Good Posture = Looking Thinner & Avoiding Back Pain

20 min - upper body, 20 min. lower body & Bonus: 7-minute Workout for Fabulous Abs & Stronger Back & Tips on Looking Thinner With Great Posture. Video 1998 lots of leg lifts & I feel worth it. Good posture is important for looking thinner & not having back pain. To achieve a toned body, one must workout until the muscles are fatigued.

Shaping Up & Pilates

 This workout has 15 min. each of Abs, Arms, Hips & Thighs. I enjoyed the ballet--I guess it is great for our hips.

Frequency, Intensity, Time to keep in mind for working out. Rule to test your heart rate--take 220 minus your age & 80% of that is the ideal number of beats per minute for heart rate. Our daily intake of fat should be 30% or less. 1 tablespoon of fat = 100 calories & 1 gram of fat = 9 calories. 30% is 50 to 80 grams of fat for the average person.

Dreaming of a Beach Body--Creatine, Pyruvate

Beach Body Sweat Cardio 3-4 (copyright 2001)-45 min. of burning calories, yoga moves & I don't think I've ever done a body blow move (talk about feeling the jiggly fat shake). Great ab workout. Don't have supplements or diet guide but learned about some ingredients in some of their supplements. Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid that occurs naturally in vertebrates and helps supply energy to all cells in the body, primarily the muscle. Our blood consists of 1% creatine. The amount in the men's beachbody Strength & Muscle Formula is equivalent to eating 2 lbs. of raw meat. Pyruvate- explanation is a molecule of glucose breaks down to 2 molecules of pyruvate and provides further energy. This ingredient is in the beachbody Energy & Endurance Formula. I read reviews that this product tastes nasty. One Canadian stated that he gets as much energy from coffee & molasses. A ballet dancer commented that the E&E Formula helped with his depression. I will keep going to the gym, walking outside, rotating/reviewing my workouts. As long as I'm keeping up with: 1 hr. working out, losing weight, gaining muscle, enhancing my mood & I have a whey protein powder for sore muscles, I won't worry about the supplements just yet.

Dancing, Swimming, Stairs & Brain Function

It's been another year since I wrote a post. Still training 50 min. a week for the past two years. Also not ever getting bored with new "old school" video workouts. Did the Michelle Lemay hip-hop one today. (Copyright 1996, 46 min.). As we age it is a challenge for the brain and body to coordinate. I like her teaching style & need to do it many more times to get the choreography down. Also, the knee in jumping is something to be careful about.
Currently, Michelle is president and co-creator of Groove Temple TV, the media and technology company that combines today’s modern world of Fitness, Health, Music, Dance, Meditation and Technology with the ancient wisdom of Yoga. (Source: michellelemay.com) 
Does Dancing Improve Brain Function?
Psychology Today states: Two recent studies show how different types of practice allow dancers to achieve peak performance by blending cerebral and cognitive thought processes with muscle memory and ‘proprioception’ held in the cerebellum. Through regular aerobic training that incorporates some type of dance at least once a week anyone can maximize his or her brain function.
Does Swimming Improve Brain Function?
Researchers from Australia have made a surprising discovery: Simply steeping yourself in a pool of warm water increases blood flow in the brain. “We found that brain blood flow is higher when subjects were immersed in water up to the level of the heart compared to on land — laying the ground work for further investigation of its effects on cerebrovascular health,” said Dr. Howard Carter of University of Western Australia, School of Sport Science, whose new study appears in the American Journal of Physiology. (Source:medicaldaily.com)
Swimming moderately for one hour is the same as walking over 10,000 steps which is known to improve health.
Does Exercise Improve Brain Function?
Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills. (Source: health.harvard.edu)
There are many workouts on the smart phone. Immortal Stair Training by Brenda Vance is one I discovered. I think it is a good aerobic, cardiovascular workout. What are some of your favorite workouts?

Important Healthy Info from this Last Year

So It's Been Almost a Year Since I last posted in Dec. 2012... I have been seeing a personal trainer for about 9 months. I feel a lot healthier & stronger. I've been diligent in working out 50 min. with my trainer once a week. It pushes me just to get to the gym. It's re-asurring when I get measured & shrink inches in my waist, neck, etc. The most I lost was 10 lbs. but have been staying steady with only losing 6 lbs.

The above Sugar Control Diet is terrific. If you want to prevent diabetes & stay healthy, it is good to try most of this. Also some cancer fighting foods are: broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, berries, nuts & fatty omega-3 fish.

