Hypothyroidism can be caused by a variety of things. In this country, diet is the main culprit. Our food supply is so deficient in nutrients and loaded with anti-nutrients that it’s really no surprise we are experiencing health problems in epidemic proportions. Vegetable oils (polyunsaturated fats) are a huge contributor to hypothyroidism, obesity, cardio vascular disease and other health problems. These are man-made foods that have only been around since the early 1900s, with soy oil becoming the number one cooking oil by the 1950s.

Soy products, like soy oil and protein, contain extremely high amounts of goitrogens. Goitrogens are naturally occurring substances that interfere with the normal function of the thyroid gland by blocking the synthesis of thyroid hormones and slowing ones metabolism. Before inexpensive polyunsaturated fats became common place, beef tallow, lard, olive oil and tropical oils were in use; heart disease, hypothyroidism, obesity, diabetes and other diseases were but a fraction of the incidence they are today.

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Go to any gym, and you’ll see a big percentage of members at any given time tirelessly working their abs in the hopes of getting the elusive six pack. Go to any home in the U.S., and you’ll find many of them have some kind of ab machine, gadget, and/or tape that was bought with the promise of a flat stomach, wash-board abs, etc. The question is, does working your abs give you abs? In other words, does performing ab exercises burn the fat covering your abs? In a word, NO.

A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that the effect of abdominal exercises on abdominal fat was zero. 14 men and 10 women were randomly chosen to be in one of 2 groups: control group (CG) or abdominal exercise group (AG). The AG performed exercises for 6 weeks.

In conclusion, abdominal exercise training was effective to increase abdominal strength, but was not effective to decrease various measures of abdominal fat. The information from this study can help people to understand that abdominal exercise alone is not sufficient to reduce waistline or subcutaneuos fat.

J Strength Cond Res 25(9):2559-2564,2011

People who engage in very repetitive tasks such as long distance running, labor or swimming show very little or no improvement in the size and strength of their muscles. Long distance events are by nature very low in intensity.

Compare a marathon runner to a 100 meter sprinter. Marathon runners who train for very long periods at a very low intensity are emaciated looking having less than normal muscle mass and carry on average 14 ? 16% body fat. Sprinters, on the other hand, who train for short periods at a high level of intensity are very muscular and have half the body fat levels than marathoners. If cardio is the key to getting lean, as many people presume, why do marathoners have a higher body fat than sprinters? The reason is, a specific stimulus is required for a specific outcome.

The specific stimulus needed to stimulate muscle and strength is high intensity training. This is a universal training principle that affects everyone without exception. This is due to the fact that we are anatomically and physiologically the same. If this were not true doctors could not perform surgery and prescribe medicine. Consequently, the stimulus needed to induce biochemical changes that build muscle and strength in humans is the same.

Intensity, when referring to training, is the percentage of physical exertion that one is capable of. Training with one hundred percent intensity is the best way, the only way, to stimulate muscular size and strength in the shortest amount of time. How does one gauge the intensity of their workouts? By taking your working sets to positive or concentric failure.

Taking a set to the point of failure, where you cannot possibly perform another rep despite your maximum effort is one of, and perhaps the most important of several factors in your success. There are many who disagree and advocate high volume training with 60%, 72%, 95%, or whatever percentage of intensity they decide is the best. Some even claim training all out, with one hundred percent intensity is not only unnecessary, but detrimental. Over the years I’ve seen so called strength coach specialists, and personal trainers with 15 letters after their last names, concoct the most ridiculous routines, using almost every percentage, that have yet to show any effectiveness in real world application.

The main problem with these bogus routines is that there are only two accurate measures of intensity. Zero, when you are at rest; and 100%, when you?re training to the point of failure. How do you measure anything less than 100% intensity? If I can do 10 repetitions to complete failure with 100 pounds on the leg extension machine, where do I go for 80% intensity? Do I perform 10 reps with 80 pounds? Or do I use 100 pounds and only perform 8 reps? Is 80% the optimum percentage, or is it 65%? There is no evidence that suggests, let alone proves, anything less than 100% effort is equally or more effective. Are you starting to see the ridiculousness and inaccuracy of such training prescriptions?

