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Irongeezelle™
November 2008
A monthly webzine for smart, savvy women
who live an active, healthy lifestyle!
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Heart Health
Normal Weight Not Safe Zone for Heart, Metabolic Problems! So you finally did it – you reduced your weight to the “normal” level. Now the Mayo Clinic has some bad news for you. More than half of American adults considered to have normal body weight in America have high body fat percentages - 30 percent for women - as well as heart and metabolic disturbances. The finding conflicts with the widely held belief that maintaining a normal weight automatically guards against disorders such as high levels of circulating blood fats and a tendency to develop metabolic syndrome, which often leads to type 2 diabetes. The researchers defined “normal weight” by body mass index (BMI). They found that people with normal BMI who had the highest percentage of body fat were also those who had metabolic disturbances linked to heart disease. The researchers use the phrase “normal weight obesity” to describe this new type of patient at risk for metabolism problems and risk factors for heart disease, but who rates as “normal” on standard weight charts. “Our study demonstrates that even people with normal weight may have excessive body fat, and that these people are at risk for metabolic abnormalities that lead to diabetes and, eventually, to heart disease.” Significance of the Mayo Clinic Study Heart disease remains the major cause of death and disability in westernized countries. Researchers around the world are striving to refine the relationship of body composition to heart health as a means of: 1. Designing more effective risk assessment tools 2. Improving public health programs for reducing risk 3. Designing new and better clinical rehabilitation programs for heart patients While a focus on maintaining “a healthy weight” has long been a centerpiece of these efforts, Mayo’s new study suggests the focus may need to shift. Instead of tracking weight and BMI only, public health measures to prevent heart disease might benefit more from measuring the belly or by assessing percentage of body fat as more reliable risk factors of heart disease. Mayo studies in 2006 and 2007 suggested this criterion by demonstrating the inability of BMI to discriminate between body fat and lean muscle. “Combined, the data from our earlier work and the current study suggest it’s time for a new measure of body fat as a risk factor of heart disease,” says Dr. Lopez-Jimenez.
Source: Mayo Clinic. For more on Mayo Clinic research, go to www.mayo.edu.
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Waist Management? LOSING WEIGHT: WHAT WORKS? WHAT DOESN'T?
Strong Reasons to Start Strength Training Strength training — whether you use weight training machines, elastic resistance bands, dumbbells, barbells or simply the weight of your body — offers many health benefits. The Mayo Clinic lists reasons why it's good to add strength training to your exercise regimen. Benefits include: * Increasing bone density: This reduces the risk and impact of osteoporosis. * Reducing the risk of falling: Strength training contributes to better balance, coordination and agility. * Maintaining a healthy weight: Pound for pound, muscle burns three times more calories than fat. Increased muscle mass enables your body to burn calories more quickly and efficiently. * Alleviating chronic back pain: People often experience less pain after strengthening their back and abdominal muscles. * Making everyday tasks easier: Housework, mowing the lawn or carrying groceries takes less effort. Strong muscles mean you're less likely to injure muscles, tendons or ligaments. Talk to your doctor about appropriate strengthening exercises, especially if you have osteoporosis
Source: Mayo Clinic
Burn 100 Calories in 10 Minutes
While many of us think we're too busy to exercise, experts are busy taking that little excuse out of the mix. We now know that short workouts (2 or 3 10-minute workouts throughout the day) can be just as effective as longer workouts. The key is to focus on intensity and use your time wisely. The sample workouts below offer a variety of cardio and strength ideas to get the most out of your exercise time. Substitute exercises to fit your fitness level and don't forget to cool-down and stretch after each workout. Your 10-Minute Cardio Blast To get the most out of 10-minute cardio workouts, you want to focus on working harder than usual. The following workout offers some ideas for how you can work hard during the time you have. 1 minute - Brisk walk or march in place 1 minute - Light jog outside, around the house or in place 1 minute - Jumping jacks 1 minute - Long jumps - jump forward, landing with both feet 1 minute - Light jog 1 minute - Jumping jacks 1 minute - Squat and kick, alternating legs 1 minute - Light jog 1 minute - Long jumps 1 minute - Brisk walk to cool down
If you're feeling creative, make your own workout using some of the activities listed below. Each exercises will burn about 100 calories (depending on your weight, fitness level, and intensity) in 10 minutes:
Running - 1 mile Jumping rope Stepping - 30 steps per minute, 7 inch step Cycling - 13 mph High-impact aerobics Running up stairs Circuit training Calisthenics - pushups, jumping jacks, plyometric jumps and kickboxing-type moves Source: About.com |
