FitSugar

How Much Protein Do I Need in a Day?

FitSugar — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 10:15:00 -0800

How much protein are we supposed to get each day? It's not an exact number. It depends on how old you are and how much you weigh. If you are over 19 years old, for every pound you weigh, you need to eat .36g of protein (for every kg you weigh, you need to eat .8g of protein). See the chart below to see what the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is for women.

Weight	Protein per day
100 lbs (45 kg)	36g
105 lbs (47.25 kg)	37.8g
110 lbs (49.5 kg)	39.6g
115 lbs (51.75 kg)	41.4g
120 lbs (54 kg)	43.2g
125 lbs (56.25 kg)	45g
130 lbs (58.5 kg)	46.8g
135 lbs (60.75 kg)	48.6g
140 lbs (63 kg)	50.4g

If you want to know how much protein you need for your specific weight, just multiply your weight in pounds by .36, or your weight in kg by .8.

Fit's Tips: If you are an extremely active person, and are hard-core exercising daily, on a competitive sport team, or are in training, your protein needs will be higher. You'll need .45 - .54g of protein per pound you weigh (1 - 1.2g per kg). Also, the RDA of protein increases by 30 grams if you are pregnant, and 20 grams if you are nursing.

Preventing Heart Disease: New Recommendations for Women

FitSugar — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 11:00:00 -0800

February is Heart Health month and coincidentally new guidelines have just been released for preventing heart disease in women. Nearly all American women are in danger of heart disease or stroke and there are some significant things we can all do to prevent the onset of problems, starting many when you are young is the best prevention.

This is the first time that guidelines have encouraged women to take aspirin for daily preventing stroke. Sounds familiar but this is a new recommendation for women. However this is not recommended for young women and the American Heart Association strongly suggests speaking with a physician before heading to your local drugstore for a bottle of aspirin. Although men are advised to start taking aspirin daily, it is not recommended for women until age 65.

It is not surprising that the guidelines advise daily exercise and eating less fat. They also declare vitamins C and E, beta carotene and folic acid supplements worthless for preventing heart disease. This doesn't mean that those vitamins, minerals and antioxidants have no other benefits. Folic acid is especially important if you are considering getting pregnant or already are.

At risk of sounding like a broken record, since the suggestions sound very familiar, here is the list of new recommendations.

Exercise is so important. Get at least 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise on most and preferably all days, 60 to 90 minutes if you need to lose weight.
Watch what you eat. Eat mostly fruits and vegetables, whole grain and high-fiber foods, fish at least twice a week, and little salt. Limit saturated fat to less than 10 percent of calories, 7 percent if possible, and trans fats to less than 1 percent. Limit alcohol to one drink or less a day.

There's more, so read more

Don't smoke. Use nicotine replacement products if needed to stop.
In terms of weight, keep your body-mass index under 25. To find out your BMI check out Fit's calculator.
Consider omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) if you already have heart disease.
Blood pressure and cholesterol - you need to keep them under control, with medicine if needed. Keep LDL or bad cholesterol under 100 if at high risk of heart disease and under 70 if at very high risk.

Just a friendly reminder, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Don't Blow Your Healthy Habits at the Movies This Weekend

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:00:53 -0800

It's a big movie weekend, for sure. With New Moon finally out, I've already committed myself to spend an afternoon at the theater - the only complication is that I'm not so fond of the movie-theater fare. It's an admittedly challenging place to stick to healthy food choices, since there usually aren't any to begin with. Just in case you don't believe me, recent research is revealing just how unhealthy movie popcorn can be - and it's probably a lot worse than you think.

An article from WebMd highlights the Center for Science in the Public Interest's findings on the state of popcorn, which claims movie theater popcorn is just about as bad for you as "a pound of baby back ribs and a scoop of Haagen-Dazs ice cream or maybe two Big Macs" - and that's before you even add the butter. For the study, researchers sent samples of popcorn and toppings from three different movie theater chains and compared their findings to the chains' own nutritional information. What they found is likely to make you rethink how you view your movie treat.

