I have always pushed my kids to eat a better breakfast by having toast and natural peanut butter or cereal but there is anew study out today proving me right. It seems that cereal and milk are a great, easy to digest form of protein.

Exercise physiologist Lynne Kammer, from The University of Texas at Austin, led a group of researchers who investigated the post-exercise physiological effects of the foods. Kammer and her team studied 12 trained cyclists, 8 male and 4 female. In contrast to many sports nutrition studies, however, the exercise protocol was designed to reflect a typical exercise session. After a warm-up period, the subjects cycled for two hours at a comfortable work rate, rather than the more frequently seen test-to-exhaustion. 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: Exercise physiologist, exercise protocol, Lynne Kammer, sports drinks, sports nutrition studies, Texas, University of Texas at Austin

Obesity is bad enough, but teenage obesity is worse. If kids and teenagers start getting overweight, it only goes on to show how bad our lifestyle habits have become and how little concern we have for our health. Today, almost fifteen per cent of teenagers are obese, that too just in America (I am not even counting the world figure, which would obviously be higher), and if we don’t take the right measures to curb it, it would only get worse with time.

Now why should we be so concerned about obesity? Obesity is a cause of concern because it not only makes a person look fat and ugly but also inflicts him with several killer diseases such as diabetes, sleep apnea, heart problems, kidney troubles, high blood pressure, etc.. Just imagine your teen as a diabetic. Obesity in itself is fatal as well; recent studies point out that people who suffer from teenage obesity are more likely to die prematurely than others.

Don’t believe me? Actually many people used to think that the concept of ‘obesity related death’ is a joke or rumor, that is, until in 1989 the National Institute for Health decided to sponsor a study designed to monitor the health of about one million women over an extended period of time.

During the study, the lifestyle habits of these women, including diet, level of activity, etc. were monitored. The study continued over a period of 12 years, and most of the women who volunteered to participate in it were nurses employed in state-run hospitals located in various parts in USA, including New York, Kentucky, Michigan, Texas, etc. All of them were aged between 22-44 years.

The participants were asked to answer a series of questions pertaining to their health, including the lifestyle habits they followed during their adolescence, their entire medical history, etc. Midway during the study, as many as 710 participants died.

The researchers conducting the study found out that the reason behind their premature deaths was that almost all of them were obese in their teens. It is then that these researchers concluded that people, in this case women, who suffer from teenage obesity are three times more likely to die prematurely than those who are of normal weight.

As you can see, teenage obesity influences the future of your kid in a big way. If you don’t want your children to die prematurely like those nurses, it is time that you start monitoring the lifestyle habits of your teenage daughters and sons. There are too many fad diets and diet pills out there, all claiming to help you with weight loss but I would rather recommend healthy eating and an active lifestyle for your teenage kids. Keep in mind that if you wish your kids to live a long life, preventing teenage obesity is the only way to ensure that.

Tags: America, diabetes, high blood pressure, Kentucky, Michigan, National Institute for Health, New York, obesity, sleep apnea, Texas, United States

A calorie is a calorie I always thought but maybe I am wrong. There is a good shance that your diet soda is making you fat.

Diet Blog has just posted the results of a study done on rats that shows that eating artificial sweeteners in the form of saccharin will actually make you gain weight faster then using the sugar itself.

I know that I have seen these kinds of results before and have always been confused by how it would work but essentially the thinking by the scientific community is that your brain notices the “sweetness” of the food and think that it is sugar. and stores food as fat because the brain thinks that the body has more than enough fuel (calories) to keep it going.

I know that some people will say in seeing this that people are not rats but still physiologically this makes sense to me. Also, if you look at all the diet pop that is sold and people in North America just seem to be gettng bigger and bigger then maybe there is some merit in the conclusions of this research. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: artificial sweetners, diet soda study, energy intake, food, metabolic syndrome, north America, obesity, stores food, sugar substitutes, Texas, University of Texas

West Nile Virus season. It is that time of year again as the weather warms up and the mosquitoes start to breed and BITE. As you probably know there are many diseases carried by mosquitoes around the world but the big news maker in North America is West Nile Virus.

West Nile is transmitted to humans through mosquitoes that pick up the virus by feeding on infected birds.

So far this year as of today there have been four cases in Texas of West Nile Virus, one case in mississippi and one case in Colorado. The season is early still but you can expect those numbers will definitely rise. Last year the CDC reported that there were 3000 cases of West Nile virus across the US that resulted in 119 deaths.

