Happenings
Another month has come and gone and most of the local competitive athletes
have been taking a bit of a rest from serious training and slowly building up
for the next competitive season. In my case, I have been more or less injury
free and am hoping to put in place a good base for some serious competitions
later in the year. In the next few days, I will be taking part in a 12k fun
run/walk. I don’t expect to put in a good race walk but it will be good to
gauge how my fitness is progressing.
This type of event is very useful in that it helps to set up the basic
motivation structure that needs to be present in any exercise program.
A series of such events gives the participant an ongoing number of
incidents to look forward to and to gauge attitude along the way. The mere fact
that there will be friends (and rivals?) at these meetings, gives another
incentive to take part. But what about your actual performance?
If these events are part of the physiological testing aspect of the program,
the performance outcome on the day can help to show how things are going and
whether there is any need to revise the program. A poor result can actually be
a positive pointer to how things are going. An exceptional result can mean that
things are going too fast and that there is a need to ease progress. A number
of years ago, prior to the 1974 Commonwealth Games in
All Program Fitness members will note that no matter what level of program
they are on, there will always be a number of strategically placed time trials
posing as fun run/walks or straight-out time trials. These events are
important!
Good luck with your pending season,
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"A runner's creed: I
will win; if I cannot win, I shall be second; if I cannot be second, I shall be
third; if I cannot place at all, I shall do my best."
Ken Doherty
"If
you feel bad at 10 miles, you're in trouble. If you feel bad at 20 miles you're
normal. If you don't feel bad at 26
miles, you're abnormal."
Rob de Castella
"Instead
of resolving to get faster, lose weight, stretch more, or run a marathon, try to
achieve the best possible balance in your running. By taking a balanced
approach, you can increase your chances of staying healthy and happy--in
running and in all other aspects of your busy life. Don't let running rule your
life. Allow running to enhance it." -Adam Bean, RW
features editor
Find a running doc. "If you develop an injury, find a
sports-medicine professional who runs, or at least takes your running
seriously. Otherwise you will probably just be told to stop running. The
professional should be comfortable with "working around" your injury
with treatment, training modifications, and cross-training so that you won't
have to resort to complete couch-potato status." -Bart Yasso, RW
race & event promotion director
Help to Reduce
Belly Fat
by Kathryn Martyn, M.NLP
How Can I
Reduce Belly Fat?
If you have
excess weight only in specific parts of your body, you still must look at
yourself as a whole. It's not possible to spot reduce; in other words, you
can't dictate that you only want weight to come off one place or another.
In most cases
your so called "trouble spots" is where the fat will come off last,
so be prepared to lose weight in your fingers (rings fall off) and your face
(friends may ask if you're feeling all right).
If you work
toward building muscle and reducing body fat you will eventually tackle those
trouble spots though, and develop a better physique in the process. Muscle
tissue is active, meaning it requires calories to be maintained. If you were
stranded without a food supply, eventually your body would turn to its own muscle
tissue as a source of nutrition first (muscles are protein) while saving the
fat stores for last.
Simply put, fat
is nature's way of ensuring survival during times of famine. That's why the
prevalence of heart failure kills someone who is severely malnourished. By
building more muscle you become a more efficient energy burning machine which
translates to mean you can eat more food! That to me is a good thing.
The More Active You Are, The More You Get
to Eat!
That explains
why some people can eat so much more than others yet not gain weight; your
efficient energy burning friend simply has a greater proportion of muscle to
fat than you. Muscle is more dense than fat. It's often said that a pound of
muscle is heavier than a pound of fat, but the truth is a pound is a pound.
What they mean
is a one pound volume of muscle is a smaller package than a one pound volume of
fat, or put another way, fat is billowy and fluffy while muscle is sleek and
compact. Lady No. 1 weighs 120 pounds with 30% body fat so she has 84 pounds of
lean tissue and 36 pounds of fat, while Lady No. 2 also weighing 120 pounds but
at 18% body fat is carrying roughly 98 pounds of muscle and 22 pounds of fat.
Would you
rather be Lady No. 1 or Lady No. 2? Which do you think takes up more space, 22
or 36 pounds of fat? I'd say 36 pounds of fat would be a lot bigger package
than 22 pounds.
That is why
body weight as a number by itself is meaningless, but your ratio of fat to
muscle is very important and worth working to change. Strive to decrease your
body fat and increase your muscle mass and you'll look better, you'll feel
stronger and more energetic and you'll simply be healthier.
