The Healthy and Unhealthy Way of Drinking Diet Soda
dieting, diet coke, diet soda
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Diet Soda can be your best friend or your hidden worst enemy. The zero calorie beverage that imitates it's high calorie twin is very popular for those watching their weight. But can drinking diet soda actually be a secret obstacle in achieving your weight loss goals?
I've analyzed the situation and I've realized that there's a right and wrong way of drinking diet soda. Sorry, I can't cite any grandiose double blind study - but they're usually fabricated anyway.
The Right Way of Drinking Diet Soda
Let's start with an example. Your friends are sitting down for dinner and everyone's ordering soda, beers, and you don't like the taste of just water - order a diet coke. The key here is that you're already committed to eating and if you're like most people, you need liquid to go with the food. We're used to mixing food and drinks. If you don't like drinking water, definitely ordering a diet soda is smarter than ordering a calorie containing beverage. Basically, if you are choosing between one or the other - regular soda vs diet soda - choosing diet is utilizing the right way of drinking diet soda. The "right way" is pretty simple.
But What about the Wrong Way of Drinking Diet Soda?
Many people fall victim to the diet soda death trap without even knowing it. Many people start off with good intentions and utilize the right way of drinking diet soda. Why drink something with calories if I could drink something without calories that tastes the same? But then they don't realize the implications of drinking diet soda when the decision isn't between regular soda or diet soda.
Many people get in the habit of drinking diet soda almost constantly. Since it's zero calories, they can drink as much as they like without breaking their diet. But there's other effects of drinking diet soda.
As I mentioned earlier, we're used to mixing food and drinks. When you sit down to drink some diet soda, the drink you're u... read entire entry
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on 5/14/2008
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0 |
10.8
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Exercise Making You Tired? Think Again
fatigue, tiredness, energy
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Unless you hit powerball or are really ridiculously good looking, you probably have a job - which is tiring. This leads many people to skip their workouts because they think they're too tired or that they'll be too tired later in the day.
Wrong... When you exercise, endorphins enter your bloodstream which has a lasting energizing affect on your body. Meaning a morning workout will actually give you an energy boost throughout your day.
Still think you're feeling tired after working out?
Unless you're running a marathon or swimming tons of laps - you're probably not tired. It's actually just fatigue - which is a part of all everyday tasks. The tiredness is an illusion, wake up from it, and you'll wake up throughout the day.
Increase Your Energy Supply
I previously mentioned how your body won't be tired, but it will feel fatigued. This fatigue actually wears off as your body gets used to the extra activity your involved in throughout the day. The energy gained from the exercising stays - thus increasing your energy supply and warding off fatigue.
It doesn't take much, I recommend doing something simple like Air Squats in the morning or my personal favorite is hitting the heavy bag for a few rounds.
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on 5/13/2008
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0 |
13.2
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Save the Boozing for After your Workouts
alcohol and fitness, pre-workout
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If you're reading this, you probably have an interest in working out - and most likely, you do some boozing in your free time as well. Unless you were born yesterday, you understand that it's not smart to mix the two (exercising and getting drunk). We're all aware that drinking messes with your motor skills and will decrease performance and possibly lead to injury.
What if I just have one drink and then wait a few hours?
While it's obviously stupid to exercise while drunk, something not as obvious is dehydration. A typical drinker can have a beer or two and a few hours later they're perfectly fine to drive or anything else. But, the dehydration effect from drinking still lasts. Dehydration can have a negative impact on your workouts performance and productivity.
So if you know you're going to the gym later in the day, maybe you should skip out on those happy hour drinks. Or possibly just go for the nachos and have a glass of water - not as fun, but at least you'll still perform well in the gym.
Can't live without happy hour drinks?
I recommend switching your gym schedule so that you workout in the morning. If you exercise in the morning (you can do without the morning bloody mary) you'll have time to rehydrate yourself throughout the day. Then you can drink yourself silly at happy hour without having to worry about a gym visit until the next morning - which should give you sufficient time to rehydrate.