Prevention of West Nile Virus
1. Homeowners should never leave water standing anywhere for more than a week, including rain gutters and downspouts, birdbaths, and plant pots or drip trays.
2. Cut tall grass and weeds to prevent mosquitos from lounging there for shade. Cover or empty boats and plastic pools at least once weekly and store upside down or indoors.
3. The hours from dusk to dawn are peak biting times for many species of mosquitoes. Take extra care to use repellent and protective clothing during evening and early morning — or consider avoiding outdoor activities during these times.
4. To prevent bites, use insect repellent that contains DEET, and wear long-sleeves and pants made of tightly-woven fabric at times when mosquitos are most active — dawn and dusk. Protect babies with mosquito netting, and don’t forget that your pets are susceptible, too. Change water bowls daily.

By being careful and healthy you can deinitely reduce the risk of being in contact with or contracting West Nile Virus this Summer.

Tags: Colorado, north America, Texas, United States

What is Glivec? It seems that w3e always hear cancer storeis and that there are not very many good news stories, not that I usually see anyway. Leukemia is a type of blood cancer that is often fatal and I had not ever heard of any drug therapies that were remarkable until I saw a news result today out of England that said that many people taking the drug Glivec are having amazing results. Here is some info on this Drug from Medical News Today.

Most patients who develop chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) can now expect to live more than 20 years from diagnosis if they are treated with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) Glivec (imatinib) according to haematologists involved in the IRIS (International Randomized Interferon versus STI571) study. Before availability of current treatments, median survival from diagnosis was 3.5 years.

Around 95 per cent of patients diagnosed with CML have the Philadelphia chromosome positive (Ph+) form that responds well to Glivec, said Professor John Goldman, professor of haematology at Imperial College, London. The chromosome is the result of translocation between the long arms of chromosomes 9 and 22. Part of the breakpoint cluster region (Bcr) gene from chromosome 22 fuses with part of the abelson leukaemia virus (Abl) gene on chromosome 9 producing the abnormal tyrosine kinase protein Bcr-Abl. It is this protein that causes the proliferation of white blood cells resulting in CML.

Four-year data from IRIS were presented at this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting. More than 90 per cent of patients with Ph+ CML in the chronic phase, randomised initially to Glivec 400mg daily in the year 2000, were still alive and free of progression to advanced disease at 54 months, Professor Goldman said.

The study confirmed that patients who achieved a major molecular response within one year, ie, a more than 1000-fold reduction in residual leukaemia, fared best. Patients achieving a three-log reduction in Bcr-Abl transcript levels within oneyear were all free of progression to advanced disease at year four.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: advanced disease, American Society of Hematology, cancer, Chairman, diabetes, drug therapies, France, Francois Guilhot, Glivec What, Glivec-resistant, Hagop Kantarjian, Imperial College, John Goldman, leukaemia, Leukemia, London, Novartis, Philadelphia, professor, professor of haematology, professor of oncology, Texas, United Kingdom, University of Poitiers

Kim Lyons is a fitness contest competitor from California. Yesterday I posted about how Jillian Michaels has left the Biggest Lose and is being replaced by Kim Lyons . Who is Kim Lyons you may be wondering? Well I dug around and found the following bio on her at the Kim Lyons website. It looks like she has quite the background and I am excited to see her in action when the Biggest Loser comes back to TV next January

Height 5′4
Birthday 5-5-73
Weight 120 off season 115 competition
Measurements 34-24-34
Hair Blonde
Eyes Brown

My Childhood

“Home is not the place where you live, but the place where you belong”

I was born in Texas, then moved to England, Sacramento CA, New Mexico, Alabama, Back to Sacramento, Idaho, Virginia, Colorado, Texas, Arizona, Italy, Utah and now I’m in Hermosa Beach, CA Although I always made where I’m living home, I have been coming to Hermosa Beach since I was five to spend the summers with my Grandparents. I have always called Hermosa “home”. It is the only place that I have continued to return to throughout my life. It sounds silly, but I still get so excited every time I wake up and realize I live here!

Athletic Background
I have always been involved in sports. Gymnastics, dance, track, softball, and cheerleading were I spent most of my time. Moving so often it was hard to make new friends, having sports always put me in with a little group. I cheered all the way through my last year in college. Most people really under estimate how much athletic talent and time is required as a collegian cheerleader.

