UltimateFitnessGear Archive Page
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The exercise band has been slowly building its reputation as an efficient fitness tool. Although they’ve had a slow start and are yet to catch up in popularity with other fitness devices such as dumbbells and exercise balls, more and more fitness experts are now vouching for the efficacy of the exercise band in toning muscles and developing balance.

The Challenges

Even with its proven effectiveness, many people still do not know how to use the exercise bands. While it is easy to determine what to do with the dumbbells the moment you get hold of them, you would need a little more analysis to figure out how to use the bands.

Some fitness enthusiasts who have tried the exercise bands also claim to feel less tension as compared to the tension felt when using dumbbells. This could be attributed to the fact that it is easier to know the intensity of the workout when you have numbers to go with what you're lifting. The absence of these numbers in elastic bands makes it difficult to determine this intensity.

Overcoming the Challenges

Not knowing how to use the bands does not automatically mean that it is not effective. There are several training videos to help you get the full benefits of exercise bands. And when you have learned the correct tricks, you would realize that it gives you the same level of tension as when using other fitness tools.

Exercise bands now come in different types and tension level enabling you to vary your bands to work out different muscle groups. It is important to identify the needs of every muscle group that you want toned. This will be the starting point for your fitness plan. For beginners, it is best to start with the basic long tube. Once you get the hang of it, you can purchase other band types for variety.

Exercise bands also allow you to modify your exercise programs. You do not have to mainly rely on the force of gravity to give you resistance. You can attach the bands to the stairs or a steady pole to target the muscles in the arms and legs.

Aside from that, exercise bands offer convenience when traveling. You can take your favorite fitness device anywhere you want without much hassle, as the exercise band is compact and light. You may even just opt to buy a new one instead since the bands are so much cheaper than most fitness tools.

The exercise band has already established its significance as a tool for injury prevention and rehabilitation, and while it still needs to keep up with the popularity of its counterparts, it is consistently gaining more and more satisfied users for strength training.

Chalene Extreme Workout - 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
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Fit Old Guy
It used to be said that whatever weight you had attained by the time you were 50 would be the weight you would maintain for the rest of your life. Many people think that they cannot get fit as they get older and that they cannot lose weight. The interesting thing is that you can change your fitness level based on the choices you make.

A research study done by Uppsala University in Sweden studied 2,205 men who were older to see how fitness contributed to their overall health. The men were put into three groups of low, medium and high exercise and the men self-reported what they had done.

The study results were that those who were active lived longer and those who were mostly sedentary were the ones who went to an early death; the death rates were lowest in those men who had the highest level of activity.

This is not surprising for most people and it is important to know that you can get in shape wherever you are. Many people choose the home gym as a way to get started or to stick with because you can do anything at home that you could do in a gym.

When you are looking for a fitness program you do not always have to go to a gym to get exactly what you want. Many older people are walking, riding bikes and swimming. These are excellent ways to start a fitness program or to continue one.

All of these fitness activities can be done at home and you can regulate them so you move at your own pace. If you have always worked out and you want something more intense, try the Turbo Jam workout. These are intense and a lot of fun; so make sure that you check with your health practitioner, before you get started.

Many older people choose to work with a fitness trainer when they first start to exercise to make sure they get the most out of their routine. This is a great way to create your own workout and a fitness trainer will keep you on track.


Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
By Shaun T, creator of Get Real with Shaun T

Oh sure, everyone always says to me, "Shaun, I swear, I eat very healthily. I have a clean diet." But when people are experiencing "stubborn pounds" that won't budge off their bodies, I see uncertainty and fear in their eyes when I say, "I bet it's a common eating habit that is undermining your hard work."

Nutrition Label Oh yeah. It's natural for us to be less than honest with ourselves about where we're cheating on our nutritional plans. We work out and have the best of intentions for our daily meals, but we end up falling short of our goals for having a balanced nutritional plan for various reasons. Some of the most common pitfalls can be avoided simply by being aware of them.

Walking, Good Food, Journal, and Small Portions
  1. Stress eating. Hey, I readily admit that food is comforting—especially comfort food. You know, the mac and cheese; the meatloaf and buttery mashed potatoes; an entire pint of butter pecan ice cream . . . enough said. But there are so many better ways to beat stress than by eating yourself into a stupor.

    Walking on the Beach - Do this instead: My favorite thing to do is to get out and just take a walk. Focus on your body and forget the snacks, and get some air deep into your lungs, clear your head, feel your blood pumping, and stretch your legs out. It won't take but a few minutes for you to reap big benefits from taking a brisk walk . . . away from the vending machine. Or if it's raining, put on some great music and dance—that works too! You can get plenty of this done with Hip Hop Abs or my Dance Party Series.

  2. Grazing. Many people have a complete lack of structure to their daily meals—they actually never stop nibbling throughout the day—from bits of bagels and bites of donuts in the morning all the way through to chips in front of the TV for late-night channel surfing. Grazers have absolutely no set meal times, and end up shutting down their bodies' natural calorie-burning cycles through the constant onslaught of fat and calories.

    Eating Fruit - Do this instead: Of course, avoid the bad stuff. Instead of vending-machine junk and food with a low nutritional value, pack healthy snacks for nibbling. And make time for balanced meals that will satisfy your appetite so you won't be reaching for whatever's near. See the action plan for #3.

  3. Unconscious eating. Eating without paying attention to what you're doing, or without even realizing that you're consuming calories.

    Writing in Journal - Do this instead: Keeping a food journal is the best way I know to determine whether you have unconscious-eating tendencies. One of my clients confessed that while keeping her journal, she would catch herself working at her desk and suddenly realize that she needed to jot down the cookie she'd just eaten at a coworker's desk. They'd offered her a homemade cookie, and she'd eaten it without even thinking about it—much less factoring it into her daily planned food intake. Cha-CHING! Those 200 sweet calories needed to be added to her daily tally in her food journal to get an accurate picture of what she was eating.

