ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING

A nice story about attitude

Tired of spin classes? Try Wii workout station

He estimates that one session of Wii boxing, tennis or bowling equates to going for a brisk walk and can burn between 75 to 125 calories.

“All of our clients get great results, but the biggest result we see is the smile on their faces. People have to understand that fun is important,” said Mellalieu.

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Nintendo is also currently developing Wii Fit, a 2008 video game with an array of activities, from yoga to aerobics. [link]

The Comfort Zone

Remember that big conversation you had with yourself, in which you vowed to lose weight or find a new career or start exercising, etc? Do things always seem to get in the way of accomplishing even the simplest of goals like calling potential clients? If you find yourself in the intellectual zone and not the productive zone, I have some ideas for you to think about if you’re willing to break out of your personal “comfort zone“. [link]

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

It's amazing how many cares disappear when you decide not to be something, but to be someone.
- Coco Chanel

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.
- Maya Angelou

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (Paperback)
-This book teaches something truly amazing. It can change the way you see the world.

Top 9 Fitness Myths -- Busted!

It's easy to fall into the trap: A workout buddy passes along an exercise tip, and then you pass it on to several folks you know. One day, you're at the gym, and sure enough, you hear the same tip repeated, so you figure it must be true. But experts say that in the world of fitness, myths and half-truths abound – and some of them may be keeping you from getting the workout you need.

"Some myths are just harmless half-truths, but many others can actually be harmful," says professional triathlete and personal coach Eric Harr, author of The Portable Personal Trainer. "They can cause frustration in working out and sometimes even lead to injury," he notes.

One reason myths get started, says Harr, is that we all react to exercise a little differently. So what's true for one person may not be true for another.

"In this sense you sometimes have to find your own 'exercise truths' – the things that are true for you," says Harr.

That said, experts say there are also some fitness myths that just need busting, and the sooner the better!

edit 8/20/07
Exercise 'must be tough to work'

To be healthy, you really do need to break into a sweat when you exercise, say experts.

Recently, researchers at Queen's University, Belfast, found walking for half an hour on just three days a week gave similar fitness and blood pressure benefits to walking for 30 minutes five times a week.

The sports scientists, however, say this advice is misleading and could encourage people to do too little exercise.

"There are people who have not accepted, and others who have misinterpreted, the original recommendation.

"Some people continue to believe that only vigorous intensity activity will improve health while others believe that the light activities of their daily lives are sufficient to promote health," they told Circulation.

This article contradicts one of the myths on that list.

16 Ways to Eat Healthy While Keeping it Cheap

What is Healthy Food? Before we start, let’s define healthy food. It consists of:

• Protein. The building blocks of muscles, needed for strength.
• Fat. A balanced intake of omega 3, 6 & 9.
• Veggies. All kinds, especially green fibrous veggies.
• Fruit. Full of vitamins.
• Water. 1 liter per 1000 calories you expend.
• Whole grain food. Oats, rice, pasta, breads, …

On with the tips.

Yoga @ Your Desk

People who work at their desks all day tend to stay in one position for a long time. The exercises in these videos are designed to counter the effects of sitting at your desk.

We suggest that you start with Part 1 below and then move on to Parts 2 and 3. Each video is about the length of your coffee break.

10 Ways to Instantly Build Self Confidence

9. Work out

Namaste Yoga

Namaste Yoga is on FitTV. It's a good workout. The models make it look easy.

Kids are still obese, despite nutrition education

Kids are still obese, despite nutrition education
$1 billion government programs don't change weight problem, studies show

PANORAMA CITY, Calif. - The federal government will spend more than $1 billion this year on nutrition education — fresh carrot and celery snacks, videos of dancing fruit, hundreds of hours of lively lessons about how great you will feel if you eat well.

But an Associated Press review of dozens of rigorous scientific studies shows that these programs almost never change the way kids eat. And there is no indication they will make a dent in the growing epidemic of childhood obesity.
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That reinforced a slew of disappointing studies:

• Last year a major federal pilot program offering free fruits and vegetables to school children showed fifth graders became less willing to eat them than they had at the start. Apparently they didn’t like the taste.
• In Pennsylvania, researchers went so far as to give prizes to school children who ate fruits and vegetables. That worked while the prizes were offered, but when the researchers came back seven months later the kids had reverted to their original eating habits: soda and chips.
• In studies where children tell researchers they are eating better or exercising more, there is usually no change in blood pressure, body size or cholesterol measures; they want to eat better, they might even think they are, but they’re not.

Most Americans think that they "eat healthy."

They could throw even more money at the problem by enforcing mandatory nutrition classes, but it still won't necessarily change people's behavior.

Nutrition information is good up to a point, then you have to realize that people eat what they have learned tastes good to them(processed junk), not the foods that actually make them feel more energetic and give them the best health returns (foods with high water content, fruits and veggies)

Instead of eating to survive people tend to use food to change the way they feel, sort of like they do with drugs. It's common for people to feel sorry for themselves with a tub of ice cream, for example.

Nutrition education is and should be just be a footnote to physical education and teaching people good habits to change the way they feel by breaking out of their comfort zone, instead of reaching for food. Food is fuel.

Now's a good time to ask again, "What is the difference between fit and fat people?"

Is it money? No.

Is it because the cheapest, most calorically dense foods can be found at the fast food drive through? No.

Is it having a personal trainer? No.

Is it because fat people are lazy and don't care? No, that is a stereotype. A lot of them do care and realize things could be better, they just don't act or rationalize "good reasons" to keep putting it off.

In general, the difference between fit people and fat people is a habit. The habit is regular physical activity. People who normally exert themselves and break out of their comfort zone feel great. People who don't have this habit, do other things, like emotional eating, to make themselves feel better or just normal.

If you do a thing consistently for 90 days, it becomes a habit. Exercise is a self-reinforcing habit. Once a person has this habit, other things like nutrition fall into place and it becomes a lifestyle.

"Weight-loss without exercise" is a marketing trick, a myth. Exercise only appears optional these days.

Big Wendy the muscular whippet

Look at the picture of this dog, Wendy the whippet.

The dog has a double mutation for myostatin protein. [link]

Wendy was recently part of a genetics study done in the U.S. on mutation in the myostatin gene in whippets, which resemble greyhounds in appearance. The National Institute of Health study reported that whippets with one single defective copy of the gene have increased muscle mass that can enhance racing performance in the breed, known for speeds up to 60 kilometres an hour.

But whippets with two mutated copies of the gene become "double-muscled," like Wendy. It has been seen before in one human, and also in mice, cattle and sheep, says the study.

p.s. Myostatin blocker bodybuilding supplements are a fraud.