Retune the Body with a Partial Fast

by Patricia Neighmond

For thousands of years, beginning with philosophers like Hippocrates, Socrates and Plato, fasting was recommended for health reasons. The Bible writes that Moses and Jesus fasted for 40 days for spiritual renewal.

To understand how the body reacts to a lack of food, you could start by looking at what happens to newborns. Newborns can’t sleep through the night because they need to eat every few hours. They don’t produce enough glycogen, the body’s form of stored sugar, to make energy.

“Glycogen is necessary for thinking; it’s necessary for muscle action; it’s necessary just for the cells to live in general,” says Dr. Naomi Neufeld, an endocrinologist at UCLA.

Neufeld says most adults need about 2,000 calories a day. Those calories make energy, or glycogen. Neufeld says it doesn’t hurt — it might even help the body — to fast or stop eating for short periods of time, say 24 hours once a week, as long as you drink water.

“You re-tune the body, suppress insulin secretion, reduce the taste for sugar, so sugar becomes something you’re less fond of taking,” Neufeld says.

Eventually the body burns up stored sugars, or glycogen, so less insulin is needed to help the body digest food. That gives the pancreas a rest. On juice diets recommended by some spas, you may lose weight, but your digestive system doesn’t get that rest.
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The Quest: Going to the Gym 100 Days in a Row- Day 47

by Travis Wright

On December 7th, 2007, a brand-new 24 Hour Fitness opened up in my neighborhood, and I decided that I would join the gym. Well, I have gone every day in a row, except Christmas Day, which it was closed. However, I didn’t know it was closed, so I “went” to the gym anyway. But nonetheless, I have been 47 days in a row, which to me is a major accomplishment.

As a result of being in the technology industry, I find myself sitting behind a computer much of the time. Factor in some Mountain Dew, and Mr. Travis Wright had gained some serious weight. Well, this is all changing. I figure that going to the gym 100 days in a row will be a nice jump start in becoming a person who ALWAYS works out. Instead of being a sedentary person with little physical activity, I choose to be one who works out and stays fit.

Now, also I have changed my diet habits a bit, which is obviously important if you are trying to drop a few pounds. I am eating smaller portions and trying to eat more frequently. Eating breakfast was always a challenge for me, but I am doing a good job of, at least, drinking a Slim Fast shake of some kind.

Since I have been to the gym for 47 days in a row, thus far, I have lost 16.5 pounds. This is very encouraging.

Also, when I go to the gym, I don’t do the same workout everyday. Every other day, I will do chest and back. The other, every other day, heh, I do biceps and triceps. At least five days a week, I will do 30 minutes of cardio on the ellipitical machine. And almost EVERY time I go to the gym, I go into the steam room for some toxin relief. Boy, you sure sweat your ass off in the steam room, and I love it.

The unique benefits of a steam room have become increasingly popular in modern society. The physiology of perspiration includes how sweating helps rid the body of wastes, regulates body temperature, and invigorates our largest organ, the skin. The metabolic effects of a steam room, the positive influence of negative ions released by steam, and the more subtle spiritual and social benefits of the steam experience all contribute to a heightened sense of well-being. Medical studies show that frequent visits to the steam room helps reduce stress and keep your circulatory system running smooth. I recommend it.

It is really hard for me to imagine myself NOT going to the gym, now. I think after 47 days in a row, that I have already trained my body to yearn for the gym. It is my intention to never become a sedentary couch-computer dweller ever again. I must move. I must work out. And it feels phenomenal. I highly recommend getting yourself on the path of positive change, and getting yourself in peak physical fitness. The rewards are endless. Unfortunately, not all the people who join you in the steam room will look like those in the above picture.

22 Ways to Never Feel Tired Again

by Nancy Rones

Every day, 2.2 million Americans complain of being tired. Most of us chalk it up to having too much to do and not enough time to do it in, especially during extra-busy periods. But often the true culprits are our everyday habits: what we eat, how we sleep, and how we cope emotionally. Read on for some simple, recharging changes that can help you tackle all of the energy stealers in your life.

Energize Your Diet

Why is it that filling up on pasta or Chinese food for lunch leaves us snacky and sleepy an hour later? Or that falling short on fluids makes us forgetful and foggy? Fact is, eating habits play a powerful role in how well we function on every level. Below, six top fatigue-fighting nutrition strategies to chew on.

1. Have breakfast… even if you don’t feel hungry. You’ll be a lot perkier: Studies show that people who eat breakfast feel better both mentally and physically than those who skip their morning meal. British researchers at Cardiff University even found that spooning up a bowl of breakfast cereal every morning is associated with lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

2. Eat every three to four hours. Having three smallish meals and two snacks throughout the day can keep your blood sugar and energy levels stable all day long, says Roberta Anding, R.D., a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Note the word “smallish.” Supersized meals demand more of your energy to digest, which can leave you feeling lethargic. Read more

Tap Water vs. Bottled Water – Which Should You Drink?

Glug, glug, glug–that’s the sound a ginormous number of us make as we sip bottled water in our cars, at the gym, behind our desks. The sound you DON’T hear is the thwack of 60 million bottles a day being tossed into U.S. landfills, where they can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.

If that’s not enough to turn your conscience a brighter shade of green, add this: Producing those bottles burns through 1.5 million barrels of crude oil annually–enough fuel to keep 100,000 cars running for a year. Recycling helps but reusing is even better. Invest in a couple of portable, dishwasher-safe, stainless steel bottles like Klean Kanteens that won’t leach nasty chemicals into your water. (Don’t get into the habit of refilling the water bottle you just emptied; the polyethylene terephthalate it’s made of breaks down with multiple usings.)

4 REASONS TO TURN ON THE TAP

1. Tap water is tested daily
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, water suppliers are required to provide an annual report on the quality of your local water and to test tap water daily. By comparison, the FDA examines bottled water only weekly, and consumers can’t get the agency’s results. You can easily get the lowdown on your state’s drinking water quality at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html

2. Tap water is a bargain
Bottled water costs about 500 times more than tap. If you’re into really fancy labels, up to 1,000 times more.
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