  4. Double portions. It's not just restaurants that are offering us bigger portions to show us the value of their meals; it's loved ones and friends and ourselves who proudly serve up much more than our bodies need for fuel at mealtime—on a regular basis. It's because we think we're showing love, or are being shown love, through food. We'd also feel stingy if we were to serve the plate with less on it. The sad fact is that "normal" portions in the U.S. aren't just a fraction more food than needed for having a balanced meal—they're like double, which is in excess of what your body requires, and WAY more than you can burn through your daily workout!

    Small Portions - Do this instead: Ask yourself, "Do 20 bites of a huge sandwich really taste that much better than 10?" How do those 10 extra bites taste when you know you can't burn them off that day and at least half that sandwich is going to turn into those "stubborn" pounds? Stick with sane portions; listen to your body.

Yes, these are four common pitfalls. They're all too common—but that doesn't make them any less devastating to our fitness results and our ultimate health goals (and don't forget that it can also be discouraging to the mental image you have of where you want to be). Be aware of where you might be defeating yourself, and take some time to form a personal plan to help you avoid these pitfalls on a daily basis.

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


Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Monday, September 22, 2008
Exercise routines are normally made more challenging and intense by adding resistance. For cardio routines such as dance aerobics and kickboxing, you will normally get a better workout by holding small dumbbells in each hand. This could be a bit bulky, though. A good alternative is to use weighted workout gloves.

Weighted workout gloves are gloves that go over the hand and are strapped around the wrist. Small weights are distributed evenly in the gloves. A pair of gloves may have as little as 1 lb worth of weights to as much as 6 lbs.

The Intensity They Bring

You will find the weighted workout gloves useful if you want to amp up your cardio routines. You can strap them on when you go jogging, walking or running. The moves in non-contact shadow boxing and kickboxing will become more intense with these additional weights on your hands. They are also great when worn during dance aerobics and step aerobics, as well as for cross training.

Aside from cardio routines, the gloves can also be used for toning exercises, especially for beginners. Aside from the extra resistance, having the weights distributed evenly and actually wearing them allow you to keep your balance more easily while working out.

Getting Your First Pair

When shopping around for a pair of weighted gloves, the first thing to check will be the kind of fabric used. Go for a more lightweight fabric so that your skin can breathe. Make sure that the fabric is easily washable. Remember, you will be wearing them close to your skin and you will most probably need to wash them after each use. You will also want to check whether the fabric is something that is suited to your particular skin type.

Next, check the weights. Some gloves will have the weights sewn in, while others will allow you to remove the weights. Removable weights will give you the option to increase or decrease the weights depending on how intense you want your workout to be, so it might be more practical to get gloves that allow you to do that.

Check the seams that hold the gloves together. They should be tight, signifying strong construction. The last thing you will want is to have a pair of weighted gloves that go apart during a workout.

If you want that extra power for your workout without having to carry cumbersome weights, check weighted workout gloves and see how it can be great for your program.

Chalene Extreme Workout - 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
Friday, September 19, 2008
By Steve Edwards

Fat Darth VaderWe at Beachbody are at war against the most formidable opponent the United States has ever faced: obesity. It's killing more people a month than our two other more high-profile combatants—terror and drugs—have killed this decade. Obesity is the Darth Vader of all the dangers we'll face in our lifetimes. Smoking once ruled our universe, but a new master has taken over the dark side. Here, in the final installment of our latest trilogy on obesity, we offer a new hope of getting the Force back on our side.

As usual, we begin in what appear to be ever-darkening times. Just last week, a report was released showing that an obese 10-year-old kid may have the arteries of a 45-year-old. Each time we offer a solution, the obesity empire rebuffs our efforts. Earlier this year, we released Shaun T's Fit Kids® Club. Vader laughed as our infant mortality rate skyrocketed compared to the rest of the world. We offered Kathy Smith's Project:YOU! Type 2 and then saw the number of people who either are pre-diabetic or are already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes skyrocket to nearly a third of our population.

Earlier this month, we offered 10 solutions to the epidemic. Last week, we're told that over half our kids are projected to be obese within a generation. Admittedly, things look bleak for the rebellion. But read on and you'll see that we don't need a Jedi to guide us in this war. The Force is very powerful. And it's controlled by us.

Junk Food Pyramid

In the film Idiocracy, we're offered a glimpse at a possible future should we continue to follow our current patterns of regression. In the film, society has devolved into an anti-intellectual state completely controlled by corporate advertising interests. We're at a crossroads-we're watering our plants with a version of Gatorade, the only beverage we consume, and our plants will no longer grow. The corporate-controlled Food and Drug Administration's food pyramid features nothing but fast food, sports drinks, and mind-altering legal substances: alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco. And while it's an over-the-top comedy, one can't wonder whether the most unbelievable thing in the movie is that it's set 500 years in the future. At the rate we're going, we could be living—or at least eating—this way before the end of this millennium.

Obese Kid Case in point: the latest studies on obese children. At the American Heart Association's conference last week, two studies, done independently in different countries, showed that obese children had a "vascular age about 30 years older than their actual age." This, of course, greatly increases their chances for heart disease. So much so, in fact, that the American Academy for Pediatrics is now recommending cholesterol-lowering drugs for some children. "As the old saying goes, you're as old as your arteries are," said Dr. Geetha Raghuveer of Children's Hospital in Kansas City, to the Associated Press. "This is a wake-up call."