Intensity cannot be measured accurately with reps or weight. While performing a set, intensity increases exponentially with each successive rep. Performing the first 5 reps on the leg extension is not equivalent in intensity to performing the last 5 reps. Hence, 5 reps is not the equivalent of 50% intensity.

The only way to train that is completely accurate is with all out intensity to failure. This will give you a concrete view of how you?re performing. If you train with 100% intensity during every workout and you do not progress, you know you are not recovering. There will never be a question whether you are providing a strong enough stimulus for progress. However, if you follow the percentage of intensity or the percentage of max rep principles, how will you know you are training intensely enough to stimulate muscular size and strength? If you plateau, are you training too hard or too long? Do you lower the percentage or raise it? Do you need more rest, or do you need to train at a higher intensity? There is no need for this guessing game.

Your goal is to bring about the largest, most rapid outcome for your individual genetic potential. In order for this to occur, the body requires 100% intensity every working set of every exercise. This is the only truly accurate way to gauge the efficacy of your training program. Nothing less than 100% will do. The body needs a reason to adapt. Give it!

Any type of exercise is good exercise, but some forms of exercise are better for greater weight loss than others. Group sports, and other types of exercise that work the body from head to toe, burn hundreds of calories per hour and they also challenge all muscle groups. Not only can this help you lose more weight, it can also help you keep it off. Just a few uber effective forms of exercise are swimming, cardio boot camp, running, basketball, and racquetball.

Racquetball is similar to handball. The game is played on a four walled court with a short-handled racket and a larger ball. The game is usually played by two players, but four players is also common. The amount of calories burned during an hour long game varies by weight and whether or not the game is casual or competitive. To give you an idea of just how many calories you can burn, a person that weighs 125 pounds can burn around 400 calories during a casual game or 568 calories during a competitive game. A 170-pound person can burn 541 calories during a casual game or 773 during a competitive game.

Racquetball can help you lose weight if you make smart food choices and commit to playing at least three times a week. Once you lose the weight, if you want to keep it off, stick to a sensible diet and try play on most days of the week.

So where are the Racquetball Courts?

If you’re looking for a place to play racquetball, look no further than your local health club, tennis club, community center or park district. If you’re looking for the cheapest place to play, try a community center or park district where public courts are typically no more than $10 an hour.

First Lady Michelle Obama launched a worldwide campaign to fight obesity. The White House launched a campaign that focuses on prevention and the weight loss industry is worth more than $61 billion. One would think that with all of the campaigns and billions of dollars poured into weight-loss products and plans, America would be well on it’s way to becoming the healthiest nation in the world. Not so. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), despite recent reports stating that the obesity rate for Americans has leveled off, nearly 34 percent of adults are obese, more than double the percentage 30 years ago. The share of obese children tripled during that time, to 17 percent.

So why is it so difficult for Americans to lose weight or stay healthy? Could it be the large number of food deserts across the nation? Or maybe the lack of grocery stores isn’t fully to blame. Maybe it’s the type of grocery stores that contribute to the problem. Maybe health food stores like Whole Foods, Mothers Market, and Wild Oats can help solve America’s obesity epidemic, or at the very least, help America develop better eating habits. Sure, traditional grocery stores do carry some healthy foods, but they also carry some of the unhealthiest foods you can find. Unless you’re committed to being healthy, it’s just too easy to choose Cocoa Puffs and whole chocolate milk over Kashi and rice milk. Health food stores don’t give you the option to choose one over the other. The only choice is “healthy!”