I like fitness and drinking - let's try to make them work together.
Similar Posts
Exercise causing Heartburn? Try this
Lack of Sleep Linked to Smoking, Heavy Drinking, Inactivity
Drink Beer, Have Fun, Enjoy Life, and Still Have a Rockin Bod!
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on 5/12/2008
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0 |
8.4
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Walk for Life... Your own Life
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Walking, a very simple exercise, has many health benefits. In fact, it is proven to increase your life span - more legitimately proven than that exercise gizmo you ordered off of late night tv.
A study conducted over 8 years, with 13,000 people, showed significant decrease in premature death with subjects who walked 30 minutes a day when compared to those who were mostly inactive. It's pretty crazy to think that every step your take your somewhat buying yourself another millisecond of time on earth.
How does Walking Increase Longevity?
Walking does many things to increase both longevity and quality of life. Walking can help you live longer by lowering your blood pressure, reducing blood cholesterol, and improving your cardiovascular system. It also improves how well you live the rest of your life by maintaining the youth of your body. Walking assists maintenance of bone strength and burns calories to avoid weight gain.
Want to live longer and healthier?
I do - life's pretty fun. So I try to walk more and sit less. If you go to the gym and run, you probably don't have to focus on walking - but it can't hurt to get a few more steps in. If you're not active, and you are not the type to hit the gym, you need to focus on stepping. The weather has been great recently (by me at least), go out walking. You don't even need to break a sweat (if you're not the sweating type). Check out my walking tips before you get started.
But seriously, start walking - your life might depend on it.
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on 5/9/2008
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1 |
8.1
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Exercise Causing Heartburn? Try This
heart burn, pre-workout
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Many people report suffering from heartburn when being physically active. In fact, it causes some people to suspect they're having a heart attack.
Strenuous Exercise + Burning in Chest = Wait, am I having a heart attack?
Well, hopefully not. And if it's just heart burn, here's some tips to sooth and avoid the burning.
Tips to Avoid Heart Burn During Exercise
1. Avoid spicy and hot foods, and highly caffeinated beverages before your workout. This means you might have to cut out the energy drinks or coffee that gives you an extra boost.
2. Possibly tone down the intensity of your workout. Maybe your body doesn't react well to certain exercises at certain levels of intensity. Test out which ones are heart friendly and which ones have you ducking out early due to chest pain.
3. Try taking Prilosec on a regular basis. This must be taken every day, but it prevents getting heart burn from starting, unlike most antacids that fight the burn once it starts.
4. Snack on a dairy product before workout out. Drink a small glass of milk or have some yogurt. Avoid an all out dairy meal, however, or you might get sick during your workout.
5. Plan meals at least 2 hours before your workout. This will allow your body to digest the food instead of burping it back up as you workout.
Get instant fitness advice, Subscribe to my Fitness Blog RSS Feed.
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on 5/7/2008
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0 |
10.9
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Anorexia Causes People Magazine to Bypass Mary-Kate Olson in Most Beautiful People List
eating disorders, celebrity fitness
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People Magazine recently released their list of the most beautiful people and Ashley Olson was featured toward the top. Mary-Kate, her younger sister (by 2 hours), did not make the list.
But they look identical
Although Mary-Kate and Ashley were able to fool us all into thinking Michelle Tanner was played by one person, they're "identicalness" has slightly faded. While Ashley is really skinny, Mary-Kate is downright skin and bones.
Over-doing the Skinniness
In my opinion, the primary reason that Ashley graced the charts and Mary-Kate took a beating is due to Mary-Kate's anorexic binges which climaxed in 2005. Her face looks bony and frail. She almost looks like she has a disease. I feel bad being so critical, but she's ruined her look (she made the choice).
