Family Fitness Matters

The Benefits of Leasing Gym Equipment

Kerry Gould — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:51:33 +0000

If you want to access the latest gym equipment in the comfort of your own home, then you need to look into leasing gym equipment. Many disregard the leasing option because they are so fixated on owning everything – when all they really need is to have access to the equipment right? Here are some key (and possibly mind changing benefits of leasing gym equipment:

Price – always a factor, and especially in this expensive area.
Convenience – you work out when you want and in the comfort of your own home.
Time – no time spent shopping and no commuting to and from the gym

By being a bit clever and leasing your gym equipment, not only are you able to work out in the comfort of your own home, but you can do so cheaply, without spending thousands. You can even split the price with a friend or two and share the equipment and the cost!

New House - Gym © by Todd Barnard

When you lease gym equipment you will generally have the equipment brought to your home and professionally installed. Some leasing companies may even offer a free demonstration on how to use the equipment, which can be very handy if you are new to that particular machine.

One of the main issues I have found with gym equipment is that they date. Either the equipment becomes out dated or you become bored with it – but either way you end up using it less and less. One of the major benefits of leasing gym equipment is that you can quickly and easily upgrade your equipment when you want to – there is no need to save up or burden the credit card with another expensive purchase while the old machine moves to the exercise graveyard.

Leasing gym equipment is totally the way to go to quickly and easily get started and working out from home. No matter if you are new to using gym equipment or not, there are great machines around available for lease today. So why not grab a friend and split the cost? That way you have access to the equipment when you want to but at a much lower cost.

The Benefits of Juicing Specific Fruits and Veggies

Kerry Gould — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:23:07 +0000

Everybody now knows that vegetables and fruits are good for our health, but it is not always easy to fit in the USDA recommended 5 to 9 servings per day. Fresh vegetable and fruit juice can’t take the place of consuming produce in its whole state since it doesn’t provide enough fiber, but it does deliver minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and phytonutrients that are essential for all the functions of the body. Once you get yourself into the habit of juicing, you will fall in love with it! The following vegetables and fruits are great options for juicing at home.

Carrots
Carrots are the classic vegetable for juicing. Its convenient long round shape and low-cost make it the most juiced of vegetables. Its creamy and full consistency make it a great juice for weight loss since it helps one feel more full if taken just before eating. Drinking large amounts of carrot juice can turn you orange – yes really, since the antioxidant called beta-carotene that provide the orange color in carrots can build up in our skin. However, you need to drink immense amounts to change your skin color and it is not harmful to health. Beta-carotene is essential to eye health and also helps to protect is against heart disease.

Watermelon, Grapefruit and Tomatoes
Watermelon, grapefruit and tomatoes have 3 common qualities when it comes to juicing. They are juicy, colorful and feature the potent antioxidant called lycopene. The high water content of these fruits makes them great for making juice because you need less of them. Lycopene is promoted for its powerful anti-cancer properties and especially for protecting against prostate cancer. Other common nutrient to these three fruits are beta-carotene, vitamin C and potassium.

Kale and Cabbage
Kale and cabbage are vegetables of the cruciferous family and they provide antioxidant support to the adrenal grands. These glands are what produce stress and the flight-and-flight response in the body. Making cabbage juice is fairly easy, just slice it into long strips and drop it your juice extractor. Kale, being a very thin leafy green vegetables really needs a specific kind of juice extractor called a masticating juice extractor to effectively extract its juice. The Omega 8006 juicer is considered the best juicer for leafy greens.

Berries
Berries make great sweet tasting juices. Berries are super loaded with antioxidants that promote healthy skin, detoxification and help protect against cancer and heart disease. Berry juice will also give your immune system a super boost.

Get into these fruit juices to not only provide some delicious sustenance for your body, but also freshly pressed goodness for your soul.

Best Protein Powder Smoothies

Kerry Gould — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:47:04 +0000

The best protein powder smoothie is the one that is made just for you. It is the one where the protein is from a source you know your body enjoys and it is mixed with other substances that you body does well on. This is something that can only be determeind through acknowledging what foods you do well on and what ones you don’t.

First look at the types of proteins that you can use. There is whey, casein, soy, rice, pea, hemp and egg. There are possibly others too, but this is the majority of them. Knowing your own body which of these does your body most enjoy? The key is digestion if you can’t process the protein it will do you no good at all so pick what it is that works most ideally for you. If you are not certain you can buy single serve or sample packs of protein powder and try out a few paying close attention to how your body reacts to each of them.

