This Is Your Body On Exercise

by | Sep 6, 2013 | Exercise | 0 comments

Exercise Whether you do it to lose weight, to reach a fitness goal or — dare we say it? — just for fun, exercise changes you.

There’s the red face and the sweating, the pounding heart and pumping lungs, the boost to your alertness and mood, the previously nonexistent urges to talk about nothing but splits and laps and PBs.

But while we all know that staying physically active is essential to a long, healthy, productive life, we don’t often understand exactly what’s happening behind the scenes.

We asked the experts to take us through — from head to toe — what happens in the body when we exercise. Neuroscientist Judy Cameron, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Tommy Boone, Ph.D., a board certified exercise physiologist, and Edward Laskowski, M.D., co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center spill the beans on what gets and keeps you moving.

Muscles
The body calls on glucose, sugar the body has stored away from the foods we eat in the form of glycogen, for the energy required to contract muscles and spur movement.

It also uses adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, but the body only has small stores of both glucose and ATP. After quickly using up these supplies, the body requires extra oxygen to create more ATP. More blood is pumped to the exercising muscles to deliver that additional O2. Without enough oxygen, lactic acid will form instead. Lactic acid is typically flushed from the body within 30 to 60 minutes after finishing up a workout.

Tiny tears form in the muscles that help them grow bigger and stronger as they heal. Soreness only means there are changes occurring in those muscles, says Boone, and typically lasts a couple of days.

Lungs
Your body may need up to 15 times more oxygen when you exercise, so you start to breathe faster and heavier. Your breathing rate will increase until the muscles surrounding the lungs just can’t move any faster. This maximum capacity of oxygen use is called VO2 max. The higher the VO2 max, the more fit a person is.

Diaphragm
Like any muscle, the diaphragm can grow tired with all that heavy breathing. Some argue that as the diaphragm fatigues, it can spasm, causing a dreaded side stitch. (Others argue a side stitch is due to spasms of the ligaments around the diaphragm instead, while others believe the spasms to originate in the nerves that run from the upper back to the abdomen and arecaused by poor posture!) Deep breathing and stretching can alleviate the discomfort in the middle of a workout, and preemptive strengthening in the gym can ward off future issues.

Heart
When you exercise, heart rate increases to circulate more oxygen (via the blood) at a quicker pace. The more you exercise, the more efficient the heart becomes at this process, so you can work out harder and longer. Eventually, this lowers resting heart rate in fit people.

Exercise also stimulates the growth of new blood vessels, causing blood pressure to decrease in fit people.

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Find Your Own Way

by | Sep 5, 2013 | Fat Loss | 0 comments

Happy Did you truly choose this path?
The Practice: Find your own way.
Why?

The human body has about 100 trillion cells (plus another 10 quadrillion microscopic critters hitching a ride, most of them beneficial or harmless). Each one of your cells has aims — goals, in a sense — controlled by its DNA: Cells conduct processes aimed at particular functions, like building bones or gobbling up harmful invaders. Cells also work together in larger and larger assemblies in pursuit of broader goals, such as the 100 billion neurons in your brain that run the nervous system, which as a whole is itself the master regulator of the body.

In effect, there are layers, hierarchies, of goals in the body — and a similar architecture of aims in the mind. For example, operating right now is the goal of moving your eyes over these words, which serves the goal of understanding them, which serves larger goals such as desires to learn new things, new skills, and to be truly happy.

In short, whether in the body or the mind, there is no life without goals. Trying to “transcend” goals is itself a goal. The only question is: Are your goals good ones? In other words, do they lead to happiness and benefits for you and others rather than suffering and harms?

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How to Stop Enjoying Carbs

by | Sep 3, 2013 | General Health, Low carb diet | 0 comments

550px-Eat-Less-During-a-Meal-Step-3Over-indulgence in carbs (not just sugars) and being addicted to getting too full and to the desire for morecan be harmful to your health and diet. Yet, with some determination it is possible to break the desire for and reliance on carbs, and start to enjoy a range of low carb foods in balance. Don’t beat yourself up about it – just get started!

Steps

Stop eating bread — or at least avoid white bread and “wheat” bread and only eat just a very little multi-grain bread and whole grains. Breads to consider include breads made with rice flour, oat flour or rye flour.

  • Look at your local food store/bakery for specialty varieties of high fiber, low sugar bread. Don’t be put off by the heavier texture of such breads. It may taste unusual at first, but if you persevere, you will discover that these breads are tasty, fill/satisfy you quickly and are a great aid to helping you eat less and stop cravings.

Do not eat processed cereals. Most such cereals are sugar-laden and carb-heavy and empty calories (little vitamins and minerals).

  • Eat whole rolled oatmeal (not instant) with berries for a light and healthy start to the day.

Change to protein breakfast foods and add such things as fresh fruits, tomatoes, strawberries (but grapes are full of sugar), apple, peaches, or such.

Start each breakfast with warm water or tea with fresh lemon juice, to help refresh your digestive system after sleep.

Stop eating sugars and starchy veggies or treats of all kinds. This includes artificial sweeteners like Splenda.

  • Sugar and sugar substitutes cause inflammatory responses in your body and sets upcravings for more – and more.
  • Sugar reduces the effectiveness of your immune system and places a great strain on your body’s ability to extract and make use of nutrients.

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Spare Ribs in Masala Sauce

by | Sep 2, 2013 | Diet, High Fat Diet, High Protein Diet, Low carb diet | 0 comments

This Menu is for 6 to 10 people. It is suitable for people on ALL stage of a low carb Program.

Spare-Ribs-in-Masala-Sauce

Ingredients

2 Racks or 3kg Spare Ribs or chops of pork (ask your butcher to cut the meat into single rib portions)
2 heaped tablespoons of parsley
3 tablespoons of oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 level tspn of ground fennel
Quarter pint (125ml) of fresh orange juice
Quarter pint (125ml) of chicken stock
3 tablespoons or 50ml masala wine
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Rub over each of the ribs with crushed garlic, mix together the parsley and fennel and rub that into the ribs, and then pepper each side of the ribs thoroughly.

Heat the oil in the pan and cook the ribs on both sides until pale brown.

Pour over the stock and then the orange juice, and add in the masala.

Transfer everything into a heatproof oven dish, and cook in the centre of a pre-heated oven at 180°C or Gas Mark 4 for 45 minutes.

Putting it together

When finished, transfer the ribs to your serving dish, skimming off some of the fat from the juices and pour the rest of the juice over the meat.

Garnish with very thinly sliced segments of orange.

This dish goes very well with fried cauliflower and broccoli, or your favorite seasonal vegetables.

Nutritional Value per Serving

Protein 116.2 g               Carbs 5.0 g

Fiber 0.3 g                          Fat 178.0 g

Here’s the link for more delicious and easy to cook FREE low carb recipes