The study's results show that the calorie count of movie theater popcorn ranges from just about 400 to 1,200 calories, and contains an alarming serving of saturated fat that's equivalent to three days worth of your daily recommended portion, and anywhere from 200 (in the smallest 6-cup size serving) to 1,500 milligrams of sodium. Additionally, the study revealed that both AMC and Regal theaters pop their popcorn in coconut oil, which has a saturated fat content of a whopping 90 percent. Cinemark theaters, which pops their popcorn in canola oil, earns the rep as the healthiest chain, with a significantly lower saturated fat content - ranging from 2 grams in the 420-calorie small size to 5 grams in the 910-calorie large popcorn bucket. But, keep in mind that popcorn is usually just a part of the order - add a soda or your choice of candy, and your order is easily nearing 1,700 calories.

To learn about healthier options at the movies read more.

To avoid a serious caloric overload on your movie outing, the solutions are simple. Opt to share a small, unbuttered popcorn, and request that it be popped without salt (according to the article, these chains will happily oblige), or knosh on something healthy before you head out. If you can, bring a small bag of almonds or a piece of fruit along. Be smart about your choices, and don't let one afternoon at the movies spoil your healthy habits. It's totally fine to indulge every now and then, but a 1,200-calorie serving of popcorn that packs more saturated fat than you need in three days is hardly a treat for your bod or health.

What's the Diff: Omega-3s vs. Omega-6s

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:00:10 -0800

Omegas are all the buzz right now, and it seems like everywhere you turn, new foods are being enhanced with this essential fatty acid, or labeled as an excellent source. What people don't know is that there are different types of omegas, and eating too much of one kind can actually be harmful to your body.

Omega-3s are found in flax seeds, walnuts, cod liver oil, and fatty fish like mackerel, lake trout, albacore tuna, and salmon. Fish are the best sources because they are high in two particular fatty acids that are crucial to good health, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).

Then there are omega-6s. These fats are found in eggs, nuts, chicken, and vegetable oils such as corn, soy, safflower, and sunflower oil. Omega-6s are high in LA (linoleic acid), which is converted by the body into GLA (gamma-linolenic acid), and then further broken down to AA (arachidonic acid).

Do you know which type of omega fatty acid we should be eating more of? To find out, keep reading

Now Is the Time to Get Ready For the Slopes

FitSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:41 -0800

Even though we're in the middle of Fall and I've yet to see any real signs of snow, experts say now is the time to get your butt in gear for Winter sports. Days on the slopes can be long and require a good amount of endurance, especially if you're the type who likes to visit the mountains for an extended weekend or even longer.

Veteran Winter Olympic athletes like ski racer Daron Rahlves and snowboarder Elena Hight recommend doing specific training for Winter sports six to eight weeks before the season starts. They say the key to lasting all day, weekend, or week on the slopes is to work on flexibility, strength, and cardio. A good mix of this will ensure you can snowboard from sunup to sundown. Being in tip-top shape will also help cut down on injuries.

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle asked a group of Winter Olympians and trainers their advice on getting in shape for Winter sports. Here's some of their advice.

Stretch for 15-20 minutes every day or do 10 minutes of sun salutations. Skiers should focus on their lower bodies, while snowboarders should focus on their upper and lower areas.
Two to three times a week, focus on strength training with emphasis on your quads, hamstrings, and core muscles. Keeping your legs and core strong helps with balance and endurance, and helps cut down on ACL injuries. If you can, use kettlebells and also make sure to do tons of squats, leg curls, and lunges.
Do some sort of aerobic activity for at least 15 minutes every day, keeping your heart rate elevated the entire time.

Sounds doable to me. Who's hungry for powder?

When Winter Rolls In, Don't Give Up on Working Out

FitSugar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:30:52 -0800

It isn't hard to explain why our workouts get a little lackadaisical when Winter rolls in - 'cause, baby, it's cold outside - and it's pretty understandable that a lot of us lose our motivation to get outdoors for a run or a bike ride. So, how actually do people who work out through the Winter do it? An article from The New York Times reveals exactly that - and how some people manage to get up "the high activation energy" required to stay committed to fitness during the bitter Winter months.