I went to a book fair & picked up some more workout tapes: Aerobics with Soul, Maria Nhambu Bergh 60 min. copyright 1987-good thing no one saw me dancing to this. I think kids would find it fun to do the animal dances; Joanie Greggains Sculpt and Stretch, 61 min. copyright 1990-this is a hard but good all around slimming workout; Simply Tai Chi, Graham Bryant and Lorrainne James, 40 min. copyright 2007-relaxing but don't think you burn a lot of calories, love the moves-heaven and earth, parting the clouds, part the wild horse's mane, grasp the bird's tail, strum the lute, white crane spreads it's wings.

Also at the Gateway 2 Smart Living Expo, St. Charles, MO in 2012 I liked the way one martial arts demonstrator mentioned the meaning in the color of the belts:

The colored belts are explained below from wmacenter.com

Meaning of the Colors 

Originally, the white belt was simply dyed to a new color. This repeated dying process dictated the type of belt color and the order of the colors. The standard belt color system is white, yellow, gold, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, red and black. Due to the dying process, it was only practical to increasingly use darker colors. All of this came about shortly after the Second World War, when Korea and Japan were very poor countries. Dying the belts to a new color was a cheap way to have a visible, simple and effective ranking system. 

White Belt: White signifies a birth, or beginning, of a seed. A white belt student is a beginner searching for knowledge of the Art. The white belt is the beginning of life's cycle, and represents the seed as it lies beneath the snow in the winter. 

Yellow Belt or Sash: Yellow signifies the first beams of sunlight which shines upon the seed giving it new strength with the beginning of new life. A yellow belt student is given his first ray of knowledge, opening his mind, from his instructors. 

Orange Belt or Sash: Orange represents the growing power of the sun as it warms the earth to prepare for new growth in the spring. The orange belt is starting to feel his body and mind open and develop. 

Green Belt or Sash: Green signifies the growth of the seed as it sprouts from the earth reaching toward the sun and begins to grow into a plant. A green belt student learns to strengthen and refine his techniques. 

Blue Belt or Sash: Blue signifies the blue sky as the plant continues to grow toward it. A blue belt student moves up higher in rank just as the plant grows taller. The light feeds the plant so it can continue to grow. The student is fed additional knowledge of the Art in order for his body and mind continue to grow and develop. 

Purple Belt or Sash: Purple represents the changing sky of dawn, as once again the student undergoes a new change and prepares for the transition to advanced student. A purple belt begins to understand the meaning of the black belt. 

Brown Belt or Sash: Brown represents the ripening of the seed, a maturing and harvesting process. A brown belt is an advanced student whose techniques are beginning to mature, and he is beginning to understand the fruits of his hard work as a beginner. 

Red Belt or Sash: Red signifies the red-hot heat of the Sun as the plant continues growing toward it. As a red belt student acquires more detailed knowledge, just as the plant grows slowly toward the Sun, so the red belt student learns to be more cautious with his knowledge and physical abilities. Red is a sign of danger, and the red belt is beginning to become dangerous with their knowledge and abilities. 

Black Belt or Sash: Black signifies the darkness beyond the Sun. A black belt seeks new, more profound knowledge of the Art. As he begins to teach others, he plants new seeds and helps them grow and mature. His students, many whom will form roots deep into the Art, blossom and grow through the ranks in a never-ending process of self-growth, knowledge, and enlightenment. 
 

Calories Burned While Standing & Wk. 36-43

If you have a job as a cashier and stand for 7 hrs. you will burn 840 calories!

Wk. 36
3hrs. 40 min.

Wk. 37
4 hrs. 40 min.

Wk. 38
3 hrs. 20 min.

Wk. 39
5 hrs. 20 min.

Wk. 40
5 hrs. 20 min.

Wk. 41
8 hrs.

Wk. 42
5 hrs. 40 min.

Wk. 43
6 hrs. 40 min.

Fermentation Fest, Week 33-35 Results

www.fermentationfest.com
Reedsburg Fermention Fest in Reedsburg, WI beginning today, Oct. 12th thru Oct. 21st, 2012

Didn't think about it but beer, wine, chocolate, yogurt, pickles are all fermented foods. Would like to hear thoughts, new ideas in fermentation.

Supplementing our diet with fermented foods offers us these health benefits:  it can help to reduce high cholesterol levels in our blood, it strengthens and supports our digestive and immune systems--- thereby helping our bodies to fight off and prevent diseases, like cancer.  (Source: thefamilyhomestead.com)

Week 33
9-17-12  40 min.
9-19-12  120 min.
9-22-12  120 min.
9-23-12  120 min.
Total 6 hrs. 40 min.

Week 34
9-25-12  40 min.
9-27-12  40 min.
9-29-12  120 min.
9-30-12  120 min.
Total 5 hrs. 20 min.

Week 35
10-2-12  40 min.
10-3-12  40 min.
Total 80 min.