5 Ways to Guarantee New Year's Resolution Success

Now that the New Year is here, there is a good chance that your New Year's Resolution is weight loss. If you want to lose weight, here are 5 tips that will guarantee Katy residents' success in their weight loss goals.

1. Decide on a goal - Take the time to write out your personal goals. Write out how much weight you want to lose and how long you expect it to take you. Don't skip this step.
2. Devise a plan - Your plan should be specific. Without a specific plan, you are just randomly trying things hoping something works. It doesn't just happen that way. You have to write out your weekly and monthly requirements to achieve your goal. Your plan will include components of the next 3 steps.
3. Nutrition - Most people hate to hear this, but nutrition is the most important step if you plan to lose weight this year. Follow a specific nutrition plan that you can stick with for longer than 3 months. You want a lifestyle adjustment, not a quick weight loss plan.
4. Cardiovascular - You have to include cardiovascular training into your program. The program should include some aspects of an interval based program that will help you burn fat fast and reduce the amount of time you spend doing it.
5. Strength Training - If you plan on losing fat fast, strength training must be included. By building muscle, you will increase metabolism, therefore resulting in faster weight loss.
   

If your weight loss plan is missing any of these components, contact me so I can help you get all of the steps in place to lose your belly fat this year. As a personal trainer for almost 12 years now, I have helped hundreds of people lose weight. If you are determined to see weight loss results, contact me. I will take the guess work out of your program and ensure that this year is the year you lose weight, once and for all.

The Advanced Aging of Our Children

This is the very reason we are seeing heart attacks happening at an earlier and earlier age.

Obesity is aging our children before their time.

The Association Press reported that studies presented last week at an American Heart Association conference found about a third of American children are overweight, and one-fifth are obese.

In a sense, that’s old news.

But what made one study depressingly newsworthy was the conclusion by researchers at Children’s Hospital in Kansas City that obese children as young as 10 had the arteries of 45-year-olds.Want more depressing news?

Another study by researchers at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Australia tied childhood obesity to abnormal enlargement of the left atrium, one of the chambers of the heart. The AP reported enlargement is a known risk factor for heart disease, stroke and heart rhythm problems. One researcher said he saw a clear link between rising weight and size of the left atrium.

Still not convinced about the danger of obesity?

A study by the Australian National University in Canberra found impairment in the heart’s ability to relax between beats in children who were overweight or obese.

Earlier research found more rigid arteries in such children — a possible sign of plaque deposits starting to form.

This isn’t just a matter of personal health. It’s a public health issue, too. Overweight adults are more prone to Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. The cost to society to treat these conditions is staggering, and it’s only going to grow as the number of obese Americans increases.Some people can’t help it. They have weight problems and other health issues because of their genes. They are not what they eat; they are what they’ve had passed down to them from their ancestors.

However, many children are overweight and obese because, like far too many adults, they are eating too much — and too much of the wrong kind of food — and exercising too little.

It’s not a matter of growing out of baby fat. When it comes to obesity, child is father to the man. The news service reported research increasingly shows that fat children become fat adults, and with that come higher risks for many health problems.

For these children, it’s about eating the right kind of food and exercising. And it wouldn’t hurt if their parents joined the regimen, either.

Overweight and obese children and adults must take this condition seriously. For them, it really is a matter of life and death.

Source: TimesOnline.com

Red Wine Weight Loss Results....in a Pill?

Here's an interesting story I found at the daily mail that talks about the benefits of red wine, in a pill. They fed the ingredient to mice and found that fatty food did not cause weight gain. I don't know what kind of health side effects it had, but the weight gain didn't occur.

For dedicated couch potatoes, it sounds almost too good to be true. A drug inspired by red wine could allow them to eat as much junk food as they like without putting on a pound.

It could also provide the benefits of exercise without moving a muscle. And if that were not enough, the pill - which mimics the action of resveratrol, the 'wonder ingredient' in red wine - may also prevent diabetes.

The man-made drug, which is known only as SRT1720, fools the body into thinking food is scarce and it has to burn off fat to survive. The brainchild of scientists at US firm Sirtris, the drug exploits the healthy qualities of resveratrol, a chemical found in grape skins. Previous studies have endowed resveratrol with the ability to ward off a host of ills, from old age to heart disease, cancer, obesity and Alzheimer's disease.

Sirtris has already developed a concentrated form of resveratrol in a pill. However, the new drug could be even more powerful and have fewer side-effects.

David Sinclair, co-founder of Sirtris, which is now owned by Glaxo-SmithKline, said recently: 'The excitement here is that we are not talking about red wine any more. We are talking about real drugs.' In experiments, mice given SRT1720 didn't gain an ounce, despite being fed fatty foods. Blood tests suggested they were also protected
against diabetes. The treated animals also had more stamina and were able to run twice as far. However, they had to be forced to exercise.

