Monday, October 4, 2010

Is Building Muscle Bad For Your HEALTH?

"That can't be healthy!"

"But that's bad for your health!"

These are probably the 2 BIGGEST scare tactics anyone
can use to derail you in the chase for the body you want.

And in fact, they can be used by ANYONE, no matter their
current physical status, and no matter if the person is
400 lbs or not, you'll still think twice about what you're
doing.

So, we think it's way past time to give you a way
to get an accurate snapshot of your overall HEALTH
(from a medical standpoint).

Don't you agree?


Revisiting this "Rule Of 3" from the other day, We've wrapped our
heads around the best way to keep a finger on the pulse of your overall,
total health, pun totally intended.

In Rule Of 3, we talked about the 3 basic controls of "health":

1. Work output
2. Substance Input
3. System Stress

From that, and doing some quick fact checking, it looks like you
can get a good idea of your overall "health" from these 3 metrics:

* Blood Pressure
* Height-to-waist ratio
* Shoulder-to-waist ratio

... in which there's a sweet spot for all of these.

For example, aiming for a maximum shoulder to waist, would
mean drug use, which leads to high blood pressure. Going for a super
low height-to-waist ratio would mean no lifting work and likely low
blood pressure due to a prolonged lack of food and blood thinning.

We were thinking of using "pulse rate" instead of blood pressure,
but blood pressure gives you insight into so much more, including
cardiac output AND gives you an idea of the EXTERNAL stressors in
your life (work, family, etc)

Some physical factors of blood pressure are:

* Heart rate
* Volume of fluid or blood volume
* Resistance. (plaque in vessels, diameter of vessels)

Shoulder-to-waist gives you insights into bone health, muscle
tone, coordination, joint health, and probably more. (our best guess
would be the sweet spot here is 1.5-1.7... mainly because you need
a narrower waist to achieve the 1.5)

Height-to-waist gives you insights into "metabolic syndrome"
such as the self-administered portion of high blood pressure,
diabetes, risks of heart disease, high cholesterol, etc

Current research supports a waist-to-height ratio of under 0.5
or a height-to-waist of over 2 for reduced risk of "metabolic
syndrome".

Blood pressure readings are pretty standard and known for "health":

Systolic (Top Number) ==> 90 - 120
Diastolic(Bottom Number) ==>60 - 80

Obviously, you still get your checkups for blood work to
determine other things that could be wrong, but for metrics you can
CONTROL... We can't think of a better 3.

Now, obviously, we're still looking to get the IDEAL body
size and shape, with appropriate leanness and muscularity...

... so don't forget that.

Here's to your Health & Wellness!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Last Day To Save $15 On Prograde Protein

Ok, so President's Day is long gone. But our partners over at Prograde Nutrition apparently weren't paying attention ;-)

Today is the LAST day you can save $15 on any Prograde Protein purchases to celebrate President's Day. In fact, you only have a few hours left.

Sure, it ends TONIGHT at 11:59pm EST, but you need to order NOW before you get busy and forget to do it.

And Jayson Hunter has delivered yet again with his best recipe of the week. He's saved the best for last with his incredible Vanilla Cinnamon Pudding!

The recipe and the coupon code to save $15 is all right here:

http://rialtowellness.getprograde.com/protein-recipe-3.html

PS - Again, the $15 off Prograde Protein savings ends TONIGHT, February 19th at 11:59pm EST. You need to stop reading this and order yours right NOW: http://rialtowellness.getprograde.com/protein-recipe-3.html

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Starting 2010 (Twenty Ten) Off Right!

Maybe you don't state those resolution things out loud...but you all know how important it is to have goals. If you don't have a goal you have put out there in the universe, then what are you working towards? Whatever your objective, it is important to set those goals, make them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely) and speak them out loud.

I know, I know. This sounds way too much like HR-speak you have to deal with at your workplace. We have it too. But really and truly, make sure your goal isn’t just “to eat better.” Make it specific. Is your goal to eliminate grains? Is your goal to follow 100% the BootCamp nutrition plan this month, and never end up in the X? Are you trying to cut out the refined sugar? Kick the splenda habit?

They say that one of the most important things with goal-setting is to state your goal(s) OUT LOUD. It helps to hold you accountable. Just like at BootCamp where you right your goals on your logbook, or at the gym where you write your goals on the big old white board…now is your opportunity to do just that. What are your nutrition-specific goals for the year? Who is on what nutritional path for the new year?

Here are a few of our, for example: We are at the point now where the nutritional plan of choice isn’t so much of a goal, it’s just a way of life. However, when we bore down within the greater topic of nutrition, there are a few things I am focusing on, that keep us on a better path (and by better, this also means less costly!):

- Limit my eating out to 2 meals per week (not counting my Starbucks Americano addiction as eating out). This includes the create your own salad bar downstairs at work

- Always have at least 4 meals (2 for me, 2 for my other half) in the fridge or freezer at all times. Right now the fridge and freezer are stocked with frittatas, spaghetti squash with tomato/meat sauce, and turkey soup. It is SO helpful to just grab something and put it in my cooler. Even when inventory is low, if I can grab some turkey soup and eat that for breakfast, so be it!

- Try one new recipe a month. And post it here. We will not be doing the whole Julie & Julia thing (though Julia was kind of brilliant and if she were still alive we’d ask her to write an edition without the sugar, grains and dairy! HA!), but we will be interpreting and reinterpreting a few recipes out there. I think Shrimp Piri Piri is up first (been wanting a really fiery dish as of late). That or I might try and go with a 100% Paleo Tom Kha (coconut milk soup) or Tom Yum Goong (hot and spicy with shrimp). Especially because Santa brought me two kaffir lime trees for Christmas, I now have a big old supply of kaffir lime leaves – THANKS Santa!

So let’s hear them!

The more people we have on here for sharing of ideas, support, recipes, etc., the better off we’ll all be (and the less we’ll feel like we’re talking to ourselves).