But the wake-up call needs to ring louder. How we've become so unconcerned with our health isn't a mystery. We've simply followed marketing trends, which have seen junky foods and other easily consumable items become more and more a mainstay in our diets. Gas stations and convenience stores are filled with virtually nothing but junk food and drug-filled beverages. Supermarkets are only slightly better, placing their healthy items on the fringes and filling the middle aisles with premade medleys of genetically modified corn and soy. The companies that have become successful marketing this said junk now dominate our airwaves to the point where a person dropped into an American city could easily assume that we, indeed, do live primarily on fast food, sports drinks, and mind-altering legal substances.

Our next wartime strategy is going to be to consolidate our resources and simplify. If society's attention span is dwindling, we'll offer a simple three-point plan to unify our rebellion. With or without the help of Obi Wan, this might be our only hope.
  1. Kids Bicycling - Exercise. Somehow, someway, we need to find a way to exercise more. Exercise levels have fallen dramatically over the last 30 years, and our health has gone along with it. Nothing has a greater effect on our health than exercise. It's only through exercise that our bodies produce hormones at healthy levels. And if we exercise enough, it even combats an unhealthy diet.

    Unfortunately, we're doing a lot less instead of more—especially as children. It's estimated that children get somewhere between 20 percent and 25 percent less exercise than they did in the 1970s. Oddly enough, this decline is almost inverse to the rise of obesity rates among the same group.

    The solution to this might be as easy as turning off the TV. The American Journal of Public Health published a survey stating that 59 percent of children watched between 2 and 4 hours of TV and an additional 22 percent watched 5 or more hours per day—which didn't include hours in front of the computer. This is more TV than any kid I grew up with was allowed to watch. We didn't watch this much TV in a week. Children are easily bored. Take away their TV (and computer games), and there's a pretty good chance they'll end up doing something active.

  2. No Soda - Eliminate soft drinks (including "energy" and sports drinks). It's estimated that American teenagers are getting around 15 percent of their total calories from soft drinks. Consider that this 15 percent contains nary a useful calorie, and you can see how these drinks can be problematic.

    We don't need any sugar in our diets, but we get a lot of it. When we find sugars in nature, they're generally wrapped around other nutrients that minimize their negative effects and actuate their positive effects. In candy and, especially, beverages, sugar's negative effects are enhanced by the formulations because they are designed to perform more like drugs than nutrients. This effect, commonly known as a sugar rush, does a lot more harm than when we experience a sugar crash. This rush and crash effect is one of the conditions that leads to type 2 diabetes—the world's fastest-growing illness.

    Energy and sports drinks can be effective for sports. Unfortunately, they are rarely used for these activities anymore. In fact, they are commonly used for exactly the opposite—to give us an artificial high that we once induced by actually exercising.

  3. Person VotingEffect change in local government. Our ancestors went through a lot of trouble to set up a government under that moniker "of the people, for the people, and by the people." We've let their hard work fall by the wayside as we've become victims of the new American cry "of the corporation, by the lobbyist, and for the shareholders." But corporations, in reality, still work for us. And making changes is less daunting than it seems.

When deregulation began in earnest back in the late 1960s, the United States sat among the top of the statistical world in education, health care, infant mortality rates, and life expectancy. We've been steadily declining. In all of those categories, we now rate near the bottom of what we refer to as "first-world" countries. This has happened while the top 1 percent of our country has become exceedingly rich and our middle class has all but disappeared. Our society became lazy and complacent about our world status. Now our statistical leadership among modern nations has been relegated to the obesity epidemic.

Fortunately, our government still reacts to our bidding. Individuals can and do effect change in the way we do business. We have many examples of Beachbody members who have promoted effective change on the health of their local communities. Your school's lunch program, the effectiveness of that school's recess periods and afterschool recreation opportunities, and even the type of foods carried by your local market are all controlled by you.

Our government wasn't set up to tell us what to do. It was set up for us to tell it what we want. By accepting policies and reacting to marketing schemes that lower our quality of life, we've been acquiescing to a doctrine that doesn't have our health in mind. And all we really need to do to change it is to realize we've been duped and demand something different.

Farmers' Market - You don't need to run for office to effect change. Steps as simple as taking interest in what your local market sells, that your community offers a farmers' market, that your schools serve decent food, that recess is not only offered in school but enforced are all simple steps that lead to real results.

Because the obesity epidemic isn't a plague, it doesn't require doctors, politicians, or Jedi Knights to change it. It only requires simple alterations that anyone can make to his or her everyday life. Anyone can eat better, exercise more, lose weight, and get healthy. And anyone can inspire others to do the same. And, like the Force, when our collective individual minds change, we effect change across the world.

Chalene Extreme Workout - 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
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
By Cecilia H. Lee

Halloween is a month away and we've rounded up a bunch of foods that frighten us. Some retro foods look monstrous, while some of the latest culinary concoctions just sound plain ghastly, and still others make you turn away in disgust. Here are some of our favorite dining horrors, which are not for the faint of heart.

We've rated the scary food on a scale of 1 to 10 for general unhealthiness and disgustingness (10 being the most unhealthy or most disgusting).

Chocolate-Covered Bacon, Bacon, and Bacon Milkshake
  1. Things that shouldn't be paired with bacon. Don't know whose idea it was to combine pork bits and dairy, but rabbis everywhere are just shuddering at the thought. Bacon started as a way for farmers to sell the fattiest portions of their pigs, which were literally thrown to the dogs. Due to some smart marketing in the 1920s, bacon became a staple food in American homes, as a popular side to morning eggs. Since then, they've been putting bacon in nearly everything, including the latest culinary adventure: chocolate-covered bacon. But I think bacon milkshakes are taking the whole bacon thing a step too far in the wrong direction. Besides, that's like a heart attack just waiting to happen.