Left to their own devices, they would move around less than normal, the journal Cell Metabolism reports. The drug is made up of chemicals that affect the body in a similar way to resveratrol. Both resveratrol and the new drug trigger a protein called SIRT1 that plays a key role in regulating the body's supply of energy. The result is that the body burns off its fat stores, even when food is plentiful. Researcher Professor Johan Auwerx, of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in
Switzerland, said: 'These results show that new synthetic SIRT1 activators can
reproduce the positive metabolic effects that were previously demonstrated using resveratrol.

'But unlike resveratrol, these new chemical entities target only the SIRT1 pathway, making them more selective and potent for achieving these metabolic benefits.'
He added that the drug, which is around seven years from the market, is likely to be used to treat obesity and diabetes. Prof Ian Broom, an obesity expert from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, said any drug that burnt off fat while protecting against diabetes would be welcomed. But he cautioned that much more research - including studies into side-effects - would be needed before SRT1720 became accepted as a treatment for obesity.

Your Brain and Body Start Slowing Down at 40

Everything goes downhill at 40!

Now the good news: The article states that we lose some of the insulation around the brain's wiring system and this causes our body and brain to start slowing down. However, if you keep active, and treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes, this helps with brain health. The more physically and mentally active you are, the more likely your brain health will last for a longer period of time.

Read More Here

I found something I found to be pretty interesing online. With everyone always talking about the price of gas, it's interesting to see how our bodies compare to our cars. If you would like to see how many miles per gallon your body gets, click on the link below. If you would like, post your score in the comments section of this post.

42 miles per gallon

Created by The Car Connection

5 Daily Steps to Sanity

Researchers have come up with a list of 5 things that should be done every day that will help you stay happy and sane. They include:

Steps to happiness

1. Connect - Developing relationships with family, friends, colleagues and neighbours will enrich your life and bring you support.
2. Be active - Sports, hobbies such as gardening or dancing, or just a daily stroll will make you feel good and maintain mobility and fitness.
3. Be Curious - Noting the beauty of everyday moments as well as the unusual and reflecting on them helps you to appreciate what matters to you.
4. Learn - Fixing a bike, learning an instrument, cooking – the challenge and satisfaction brings fun and confidence.
5. Give - Helping friends and strangers links your happiness to a wider community and is very rewarding.

Read More.....

Workout Videos for your home

If you like a lot of variety and you would like to workout at home, I found a great website that will help you do just that. My Pypeline is a great website for accessing and downloading videos that you can use anytime you want. It is probably cheaper than joining a gym and you can repeat or select a new workout whenever you want. The great thing is that it is on your schedule. Use it whenever you want.

iStik

This is an interesting device that helps you stick your ipod to your clothing. You can find out more information on http://www.goistik.com/ or you can visit their blog at http://planetistik.blogspot.com/

It looks like a great device to keep your ipod in place no matter what you are doing. The problem I have with most ipod cases is that you can only put the ipod in one place depending on the case you have. This is interesting because you can move it whereever you need to.

Sleep Tracker

Here is an interesting device. It monitors your sleep and tells you when to wake up. Personally, I think my alarm would normally go off before the device will tell me that it's time to wake up, but I guess that's why it's important to use something like this. Here is some information from the Sleeptracker's website:

How does SLEEPTRACKER® work?

SLEEPTRACKER® continuously monitors signals from your body that indicate whether you are asleep or awake. Because you wear SLEEPTRACKER® on your wrist like a watch, its internal sensors can detect even the most subtle physical signals from your body. SLEEPTRACKER® finds your best waking moments, so that waking up has never been easier.

When you sleep, your body goes through a series of sleep cycles. The average adult experiences 4-5 full sleep cycles over an 8-hour period. Each cycle lasts about 90-110 minutes and comprises five different stages, as illustrated by this chart.

No two people have the same sleep cycles, and nobody has the same cycle twice. Many factors can influence sleep cycles, including diet, exercise, medications, drugs or alcohol, stress, sleep disorders, and sleep deprivation. Age and gender can play a role, too: women tend to sleep more soundly than men, and as we age, we sleep more restlessly.

A typical sleep cycle has five stages and takes 90-110 minutes. During Stage 1 of your sleep cycle, you sleep lightly. At Stage 2, your sleep gets progressively deeper. At Stages 3 and 4, also known as "Delta Sleep," you sleep most heavily; this is when your body rebuilds itself.

Stage 5 of sleep, also known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, is marked by extensive physiological changes, such as accelerated respiration, increased brain activity, rapid eye movement, and muscle relaxation. People dream during REM sleep.

