No Mushy Carrot Pieces For YOU!

Cook your carrots whole to maximize the benefit.

You always knew carrots were good for you, but did you know that if you chop them into little pieces you're losing valuable nutrients? A new study done by Newcastle University shows that by cooking carrots whole one maintains 25 percent more of their natural anti-cancer fighting nutrient, falcarinol.

"Chopping up your carrots increases the surface area so more of the nutrients leach out into the water while they are cooked," said lead researcher Dr Kirsten Brandt.

Keeping them whole also preserves their natural sugars, so they taste better. During a blind taste test the research team found that eight out of ten people favored the whole cooked carrots to those that had been chopped and boiled.

Even if you can't live without those little orange medallions then, go ahead, and chop them, but do it after they are cooked. Eat your carrots whole and, just like that apple a day, you won't have to say "Eh, what's up Doc?"

Learn To Love Carrots!

Glucose, Fructose, or Sucrose? Whoknose?

What are YOU spending on Wellness?

• $200 per participant in incentives?
• $40-50 per participant for biometrics screenings?
• $6 per participant for a health risk assessment?
• $4-15 pepm for health coaching?
• $2 pepm for incentive management?
• $200 per on site class?
• Goodness knows how much on staff time and consultants and the like on program administration and measuring of your butt kicking wellness program.

BUT does it every worry you that the $.75 peps (yes, that's per employee per soda) that you spend on providing free pop that is corroding the value of what you have been spending on prevention?

Does a sugar by any other name taste as sweet?

Most of us forgot the difference between glucose, fructose and sucrose long ago while starring wistfully at our high school heartthrob during chemistry. It wasn't something we needed to know and, I mean come on, who can tell the difference right? All of them taste sugary.

So what's the difference? Well, according to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers from the University of California, Davis discovered that people consuming fructose-sweetened drinks showed an increase in a particular kind of fat that embeds itself between tissues in organs.

They were also less sensitive to insulin, showed elevated blood levels of lipids, increased fat production in the liver, and elevated LDL (so-called 'bad' cholesterol) and larger increases in blood triglycerides. Yikes!

According to the study, those drinking glucose-sweetened beverages showed none of these changes. Unfortunately for us, most of the sugars that are readily available in the store come in the form of high fructose corn syrup or sucrose (table sugar).

So, uh, skip the soda and maybe provide a fruit bowl instead?

Recess vs. Paying Not To Go To The Gym

If you like paying for stuff you don't use - Join a gym!

Ok. Here we go. Picking a fight again.

A 2005 study by two California researchers, titled "Paying Not to Go to the Gym," examined nearly 8,000 gym members' attendance over three years. You might be surprised to learn that 85% of users who bought a monthly contract were spending more money than if they paid on a per-use basis. That's because most members paid more than $70 per month but only visited the gym 4.8 times each month. They paid about $17 for each visit.

How effective were those 4+ visit per month at actually transforming members' health? It's anyone's guess, but chances are a 30 minute workout on the treadmill and a couple of half-hearted bicep curls are hardly enough to make a dent in the number of calories found in daily latte, scone or other weekday indulgence.

Last month we kept it clean, but this month's fight could get ugly:



The 300 Pound Gorilla:
Gym Membership

Weighing in at an average of $50-70 per month, this hometown favorite is sure to pummel you with early cancellation fees when you realize that your 4 trips per month just aren't cutting the mustard.

The Contender:
Recess Personal Transformation Package

For the same price as a weekday latte and scone the Recess Personal Transformation Package will have you in fighting form. You'll meet more than one time every other week for a year with an expert at your home or office gym. By the time this fight is through you'll have tackled not just strengthening exercise, but also nutrition, cooking, lean body composition and calorie burn.

What is your vote? Would you rather contract foot fungus in a gym locker room or shower in your own bathroom? Weigh in with your answer in the comments below.

So you want to be a sumo wrestler?

Well first things first: let's set the record straight. The correct and most respectful term for what we think of as sumo wrestlers is Rikishi (meaning Strong/Powerful Man). Sumo is a Japanese style of wrestling and Japan's national sport. It originated in ancient times as a performance to entertain the Shinto gods.

The basic rules of sumo are simple: The wrestler who either first touches the floor with something else than his sole or leaves the ring before his opponent, loses. The fights themselves usually last only a few seconds and in rare cases up to one minute or longer. Typically, bigger is better when it comes to being a successful sumo wrestler.

So what are the secrets that Rikishi use to bulk up? And what lessons can those of us not planning to enlist as professional Japanese strong men take from their example?

1. Skip breakfast. Rikishi typically do not eat breakfast, or lunch .
2. Workout without fueling up. They begin their daily exercises at 9 am. Remember this is with no breakfast. i.e. they exercise on an empty stomach. By exercising with no fuel, they force the body into "starvation mode." The body's response is to lower metabolism.
3. Avoid cardio and training that promotes whole body toning. They have a training regimen that does not include sustained aerobic exercise, cardio intervals or whole body muscular toning exercise - all of which would promote fat loss, or, increase lean muscle.
4. Sleep after digesting food. When Rikishi do finally eat they follow their meals by sleeping for at least four hours. They go to bed with full stomachs. Like all of us, their food is broken down by the body into glucose (blood sugar). Blood sugar is one of our body's most tightly regulated systems because of its importance to keeping the brain alive. So in the rikishi's case, once the food is converted to glucose they do not move much and their bodies must respond with a rush of insulin which will carry the glucose to their cells as, mostly, fat. If they were to exercise after digesting their food it would increase the efficiency of insulin and thereby reduce their circulating insulin levels, which would not help in their quest to store their food as fat.
5. Eat large portions of calorie dense food. The wrestlers eat huge portions of a relatively healthy dish called chankonabe. Thei dish is heavy with protein and most proteins are calorie dense. With the exception of children, aging individuals and those recovering from illness, most healthy adults need much less protein than you would think. But because protein is so dense in calories when they exceed their body's need for its nutrients, the rest is simply stored as fat. So protein provides a relatively healthier means for wrestlers to get as many calories as possible per bite.
6. Eat in a social setting. They tend to eat with others in a social atmosphere. A healthy diet blog states, "a meal eaten with others can be at least 44 percent larger and with 30 percent more calories and fat."
7. Bottom's up! Drink beer and alcohol. What's more, social gatherings are a great place to drink beer! According to one source, "Sumo wrestlers also drink large quantities of beer. Alcohol increases cortisol levels which leads to fat deposits around the abdominal area, creating the ‘beer belly’. This is desirable in sumo wrestlers since a large stomach makes them more stable in the ring."

StickK to It!

Ready to finally stickK to your commitments? Then stand up, and put your reputation, or even your money, where your mouth is, and change your life. Reap the rewards of your hard work.

My friend just told me about this website and I think it is a great way to help keep your motivation up - whether it is loosing weight or making sure to put money in your savings account.

check it out and put a contract out on yourself or your best friend :) www.stickk.com