You can
generally have your body fat tested at fitness centers and most gyms, so ask
about having it done. It's better to know you have 30% body fat and work to
reduce it to 29, than not to know and only think in terms of body weight. Most
people who think only of how much they weigh tend to do everything to reduce
that weight, and it's usually at the expense of losing more valuable muscle.
The best way to
increase muscle and decrease fat is through a consistent exercise program.
Start at whatever is your beginning, but do start.
Begin with an
overall body conditioning type exercise program, doing whatever you enjoy,
whether it be a sport, gardening, weight lifting, biking, hiking, or any other
activity. Any physical movement you do regularly counts as exercise even if it
is doing laundry or taking out the trash. Get as much as you can out of every
chore you do, and stop thinking of it as a chore but instead as an opportunity
to move your body.
In the early
1900s a washing machine was a new invention. People used to wash their clothes
by hand, and hang them outside to dry. Being a housewife was actually a pretty
strenuous job. It's no wonder women were thankful for modern conveniences like
automatic washers and dryers, but now we've come to where our daily activities
are not taking our bodies at all, so unless we want to get fatter and fatter we
must do something about it.
Get Fit and Belly Fat Disappears
It doesn't make
sense to drive around and around in the parking lot looking for the closest
space when you're on your way to run or walk on the treadmill. Why take the
elevator five flights every day at work and then pay a monthly fee to do the
StairMaster after work?
What if we all
started to notice that our world is full of exercise equipment. We could become
so much more fit if we'd just start to notice all the opportunities for
physical movement we miss in the name of convenience. Look around and see if
you can spot some exercise opportunities, and then get busy and get fit.
About the
Author:
Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner,
author of the e-book: Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight
Loss, and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com Get The Daily Bites:
Inspirational Mini Lessons Using EFT and NLP for Ending the Struggle with
Weight Loss. onemorebite-weightloss.com/getnews.html
PROGRAM
FITNESS
If you should be aware of someone who might benefit from being on a
running or walking exercise program, please get them to log on to www.profitness.net.nz for more
information on how I may be able to help. They may also wish to contact me
direct via my email address. If you wish to know a bit about our Homestay operation, the
website can be seen at www.foreststay.com
Glycemic Mania
By Lisa Mosing, MS, RD, FADA
LifeScript Director of Nutrition
Carbohydrate mania
continues to be in the news. Recently, scientists have been determining whether
the type and amount of carbohydrates that are eaten could affect overall
health. That is also fuelling the debate about how the U.S. Dietary Pyramid
should be structured and how many servings will be suggested in the revision
expected for early 2005.
The glycemic index was developed for helping diabetics choose foods that would
not cause big swings in blood glucose levels. It is simply a measurement of how
much glucose circulates in the blood over several hours after a standard amount
of a single food is eaten. Most references will use either 50 grams of glucose
or 100 grams of white bread as a standard. The glycemic index can be influenced
by the amount of fiber and carbohydrate. The cooking time, type of starch,
maturation of a fruit or vegetable, and many other factors may have an effect
on the glycemic index. Foods that have a high glycemic index are white
potatoes, rice, bagels, and raisins, while beans, milk, and apples, have a
lower glycemic index.
The term that has been used by some authors and scientists is the glycemic
index. The glycemic index refers to how a particular food affects the body's
sugar and insulin levels. A glycemic load is the calculation of the combined
value of one or more foods' glycemic index readings in addition to how it is
eaten. Many recent studies have found that the glycemic load of an overall
eating plan is more important than the glycemic index of individual foods.
Response to
Glycemic Index
Several diets have appeared in bookstores in an effort by the publishers and
authors to help with the obesity and diabetes epidemic. These diets cannot cure
these health conditions according to many health professionals. Many of these
eating plans have emphasized low glycemic foods, such as vegetables, beans,
nuts, whole grains and healthier fats, such as olive oil, in addition to
poultry, seafood and lean meats. In addition, they often encourage the
avoidance of higher glycemic foods, like highly processed foods containing
excess sugars and little fiber. However, the American Diabetes Association does
not conclude that there is enough clinical proof to show that there is a
benefit to using a glycemic index to handle diabetes.
The American Diabetes Association recommends that someone with diabetes can eat
the same foods as a non-diabetic in conjunction with regular exercise and
adequate medications. All of these will help to maintain good control of blood
sugar levels. Because everyone eats a variety of foods, it is important to
include adequate portion sizes of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy foods
and protein-rich sources, such as fish, poultry, beans, and leans meats.
Whatever the diet choices you make, Smart
Supplementation can help fill any gaps in vitamins and minerals.