In the first third of the night, Delta sleep stages last longer than REM stages. As the night progresses, Delta sleep diminishes in length. By the last third of the night, Delta sleep usually ceases, while REM stages lengthen.

SLEEPTRACKER® may find multiple almost-awake moments within the sleep cycle. Almost-awake moments may also vary in frequency throughout the night.

By monitoring your sleep cycles for optimal waking moments during the preset ALARM WINDOW, SLEEPTRACKER® finds those almost awake-moments and gently wakes you when you're most alert. The result? You wake up refreshed instead of groggy. Waking up has never been easier.



They have 2 styles. One for $179 and one for $149. If you are interested, visit http://www.sleeptracker.com/

The Mental Aspects of Weight Loss

6 Misleading Food Labels

Here are 6 potentially misleading food labels:

1.) Free-Range or Free-Roaming:
You probably most often see this term stamped on eggs, but it's also used on chicken and other meat to suggest that the animal has spent a good portion of its life outdoors. Consumer Reports says, though, that the standards for these terms are weak, and the rule for the label is only that outdoor access be made available for "an undetermined period each day." So those free range eggs could mean that the chicken who laid them lived in a coop where the door was open for five minutes a day. Roaming free? We don't think so.

2.)Natural or All Natural:
People often assume this label means organic or healthy. But no standard definition for natural exists. Consumer Reports says the term only has meaning when it's applied to meat and poultry products and means that the items contain no artificial flavoring, colors, chemical preservatives, or synthetic ingredients. But the producer or manufacturer decides whether or not to use it, without having the claims verified.

3.) No Additives:
Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher or Consumer Reports, says that a no additives label is often used to imply that a product has not been enhanced with the addition of natural or artificial ingredients. But there is no official definition for the term and it isn't verified when used.

4.) No Animal By-Products:
You might see this label on everything from condiments and meat (to indicate the animals were not fed any animal by-products), to cleaning and personal care products. This term is used to suggest that no ingredients are by-products from slaughtered animals. This might be helpful when it's not obvious; natural flavor could come from vegetables or animals, for example. But Consumers Union says the label is tricky because there isn't a standard, precise definition of "animal ingredients" and the label isn't used consistently. It also isn't verified by an outside body.

5.) 100% Vegan:
Vegans generally avoid animal products for food and clothing, and often want to avoid products that were tested on animals. But this label does not have a standard or consistent definition and isn't verified. Alternatively, a Certified Vegan label is a registered trademark signifying that products are vegan--meaning they contain no animal ingredients or by-products, use no animal ingredients or by-products in the manufacturing process, and are not tested on animals by any company or independent contractor. The logo is administered by the Vegan Awareness Foundation, also known as Vegan Action.

6.) Raised Without Antibiotics:
Consumers Union says this term implies that no antibiotics were used in the production of a food product. The USDA has defined it to mean that meat and poultry products came from animals who were raised without the use of low-level or therapeutic doses of antibiotics. But a recent case of this label being used inaccurately by a major poultry producer illustrates some of the problems: there is no formal definition and while the USDA can hold a manufacturer accountable for the claim, no other organization is behind or verifies the claim.

Source: http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/misleading-food-labels-44101608

Are you "blocked" from losing weight?

Dallas Morning News published an article that showed that those who had the hardest time losing weight had more "mental roadblocks".

"Overall, the overweight and obese women told of more perceived obstacles than their slimmer counterparts. They were more likely to feel self-conscious about how they looked while exercising, felt they lacked self-discipline, hated to fail so didn't try, had minor aches and pains and felt too overweight to exercise."

The Key to Long Term Weight Loss

The USA Today did a story on what the differences are between those who lose weight permanently and those who never seem to reach their goals. The key habits among successful dieters:

• Are physically active for about an hour a day, burning about 2,600 calories a week with exercise.
• Do high-intensity activity, such as jogging, aerobics, biking, for about 70 minutes a week.
• Are highly restrained eaters who are always aware of calories.
• Are less likely to binge or overeat for emotional or environmental reasons than obese people.
• Have fewer TVs than heavier people.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Interval Training - Cardio

KatyFitness.com

I need to let everyone know that right now KatyFitness.com is being redesigned. I've added a new template that I will be customizing and then I want to complete change the content in a way that will be beneficial for everyone who lives in Katy. Stay Tuned....

Stop Smoking

It's so important to quit smoking if at all possible. The biggest problem I face with smokers is that their healing process is slowed down after an injury. Let's talk about what happens to a smoker's body after they quit smoking.

