You Can't Outrun Bad Nutrition

I hear it all the time, "You can eat anything you want because you hike, run and workout all of the time."
But the fact is, I can't outrun bad nutrition.
I could easily burn the calories in soda, sugary cereals, white bread, or any of the other poisons so common to most people's diets, but I can't outrun the detrimental affects poor nutritional choices will have on my health....and neither can you.

© 2015 TOPFIT

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Lifting and Heavy Bag
When it came time for my afternoon workout, I couldn't decide between doing Olympic lifts, squats, or deadlifts. So, starting with a fairly light bar and adding 10 - 20 lbs each set, I began the workout with snatches and overhead squats. When the bar got to heavy for those, I moved on to power snatches, then clean & jerks, followed by power cleans, and finally supersets of standard and sumo deadlifts.
Later, since I had a little free time before an evening client session, I headed back out to my gym for a 30 min heavy bag workout.

www.topfitonline.com

~Feelin' Alive!~

'Fat But Fit' Theory Mainly Flops in Long Term

The notion that it's possible to be obese and healthy finally may have been debunked.

While some obese people show no signs of heart disease, a new study suggests it's just a matter of time before the consequences of carrying substantial, excess pounds ultimately take a toll.

British researchers followed more than 2,500 men and women for 20 years, tracking their body mass indices (BMI), cholesterol counts, blood pressures, fasting glucose amounts and insulin resistance levels. Among many of the study subjects who were obese, heart disease risk factors eventually appeared, according to the study, published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"Based on this the state of healthy obesity should be regarded as a high risk state," said lead author Joshua Bell, a researcher in the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London in England. "Over the long term there is a tendency to progress to unhealthy obesity rather than staying stable or becoming healthy non-obese."

The findings would appear to refute long-standing arguments that people can be obese and remain completely healthy.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike
Today's hike started out cold and foggy, but it ended up being warm and sunny.  Although I spent most of my 2 hrs on the trail hiking, I threw in half a dozen hilll sprints just for fun.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Strength Variables

One question that comes up quite often is why one person will develop more strength and muscle than another will when they’re doing the same exercises and following the same program.  Some people feel that they must be doing something wrong if they aren’t getting the same results as their friend or training partner.  What they must understand is that there are several variables affecting development and we don’t have much, if any, control over them.

 One of the most important variables is muscle fiber type.  We have two basic types of muscle fibers, which we’ll refer to as ‘fast twitch’ and ‘slow twitch’ muscle fibers.  Fast twitch fibers produce high levels of force for short periods and are used for activities such as weight lifting.  Slow twitch fibers produce low levels of force for long periods and are used for activities that require endurance.  Although both types of fibers respond to strength training, the fast twitch fibers experience greater increase in size and strength and may get more results faster from a weight training program.

Most people have a fairly equal combination of fast and slow twitch fibers.  Some people, however, have been born with a higher percentage of fast twitch fibers that make them better at sports such as sprinting, bodybuilding or powerlifting.  Others have a higher percentage of slow twitch fibers that contribute to them being better at endurance sports such as long distance running.

Muscle quantity can be affected by a person’s gender.  Men and women’s muscle tissues are characteristically the same, but men generally have more muscle tissue because muscle size is increased by the presence of testosterone.  Since larger muscles are usually stronger muscles, men are generally stronger than women.

Age can also affect gains in size and strength.  Although people of all ages can make strength and size gains with the right resistance training program and a proper diet, as we age the gains can come slower.  This may be partially due to the drop in testosterone levels as we get older.

The point that a tendon attaches to the bone can greatly affect strength.  In the case of the bicep curl, if two lifters have the same muscle and bone length, the one that has the bicep tendon that attaches further down the forearm will have a biomechanical advantage and will be able to lift more weight.

Similarly, people with shorter limbs can often lift more because of the mechanical advantage.

A person’s recovery ability will also affect their results.  A person who’s body recovers quickly will be ready to train again, while his training partner may not be totally recovered and will only suffer from overtraining if he trains too soon.

Although all of these variables are determined by genetics, we have the ability to manipulate them to make the best of our genetics.  I’ve always believed that genetics are only there to play with and challenge us.  Genetics don’t determine how you live your life, how you eat, and how often or how you train.

© 2015 TOPFIT

www.topfitonline.com

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Lower Table Rock Run
Even with slick, muddy trails, it was still a great day for a run on Lower Table Rock.

~Feelin' Alive!~

TOPFIT Daily Activities Review

I said goodbye to the old year and hello to the new year in typical TOPFIT fashion this past week.
In addition to a rest day, this past week's activities included:

2 Jacksonville Forest Park hikes
2 Table Rock runs
2 heavy bag workouts
1 patented ~TOPFIT Year End Tribute to 2014~ (see 12/30/14)
1 Annual ~TOPFIT January 1st Pushup Challenge~ (see 1/1/15)

Did you treat your body to some healthy activity this past week?

