Message from the President:

From the many people I talk with and articles I read, it seems most people are becoming disenchanted with the low-carb craze and are less inclined to buy such products. How can you really make bread low-carb anyway (it is a carbohydrate after all)? Food should be enjoyable - don't you agree?

A former client recently gave me a funny she cut out of the newspaper. It was by someone named Steve Kelley. Here's the scene:

A customer is at a fast food counter ready to order. The young man behind the counter says, "Our new 'Happy Meal' is a salad, a bottle of water and exercise tips." The customer responds, "Man, I'd hate to see the unhappy meal."

I could not stop laughing! Here's to good food.

To your health,
Amy Lundberg
Aim For It, President

Spotlight: The Exercise Ball

It looks harmless enough. It’s just a blow up ball. But if you’ve used one, you know that it can make an ordinarily simple exercise difficult. Try using a ball as a desk chair or in place of the sofa for a half hour and notice how you maintain good posture. You have no choice – you’d fall off of it if you didn’t.

One reason the ball is a great tool is that it’s inexpensive and you can use it without any other equipment for a complete at-home workout. Another reason is that no matter what the exercise, you are using your abdominal and back muscles to balance. This is a more “real life” workout than most exercises. Many mainstream exercises consist of lying on a bench or leaning against a pad which isn’t something you tend to do in the normal course of your day. When you simulate a more realistic action in your workouts you better strengthen your body against injury.

Here’s an exercise you can do at home (or anywhere for that matter):

As you “walk” your hands forward and the ball rolls down past your hips, do not let your back arch. With this exercise you use your abdominal, shoulder, chest and even tricep muscles to stabilize and keep in position. Get comfortable with a few reps and build up.

If you’re new to the ball, don’t be deceived by its apparent ease. Trust me – you’ll feel it tomorrow.

SURPRISE:
Study Shows Exercise Reduces Body Fat… WITHOUT DIETING!

Most people think a combination of diet and exercise is needed to lose weight. Of course 95% of people who lose weight with diets regain their weight back eventually, but that’s beside the point.

A number of doctors in the Durham, NC area conducted a study “to determine the effects of different amounts and intensities of exercise training.” While we know physical inactivity contributes to obesity, the authors of the study said that “The amount of activity needed to prevent weight gain is unknown.” They selected sedentary, overweight men and women (aged 40-65 years) and divided them into the following three groups for an eight-month exercise program:

(1) High amount of exercise – vigorous intensity,
(2) Low amount of exercise – vigorous intensity, or
(3) Low amount of exercise – moderate intensity.

And, the subjects were counseled not to change their diet!

The results? They found a significant relationship between the amount of exercise and the amount of weight and fat loss. “Compared with controls, all exercise groups significantly decreased abdominal, waist, and hip circumference measurements. There were no significant changes in dietary intake for any group.”

In the end, the controls gained weight, both low-amount exercise groups lost weight and fat, and the high-amount group lost more of each. The authors also noted that the caloric imbalance in overweight individuals appeared to be small and reversible by a modest amount of exercise.

Remember the length of this study was eight months. Some people aren’t patient enough to last eight days! Stick with it and the results will follow.

ARCHIVES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE: Vol. 164 No. 1, January 12, 2004
Effects of the Amount of Exercise on Body Weight, Body Composition, and Measures of Central Obesity

Green Thumb = Glowing Health?
Five Ways to “Weed” Away Your Waistline

Gardens require a lot of attention during spring and summer months. What a great way to enjoy the outdoors and reap exercise benefits without spending all of your time in a stuffy gym.

The March 2004 issue of IDEA Health and Fitness Source noted that, “Recent studies suggest that daily gardening can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, improve bone density and help prevent glucose intolerance.” Who doesn’t want those benefits?

Unfortunately, like most areas of life, gardening has also been made easier. From leaf blowers to automatic mowers (to hired gardeners!) it is a challenge to get a workout in the yard – but not impossible. Here’s how:

1. Forget the weed killer – weed the old fashioned way with a weeder and getting down on your hands and knees. Switch off hands now and then to balance out the muscles and prevent undue soreness on one side of the body. A client of mine really feels this “workout” in her waist and butt!
2. Keep up on maintenance – a healthy garden requires consistency (hmmm… sounds like health and exercise). It’s easy to let go of pruning and trimming for a week or two and make up for it once a month. Keeping up on maintenance will keep your garden and your figure from looking shabby.
3. Walk and water – plants require more frequent watering during summer months so forgo the sprinklers and drip system once a week and water manually… again, the old fashioned way.
4. Rake (and mow) up those calories – here are two more activities to keep up on. Rather than accumulating leaves and letting growth overtake your lawn, keep your yard looking spotless and manicured with a once or twice a week mow and raking.
5. Shoveling, hauling… just general hard work – hard, yes. But also very gratifying.

The size of your yard and garden will determine how much exercise or activity you can get. And while gardening may not produce six-pack abs, it certainly has benefits beyond a pretty yard. And when you enjoy it, all the better!