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 »

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: 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

Well this, my least favorite season of the Biggest Loser is over and I just wanted to add a few comments of my own on how entertaining the last two hour episode was. First of all I am glad that I taped the show and then watched it after for a bit more clarity and less interruptions from the kids. The show was broken into three parts. First was the people not chosen and worked out at home, second were the people kicked off during the show and finally they had the final four and their weight in. Why did the people at home winner get so much less than the final winner when the percentage weight losses were the same?

First the show recognized the non-picked that had to work out at home. This at home group were the rest of the 50 that did not get picked by Kim Lyons or Bob Harper to stay at the ranch and the winner of this was Poppi from New Jersey who lost just over half of her weight. What a massive loss going from 232 pounds to 115 pounds. Poppi looked really small and in fact was fantastic looking. As usual when losing a lot of weight she was barely recognizable from her old self.

Second, the people kicked off of the show. It was very close and Jaron from Arizona narrowly lost to Brian from California. Brian lost more than half his weight as well and looked very lean. The highlight to us at home and I bet most people was how huge Marty from Missouri was. Marty lost almost all of his fat and gained a ton of muscle. We knew he had no chance to win the biggest weight loss because he was so muscular.

In the final of the finale we were surprised to see Heather from Utah was pregnant. Now if you are up for a $250,000 prize why would you go and get pregnant instead of waiting until after the show is over? The show gave Heather a new nursery which was a nice consolation prize. The other surprise was Kai from Alaska, I am not to sure what was going on but it really seemed to have taken something to increase her attitude and energy before the show taped. I sure hope for her sake that they did not have random drug testing for the Biggest Loser finale. As anyone that has read my past posts knows I did not like either of the girls that were in the final four anyway. I was not really disappointed that they did not win.

Wylie from Florida looked like he never had a chance in this competition to win the title of Biggest Loser but in the end he came in third and looked fantastic and DID lose a lot of weight, more importantly to watch though was that Wylie seemed to gain a lot of muscle over the last few weeks of his training as I guess his bodyfat level got low enough to really notice.

Erik from New York ended up as the biggest loser. He lost more than half of his weight and seemed really healthy. Some of the people on the show always looked like they have lost too much weight but I did not think that Erik looked that way. Erik was lean and muscular and seemed to have a bit of bodyfat on him but just barely. I would not be surprised if he gained 10 pounds or so but some of the people look like they would probably have to gain 20 pounds or so to look like a more normal weight.

Well there it is another season of Biggest Loser over and hopefully the producers of the show take some of my earlier suggestions to heart and make some changes to the show. I liked this season the least but it was nice to watch the finale and see all of the success stories. I am really looking forward to the next season

Tags: Alaska, Arizona, bob harper, California, energy, Florida, kim lyons, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, USD, Utah

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

Here is an article from The Salt Lake City Daily Herald. I am including it as it does show the way that METs which are a calculation of workout based on oxygen consumption.

Disheartened by a failed marriage and years of weight gain, Ellen Bowden decided to turn to a personal trainer to help reshape her body and lifestyle.

Since January, the 47-year-old Salt Lake City court mediator has lost 11 percent body fat, shed about 25 pounds, improved her diet, quit smoking and toned up under the guidance of Michael Streeter at the 24 Hour Fitness center in Sugar House.

Streeter designed an exercise program for Bowden using the Karvonen formula, which calculates a person’s target heart rate by a person’s age and pulse. Three or four days a week, Bowden hits her rate of 144 on the elliptical machine.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: aerobics instructor and personal trainer, Ashley Jensen, Cardiologist, Carey Hamilton, Chicago, Chicago's Rush University Medical Center, diabetes, Ellen Bowden, fitness, Fitness Institute, Fitness Institute at LDS Hospital, Frank Yanowitz, high blood pressure, LDS Hospital, manager of Ladies Workout Express, Marci King, Martha Gulati, mediator, medical director, Melissa Walred, Michael Streeter, Mike Young, personal trainer, personal training director, reporter, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City court, sports science, Stephanie Christian, The New England Journal, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Salt Lake City Daily Herald, the Salt Lake Tribune, University of Utah, Utah, XCel Spa