~No Challenge, No Change~

Exercisers Beware

Steroid abuse is still on the rise, and not just among professional athletes and bodybuilders. Despite numerous educational efforts by health care officials, many amateur and high school athletes looking for that elusive competitive edge still believe they can get it from a syringe or a bottle of pills. What they don't realize is that steroids will give them a lot more than they bargained for.

Not Worth The Risk

Acne. Liver damage. Increased risk of heart disease. These are just a few of the side effects associated with anabolic steroid abuse. And there's more.

The side effects are severe. Men who use steroids also may develop gynecomastia (the development of breasts), priapism (painful prolonged erection) and edema from sodium and water retention. They also will be more prone to cardiovascular problems since steroids decrease high-density lipoprotein levels (HDL) or "good" cholesterol, and increase low-density lipoprotein levels (LDL) or "bad" cholesterol. Coupled with hypertension and negative changes in myocardial tissue, steroids users are at an increased risk for heart attack as well.

Of additional concern are alterations in psyche and behavior (i.e., aggression, physical dependence) and decreased immune function. Changes in the reproductive system, such as a reduction in testicle size, sperm count and mobility, and a decrease in the levels of endogenous testosterone and other sex hormones are common.

Women At Risk

Unlike men, whose side effects may be reversible once the abuse has stopped, women experience irreversible changes, such as a deepened voice, increased facial and body hair growth, enlarged clitoris and coarser skin. In addition, irregularities in, or cessation of menstrual cycle, increased libido, aggressiveness, acne and decreased immune function may occur. Women are also prone to the cardiovascular risks and changes in psyche and behavior that men experience.

All Risk, No Glory

There is an even scarier risk of steroid abuse: death. Steroid users who share needles are putting themselves at risk for developing infections such as HIV, hepatitis or other viral diseases.

The terminal risks of steroid abuse are not fully known. Some published cases of tumors and other cancers related to steroid abuse have been reported. Even so, physicians and researchers do not know all the repercussions of steroid abuse on one's body and future health. Controlled research is unethical and only information from abusers is usable; yet this data may be inaccurate since most users are not forthcoming about the full extent of their steroid use.

Since the late 1980s, the federal government has begun to crack down on steroid use and distribution. Possession of steroids with intent to distribute without a valid prescription is a felony and subject to prosecution. Likewise, steroid use is a violation of the rules of virtually all sports leagues and councils as well as the traditional ethics of good sportsmanship.

No Substitute For Training

What most steroid users don't realize is that they are placing themselves at risk for something they could achieve on their own. Many experts agree that the effects of steroids on strength and muscle mass of beginning weight lifters or athletes are minimal when compared with the effects of an intensive weight-training or conditioning program.

The best way to improve performance and increase muscle mass is to follow a well-designed program that challenges both your body and your mind. No drug can do that for you.

© 2000 American Council on Exercise

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Rest Day
Yup, that pretty much says it all.  It was time for a laid back day of minimal physical activity.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Don’t Ignore Pain and Soreness

Whenever an exercise causes pain, PAY ATTENTION!!!
Your response to pain can be the difference between a temporary annoyance, and a serious injury.

Muscle Soreness

When you start a resistance training program, or change some aspect of your routine, it’s normal to feel some soreness in 24-48 hours in the muscles that were used.  The pain is caused by microscopic tears in the muscles and connective tissue in your body.  This may sound harmful, but this microtrauma is a natural response of your body when you demand that it do more work than it’s accustomed to doing.  This is why it’s so important to get enough rest before working a muscle again.  Each time you lift weights and cause this microtrauma, your body needs enough down time to recover and rebuild a bigger and stronger muscle.  Without sufficient rest, you will be in a constant state of overtraining.

Cramps

Muscle cramps are intense, involuntary, contractions of muscles, quite often in the calves and hamstrings.  Cramps are often caused by dehydration, but can also be the result of intense voluntary contractions during a particularly challenging set of an exercise.  One of the best defenses against cramps is to stay hydrated, but if you do cramp, stop what you’re doing (like you really have a choice) and gently stretch the affected muscle.

Pain Just After or During Exercise

Repeated contractions during a workout cause a build up of lactic acid in the muscle tissue.  This may cause the ‘burn’ that many lifters experience without any actual injury.  If, however, you feel any sharp pain, stop exercising and have the pain checked by a doctor.

Injury

You always need to be in control of the weights, and not let them control you.  Failure to maintain control can, and will, result in injury.  Bad form, using momentum, jerking the weights around, not warming up, dropping the weights, trying to lift too much, or not concentrating on what you’re doing can result in some of the following injuries:

Sprains—a stretching or tearing of ligaments.
Strains—a stretching or tearing of a muscle, tendon, or fascia.
Tendonitis—inflammation of the tendon which may be caused by lifting too heavy on the first set, or not warming up properly.
Ligament injuries—may be caused by jerking the weights.

