Fish - Yes; Fried Fish - No

Eating oily fish, like salmon, herring or mackerel, twice a week helps to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Eating oily fish more often than twice a week has not been shown to be any more protective. On the other hand, eating fried fish may increase risk of stroke (Neurology, published online December 22, 2010).

The most popular fried fish are frozen fish sticks, fast-food fish sandwiches and other inexpensive fish products. Most of these are made with farmed tilapia or catfish that are not good sources of omega-3 fatty acids. We don't know whether this is the reason that fried fish are linked with increased risk of strokes, or whether the unhealthful cooking method cancels out the benefits of any fish.

Polyunsaturated fats in fish are classified by their structure into omega-3s and omega-6s. Omega-3s form prostaglandins that help prevent inflammation that causes heart attacks and strokes. Omega-6s have not been shown to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The fish that are rich sources of omega-3s are those that eat plankton or other fish that have eaten plankton. Almost all deep water fish are rich in the healthful omega-3s.

Of the four most commonly farmed fish (Atlantic salmon, trout, tilapia, and catfish) only trout and Atlantic salmon contain relatively high amounts of omega-3s. In contrast, tilapia (the fastest-growing and most widely-farmed fish) and catfish have much lower concentrations of omega-3s, and their fatty acids are the same as chicken (Journal of the American Dietetic Association, July 2008 and December 2008).

Whether or not a farmed fish contains omega-3s depends on what the fish are fed. Catfish and tilapia can thrive on corn. Since corn is cheaper than fish meal, they are usually fed omega-6 -rich corn, instead of omega-3 -rich fish meal, and thus they have insignificant amounts of omega-3 fats in their bodies. However, salmon and most other farmed fish cannot live on just corn, so they must be fed fish meal that is loaded with omega-3s. All salmon (farmed and wild-caught) are high in omega-3s.

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Don't Do A Quick Weight Loss Program This January!

Just because its January, you don't have to resort to another quick weight loss program (that ultimately won't work again)! You deserve better than that! Make your weight loss goals long-term. Then, you won't have the same weight problem next January!

A “30-day Weight Loss Only” goal is a short-term fix for your weight problem and will not ultimately help you attain your goals! Instead, you will be setting yourself up as a prime "yo-yo dieter" candidate. Establish eating and exercise habits that will help you burn fat and lose weight for a lifetime.

The type of food you eat and timing of what you eat is very important for your metabolism to work properly.

Your body needs adequate amounts of the macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) to function properly.

Increasing muscle mass is critical to permanently speed up your metabolism. Your body has to work harder to maintain muscle mass. And, increasing muscle mass will burn the fat off of your body. So, start doing your regular weight training workouts 2-3 days a week.

Protein's main role in your body is to repair and rebuild body tissues (especially so after an intense weight training workout). When your body doesn't get enough protein, it will take protein from other sources--mainly your muscles! Obviously, you don't want that to happen. Including foods with protein in every meal will help you eat less during the day. This happens because it takes your body longer to digest protein.

Carbohydrates, in the form of glycogen, are your body's preferred source of energy. Glycogen is stored in your liver and muscles and it is broken down into glucose. Glucose is then used by your body to make energy.

As a result, when your glycogen stores are low, your body's performance will suffer. When your body doesn't have enough carbohydrates, it uses energy mainly from proteins. As stated above, protein has another primary role in the body. And, again, your muscle mass will take the hit. Carb cycling can be useful in some situations, but don’t start with this method. Establish your eating foundation first.

Fat is important for your diet because it helps you feel full for longer periods of time and keeps skin, hair and nails healthy (among other things). You should limit your intake of saturated fats (usually solid at room temperature, such as butter) and trans fats ( partially hydrogenated fats found in packaged foods and fast foods).

Instead, increase your intake of heart-healthy unsaturated fats, such as olive, canola oil, fish, nuts, seeds and avocados. Fats should not exceed 30% (closer to 20%) of your total caloric intake. Again, fats should not be used as your primary energy source.

Your body needs the macronutrients at all times to function properly. When your body functions properly, your metabolism will also function properly. That's why you should eat every 3-4 hours to give your body what it needs and to protect your vital muscle mass.

If you are a person who skips breakfast--don't! You are sabotaging your fat loss and weight loss efforts and throwing your metabolism out of wack!

Eat for health, fat loss and weight loss. You should not ever try a “30-day Weight Loss Only” program to reach your long-term goals.

