Posts filed under 'Fitness'
“Fat” vs “obese”
I wouldn’t want to be Anne Milton’s publicist. The public health minister for England recently gave her personal opinion that doctors and health professionals should call patients ”fat” instead of “obese” since the word “fat” is more likely to motivate them to lose weight.
2 comments July 30, 2010
Cruel summer
How do you beat the heat in the summer? My plan of attack usually involves taking dips in the pool, sipping sangria and otherwise staying indoors with the AC blasting and as for exercise, I run as early as I can manage getting up in the morning to avoid the blazing midday temps (I love my sleep but I hate sweating even more).
I certainly never would’ve thought of doing Bikram yoga as a strategy–choosing to go drip with sweat in a place even hotter than outdoors? Yikes.
Add comment July 29, 2010
Nice rack
Thanks to The Chic Storm for bringing the Wine Rack to Health & Swellness’s attention — here’s the solution for you ladies who don’t want bling when it comes to your sports bra, but have been hunting for one that’ll help you tote around your booze.
Add comment July 28, 2010
Get in gear
Have a race coming up? I always find fresh new gear gets me even more excited for the race–after all, you want to rock those official race photos, dontcha? Just make sure to test it out during your training beforehand (don’t want any friction catching you by surprise on race day!).
I’m loving the new LiveStrong collection, which made its’ debut in Canada this month. The pieces allow you to show your support and help empower those affected by cancer, and it all coordinates, natch, with that iconic yellow Livestrong wristband.
P.S. You’ve still got a few more days to submit your own message of hope to the custom Chalkbot at www.nike.com/livestrong, which will write your inspirational note in yellow chalk along the Tour de France route–get to it!
3 comments July 22, 2010
Screen time
Those hours you spend poring over clothing on Net-A-Porter and Gilt may bring about having to order a bigger clothing size–and not just thanks to being sedentary.
It seems that time in front of your computer screen can make you crave chocolate, says new research from the University of Copenhagen. The women in the study who did a task on a computer consumed an extra 230 calories compared to women who just kicked back during the same amount of time. The researchers believe that the mental stress of the computer work may trigger changes in blood sugar and hormone levels that trick the brain into thinking it has worked off lots of calories that need replaced.
Add comment July 16, 2010
Number crunching
Want to start training using a HRM? You can now use your Nike+ Sportband (or Sportkit) to monitor your heart rate using the new Polar WearLink+
Get out your calculators, ladies, cuz it might just help make your workouts easier.
How’s that? Researchers at Northwestern Medical have found that the long-standing formula for calculating maximum heart rate (subtracting your age from 220) is inaccurate for women, resulting in a heart rate that is too high.
Meaning you may have a good reason for huffing and puffing away and being too exhausted to maintain the heart rate your personal trainer’s been pushing you to maintain.
The new recalibrated formula from the Chicago researchers for calculating a women’s max heart rate? 206 minus 88 percent of your age.
Add comment July 8, 2010
The Reluctant Runner
A snippet of my internal monologue on Friday evening:
I should go for a run now, just a short 6k.
But I’m kind of hungry and it is dinner time. But if I eat dinner now then I’ll have to wait a bit before I head out to run, and then it’ll be dark and I don’t like running alone at night.
So I should just have a snack and then run, and have a late dinner.
But I don’t have anything proper to snack on.
So forget about running tonight, I’ll just go for a run tomorrow!
But will I really go for a run tomorrow? Yes, yes, I definitely will because I’m going to skip my run tonight so I’ll have to go tomorrow to make up for it.
But I wanted to give my eyes a break from contact lenses this weekend, and there’s no way I’m running with glasses on. So I really should run now.
But I really am hungry now, and a little tired. So why don’t I just eat dinner and run tomorrow?
Oh yeah, I wasn’t planning on wearing my contact lenses tomorrow…
And on and on it (or rather I) went, probably for about 10 minutes or so.
And in the end, what did I do? I went out for a run, reluctantly, after chowing down on a handful of tortilla chips and guacamole (I really didn’t have any proper pre-run snacks around!).
But in all honesty? The thing that really got me to pull on my runners and head out for a run? The fact that I had this maple bacon (yes, that’s bacon sprinkled on top!) cupcake from For the Love of Cake to eat that night for dessert.
And it was soo worth it.
6 comments July 7, 2010
Support system
Forget about lifting and separating. Elevating and compressing is what you want out of your sports bra especially if you’ve got a large chest, says a research study from University of Wollongong.
3 comments July 5, 2010