Your Body's Healing Process
Within an hour of the last cigarette you smoke, your body will start to get healthier and will continue to heal over time.
As your body begins this healing process, however, you may actually feel worse for a while! This will pass. Remember that withdrawal symptoms are actually signs that your body is recovering.
Within 20 minutes of your last cigarette...
Your blood pressure begins to drop, your pulse rate returns to normal, and your hands and feet warm up to normal body temperature.
8 hours
The oxygen level in your blood increases and the carbon monoxide level drops.
24 hours
Your chance of heart attack may be reduced.
48 hours
Your senses of smell and taste are enhanced.
72 hours
Your lung capacity increases.
2 weeks to 3 months
Your circulation improves and your lung function may increase up to 20 percent.
1 month to 9 months
Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath may decrease noticeably as your overall energy level increases. Your lungs begin to work more efficiently.
5 years
The average (one pack a day) smoker’s chances of contracting lung cancer decrease.
10 years
Your chances of contracting other tobacco-related cancers (mouth, bladder, esophagus, pancreas) decrease.
(These are general measures that will vary according to the individual and her smoking habits)
©1996 American Lung Association® of Washington

The Key to Losing Weight and Keep it Off

Exercise Holds Key to Keeping Weight Off

Ramp Up Your Workouts to Shed Pounds, Keep Them Off, Study Shows

By Kelley ColihanWebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Article Highlights:
1. The Key to Long Term Weight Loss is working out 55 minutes a day, 5 days a week
2. Women who did this kept 10% of their weight off or more
3. Women who made their leisure activity, more active, kept the weight off more

July 28, 2008 -- How much do you have to work out in order to lose weight and keep it off? The answer is hotly debated among people who study weight loss.
A new study says that obese and overweight women need to cut calories and exercise 275 minutes a week more than their baseline physical activity -- or at least 55 minutes a day, five days a week to lose weight and keep it off.
The research was led by John M. Jakicic, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues.
They tracked 201 overweight and obese women over a two-year period; 170 women completed the study.
At the start, all of the participants were sedentary. They were randomly assigned to one of four groups based on how much and how intensely they exercised and how many calories they burned.
The participants were told to eat or drink no more than 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day. Researchers tracked them by talking to them on the phone and having face-to-face talks.
Participants were encouraged to spread the exercise out over five days during a week, done in at least 10-minute chunks. The women were given treadmills to use at home and taught to monitor their own heart rates.
At the end of the two-year study, women who had lost 10% or more of their initial body weight reported that they had done more physical activity compared with those who did not lose as much weight.
After six months, women in all four groups had lost an average of 8% to 10% of their initial body weight. But the hard part was keeping that weight off. Most of them regained the weight.
Biggest Losers
Nearly 25% of the participants managed to keep 10% or more of their original body weight off over the two years.
Those women exercised about 275 minutes a week more over their baseline activity levels.
They also got the most support, completing the most telephone calls from researchers, and said they participated in more eating behaviors recommended for weight control than those who gained the weight back.
Those who lost and kept off the weight also increased their leisure time physical activity, doing things like taking the stairs and moving about more at home and work.
A couple of limitations the study authors note are that diet alone was not included as one of the options and that the participants themselves reported what physical activity they did and how well they did it.
The study authors conclude that a relatively high level of physical activity is needed to lose weight and keep it off.
These results are likely to add fuel to the debate over how much is needed to lose pounds and keep them from creeping back.
General recommendations are for 30 minutes a day, or 150 minutes a week, of moderately intense activity most days of the week. But the debate rages on over a magic formula for sustaining weight loss.
The findings are published in the July 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Source: http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20080728/exercise-holds-key-to-keeping-weight-off

My thoughts.....if you seek to do the minimum, expect minimum results. If you truly desire to make a lifestyle change and see long lasting results, you will change your life's style. Desire to achieve more. Find a personal trainer or nutrition coach that will help you. If that doesn't work, find an accountability partner that is more disciplined and better shape than you are in that can hold you accountable. If you find someone who is struggling with the same things you are, it will be hard to hold each other accountable. Make up your mind to change your life and don't look back. If you want it bad enough, you will achieve it.

Krill Oil

The benefits of Krill Oil are tremendous. They are an excellent source of healthy Omega 3 nutrients and can actually help you fight chronic inflammation and pain.

Krill Oil and actually has 48 times the potency of fish oil.

To Order

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High Fructose Corn Syrup

Can High Fructose Corn Syrup make you gain weight? You find a lot of processed foods contain high fructose corn syrup. And there are definitely some things about high fructose corn syrup that will cause more weight gain than other types of sugar. Can we blame this one ingredient on the rise of obesity in the United States, and more specifically in Katy, TX? No. If you go to any restaurant in Katy, you will find the portion sizes of meals are way too big for us.

Learn more about High Fructose Corn Syrup.