    Unhealthy: 10, Disgusting: 3

  2. Any salad that hides fruit in whipped mounds of white. Originating somewhere in the South, ambrosia salad first began appearing in American cookbooks at the end of the 19th century. It's usually made with canned pineapple, canned mandarin oranges, maraschino cherries, shredded coconut, sour cream, and whipped topping. The funny thing is the original versions were made with fresh fruit and just a sprinkle of sugar on top. Drowning all that fruit in sour cream, whipped topping, or mayonnaise became a custom during the 1950s, when many other questionable foods made their way into restaurants, cookbooks, and Susie Homemaker's kitchen.

    Unhealthy: 8, Disgusting: 3

  3. Gelatin Molded FishGelatin molded fish. Again, as a child of the 50s, I remember that people would take a perfectly fine fish and create salmon mousse, trout molds, or tuna gelatin. Who thought it would be a good idea to take fish, mix it with gelatin, and shape it into a mold, fish-shaped or otherwise? One of the worst combinations of this group is borscht and gefilte fish. Gefilte fish is bad enough, but to combine it with borscht and gelatin seems like a laboratory experiment gone awry.

    Unhealthy: 3, Disgusting: 4

  4. Frankenfoods. Speaking of scientific experiments, engineers at seed supplier companies and biotech companies have been tinkering with the genetic makeup of food for some time. The most frightening part of this is that it's unregulated by the government (and look at what happened to the lack of regulation in the financial sector). Now, these genetically modified foods have infiltrated over a third of our food supply. Sure, they can grow stronger and more portable tomatoes, but we shouldn't have to worry about salmonella on our fruits and vegetables. Dr. Frankenstein would be proud, but remember what happened to the monster in the end.

    Unhealthy: 9, Disgusting: 9

  5. Rocky Mountain Oysters. Some parts of animals that just shouldn't be eaten. On top of this list are Rocky Mountain oysters, a regional delicacy, which are deep-fried bull testicles served as a "novelty" appetizer in restaurants. Sometimes called prairie oysters or calf fries (when the parts have come from a young calf), we're not sure if you'd want to eat a dish that some describe as "not completely inedible"—not a resounding recommendation by any measure.

    Unhealthy: 5, Disgusting: 10

  6. More questionable animal parts. Practically every culture has some traditional dish made from the innards of animals. Although I respect using all the parts of an animal once it is slaughtered, some parts are still difficult to stomach, so to speak. Koreans have their fish intestine soup. Mexicans enjoy their menudo, made with tripe, and chorizo sausages, made with various meat cuts, including lips, lymph nodes, and salivary glands. The British take all manner of animal parts and bake them in a pie. But one of the worst for those with weak stomachs is the Filipino diniguan. Sometimes called "chocolate soup or stew," it's a blood soup made with bits of leftover roasted pig. All the fun parts like the lungs, intestines, liver, and stomach are cooked up with the congealed blood—a veritable feast for zombies!

    Unhealthy: 4, Disgusting: 6

  7. Roasted TarantulaCreepy crawlies on your plate. Some people might have had a bit of fried alligator or even enjoyed a bit of barbecued rattlesnake. But would you want to have a bite of roasted iguana or other freshly caught lizard? How about a tarantula that's been roasted over a fire? Of course, entomophagy (the practice of eating insects) has been going on for centuries, but you won't find me digging into a jar of pickled black scorpions anytime soon.

    Unhealthy: 2, Disgusting: 9

  8. Animal parts in jars. Evoking bad memories of high school biology, something about pickled pigs' feet, pickled ox tongue, and other animal parts suspended in a liquid reminds me of bad experiments, natural history museum displays, and serial killers. Maybe it's the way the liquid magnifies the texture of the animal, or the way the parts have to be squeezed into the jar. Whatever the case, I won't be picking one up for dinner, for sure.

    Unhealthy: 4, Disgusting: 5

We hope you enjoyed this foray into the revealing world of scary foods. We hope we didn't frighten you too much. Happy Haunting!

Chalene Extreme Workout - 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
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Resistance bands, also called tubes, are a significant addition to the exercise programs of athletes and trainees and have recently also become a popular choice of many fitness enthusiasts.

Why Choose A Resistance Band?

What is great about a resistance band is its undemanding nature. It does not require you to go to a gym or have unlimited space at home. It does not require any other device to function well, although there are several accessories to increase difficulty or add variety to your program. It also does not necessitate too much money, as the bands are not only very affordable, but also flexible and efficient. The flexibility that resistance bands can offer allows you to exercise not only the major muscles but also the supporting muscles. Slight differences in movements produce different results.

Exercise bands are manufactured in a wide range of intensity levels to cater to different training needs and target specific muscle groups. Some exercise bands even use a combination of bands to fit their high resistance requirement while others combine the bands with other tools such as the exercise ball, to target a wider range of muscle areas.

In addition, a resistance band frees yourself from the hassle of having to tote along heavy fitness equipment when you need to travel. These bands can fit perfectly in a medium-sized bag and are light enough to be carried around anywhere and everywhere.

Its design is rather simple to understand, and most bands come with an instruction manual or video to guide the buyer.

Tips To Ensure Proper Use
  1. For beginners, it is best to stick with the basic band with handles first so your body can adjust to this new tool. As you progress, you will realize that the band may now be too easy to handle. By this time, you can adjust the length of your band. The shorter it is the greater is the resistance.

  2. Maintain proper posture and correct breathing while doing band exercises. One of the advantages of using a resistance band is that it forces you to assume proper posture since this will be the easiest way to balance. Also, it provides a guide for your breathing -- inhale when the band relaxes and exhale when the band tightens.