When such injuries occur, use the R.I.C.E. method of treating the swelling and inflammation:

• Rest—stop what you are doing and rest the affected area.
• Ice—wrap some ice in a towel (never put ice directly on the skin) and place it on the wounded area for 15-20 minutes, 3-4 times a day.
• Compress—wrap the injured area snugly, but not too tight, with an elastic bandage.
• Elevate—raise the injured area to help reduce swelling.

Resistance training has many benefits and can be a healthy and rewarding pursuit, but you need to pay attention to pain and soreness and how your body responds to different exercises.  If something doesn't feel right, don’t do it----either find a different exercise to work the muscle or ask for assistance to see if you’re doing something wrong.

© 2015 TOPFIT

www.topfitonline.com

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag
Today, after a couple of active hours with Mason, I made time for a 30 minute heavy bag workout.  Overall, a rather low-key day.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Don’t be a dummy: New Year’s ‘detoxes’ are a waste of time

From a scientific standpoint, there's no good reason to do a 'detox' unless you're in rehab. No amount of juicing will atone for the health sins of 2014, and you might be doing yourself more harm than good.

It would be great if the right combination of freshly squeezed juices could make us all healthier and happier, but that just isn't the case. This isn't news: As quickly as juice cleanses have emerged as a popular diet option in recent years, scientists have emerged to debunk their usefulness.

For starters, the idea of a need for a detox -- that your body is full of things that shouldn't be there, and can be flushed out by more "natural" food and drink -- is a tad misguided. From The Telegraph:

One misconception confronted in the report is the notion that "you can lead a chemical-free life". This is clearly wrong because everything is made of chemicals, and so claims that products are "chemical-free" are not true.

A report on the Greenpeace International website states: "If someone came into your house, mixed you a cocktail of chemicals and offered it you, would you take them? Of course not.

"You wouldn't want untested chemicals in your home, your drink or your body. You don't want them but, shockingly, they're already there."

Derek Lohman, an inorganic and radio chemist, said: "If someone came into your house and offered you a cocktail of butanol, iso amyl alcohol, hexanol, phenyl ethanol, tannin, benzyl alcohol, caffeine, epigallocatchin and inorganic salts, would you take it?

"It sounds pretty ghastly. But tea is a complex mixture containing the above chemicals in concentrations that vary depending on where it is grown."

“Let’s be clear,” Edzard Ernst, emeritus professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University, told The Guardian,“there are two types of detox: one is respectable and the other isn’t...The [use outside of drug rehabilitation] is the word being hijacked by entrepreneurs, quacks and charlatans to sell a bogus treatment that allegedly detoxifies your body of toxins you’re supposed to have accumulated.”

Here's the thing: Your body is designed specifically to detoxify itself 24/7. If bad things could just build up infinitely in an otherwise healthy individual, we'd all be done for. And there's no evidence that drinking extra water or consuming certain foods speeds up this process in the least. If you've got the feeling that your kidneys aren't pulling their weight, you don't need a week of juicing -- you need to see a doctor.

But for most people, doing a detox regimen -- especially during peak New Year's Resolution season -- is about getting healthier (and usually thinner) in general, not just cutting down on dangerous "chemicals." So is there any reason to chug kale juice exclusively for a few days?

Fasting (which is what you're doing if you're living on juice, come on) can actually make it harder for your body to go about its natural "detoxing" processes. If you're eating less food, you're having fewer bowel movements -- and that's where most of the unfriendly stuff is supposed to end up. Fasting can also slow down your metabolism, so it's not a good choice for weight loss, either. And doctors warn that those in poor health shouldn't fast, so it's not a great thing to jump into after a month-long holiday binge.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to start 2015 off nice and healthy, but don't let the thrill of self-deprivation -- or misplaced trust in a high price tag -- fool you into taking the detox route. Enjoy a kale-filled smoothie for breakfast if you so desire (full disclosure: I certainly do) but remember that the best way to live a non-toxic life is to work out and eat a wide variety of foods -- not spend a week slurping down beet juice.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike
Today I made time for a fantastic hike on the Jacksonville Forest Park trails.  Lots of brisk hiking, a hill climb challenge, and even time spent just sitting at the top of Upper Twin Peaks enjoying an awe inspiring Shinrin-Yoku experience.  Plus a little time whittlin' on a hikin' stick I picked up along the way.

The hazy view from the top of Upper Twin Peaks.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Weight Loss or Fat Loss?

When it comes to weight loss, the scale isn’t telling you the whole story.  The scale is an important tool in tracking progress, as is a measuring tape, but they don’t tell you how much of your loss is fat and how much is muscle.  In order to know if your weight loss has been primarily fat loss, you need to know your bodyfat percentage preferably from skin fold calipers, hydrostatic weighing or DEXA.

I’ve encountered too many people who are proud that they’ve reached their “ideal” weight, but more often than not they achieved it through unhealthy diets.  If they exercised at all, they probably only did aerobic/cardiovascular exercise and left out resistance training.  The result is a loss of muscle mass and they still have an unhealthy bodyfat percentage that can potentially be higher than it was before they started the diet.

