Monday, August 30, 2010

Is Soy Not Healthy?

I read an article by Kaayla T. Daniel, Ph.D., C.C.N. that recent studies have shown that soy does not lower cholesterol, prevent heart disease or deserve and Federal Drug Association-approved heart-health claim. This announcement came from the American Heart Association (AHA). University of Colorado researchers reported in a January issue of Clinical Investigation that soy worsens cardiomyopathy, which affect 1 in 500 Americans. It is the leading cause of death among young athletes. High levels of flavones found in soy put women at risk for cardiovascular disease, according to a study reported in the May 2007 issue of the Journal of Women's Health. Dr. Daniel points out that pro-soy articles are prevalent in journals with a lot of soy advertising.

Disclaimer: This is not a very scientific post. More information on this may follow. None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional, such as a physician.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.LouizaPatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.BarnesandNoble.com and http://www.Amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Variations on Abdominal Crunchs

I am really good at abdominal exercises. However, in Vic Dimonda's Theater Dance class at Alvin Ailey in Manhattan, I feel when I do these two variations:

1. Lie down on your back with not more than an inch and a half of space under your lower back. Do abdominal crunches with your legs open: Have the soles of your feet touching while each knee is out in the opposite direction. In other words, with your hips, knees and feet, make a diamond shape. Keep your chest and back steady. Keep your elbows open and do four sets of ten repetitions of abdominal crunches as per my abdominal crunch blog post. Exhale when you go up, and inhale on your way down. Do not touch the floor; go up to about an inch above the floor steadily and slowly.

2. Repeat the above while keeping your knees and legs to the right. Your left hip is facing the ceiling. Do the same with the knees and legs to your left and your right hip facing the ceiling. Do four sets of ten repetitions for each side.

Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional, such as a physician.

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on http://www.authorhouse.com, www.BarnesandNoble.com and http://www.Amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.
Posted by Louiza Fitness Tips for Life at 8:17 AM

Being Afraid of Food

As a personal trainer, I will make sure a client is healthy before training them, and ask them how they want to look. It is about health and energy, then how you look. I think that was is healthiest and most attractive for most, especially women, is o have a balance of being thin, muscular and curvy.

An acquaintance once told me he heard Deepak Chopra, M.D. talk about food: What we think about what we eat affects our health. I believe this I think The Secret and other such thought processes of thinking all you believe comes true have some Truth in them. I don’t' believe them 100%: No one knows the mysteries of the universe, and we should not keep paying them like they do. Ultimately, you want to elf and intuition to where it's usually on the dot correct, and trust yourself.

But I do think that those that worry too much over what they eat actually come out of fear and may create disease. You are not going to develop high cholesterol if you eat red meat or fast food once in a while. And some choslesterol is good and is needed for processes such as making the hormones estrogen and testosterone. It is not good to eat junk all day, mostly processed food, and no salt or sugar. Out bodies need sugar, salt and fat. Most of our food gets reduces to sugar, and n if you eat little fat, you go into a "starvation" state and burn fat slower. I recently dined with a friend who could not believe I had pancakes and bacon. (I usually don’t eat the fatty part of the bacon, and pick at it.) He is a vegetarian, but flab than tone. I believe exercise is even more important of health that what you eat: You work o your cardiovascular health and burn many calories. Usually your body gets rid of what it does not need. Your body, unless you are a couch potato, will constantly be processing food and have a good rate of metabolism. After a while, especially if you read Pocket Guide to Fitness, you may be able to have a strong mind-body connection and be healthy and fit, even if you eat some sugary, salty or fatty food in balance. It is one of those 80:20 rules. (Again, you want to avoid too many processed chemicals.)

Having dessert or McDonald's or some salt is too bad unless you mostly eat this, don’t' work out, and don't eat a well-balanced diet. You dot' want to live in fear and be obsessed about what to eat or not. You will probably end up yo-yo dieting. You want to be at a point where you know when your body may "need" a chocolate bar, some extra salt, or to rest and not work out. Sometimes good things happen to "bad" people and "bad" things happen to "good" people. There are no guarantees. I believe, if you keep trying to avoid sickness or disease, you may be creating it in your subconscious and then life
Disclaimer: None of the above information can be taken as a substitute for advice from a medical professional such as a physician. javascript:void(0)

My third book, Pocket Guide to Fitness, is available on www.louizapatsis.com, http://www.authorhouse.com, www.bn.com and http://www.amazon.com. If you look up my name on those Web sites, you will find my other books The Boy in a Wheelchair and Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories.

Web Sites That Promote Eating Disorders

Today on the Today Show, Dr. Nancy Sniederman talked about these Web sites. People should not give them out to those they suspect of having eating disorders. But we can write to Congresspeople to talk about them. You can easily (unfortunately) find the links. Here is one:

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/08/03/websites-that-encourage-anorexia--amp-other-eating-disorders-for-girls-popular--and-controversia.htm

Teenagers and others actually use them to promote and write about their and others' anorexia and bulimia.