Why Sugar Can Shorten or Lengthen Your Life

A high rise in blood sugar can damage every cell in your body. When blood sugar levels rise too high, sugar can stick to the surface of cell membranes. Once stuck there, it can never get off. In a series of chemical reactions, glucose (the only sugar that circulates in your bloodstream) is converted to another sugar called fructose and eventually to a sugar alcohol called sorbitol that destroys the cell to cause every know side effect of diabetes: blindness, deafness, heart attacks, strokes, kidney damage and so forth.

When you eat, sugar can go into:
• your muscles, to make you a better athlete and prolong your life,
• your brain, to keep you smart and alert, or
• your liver to store sugar for future use. Sending too much sugar to your liver can make you fat, increase your risk for a heart attack and shorten your life.

At rest, your brain requires more sugar than the rest of your body combined. Ninety-eight percent of the energy to fuel your brain comes from sugar, so your brain has to have sugar available all the time. A constant supply of blood sugar to your brain helps keep you smart and alert. If your blood sugar level drops too low, you pass out, so your liver always tries to protect you from low blood sugar levels. When blood sugar starts to drop too low, your liver works to save your brain by releasing stored sugar from its cells into your bloodstream. If not enough sugar is available, the liver converts protein into sugar to keep your brain supplied.

Resting muscles are passive and can draw sugar from the bloodstream only with the help of insulin. Contracting muscles can remove sugar directly from the bloodstream without needing insulin. Contracting muscles are also extraordinarily sensitive to insulin, so it takes far less insulin to supply your muscles with sugar during exercise. These beneficial effects are maximal during exercise and for up to an hour afterward and then taper off to zero about 17 hours after you finish exercising.

When your muscles are inactive, you should avoid sugar and all refined carbohydrates. When your blood sugar rises too high, all the extra sugar goes to your liver, and that's when you damage your health. The high rise in blood sugar causes your pancreas to release huge amounts of insulin. This increases risk for a heart attack because insulin constricts arteries leading to your heart to block blood flow there. Insulin converts sugar to triglycerides and your blood fills with this fat (high triglycerides). High triglycerides increase risk for clotting, so your body tries to protect you by using the good HDL cholesterol to carry triglycerides from your bloodstream to your liver (low good HDL cholesterol). The increase in triglycerides can cause liver damage (fatty liver). Insulin also causes the extra fat to be deposited into fat cells in your belly (fat belly). Full belly fat cells block insulin receptors to make the blood sugar and insulin levels rise even higher.

People who have small buttocks are most likely to deposit fat in their bellies and are at the highest risk for diabetes and heart attacks. If you have a fat belly and small hips, you already have insulin levels that are high enough to cause severe damage to your health and are at high risk for diabetes and heart attacks. The combination of high blood insulin, triglycerides and sugar, low good HDL cholesterol and deposition of fat in the belly is called Metabolic Syndrome which means you are at high risk for diabetes and heart attacks. It happened because you eat too much sugar and refined carbohydrates when you are not exercising.

On the other hand, taking sugar when you exercise is good for you. I'll explain why in the next blog post.

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Top 10 Nutrition Tips For Weight Loss And Fat Loss

Successful weight loss and fat loss comes to those of you who have figured out the nutrition puzzle. It takes more than just working out hard to reach your goals. Its important to eat enough but not too much or too little. What you eat matters. Eating 1000 calories of healthy food is more effective than eating 1000 calories of junk food.

Follow my Top 10 Nutrition Tips and you will have a better chance of losing the fat and weight and keeping it off.


1. Eat breakfast.....momma was right! I ate alot of oatmeal for breakfast growing up. She didn't say it was good for me......she just said eat it! A good healthy breakfast gets your metabolism kicked off for the day. Eat small meals every 3-4 hours to keep up your energy and to keep your metabolism humming along all day.

2. Plan and pack your meals for the day. This way, you are more likely to stay with your nutrition plan. Include foods such as lean meats, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat diary and nuts. Severely limit sugars of all forms, fast food and foods in a box or bag.
Comply with your meal plan at least 90% of the time.

3. Eat protein with every meal. Protein helps you feel fuller for a longer period of time (thereby eating less) and repairs your muscles after a tough workout.

4. Carbohydrates are not your enemy! They are your body's preferred source of energy (especially during exercise). Its important to have a meal plan that includes the macronutrients (carbs, protein, fats). The primary cause of weight gain is a caloric surplus (eating more calories than you burn). There are some instances where carb cycling can be a great strategy to burn fat. But, you should master the basics of nutrition first.