Skinnier isn't always better
This silent statement by People magazine shows that skinnier is not always more attractive. When looking to lose weight, be sure that your weight loss goals have an ending point. Getting caught up with being skinnier and skinnier can become an obsession, a sickness. Once you reach your weight loss goal, set a different goal toward maintaining your new body.
The future for Mary-Kate
Hopefully this public diss by People Magazine will cause Mary-Kate to wake up and realize that if she puts on a few pounds she'd be a lot more attractive.
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on 5/7/2008
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0 |
7.8
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Air Squats - It's Not Always About Weight
air squats, squats, quick workouts
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Squatting is one of the best exercises out there. Perhaps the king of the leg exercises, squats work your entire lower half - which results in building and toning your biggest mucles.
"How much can you squat" - Commonly heard in the gym. Have you ever heard someone ask "how many?"
How many wouldn't be a proper question if we were talking about weighted squats, where resistance is the almighty judge of performance. But have you ever tried Air Squats?
Air Squats are just like the barbell squats you're used to - minus the barbell and weight. These are based strictly on body weight, and they're highly underestimated. Utilizing air squats can help burn calories, tone your butt and legs, and confuse your muscles with high rep volume.
Benefits of Air Squats
1. You can do them anywhere and don't have to work up a sweat.
2. No equipment needed
3. Can be done while watching television
4. People of all fitness levels can benefit from air squats
5. Minimal injury risk
6. Ability to do higher reps than weighted squats
7. Absence of weight let's you develop good form
I recommend trying a few 50 rep sets of air squats in the morning before you head off to work, or class, or whatever you do. They take minimal time, effort, and if you're good you can avoid breaking a sweat. They still give you a good calories burn and are useful for toning up your legs.
Like my writing? Subscribe to my Fitness RSS feed.
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on 5/5/2008
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0 |
15.7
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Losing Weight Means Believing You Can
attitude, self esteem
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A recent study shows that believing you will be able to lose weight makes a big difference on whether you'll be able to lose the weight or not. Feel like you can't drop the weight no matter what you do? Maybe that feeling is your biggest obstacle.
The study was performed by Queensland University of Technology and headed by Rhonda Anderson. She claims that self-efficacy plays a role in whether people actually lose weight or not. The survey was performed with more thatn 560 subjects, who were surveyed on their diet and exercise habits. Although the exact numbers were not available, the results showed that a significant number of those who believed they could lose weight, lost it.
So what does this mean?
Think positive. You have to really set your goals and believe you can achieve them - or at least come close. Even if you initially don't think you can do it, lie to yourself. There's nothing to lose if you're wrong... right? So no matter what you think at the moment, tell yourself that you can do it, and you're chances of "doing it" will greatly increase.
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on 5/4/2008
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0 |
15.1
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Halle Berry Burns Pregnancy Fat in 6 Weeks with the 5 Factor Diet
celebrity fitness, dieting
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It has only been six weeks since Halle gave birth to a little berry and she's already slimmed down to her old body. At the age of 41, she's managed to change herself from a Pregnant Bohemith, to a Hot Mom - in just six weeks.
How did Halle slim down?
First off, while she was pregnant, she didn't let herself become a whale. She obviously wasn't going crazy at the gym, but she still managed to keep up with some of her fitness routines. She stayed active with yoga, swimming, and lifting light weights - along with a healthy diet. She had a cool fitness plan too.
The 5-Factor Fitness Plan
The plan was developed by Harley Pasternak and involves both exercise and dieting. Although I don't know all the secrets of the 5-factor fitness plan, I've heard it's a very easy plan to follow - I would have expected Halle to do something more difficult, but whatever. The 5-Factor Fitness Plan involves a 25 minute exercise program that should be performed 5 times a week. That's only a little more thatn 2 hours of exercise a week - but it worked for her.