  3. Follow a rhythm. Do not do this in haste. Like in any fitness program, quick changes can cause muscle strains.

There are several exercise programs that you can follow to get the most of what the resistance band can offer. Of course, this fitness device has not been a popular choice for no reason.

Chalene Extreme Workout - 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, September 10, 2008
We have heard that the newest workout from Chalene Johnson - Chalean Extreme has been delayed for a few more months. It was first set to come out this month - September but now has been pushed back to November 2008. Not only is this workout gaining momentum but it could be a close rival to the already popular p90x workout. More information coming in the next few months.


Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Monday, September 8, 2008
By Monica Gomez

If you read Joe's article, you know that eating a big breakfast can actually be healthy for you by helping with weight control. But he also warns that a McDonald's big breakfast isn't exactly going to make the cut for improving your health. If all you make time for is a fast food "big breakfast," what exactly are you getting? Rank the following fast food breakfasts from highest to lowest calories.

IHOP Stuffed French Toast Combo: 1,476 calories. Yep. That's 1,476 calories consumed, all before lunchtime! Some people consume that many calories in a day. Impressive! Of course, when you look at what this combo contains, you won't be surprised: Cinnamon raisin French toast stuffed with sweet cream cheese filling, topped with cool strawberry or your choice of fruit compote and whipped topping. Served with two eggs, hash browns, two bacon strips, or two pork sausage links. This breakfast packs quite the punch, to your stomach and your fitness goals. I'd skip it. The Stuffed French Toast Combo also contains 76.2 grams of fat, 173.1 grams of carbs, and 29.1 grams of protein.

Jack in the Box Hearty Breakfast Bowl and Orange Sunrise Smoothie (24 oz.): 1,210 calories. Definitely "hearty" in calories, the breakfast bowl contains 780 calories, with 540 of those calories from fat. Total fat content is 60 grams—with 20 saturated fat grams and 7 trans fat grams. Although the bowl is not going to win the sodium challenge over the Deluxe Breakfast, it's still impressive at 1,350 milligrams of sodium—oh, the salty goodness! The bowl also contains 34 grams of carbs (4 grams of dietary fiber and 1 gram of sugar) and 26 grams of protein. While the smoothie contains no fat, you don't want or need to consume a 430-calorie beverage. The smoothie also contains 108 total grams of carbs (with 86, yes, 86 grams of sugar) and 4 grams of protein. Why not opt for a large orange instead? Come on! You can actually go "big" on this fresh fruit and not do any of the damage that this and the other large breakfasts listed will do. One large orange (about 6.5 ounces) has 86 calories, 21.6 grams of carbs (along with 4.4 grams of fiber and 17.2 grams of sugars), 1.7 grams of protein, 73.6 milligrams of calcium, and 333 milligrams of potassium.

McDonald's Deluxe Breakfast (large-size biscuit; no syrup or margarine): 1,150 calories. Joe is right. You'll consume 1,150 calories (540 calories from fat) if you opt for the Deluxe Breakfast—with the large-size biscuit. Like the IHOP Combo and the Jack in the Box breakfast, you will have consumed over 1,000 calories before noon. Wow! The risk you take when you decide to go through that drive-thru window is costly, even if the price of your breakfast is not. If you go for the conservative Deluxe Breakfast with the regular-size biscuit (at 1,090 calories, 510 calories from fat), you'll save 60 calories. Does that make a difference? Maybe not—definitely not to your waistline if you eat the Deluxe Breakfast often. The Deluxe Breakfast with the large-size biscuit also contains 60 grams of total fat (20 grams of saturated fat), 116 grams of carbs (with 7 grams of fiber and 17 grams of sugar), and 36 grams of protein. At 60 grams of total fat, you consume 93 percent of your recommended daily allowance. The sodium content is also worth mentioning: 2,260 milligrams of sodium. Don't forget that all of these numbers do not include the syrup and margarine.

Burger King Enormous Omelet Sandwich and Minute Maid® Orange Juice (12 oz.): 870 calories. Most of those 870 calories will be coming from the 730-calorie sandwich. The omelet sandwich also has 45 grams of total fat, with 16 saturated fat grams and 1 trans fat gram. It falls a bit short of the Deluxe Breakfast with its 1,940 milligrams of sodium. Other nutritional content includes 44 grams of total carbs, with 2 grams of fiber and 8 grams of sugar, and 37 grams of protein. Your safest bet is to stick with the juice alone. At 140 calories, it contains 33 grams of carbs (30 grams of sugar), 2 grams of protein, and 42 milligrams of vitamin C. I dared not add anything like, say, a large hash brown. It's almost as highly caloric as the sandwich at 620 calories (40 grams of total fat, with 11 saturated and 13 trans, and 1,200 milligrams of sodium). If it helps, you'll only consume 10 more calories if you choose this Burger King breakfast over the Starbucks breakfast.

Starbucks Venti Hot Chocolate (2% milk, with whip) and a Blueberry Scone: 860 calories. That 2% milk won't really help you much in the way of saving calories. The hot chocolate contains 460 calories (160 calories from fat) and the blueberry scone contains 400 calories (160 calories from fat). If you opt for no whip cream, you're still going to consume 390 calories in drink alone. I know it's very hard to resist this sweet, delicious "breakfast," but you're better off avoiding so much sugar so early in the morning—well, ok, you're better off avoiding so much sugar, period! That venti hot chocolate also contains 18 grams of total fat (10 grams saturated), 64 grams of carbs (with 2 grams of fiber and 54 grams of sugar), and 18 grams of protein. The blueberry scone has 17 grams of total fat (9 grams saturated), 54 grams of carbs (with 2 fiber grams and 17 sugar grams), and 5 grams of protein. If you simply can't resist the hot chocolate, why not try a tall instead of a venti with nonfat milk and no whipped cream? It contains 190 calories (20 calories from fat), 2 grams of total fat (no saturated fat), 37 grams of carbs (2 grams of fiber and 31 grams of sugar), and 11 grams of protein.