5. Build muscle and burn fat to change your body to lean and toned. Don't skip your post-workout meal. It is important to help your body recover from intense exercise (especially weight training).

You don't have to eat immediately after your workout (if you want to eat immediately after a workout, YOU DIDN'T WORKOUT VERY HARD)! There is a 45 minute to 1 hour "window of opportunity" where replenishing your body's fuel (carbs, protein, fats) will optimize your tissue's repair and growth. If you miss this "window of opportunity" it is gone forever. A carb/protein shake will work well.

6. Research has proven that you will have a better chance of succeeding with your meal plan and fat loss if you keep a food journal!

By logging your actual food choices, you are holding yourself accountable throughout the day. You will also be forced to plan your meals better. It will also help protect you from binge eating and emotional eating if you write down why you eat what you eat!

7. Find out your basal metabolic rate (amount of calories you would burn if you did nothing all day). You will use this rate and your activity level (including exercise) to set the amount of calories you need each day to maintain a caloric deficit (burn more calories than you consume). If you have too large of a caloric deficit (like a 1000 deficit), your body will think it is starving and shift into survival mode (store fat). So, severe calorie restriction diets don't work long-term.

8. Drink water and unsweetened drinks (like tea) most of the time. Aim to drink, in ounces, about half your weight in water every day. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, drink about 75 ounces of water every day.

9. Add volume to your diet (eating wet). Eat as many foods as you can with high water content/low calories. Foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables are examples. These types of foods help you to feel fuller (satiety) while eating fewer calories.

For instance, grapes with the same caloric amount as raisins will provide more satiety and theoretically help you eat less the rest of the day. Other good foods would be whole grain pastas, brown rice, whole grain breads, soups, salads and skinless white chicken/turkey.

10. Forget the quick weight loss gimmicks (they lead to yo-yo dieting and even more weight gain)! There are no quick solutions to permanent fat loss and weight loss. Change your eating habits permanently (step by step)!

Learn how to lose weight the right way and get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Stop Yo-Yo Dieting With Exercise And Healthy Meals

Do you want to stop yo-yo dieting (or weight cycling)? Exercise, eat healthy and don't stop. Are you tired of losing 40 pounds and regaining 60 pounds? Exercise, eat healthy and don't stop. Are you tired of quick weight loss "solutions" that aren't solutions (the problem gets bigger with each yo-yo weight regain)? Exercise, eat healthy and don't stop. See a pattern developing?



You can stop the weight loss/weight regain cycle with regular exercise and healthy menus. Its that simple. But, somehow its not that easy for many people. Why? Because they buy in to the quick weight loss "solutions" that really don't solve the behavioral problem. The problem is that you need to change your exercise and eating habits to get and keep the lean body you want and need!

If you want to lose 20 pounds to get ready for your friend's wedding 3 months from now, that's great! Don't stop exercising and eating healthy after the wedding! Keep the good exercise and eating habits going---for life. There's no good reason to stop. That's how you can ultimately stop the yo-yo weight loss and regain. Otherwise, you will always regain more weight than you lost.

According to Marketdata Enterprises, an estimated 54 percent of people in the United States are currently trying to lose weight. This leads many of you to buy weight loss pills and "special foods" that promote weight loss. There's no need to do this. Just start with a regular exercise program and eat healthy based on your basal metabolic rate and activity level. Its that simple folks. Oh yeah, you have to be willing to go with this plan for the long-term. It takes a long time to change your body composition to more muscle and less fat. More muscle mass will speed up your metabolism because your body has to work harder to maintain muscle mass.

If you don't believe what I'm saying, listen to this: Most of us will regain almost all of what we lost, according to research, which is why the typical dieter tries a new plan four times a year. "We have this mentality that a diet is something to go on and then get off as quickly as possible," says FITNESS advisory board member Madelyn Fernstrom, PhD, founding director of the University of Pittsburgh's Weight Management Center. "But lasting weight loss requires making lifestyle changes that will work long-term."

"With special-occasion weight loss, it's all about dropping pounds quickly," Fernstrom says. Do this too often and you may find that it's even harder to lose than before. "Constant crash dieting causes your body to cling to the calories you do eat because it's not sure when it's going to get more," she explains.

Rather than keep the pounds off just long enough to impress strangers on your vacation, think about rewarding long-term achievements. Maybe you want to train for your first half-marathon or get in shape to hike the Grand Canyon. Setting a big new goal each time you check one off your list will keep you headed in the right direction.

It's not only your waistline that suffers from yo-yoing. "Repeated crash dieting increases metabolic hormones, such as insulin, and elevates levels of sex hormones, including estrogen," says Andrea Pennington, MD, author of The Pennington Plan for Weight Success. "These changes cause you to start putting on weight around your middle, which research has linked to insulin resistance, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease."