For dieting, the 5-Factor Fitness Plan involves 5 meals per day (Harley's favorite number must have been 5). One cool thing about the plan is that there's no carb counting, point tracking, or crazy tracking that gets you all flustered. Some people like diets like that, but some don't. This is for someone who doesn't like tracking. Most the meals involve healthy proteins, low glycemic carbs, fiber, and omega 3s.
Recommend the 5-Factor Fitness Plan?
I'm undecided. I haven't tried the plan, so I won't give it my recommendation, but it could work for some people. It's best to read up on tons of fitness and diet plans and find one that you could easily fit into your lifestyle.
If you want to try it out, you can go to 5factordiet.com - It's not a commission link and I don't have any deal with the creator, but I figured it'd be dumb to explain the ... read entire entry
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on 5/1/2008
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0 |
10.8
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Mariah Carey’s Diet Works Wonders
celebrity fitness, dieting
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Mariah Carey’s body is back and looking just as good as it did in her prime. How did she do it? She invented her own diet.
There’s nothing magical to the Mariah Carey Diet – it’s actually quite a cinch. All you have to do is eat only a small portion of anything you consume. You can eat whatever you want, to some extent, you just can’t eat a lot of what you want.
How small are these portions we’re talking about?
Pretty freakin small buddy… No more than a forkful of each food. Meaning, your serving of chocolate for the day is the amount of chocolate you can fit on your normal sized fork. No, don’t go stick a fork in both pieces of a twix bar and act like that’s ok – that’s cheating.
So just how well does this diet work?
Well, she lost a whopping 32 lbs. – although she probably exaggerated. My guess is she lost about 25 lbs. in reality. Regardless, have you seen her body lately? She’s amazing (once again).
I give her a lot of credit for coming up with her own little diet plan. Many stars take the easier road and have the most scientific nutritionist come up with a super plan. I like how she figured out something simple that just works for her.
Will this diet work for you?
Maybe not, but I’d recommend giving it a shot. Everyone’s different. Some people can do without certain parts of their edible life, while others would rather just focus on exercise more. Some could do a low carb diet no problem, while others would simply die if they couldn’t eat their mother’s lasagna.
It’s all about finding the right strategy for you. Mariah did it, and wow, look at her now.
Like my writing? Subscribe to my Fitness RSS Feed.
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on 4/28/2008
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0 |
19.8
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Triathlon Training Leads to Deadly Shark Attack
triathlon
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A California man was training for a triathlon when he was fatally attacked by a shark.
The gruesome attack happened at San Diego Beach. The man was apparently lifted out of the water by a great white shark and his wet suit was shredded. Like most shark attack cases, scientists suspect that the shark assumed the man was a seal.
This story is pretty scary for any beach goers for two reasons.
1. It's rare to hear of a Great White attacking people - usually they're out to sea more
2. It wasn't a surfer. Not to say that it's better that they get surfers, but I'm saying surfers understand that sharks seem to attack surfers more than swimmers - so they know to be extra careful. Every day swimmers usually don't think it's a concern.
More to the story... Hillary Clinton has denounced all sharks and stated that she suspects Obama endorsed this shark attack. Obama claims that is simply not true.
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on 4/26/2008
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0 |
8.6
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Fast Food Eater? Here's an Easy Diet for You
fast food, dieting
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When people hear the word "Diet" they immediately start thinking about Atkins. or The Cabbage Soup Diet, or some other crazy diet plan out there. It's not always that complicated. In fact, if you're a fast food eater, I have the perfect "Diet" for you.
This is a simple, beginner diet. It involves one rule - and one rule only.
You're starting to like the sound of this aren't you? An easy, simple, one guideline diet that is GUARANTEED to work. All you have to do is not eat any fast food.
This means never. Not once a week, not once a month. Simply cut it from your diet. The fastest food you can eat is subway - which you should still use caution when eating. In fact, before you eat subway, I recommend reading up on the Subway Myth. But the only solid rule is that you can't eat fast food.