If you need to know how to lose weight the right way, 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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Being Slightly Overweight Shortens Life

A review of 19 studies covering 1.5 million people shows that being even a little bit overweight shortens your life and the heavier you are, the more likely you are to die of cancer and heart attacks (New England Journal of Medicine, December 2, 2010). Two-thirds of North American adults are overweight or obese.

Doctors measure overweight with a Body-Mass Index (BMI) number: your weight in kilograms divided by the square of your height in meters. A normal BMI is 22.5 to 25. Having a BMI of 27.5 increases your chances of dying from a heart attack by 50 percent, and a BMI over 40 increases risk by more than 400 percent. Similar increases in BMI apply to death from cancers.

No Such Thing as Healthy Overweight Men
"There appears to be no such thing as metabolically healthy obesity," said Dr. Johan Arnlov, author of a 30-year follow up report of 1800 Swedish men showing that overweight middle-aged men are at increased risk for death and heart attacks, even if they do not have metabolic syndrome or diabetes (Circulation, January 19, 2010). Arnlov and his colleagues checked all the men for metabolic syndrome: high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high blood triglycerides (fats), low HDL ("good") cholesterol and a broad waist size (40 inches for men, 35 for women). Metabolic syndrome is the presence of three or more of these risk factors. Follow-up for 30 years showed that the risk of a heart attack was 52 percent higher in overweight men without metabolic syndrome, 74 percent higher in overweight men with metabolic syndrome, 95 percent higher in obese men without metabolic syndrome and 155 percent higher in obese men with metabolic syndrome.

Reducing Overweight a Little Prolongs Life
Being overweight shortens lives because full fat cells produce immune cells that turn on your immunity to promote inflammation that causes diabetes, heart attacks, cancers, arthritis and other diseases. Losing as few as 10 pounds can reduce an over-active immune system to that of a thin person (The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, June 2010).

Exercise Helps to Prevent Weight Gain
The average person spends a lifetime gaining weight and exercise helps to prevent weight gain with aging. Researchers measured BMI and waist circumference in more than 3,400 men and women and followed them for 20 years. The most-active men gained 5.7 pounds less than those least active, and the most-active women gained 13.5 pounds less than the least-active women (JAMA, December 15, 2010). Many other studies show that exercising regularly helps to protect even those who continue to be overweight.

Message: Being even a little bit overweight shortens lives, and exercise helps to prevent weight gain with aging.

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Burn More Belly Fat In 2011

This is the year for you to burn more belly fat! Make it a priority and it will happen. You will have to limit foods filled with sugars (among others) for this to happen. If you have a sweet-tooth like me, that's not easy to do! Bottom line: you will have to eat healthier and that's a good thing for you going forward.

Shrink your waist size. Doing so will reduce your risk of dying from diseases like cancer and heart disease. Don't just take my word for it....researchers from the American Cancer Society warns us about the deadly risks of having too much belly fat. Read my article about waist-to-hip ratio.

In the research study led by Eric J. Jacobs, PhD, American Cancer Society strategic director, Pharmacoepidemiology, researchers examined the association between waist circumference and the risk of death among 48,500 men and 56,343 women age 50 and older who had taken part in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort, a subset of the larger Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II).

Participants filled out detailed questionnaires about their health and lifestyle, and also measured their waist size with a tape measure. They were then tracked for 9 years.

“We were interested in looking at waist size because it’s strongly correlated to fat tissue in the abdomen, which is the most dangerous kind of fat issue,” said Jacobs.

What The Research Found:

Jacobs and his colleagues found that people with very large waists (47 inches or larger in men, 42 inches or larger in women) had approximately twice the risk of death compared to those with the smallest waists (35 inches in men, 30 inches in women) during the study period.

And, this is the interesting part about the study: it didn't matter if the person was normal weight, overweight or obese (according to body mass index).

“We found a pattern showing that expanding waist size was linked to a greater risk of dying regardless of body weight,” said Jacobs. “Similarly, people with the smallest waist sizes had the lowest risk. The take home message here is watch your waist size regardless of your weight.”

Spot Reduction Won't Work

Spot reduction won't work. Burn total body fat by doing full body strength training and eating healthy food. This will help you burn fat off your waist. Doing 1000 ab crunches a day won't get the job done.

“There’s no evidence that doing a particular set of abdominal moves will reduce belly fat. The best thing you can do is to eat better and exercise more,” says Jacobs.

Build muscle, burn fat and shrink your body!

If you need to know where to start, just get your 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program!

"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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Burn Fat, Sculpt Your Body This Year

Don't just lose weight. Burn fat and sculpt your body this year. This way, the weight will stay off because you will have increased muscle mass. You won't hear this message on weight loss infomercials and magazine ads.