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Saturday, September 6, 2008
By Steve Edwards

One of the worst times you can eat is at night. Yet, our society forces this upon you with "late-night happy hour" abandon. How many nighttime activities can you think of that don't include at least an offer for food and/or drink? However, this is the last thing your body needs before it shuts down for 8 hours of sleep. Here are some tips to make it easier to adhere to the "3-hours-before-bedtime" rule—that is, the "no-food-3-hours-before-bedtime" rule.

Make a ritual. The easiest way to not eat (or drink) is to get yourself into a pattern that doesn't include eating or drinking. No matter what you decide to try, continue long enough that it becomes habit. Then, eating and drinking will feel like the wrong thing to do instead of the norm.

Stretch out. Stretching at night is beneficial in many ways. Stretching out those muscles that you've used all day long helps you both recover and sleep better. It will also help you not eat, since eating is usually the last thing you feel like doing while stretching. Yoga Booty Ballet® Master Series' Pajama Time is the perfect way to end your day.

Work. If you've eaten at night, why not use up those calories and get some work done before hitting the hay? You can challenge yourself in this way by adding an amount of time that you'll work for each drink or hors d'oeuvre that you give in to.
Work out. This one requires that you learn about yourself because some people can't sleep if they work out at night. I'm not like that, so I'll often replace a night out with a night in the gym. Or, if I've eaten too much, I'll use a light workout to help digest some of those calories before winding down for the evening. Depending on your needs and/or your ability to sleep after working out at night, your workout can be anything from Slim in 6 to Hip Hop Abs to P90X.

Read. Better than TV in so many ways, reading not only engages your brain (which burns calories), it makes it hard for you to snack. Getting into a book makes time fly, and before you know it, that "late" dinner will have happened hours ago.

Learn to love herbal tea. Its zero calories are the perfect nighttime snack, especially "sleepy" teas, like chamomile. It usually takes a little effort to trick your brain to truly enjoy tea. But once you do, the positive effects of warmed herbs that will ease you into sleep mode can be addicting themselves and turn going to bed into a meditative and scrumptious affair.

And finally, a note about your TV. Let's be honest. Most of us watch a lot of TV. The average American watches over 3 hours per day. And while it's often the case, your television doesn't have to derail your fitness goals. You can use this time to do other—beneficial—stuff, too. Stretching and TV go together like peanut butter and chocolate, with the opposite effect. And since none of us claims to enjoy commercials, making a point of doing something else during these timeouts (dishes, cleaning, laundry, sit-ups, or anything active) can turn a night in front of the boob tube into a productive and healthy evening.

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Thursday, September 4, 2008
By Joe Wilkes

Breakfast. It seems like forever since we've been told it's the most important meal of the day, but a recent study shows that it's actually true and not just Mom having been a nag. Breakfast is a key component of weight management. A study presented at the recent Endocrine Society's annual meeting showed that participants who consumed large breakfasts lost almost five times as much weight as the participants who followed a traditional diet. So what's the big deal about breakfast? And what is a big breakfast anyway? It doesn't seem like the lumberjack special at the local diner would do much to get the pounds off, so what should we be eating?

The study supported the idea that when we wake up in the morning, our bodies want food. You've burned through all the fuel from the previous day, and now your body is ready to burn anything, like muscle, to get a jump-start on the day. And if you skip breakfast, muscle is indeed what your body will burn. Later in the day, your brain is still in starvation mode from breakfast (or lack thereof), so your body will store all the calories you eat as adipose tissue, or fat, to save up for the next day when you try to starve it again. The study also found that serotonin (the chemical responsible for controlling cravings) levels were much higher in the morning, which is why breakfast is the meal so many of us are willing to skip. But if our bodies are left unfed, our serotonin levels drop, and the cravings for sweets begin to rise throughout the day.

Now, before you hit McDonald's for their 800-calorie Big Breakfast or, worse, their 1,150-calorie Deluxe Breakfast, or you swing by Denny's for a 740-calorie Grand Slam or 950-calorie All-American Slam with hash browns, keep in mind these were not the breakfasts the study participants consumed. The big-breakfast group had a 610-calorie breakfast as part of a 1,240-calorie day. Breakfasts included milk, lean meat (sorry, no bacon or sausage), cheese, whole grains, a serving of healthy fat, and one ounce of chocolate or candy to defray the sweets cravings. The other group's participants consumed 1,080 calories per day as part of a high-protein, low-carb diet. Both groups were on the diet for 8 months. The high-protein group lost an average of 9 pounds but the big-breakfast group lost an average of 40 pounds. And perhaps not surprisingly, the big-breakfast group complained less about cravings and hunger.

The big-breakfast group's breakfast consisted of 58 grams of carbs, 47 grams of protein, and 22 grams of fat. Study reviewers attribute some of the success of the big-breakfast group to the fact that the protein and healthy fats eaten kept the participants full and reduced cravings. They also said that nutritional requirements were well met, that there weren't empty calories consumed, as the breakfasts included lots of whole grains, fruits, lean proteins, and healthy unsaturated fats. So, bad news for the lumberjack-special devotees—a big plate of greasy hash browns, bacon, and biscuits with gravy isn't going to get the job done, unless the job is clogging your arteries.



Here are some healthy big-breakfasts, like the ones consumed by the study participants.