Health food stores rarely carry household names such as General Mills, Kellogg’s, and Wonder. You’re more likely to find health food brands such as Kashi, Muir Glen, Nature’s Path, Eden Organic, and Stonyfield Organic. Health food stores stock their shelves with foods that contain few to no chemicals, no additives, and no preservatives. Also, foods are mainly organic. Even the non-organic foods are made with healthy ingredients and without harmful chemicals. Meats, poultry, and dairy are usually organic, and the seafood is fresh and wild caught. If farmed, seafood is always antibiotic and hormone free, and raised in an environmentally conscious setting.

Health food store products can do more than just curb obesity. They can help those that are already healthy stay healthy, and they can help individual’s that may be an average weight, get healthy. Health foods stores are also the best places to shop if you have food allergies (peanuts, milk, gluten), if you are on special diet due to a medical condition (diabetes, heart disease, digestive conditions) , or if you’re a vegan, vegetarian, raw foodist, or follow a macrobiotic diet.

How to Locate Health Food Stores

If you live in a major city, chances you have a number of health food stores to choose from. Even some smaller cities have a local health food store. In some areas, finding a health food store may be a bit more challenging. Fortunately, several directories can help you search for health food stores by state. One of the best is GreenPeople.org. You can search for health foods stores by zip code or city, state, and country. The site lists thousands of health food stores. A search in Illinois alone returned more than 100 results.

Acai (pronounced AH-sigh-EE) is a palm tree that can be found in South American and Central America. Countries such as Brazil and Belize are rich in acai. Other names for acai include acai extract, assai, assai palm, acai fruit, acai palm, cabbage palm, Euterpe oleracea, Amazon acai, Amazon acai berry, and of course, acai berry.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), acai contains chemicals that are antioxidants. Antioxidants are thought to protect body cells from the damaging effects of chemical reactions with oxygen (oxidation). According to some research, acai has more antioxidant content than cranberry, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, or blueberry. Because the berries of the tree have such a high level of antioxidants, they are used to make medicine, supplements, powders, and drinks. The berries can be used in foods and they are also eaten whole.

Many people use acai berry supplements to improve arthritis, lower cholesterol, and improve general health. They are also used to promote weight-loss and they are used in anti-aging creams, shampoos, and conditioners. There are few studies to support the benefits of acai berry, but studies do demonstrate the protective properties of antioxidants.

So far, there are no studies to suggest that acai berry is dangerous. At the same time, there are no studies to support how it might interact with other supplements, herbs, or prescription medications. It is also unknown if acai berry supplements are safe for pregnant women. The issue is not acai berry, it’s the way it may be processed, the amount contained per capsule, if the supplements are made from pure acai, or if the supplements contain other substances or chemicals. Because of this, doctors recommend getting the antioxidants you need from food.

If you prefer acai, it’s best to eat the berries raw or make your own homemade juice as most store bought juices contain loads of sugar or additives. The problem is, finding raw acai outside of South or Central America can be tricky. Use your favorite search engine to seek out importers. It might be expensive, but if you want to enjoy the benefits of raw acai berries, this is your best bet.

Other Foods that Contain Antioxidants

Antioxidant substances include beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E. Antioxidants can be found in fruits and vegetables, nuts, grains, poultry, and fish. Some of the most antioxidant rich foods include:

-Red Beans
-Kidney Beans
-Russet Potatoes
-Black Beans
-Artichoke Hearts
-Pecans
-Black Plums
-Dried Prunes
-Pinto Beans
-Sweet Cherries
-Cereal (oats, barley)
-Cabbage
-Hazelnuts
-Spices (cinnamon, cloves, oregano, cayenne pepper)
-Apples

Antioxidants can also be found in some meats, such as beef. For more information about acai and other antioxidants, visit Medline Plus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health.

Laura London burst onto the fitness scene a little more than a year ago and has been on fire ever since. This spicy and super sexy 5’ 2” 45 year old wife of 20 years and mother of three shows us that age has no barrier on fitness. What Laura has accomplished in the past year is just short of amazing. Check out her story below and check out her Facebook page with her amazing photos!