Eat Out & Still Eat Healthy
You’re on a diet,
or you’ve finally resolved to eat right, and then tragedy strikes – your best
friend calls you and asks you to come celebrate his or her birthday at your
favorite Mexican restaurant. You know, it’s the one that has your favorite deep
fried burrito and fried ice-cream for dessert. How are you ever going to stick
with your diet and still go out and have fun? You’d better just forget about
your plan to eat healthy – you’ll do it tomorrow, right? Wrong! As impossible
as it may seem, you can still eat out, even at your favorite restaurants, and
still eat healthy and avoid extra calories. And, it’s not as hard as you may
think:
1. Monitor Portion Sizes
The first place
that you can get into trouble when eating out, is with the huge portions that
are served. 90% of all restaurants serve meals that could feed at least 2
people, but instead it all ends up on your plate. Your #1 defence for sticking
to healthy eating is to recognize what a portion size is, so check out our
detailed article, Portion Distortion, to learn more. Some quick and easy tricks
to watching how much you eat at restaurants is to order half-sized entrées or
appetizers, which are smaller; share your entrée with your dinner date; or box
up half of the meal and take it home, which is also very economical. Also, stop
eating when you’re full! You do not have to eat everything on your plate!
2. Pay Attention to Preparation
So you’ve decided
on a chicken and veggies dinner – great! Is your chicken going to be fried or
grilled? Are your veggies sautéed in butter, or olive oil? Paying attention to
these seemingly small details can save you loads of fat calories. Look for menu
items labelled as healthy, light, heart healthy, or low-fat, which many
restaurants now offer. Also, look for the words: steamed, grilled, broiled,
roasted, or stir fried for a lower-fat, lower-calorie meal that will also taste
great.
3. Go from High-Cal to Low-Cal
There are many ways
you can substitute different foods to cut down on calories. For example,
instead of ordering French fries with your steak, get a side of steamed
veggies. Instead of the chocolate lava cake, try a fruit platter to satisfy
your sweet tooth. And, when choosing drinks, if you’re hungry, don’t waste your
calories on soda or sweetened drinks. Stick with water or unsweetened iced tea,
and limit your alcohol, if you are going to have any. Calories add up quickly
in drinks, and isn’t it more fun to eat your calories?
4. Be Sauce Savvy
Say you’ve picked a
salad for your meal – healthy, fresh and delicious! But after pouring on the
ranch dressing, your fat calories will sky-rocket. It’s the condiments that
people don’t usually think about when trying to eat healthy, but it’s those
sauces that’ll get you in trouble. The fat is in the creamy stuff: Alfredo
sauce, mayonnaise, sour cream, butter, cream based soups, ranch or French
dressings, etc. Choose marinara over creamy pasta sauces, mustard instead of
mayonnaise, salsa in place of sour cream, olive oil instead of butter, broth
based soups rather than cream-based, and oil & vinegar dressings instead of
creamy salad dressings. If you can’t give up the sauce, ask for it on the side
so you can control how much goes on.
5. Be Picky at Salad Bars
All dieters know
that eating a salad can fill you up and are a healthy choice, but salad bars
can really be a dieter’s nightmare. Although many choices on the salad bar are
healthy, there are also high-fat options that are mighty tempting. There’s
mayonnaise-laden potato salad, macaroni salad, and coleslaw, high-fat pasta
salads, and shredded cheeses that add unwanted calories without you even
realizing what you’re doing. Stick to the fresh, healthy, whole veggies &
legumes, such as kidney & garbanzo beans.
6. Enjoy!
Although most of
these tips are great for the day-to-day eating out every once in awhile you
just need to treat yourself. Don’t deprive yourself if you really want
something – just eat a smaller portion, or share with your dinner companion.
It’s not a sin to have that potato salad or chocolate cake, but remember that
it’s not for everyday eating when you’re trying to lose weight.
Performance Nutrition
Combining
carbohydrate with protein may help you recover faster after tough workouts.
After long or intense workouts, eat within an hour, combining carbohydrate and
protein in a 3-grams-to-1 ratio. For example, try a tuna sandwich on
whole-grain bread along with a peach. A protein-rich energy bar and a cup of
regular sports drink also works. Then eat another carbohydrate-and-protein
combination 2 hours later.
To Pop or Not
By Podiatrist Rob Dallimore
Blisters are
considered to be one of the most common sporting injuries. No one seems immune
to them and they can often strike when least expected - at times putting an end
to what could be a good race. However, we all have our own little remedies and
prevention/good luck rituals which each of us say is the best one (although,
they never seem to work for anybody else). Now I'm going to give my 2 cents
worth.