When a caloric deficit is created through diet and aerobic exercise, the body will probably lose weight.  Unfortunately, your body would much rather shed muscle than fat so you need to send a message to your body that it needs to keep the muscle it has.  The way to do this is with a properly designed resistance training program.  In addition to keeping the muscle you have, you might also build more muscle which will help you burn even more calories even while at rest.  Plus, resistance training will help increase bone density, reduce the chance of injury, lower high blood pressure, reduce the risk of diabetes, and the list just goes on and on.

So, be sure to include all of the necessary components in your weight loss program. An incomplete fitness and weight loss program will lead to incomplete and compromised results.

© 2015 TOPFIT

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Upper Table Rock Run and 1115 Pushups
Today I brought in the New Year in typical TOPFIT style.
I started with a fun run on frosty Upper Table Rock.
Then I did my annual ~January 1st Pushup Challenge~.  Using today's date (1-1-15) as my target number, I did 1115 pushups in a little less than an hour.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Making Running A Habit

Follow these 4 steps, and gradually exercise will become a no-brainer.

After a few weeks of running, you'll begin to believe that there's something to this “runner’s high” thing. Feel-good brain chemicals—like dopamine and endocannabinoids—will be released while you’re on the road, and you’ll feel so proud of what you accomplished that it will take more discipline to rest than to work out.

But until that happens, it can be hard to force yourself out the door. And relying on willpower just won’t work, experts say. “We tell ourselves we will make ourselves do it, but that puts a lot of strain on your willpower resources, and everyone’s willpower is a limited resource,” says Heidi Grant Halversorn, associate director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University’s Business School. Once your resolve gets weak—when you’re tired or stressed, and there are so many things that seem more appealing than running—willpower breaks down.

Here are some tips on how to make running a habit and make it stick from Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit. “Once exercise becomes a habit, it just feels easier,” says Duhigg, who trained for the 2012 New York City Marathon. “So when you don’t feel like doing it, it doesn’t take as much willpower.”

1. MAKE A PLAN. According to Duhigg, every habit is made up of a group of cues (e.g., time, place, mood, music, certain other people), a reward (chocolate, massage, hot shower, smoothie), and a routine (the running). So pick some cues (e.g., the most convenient time to run, the best route to take) and rewards that will incentivize you to run. Then write out a plan with the cues and rewards, and post it where you can see it. Let’s say the best time to run is morning; you’ve got an energizing music mix on your iPod; and your reward is a relaxing long, hot shower. Your plan would be: “If it’s morning, and I hear this music, I will run, because then I’ll get a long, hot shower.” Post the plan where you can see it. Try it for a week. If it doesn’t work, try changing the cues or the rewards. Get the Start Running Plan.

2. KEEP IT REGULAR. Create a prerun routine to cue your body and mind that it’s time to run, and repeat it every time you go. Always go at the same time of day. Put your workout clothes next to your bed. Put on your same workout music before you go out. “In order to make something like running into a habit, you have to have cues to trigger you, and they have to be consistent,” says Duhigg. “You’re creating neural pathways that make the activity into a habit,” he adds.

3. REWARD YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY. Right after your run, treat yourself to something you genuinely enjoy—a hot shower, a smoothie, even a small piece of dark chocolate—so your brain associates exercise with an immediate reward. “You have to get the reward right away for something to become automatic,” says Duhigg. “You can’t intellectualize your way to a reward. You have to teach the brain about reward through experience.”

4. BUILD YOUR OWN SUPPORT SYSTEM. Equip your running routine with the activities that will make you feel good about it and get you revved up to get up and go each day, says Duhigg. Meet up with friends so that the run doubles as socializing time; track your miles so that you can see the progress you’re making and the fitness improvements.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike
Today I headed out to the Jacksonville Forest Park trails and completed my 215th trail run/hike of 2014. Since I kind of beat myself up with yesterday's workout I didn't do much running today, but that's probably a good thing since the trails were either slick from ice or from mud where the ice had melted. So a fast paced hike was probably pushing my luck enough.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Could a fast-food dinner hurt your child's test scores?

Researchers find a link between what kids eat and their scores in reading, science and math.
Thinking about hitting the drive through to feed the kids tonight? You might want to think again. Those chicken nuggets and burgers might just be hurting your kids' test scores.

According to a new study published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, the more often your child eats fast food, the more likely he will be to have poor grades in school. For the study, researchers from Ohio State University compared the fast-food consumption and grades of thousands of students from fifth through eighth grades. The more burgers and fries the students ate, the worse they did on the tests.

Researchers looked at questionnaires from 11,470 kids who reported how often they ate fast food. They found that the kids who ate fast food four to six times per week scored 20 percent lower on tests than kids who said they never ate fast food.

The study found a link, but not a cause. In other words, just because the kids who ate more fast food also had lower test scores does not mean that it was the fast food that caused the poorer grades. Still, even after the researchers controlled for factors such as socioeconomic status, family background, and daily exercise, the link between the two remained.