Irongeezelle Lifestyle:
Health Tip: Survive the Holidays
Since the average turkey dinner contains more calories than most adults need in an entire day , survival during the holidays can be a challenge. While the holidays are an occasion for celebration, it’s also a time for overindulgence in a tempting variety of high fat and high sugar goodies and alcohol. This means that all that fun can turn into misery if you’re forced to deal with an awful hangover and those extra pounds you’ve gained. For many of us, it just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without turkey. This is good news in terms of healthy eating, because turkey contains more protein and much less fat than a goose or duck
1. Don’t starve yourself: Have your regular meals and never go to a function starving. 2. Focus on the reason for the season: If you concentrate on the reason for the season, you’ll focus more on family and thankfulness than on feasting. This holiday, keep the primary focus on thankfulness, rather than over-indulgence. 3. Eat slowly: Remember, it takes the stomach about 15-20 minutes to signal the brain that it is full. By then, we’ve usually overeaten, especially during the holidays. Eat slowly, savoring every bite. Tell yourself that if you are still hungry 15-20 minutes after you finish what is on your plate, you can have more (again, in moderation)
4. Small portions: Want to taste it all? Then do just that — taste it! Just because you want to enjoy all of the foods served during your family dinner doesn’t mean you need a full serving of each. Take enough to allow yourself one or two bites of each item. Serve yourself slightly larger portions of low fat items and turkey
5. Don’t hang out near the food: If you park yourself in front of the hors d’oeuvres, you just may graze yourself an extra 300-1000 calories before you even sit down to dinner. If you must eat before the meal, pick a few low-cal items, put them on your plate, and move far, far away from the food. 6. Drink water: Make sure you always have a glass of water in your hand. Your hands and mouth will be occupied and it will help to fill up your stomach a bit so you don’t overeat. 7. Limit your alcohol consumption: Alcohol provides “empty calories” with no nutritional value. If you feel pressured by your family to drink too much, perhaps you should make other holiday arrangements! 8. Enjoy baking and baked items during the holiday season? Here are a couple of ideas that will keep the fat and calories down: Reduce the fat: You can increase flavor in a lower-fat product by adding various extracts and grated citrus zest. To maintain the desired texture in baked goods, you should add a moisture-holding fat substitute such as apple sauce, prune puree, mashed banana, or other fruit puree.
Source: ezinearticles.com
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Book Tip: Just plain fun! Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook. Isa Chandra Moskowitz. A review by Linda Bulger of Maine Mine is by no means a vegan household, but how could I resist a book with this title? By the time I had found the authors' explanation, I was in love with the book: "...a big vegan cookbook needed a big vegan name. (But just to be on the safe side, don't read this cookbook backward at the stroke of midnight.)" So I checked it out of the library a month ago Shhh! I KNOW I need to bring it back! The clever introduction makes the case that "vegan food = normal food." The authors move on to a saucy explanation of prepping and cooking terms and some ingredient-specific advice, endlessly entertaining and informative. Take polenta: "Polenta has been called many things, each more insulting than the last: cornmeal mush, grits, porridge. But it got a new lease on life in the '90s when foodies started referring to it by its proper name and charging twenty dollars a plate for it." They follow with basic polenta-cooking instructions. I had planned to browse and move on. I don't like to cook fiddly things -- no ravioli-making for me -- and I never seem to have enough of the right ingredients for vegan cooking. But what a surprise this book was! Even with no tempeh or miso on board, a quick pass through the front of the market gave me all I needed for some of these yummy recipes. We loved the Israeli Couscous with Pistachios and Apricots (confession: I used regular couscous) and the Herb Scalloped Potatoes. I was planning to make Roasted Eggplant and Spinach Muffuletta Sandwich but we ate the roasted eggplant before I got the olives. My favorite recipe so far: Jalapeno-Onion Skillet Corn Bread. There are many other recipes I'd like to try: Fresh Rosemary Foccaccia, Roasted Portobellos, Chickpeas Romanesco, Penne Vodka; and every single thing pictured in full color in the middle of the book. Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook ends with menu suggestions: My Own Private India Menu, Greek to Me and You Menu, Smash Your TV Dinner Menu. Just the names make you want to throw a party, don't they? Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero are vegan veterans, and their knowledge and enthusiasm permeate this practical book. I recommend it as a workbook for healthier eating and just for the fun of it, too.