The second part of the healthy protein powder smoothie is what you add to it. It is highly recommended to add in various other ingredients for digestion and a more natural nutritional profile. You can use yogurt, kefir, berries, fruits, juices, or good healthy fats. All of these can provide you with more calories and nutrition that with out. Our bodies never in history used to eat lean protein all on it’s own. At best fatty protein, but now lean, so tread carefully is you chose to go with a low calorie shake with no additional nutrient sources outside of the protein powder.

The reasons you would want to consider using protein powder to begin with is simply cause you can’t find the time to eat a whole food. Protein powders are only good to the degree that they keep you away from fast food and the like. So concentrate on whole healthy meals as a first choice and protein powders as a second choice.

What is Dosage of Green Tea Supplements for Weight Loss?

Kerry Gould — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 07:58:08 +0000

You will find green tea supplements on the shelves of virtually any health food store. Promoted for a number of reasons, that include protection from cancer and supporting the immune system, these supplements show promise for increasing the speed of fat burning inside the body, this means they may help you slim down faster.

Green Tea
Growing throughout a variety of countries, green tea is produced by the Camelia sinensis shrub and shines forth as the world’s number one beverage after water. Even though this herbal beverage features a wealth of ethnic history, playing a role in a number of Japanese tea ceremonies for instance, its content of catechins is what has captured the most attention these days for its benefits for weight reduction.

Catechins
Nutritional researcher David Tolson, informs us that about 10 % of the dry weight of green tea leaves is in the form of catechins. Green tea supplement companies typically standardize their supplements around these plant substances, especially the powerful epigallocatechin-gallate compound.

Thermogenesis
Epigallocatechin-gallate, often abbreviated to EGCG, and other types of catechin antioxidants stimulate thermogenesis, a process in which the human body’s core nervous system sacrifices the human body’s stores of fat to boost the body’s temperature. Even though thermogenesis happens all the time, the catechin antioxidant bound with receptors of the core nervous system to boost this rate; and green tea weight loss can occur for that reason.

Evidence
French researchers researched the weight reduction effects of green tea supplements in 2002. Their research, which was publicized in the journal called “Phytomedicine,” prescribed moderately overweight participants this supplement each day for 3 months. The participants recorded a standard weight loss result of 4.6 % and decreased their waistlines by 4.5 %.

Dosage
Doctor Mercola, a physician and natural health enthusiast, clarifies that many of these studies that feature green tea supplements for their weight loss purposes use around 300 milligrams of catechin antioxidants. He state that this quantity as a helpful and sensible dose for weight loss purposes.

Better control of sugar with diet and exercise

Kerry Gould — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:50:14 +0000

The number of people affected by the condition called diabetes is increasing. We can say that it is partly due to genetics and that you might have it all along, but for most, diabetes can be pointed out from obesity and poor lifestyle. Remember that what currently occurs in your life is due to your choices you made before. In this article, we will focus on the health aspect of your lifestyle since this is the most common solution to many things, yes, including diabetes. Since sugar count will be such an issue, we will focus on natural methods that are diet and exercise. These two are among the best weight loss tips to solve obesity, which is one of the predisposing factors for diabetes.
Healthy eating plan
It is wrong to think that you should restrict your carbohydrates. You should know that carbohydrates are an important component of your food. Emphasizing further, you can still get high sugar content not just from your carbs, but from your sodas or even fruits can be culprits. What you need to have is a healthy eating plan.
A good combination of healthy food items will get you started. Try to add some variety and though you don’t need to restrict your food items, you can easily do it by having a good set of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, fish meat and lean protein source. You should also limit your fast food intake to get the optimum result. Don’t worry, these food items usually have lower cholesterol and also lower calories making it best for weight reduction and also for your diabetic diet.
Exercise
Exercise included won’t be the extremes. Instead, it should be healthy exercises with less strenuous movement that can be done regularly, but still according to your sugar levels. A good 30 minute brisk walk could serve you well already. But of course, if you can tolerate more, then go for more active ones. Jogs, swims and various sports are good examples.
Of course don’t forget to check your blood glucose regularly or as often as the doctor advised you. This will keep you in track. Remember that you don’t need to go have an exercise during low sugar count or after taking insulin. Your ultimate goal is to have a good diet and exercise pattern to control your sugar and maintain it in a healthy level.
Since we should focus on health, minimizing your smoking sessions can greatly help in your diabetes case. Try to maintain these regular healthy activities and don’t strain yourself. Just go through it slowly, eat properly and exercise consistently. It is also best to consult your doctor for any complications. Nonetheless you need not ask the question “why lose weight?” anymore. Start making changes today.

