You know all about the benefits of exercise and the hazards of obesity. You read fitness columns every day, subscribe to health magazines, and may even spend hours online chatting with other like-minded folks, soliciting advice and tips about fitness and nutrition. You spend so much time thinking or reading about working out that you hardly have the time or desire to actually do it.

Most common fitness lament: "I need more information!" or "I don't know how to do it right!"

Pitfall: You think too much.

Start with . . . Just doing it, to paraphrase the Nike slogan. Stop worrying and studying and start Pushing Play. Because intellectualizing exercise is your forte, it'll probably be easy for you to maintain an exercise journal. Try to keep it simple, and use it as a tool to track your progress over time. Make sure you give yourself a chance to experience the process before you rush to analyze every ache and pain and then talk yourself out of doing your program every day. It's great to be interested in fitness and to be aware of all its benefits—so long as you get away from your computer or put down the magazines long enough to actually work up a good sweat.

Proof: Ronald M. "As a registered nurse, I'm fully aware of the negative health consequences of obesity and inactivity. Yet, I still did not exercise and my waistline continued to get larger year by year. My eating habits were atrocious; I would eat whatever, whenever (many times after midnight), and as much as I could eat. Every summer for the past 7 years I've told myself, 'This is the year I'm getting in shape!' Power 90 works because Beachbody has laid everything out for you. Follow the workouts and the diet guidelines and you will succeed. After 90 days, I lost a total of 25 lbs."

The Socializer

Besides Pushing Play, you're chatting with a program trainer a few times a week and setting up workout times with your WOWY Buddies. You may be a Beachbody Coach or a regular at Tony Horton's Fitness Camps. You share advice and maintain connections on the Message Boards. You post your progress photos every few weeks and have a solid support network. After all, it's easier to stay committed if you're accountable to people. And it's worth even more if your experience can make a positive difference in someone's life.

Most common fitness lament: "My Internet connection is too slow!"

Pitfall: There really isn't a downside to this one—unless your fitness routine is solely dependent on others.

Start with . . . Making sure you're self-accountable. It's wonderful that you're sharing your fitness success or offering support to others—we wish there were lots more like you! You probably have what it takes to motivate yourself and Keep Pushing Play, but just in case you found yourself stranded somewhere indefinitely without an Internet connection . . . you'd know what to do, right?

Proof: Tony B. "I have renewed vitality and vigor combined with a whole new outlook on diet and life [after completing Power 90]. Never in my life have I been in this good of shape, not even when I was in boot camp . . . I would like to thank the fitness advisors for their prompt answers to questions and to all the people I have talked to on the Message Boards. [ . . . ] I would like to share my experience with as many people as are willing to listen. Because of my cardiac limitations, I feel I can help people who are feeling timid about not being able to keep up or that might have to adjust and modify certain exercises to suit their specific needs."

The Autopilot
You've established the habit of exercising almost every day, at the same time each day. You follow workout programs to a T. Exercise is a priority and you schedule your day around it. You're self-motivated and you manage your time extremely well.

Most common fitness lament: "I'm bored," or "I'm not seeing results anymore."

Pitfall: Plateaus or even injuries. Working out the same muscle groups week after week in the same way may create imbalances or weaknesses in opposing muscle groups that could lead to injuries.

Start with . . . Mixing it up. When you get bored with the same old thing, or you're stuck at a certain weight, or you stop seeing results, you know it's time to make some changes, either in your workout intensity, your diet, or both. Try incorporating new fitness gear into your usual routine—a balance ball, a sculpting band, a heart rate monitor, weights, or weighted gloves—or else change fitness programs altogether. Switch to a more advanced workout series, try a different trainer, or alternate workouts from different programs. Or turn to others who've been through the same thing to infuse you with inspiration or jump-start your motivation.

Proof: Jimmy F. "Meeting Tony in Hawaii was a really motivating experience. I also met Beachbody's Mike Karpenko, who gave me some awesome tips on the P90X Nutrition Plan and how to make it really work for me this time around. I met Dale C., who got totally fantastic results from Power 90 and P90X, and talking to him really lit a fire under me. So I came back from that trip ready to commit and really BRING IT for a full 90 days!!!! The workouts were new to me all over again."

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Monday, August 4, 2008
By Cecilia H. Lee

There are no substitutes for eating healthily and regular exercise, but experts say that your frame of mind and your attitude can make a huge difference to your weight loss success. Of course, we're not suggesting hypnosis or any of that silly voodoo. We're talking about cutting out the "mental fat"—the negative thoughts and emotional baggage we carry around that keep us from being able to shed the physical fat.

It's easy for us to make excuses for not getting healthier. Whether it be emotional problems, work-related stresses, or family pressures, something will always get in the way of eating better and making time to exercise.


Just as losing weight and getting healthier won't happen overnight, improving your thought process will take time as well. Be patient with yourself and work at it a little bit at a time. Below we've outlined 10 methods you can use to help you think better, smarter, healthier, and thinner!

Visualize yourself thin. Imagine how you'll look 6 to 12 months down the line. If you have old pictures of your thinner self, dig them out and put them up in a prominent place (like the refrigerator or on a bulletin board in your office). Remember how you felt back then. What habits did you have then that allowed you to be healthier? See if you can incorporate your better habits from the past back into your lifestyle now.

Remember to see yourself in a positive light. Having a positive attitude and being happy with yourself will be helpful in achieving your health goals.

Make a list. List specific reasons why you want to lose weight. Perhaps you want to be more attractive to a certain someone, maybe you want to be able to fit into your old clothes again, or maybe you'd just like to have more energy. Whatever your personal reasons, great or small, write them all down on an index card. Look at your list every morning and carry it around in your wallet or purse. On the back of the card, write down motivating phrases to give yourself encouragement.

