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Which Would You Choose: Fruit Edition

FitSugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:36:36 -0800

Fruit is nature's candy, and there's such a huge variety that you could eat a different fruit every day for weeks. Each one offers different health benefits, so take this little quiz to see if you know the right one to pick for your nutrition needs.

Question 1 of 5

Which fruit contains more fiber?

Which Would You Choose: Beverage Edition

FitSugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0700

You can keep yourself hydrated with just about any liquid, but I find I drink plain old water more than any other beverage. It may be a zero calorie drink, but it doesn't really offer much nutritionally or taste wise either. That's why including other beverages in your diet is a good idea; they provide vitamins, calcium, antioxidants, and something we all feel we sometimes need - caffeine. To see how some common drinks compare nutritionally, take this quiz.

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Which Would You Choose: Salad Edition

FitSugar — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0700

Leafy greens are one of the best foods for you, but we often overload these nutritious leaves with tasty bits that are high in calories. When it comes to making a salad, what would you choose? Take this quiz and see if you know how to build a healthy salad.

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Which Would You Choose: Exercise Edition

FitSugar — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0700

When it comes to exercise, there are a lot of options out there. Depending on your fitness goals, certain types of exercise are going to be better than others. Take this quiz and see if your workout is working you out.

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Which Would You Choose: Breakfast Edition

FitSugar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:00:00 -0700

I'm sure all of you now know that breakfast is such an important meal. Eating first thing in the morning helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, which regulate appetite and energy. Also, studies show that people who eat breakfast also have an easier time maintaining their weight. So all you breakfast lovers, take this quiz to make sure you're getting the most out of this meal.

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Which Would You Choose: Dairy Products Edition

FitSugar — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:00:00 -0700

I'm all for eating foods you crave, but if you're trying to obtain certain things from your diet, it pays to know how similar foods compare. So take this quiz to test your food know-how.

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Bone Health Requires Some Specific Exercise

FitSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:00:36 -0800

Turns out if you want to keep your bones healthy, you'd better start young and be specific about which exercise you choose. The New York Times reveals the findings of a new study which indicates that, contrary to popular belief, "any and all activity" may not benefit your bones.

In fact, as researchers investigate the effect of exercise on bone health, it has become increasingly clear that various kinds of exercise produces varying results on bone conditioning. Until recently, researchers believed that the impact of running, or any similar high-impact exercise, would transform the bone, "deforming" it just slightly. As a result of running, the bone would give slightly to the force of the physical activity, and the bone cells would stretch in response and adapt to the repeated exercise by adding cells and becoming denser. But this is not the case. In actuality, researchers have now found that the bone cells don't stretch; instead, when the bone bends, it "squeezes bone fluid" from one part of the bone "matrix" to another, and it's this extra fluid that causes the cells to add denser bone in response.

The key is that only certain types of exercise produce this kind of bone-bending, and the subsequent response to add dense bone-building. Says Alexander G. Robling, an assistant professor in the department of anatomy and cell biology at Indiana University School of Medicine, "large forces released in a relatively big burst” are crucial to building healthy bones, which is why activities like weight lifting won't help bone-bend or produce stronger, denser bones. But the exercises that will? Running, brisk walking at a fast pace, and surprisingly, repeated jumping.

When to Buy Organic

FitSugar — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:30:23 -0700

I like to think most of us would like to buy local and organic foods 100 percent of the time, but it means paying extra, which a lot of us can't always do. A good compromise is choosing organic when it makes the most sense for our health.

Here's our recommendation on foods to buy organic whenever possible due to high pesticide contamination, as well as those foods you can opt for conventional to be kind to your pocket book. I would like to add that you should try to buy local produce too - it'll taste fresher and have traveled many fewer miles to reach you.

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Tennis 101: How to Score

FitSugar — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:00:03 -0700

Welcome back to Tennis 101. While Maria Sharapova is showing us how it's done during this week's riveting US Open tournament, I'm offering a primer for the rest of us.

Now that you know what to expect from your first lesson and how to behave on the court, it's time to tackle the more complicated stuff: scoring a tennis match. I'm not going to deny that learning how to keep score can be confusing at first. But once you learn the basics, it's actually pretty simple. Here's what you need to know to get started scoring in singles.

The Framework

Each tennis match is made up of two to three sets. To win a set, you must win at least six games.
The games are scored starting at "love" (or zero) and going up to 40, but that's actually just four points. From love, the first point is 15, then 30, then 40, then game point, which wins the game.