If you are a fast food eater, you're lucky. You have a diet plan that's easy, cheap, and will definitely show results. Try this diet for 2 - 3 months, you'll lose some weight (I promise), and then move on to a diet with level 2 complexity.
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on 4/26/2008
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0 |
12.4
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Peanuts and Raisins Can be a Healthy Snack or a Fat Packer
dieting, healthy snacks
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If you have any fitness and health goals, usually part of achieving them is finding healthy snacks. Peanuts and Raisins COULD be a healthy option - but it depends on your goals and activity level.
Nutritional Info for Peanuts and Raisins
Two cups of a peanuts and raisins mixed has about 43 grams of protein, 139 grams of carbohydrates, and 72 grams of fat. Peanuts are very high in protein and relatively high in some fats, while raisins are high in carbohydrates and no protein or fat.
Peanuts and Raisins Can be a great snack for weight lifters
If you have an active lifestyle or are trying to build muscle, this mix of protein, carbohydrates, and fat (can't avoid it) is a good mix. If you've missed out on your usual intake of carbs throughout the day, have some raisins to even it out. In the same way, if you're lacking protein in your diet, eat some peanuts.
Get Fat with Peanuts and Raisins
If you're the couch potato type, I wouldn't recommend eating this mixture. While this can be a healthy option for those who have an active lifestyle, those who are couch potatoes will not fair as well. I'd recommend a healthier snack like celery.
Does this mean that if you're not a weight lifter you can't use peanuts and raisins as a snack? No, but it's important to Know your Fitness Goals before Choosing Snacks for your Diet.
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on 4/24/2008
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0 |
19.2
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Antioxidants May Decrease Longevity
health watch, wacky finds, vitamins, nutrition, antioxidants
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A new study argues that vitamin supplementation does not increase life expectancy. In fact, the study shows that you may be more likely to suffer premature death as a result of vitamin supplementation.
The study, conducted by Cochrane Collaboration, was based on 47 trials with over 180,000 people. According to the study, "antioxidant supplements significantly increased mortality". They specifically picked out Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and beta-carotene as making you more likely to die before your scheduled trip to the afterworld.
Apparently, Vitamin A was linked to 16% increased risk of dying, Vitamin E increased risk by 4%, and beta-carotene increased risk by 7%. Vitamin C and selenium showed no risk, but also showed no benefit in longevity.
Since these vitamins are commonly referred to as "antioxidants" - research has suggested these chemicals underlie some of the beneficial effects of eating fruit and vegetables because they soak up harmful byproducts of metabolism which can damage cells and cause aging.
While the evidence of a beneficial effect of a diet rich in fruit and veg is solid, the Cochrane data suggest antioxidant supplements are either useless or detrimental.
What they seem to suggest is that anti-oxidant supplementation has byproducts which cause you to age faster. So it may cause you to look older, sooner, and possibly die... sooner.
I have to say that I'm somewhat skeptical about this. People seem to be able to prove anything with a study, and once you say the word "death" everyone seems to give it more than a glance. This could be a case of scientists trying to get some shine with an attention grabbing study.
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on 4/20/2008
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0 |
9.1
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A High Fat Diet working Medical Wonders
dieting
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High fat diets are rarely recommended in the health and fitness world. Usually, if a diet does have a high fat content, it cuts carbohydrates to a bare minimum. Now, a new high fat diet is recommended for children with Epilepsy.
For those who are unfamiliar with Epilepsy, it is a neurological disorder which can cause random seizures. While there are several drugs on the market geared toward reducing affects of this disorder, there are many who see no improvement.
A test on children suffering from Epilepsy recently showed that 50% of the subjects reduced their seizures by 50% as a result of following this high fat diet.
Most of you (probably all of you) don't suffer from epilepsy, so you're probably un-interested in this diet. But the cool thing to learn from this is how important diets are. If diets are able to heavily reduce epileptic seizures, then they definitely have a huge affect on sleeping habits, how we perform at sports, and obviously - how much we weigh.