"There's a lot of evidence that fast-food consumption is linked to childhood obesity, but the problems don't end there,” lead author Katy Purtell, an assistant professor of human sciences at Ohio State University, told Medical News Today. “Relying too much on fast food could hurt how well children do in the classroom. We're not saying that parents should never feed their children fast food, but these results suggest fast-food consumption should be limited as much as possible."

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- YEAR END TRIBUTE TO 2014
Another annual tradition is in the books!
Today I did my patented TOPFIT ~Year End Tribute to 2014~ workout.
Except for the final 14 burpees that I finished with, all exercises were done for 100 reps (not necessarily non-stop or in the following order) before moving on to another exercise. When all was said and done, I did:

burpees x 114
KB swings (20kg) x 200
chinups x 100
suspension trainer pullups x 200
pushups x 200
squats x 200
SB leg curls x 200
SB tucks x 200
SB back extensions x 200
SB crunches x 200
alternating lunges x 200

TOTAL = 2014 reps!

~Feelin' Alive!~

The High Cost of Healthcare

Time for a little rant about the high cost of healthcare, but it's not really about why the cost is so high, it's more about those people that complain about the high cost but do absolutely nothing to keep the cost down.

It seems like everyone complains that healthcare is too expensive, but they do everything in their power to plant themselves firmly in the middle of the same system that they complain so much about.

These people base their nutrition on highly processed foods full of chemical additives and artificial sweeteners with absolutely no nutritionally redeeming values.

They will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a home entertainment system so they can sit on their fat butts drinking beer and eating chips and dip for hours while they watch someone else be active. They will pay someone else to mow their lawn, do their gardening, and even walk their dog. Then they complain about their rotten health, and the cost of healthcare. When they do finally get out for some sort of activity (ahh, the weekend warrior), they are so out of shape and their bodies are so unprepared for the stresses they're put under, they inevitably end up with an injury. Of course, since their nutrition and fitness levels are so poor, their bodies don't stand a chance of healing themselves.

These people take a reactive attitude toward their healthcare rather than a proactive and preventative attitude. They abuse their bodies and then go to their doctors for the magic pill, or even surgery, to fix the damage they've done.

Time to put your time and money in perspective.

If you think you don't have time for a fitness program, think about the time you will be spending in the doctor's office (which you will undoubtedly complain about) and the time you'll spend recovering from surgery, or just laying at home miserable because of illness and injury. If you don't find time for your health and fitness now, you’ll really come up short on time at the end of your life. Find the time now to get healthy and stay healthy, and you’ll more than make up for it by living a longer and/or more functional life.

If you don't think you can afford to eat better or start a fitness program (either on your own or with the help of a trainer), think about the lost income when you have to call in sick or injured to work, or think about the cost of your medications and doctor's visits.

There are, unfortunately, too many things in life we can't control when it comes to our health, such as our genetics, accidents, etc., but so much of our health is in our hands. Start taking a more proactive and preventative approach to your health and reap the benefits.

© 2014 TOPFIT

www.topfitonline.com

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Lower Table Rock Run and Heavy Bag
I had a partially sunny run and hike up Lower Table Rock today, but as I turned to the north to return across the plateau, I was hit by a strong freezing wind that was nailing my face with icy snow. Invigorating to say the least!
Later I spent 30 mins on the heavy bag.

~Feelin' Alive!~

TOPFIT Daily Activities Review

It's been a week of fairly high volume and intensity, including:

3 heavy bag workouts
2 Jacksonville Forest Park hikes
2 Table Rock runs
1 pullup workout (weighted and bodyweight)
1 bench press workout (BBs and DBs)
1 patented ~TOPFIT 12/25~ workout

What did you do this past week to maintain and improve your fitness?

~No Challenge, No Change~

Keeping That Weight Loss Resolution

If you're one of the many Americans who plan to lose weight next year, there are a number of things you can do to improve your chances of success, an expert says.

"It should be clear by now that there is no one diet that works for everyone," Jill Ashbey-Pejoves, lead dietitian at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y., said in a hospital news release.

"The best diet is the one that works for you. Don't starve yourself or eliminate entire food groups," she advised.

If you want to lose weight, you need to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet, she said. Deprivation diets don't work because depriving yourself of something just makes you want to eat it even more.

Plan what you'll eat each day, so you won't be forced into a quick decision and make a poor choice. Pack your own lunch and snacks. Eliminate unhealthy snacks and desserts from your home and replace them with fruit, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

Track your eating habits. Doing so keeps you focused and honest and helps you plan and see what works and what doesn't.

Any weight loss effort should include exercise. A mix of aerobics, resistance training and stretching is best. Resistance workouts build muscle and muscle burns more calories. Doing only aerobics may not help you lose weight because that type of exercise stimulates appetite, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

Be sure to keep hydrated by drinking plenty of caffeine-free beverages.