For the details on games, sets, and matches, read more.

Starting the Game

To determine who serves first, you flip a coin or (more likely) spin a racket. Whoever wins the toss gets to decide one of four things: that she wants to serve first, that she wants to receive first, which side of the court she wants to start on (in which case, the opponent chooses who serves first), or that she wants to leave the choices up to her opponent.
Whoever starts serving continues to serve until that game is over. Then the serve moves to the other player.
You serve from behind the baseline, starting on the right-hand side of the court, anywhere between the singles sideline and the center mark on the court.

Scoring the Game

Before serving, you should announce the score, with your score first, then your opponent's. So if you have zero and your opponent has 30, say "love-30."
Every time you serve, you get two tries. The serve must go over the net, land in the service box opposite you, and bounce once before your opponent returns it.
If it doesn't land in the service box, you take a second serve. If the second serve also misses, then you lose the point.
If your serve grazes the net but still lands in the service box, the serve doesn't count, and you must take that serve over. This is called a "let."
If your serve goes in and the opponent returns it, you continue hitting back and forth until someone hits the ball into the net, hits it out of bounds, or misses a shot. If that person is you, then your opponent gets a point. If it's your opponent who hits it into the net/out of bounds/misses a shot, then you get the point.
Whoever is serving continues serving until the score reaches 40, calling out the score before every serve.
If the score is tied at 40 ("40-all"), that is "deuce," which is essentially another word for tie. To break the tie, someone must win two points in a row. If you are serving at deuce and you win the next point, then you say "my ad," which means "my advantage." If your opponent wins, it goes back to deuce, and someone again must win by two points in a row. Yes, this could go on forever.
Once the game is over, the other person serves. After odd-numbered games (so after game one, game three, game five) you switch sides on the court.

Scoring a Set

Before the first serve in each new game, whoever is serving announces the score in sets. Say your score first, then your opponent's. So if you won the first set, you would say "1-0."
To complete a set, someone must win six games; the first person to win six games wins the set.
However, as with "deuce," you must win a set by at least two games. So, if the score is 6-5, the person with 5 must win by two games. If the score ties at 6-6, you play a tiebreaker.

Scoring the Match

The whole shebang is called a match. The match is determined by the best two out of three sets. So if you win two sets, you win. If you each win a set, then you play a third set to determine the winner.

Dealing With Rude People at the Gym

FitSugar — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:00:16 -0700

Working out is supposed to relieve stress and calm your nerves, but when I have to deal with rude people while trying to work out, it really aggravates me. If you find yourself putting up with inconsiderate and disrespectful fellow gym-goers, here is some advice from other FitSugar readers.

Syako says, "Usually I just ignore things that aggravate me or I find rude."
"People are quite often rude in my gym. Not to be rude per say, but just very self-involved with no consideration for others. Anyway, I use the opportunity to laugh in disbelief. The laughing puts me in a good mood." - michiny
StaceyP says to speak up for yourself. "I once had a woman jump in front of me to take a spot in a pool lane for which I had obviously been very patiently waiting for before she even walked through the door. As politely as I could, I stepped in and simply said that I had been waiting for it."
"My mother always said if people are in such a rush and rude, let them go." - TrnSmleShiftRpt
"I pity them. I feel sorry for people who have become adults and not yet learned how to treat other people with respect. I silently thank my parents for raising me with some sense that what I want isn't always the most important thing in the world. I take a deep breath and feel grateful for having a happy, full life, filled with people who love me; that getting the first bike in the class isn't the best thing that happened to me all day." - Vsugar

To see the other suggestions read more.

If there are rude people at the gym, one anonymous reader just exercises harder and says, "It is amazing how hard I can work out when I'm miffed."
Candace Foxx uses a little sarcasm when it comes to rude people. When a couple started using the piece of equipment she was about to use, she says, "I just stood there and stared. Then, after they were finished, the guy was like, 'Oh, were you using that?' I said, 'No, I just brought the bench clear across the room for you guys to use it.'"
You could always complain to the people who run the gym, suggests tlsgirl.
Even though you may not be able to make others be more polite, you can choose not to be rude yourself. NikkiRuby shares, "I have a tattoo that covers my entire back. One day I was running on the treadmill and mid run I had an older woman come up to me, stopped me from running and said, 'I don't understand why such a pretty girl would get such an ugly tattoo.' I could not believe it! . . . I just simply responded with, 'You don't have to be rude.' If she wants to live her life putting her negative energy on others that is her choice. I just can't be that cruel."