Health

Spring Cleaning
How to Live a Detoxifying Lifestyle

With Spring in the near future and swimsuit season just after that it may be time for a little “Spring cleaning”. Maybe you are still feeling a little sluggish and puffy from the holidays and need a kick start in the right direction. You have probably heard the buzz about detox diets and their plethora of supposed benefits. Maybe you have even considered doing one yourself. Before jumping on the bandwagon of crazy concoctions or week long fasting, there are a few things you should know about detoxing.

What is a detox anyways?

Savage Skin!
By: Natalie Lynn Lichtenbert
www.natalielynn.net

Ah! What I wouldn’t give to be lying on a beach with a drink in my hand, the hot sun warming my bones, and my soul. And just how great am I going to look at dinner tonight? Freshly showered with sun-kissed glowing skin!

We always look sexier with a great tan, right?

A fortune cookie once said, “Imitation is the best form of flattery” and in a world of fad diets, endless meal plans and health clubs on every corner, imitation is all around. People waste time and energy working towards achieving something they are not. People get so caught up with imitating someone else’s diets, workout regiment and eating habits that so often people fail to realize there is not one answer which works for everyone.

Eat, Drink and be HEALTHY This Holiday Season

Invest in Yourself
You are your biggest asset.
 
Times are getting tough when it comes to the dollar, and we are looking for everyway possible to stretch it just a little further. Before you consider cancelling your gym membership, taking a break from your yoga practice or cutting back on healthy supplements, think twice. This may be the only type of investment in a downturn economy that is guaranteed to show returns. Exercise is a study proven stress-buster and eating healthy is crucial to your wellbeing in the high stress world we live in today. 
 
The Holidays are around the corner which in itself can present quite the hair pulling emotions, along with 401Ks looking bleak, stocks going down… okay I need not remind you. Just the thought may make your blood pressure rise, which is another reason to keep that gym membership. (exercise reduces hypertension) 

FLEXIBILITY TRAINING
 
The range of motion available in a joint is referred to as flexibility. It is extremely important in fitness and wellness. Flexibility is specific to each joint, meaning a person might be flexible in shoulder joint movements and tight in hip joint movements. Joint structure, age and sex are factors that affect flexibility that cannot be altered by flexibility training.
 
The entire musculoskeletal system benefits from having good flexibility. Besides preventing injuries, flexibility is essential to good joint health. Tight quadriceps muscles can lead to joint deterioration and cause knee pain. If the shoulder joint is subjected to abnormal stresses by being tight, it can result not only in restricted mobility but can irritate the soft tissues. Increased flexibility can greatly improve your posture and quality of life. This is particularly true for older people; improved tissue elasticity helps to facilitate movement.

Salad Shocker
 
We’ve talked on MyFitTribe before about how salads purchased in restaurants or at the drive-through are rarely what they appear to be, but I was shocked when I saw the cold, hard numbers. In the latest Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine review of fast-food and sandwich chain salads, only TWO out of 34 sampled salads checked out and received full marks on a five-star nutritional scale for fiber content and low saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and calorie levels.

 
Escaping the Fat Gene: Food for Thought
 
Ever since researchers found the FTO gene variant associated with obesity, overweight people were dismissed with a futile wave – “You have the fat gene.” Many struggling, overweight dieters simply gave up, resigning themselves to an unfit lifestyle. Others kept up their workout routines, determined to do something, while another set of people battled their obesity with obsessive exercise and a healthy diet, on a mission to prove researchers wrong. Hopefully, more and more people will continue the approach of the latter groups, because further examination reveals that hope is not lost.

 
Shortcuts in fitness only prolong results
 
Have you ever heard the saying “a lazy man works twice”?  It’s ironic, but we often end up doing twice the work trying to take shortcuts in life. 
 

Working Out Isn’t Rocket Science… It’s Much Harder
by David Berman, MS, PT, COMT, CSCS
 
If you want to build a rocket, all you have to do is follow the instructions. In fact, I’ve seen 10 year olds build and successfully launch homemade rockets.