Every meal should begin with a salad or broth-based vegetable soup. They help you feel full because of their high water content, but are low in calories. Many salad dressing are high in calories, so try seasoned rice vinegar instead, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

She also suggested that you use smaller plates; fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables, put out a fruit bowl, and eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Rest Day
Mind and body told me it was time for a rest day, so I spent time playing with Hailey and catching up on a few chores.....and even some relaxing.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Diabetes Prevention: What You Can Do

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently revealed that 40% of Americans will eventually develop type 2 diabetes. That means that out of every five Americans, two will end up with type 2 diabetes. This scary statistic is shocking, but not completely unexpected given our current unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical activity. It seems every decade the likelihood of developing this devastating disease continues to rise at an alarming rate. This gets even more disconcerting if you happen to be in a certain minority group -- specifically black females and all Hispanics -- as these individuals have an even higher risk of developing diabetes at 50%.

However, this unfortunate trend doesn't mean that you are doomed to get this life-altering chronic disease. While it is true that your genes play a role in your chance of getting type 2 diabetes, there are steps you can take with your lifestyle habits to help ward off this chronic disease. To help prevent the development of type 2 diabetes and the serious complications associated with this disease, including kidney failure, neuropathy (nerve damage), eye damage, skin problems (dry itchiness, fungal infections, and bacterial infections), stroke, heart disease, hearing impairment, high blood pressure and a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease, check out the tips below.

Get Active
Staying physically active improves cardiovascular health and also helps with weight control. In fact, if you are overweight or obese, losing just 10% of your current body weight can slash your odds of getting diabetes in half. Physical inactivity increases your risk for type 2 diabetes, especially if it's in the form of television watching (for every two hours of TV-watching you rack up, you raise your diabetes risk by 20%). Setting a goal of getting a minimum of 30 minutes of heart-pumping physical activity (even brisk walking counts) a day will greatly reduce your risk, and the more you exercise, the more you cut the risk of diabetes development.

Get to a Healthy Weight
Aiming for a healthy weight can significantly reduce your risk of developing diabetes because those extra pounds are the biggest cause of type 2 diabetes. Having a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25 is protective. If you're overweight (BMI of 25-29.9), you're seven times more likely to get diabetes, and if you're obese (BMI of 30 or higher), multiply that risk by 20-40 compared to a normal-weight individual. BMI does have some limitations (it's not accurate for really muscular or athletic individuals). Further studies may instead look more closely at waist circumference.

Maintain a Healthy Diet
Certain dietary measures can help decrease diabetes risk as well. Eat plenty of colorful fruits and veggies, always try to choose whole grains over refined-grain foods (diets rich in whole grains have been associated with diabetes prevention), cut out sugar-laden beverages, consume healthy fats (nuts, seeds, olive oil, canola oil, fatty fish), and cut back on processed meats and red meats, which are linked to an increased diabetes risk.

Don't Smoke
Smoking doubles your risk of getting diabetes.

Get Quality Sleep
Aim for a solid night's sleep void of interruptions. Disrupting your body's "internal clock" with irregular sleep patterns, nocturnal lighting (put away those smartphones, people), and unusual meal or snack times can increase your risk for diabetes because of the effects on your hormones.

Several things you can't control: Your genes and your age (getting older increases the risk). Genetics do have a big influence on your likelihood of developing diabetes, but you can certainly take steps to affect those factors that you can control, because lifestyle choices have a larger impact. Need some more good news? Research has found that those who do develop diabetes are living longer lives, likely due to improved treatment options.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag
I had a fairly relaxing day today and only made time for a 30 minute heavy bag workout.

~Feelin' Alive!~

For some people, exercise could be an effective treatment for depression

We all know about the many magical effects of exercise: regularly breaking a sweat lowers your cardiovascular disease risk, staves off Alzheimer's, boosts your energy, and improves your sleep quality.

Now, there's a growing body of research that suggests exercise might help alleviate depression, working just as well for some people as medication. Here's what you need to know:

1) Exercise performs about the same as antidepressants — with some caveats
The data on exercise and depression is pretty consistent: exercise is better than no intervention, and seems to be at least as good as antidepressants.

Systematic reviews — syntheses of all the best-available research on a given topic — are considered the gold standard of medical evidence. The most exhaustive review on depression and exercise looked at 39 studies that involved 2,326 people.

Researchers found that exercise worked better than no therapy at reducing symptoms of depression. And studies also showed that exercise performed about the same as antidepressants and psychological therapies.

But these conclusions were based on small or limited studies. "There is a mild to moderate association between exercise and improvements to depression symptoms," said the review's lead author, Dr. Gary Cooney. "But when you look at the best-quality evidence alone, this association is weaker."

In other words, the higher quality randomized trials, for example, found less convincing results on the role exercise plays in alleviating depression. So Dr. Cooney said we know more and better data on the question.

For now, the biological mechanism by which exercise works on depressed people — if it truly works — is also unclear. Is it the changes in brain chemistry or endorphin levels from exercise that lifts depressive symptoms or the feeling that people have more control over their lives when they're exercising? "There are a variety of theories," said Dr. Cooney, "and these are speculative."

