Persistent coughs melt away with chocolate - 22 November 2004 - New Scientist

Persistent coughs melt away with chocolate - 22 November 2004 - New Scientist

DHEA - Part One

I was recently turned on to DHEA by a major personality in the fitness world. He recommended it because of it's testosterone enhancing and weight loss effects. I priced it out, and amazingly enough, it's ridiculously cheap, and available EVERYWHERE!

It sounded too good to be true. Red flag? Maybe...read on.

I started doing some research and found that DHEA is a hormone that is legal to purchase over the counter, yet considered a banned substance by most international sports authorities. It has been shown to increase testosterone levels, aid in fat loss, and muscle building.

There are caveats. Too much DHEA has the potential to lead to liver problems. It could increase the risk of some types of cancer. Side effects include oily skin, acne, hair loss, upset stomach, and high blood pressure.

Most research points to DHEA being safe in low dosages. I'm currently taking 50mg daily. Many athletes are taking up to 200 mg daily, but that may be pushing the safe limits. I'm into muscle....but not enough to compromise my health.

I've been on it for 2 weeks now. I'll keep you posted on my progress...

SS

Supplement Saturday - Casein Protein

Welcome to my second installment of Supplement Saturday!

Previously, we talked about the benefits of using whey protein to help build and maintain muscle.

Today we'll talk about casein protein. As stated before, we need protein to build muscle, and supplementing your protein intake goes a long way toward achieving your goals.

Casein protein is a very slow digesting protein, and is therefore not as well suited as a recovery aid. Stick with whey protein in your post-workout shake. Casein is best consumed at bedtime. The protein is digested slowly while you sleep, keeping your body in an anabolic (muscle building) state.

My personal feeling is that casein isn't an absolute necessity for those whose goal is to maintain a high level of fitness. It's a little pricey, and unless you have unlimited money supplies, you need to make choices.

If you choose to use it, take about 25 grams at bedtime.

SS

A New Beginning

The blog has undergone a face-lift and a name change, as has my Twitter account. I think it more accurately reflects the direction I'm heading.

Here's to the future!

SS

Friday - Shoulders

Time for my Friday shoulder workout. One more day to bust my ass before taking the weekend off from weight training.

I've been struggling lately with a little tendinitis in my right elbow. Trying to nurse it back to health has been iffy. It might be time to have something done about it. I'll give it the weekend to heal, then we'll see where we go from there.

Have a great weekend, and stay strong!

SS

Why Are Fruit and Vegetables Needed In A Healthy Diet?

Author: Reid Schirmer

Fruits, vegetables, and legumes (dry beans and peas) can reduce the risk of several chronic diseases. Compared to people who eat few fruits, vegetables, and legumes,people who eat higher amounts as part of a healthy diet are likely to have reduced risk of chronic diseases, including stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and cancers in certain parts of the body.

When shopping for fruits and vegetables, choose an assortment of different types and colors to provide you with a variety of nutrients. Make sure you balance calorie intake with caloric needs When increasing the amount of fruits, vegetables, and legumes you eat and be sure to eat them in place of less nutritious foods, not in addition to them.

The fiber in fruits, vegetables, and legumes is important. Diets rich in fiber-containing foods may reduce the risk of heart disease. Many fruits, vegetables, and legumes are also rich in nutrients, such as vitamins A and C, folate, and potassium.

Eating fruits and vegetables provides other benefits, too. One is calorie control: many fruits, vegetables, and legumes are low in calories and high in volume and nutrients. So, if you're trying to lose weight, fruits, vegetables, and legumes can help you feel full without eating too many calories. Fruits, vegetables, and legumes are packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients. They can help you get the most nutrition out of the daily number of calories you're supposed to eat. Different vegetables are rich in different nutrients, so you should aim for a variety of vegetables throughout the week, including those that are dark green and leafy, orange, and starchy.

One caution that should be noted about buying packaged (canned, dried, or frozen) fruits and vegetables is they may contain added sugars, saturated fats, or sodium-ingredients you many need to limit. There are three places to look on a package that give you clues about what is in the food: the ingredient list, the Nutrition Facts label, and the front label of the package.

Added sugars can appear on the ingredient list as brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert corn syrup, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, maple syrup, raw sugar, sucrose, and syrup.

Article Source: http://www.sooperarticles.com/health-fitness-articles/nutrition-articles/why-fruit-vegetables-needed-healthy-diet-374256.html

About Author:

Reid is a successful freelance writer who enjoys writing about the casio ctk 4000 portable keyboard and other popular topics.