Turns out, if you're new to fitness, you're more likely to give into a little workout hiatus when it gets colder and darker out. According to Janet Buckworth, an exercise physiologist at Ohio State University, it's the opposite for exercise veterans. “If you are beyond the point that you are learning how to exercise, you can’t imagine not running in bad weather,” she says. In fact, some exercise enthusiasts relish the challenge of an outdoor workout in Winter, even going on "epic" bike rides during snow storms and blizzards.

Regardless, you don't have to be an extremist to keep up a Winter workout routine. The key? Just get into something you could really stick with long-term. Choose a form of exercise that you're excited to do, and can keep up when Winter arrives. Group classes are great, and Buckworth recommends finding something you can do indoors, getting a friend to go with you, and even something as simple as updating your playlist with music you love to keep exercise fun and help you stay committed to your fitness regime.

Exercise, Weight Loss, and the Fat Burning Zone

FitSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:50:01 -0800

Much has been made of late about exercise and its relation to weight loss. There was the Time cover story The Myth About Weight Loss and a recent article on the topic in the New York Times, which recommended working out in the fat burning zone.

You see the phrase on all types of cardio machines: the fat burning zone, aka the "weight loss zone," means working out at a lower intensity to burn fat as fuel. But these workouts also burn considerably fewer calories. I was confused about how we should all be spending our cardio time, so I took my questions to exercise physiologist Jason Karp, who also happens to be an avid runner.

When I asked him if we should all be scaling our workouts back and aiming for the fat burning zone, Karp explained that it's not the type of fuel your body is burning, but the overall calories that count. "It doesn't matter if you're using fat or carbohydrates. In order to lose fat from your waistline you don't have to be using fat as fuel during workout," he said. He offered up the example of sprinters; they don't train in the fat burning zone, but they're mighty trim in the torso. Losing weight comes down to math - you want to be in a calorie deficit to shed pounds and body fat. Higher intensity exercise puts you at a higher burn rate. To burn the most calories in a cardio workout, skip past the fat burning zone and work out with more intensity. To really burn up calories, Karp recommends intervals. To learn why, read more.

Essentially, interval workouts give you the most bang for your sweat buck. Karp explains that with "intense exercise you're pushing your body more out of homeostasis," that is, the equilibrium of energy the body prefers to maintain. During the few hours after an interval workout, the body must go through a recovery period, and a lot needs to happen to return to the body to pre-exercise levels. "You've got to drop the heart rate, synthesize glycogen for the muscles, remove lactate from muscle and take it to the liver," says Karp. All these actions require energy, which raises the metabolic rate for many hours after exercising. Thirty minutes of exercise at a low intensity doesn't place nearly as much stress on the body as intervals, so you burn fewer calories both during and after the workout.

Before you hit the track and start running intervals, Karp recommends building a strong cardiovascular fitness base and working with a trainer for guidance. Even if you're not ready for sprints, play with your speed during your next cardio session. Slow and steady might win the race, but intervals will burn more calories.

Source: Flickr User pistoldrawn

What Size Dumbbells to Use When

FitSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:00:15 -0800

Dumbbells are an active girl's best friend because they're fairly inexpensive, compact, easy to use, and allow you to tone every part of your body. Using them can be a little confusing since they come in so many sizes, and many people may not realize that one size doesn't fit all exercises. For example, since biceps tend to be stronger than their neighbor muscles, the triceps, you'd want to use a heavier weight when doing bicep curls.

If strength training with dumbbells leaves you in the dark about what size weights to use for which exercise, here's a little cheat sheet. Since lifting too much can lead to a pulled muscle, here are the dumbbell weights you should start off with. Once your body becomes stronger, you can choose to gradually increase the amount.

To see the chart read on

Do You Take a Daily Multivitamin?

FitSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:47:51 -0800

I must admit I am not much of a vitamin taker. I strive to eat my nutrients in a daily, well-balanced diet. However, I do think supplements are great for people worried about reaching their recommended daily intake of essential vitamins and minerals, especially for pregnant or nursing women or those with dietary restrictions. So when it comes to multivitamins, tell me . . .

Sodium: Do You Know the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI)?

FitSugar — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:30:00 -0700

I read labels all the time. I write about sodium content all the time, but this little bit of nutritional information always escapes me. I can never remember the RDI of sodium. So consider this a pop quiz and see if you know how much sodium you should be eating.