2) We may not see better evidence for exercise and depression any time soon
Exercise gets less attention and funding from the research community than drugs, which have to go through lots of study to gain FDA approval.

"The total amount of studies on exercise and depression is nowhere near how many there are on antidepressants. But antidepressants are studied by the pharmaceutical industry, which is a business," said Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, a professor and researcher at UT Southwestern. "There's no comparable advocacy group for studying exercise."

To truly figure out to what exercise helps people with depression would require a big, long-term study — and lots of funding, said Dr. Trivedi.

"As a society, if we wanted to answer the question, we would need to invest in a large cohort study of people and follow them for 20 years. We'd need to find people who are at risk of depression based on family history or other risk factors, and follow them for many years." But he hasn't been able to get funding for such a study.

3) It's difficult to know how to prescribe exercise
The researchers pointed out that, while the data are promising, there are still many uncertainties in this area which make prescribing exercise tricky.

Which exercises should patients try and for how long? "Definitions of exercise can be a little controversial too. Is yoga exercise for example?" Dr. Cooney said.

Then there's the question of how you'd get depressed people to exercise. When people are depressed, they're often fatigued. Some have trouble getting out of bed. Even getting them started on a workout routine could be a challenge.

"There was a lot of skepticism about whether people who are really depressed are going to exercise," said Dr. James Blumenthal, a professor of psychiatry and researcher at Duke University. "We did two big studies at Duke and found the majority of people, at least if they thought it was going to be beneficial, would do the exercise, about three times a week for 30 to 35 minutes a session."

For now, Dr. Trivedi suggested talking to your doctor about trying exercise as a treatment option.

But, he said, "Don't do this without guidance form a physician. While sometimes effective, it doesn't work for everybody. So if you start to exercise on your own and not under guidance of a physician and it's not working, you will be in trouble."

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike
Although I was itching to run, since I had such a high volume and high intensity day yesterday, I played it smart and had a relaxing, moderate intensity 2+ hour hike on the J-Ville Forest Park trails today.  I even stopped a few times to experience Shinrin-Yoku at its finest.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Four Nutrition Myths That Are Bad For Your Health

We all want to eat well and choose the healthiest eating plans, but separating nutrition fact from fiction can be tricky. Here are some persistent nutrition myths I often hear from friends, family and even the media, along with the facts to clear the air.

1. Raw Foods are Always Healthier than Cooked Foods
While raw foods are full of vitamins, minerals and plant compounds that promote good health, some nutrients are more bioavailable when cooked. Lycopene, the carotenoid that gives tomatoes their red color, is absorbed three to four times better when cooked. Tomato sauce, tomato paste, tomato soup and even tomato ketchup deliver more lycopene to the body than raw tomatoes. Kale is a rich source of beta-carotene and fat-soluble vitamins A and K, and all of these nutrients are more available to the body in cooked kale compared with raw kale. And the lutein in carrots, the compound that promotes healthy eyes and vision, is better absorbed in cooked carrots.

Cooking also makes proteins in meat and fish more easily digested, and let’s face it, meat or fish smells and tastes a lot better when cooked than it does in the raw state. Lastly, cooking helps destroy harmful bacteria that may lurk in foods. So, enjoy raw foods as part of a healthy eating plan, but remember that cooked foods have their merits.

2. All Processed Foods are Bad
If you think all processed foods are bad, put down your morning cup of coffee, tea or almond milk, as all of these morning favorites are processed foods. When talking about processed foods, most people think of foods that contain excessive added sugars, fats and sodium while contributing few healthful nutrients. Those types of packaged foods are not healthy, but processed foods aren’t all bad.

Baby carrots are processed, as are the kid-friendly apple slices sold in the produce section. And while bagged salads are more expensive, who hasn’t enjoyed the convenience of bagged produce when time is tight? Recent research from the American Institute for Cancer Research suggests that new methods of processing to enhance the absorption of the good stuff in plant foods could be used to fight some cancers. So, instead of painting all processed foods as “bad,” differentiate between the processed foods that supply healthful nutrients versus those that contain too much sugar, fat and sodium.

3. Natural Foods are Always Healthier
The word “natural” conjures visions of fresh-picked blueberries or juice from freshly squeezed oranges. Too bad “natural” is a marketing buzzword that is not defined by the Food and Drug Administration. Some manufacturers use the word natural to make you believe a food is more healthful when in fact it is high in calories, fat or sugar.

For example, some candy is sold as natural because it contains agave nectar or honey, but to the body sugar is sugar no matter the source, so that doesn’t make “natural” candy more healthful. Snack foods are also being touted as natural. Potato chips with the peel left on the potato before being fried into a chip are not more healthful than other chips. So, save your money on packaged foods touting to be “natural” and instead snack on truly natural foods like fruits, veggies and nuts.