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on 4/17/2008
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0 |
7.5
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Please Don't Wear Crocs to the Gym
gym rants, crocs
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The other day I was at the gym when a guy walked in sporting bright yellow crocs. Now, I’m not one to criticize people’s gym outfits, but if you’re really out of line, I’m going to have to make fun of you (on here at least). Crocs are stupid and should not be worn in public – especially not the gym!
What would possess someone to strap on a pair of Crocs to go to the gym? Aside from their stupid look, they are definitely not reliable as a gym shoe. They offer little or no support for your ankles.
Crocs should be banned from gyms
Two popular gym rules are “re-rack weights” and “wipe off equipment.” Well I’m adding another one to the top of the list. “Don’t wear Crocs and look like an idiot.”
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on 4/15/2008
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1 |
31.6
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Yoga boosts Self Esteem: Myth or Not?
yoga, self esteem, myths
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If you’re in the health and fitness mix, you might have heard some rumors brewing that Yoga has been scientifically proven to raise your self esteem. I’m sure many people on a quest for high self esteem happiness have been jumping into the yoga studios by the bounds.
But does yoga really boost your self esteem?
A recent study performed by Steriani Elavsky and Edward McAuley found a slight increase in physical self esteem – but it was not a significant value. Basically, their finding was no more than a coincidence.
Their study consisted of 164 women between ages 42 to 56. They were split into 3 groups to perform a certain exercise for 4 months. One group was assigned walking, one group assigned yoga (obviously), and one group got to sit around being lazy. Each group was psychologically evaluated before and after the 4 month period. Each person was paid $20 – pretty lame pay if you ask me.
Not sure how the above position could be a self esteem booster.
At the end of 4 months, the two groups who exercised showed a slight increase in self esteem, while the lazy group did not. While the yoga group was loved themselves slightly more than the walking group, it did not turn out to be a scientifically significant difference.
So basically, there’s no scientific proof stating that yoga boosts your self esteem. However, that’s not to say that yoga won’t boost a certain person’s self esteem more than other activities. Since I’m not into yoga, it probably wouldn’t boost my self esteem. Another example: I don’t think an MMA Fighter would have a big ego boost with yoga. But maybe someone who’s not very athletic would have a huge ego boost.
Applying his Gold-Bond foot powder AND Deoderant (patent pending)
Yoga is actually pretty useful (whether it's an ego booster or not). Yoga can be a great warm up and is well known as a mind-relaxer. I'll be honest, I'm not much ... read entire entry
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on 4/13/2008
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11.8
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Fergie slims down with Vinegar Shots
vinegar shots, fergie, celebrity fitness
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Apparently, Fergie is getting “Vinelicious” in her attempts at losing weight and getting a lean, flat belly. The pop-star accredits taking shots of vinegar with her recent weight loss success.
Supposedly, the vinegar shots aid as appetite suppressants. I’ve never tried it, but I imagine taking shots of vinegar would make you lose the desire to consume anything else – so perhaps these statements are true.
“I do vinegar shots. It has to be organic apple cider, unfiltered. Two tablespoons. For some reason I've noticed a difference on my stomach” – Fergie swears these apple vinegar shots are the key weapon in achieving her flatter stomach. She also claims that the vinegar shots are great at cleansing the body.
How did she get the idea to start taking vinegar shots? She learned about this weight loss tip from a very credible source, Natasha Kufa – who is a well known personal trainer in the pop-music community. She claims that vinegar flushes out fat in the colon and helps the body digest food.
So should we all hop on the vinegar shot diet?
I’d say it’s a toss up on whether it works or not. Although Natasha Kufa probably knows a great deal about getting in shape, I’ve found sources stating vinegar has no effect on the body – other than a bad smell and taste. Maybe we’ll check up with Fergie a few months down the road and see if her honeymo | |