Think about activities you wish you could do that you can't do because of your weight. If you can, cut out a picture of that activity from a magazine and hang it near your desk (or somewhere else that's visible), so that you'll have something to look forward to.

Identify self-sabotaging thoughts. Pay attention to your negative thoughts. We all have them. They may be something like "This is too difficult," "I'll never be able to lose this much weight," or "I'm too tired." You can't stop them from entering your head but you can learn to respond to them constructively.

Don't be overly critical of yourself—focusing on your negative aspects while minimizing your positive ones. Just because you feel or believe something doesn't actually make it true. Of course, there are no wrong or bad emotions, but identifying why something makes you feel bad can help prevent those situations in the future. If you get in the habit of identifying your self-sabotaging thoughts, you can nip them in the bud before they blow up into an ugly depression.

Distract yourself from cravings. Create a list of things you can do to distract yourself from tempting food. Perhaps you can read a book, flip through a magazine, or play a video game. Or better yet, go for a walk or pop in an exercise DVD, like P90X, Turbo Jam, 10 Minute Trainer, or Slim in 6. The next time a craving comes up, do one or two things on your list. You may have to do more, but eventually the craving will pass. Cravings will pass 100 percent of the time.

Create small goals for yourself. Write down a list of tiny things you can do to improve your lifestyle. We all know that it's difficult to make huge changes to our lifestyles. So try accomplishing smaller goals. Try doing some of the activities listed below.

Take a 30-minute walk in the afternoon.

Eat one more serving of fruits or vegetables today.

Forgo that soda or glass of wine and just have a tall glass of ice water.

Order a side salad instead of those french fries.

Replace old habits with new ones. It's easier to replace an old habit with a new habit than it is to break an old one altogether. For instance, if you have a sandwich every day for lunch, choose low-fat turkey on wheat and skip the mayonnaise. Have plain or sparkling water instead of a regular sugared or diet soda. If you like to have an afternoon snack, grab an apple or a handful of your favorite nuts instead of a candy bar. There are so many ways you can replace even entrenched bad habits with healthier good ones. Be creative and have fun with it.

Keep a journal. Get a little notebook and keep a log of your weight. This way you can determine what is and isn't working and track the progress you make. Also, write down what you eat. Keeping track of the foods you eat will help show patterns. You may not have realized that you eat ice cream right out of the freezer every night after dinner, but your journal will keep you honest. Just knowing that you're going to write down what you've been eating may keep you from reaching for that extra serving of mashed potatoes.

Plan for the future. Every night before you go to bed, plan for the next day. Whether it be scheduling exercise in your calendar or prepacking healthy snacks (like fresh fruit, cut veggies, or low-fat popcorn), get ready for tomorrow.

This also applies to grocery shopping. Make a list before you go grocery shopping that includes fresh fruits and vegetables you like. Replace calorie-heavy, fatty foods like chips and cookies with baked crackers or dried fruit.

Armed with a plan and tools to help you maintain that plan, you'll have an easier time meeting your goals.

Be nice to yourself. When you've been good, do something nice for yourself. Reward yourself with something you enjoy (but not with food rewards, of course!). Perhaps you can enjoy a trip to a movie theatre, buy yourself a new book, or go for a foot massage.

For instance, if you walked up the stairs to work this morning, treat yourself to a bit of Internet surfing or an online game before tackling your job. If you've lost 5 pounds, reward yourself with a new haircut. Whatever you do, give yourself rewards proportional to the goals you accomplish.

Surround yourself with support. We all need emotional support, especially when times get tough. Find friends and family to help you. You may even be able to find a diet buddy or join a support group. Many studies show that having a healthy social network is better for your overall health. Dieters who have friends and family pulling for them achieve better success than those who try to go it alone.

So pick up the phone, call a friend, and flex those mental muscles. Many happy thoughts to you!


Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Saturday, August 2, 2008
By Joe Wilkes

Dark-green leafy vegetables are great metabolism boosters. How much do you know about them?

What popular salad green is also known as rocket? Arugula or Eruca sativa. This spicy Mediterranean native is rich in potassium and vitamin C. It is popular in salads in America and as a pizza topping in Italy.

Which dark leafy green is considered the ancestor of most types of cabbage? Kale, also known as "wild cabbage." Kale was very popular in northern climates like Scandinavia and Germany as it thrives in low temperatures and even frost, and it is one of the hardiest of all vegetables. It's a great source of iron, calcium, and vitamins C and K.

Which common garden weed has even more vitamins than broccoli? A one-cup serving of dandelion greens contains more than 4 times as much vitamin A and almost twice as much vitamin K, calcium, and iron. If you're going to eat them out of your yard, the key is to pick the greens before the plant flowers, as they become bitter then. Only get dandelions from your yard or some place you know, so you don't eat greens sautéed in weed killer.

What green comes in ruby, yellow, and rainbow varieties? Swiss chard, so named because it was discovered by a Swiss botanist, is from the same species as the beet but is cultivated for its leaves rather than its roots.

What city recently concluded the 2008 Collard Green Festival? California's East Palo Alto held the festival on July 26th. It celebrates the green as well as the community's African American heritage—early slaves cooked big pots of leftover greens for sustenance, an early version of soul food. The festival raises money for education. And yes, the festival did feature collard green ice cream!

Chalene Extreme - P90X - P90X Plus - Power 90 Workout - 10 Minute Trainer - Shaun T - Ab Workout - Turbo Jam - Workout DVDs


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