The Fitness Guru

Welcome to our new section, Weighing In… where we will take a look at gadgets and trends and let you know why you may or may not be interested. Though not intended as ironic, our inaugural gadget happens to be a scale…..

WiThings WiFi Body Scale

Cost: $159

Concept: This small “scale” will not only read your weight, but it will also calculate your BMI, body fat percentage and lean muscle mass percentage. Then it will connect with Twitter and publish your weight.

Pros:

• Allows you to track your progress on a private web site and connect with others, in the event you are working with a support group to lose weight.
• There is also “personalized multi-user monitoring” in the event more than one person is using the scale.

Cons:

• Fat percentage is gauged by a method called bioelectrical impedance, which has many variables that effect accuracy. The very best method of establishing body fat percentage is a submersion tank.
• Though the scale will establish your BMI (Body Mass Index), that is a less-than-perfect gauge of weight-related health as it doesn’t distinguish between “fat weight” and “muscle weight”.
• Publish my weight on Twitter? Not an attractive option.

Verdict: A lot of bells and whistles for a scale. If it motivates people to team up to lose weight and track it over the internet, then I think it is a worthwhile investment. I would stick with a traditional scale and simply send my buddies an email.

How do you know when it’s time to make a decision?

“How can I lose this weight? I don’t get it.”

“Are you eating healthy? Exercising regularly?”

“Well……kinda…….but, I mean, come on…….”

Riddle me this:

Let’s say your driving off for a weekend’s retreat. For New Yorkers, I will use the Hamptons as the example. So it’s Friday afternoon and you set off and drive for a while. You get to about exit 38 on the Long Island Expressway and all of the sudden you get the urge to sit in this really wonderful chair in your living room back in the city. It’s a nice chair, so soft and comfortable, and, damn it, you should sit in it. So you turn around, wrestle traffic and drive back to the city so that you can sit in the chair for a couple of minutes.

Pretty stupid, right?

So why the HELL, if you are trying to lose pounds and inches and get “healthy”, do you keep reaching for sugar-free muffin tops and low fat pudding and frozen pizza with half the calories? Why would you go to the trouble of getting in the car and driving, dealing with idiot drivers and traffic congestion, only to turn around and go home– all to sit in a chair?

Honestly, I have no interest in the Hamptons, but if you’re going to go, go! Enough with the chair and enough with the indecisiveness. There will be lots of chairs for you in Montauk but you have to get there first!

And if you do decide to sit the chair, great! Enjoy the chair! But don’t complain about how long it took you to get to the beach.

Rock on.

How many calories should you consume in one day in order to lose weight? The Fitness Guru tackles this question in his latest podcast.

The Fitness Guru

 

www.fitnessgurunyc.com

The Fitness Guru

 

www.fitnessgurunyc.com

Start getting in to the rhythm and bookmark the Games Page! Today’s task should only take a few minutes– and all the will power you can muster! It’s five quick, but not-so-easy, points!! Good luck!!

It’s enough to make Gidget, the Taco Bell Chihuahua, roll over in her grave (RIP July 21, 2009). Desperate to both cash in on the Resolution Weight Loss Fervor, and fearful that the Fervor may cut into their market share for the first six weeks of the year, Taco Bell has inflicted Christine, the TB Weight Loss Heroine, on an otherwise unsuspecting public. According to the company, Christine, 27 years old, lost 54 pounds by eating at Taco Bell 5-8 times per week, selecting items off their Fresca menu which replaces certain high calorie ingredients with lower calorie ones. But fear not– it’s still the same burrito.

Taco Bell is quick to say that this is not intended as a weight loss program, though they use the word “diet” repeatedly.

My opinion: it reminds me of my friend Cathy who went on the frozen yogurt diet our sophomore year of college. SHe lost a lot of weight by only eating frozen yogurt. Weight loss? Yes. Because she is altering her caloric intake. Healthy? No.If you cut your caloric intake you will lose weight– in the short run. But the only healthy means of weight loss is creating a life style that can carry you for…..well, a lifetime. The people who repeatedly go to Taco Bell will start to move away from the Fresca menu because the other options are so readily available, though I am sure that hasn’t occurred to the marketing department at Taco Bell. They are only interested in a healthy America.

