The fun and fitness that is Wii fitness has no comparison, after a year or so I am still having fun with this thing. After running around the living room for half an hour, impersonating a tree, punching the air and whacking invisible tennis balls, any casual observer could be forgiven for thinking you might be a little off-the-wall.

But the Wii has revolutionized gaming. The main difference is that you experience it, you don’t just sit there and play! It is not like the old style of gaming where the only body part that moves was your thumbs. Oh no. The Wii is the perfect solution for those with sloth-like tendencies because it blends socializing with doing exercise that is actually fun! Playing the Wii involves stretching, balancing, an increased heart rate and getting very hot! Cast aside stereotypes of gaming being mainly a male (usually young male) pastime. Using the Wii can involve the whole family with friends thrown into the mix too. Put simply, it’s for everyone.

Currently, the Nintendo Wii games console has reached worldwide sales of 50 million units. The president Satoru Iwata expressed recently that it was “more than they could have possibly hoped for.” Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: casual observer, coach, Liverpool John Moores University, Nintendo, president, Satoru Iwata, Tennis, the British Medical Journal, United Kingdom

The average U.S. family and their employers paid an extra $1,017 in health care premiums last year to compensate for the uninsured, according to a study to be released Thursday by an advocacy group for health care consumers.

Families USA, which supports expanded health care coverage, found that about 37% of health care costs for people without insurance — or a total of $42.7 billion — went unpaid last year. That cost eventually was shifted to the insured through higher premiums, according to the group.

“I don’t think anybody has any idea about how much they are paying because of the need to cover the health care costs of the uninsured,” said Ron Pollack, the group’s executive director. “This is a hidden tax on all insurance premiums, whether it is paid by business for their work or by families when they purchase their own coverage.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Congress, executive director, insurance premiums, Obama, president, Ron Pollack, United States, USD

Stevia has been used in sodas marketed as dietary supplements and in other countries for sweetening treats and other foods but before now was not officially approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Experts had predicted the FDA would approve before the end of the year and the market for natural-based sweeteners would rise exponentially. December is as close to the New Year as can be and seems like the perfect time for introducing new products.

Officially recognized by the FDA this week, Cargill received the notification in the form of a letter stating that they have no objection to the previously submitted research that rebaudioside A (rebiana)—Truvia’s scientific name—has been generally recognized as safe (GRAS). The letter continues to support Truvia’s safety and the research behind a panel of experts from an independent company that provided the data.

PepsiCo has also teamed up with Merisant to produce PureVia another stevia-based sweetener, which also received the same FDA safety letter this week.

Cargill has complete confidence in this product and is elated at the recent findings that stevia-based sweeteners are now safe for use by all consumers. Marcelo Montero, president of Cargill, stated, “The FDA brought the appropriate rigor to the process and we are extremely pleased with the news.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Cargill, Coca-Cola, dietary supplements, food and drug administration, Marcelo Montero, new years day, PepsiCo, president, stevia products, stevia-made products

I was at the supermarket yesterday and while looking at the magazines I saw that Barack Obama was on the cover of one of the fitness magazines, I almost bought it to see why he would be on the cover but didn’t. I am still thinking about it today so I guess maybe I should go and pick it up this afternoon.

Anyway, back in May, Men’s Fitness magazine named Barack Obama one of its “25 Fittest” describing how Obama starts every day with a workout and generally skips fatty foods.

The magazine quotes former Duke University player and Obama staffer Reggie Love on the president-elect’s backetball skills “He’s wiry-looking but actually pretty strong,” Reggie said. “And he hates losing. He plays hard.”

Fitness advocates hope Barack can inspire Americans to get active just as he inspired young people, minorities and those who never voted to go to the polls. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: America, Barack Obama, Barack Obama Fitness, co-founder, co-founder of America on the Move, Duke University, DuPont, executive director, George W. Bush, James Hill, National Association for Health, obesity, Philip Haberstro, player, president, Reggie Love, role model, role model for physical activity and fun., Washington Sports Club

Arthoscopic surgery has been a mainstay for many years to fix knee problems associated with overuse. I had always thought that if I had a problem with my knees from sports that I would opt for this kind of surgery. One problem that I seen to have with my knees is that I have some floating cartilage that every now and then really hurts my knee but this is not what arthoscopic surgery is for, instead arthoscopic surgery is used to cut out arthritis spots in the knee.

A new study questioning the usefulness of arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee should encourage patients to consider physical therapy as an effective non-surgical option, according to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). The study was published in the September 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

The study found that physical therapy, combined with comprehensive medical management, is just as effective at relieving the pain and stiffness of moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee as surgery. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: abnormal movement, American Physical Therapy Association, arthritis, arthroscopic surgery, Christopher M Powers, co-director, director of the Biokinesiology program, floating cartilage, knee pain, knee surgery, Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Research Lab, New England Journal, orthopedists, osteoarthritis, pain, physical therapist, physical therapy, president, R. Scott Ward, Sports Medicine, sports medicine clinics, surgery, Swimming, the Annals of Internal Medicine, The New England Journal of Medicine, treatment of osteoarthritis, University of Southern California Division of Biokinesiology & Physical Therapy

A bit of a generic title but i grew up in BC and I can tell you that years ago there were many people in school who along with me ate a ton of junk food and pop for lunch and snacks. Well it seems that British Columbia has banned junk food in schools which is a really great start to showing young people that they need to find an alternative. The touble is that whenever there is a heavy handed method of banning something everyone wil;l want to find a way around it.

Chocolate bars, salt and vinegar chips and ice cold root beers have been expelled from B.C. schools as the government starts the new school year on a health kick.

Education Minister Shirley Bond says a healthy body really does promote a healthy mind, and B.C. schools will be the healthiest in the country.