Learn About Organic Milk Vs Regular Milk

Kerry Gould — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:06:08 +0000

Consumers are often confused about opposing claims regarding the safety and benefits of organic milk vs regular milk. On one hand they hear that drinking organic milk benefits the body and on the other side they hear that organic milk is no better than regular milk, just more expensive. People in favor of organic milk say that regular milk is produced by cows that are filled with pesticides, hormones and antibiotics. Those in favor of regular milk say that regular milk is perfectly safe to drink. It is hard for an average consumer to make sense of all the claims. Many wonder if organic milk is better or not.

USDA organic

For milk to qualify for the label of “USDA Organic” the milk must meet specific standards. The cows that produce milk that is labelled organic must have been feeding in an area where no artificial fertilizers or pesticides have been used. The cows must never have received hormones used to stimulate milk production in cows. These are known as bovine growth hormones. These compounds have been banned from use in many countries such as Canada and Japan as well as in Europe. In the United States these hormones are permitted to be used because the USDA claims these hormones have not been proven to be harmful. Many milk consumers are not reassured by the claims of the USDA and they wonder why bovine growth hormone is regularly used in the United States when other countries have banned its use altogether.

Antibiotics

Organic milk must also meet specific standards regarding the use of antibiotics. Antibiotics are used very heavily in the production of livestock that does not meet organic guidelines and this has led to widespread immunity to the drugs among many people. Cows which are certified for organic milk production are not give antibiotics unless the cow is sick and there is no alternative treatment. If a cow does receive antibiotic treatments, it must be isolated from the rest of the herd for at least a year to ensure that the drug has been completely eliminated from the body.

A recent Newcastle University study showed organic milk had a higher quantity of beneficial nutrients compared to milk that was not produced in accordance to organic guidelines. To learn more about the facts regarding organic milk vs regular milk visit the USDA website where they discuss the standards that organic dairy farmers have to meet.

You can also find out more about other organic products such as organic cheese and fresh produce. You should pay particular attention to fresh fruit and numerous studies have found that fruits such as apples often contain pesticide residues above safe limits. To raise your organic family to eat well and right, you need to be informed yourself.

Vegan Mushroom Recipes and Spicy Vegetarian Chili

Kerry Gould — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:15:09 +0000

Some of the best mushroom recipes for vegans provide a means to use mushrooms to replace meat. For example, large mushrooms can be used to create grilled steaks, or placed on skewers and barbequed with the same sauces used with meat counterparts.

There are two main ways that vegan chefs create unique mushroom recipes for steaks. The first is to select very large or giant sized Portobello mushrooms that can be sliced in half to resemble a small steak, or to choose large flat Chanterelle mushrooms or even oyster mushrooms and use them on the grill whole, seasoned and served similar to how a regular steak would be presented.

However, one of the more flavorful and surprisingly meat-like mushroom recipes for a fake steak consists of grinding up Portobello mushrooms with garlic, onion, salt, pepper (and other spices and/or herbs), with a little flour or gluten-free soy or firm tofu (and a little olive oil), and then forming the mixture into steak-sized patties – then grill or barbeque and add sauces, marinades or mushroom gravy just as any other recipe.

The vegan steak recipes that are most popular are those that mimic the beef pepper steak and mushroom gravy – yes, in the case of vegan ones, the steak will be mushroom and so will the gravy and even small sliced or button mushrooms can be served on the with a baked potato and baby onions. When using the ground mushroom formula for making steak, the varieties are endless because they can be made thick or thin, topped with non-dairy cheese substitutes, baked in an oven, grilled or barbequed and even used to replace hamburger patties for thick juicy hamburgers. One good way to expand mushroom and get a nice consistency is to use ground mushrooms mixed with eggplant. Eggplant has a wonderful meat-lie consistency and picks up flavors very easily.

Vegetarian chili is another dish that can benefit from mushrooms. Instead of using gluten-based meat substitutes or tofu, ground mushrooms (similar to how a patty may be created) can be sautéed or browned with olive oil, onions, garlic and chili powder to create a delicious imitation ground beef. Portobello mushrooms can be minced, diced, chopped or ground and blended with a little flour, and other spices, formed into small balls and fried or grilled in advance, then added to a pot of spicy vegetarian chili. If using a pre-cooked ground mushroom meat alternative, most vegetarian chili recipes can still benefit from visible sliced mushrooms in the pot. Remember that mushrooms take on different flavors so don’t be afraid to use disguised ground mushrooms as well as ones that will be recognized.

Fit Kids and Trampoline Fun!

Kerry Gould — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 07:49:05 +0000

Every kid loves a good bounce on the trampoline, but these popular backyard accessories are more than just play equipment – they’re an awesome source of exercise! Children often have a difficult time understanding the need for fitness, but “fun” rarely requires any explanation.