Film Tip:
Irongeezelle’s top five Thanksgiving movies are: Planes, Trains and Automobiles Home for the Holidays
Hannah and Her Sisters
What’s Cooking
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Remember: If you are in a savings mode, these movies are available at your local library for free. Best to reserve in advance. And if you are able, walk or ride your bike to pick up the movies.
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(Irongeezelle rides Draisine)
Play Tip:
Ride the rails! Draisine-Style
Take a look at the photo: Yes, Irongeezelle and her father rode 40km (25 miles) on one of these contraptions with her aunt and uncle in tow. It was a great fun and highly recommended.
A draisine primarily refers to a light auxiliary rail vehicle or trolley.
The eponymous term is derived from German Baron Karl Christian Ludwig Drais von Sauerbronn, who invented his Laufmaschine (German for "running machine") in 1817, that was called Draisine (English) or draisienne (French) by the press. It is the first reliable claim for a practically-used bicycle, basically the first commercially successful two-wheeled, steerable, human-propelled machine commonly called a velocipede, nick-named hobby-horse or dandy horse. Later, the name draisine, came to be applied only to versions used on rails and was extended to similar vehicles, even when not human powered. Draisine is spelled dressin in Sweden and dresin in Norway and dræsine in Denmark. In Finland the word is "resiina". Usually, dressin refers to pedal-powered rail-cycles which were used by railroad maintenance workers in Finland, Sweden and Norway until about 1950, as handcars were elsewhere. Now dressins are used for recreation on several unused raillines in Germany, Sweden, Norway, Poland and some other European countries. There are several companies renting dressins in Sweden. In Finland there has been annual competition "Resiina-ralli" (translates "Draisine Rally"), which involves several draisine teams traveling many days in the railroads from one corner of the country to another. The rally is televised and gathers great popularity among TV-viewers. Source: wikipedia.org
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ECO TIP:
Top 10 Tips for an Eco-Friendly Thanksgiving By Larry West, About.com 1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle To make your Thanksgiving celebration as eco-friendly as possible, start with the three Rs of conservation: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Reduce the amount of waste you produce by buying only as much as you need and choosing products that come in packaging that can be recycled. Carry reusable bags when you do your shopping, and use cloth napkins that can be washed and used again. Recycle paper, and all plastic, glass and aluminum containers. 2. Buy and Eat Locally Grown Food Buying only locally grown food is one good way to have an eco-friendly Thanksgiving. Locally grown food is good for your table, your health and the environment. Locally grown food tastes better than food that has to be grown and packaged for maximum shelf life, and it requires less fuel to reach store shelves. Locally grown food also contributes more to your local economy, supporting local farmers as well as local merchants. 3. Make Your Meal Organic Using only organic food for your feast is another good eco-friendly Thanksgiving strategy. Organic fruits, vegetables and grains are grown without chemical pesticides and fertilizers; organic meat is produced without antibiotics and artificial hormones. The result is food that is better for your health and good for the environment. Organic farming also produces higher yields, increases soil fertility, prevents erosion, and is more cost-effective for farmers.