Junk food has been banned from all public schools and students from kindergarten through to Grade 12 will be required to complete 30 minutes of physical activity a day, or the equivalent of 150 minutes of exercise a week, she said. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: B.C. Teachers' Federation, banned junk food, British Columbia, Canada, chocolate bars, Education Minister, food, food guidelines, health program, hockey, Irene Lanzinger, junk food, junk food ban, minister, Norm Macdonald, president, province-wide school junk food ban, Shirley Bond, sports teams, the Canada Food Guide, USD, Vancouver, vinegar chips

This is about a month old study but I thought that it would be a good idea to give out this info on a study that had to conclude that fasting seems to lower the chance of heart attacks in people that fast one day a month. The anti-fasting people will not like this and I can not seem to fast for any length of time but this study was not looking for this result as some studies seem to do but instead just concluded that this was the only possible result to their study.

Mormons and heart disease

Mormons have less heart disease — something doctors have long chalked up to their religion’s ban on smoking. New research suggests that another of their “clean living” habits also may be helping their hearts: fasting for one day each month.

A study in Utah, where the Mormons are is based, found that people who skipped meals once a month were about 40 percent less likely to be diagnosed with clogged arteries than those who did not regularly fast.

Fasting and improved health

People did not have to “get religion” to benefit: non-Mormons who regularly took breaks from food also were less likely to have clogged arteries, scientists found. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Benjamin Horne, Chapel Hill, eating habits, fasting, food, heart attacks, heart disease, heart disease researcher, Intermountain Medical Center, mormon, North Carolina, president, Salt Lake City, Sidney Smith, University of North Carolina, University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah

There are rumors that Al Gore may be running for president and I missed Larry King last night when he was interviewing Al Gore and asking him if he would be running for president. Today when looking for a followup on the Al Gore – Larry King broadcast I found a series of articles which I am sure have some Truth. about weight and political aspriations.

The US people, although fighting with weight problems themselves, have a high standard for weight and fitness when it comes to presidential politics. In one article I read this morning there was even a suggestion that Hillary Clinton’s staff are watching Al Gores weight to see if he will run for presdient. The idea is that if he keeps his current weight up then he will probably keep up his speaking tour but if Al Gore starts to lose weight then he may be considering another run at the White House later this year.

If Al Gore does decide to run I wonder what weight loss program he will use? And will he later become a spokeman for that program to raise campaign funds?

Tags: al gore, Al Gores, Hillary Clinton, Larry King, president, United States, White House

I was wondering how long it would take for something shocking to happen besides the images of childhood obesity. The Boston Globe is running a story about a $250,000 billboard campaign designed at getting parents to start acting in their kids interest in fighting the fat.

The campaign also will include television spots and print advertisements. In addition to the campaign, the foundation has handed out more than $1 million in grants to schools, community centers, and social service groups for fitness, nutrition, and health education programs aimed at reducing obesity.

The campaign is directed at parents, not children, for a reason, Martin D. Cohen , president of the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation says.

“In targeting children, we [would be] competing with every other advertiser — all the cereals, the McDonald’s, the Pepsi, Coke, and so forth,” Cohen said. “But the issues surrounding food are largely controlled by parents. They buy the groceries. They cook the food. They are deciding what’s in the refrigerator.”

Childhood obesity has been a big issue for a number of years and has been highlighted on almost every talkshow as well as shows like “The Biggest Loser” and the movie “Supersize Me”. There have been a few changes in recent years but nothing outside of schools banning pop and lots of people talking.

I hope that this billboard campaign can start getting a dialog started and maybe even get programs outside of schools like fully integrated sports, meal and snack info targeting kids that is not based on high fat foods the way things are now and lastly a real push from government giving a national awareness program on eating and exercise that is aimed at kids and parents and not just advertising that is cute and artistic instead of loud and effective.

Tags: Boston Globe, food, integrated sports, issues surrounding food, Martin D. Cohen, mcdonalds, MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation, obesity, Pepsi, president, Supersize Me, The Boston Globe, the Biggest Loser, USD

Obesity in children is an issue throughout North America and the habits that you learn when you are young are the ones that will carry through to adulthood. Bill Clinton has brokered a deal through his organization to have all schools offering healthier snacks by going through the manufacturers of the snack food themselves. This is a great good news story.

Just five months after a similar agreement targeting the sale of sodas in schools, Bill Clinton and the American Heart Association announced a deal Friday with several major food companies to make school snacks healthier � the latest assault on the nation�s childhood obesity epidemic.

�By working with schools and industry to implement these guidelines, we are helping to give parents peace of mind that their kids will be able to make healthier choices at school,� said Dr. Raymond Gibbons, president of the heart association.

The agreement with Kraft Foods Inc., Mars Inc., Campbell Soup Co., Groupe Danone SA and PepsiCo Inc. sets guidelines for fat, sugar, sodium and calories for snack foods sold in school vending machines, stores and snack bars. Those companies make everything from M&M�s, yogurt and granola bars to Frito-Lay potato chips, Snickers bars and canned soups.

Under the guidelines, most foods won�t be permitted to derive more than 35 percent of their calories from fat and more than 10 percent from saturated fat. There will be a limit of 35 percent for sugar content by weight.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alliance for a Healthier Generation, American Heart Association, baked potato chips, beverage industry, beverage industry leaders, Bill Clinton, Bob Harrison, Campbell Soup Co., Charles Nicolas, diabetes, executive director, food, Frito-Lay, Groupe Danone SA, junk food, Kraft Foods Inc., Mars Inc., north America, obesity, PepsiCo Inc., potato chips, president, Raymond Gibbons, snack food, snack-food industry, spokesman, sports drinks, William J. Clinton Foundation