How to Get Children Excited About Exercise

Set a great example right from the start. Since children on trampolines require strict supervision anyways, why not dedicate a predictable portion of the day to jumping? The kids will look forward to it, and you can reinforce the exercise with a tasty, healthy beverage and snack afterwards. Even if you cannot take a turn jumping, try to engage in some other exercise-related activity alongside the children. Your enthusiasm can be a powerful motivator.

You may not be all that surprised to find that children can spend hours enjoying the thrill of flying through the air even without prompting. They’re getting glorious sunshine, abundant fresh air, and an aerobic exercise that makes the body feel good – and they don’t even know it!

Staying Safe on the Trampoline

Despite being one of the most enjoyable weight loss solutions available, it must be stressed to kids that trampolines are not necessarily to be treated as “toys”. Besides constant supervision, children need boundaries. It is recommended that kids use trampolines one at a time, and dangerous stunts like flips should be strongly discouraged.

Always make sure to keep safety equipment up-to-date. Use spring guards and trampoline nets to your advantage – nobody wants a health-oriented activity to land a child in the hospital!

With so many alluring videogames and indoor activities for kids to enjoy, exercise modeled after play is a welcome solution. So go ahead, ask your pediatrician if a trampoline is an acceptable way to introduce fitness into your child’s life!

Finding Cheap Weight Lifting Equipment for Your Home

Kerry Gould — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:35:36 +0000

Everyone is different and each person has their own preferences when it comes to working out. Some people prefer the ease and convenience of paying a gym membership in order to have access to hundreds of different workout machines and equipment. Going to the gym has many benefits such as not having to spend a large amount of money upfront for all the home fitness equipment you’re going to have to buy.

Some of the main disadvantages of going to the gym are the fact that you might not live close to one, so you’re going to be wasting a lot of time and money driving to the nearest gym facility. By not having your own home gym facility, you’re wasting a lot of precious time and gas commuting to and from the gym facility. For some folks, your commute time would be equivalent to a great workout for a lot of people. Another problem is the availability of fitness equipment during busy peak hours at the gym. Having to wait on your favorite weight machines for aerobics equipment is another waste of time.

One of the best ways to find cheap weight lifting equipment and aerobics machines is to purchase them used. Buying second hand gym equipment is one of the best opportunities for you to save on costs. You can browse online through auctions and personal classified ads to see what people are selling around your area. Another great way to start your own home gym without incurring too much cost is to look into leasing gym equipment. Gym equipment leasing is a lot like leasing a car; you pay a small fee each month to use the machine. At the end of the leasing term, most firms will allow you to buy out the machine for the remaining cost. This is a great way for you to have multiple gym equipment and fitness machines without having to spend a large sum of money in the beginning. This is a great way to source good, cheap fitness equipment so you can get started sooner in working towards your fitness goals.

Role of Fiber Rich Food In Health and Weight Loss

Kerry Gould — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 08:53:03 +0000

Fiber food is very important for our body as it helps to save us from many problems and diseases. In this article we will focus on the role of fiber rich food in reducing the weight.

What is Fiber Food and What Are Its Sources?

Fiber is the food that cannot be digested by human body and it is the plant based food. The fiber doesn’t contain any calories or nutrition and is passed through our digestive tract till it is excreted out. The examples of food rich in fiber are peas, sweet corn, carrots, apples, bananas, red cabbage, spinach, sweet corn, all bran cereal, beans and oranges.

What is the Function of Fiber Food in Our Body?
As stated earlier, the fiber cannot be digested by our digestive system and is passed through our whole digestive tract without providing any nutrients to our body. While moving through our gut, the fiber binds many materials with itself that are not good for our body. For example many carcinogens are attached with fiber and are excreted out of our body, reducing the chances of colon cancer. The cholesterol is also attached with fiber and is transported out of our body reducing the cholesterol level in body that ultimately helps in reducing the chances of heart diseases.

How Fiber Food Helps in Reducing Weight?
Obesity is a very common problem and it can lead to many other issues like development of symptoms of depression etc. Fiber food can help you in reducing extra weight, in many ways.

The most important point is that fiber contains no calories. Many people skip their meals to reduce the intake of extra calories. You can get the same effect by taking your meal with major portion of fiber food. In this way you will not be skipping any of your meals and still getting lesser calories.
You will feel full sooner, when you will take good quantity of fiber in your meal. As fiber stays longer in our stomach, as compared to other food items, you will feel full for a longer time and will not feel the need to take more food earlier. This will help you to take lesser food that will ultimately help you in losing extra weight.
If your food does not contain the sufficient quantity of fiber the absorption of fat from your gut into blood is increased that plays an important role in gaining weight. When good amount of fiber is taken in the meals it binds the fat with itself and reduces its absorption in the blood. In this way fiber food really helps in reducing extra fat from your body.