Chicken and the Egg
2 eggs, scrambled
2 slices whole wheat toast
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, roasted
1 grapefruit

602 calories, 54 grams carbohydrates, 51 grams protein, 19 grams fat

Low-Fat Breakfast

1 packet instant oatmeal with 1 scoop protein powder
1 cup blueberries
3 oz. turkey breast
1 hard-boiled egg
1 oz. dark chocolate

633 calories, 66 grams carbohydrates, 48 grams protein, 12 grams fat

Two Egg Sandwiches
2 whole wheat English muffins
2 poached eggs
2 slices low-fat Swiss cheese
2 slices Canadian bacon

599 calories, 58 grams carbohydrates, 62 grams protein, 18 grams fat

Vegetarian Breakfast
1 cup cottage cheese (2% milk fat)
1 cup canned peaches in their own juice
1 slice whole wheat toast
1/2 avocado
2 vegetarian sausage links

630 calories, 61 grams carbohydrates, 48 grams protein, 22 grams fat

Pescetarian Breakfast
1 can light tuna
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise (preferably canola or olive oil based)
2 slices whole wheat toast
1 oz. dark chocolate

606 calories, 49 grams carbohydrates, 50 grams protein, 22 grams fat

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
By Monica Gomez

It's that time of year when children are trekking their way back to school. Print and television advertisements are promoting this and that special on everything children will need. And parents are out in full force purchasing those advertised supplies, clothes, shoes, etc. Are you ready for back-to-school season?

What are the top 5 reasons kids miss school? According to Mayo Clinic (a not-for-profit medical practice dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of myriad complex illnesses), the top 5 reasons kids miss school are:

1) the common cold
2) the stomach flu
3) ear infections
4) pink eye
5) sore throats.

We've all heard that there's no cure for the common cold, and cough and cold medications aren't recommended for young children. You can, however, offer some relief: Mayo Clinic advises that you offer your child plenty of fluids, such as water, juice, and chicken soup. Mayo Clinic also recommends that you run a humidifier in your child's bedroom or have your child sit in a steamy bathroom. There are helpful prevention methods for both you and your child that can keep you all safe from these illnesses, including keeping your hands clean, covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, keeping your hands away from your eyes and out of your mouth, and avoiding anyone who's sick. Advise your kids (and you can do the same, too) to wash their hands for as long as it takes to sing the ABCs, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," or the "Happy Birthday" song.

Why aren't school buses equipped with seat belts? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that for large school buses, protection is provided by a concept called compartmentalization. Compartmentalization "requires that the interior of large buses provide occupant protection such that children are protected without the need to buckle-up. Through compartmentalization, occupant crash protection is provided by a protective envelope consisting of strong, closely-spaced seats that have energy-absorbing seat backs." However, small school buses (those with a weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less) have to be equipped with lap and/or lap/shoulder belts at all designated seating positions. This is because small school buses more closely approximate the sizes and weights of passenger cars and trucks, making seat belts necessary to provide protection. The NHTSA does state that school buses are one of the safest forms of transportation: "Every year, approximately 450,000 public school buses travel about 4.3 billion miles to transport 23.5 million children to and from school and school-related activities. Yet, on average, every year, six school age children (throughout the U.S.) die in school bus crashes as passengers."

It is recommended that children limit the amount of weight they carry in their backpacks. Children should not carry more than what percentage of their body weight? Most doctors and physical therapists recommend that children not carry more than the equivalent of 10 percent to 15 percent of their body weight in their backpacks. While backpacks are supposed to be better than shoulder bags, messenger bags, and purses because the strongest muscles in the body (the back and the abdominal muscles) support the weight of the packs, backpacks are often overloaded with books and personal items. Some problems associated with an overloaded backpack include poor posture (kids may have a tendency to lean forward to compensate for the fact that the weight of the backpack is pulling them backward) and poor circulation caused by the narrow straps of some backpacks digging into a child's shoulders. Some tips offered by the American Academy of Pediatrics are to choose lightweight backpacks, like canvas backpacks; backpacks with two-wide, padded shoulder straps; backpacks with padded backs to offer cushioning and to provide protection from sharp objects like pencils; backpacks with shoulder belts; and backpacks with multiple compartments for more even weight distribution.

How many ounces of fruit juice does the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend for children ages 1 to 6 years old? For kids ages 7 to 18 years old? The American Academy of Pediatrics (APA) recommends that fruit juice consumption be limited to 4 to 6 ounces per day for kids ages 1 to 6, and 8 to 12 ounces for kids ages 7 to 18. And the APA does not recommend juice for infants before 6 months of age. Even 100 percent fruit juice is not really recommended because of its high calorie content; it should only be part of a well-balanced diet, if anything at all. One cup of Mott's 100 percent apple juice has 120 calories. The calories can really add up if children aren't limited to just one cup. The APA also concluded that excessive juice consumption may be associated with diarrhea, flatulence, abdominal distention, and tooth decay. Ouch! Instead, the APA advocates whole-fruit consumption to meet children's daily recommended allowances for fruits. Instead of offering a cup of juice as an after-school snack, offer your kid one cup of apples with skin (about 4.4 ounces); that cup only contains 65 calories. It also offers 3 grams of dietary fiber, 7.5 milligrams of calcium, and 133.8 milligrams of potassium.

How much will the average family with school-aged children spend on back-to-school purchases this year? According to the National Retail Federation's 2008 Back to School Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey (conducted by BIGresearch on 8,361 respondents), the average family with school-aged children will spend $594.24 on back-to-school purchases. That's compared with $563.49 from the previous year. It is also estimated that total back-to-school spending for kindergarten through 12th grade this year is estimated to reach $20.1 billion. And what will a lot of that spending go toward? Clothes. Spending on clothes is estimated at $234.51 and spending on shoes is estimated at $109.75. Other estimates include $98.37 on school supplies and $151.61 on electronics purchases during the back-to-school timeframe.