4. Celebrate at Home
Thanksgiving weekend is one of heaviest for highway travel in the United States. This year, why not reduce global warming and improve air quality by lowering your auto emissions at the same time that you lower your family’s stress level? Skip the stressful holiday travel and celebrate an eco-friendly Thanksgiving at home.
5. Travel Smart If you must go over the river and through the woods, there are still ways to have an eco-friendly Thanksgiving. If you drive, use less fuel and lower your emissions by making sure your car is in good working order and your tires are properly inflated. If possible, carpool to reduce the number of cars on the road and lower the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to air pollution and global warming.
6. Invite the Neighbors The original Thanksgiving was a neighborly affair. Having survived their first winter in America only through the generosity of the native people who lived nearby, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock celebrated a bountiful harvest with a three-day feast to give thanks to God and their Indian neighbors. Your neighbors probably haven’t saved your life, but chances are they have done things to make your life easier or more enjoyable. Inviting them to share your eco-friendly Thanksgiving is an opportunity to say thank you, and also to reduce auto emissions by keeping more people off the road or ensuring shorter trips.
7. Plant a Tree Trees absorb carbon dioxide—a greenhouse gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming—and give off oxygen in return. Planting one tree may not seem to matter much in the face of global climate change, but small things do matter. In one year, the average tree absorbs roughly 26 pounds of carbon dioxide and returns enough oxygen to supply a family of four. 8. Make Your Own Eco-Friendly Decorations With a few simple supplies and a little imagination, you can make great eco-friendly Thanksgiving decorations and have a lot of fun in the process. Use Mother Nature’s products. 9. Make it a Spiritual Day The Pilgrims who celebrated the first Thanksgiving fled religious persecution in Europe to seek a better life in America. The Thanksgiving holiday was established to provide a national day of thanksgiving for all Americans. Even if you follow no particular religion, however, Thanksgiving is a good time to count your blessings, beginning with the many ways the natural environment sustains and enriches our lives. As part of your eco-friendly Thanksgiving, make time for prayer, meditation, reflection, or perhaps just a walk in the woods to contemplate and give thanks for the wonders of nature.
10. Say Thank You Whatever else you do on Thanksgiving, make it a time to say thank you to the people in your life who matter most and, if possible, to spend time in their company. Life is short, it is the moments that count most, and many of the best moments in life are those spent with friends and family. If distance or circumstances prevent you from spending Thanksgiving with some of the people you love, call, email or write them a letter (on recycled paper) to tell them why they mean so much to you and they make your world a better place.
Product Tip: The Computrainer (This is a new, occasional column. If Irongeezelle finds a product that she has tested and found of value, it will appear here.) CompuTrainer is an indoor cycling tool. Yes, it is a trainer, such as Cyclops or any other indoor trainer that you have used in the past, either to stay warm in the winter or cool in the summer. Many of our fellow triathletes cannot fathom riding on a trainer because they hate the boredom – and admittedly one might begin to feel like a hamster in a cage wheel after awhile on a standard trainer. But the CompuTrainer is a not your mother’s indoor trainer. It is dynamic, interactive and interesting. Imagine yourself riding the actual 3D version of your chosen A race, for instance, Ironman Canada, or even better the Real Video version of the many courses around the world. It would be wonderful to be able to travel to every race site and test ride the course, but this is not feasible for most of us, but it is possible in the virtual world with a Computrainer. Racermate Inc. claims that this techno-device will increase your cycling power by 20 to 30% and your speed by 2 to 4 MPH. We will let you know if this pans out, as the Irongeezer here in AZ and the Irongeezer Canada are testing this product for their IM Arizona race in November. And Louise, the Endurance Empress, even races the Irongeezer Canada on her Computrainer.
But, so far, I think, we can say that whatever your starting point, you’ll improve significantly. And no matter what, you will receive much feedback about your individual cycling, even, if you, like the Irongeezer, may call it “CompuTorture.”
If you would like further information from athlete to athlete, or would like to test ride this product, contact us: irongeezer@irongeezer.com |
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