It also reminds me of the old “parrot” skit from Monty Python. Guy walks in with a dead parrot, store owner denies it’s dead. You can say the fast food is healthier but that still don’t make it healthy.

Someone wandered into my office the other day with a copy of the be-all, end-all exercise plan that would revolutionize the industry and the way that people lose weight. The “Metabolic-Super-Burn-olious-Booty-tastic-Wonder-Sweat-o Maxi-Core-rrific!” was simple enough to fit on a page and a half of letter sized paper. The idea was that if you work really, REALLY hard until you can’t work, then take a break, then work really, REALLY hard again (then wash, rinse and repeat), the pounds would just come dripping off. I tried very hard to match my visitor’s excitement but, alas, I just couldn’t do it. The only thing that seemed original in this thinking was the title of the workout. The rest was a re-hashed replay of the same ol’, same ol’ gimmicks. And it does get so tiring, particularly for the consumers out there who are spending billions and billions of dollars in the hopes that someone, ANYONE will give them an answer.

I have the answer.

But you’re going to have to sit through the story first.

Once upon a time, many, many years ago, I had a little pit bull named Adobe. I adopted Adobe while traveling cross country and, when we returned to New York, over a period of time, I started to notice that Adobe was putting on pounds. She was becoming a very heavy little city dog. So being the fitness guy (not yet “Guru”- that would come later), I would go out every day with her. We would travel to a large field near my apartment and there, I would throw a ball over and over and over again. Adobe would run and get the ball and bring it back, just as monay times as I threw it, until eventually she was so tired that she would take the ball to the furthest crner of the field and lie down, certain that there would be no way for me to throw it again. But even with all that running, she wasn’t losing a pound.

I took her to the vet. Maybe it was a glandular problem……maybe she needed canine lipo……..I was starting to get concerned. I told the vet the story of the ball and the field and she told me this: the dog will never lose weight like that. Chasing a ball is a mundane task. No matter how hard she pushes herself, she will never really be involved in the act. She, and all dogs for that matter, will get far more “exercise” by sitting perfectly still in the backyard and processing the millions of smells that come across the lawn. Her brain needs to be active to get her metabolism going, not just her body.

( light bulb)

So you mean if the dog is involved in some meaningless repetitive act, even if it seems she is working hard, she will never boost her metabolism? But…..wouldn’t…….that be the same for…….people?

And that, my friends, is the secret. Your brain has to be involved. You can’t log your thirty minutes on the elliptical machine while you watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians and expect your body to respond. The key element of ALL these gimmicks is that they all give you something new on which to concentrate. The programs that develop results are based on giving you continued stimuli so that you must constantly adjust and react. The titles of these gimmicks– simply advertising and marketing. Some have so little substance that you won’t be able to concentrate through one entire workout. But concentration is key for results.

That factor is what makes a quality trainer. If you went into your accountant’s office and discussed the baseball game for an hour, never touching on financials, how would that make you feel? If your mechanic talked about the newest restaurant he visited, but never mentioned your carborator, would that be money well spent? But how many times have you visited the gym and seen a trainer, glassy-eyed, staring into space, or regaling a client with tales of a recent adventure at bars in the West Village? Too many times. Quality teachers and quality trainers, supply you with a constantly evolving source of information, creating a dynamic for you between your brain and your body that is essential to attaining and maintaining results.

So, as we gear up for health and fitness Silly Season (that blissful time between the first Thanksgiving whiskey and the last New Year’s Eve glass of champagne), please remember: when you take those few valuable minutes, be present for the event. Vegging out, though fun, won’t necessarily prove as productive as you would like it to be.

And Adobe did lose the weight. And become extraordinarily proficient at crossword puzzles.

Cold and flu season is on us, and in a big way. Every day I get a note from a friend who has to some sort of ear, nose and/or throat illness. Aside from donning HazMat suits on public transportation and refusing to shake hands with everyone you come across, a great way to maintain your health and well being is by feeding yourself foods that will help boost your immune system. Here are a few options. Try to add one or more of them to your daily menu.