Beginning Bodybuilding Over 40

Author: Steven B

When you mention the term bodybuilding it often promotes the image of huge bulging muscles on a man or woman and then it is often associated with steroids or some other enhancement drug. Truth is very few bodybuilders use drugs and instead rely on hard work and excellent diet and nutrition to achieve their results.

So if you are beginning bodybuilding and over the age of 40 the first idea you need to get out of your head is huge monster muscles and other ideas associated with hardcore competitive bodybuilders. Using bodybuilding as your fitness tool is an excellent idea and there are countless studies that show your decision is the right one.

The first order of business is to take stock of your physical shape and it would be wise not to kid yourself. A visit to your family doctor would be a good start and he or she would know what kind of shape you are in and would advise you as to your approach. However the bottom line is you still have to do the work.

It is good practice to start slow when approaching the weights and always begin with stretching exercises before lifting any weights. As for the weights start real light and work your way up to heavier weights when you feel more comfortable and have spent some time in the gym.

It might be tempting to just start blasting the weights but it will only be counterproductive because your muscles are going to be so sore you won't be able to work out the next day or several not to mention it will not be good for your motivation.

If you can afford a personal trainer by all means that is the ideal way to approach your fitness goals. Do not look at the guys or gals in the gym and try to follow what they are doing because they might have been on a program for a long time and you will only end up hurting yourself and sabotaging your efforts.

Beginning bodybuilding over 40 is really no different than if you were 20, the difference is the recovery time and the rate of muscle growth. You can build muscle mass over 40 however you are not going to get the gains like you would if you were 20 years old, so it is wise to set realistic goals and never give up!

Article Source: http://www.sooperarticles.com/sports-articles/bodybuilding-articles/beginning-bodybuilding-over-40-200490.html

About Author:

Achieve fitness over 40 50 and beyond with the right tools and equipment!

Breakfast Protein

Once I decided that I was doing this (getting in shape), I realized that I needed to pay close attention to when, what, and how much I ate. I think the biggest problem I had with my diet.

The 'when' and 'how much' were easy. I would split my meals up such that I was eating 6 times a day. This, by itself, dictated that the portions would be smaller. I'll be honest, 6 times a day isn't always practical, and I wish I could be more religious about it...but I live in the real world!

'What' was a bit more challenging. You are probably aware of the generally accepted fact that if you want to build muscle, your body needs protein. No problem, I eat lots of protein for snacks, meals, and supplements. Breakfast presents a challenge, however.

If you eat eggs every day, then there's no problem. For me, however, a little variety is always nice. Plus, I don't always have time to prepare a cooked breakfast. Check the breakfast aisle in your grocery store, and look for high protein options. There aren't many.

Enter Kashi! Their 'GOLEAN' line of cold cereals offers a ton of protein, while keeping it healthy with whole grains, low fat, and relatively low sugar content. Add milk, and you have a VERY high protein breakfast.

My personal opinion...'GOLEAN' is the healthiest option, 'GOLEAN Crisp' is the best tasting, and I never much cared for 'GOLEAN Crunch'. Try them, I think you'll discover a tasty, healthy breakfast alternative!

SS

Government Specs...

Ya gotta love our government...

You may know that I'm a software engineer by trade. I love my job. Usually.

Recently, I've been working with a technology that is subject to a government specification. That's where it gets fun.

For starters, there are 2 specs...one for a card, one for a reader that reads said card. There are card manufacturers and reader manufacturers, each of whom make products that conform to the spec. The government actually has a list of products that conform to the spec.

It should be simple, right? Nope, this is the same government that brought you the Post Office...and the IRS.

Buy approved reader. Check. Buy approved cards. Check. Read card with reader. LMAO. According to the manufacturers, the specs don't line up. Therefore, readers and cards may not interact properly. I love it...

It doesn't end there. The reader needs to transmit a number from a card. The number stored on the card, for arguments sake, is "123456789". This gets a little geeky, so I'll understand if you fall asleep.

The reader outputs (in hex) 0x313233343536373839....hmmm, doesn't make sense. Until I stare for a while. It's BCD(Binary Coded Decimal)! OK, but it still doesn't....wait a minute...31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39...these are hex representations of 1 - 9.

Are they kidding me? Why the obfuscation? It makes no sense. Oh wait, it's the government....it makes perfect sense.

Biceps + Cardio

One of my standard biceps routines. Nothing extraordinary here. I'll be trying a more extreme workout in the near future...

4 sets of 8 seated barbell curls

3 sets of 6 standing barbell curls

3 sets of 6 alternating dumbbell curls

3 sets of 8 rope hammer curls

1 set of biceps ladders (look it up, it's amazing)

SS

New Chest Workout

First time trying this chest routine. All I can say about this is...OMG, this is either going to help me make huge advances, or it's going to kill me!