Getting started as a fitness competitor
I never planned on a career in fitness. Throughout college I studied nutrition and other related topics to get my BS in Human Development and Nutrition. I just needed to get a degree so I could become an airline pilot. That was my goal. However, my love and passion of the fitness industry and modeling lead me down a different path.

Shortly after graduating from Colorado State I began teaching aerobics and working at the front desk at a new World Gym opening up across the street. I rarely lifted weights, and taught about 6 classes a week. One of the trainers asked me if I wanted to train with him and another girl looking to share the cost of the sessions. The other girl, Shannon, was training for the Galaxy. She had the most amazing abs I’d ever seen. After about a month of training and learning to eat better, my body had drastically changed and I decided to compete as well. There were about 100 girls in the competition and I placed somewhere in the top 20. I was super happy with that and had a blast. Even better, I was swamped by several top photographers in the business. I started to get exposure, and from there the ball kept rolling. I never dreamed I’d actually get the job of my dreams as a “Weider Athlete”. I have since signed on as part of “Team Muscle Tech”. Life just keeps getting better!

Me in a Nutshell!
I’m a totally down to earth! I believe in the good old fashion phrase “Treat others as you’d like them to treat you!” If I’m having a bad day and someone smiles, says hello, or gives a compliment can really turn my day around. Sometimes I feel like everyone is so quick to be critical and not to give a compliment. I think we all critique ourselves enough, sometimes it is hard to see the beauty in ourselves.

I guess overall I’m pretty much a goofball. I’d say I have a smile on my face 90% of the time. Doing sexy shoots is not my thing, I think I look silly when I have a serious face! Many people think I’m a goodie two shoes because I don’t do a lot of sexy T and A shoots, but really I just have a butt complex and my top half is usually to lean to brag about! I’m super independent and love to be alone. I love days when I can just sit around my house, catch up on e-mails, clean out a drawer or two, fold the laundry, and walk the dog. I don’t understand how people can be bored. I need about ten lifetimes to do everything I want to do!

Tags: airline, Alabama, Arizona, California, collegian cheerleader, Colorado, Gymnastics, Hermosa Beach, Idaho, Italy, jillian michaels, kim lyons, little group, New Mexico, Sacramento, Shannon, Softball, Texas, United Kingdom, Utah, Virginia, World Gym

Usually people do things in half measures. I have in all of my articles talked about the things you can do to make a change and most of them are not particularly hard. Take a look back now at all of the changes that I have put forward. Are you comfortable with each of these changes? Probably. But once all of these changes are instituted you are looking at a whole new you, a new outlook, a new body, a new way of looking at eating as well as exercise.

Most change in life that is really serious and permanent comes from radical changes. When you make a break from the past and change the way that you look at all things in your life you are changing a paradigm and you never need look back. I have been in points in my life in the past where I would look at some kind of exercise or lifestyle change and would kind of chuckle saying “No, I couldn’t do that” and six months later I am at that point.

I would like to pop up some role models that you can look at to see what is in fact possible. First lets look at Lance Armstrong, as many of us know Lance Armstrong endured cancer and came back to win the Tour De France seven times. Here are a few things that make Lance Armstrong seem like a normal guy: he has 2 kids, and a failed marriage, part way through his first Tour De France he considered quitting, he came from a trailer park in Texas. Now let’s look at what it takes to do what he does. He leads a team of seven riders that protect his position in the race, he rides 3500 KM in 21 days and in the last Tour De France he only won one stage but was so close to the lead in every other stage that he was able to easily win overall. One more person would be Bill Clinton, like him or not Bill Clinton cam from a very poor family, a broken home, put himself through university to become a lawyer which should have been tough enough but this gave him a chance to become a politician and to become the governor of Arkansas and finally to beat all the “backwoods” stereotype attitudes from the rest of the country to finally become president. Just so we could look at him again as a real person, Bill Clinton committed infidelity within his marriage and is now trying to rise up again as a great international statesman.

Both of these stories teach us that anyone can do great things and that there can be doubt and setbacks to our great changes. The other thing that we see is that most people are normal people and that we can pull ourselves to succeed

Tags: Arkansas, Bill Clinton, cancer, Governor, great international statesman, Lance Armstrong, lawyer, politician, president, Texas, Tour De France