Your confidence also takes a hit. "The more times you go through the gain-lose-gain cycle, the less convinced you become that you can break free from the constant ups and downs," says Keri Gans, RD, a dietitian in private practice in New York City. "No one wants to diet forever; it's hard work."

Here are my 5 tips to help you stop yo-yo dieting:

1. Concentrate on setting the lifetime goal of eating right and exercising regularly with weight training and interval cardio training. This will keep you from stressing about quick weight loss goals. This will also give your body the long-term health it needs. You may need to slowly replace sugary foods and drinks with water, unsweetened drinks and fruits. You could have this as a goal for the week.

"Even if you're doing everything right, your weight can fluctuate based on the time of day or how hydrated you are," says Evelyn Tribole, RD, coauthor of Intuitive Eating. In fact, research shows that women who fixate on counting calories and restricting their food intake report more stress and have higher levels of cortisol, which is linked to overeating.

"Instead of obsessing about every morsel, think about how eating right and exercising make you feel," Tribole says. "Do you have more energy? Are you able to keep up with your kids?" If you take the time to notice the positive effects of each healthy behavior -- whether it's pushing away from the table before you clean your plate or biking for 30 minutes a day -- it's easier to motivate yourself to stay on track.

2. Have a more active lifestyle. I make a habit of walking every where that I can. Walk to the store, walk the dog, walk to the park, walk at the park, walk during your kids' practices, walk during work breaks, etc. Walking will keep your blood flowing, fat-burn enzymes active and calories burning.

3. Get a healty meal plan based on foods that you like. You are more likely to comply with a meal plan that you like. Be prepared to eat less but more nutritious. Base your meal plan on your basal metabolic rate and activity level. You need to maintain a caloric deficit (burn more calories than you eat) to lose weight.

4. Track what you eat in a food journal for a week or two. Until you get good at eating right, you need to carefully watch what and why you eat.

Research has proven that you will have a better chance of succeeding with your meal plan if you keep a food journal. By logging your actual food choices, you are holding yourself accountable throughout the day. You will also be forced to plan your meals better.

In your journal, list food, calories and serving sizes for every snack or meal. List details such as meats, drinks, vegetables, fruits, etc. For each meal, list why you ate--such as you were angry, sad, happy, hungry, etc. This is very important because moods can affect food choices. You need to know your motivations for eating.

5. Get a weight loss buddy for emotional support. Don't try to do your program alone. Research proves that those who workout with a friend, spouse or personal trainer are more likely to reach their goals.

Learn how to lose weight the right way and get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Strength Training to Improve Endurance

Weight lifting can improve performance in endurance sports such as running, cycling or rowing. A study from Spain divided highly trained, competitive rowers into four groups:

1) four arm exercises leading to repetition failure,
2) four exercises not leading to failure,
3) two exercises not to failure, and
4) no resistance training.

All four groups did the same endurance training (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, June 2010). Those who did the four exercises not to failure improved the most in *rowing performance, *lifting the heaviest weight that they could lift once, and *the highest muscle power output.

Athletes who train primarily for strength must train to muscle failure. That means that they lift weights repeatedly until they can barely lift that weight another time. This causes muscle damage that is necessary for maximum muscle growth and strength. The next-day muscles soreness tells them that their muscles are damaged and when thy heal, their muscles will be stronger. Then they take easier workouts until the soreness goes away and repeat their muscle-damaging workouts.

However, athletes in endurance sports must take long hard workouts lasting many hours. If lifting weights causes so much muscle damage that they cannot do their endurance workouts, they cannot compete in their sports. This study shows that athletes in endurance sports can benefit from lifting weights, but they should not go to failure so often that it reduces their workouts that are specific for their sports.

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Lifestyle More Important than Genes for Longevity

How long you live is usually up to you. Extensive research show that most people who live to be 100 have never had any one else in their family also live to be 100. Longevity researcher James W. Vaupel of the Max Planck Institute in Germany feels that longevity is only three percent genetic and 97 percent environmental. Compare that to factors that govern how tall you will be, which are more than 80 percent genetic.

For most people, living to 90 or 100 requires a healthful diet, daily exercise and avoidance of exposure to life-shortening infections and toxins. Centenarians virtually never have diabetes or arteriosclerosis, the most common causes of death in North America today.

