Taste Buds, Mad Scientists, and the Truth Behind Your Food Cravings

March 13, 2013 by 34 Comments

Food CravingsI want you to imagine something for a second.

Imagine that everything you know about food – or you think you know about food – is now gone. It’s no longer there. That part of your brain has been erased.

To you, there are no such things as calories or carbs. You’ve never heard of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, digestion, or anything related to food consumption.

To you, food is just, well, food.

Now, with that in mind, let me ask you a question…

If I give you a random food to eat, something you’ve never seen or eaten before, how would you know whether that food is ‘good’ or ‘bad’?

If you knew absolutely nothing about a food or its ingredients, how would you know whether to classify it as good (as in, sure I’ll eat it again) or bad (as in, I’ll never touch this again)?

Think about that for a second because it’s very important.

Hint: there’s a bit of biology involved.

The answer is actually fairly simple.

But, what you’ll soon discover might scare you.

Let me explain.  [Read more...]

Filed Under: Nutrition Tips, Your Brain

Why you Can’t Resist the Food That’s in Front of You

October 31, 2012 by 17 Comments

Can't Resist Food in Front of You Why is it so hard to resist food that’s in front of you?

You know the feeling I’m talking about…

The irresistible, un-suppressable feeling. The half-guilty half just-this-one-time feeling we get when we’re trying to decide whether the food in front of us will end up in our stomach or not.

The truth is it’s simply hard to say no.

And it’s not all your fault.

Resisting the food that’s in front of you is actually going against millions of years of human evolution and design.

From a biological perspective, you are designed to eat the food that’s in front of you.

Here’s why… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Nutrition Tips, Your Body

Bioenergetics: How Your Body Shifts Between Energy Systems

October 24, 2012 by 20 Comments

Body Energy SystemsI’ve said this a gajillion times by now…

Your body is one kick-ass, incredible piece of machinery.

All of our complex inner systems and components work brilliantly in unison to propel us forward and allow us to do the things that make life so amazing.

I find that the more we learn about how these systems work, the better we are able to leverage them to help us build a better body.

Today I want to talk about energy…

Or, more specifically, how your body goes about creating the energy that it needs to power up all the inner and outer workings.

Let’s dig in… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Your Body

How to Analyze Your Stool for a Healthier Digestive System

October 3, 2012 by 13 Comments

analyze your stoolYes, yes, yes…

Today I’m going to show you how to analyze your ‘extracted goodies’ – errr your stool.

Why you ask…

Well, because what you leave behind in the toilet can tell you a lot about how your body is reacting to the foods you are consuming. It can also tell you a lot about the health of your digestive system.

Your stool can provide you with vital feedback and if you don’t take a second to examine it, you’re literally and figuratively flushing useful information down the toilet.

As much as the thought of standing over the toilet after a nice long dump-sesh and staring deeply into your little monster sounds ridiculous, the insight you can gain is completely worth the effort.

Just trust me for a second… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Digestive System, Your Body

How I got caught Red-Handed doing Squats in the Bathroom

July 11, 2012 by 27 Comments

caught red handedYup.

It happened. I got caught!

I never thought it would happen this way, but it did. I’m usually careful not to make any noises. To time things perfectly. To cover all my tracks.

But this time I miscalculated.

I was off my game.

I got caught red handed…

Doing squats in the bathroom…at work.

Here’s what happened… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Your Body

Function of Respiratory System in a Functionally Strong Body

December 4, 2011 by 10 Comments

Hey! Psssttt…

It’s your lungs calling.

How well do you know them?

How well do you know how they work? How your respiratory system functions?

It’s time to lay down some facts.

As you may know from my old posts, building a better body requires strengthening your heart and the systems responsible for efficiently delivering oxygen and nutrients to the working tissues of the body. This is exactly what I talked about a while back when I wrote a post titled How does the Cardiovascular System Work. It explains exactly what your heart goes through as you put your body through varying types of activities.

I want you to start there.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Your Body

How does the Cardiovascular System Work?

July 25, 2011 by 13 Comments

So how does the cardiovascular system work?

I think today’s post might bring you back to grade 11 biology class. And yea you probably didn’t pay attention back then, but I advise you to tune in now because understanding how the cardiovascular system works and integrates with other systems of your body can help you structure you cardio sessions more effectively.

Understand that the human body is composed of various systems that work together to helps us do the everyday things that we often take for granted. In my opinion, the cardiovascular system is one of the most impressive systems in the body, but it is so closely integrated with the respiratory system that you simply can’t talk about one without mentioning the other.

