By Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer I've been traveling a lot for business in the last year, and I've noticed that most people totally fall off their fitness routines while traveling . . . In fact, eating out at restaurants frequently is one of the biggest reasons why so many people fatten up while traveling.  It's almost damn near impossible to eat … [Read more...]

For people trying to lose weight, here's the good news:  Nutrition researchers have scoped out the enemy. And these two foods are the top waistline assassins: potato chips and soda. Everyone knows to cut back on junk food. But in a recent, large study examining what foods were most associated with weight gain, potato chips and sweetened drinks stood out as the ultimate arch villains. Not All … [Read more...]

I found this article "Fitness Experts Say Yoga Leads to Better Balance, But Won't Burn Calories." Here are a few clips of what a recent study had to say . . . One study commissioned by the American Council on Exercise found that while yoga increased muscular strength and endurance, along with flexibility and balance, it led to no significant improvement in aerobic capacity. Professor John … [Read more...]

We all know how tough dieting can be. And if it was not tough enough, dieting gets even harder as you age. That is because your resting energy expenditure decreases significantly as you get older. Simply put, you burn less calories on a daily basis than your younger counterparts. The good news is new research shows that a very unlikely supplement can naturally "boost" you resting metabolic rate … [Read more...]

I found this great article by Latif Thomas, a USATF Level II, USTFCCCA Event Specialist (Sprints, Hurdles & Relays). His article reiterates what I have been telling my athletic clients for years:  train fast, race fast. For the complete article click here. Below, here is a little bit of Thomas' wisdom: "Giving volumes of aerobic work and slow repeats to 400m runners is the equivalent of … [Read more...]

By Paula Spencer Scott, Caring.com Memory loss is the symptom everybody worried about Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia seems to focus on. After all, it's distressing -- and increasingly obvious. Yet there are other common symptoms of Alzheimer's or dementia that can turn up even earlier, researchers say. Sometimes, according to memory experts, even doctors miss early dementia … [Read more...]

By RealAge We might spend one-third of our lives doing it, yet some of us still aren't terribly clear how it works. We're talking about sleeping. Here are three sleep myths you should wake up about: 1. "I can make up for sleep loss on the weekends." Many of us skimp on sleep during the workweek, only to indulge in long lie-ins on the weekend. But, unfortunately, sleep debt isn't so easily … [Read more...]

Body Mass Index has been widely accepted as a measurement tool to ascertain if you are overweight or obese and as a general marker for overall health. Unfortunately, BMI does not tell the whole tale. By an conventional medical test, blood pressure, heart rate, body fat percentage, VO2 max, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc., I am ridiculously healthy. Except for BMI. My BMI places me in the overweight … [Read more...]

I used to be an avid Diet Coke drinker. I drank it regularly often patting myself on the back for finding a zero-calorie 'healthier' soda. (I could get my caffeine fix AND not gain weight! I was yards ahead of those Regular Coke drinkers!) Soon, however, I noticed I was hooked. If I did not have my Diet Coke at lunch I got antsy. In a short time, I grew dependent on my soda. When I noticed, I … [Read more...]

All too often I see clients who are overweight and do not know why. Once I start talking to them, their high-pressure,high-stress lifestyle seems to inhibit them from making healthy food decisions. Oftentimes, they are 'rushing' from meeting to meeting and must make (or so it seems) snap judgments on what to eat. When I ask them what their sleep schedule looks like, many will roll their eyes - and … [Read more...]

Potter Hill Farm is located in Grafton, Mass and provides Grass-fed Beef CSA. Potter Hill Farm is a local favorite with its fresh vegetables and beef. Click here for more details or read below. Happy eating! … [Read more...]

"If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself." -Eubie Blake (February 7, 1887 - February 12, 1983) was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of ragtime, jazz, and popular music … [Read more...]

Testing your overall fitness level is easy and can be done without using any special equipment or machines. Three simple tests that will help you assess your fitness level all by yourself are: Weight:  The first and most obvious test of your health and fitness level is your total body weight. Being underweight and overweight both indicate poor health and fitness levels, with the latter taking … [Read more...]

1) For Fat Loss: The easiest way to see how effective body-weight training can be is to monitor fat loss. With the appropriate workout, BW training will turn stubborn fat into lean muscle. Due to the extremely versatile nature of body-weight training, it is exceptionally easy to move seamlessly from one exercise to another. Also, it is simple to adjust the intensity of the exercise with … [Read more...]

I was doing research for my latest Federal Hill Gazette article (Chick it out in our 'Articles' section) and I found this article by Cassandra Forsythe-Pribanic, PhD, RD. The title alone intrigued me. Cassandra's approach is friendly yet blunt. She is not afraid to criticize the Government's latest attempts at fixing our diets. Here is her article: … [Read more...]

Fiber is the part of food that is not digested by the human body. It is found in various plant foods, such as fruits, leaves, stalks and the outer coverings of grains, nuts, seeds and legumes. Fiber is important in our diet because it helps reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, improves the body's handling of glucose and insulin. Fiber is very important to the health of the digestive … [Read more...]

"A study from Skidmore College found that exercisers who combined cardio with a high-intensity, total-body resistance routing lose more than twice as much body fat - including twice as much belly fat - over 12 weeks as those who followed a moderate-intensity cardio plan." Click here for the full article. … [Read more...]

I recently read an article written by Gretchen Reynolds titled "The Fittest Brains:  How Exercising Affects Kids' Intelligence." Needless to say, I was intrigued. Reynolds discusses a number of studies that conclude that aerobic exercise may actually enlarge some key portions of an adolescent's brain. Specifically, researchers studied the hippocampus and the basal ganglia, both responsible for … [Read more...]