The Fitness Guru

As you kick back with your cup of coffe this morning, check out some of these top stories from the week in health and fitness.

Tiny tattoos could help diabetics ditch needles-Scientists are starting to test a kind of high-tech tattoo that changes color with rising blood sugar levels

Buying Cigarettes and Stop-Smoking Aids from the Same Company?- Conflict of interest? Ponzi scheme? What are they up to?

The Best Exercises for Healthy Bones- Where do cycling and running rank?

Would you drink Coke or Pepsi for breakfast?- It’s hard to believe but maybe that glass of juice for breakfast isn’t all that great for you…..

Should Parents of Obese Kids Lose Custody?- Is it reasonable to remove children from parents’ care if the paretns can’t help them maintain reasonable and healthy weight goals?

More fun with studies. Sometimes I wonder what I would have blogged about years ago when there wasn’t such easy access to all of these studies.
First, I find out that the average American is consuming a pound of sugar per week. That didn’t really come as a surprise, as you can’t quite reach for anything on the shelves at the supermarket without somehow coming in contact with some form of sugar. Next, soda erodes tooth enamel. Again, not a shocker– the dentist and my mom have both been saying that for four decades. Then a scorcher that liquid calories do far more damage to our weight than food. So I am getting a little nervous, but I am still keeping it under control.

As I was working with clients this morning, two in a row asked me about their drinking habits. By drinking habits, I am referring to non-alcoholic beverages, not whatever you may be downing during a hard core Monday night session of “Drinking with the Stars.” Both of my clients, very intelligent gentlemen, told me that they didn’t enjoy water but instead chose to drink a) sodas and b) Jamba Juices.

I have caught a great deal of flack in the past for suggesting to people that they drink half their body weight in ounces of water per day (200 lb man would drink 100 oz of water per day). Some of my colleagues feel that amount is too high, that it should be more like 30 to 40 ounces. My answer, with a wave of the hand, is “whatever!” The fact is that we as a population do not drink enough water. Not even close. And, worse yet, we replace water with drinks like soda and juices, packing on the calories and doing all sorts of crazy things to our ability to process sugar. It just isn’t healthy.

The downside is that water just isn’t exciting. Funny enough, there are many people who make livings finding ways of making diet sodas exciting to drink. They create formulas that almost dare you to stop drinking. And, consequently, it becomes a habit that wreaks havoc on your health.
So here is what you do:

• For every serving you have of whatever you are used to drinking, have a glass of water.
• Keep water near you while you are at work, or watching TV. If it is within arms length, you will drink it.
• Make your water more exciting. Add fresh lemons, limes, cucumbers, anything you like to make the taste more intriguing. (I know where you are going with this– that does not mean going to the store and buying flavored water. Avoid the laboratory water. Make your own.)
• For the first couple of weeks, keep track of how much you are drinking daily.

The results will be tremendous. You will lose weight, feel more vital, look more vital and allow your body to function far more efficiently.

Here is a great article straight out of Texas. The faculty and students at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Brownsville have organized a farmers’ market to help fight an obesity epidemic in the community. So we at the Guru salute Belinda Reininger, the organizer of the market, for taking that bull by the horns and creating a healthy alternative to prescription medications for obesity and all its complications.