2 sets of 10 push-ups (warm-up)
5 sets of 8 plyometric push-ups
4 sets of 10 incline dumbbell press
4 sets of 12 incline cable fly
3 sets of 10 weighted dips
3 sets of 15 bench press (the Binky!)
1 set of 12 (MAX) push-ups (feet up)
1 set of 9 (MAX) push-ups (hands on bar)

SS

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A Lifestyle Change, The Final Chapter

So I guess I was pretty serious. I joined Bally Total Fitness (it's about 2 miles from my house) and started going 5 days a week.

Fast forward to today...I'm still going to the gym 5 days a week, and I'm working as hard as ever. I've learned so much about exercise, diet, supplements, and what works for me.

I now weigh 183 lbs...and I'm pretty solid. I do cardio workouts, lots of strength training, and I try to stay active outside of the gym. I still play softball, I coach soccer, and now that I'm in shape, I run with the team. SCUBA is still a huge part of my life, and always will be (as long as I'm physically able).

I'm turning 43 today, and I'm in better shape than when I was 23.

My intent is to update this space with info on my workouts, my diet, my supplements, and other notes on my lifestyle. I'm a work in progress, and you'll see that through my posts. I'll experiment with different exercises, supplements, eating patterns, etc. Some of it will work, some won't...

Hopefully I'll post at least once a day....from the gym

SS

A Lifestyle Change, Part Three

Weightlifting. That's what I avoided when I was a kid. I hated it. I loved sports, I hated working out.

In my basement, I had weight bench. It had previously belonged to a friend who lived with me for a while when he was going through his divorce. He never took it when he moved. It wasn't spectacular, but it was functional.

In my usual fashion, I started out with no plan whatsoever. A little of this, a little of that. Curls, dips, bench presses, with no particular plan. As I look back now, it was foolish.

After a few weeks of scatter-brained workouts, I decided I wanted this, and I wanted to do it right. The internet is an amazing place. Soon I was immersed in lots of information about fitness, more than anyone could absorb.

I settled on a 3-day split workout, hitting 2 body parts on each workout day. I was doing 3 on, 1 off. This lasted for a few months, during which I made some impressive gains. But the schedule didn't work for me. I was overtraining, and needed to do things differently. I switched to a 5 day routine, Monday thru Friday, with weekends off.

Having weekends of is my reward for the hard work. I bust my ass all week, and enjoy the results on the weekend. Psychologically, it's done wonders for me. The weekend comes just in time, and by Monday, and mentally prepared for more work. Physically, the 2 day recovery has helped a lot as well.

Having convinced myself that I was serious about this, I bought a new weight bench, bar, attachments, added weight. But it was only a matter of time until I got bored. For the first 11 months, I worked out alone in my basement. It was time for the next step.

I joined a gym...

SS

Supplement Saturday - Whey Protein

I'm going to try to write a review of different supplements each Saturday, giving my take on their effectiveness, as well as the generally accepted truth about them. We'll start with the granddaddy of them all, Whey Protein.

Whey protein is the cornerstone of any weightlifter's supplement plan, and I'm no different. The bottom line is that we need protein to build muscle, and supplementing your protein intake goes a long way toward achieving your goals.

Why whey? It digests very quickly, especially in liquid form. Consume a whey protein drink upon waking, and you're helping your body go from a catabolic state to an anabolic state. It helps keep your body muscle-building, rather than muscle-consuming.

Have some whey prior to a workout to keep your body prepared for the muscle breakdown to come, and after your workout to aid in the muscle repair process.

I can't stress enough how important the post-workout whey protein is! It will help stop muscle breakdown, and start the repair process. That means less soreness, faster recovery, and a stronger you.

If I had to get rid of all supplements except for one, whey protein is the one I'd keep.

But it's never that simple, is it? There are so many different whey protein products out there, it's virtually impossible to try them all. Many have all sorts of added ingredients intended to improve your fitness. My recommendation to the newbie: Start with pure whey protein. There are lots of products in this category, and they're all similar. Most contain 23-26 grams of protein per scoop (we're talking powdered mix here).

My personal preference is one scoop upon waking, one pre-workout, and one post-workout. I get about 75 grams of extremely fast digesting protein into my system at critical parts of the day.

Don't stop learning here. There are more factors involved...too many to get into here. Maybe in the future, but for today, I'll leave it at this: Eat (and drink) your protein!

SS

A Lifestyle Change, Part Two

When last we left our hero, he was a 40 year old fat-ass that desperately needed to get back in shape...

I'd never been big on watching my diet, counting calories, etc. That might explain my predicament. Not knowing much, I started with the obvious. Soda is evil. I'm addicted to soda. So I ended my multi-decade love affair with soda, cold turkey.