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
Monday, September 1, 2008
By Steve Edwards

Back to school doesn't just affect students. It's the time of year when everything changes. The days shorten, it cools off, we get really busy, and the holidays are looming around the corner. As opposed to those frivolous days of summer, your schedule is now probably booked. In short, it's the easiest time of the year to let your health slide.

The "Freshman 15" isn't just for freshmen. We all face these lifestyle adjustments every year. Fall is beautiful, but it's also the toughest season to transition through. Here are 10 ways to make it to New Year's without the need to resort to a resolution.

Schedule your exercise. One of the difficult adjustments to make during the fall is getting used to less daylight. As the days shorten, it seems as though you've got fewer hours to schedule activities around. When you come home from work in the dark, it hurts your psyche. And it's tough to believe that 7:00 PM is really no different than it was during July, when you still had two hours of daylight left. Then there's the cold factor. Even if you work out indoors, it's so much easier to get back under your warm covers or bundle up and sit in front of a fire or the TV than it is to force a workout. Just remember that exercising makes you warm. It also keeps you fit and healthy and is the best thing you can do with cold and flu season right around the corner. So whether it's P90X, 10 Minute Trainer, Hip Hop Abs, or Turbo Jam, schedule your daily workout like it's part of your job, and stick to it.

Schedule your sleep. As things get busy, we tend to push projects later and later into the evening. To fuel those longer hours we
eat . . . and eat. This is one major cause of the Freshman 15—a result of the infamous all-nighter. A recent study showed that resident doctors, who are forced to work extremely long hours and famously forego sleep, gain an average of over 20 pounds during their residencies. As daylight changes, it's easy to make alterations in your daily schedule, so plan for sleep just like you do for everything else (read "10 Tips for Restful Sleep" in Related Articles below).

Plan your meals. Plan your weekly meals ahead of time so you don't resort to convenience foods. If your schedule is insane during the week, try taking an hour or two on Sunday to shop and strategize. Put healthy meal and snack options in your car, your office, your backpack, or anywhere you're likely to find yourself hungry. Trust us, the energy you get on the back end of this planning will far exceed the time it takes to plan, especially when you consider how you'll feel if your diet is fueled by fast food.

Carry water everywhere. When we're busy, we'll often forget to drink water, especially as the weather cools off. Then, in a dehydrated state, we often confuse thirst for hunger and we eat. Avoid this by ensuring that there's water everywhere you go. Carry a water bottle and refill it at every opportunity. Have an extra bottle in your car, in your backpack, at your desk, etc., and behave as if you're in a race each day. Force yourself to drink a glass of water every hour that you're working or studying.

Be realistic about alcohol. Another big contributor to the Freshman 15, alcohol, is very high in calories (7 calories/gram) and very low in nutritional value. Every drink you consume is about 200 calories of nutrition that you aren't getting from your diet, or that you're overeating to get. And this is before we consider the calories you need to get rid of a hangover. If you're a drinker, you'll never be faced with more temptation than during the fall. Plan for it. Prior to going out, consider the number of drinks you want to allow yourself and stick to it. Another helpful tip is to carry that water bottle with you socially as well and drink a bottle for every cocktail you have. This will help fill you up so that you aren't drinking alcohol to quench your thirst, which will happen at social events. And it will also keep you hydrated and minimize the effects of your hangover. One other helpful hangover cure is to have a glass of P90X Results and Recovery Formula at night after you've been drinking. These calories before bed may be bad, but they'll minimize the damage the alcohol will do to your body, which should lead to less overeating and more productivity the next day.

Plan for parties. Parties happen—and there's not much you can do about it. Even if you aren't social, the party will find you. Many offices are like the Seinfeld episode wherein the characters celebrate for any excuse. And fall comes with plenty of excuses. Beginning with Oktoberfest, you'll find a never-ending string of perfectly good excuses that last right through the New Year to ruin your health. Plan ahead and decide just which occasions will be worth the indulgence. That way, you'll be fully armed with reasons when your coworkers show up in your office singing, "Get well, get well soon. . . ."

Begin a morning ritual. One of the easiest ways to live a healthy lifestyle is to begin each day by doing something positive. With long warm days to look forward to, there always seems to be time to do something energetic. As the days shorten, this takes more discipline. Beginning each day with something healthy, even as little as a 5-minute ritual, can give you a whole new outlook.

Find a healthy nighttime ritual. Many of us undo an entire day's productivity in the last few hours before bed. This is particularly true when we're busy and/or stressed because we want to unwind, which often means cocktails and/or desserts in front of the TV. If you can find a healthier way to unwind, you'll do yourself a world of good. And even if you can't get away from the cocktail/dessert/TV habit, adding something at its end, instead of just sacking out, can reverse much of the damage. Stretching in front of the TV is one of the easiest ways to transition. Following that up with herbal tea and some relaxing reading can have you hitting the sack with a positive attitude. If you can't get there yourself, consider something like Yoga Booty Ballet® Master Series' Pajama Time, a "workout" designed with this in mind.

Make a New Year's resolution. Instead of waiting until New Year's, make a resolution to get there, starting today, with gained fitness and health. Just think about how much better your goals can be for next year if you finish this one on a positive note. Consider that most of us make New Year's resolutions to pretty much undo the damage that we do to ourselves each fall. Why put yourself through that? Instead, set yourself up, beginning right now, to have a banner year in 2009.

Cut yourself some slack. You can't be perfect and, frankly, who wants to be? You've got to live. By planning ahead with goals in mind, you'll be far more able to relax about the holiday season and enjoy it too. So make a plan, do your best to stick with it, but don't forget to make enjoying the season and having a little fun part of that plan.

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Your Place For: Workout Routines - Workout DVDs - P90X
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