Laura went from an out of shape, stay at home mom to a national level figure competitor, internationally published fitness model, has been cast in infomercials, movie trailers and exercise DVD’s. She has started her own fitness web site and was also voted “2010 Over 40 Transformation of the Year” by BodyBuilding.com and that is just the beginning for this highly driven fitness role model, wife and mother.

We managed to book her for a rare and exclusive interview to find out all her secrets and tips on getting ripped, staying young forever and having amazing six pack abs in the fitness industry. Not only has Laura transformed her life, but now she is helping millions of other moms do the same.

Laura wasn’t always in shape, and actually working out and even being physically fit was extremely shunned. Growing up Laura was not even allowed to play sports, because of the rare condition her brother suffered from. He is a hemophiliac so sports were something that was not done in her family. She had to learn from scratch what is was like living a physically active and fit lifestyle after becoming a mom of three in her late thirties. It was not until her mid thirties and three kids later that she decided to take charge of her life and the direction of her health.

Laura lost over 20 lbs all by making simple yet powerful lifestyle changes, such as making the time to exercise, setting goals and staying motivated. Her new found fitness fire propelled Laura to become a nationally certified personal trainer with the NSCA, the only personal training certification to be accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. She is also one of the first Master Certified JNL Fusion trainers in the world. But that was not the end, she went on to become an award winning national level figure competitor and fitness icon. Laura is a fitness role model for women in there 40’s, showing that with passion and determination there are no excuses. You can “Exercise Your Right to be Sexy” at any age.

Read the full article.

Americans spend more than $40 billion a year on diets and diet related products. A large percentage of the money spent is on diet pills or “weight loss supplements.” With so much money spent on weight loss supplements, one would think that America would be on the skinny side. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Here are the facts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

•Percent of adults age 20 years and over who are obese: 34% (2007-2008)
•Percent of adults age 20 years and over who are overweight (and not obese): 34% (2007-2008)
•Percent of adolescents age 12-19 years who are obese: 18% (2007-2008)
•Percent of children age 6-11 years who are obese: 20% (2007-2008)
•Percent of children age 2-5 years who are obese: 10% (2007-2008)

Although most weight loss supplements and other diet products don’t work long-term, consumers still buy them in hopes of finding a quick fix or the one magic pill that will finally work. The problem is, when it comes to long-term weight loss, there are no quick fixes. The healthiest type of weight loss is slow weight loss. Diets have a low long-term success rate, whereas permanent lifestyle changes have a high one. Still, millions of Americans prefer to try their luck with weight loss supplements and other weight loss gimmicks. If you are considering taking this route, you should first consider the dangers of each type of supplement.

Types of Weight Loss Supplements

Diet pills come in many forms ranging from appetite suppressants and carb blockers to fat blockers and metabolism boosters. Many of are made with Ephedrine. Brand names include, Adiphen, Metabolife, MeTrim, Herbalife, Thermalean, Lipodrene, Zymax, Genicil, Patent Lean, Thermoslim, Ultra Lipo Lean, Trim Life, Hydroxy Cut, Xenadrine, Herbal Phen-Fen, Shapefast, Thermoburn, Thyro-slim, Trim Spa, Natural Trim, Thermo-Lift and many others.

Ephedrine (e-fed’rin) a-methylamino-l phenyl-l propanol, is an alkaloid from the leaves of Ephededra equisetina, E. Sinica, and other species (family Gnetaceae). It is also called Ephedra & Ma Huang, the plant source for the Alkaloid ephedrine. It is indigenous to China, India, and parts of Southeast Asia. According to the FDA, products containing ephedrine extracts have causes side effects such as heart attacks, strokes, and even death. They are amphetamine-like compounds with powerful and potentially lethal stimulant effects on the central nervous system and the heart. These compounds act as stimulants that can cause rapid or irregular heartbeat (heart arrhythmias).