Next came portion sizes. I ate 6 inch subs instead of foot longs. I ordered the petite cut of steak instead of the "Family of four" cut. I loaded up my plate with food, and vowed not to have seconds.

Just doing that, the weight fell off. I started dieting in May, and by October I'd lost over 30 lbs, weighing in at about 165.

Tomorrow: Holy shit, this hurts!

By then it started getting serious. I was reading food labels, which sometimes made me scratch my head. I knew some things were bad for me, but didn't understand why. It wasn't clear from the label.

I should have felt like I'd conquered the world. After all, I'd just lost all of the weight I'd gained over the years. Woohoo!!!!!

Not exactly. It was too easy. Except for the soda. God, I love soda.

I needed a challenge. Something that I hadn't done before. I was going to lift...weights...no, seriously. I was going to get in shape. Good shape.

SS

Shoulder workout + Cardio

As part of my routine, I intend to update my workout progress on a daily basis. We'll start today, with a fairly typical Friday shoulder routine. Keep in mind that I do a short ab workout (crunches) every morning...

Shrugs: 1 warm-up set of 12

3 sets of 8
Reverse Machine Flyes: 3 sets of 8

Lateral Raises: 2 sets of 6

1 set to failure
Front Raises: 3 sets of 6

Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 6

Elliptical: 20 minutes

I won't be posting the amount of weight I'm lifting. I don't want to set any expectations of people. Just remember, the weight you choose for each exercise should be difficult to lift for the last reps of your final sets.

SS

My Personal Torture Chamber

Welcome to Bally's, where I abuse myself 5 days a week.

Daily workout updates coming your way starting today!

SS

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Robotics!

If you've read this blog in the past, you may have seen my post about my mentorship experience. I work with a group of High School kids designing and building a robot.

We compete in regional competitions and, if all goes right, the Championship . Last weekend we competed in Baltimore, with stunning success. To make a long story short, we finished in second place, losing in the finals, 2 games to 1.

This week, we compete in the Hartford regional. If you're local, you should come check it out and see the future developing before your eyes. It's at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2.

We're team 237, Black Magic. Come see us in action. It's free, it's fun, and it's important.

SS

A Lifestyle Change, Part One

I was an athletic kid. I played baseball and basketball, ran Cross Country, and competed in Track & Field. I was even selected for the All-City Cross Country team twice.

Continuing my athletic ways as a young adult, I played pickup basketball games, joined various softball teams, played golf, bowled (I know, not really a sport...), and generally stayed active.

Then I got marrried, and the opportunities to play sports were fewer. Next came a baby, and then came 30 pounds...

I graduated High School at 135 pounds, put on a solid 30 pounds over the course of a few years, and stayed at a healthy 165 for a long time (I'm 5'11", in case you were wondering). One day, I woke up, and there I was...40 years old...199 (flabby) pounds...naked...

Something needed to be done. I needed to lose weight. I wanted to look like I did 20 years ago, not like someone who ate the 20 year old me...

Tune in tomorrow, I hear this gets exciting!

SS

Winning?

Charlie Sheen is always the entertainer, isn't he?

He's given us #hashtag after #hashtag, invented new ways to insult virtually everyone, become one of the most popular Twitter feed (Twitterer? Tweeter?) in less than a week, and invented a stand up comedy routine overnight.

Sometimes it's difficult to tell where the reality ends and the entertainment begins. He seems delusional at times, but you get the sense he knows something you don't...

He seems destined to be a tragic figure. We should have seen it coming for years. He's been on the fringe for a really long time. Most people are aware of his drug and alcohol abuse, his rage, and his womanizing, but not as many are aware of the other dark side of Charlie Sheen...

He's always been a freakin whack job! He's openly questioned the government's involvement in the 9/11 attacks, despite the overwhelming amount of evidence as to who the real culprits were. He associates with Alex Jones, the ultimate conspiracy/anti-government/racist/anti-semite...don't believe me, listen to his show sometime, or check out the advertisers on his website (infowars.com).

Given his past conduct, is it surprising that he tried to "out" Chuck Lorre as a Jew? What's particularly sad is the silence from the major news outlets about this. Sheen has ties to groups most Americans abhor, but he gets a pass...

He must be #Winning...

SS

Silence broken

I'm a firm believer that if you don't have anything to say, don't say anything...

It's been a really long time that this space has been silent. It's time to change that. I'm feeling inspired.

I've always felt like there's a writer trapped inside me. Writing was my first love. It's what I intended to study in college, but life had other plans for me.

So, here goes nothing...My view of the world, for better or worse.

SS