Exercise of the day

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS

Muscles worked: calves, quads, glutes, back, chest, triceps, abs, and shoulders•In a push-up position, keeping your back flat, pump your legs as if running in place. Try not to brush the ground with your toes as they come forward. Do 50 right-left reps.

FAT: GOOD and BAD

Fat Facts: Fat contains 9 calories per gram and are a necessary dietary component. When looking at the fat content of food it is important to look at food ingredients, not just the nutritional facts, to determine what types of fats they may contain.
Bad Fats:
Saturated Fats-often solid at room temperature (beef, pork, whole milk) and they come from mostly animal sources.
Tropical oils-often are liquid at room temperture (palm oil, coconut oil) and are found in many different food items including baked pastries and snack foods.
Trans-fats (hydrogenated fats) have been shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease. They are often found in fried fast foods, processed baked goods and stick margarines.
Current RDA states that individuals with a LDL/HDL of >130 mg/dl should get less than 7% of total daily calories from Saturated and Hydrogenated Fats.
Good Fats:
Monounsaturated fats and Polyunsaturated fats have been shown to have a positive effect on cholesterol levels in the body. Mono-fats tend to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and increase HDL (good) cholesterol. Poly-fats tend to lower LDL, but also may lower HDL levels.
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fats (fish & flaxseed) have been proven to prevent heart attacks, strokes and sudden cardiac death. Omega-3s inhibit blood clot formation and promote dilation of blood vessels and prevent fatal cardiac arrhymias. They have been shown to have positive effects on body fat, skin and depression in some individuals. A fish oil supplement is worth looking into.

EXERCISE OF THE DAY

ABDOMINAL BICYCLES

Muscles worked: abs, obliques, and hip flexors• Lie on your back in a sit-up position, with your hands behind your head. Raise your legs off the ground and bring your left knee to your right elbow while extending your right leg straight out. Change sides and repeat

Cops and FASTFOOD

Ever wonder what your eating when you grab that burger and fries for that quick lunch?

How bad can it be? Is it ok to hit the drive through just a couple of times a week?

You might be surprised. Its not all bad, things are changing, most restaurants are making the nutritional value of their food available to the consumer. However, some food establishments have refused to list the nutritional information. You have to ask yourself why they would want to do that; don't you think you have a right to now what you are eating? Sure you do.

Quiznos has been a notorious example of this only recently listing the calories of a select few menu items, choosing not to show fat, sodium or other content.

Lets take a quick look at a couple of meals:
Meal #1: Whataburger, lg Fries, md shake
Whataburger, no cheese- 607 calories, 29.9g of fat, 1,158mg of sodium
Large Fries- 514 calories, 26g of fat, 413mg of sodium
32oz Vanilla Shake- 834 calories, 25g of fat, 449mg of sodium
This one meal as a total of 1955 calories, 80.9g of fat and 2020mg of sodium. Whata-Size it and add 275 calories and 15g of fat! It doesn't take a dietitian to realize that this is not going to be a good choice, but how many people eat something like that several times a week, what about everyday?
Meal #2: McDonald's Premium Grilled Chicken Sandwich, md coke
Sandwich calories-420, 17g fat, 1470mg sodium
Medium Coca Cola- 210 calories
This meal is a bit better, but still not the "diet meal" that some would like to think with 630 calories, 17g fat and 1470 sodium.

As you can see both of these meals are very high in sodium and would be very detrimental for anyone with high blood pressure or on a low sodium diet. As for the fat, the burger combo contains way too much fat with a large percentage coming from saturated fat. The addition of fries sends it over the edge.

The grilled chicken sandwich is better, it gets about 21% of its calories from fat, which is acceptable and it is low in saturated fat. You did know that a medium coke as over 200 calories of pure HIGH FRUCTROSE CORN SYRUP, right? If you must frequent "Fast Food" restaurants then take sometime to research the nutritional information for their menus. Don't just think that this is a problem at fast food restaurants, it is a common theme anywhere, even real sit down eateries.
http://www.whataburger.com/browse_nutritional_info.php http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/eat/nutrition_info.html