A blister is a
direct result of a combination of friction and an excessively moist
environment, which may cause a separation between the epidermis and the dermis
(layers of the skin). As a response to this, fluid will enter the site and
increase the pressure in the area, thus resulting in the blister. If blood
vessels are damaged from the friction this will develop into a blood blister
and that is when it can get messy and potentially dangerous.
It is common for
endurance runners to develop blisters over the course of a race such as a
marathon, but to rarely have them during training - I can imagine you all
nodding your heads now. The reason for this is that in a race situation you
often perspire more and are pouring gallons of water over your body during the
event. This fluid eventually flows down into your shoes and forms nice puddles
around your toes - combining this with the associated friction from a higher
pace may be sufficient to form blisters. Blisters do develop in other parts of
the body but don't ask me to look at them for you. I only look at feet.
Question: What
is the best way to prevent blisters?
Answer: Stop every 10km, shower, dry your feet and shoes, and put on a new pair
of socks.
Ok, so maybe it
isn't practical to expect this recommendation to catch on, although imagine
having a drink station, port-a-loo and shower all in one. So what are the
alternatives?
Prevention is
the key to this problem, and it is no use waiting for race day to see whether
those new shoes are going to cause blisters. It's all very good for me to tell
you what works and what doesn't, but it should become a personal thing for each
individual. Try different techniques until you find a perfect combination. But,
by all means read on, I feel I can offer some good advice.
- Be particular about what shoes
you should run in. There are many different brands, models and shapes in
the market - some expert advice can steer you in the right direction.
Avoid shoes that impinge on your toes from the sides and tops, those shoes
are bound to cause some problems. Some shoes also have a higher ankle and
heel counter, again a potential blister trap. Also shoes that have an
extremely high instep can be a cause for blistering.
- Don't be a slave to fashionable
socks only, if they have a sports label on them it doesn't always mean
they are what the athletes wear. Choose ones that are designed to wick
moisture away from the foot. Avoid cotton ones as these have a tendency to
absorb moisture and when dry will turn into 180 grit sandpaper.
- Try to keep your feet dry.
However, don't take a 10 minute detour around a puddle if everyone else is
going straight through the middle.
- Some people swear by Vaseline.
This makes me cringe when I imagine gooey and highly lubricated toes
ramming into the front of a shoe as you pound down a hill. I've seen the
results and it's not always pretty. But as I say, each to his own, I'm
sure for some people it is the magic solution, not me though.
- And I've said it before, but
I'll say it again: Put those flash 1 week old running shoes back in the
closet until they have a decent amount of wear in them. The old favorites
will probably be the better option.
- A regular foot inspection by
yourself or a partner should identify any potential blister sites, as
would general training runs. I bet you're all jumping at the chance to
perform a foot examination right now.
- Regular application of a drying
agent to the skin, such as methylated spirits to at-risk sites is a good
option. However I would avoid doing this to existing blisters, especially
open ones!!!
So the next
controversial issue is what to do with the blister once it is there. This
depends largely on the size of the lesion, the mechanism of its development and
whom you talk to. The thing to be aware of is that if the blister remains
intact and there is no fluid seeping out then it is technically a sterile
lesion and if possible it should remain intact. This is all very easy to do if
it is not in a high weight bearing/stress area and if the lesion is small. If,
however the blister is large and somewhere prominent such as the heel or the
side of the little toe then it is not desirable to leave it intact. This is due
to the amount of friction it would be exposed to and the pressure applied to
it, especially if it is a large one.
In cases such as
this I recommend lancing the side of the blister with a clean/sterile needle
and squeezing gently to remove the fluid. The roof of the blister should remain
as this provides the best environment for healing. An antiseptic dressing
should be applied and ensured that it will not shift once the foot is back in
shoes. The dressing should be changed daily or more often if necessary. If the
blister has already burst then the same dressing principle should be adhered
to. Extra care should be taken with blood blisters as there is a greater risk
of severe infection, look for pus and streaking. Always be aware of the
cardinal signs of inflammation - redness, heat, swelling, and pain.
If at all
concerned, contact your Podiatrist or General Practitioner.
At Foot Traffic Sports and General Podiatry we see
footwear as a crucial part of the treatment regime. You do not need to have a
referral to come to Foot Traffic, you are more than welcome to visit us for
advice prior to buying your shoes. An appointment with Foot Traffic can be made
by calling 09 5215577, or emailing info@foottraffic.co.nz . For further
information also visit www.foottraffic.co.nz
Whatever your sport or exercise needs, I most probably can help you to
succeed. All you need to do is ask!
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I hope that this
newsletter finds you all in good spirits and that your goal-setting has been of
good use.
Cheers