So let’s get started - how does the cardiovascular system work exactly?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Your Body

Danger Below – Visceral Fat vs Subcutaneous Fat

October 14, 2010 by 4 Comments
<img title=”weight loss” src=”http://www.bloomtofit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/weight-loss.gif” alt=”weight loss” width=”232″ height=”240″ />When you think of the word ‘fat’, what are some things that come to mind?
Laziness?
Unattractiveness?
Lack of self-confidence?
The list is endless…
What I think is unfair is that people are often judged by their looks. Heavy people, skinny people, ugly people, tall people and any other kind of ‘people’ that society likes to stereotype. Sometimes being imperfect is the true sign of perfection.
My point is that the cliche truly stands: a book cannot be judged by its cover.
However, the point of this article is not about the cover, but what lies within it. For people who carry excess fat, the outside may be what is judged, but it is the inside that is truly dangerous.
I want to point out some things that you will never read on a potato chip bag.
Accumulating fat around the belly does more than cause headaches in front of the mirror. I speak for both males and females. It can cause some major health issues down the road. In simple terms, abdominal fat can be EXTREMELY dangerous to your health.
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<img title=”types of fat” src=”http://www.bloomtofit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/types-of-fat.jpg” alt=”types of fat” width=”187″ height=”213″ />
There is no point of going into too much detail, so I’ll give you the basics. There are two types of fat. The first is <strong>subcutaneous fat</strong> and it’s located directly beneath the skin and over your abs. The second type of abdominal fat is <strong>visceral fat </strong>and it lies deep in the abdomen underneath your muscle where it surrounds your organs. Visceral fat is what gives men those hard beer bellies.
Both types of fat are dangerous to your health, but it is the visceral fat that can cause serious damage simply because it is so close to your organs. It is believed that visceral fat releases large quantities of inflammatory molecules into your system on a consistent basis, exposing nearby organs to potentially toxic chemicals produced by the fat.
The health risks are numerous.  Excess abdominal fat increases your risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, sleep apnea, certain forms of cancer and numerous other diseases [1]. Certain studies further show indication that excess abdominal fat leads to higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of inflammation within the body that can lead to heart disease [1].
I read an article some time ago that explained how women who pack weight around their waists instead of on their buttocks and thighs have an increased risk of dying prematurely. These results were based on a study done by researchers at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The study of 45,000 women showed eye-opening statistics. Women with the largest waists – 35 inches or greater – had a 79% higher chance of premature death compared with women whose waists measured 28 inches or less. Women with the largest waists had twice the risk of dying of cardiovascular disease – even if their weight was normal – and a 63% greater chance of dying of cancer compared with women with smaller waists [2]. The report was based on data drawn from the Nurses’ Health Study, which has monitored the medical history of participants since 1976.
With so much scientific evidence out there expressing how dangerous excessive abdominal fat really is, North America is still over-populated with people living with excessive abdominal fat. Maybe people really do get used to living with their weight and simply have no clue how it’s affecting their health.
In my opinion, we are lacking the effort. Even when informed, people choose not to make a change. They want to. They know they need to. But they never do. They give up before they ever start.
The facts are real and it is important that people grasp how important our health really is.
If you want to live a long, healthy life and have time to spend with your family, you need to take that first step forward. If you want to have the energy to play with your kids and pursue all of your dreams, make that strong effort to change. If you want to continue doing the things you love doing then now is the time to take the plunge.
There are many ways to go about it. A simple exercise routine and a tweak in your diet can put you on the right path.
Take the time to find out what works for you and your body will thank you.
References:
[1] <a href=”http://atozfitness.com/wordpress/excess-abdominal-fat-is-not-only-ugly-but-extremely-dangerous-to-your-health/” target=”_blank”>Excess Abdominal Fat is Not Only Ugly, but Extremely Dangerous to Your Health!</a>
[2] <a href=”http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/08/science/sci-fat8″ target=”_blank”>Women’s belly fat, early death linked</a>

Visceral fat? Subcutaneous fat? What are you talking about?

To begin, here are a few statistics that you will never see written on a bag of Doritos.

More than one third of U.S. adults (that is more than 72 million people) and 16% of U.S. children are obese. Further, 2/3 of Americans are either overweight or obese. In fact, since 1980, obesity rates for adults have doubled and rates for children have tripled.

Let that sink in for a second.

Obesity is considered having Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater and being “overweight” is defined as having BMI of 25 or greater. BMI, calculated from a person’s weight and height, provides a reasonable (but not always accurate) indicator of body fat that may lead to health problems.

The obesity crisis is here, but hey, we already know that. Here’s what else you should know.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Your Body Tagged With: , , ,

Benefits of Cardiovascular Training

September 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The benefits of cardiovascular training are definitely no secret. Exercising your cardiovascular system will help reduce your risk of heart disease and will help improve your ability to perform daily activities.

These are facts supported by numerous studies.

What I want to talk about in this article are the things that you don’t often hear about – the details.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cardiovascular System, Cardiovascular Training, Your Body