Tracking Calories

I began using the My Fitness Pal app towards the beginning of the year. Recently I have been less consistent in tracking my calories and, surprise surprise, I have gained a few pounds. Tracking what you eat is a great way to lose weight because it makes you accountable for everything you consume. One night as I was getting into bed I said to my wife "Time to pay the piper," referring to my food entries for the day, which she found quite humorous. I am trying to get more healthy in the new year and plan on using My Fitness Pal to help, along with my new acquired Bowflex adjustable weights. You can learn about My Fitness Pal here.

Fitness, Keep it Simple Silly

I am a big sucker for infomercials. So when I read this post it seemed directed at me. The author noticed most infomercials are fitness related, with a new gimmick every day. My first boss always said this business is simple, but it's not easy. Same thing with staying fit. I attached the article here.

Living in Reality

The article I attached comes from one of our favorite websites, Frugal Dad.(Also an advertiser on our other blog Eat it Miami) It points out that these actors and actresses live very frugally as opposed to their characters on TV or in the movies who spend more lavishly. I have always thought that like being healthy being frugal is much more difficult and less glamorous than being a spendthrift. It takes discipline and patience to become wealthy. Spend less than you make and you will one day be rich, but it ain't easy. Similarly, burn more calories than you take in and you will be thin or at least somewhat healthy. Read the article here.

Jake Olson

If you haven't been inspired lately by someone who beats incredible odds to find happiness and success, read about Jake Olson. He has shown an astounding attitude about his rare eye cancer and subsequent blindness; wise and mature beyond his years.

http://outofsightfaith.ning.com/

Healthcare

This is a very interesting article in The Telegraph about how the NHS in the UK is neglecting older patients because of an unhealthy population that needs more care at a younger age due to poor eating and exercise habits. Rationed care leads to unfortunate consequences. Read about it here.

Duh

Exercise is good for you. Here's another reason, in case you didn't believe everything everyone's been saying for the last 40 years. Exercise turns bad, white fat cells into brown fat cells (which aren't just big clumps of stuff that take up space, but are active and use energy and metabolize), once thought to cease to exist in the human body after babyhood. I never knew "babyhood" was a word. But it makes sense. It's because exercise promotes the creation of something called PGC-1 alpha, recently dubbed "irisin," a protein that continues to benefit the body even once exercise has ceased.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/exercise-hormone-helps-keep-us-healthy/?ref=health

But how muscle cells “talk” to fat, what they tell the fat and what role exercise has in sparking or sustaining that conversation have been mysteries — until, in the new study, scientists closely examined the operations of a substance called PGC1-alpha, which is produced in abundance in muscles during and after exercise.

“It seems clear that PGC1a stimulates many of the recognized health benefits of exercise,” said Bruce Spiegelman, the Stanley J. Korsmeyer professor of cell biology and medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, who led the study. Mice bred to produce preternaturally large amounts of PGC1a in their muscles are typically resistant to age-related obesity and diabetes, much as people who regularly exercise are.

But never fear, you who are exercise averse or immobilized from disease or injury -

In upcoming experiments, Dr. Spiegelman plans to study whether injections of irisin imitate some of the metabolic benefits of exercise in people who, because of disease or disability, cannot work out. He also hopes to elucidate just how much and what types of exercise produce the greatest natural irisin increases in healthy people.

Frugal Dad

This is a really neat site. Check it out -

http://frugaldad.com/