Jemblog

When you come back from your weekend and see that the scale has gone
up, don’t panic. If you consume more calories, carbohydrates, and
sodium on the weekend, you’ll also retain more water in your muscles
and under your skin.

Weekend weight gain is mostly water. Of course, if you really overate,
you will have gained some fat, but not 5 pounds of fat – not in a
single weekend.

After all, as you know, it takes 3500 calories to store a pound of
fat. And there are 540 calories in a Big Mac. So to gain a pound,
you’d have to overeat by the equivalent of over SIX Big Macs…and
to gain 5 pounds in a long weekend, you’d have to overeat your needs
by the equivalent of over 30 Big Macs.

That’s really tough to do. So relax…and wait to weigh yourself
until Wednesday…that’s when you’ll get a more accurate measure.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

What She Eats: “I start my day with egg-white omeletes with turkey or oatmeal, a banana and blueberry smoothie plus one coffee of the day, which I can’t live without. Lunch is usually a [shrimp] or tuna salad, nuts and celery for snack, and dinner I normally have fish or chicken with vegetables.”

How She stops Hunger: “Eat every two hours so you don’t get over-hungry. And remember it’s no good food just being ‘healthy’ – it has to be tasty and look good for you to want to eat it and enjoy it.”

The Workout Routine: “I have a gym at home; I start off on the treadmill for 30 minutes [and] I’ll aim to complete three to four miles. I’ll walk on an incline for two minutes the sprint for three and so on… I can do 100 crunches in less than two minutes. I do three types of rows—bicep curls, arm circles, and pull-backs, 15 repetitions of each.”

Vegetables are Everywhere
If you’re struggling to get into the vegetable habit, you don’t have to commit to huge plates of broccoli and kale. In reality, you can incorporate (okay, hide) serving-size portions of veggies in meals you already enjoy. Some examples:
Add chopped spinach to lasagnas and meatloaf.
Mix shredded carrots into tuna salad.
Build a fancier sandwich by adding sprouts, cucumber slices, carrot slices, radicchio and other unexpected vegetables.
Grill Portobello mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini alongside your burgers and chicken.
Fix a brunch omelet with sautéed peppers and tomatoes.

Abs Reality Check

No doubt about it: The desire for a flatter abdomen is as American as (calorie-laden) apple pie. If you’ve resolved to have better abs this summer, please remember these basic truths:

• 1. Spot-reducing is a myth. You can’t lose flab primarily from your abs just because you’re doing extra crunches. You lose fat pretty evenly throughout your body, over the course of time.
• 2. Fat trumps tone. Even if you work hard to tone your ab muscles, you won’t be able to see them if they’re covered by a layer of fat.
• 3. A well-rounded approach works. Your chances for success are best if you attack the problem from several angles: (1) eat fewer calories, (2) burn more calories by doing cardio workouts, (3) increase your metabolism through strength training (the more muscle mass you have overall, the more calories you’ll burn), and (4) do crunches or other ab exercises as part of your strength-training routine.
• 4. Appreciate your personal best. Too many of us hope for the perfect abs of a magazine cover model. By taking a well-rounded approach, you can get abs that will make a big difference in your appearance – and your self-confidence.

Upper Arm Facts

To strengthen and tone your upper arms, you need to work both your triceps (3 muscles in the back of the upper arm) and your biceps (2 muscles in the front of the upper arm).

TRICEPS

• Primary movement: Elbow extension
• Good free-weight exercise: Triceps kickbacks
• Good machine exercise: Triceps push-downs
• Use outside the gym: Punching; pushing a heavy object

BICEPS

• Primary movement: Elbow flexion
• Good free-weight exercise: Standing biceps curls
• Good machine exercise: Preacher curls
• Use outside the gym: Lifting and carrying objects

Ladies, we need to get it together. 1 2 3 4 and 1 2… Now alot of it has to do with her age, but no excuses. I can’t wait to see the rest!

When You Warm Up, Break a Sweat

Are you taking your pre-exercise warm-ups too lightly? If you don’t begin to sweat, the answer could be yes.

A warm-up is a low-intensity cardiovascular exercise performed for 5 to 10 minutes until perspiration begins. Brisk walking, jogging, cycling are just a few examples of warm-ups.

It’s important to note that strength-training workouts – and not just cardiovascular exercise – should be preceded by a warm-up. If you exercise working muscles that are not adequately warmed up, you could be increasing your risk of injury.

Via TMZ – We’ve just learned Michael Jackson has died. He was 50.

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We’re told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived.

LaToya ran in the hospital sobbing, after Jackson was pronounced dead.

Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II.

Jackson had 13 number one hits during his solo career.

Hunger versus Food Cravings

Your body gives you specific physical cues when it needs food. For instance, you might typically feel lightheaded when you’re hungry, whereas someone else might get irritable or get a churning sensation in the stomach. In general, real hunger tends to carry a sense of urgency; your body has to have something – almost anything – right away.

A craving, on the other hand, is more of a desire for a specific food. If you’re telling yourself, “I’ll feel better if I eat a chocolate bar,” you’re probably experiencing a craving. People who eat a healthful, well-balanced diet tend to have fewer cravings.

An Hour of Moderate Activity

An hour of moderate activity daily maintains healthy weight and decreases risk of heart disease

From a time-management standpoint alone, an hour a day may seem unrealistic for many of us. If you take a closer look at the report, however, you’ll see that the institute takes a broad view of “moderately intense activity”: gardening, light housekeeping, walking the dogand using stairs instead of elevators all contribute to an active lifestyle.

In terms of more straightforward exercise, you can meet the hour-a-day guideline by walking at 4-5 miles per hour for a total of 60 minutes daily or engaging in higher-intensity exercise, such as jogging, for 20 to 30 minutes 4 to 7 days a week.

Crunching by Machine

There are pros and cons to using your gym’s abdominal crunch machines. They can be a nice change of pace from floor crunches; they also enable you to increase the weight as you become stronger. Depending on their design, however, some crunch machines make it easier for you to rely (unintentionally) on other muscle groups – such as your hips or legs – rather than working the abs themselves as much as possible.

Here are some pointers for getting the most from your time on the crunch machine:

• Move slowly both during the bend and the return to your upright position.
• Keep your neck in a neutral position; do not bend it backward or forward.
• Don’t perform the crunch primarily by pushing down on the arm pad. Instead, concentrate on doing the crunch by contracting your abs.

She made history as the fattest ever mother of triplets, weighing in at 40 stone.

But far from ensuring her babies don’t go the same way she did, Leanne Salt is happy to admit feeding them junk food, including fish and chips and McDonald’s meals.

Yesterday the 24-year-old – still dangerously overweight at 30 stone – told of her approach to motherhood which doctors say is certain to leave them facing health problems.

They were six months old when they had their first McDonald’s,’ she said. ‘They had chicken nuggets and chips and loved it.

‘They like fish and chips too, but I take the batter off the fish, so I guess that’s healthy.’ (more…)

Do Not Lock Your Joints When Lifting Weights When strength training with weights, it’s important not to lock your joints (knees, elbows, etc.) during the exercises.

Locking the joints when you’re lifting weight can put enormous strain on them and lead to injury. Another safety tip: Whenever you’re lifting weights in a standing position, always keep your knees slightly bent. This can help reduce stress on the lower back.