4. All Sugar Should be Eliminated
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently recommended that we cut our sugar intake from 10% of calories to 5% of calories. That equates to about 6 teaspoons of sugar or 25 grams per day. Sugar that occurs naturally, like in milk or fruit, is packaged with many other nutrients, so focus on reducing added sugars but don’t worry about the few grams of sugar in milk or fresh fruit.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- The ~TOPFIT 12/25 Workout~, an Upper Table Rock Run, and Heavy Bag
Holiday Hat Trick
I got my day started with a variation of my patented ~TOPFIT 12/25 Workout~......12 supersets x 25 reps each of jump pullups and ring pushups.  After some much needed recovery time, I followed that with a fun run on Upper Table Rock.  And later in the afternoon, since I still had some energy left, I spent 30 mins on the heavy bag.

www.topfitonline.com

~Feelin' Alive!~

What 2,000 Calories Looks Like

The nation’s largest restaurant chains have made a big deal in recent years about introducing smaller portion sizes. McDonald’s eliminated the Supersize menu, while T.G.I. Friday’s and others have introduced small-plate items. Yet the restaurants have also been doing something else, with less fanfare: continuing to add dishes so rich that a single meal often contains a full day’s worth of calories.

Here, we show you what roughly 2,000 calories looks like at some large chains. (Depending on age and gender, most adults should eat between 1,600 and 2,400 calories a day.) Researchers have long understood that people are more likely to finish what’s on their plate than to stop eating because they've consumed a given amount of food. It’s “the completion compulsion,” a phrase coined in the 1950s by the psychologist Paul S. Siegel. Combine that compulsion with the rising number of restaurant meals Americans eat and the substance of those meals, and you start to understand why we've put on so much weight. But there is some good news: As you’ll see below, it’s not so hard to eat bountifully and stay under 2,000 calories. It’s just hard to do so at most restaurants.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag
After a couple days of high/med volume and intensity, I kept things fairly simple today with a 30 min heavy bag workout.

Gymboss Interval Timer

The GYMBOSS can be used as a repeating interval timer, countdown timer or a stopwatch.  I use it myself and with clients for an endless number of workouts including timing rounds on the heavy bag, Tabatas, and for my patented ~Turkey Burn~ and ~RAT~ workouts.

~Feelin' Alive!~

5 Healthy Winter Vegetables

Do you know which vegetables are best to eat? There's no right or wrong answer as ALL vegetables are nutritional superstars. They are rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals and antioxidants, and it’s best to eat a wide range of vegetables that cover a wide spectrum of colors—red, orange, yellow, green and purple. More colors equals more antioxidants, each one working to reduce inflammation, support detoxification pathways, and reduce your risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But the very best vegetables are the ones that are in season. Choosing these vegetables is better for the planet (locally grown) and for your wallet (less expensive), and is more nutritious.

The winter season is all about warm, dense, comforting foods that support your immune system. In the cold months, our bodies naturally crave heartier foods—soups, stews and chili. Incorporating winter vegetables into these dishes is easy and we recommend making large batches of whatever you are cooking so it can last you the whole week.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike and Pullups
Since yesterday was a fairly high volume and intensity day, I reduced the intensity a bit today (pretty much kept the volume up though).  I started with a 2 hr hike on the J-Ville Forest Park trails and followed that with a workout of weighted and bodyweight pullups (standard and with the suspension trainer).

~Feelin' Alive!~

The 10-Second Trick That Can Help You Lose Weight

There are plenty of arguments that advocate throwing away the bathroom scale, but a new study suggests daily weigh-ins may be a key component to weight loss.

The study, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE and conducted by Elina Helander and co-authors from Tampere Univeristy of Technology in Finland, sampled 2,838 weight observations from 40 people attending a health program and found that when people weighed themselves daily they tended to lose weight, while taking breaks from daily weigh-ins for longer than one month led to weight gain in certain cases.

This isn't the first time the odds have been in favor of the bathroom scale.

"Get out of bed, use the bathroom, then step on the scale. Every day," personal trainer Marshall Roy advised in an article for Be Well Philly earlier this year. "It will give you a very reliable baseline and daily data point. It will fluctuate a little bit day to day, but when you look at all the numbers over the course of a week or month, trends will be obvious."

And a University of Minnesota study, cited by Prevention magazine, surveyed 1,800 dieting adults and found that people who weighed themselves every day lost about 12 pounds over the course of two years, while people who weighed themselves every week lost only 6 pounds.

So if weight loss is one of your New Year's resolutions, be advised: The scale may be a better friend than you thought.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Lower Table Rock Run and Bench Press
Today I picked up the volume and intensity a bit and started with a Lower Table Rock run, followed by a workout of BB bench presses and DB alternating bench presses.

www.topfitonline.com

~Feelin' Alive!~

TOPFIT Daily Activities Review

I kind of kept things a bit lighter this past week and only made time for aerobic/cardio based activities.  I had a fairly even mix of low, medium and high intensity activities which included:

4 trail runs/hikes (divided fairly evenly between running and hiking)
2 heavy bag workouts
1 x-trainer workout

What did you do this past week for your health and fitness?

~No Challenge, No Change~