Kiwi:
Momma always said to eat oranges when you feel a cold coming on. Though the prevention benefits of Vitamin C are debatable, increasing your intake can lessen the severity and duration of a cold. Ounce for ounce, kiwis have twice the Vitamin C of oranges and are also one of the fruits least likely to be contaminated with pesticides. Grab citrus when you can, but seek out the kiwis for a nice alternative.

Tea:
Black and green teas contain catechins which work against free radicals in the body, as well as theanine which helps boost the immune system. Get rid of the soda and seltzer and have two or three cups of tea daily to boost your health.

Garlic:
In addition to its antioxidant properties, garlic is a great antibacterial and antiviral compound. It can help fight the stress-induced cold. A good friend recommended piercing a clove with a fork and, with the garlic speared on the end, scrambling eggs for breakfast. The result is a delicious, ultra-healthy twist on your morning meal.

Ginger:
My personal favorite- when I start to feel that cold coming on, I make a hot tea with a piece of raw ginger and then add a little fresh lemon juice. It brings a great deal of relief. Studies have found that it is immune system boosting as well as possessing antimicrobial and antiviral properties.

Oysters:
Zinc is important to a healthy immune system, aiding white blood cells in battling viruses and bacteria, and one medium oyster contains all the zinc you’ll need for one day. Oysters: they aren’t just for romance anymore.

Mushrooms:
Mushrooms are fantastic for a healthy immune system and the very best are reishi, shiitake and maitake. Two properties of mushrooms, selenium and beta glucan, are major weapons in your nutritional fight against the flu this season, as both help to clean sickness out of the system.

So there’s your quick list. The best call is the oyster-mushroom garlic-infused frittata, side of kiwi, and a cup of ginger green tea. So make your way to grocery store and stock up now. And don’t forget the Purell.

Kale Salad that rocks my world

Jason and I eat this twice a week. My best friend, Melissa, a holistic health counselor, shared it with us. Says she got it from a really good restaurant in Park Slope. A fine example of how super-tasty things aren’t always fatty!

1 head of Kale
Pecorino Romano (or similar)
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Red Pepper Flakes

De-stem the kale and chop it up. Add a little grated cheese, 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, juice from one lemon and a few shakes of red pepper flakes. Mix it up. Eat it up. Yum. (no need for salt because the cheese has some in it. Add pepper if you so desire.)

Kale is unbelievably good for you. Stay trim and nourish yourself with disease-fighting, age-defying antioxidants and…..it will kepp you regular if you know what I mean.

Enjoy!

True story: when I lived in Westchester, I had a friend, Carol, who was a very determined member of the local PTA. One year, Carol decided to overhaul the school’s lunch program. It was a mess in terms of nutrition, but perhaps no better or worse than any other program in the country. One of the big debates was over French Fries on the menu five days a week as a vegetable. Sitting from my lofty mountain top, it seems like an insane debate: let’s call fries a veggie and feed them to our kids Monday thru Friday. Of course they’re vegetables, not in the traditional nutritious sense. But nonetheless, Carol had quite the battle on her hands.

In the end, after many, many weeks of pushing and prying and coxing, Carol was able to convince the school system to cut back to serving Fries two days a week, Tuesday and Thursday. At the end of the first semester of the new menu changes, the kitchen got back to her with the numbers: since the Fries were cut back from five days to two a week, the kitchen had to increase their purchase of fries to 150% the amount of the previous semester. In other words, the kitchen was now buying and processing more French Fries than it had when they were on the menu five days a week. And not a slight increase but an increase of 50%. Why?

It seems that the children, ever vigilant, had realized that the fries were only going to be served on Tuesdays and Thursday and would horde fries on those days. It was as though they felt they had to reach a frie quota and they were now under the gun to hit that number. Fortunately, the resourceful little tykes outdid themselves.

The moral of the story? Ya got me.

Here are some great stories out there for this week:

• From the good folks at Men’s Health, some quick ideas in the kitchen to help get you ripped up and in shape.
• The Ten Ingredient Shopping Trip
• And from Women’s Health: 11 Most Common Running Mistakes
• Exercise your way to a Better Sex Life
• Stretching in Bed
• President Obama’s Personal Battle Against Cigarettes
• Debunking Myths About Warm Ups and Eggs