It dilates the bronchial muscles, contacts the nasal mucosa, raises the blood pressure and is a cardiac stimulant. Further, these compounds often cause psychological side effects such as depression, nervousness, insomnia, and rapid heart rate. When taken in combination with caffeine, ephedrine can over-stimulate the central nervous system, leading to potentially life-threatening results.

Many companies are now offering Ephedrine free supplements, but they still have some of the same side effects as appetite suppressants such as Dexatrim and Acutrim, which can produce symptoms such as increased heart rate, dizziness, high blood pressure, nausea, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, dry mouth, and diarrhea.

There are many prescription diet pills on the market as well including the popular and most commonly prescribed prescription appetite suppressant Phentermine. It is sold under the brand names Lonamine and Adipex. These supplements, like most others, suppress the appetite and stimulate the central nervous system. Keep in mind that each diet pill has its own set of potential side effects. Many, especially stimulant-based diet pills, are habit-forming and lend themselves to abuse. Abuse of these drugs may lead to psychological and/or physical dependence.

Some diet pills block fat and carbs or claim to boost the metabolism. The problem with suppressing the appetite is that appetite suppression leads to the consumption of fewer calories. Most dieters think you can lose weight long-term by severely restricting calories. Severe calorie restriction will actually have the opposite effect on your body. When you consume too few calories, your metabolism actually slows down. As your metabolism slows, the amount of weight you lose also slows down. Eating too much or eating too little may have devastating effects on the body as well. In order to lose weight safely and keep it off, you should consume a moderate amount of calories. This number is rarely less than 1,200 calories per day. Food provides the fuel your body (and metabolism) needs to function properly.

Fat Blockers

Fat blockers like Xenical have side effects as well including oily spotting, anal leakage, intestinal cramping, and gas with discharge, nausea, diarrhea, oily discharge, fecal urgency, loose and oily stools, fecal incontinence, frequent bowel movements, and inability to control bowels. Some may see this as more of an inconvenience than a risk, but it actually is a risk. The essential vitamins, A, D, E, and K are “fat soluble” vitamins. This means they are carried, along with fat, into the bloodstream. If you are limiting fat absorption, you restrict the absorption of these essential micronutrients. They play a major role in metabolism, immune function, and overall health.

Several studies have concluded that people using fat blockers only end up blocking 30 percent of the fat they take in. Controlled studies also prove that the difference in weight loss for fat blocker users and non-users is only 1-2 pounds.

Carb Blockers

Carb Blockers include Ultra Carb, Carbo Lock, Carb Away, Ultimate Carb Phaser 1000, Carb Cutter, and Carb Eliminator. They have some of the same effects as fat blockers. Carb blockers claim to reduce between 30-45 grams of carbs from entering the body. The FDA does not regulate the supplement industry, so the FDA has not studied many of the pills on the market. Manufacturers do not know if carb blockers work long-term or if they may have long-term effects. Short-term effects, however, include gastrointestinal distress, heartburn, excessive gas and diarrhea. There are no studies or testimonials to prove whether these supplements keep the weight off long-term.

For more information about weight loss programs, supplements, and how to lose weight the healthy way, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov.

The evolution of the male’s diet has led us to a small selection of

testosterone approved vegetarian recipes.

We found a list of easy vegetarian food for even the most manly of appetites!

Follow the link for easy healthy recipes.
The Conquistador

4×4 Pizza

Does fat make us Fat?

Everyday in the news is some information about the fat.

We all need it, we all eat it.

What are the facts?

Here’s a simple guide to fats, the good, the bad and the ugly.

First realize that fats are a necessary part of any diet. We need fats to make hormones, build and repair tissues, and for energy. Gram per gram, fat provides about more than twice the energy of carbohydrates (9 calories per gram vs 4 calories per gram for carbs). Fats also help us absorb certain vitamins and satiates our appetite more than carbs or protein.

But there really are good fats and bad fats and the Cliff notes version of this column is this — if a fat is solid or semi-solid at room temperature, you should avoid it.

Most dietary fats fall in to three categories: Saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and mono unsaturated fats.