One of the best ways to compare the effects of genetics and environment on lifespan is to study twins (Twin Research, December 1998). The Danish Twin Study showed that a woman whose twin sister lives to be 100 has a four percent chance of living that long (the general population has about a one-percent chance). The Swedish Twin Registry Study followed 3,656 identical and 6,849 same-sex fraternal twins. By analyzing the age of death of twins born between 1886 and 1900, the authors found that longevity is determined a maximum of one-third by genetics and more than two-thirds by environmental factors.

Certain genes have been found to shorten or extend life, but reports on these genetic variations show that they are rare and exceptional. Paul Lichtenstein of the Karolinska Institute reported a gene called APO E4 that shortens life by carrying cholesterol into arteries to form plaques, increasing heart attacks and dementia. There is also a long-life gene called CETP-VV that prevents heart attacks and dementia. People who have CETP-VV have high blood levels of the good HDL cholesterol and large particle size cholesterol that prevent heart attacks.

However, most of the diseases that shorten life are caused primarily by environmental factors. The greatest killers in North America (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia) share the same primary risk factors:
• being overweight,
• not exercising,
• not eating enough fruits and vegetables,
• eating processed meats and red meat,
• smoking,
• drinking alcohol to excess,
• storing fat primarily in your belly, and
• lack of vitamin D.

The more risk factors you have, the greater your chance of suffering debilitating disease and dying prematurely.

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You Achieved Quick Weight Loss, Are You Healthy?

You can achieve quick weight loss. But, your body might feel like a total wreck. Ever lost 35 pounds in a week? I hope not (at least not voluntarily).

If you have weight loss, fat loss and good health, you're in a great place! Just continue to eat right and work hard to stay there!

Quick weight loss implies that it's something that probably won't last! Health should be stressed before weight loss and beauty! It does you no good to look great if your body is a total wreck and unhealthy!

Optimal health involves making lifestyle changes to improve your:

1. health
2. fitness
3. energy levels
4. quality of life

We are living longer on this earth so quality of life is important!

The "quick weight loss lifestyle" is narrow minded when you compare it to the "optimal health lifestyle!"

Quick weight loss leads to slowed metabolism, a weaker immune system, hormonal imbalances, loss of lean mass, increased body fat, decreased energy levels, disrupted sleep patterns, short-term results and yo-yo dieting!

I'll take the optimal health option any day over quick weight loss!

So, here are some tips to help you achieve your best health and fitness:

1. Make a commitment TODAY to a lifestyle of health and fitness! Without this commitment, you will eventually go back to short-term solutions like quick weight loss!

2. Make the needed changes to your eating habits! Severely limit foods like sugars, processed foods, fast foods, fat-filled packaged foods, etc. Eat more foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean meats. Get help with your meal plan if needed! Get your nutrition mainly from food! Add in supplements like multivitamins and fish oil to support your meal plan and improve your health.

3. Commit to regular exercise and an active lifestyle! Walk as much as you can everyday!

4. Get enough rest! If you don't sleep enough, your body won't function as well as it could--that means about 7-8 hours of sleep every night for most people.

5. Schedule that doctor's appointment to see where your health stands! High blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. can be controlled, if needed.

Learn how to lose weight the right way and get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Emergency Resuscitation

You are in a room where a person suddenly drops to the floor unconscious. You put your ear over his heart and hear no heartbeats. That person is dead unless you pump on his chest immediately to circulate blood to bring enough oxygen to keep his brain alive, and then shock his heart with an electrical defibrillator to make it start beating again.

He passed out because •his brain suffered from lack of oxygen, •caused by lack of blood circulating to his brain, •caused by his heart fibrillating (shaking rather than pumping) or having a heart beat too weak to pump blood. His brain will die in a minute or two if you don't circulate blood by compressing his chest, and his heart will not start beating again unless you shock it as soon as possible, within about ten minutes.

Recent studies show that:

Compressing the chest first is just as successful as using the electrical defibrillator first (BMC Journal, September 2010). A study of 1,503 patients showed that survival rates were the same for immediate defribrillation and after at least 90 seconds of chest compressions before electrical defibrillation.

• Interrupting chest compressions during resuscitation reduces the chances of heartbeat return to normal after electrical shocking (defibrillation). For every second of a pause in compressions there is a one percent reduction in the likelihood of success (BMC Medicine, February 6, 2009; Circulation, October 2009).

• Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is no better than just pressing on the chest (NEJM, July 29, 2010). You may not need to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in adults. However, this may not apply to children because of their small lungs.

• Place the heel of one hand between the nipples and the other hand on top of that.

• Keep elbows straight with your shoulders directly over your hands.

• With your upper body weight, push down on the chest two inches deep at 100 compressions a minute.

• Continue until signs of movement or until emergency help arrives.

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