Why? Because they want you to buy their quick weight loss program. What you do after their program is your problem. Don't settle for less than a lean body. That takes more time to achieve.

Don't sell yourself short and settle for just another fad diet designed to give you short term weight loss. Fad diets don't work because you can't maintain them---you need a healthy meal plan that you can maintain over time.

You may need to change up your exercise routine. You can't do the same things and expect different results. If it failed last year, you need a change.

You might need to change your same old cardio workout? Ever tried bodyweight cardio? Its a great change up from the same old cardio machines.

Do you workout at a slow pace most of the time? Speed it up and see more results. In my opinion, sprinting is one of the least used exercises done by general exercisers. Sprints help you burn fat faster! Sprinting is one of the best ways to help get your total body lean and toned.

What were your eating habits like last year? We can always improve our eating habits. There's been more than one good workout erased by bad eating habits.

Wherever you are in your fat loss and fitness trek, make a commitment to burn more fat than ever this year.

If you need to know where to start, just get your 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program and get after it!

"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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Accelerated Fat Loss Program at My Fitness Hut

It's all about fat loss folks! Get your fat loss year off to a great start with My Fitness Hut's 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program! Many of you need a huge change from your regular workouts in order to make progress. And, some of you just need a jumpstart.



If you have been doing the same workout for months, you need a change to break through your plateau. If your workouts are 2 hours long, you are spending too much time in the gym. You can get better results with less time. You don't need a gym membership. You can do this program at home or anywhere you like.

With this program, strength workouts don't exceed 50 minutes and interval cardio workouts don't exceed 20 minutes! You will have to work out VERY HARD but you will be rewarded.

Start out this year the right way and don't stop! Get off the yo-yo weight loss and regain wagon. You can stop the weight loss/weight regain cycle with regular exercise and healthy menus. Its that simple.

Visit this page and learn how to get started building your lean body

Mark Dilworth, Certified Personal Trainer

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Exercising on an Empty Stomach Can Both Prevent and Treat Diabetes

One of three North Americans will become diabetic because they eat a high-calorie, high-fat diet that *blocks insulin receptors *to prevent cells from responding to insulin (insulin resistance) *to cause high insulin levels *that constrict coronary arteries *to cause heart attacks. Failure to respond to insulin causes *high blood sugar levels *that cause sugar to stick to cell membranes *to permanently damage the affected cell *to cause blindness, deafness, heart attacks, strokes, amputations and all the terrible side effects of diabetes.

After just a few days on a high-calorie, high-fat diet, cells fail to respond adequately to insulin, blood sugar levels rise, fat deposits in your body, even in muscles, and you gain weight. This causes your muscles to start to lose their ability to store glycogen, the major source of efficient fuel for exercise, and you tire much earlier during exercise.

If you exercise vigorously BEFORE breakfast, you can reduce and even prevent these side effects. Exercising after fasting prevents fat from being deposited in muscles and helps muscles to make more stored sugar (glycogen), the primary efficient fuel for exercise. A study from Leuven, Belgium shows for the first time that "fasted training is more potent than fed training to facilitate adaptations in muscles, and to improve whole-body glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity" (Journal of Physiology, November 2010). So you are able to exercise longer and harder. If you do not exercise during this period, you gain none of these benefits. If you exercise after eating, these benefits are reduced markedly (Journal of Physiology, April 15, 2005).

When you exercise after fasting, you burn primarily your own body fat for energy. The fat is removed from fat cells and muscle cells. Muscle enzymes burn fat more efficiently and clear further fat from your muscles and fat cells to make your cells more sensitive to insulin. This reverses the cascade described in the first paragraph.

However, fasting before exercising harms training and competitive performance in athletes. The limiting factor to how fast you can move your muscles is the time it takes to move oxygen into muscles. When you fast before exercising, you burn more fat and less sugar. Since sugar requires less oxygen than fat to be converted to energy, your needs for oxygen are greater to burn fat. This slows you down and tires you earlier.

The basic research that showed how muscles convert sugar to energy was done in the 1930s by Diana's father, professor Donald Purdie of Cambridge University in England. He worked with Hans Adolph Krebs, who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1953.

It is not established whether athletes should train on a low carbohydrate diet to teach their muscles to burn sugar more efficiently. This would help them to compete at a faster pace. Several studies show that training after fasting increases enzymes that turn sugar into energy. However, training with reduced sugar stores (glycogen) can limit workouts, and this may counteract the gains of fasting before working out.

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