10 Years of Diets!

A recent study has revealed that the average woman will spend 10 years of her life on a diet.

According to the study conducted by LIPObind, the manufacturer of a weight-loss supplement, women generally go on two healthy eating plans every year, with each one lasting an average of five weeks.

Do the math? That's 104 diets & 10 years of watching what they eat.

LIPObind polled 4,000 women for the study.

The findings also stated that each diet saw an average of 6.3 pounds of wight lost, however a quarter of the women surveyed said they saw no weight loss at all and those who did lose the weight often regained it.

Even more disturbing, 1 in 10 women surveyed spent 25 years or more on a diet.

The survey highlights just how much women think about their weight during their lives.

Now if only a fraction of those women would instead make the life choice to eat healthy and stay fit, we could wipe out much of that dieting… but there I go preaching again.

EverythingFit Answers: Exercises That Burn!

Q: Dear Everything Fit, which exercises burn the most calories.
-- from Janice, Toronto

A: We've compiled a list of the top 10 exercises that burn the most calories. Each exercise is based on a 30 minute workout. We've included two sets of numbers - The first is for a 130 pd. person and the second is for a 150 pd person.

1. Running (9mph) - 460 cals for a 130 pd. person / 520 cals for a 150 pd. person

2. Step Aerobics - 390 cals for a 130 pd. person / 450 cals for a 150 pd. person

3. Racquetball - 340 cals for a 130 pd. person / 400 cals for a 150 pd. person

4. Rope Jumping - 310 cals for a 130 pd. person / 350 cals for a 150 pd. Person

5. Bicycling (vigorous) - 310 cals for a 130 pd. person / 350 cals for a 150 pd. person

6. Running (6mph) - 310 cals for a 130 pd. person / 350 cals for a 150 pd. person

7. Cross Country Skiing - 310 cals for a 130 pd. person / 350 cals for a 150 pd. person

8. Elliptical trainer - 240 cals for a 130 pd. person / 300 cals for a 150 pd. person

9. Circuit training - 230 cals for a 130 pd. person / 290 cals for a 150 pd. person

10. Jogging - 210 cals for a 130 pd. person / 250 cals for a 150 pd. person

Please note that these numbers are not absolute. So many factors come in to play when working out, but regardless of your intensity, body composition, etc. these are the top exercises to add to your workout if you want to burn some major calories!

Too Much of a Good Thing

It's obvious that we, at Regenesis Fitness, are pretty pumped up about exercise. But there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing", even when it comes to exercising.

The American Council on Exercise has come up with a list of signs you are overtraining.

Increased perceived effort during normal workouts. Overtraining takes a toll on the body, and workouts that were once a breeze can begin to feel like a grind.

Chronic or nagging muscle aches or joint pain. Overused muscles and joints can cause constant aches, which may go unnoticed until the body is given proper rest.
More frequent illnesses and upper-respiratory infections. Too much exercise taxes all of the body's systems and makes it more difficult to ward off infections.

Insomnia or restless sleep. During sleep the body has time to rest and repair itself. An overtrained body, however, is sometimes unable to slow down and completely relax, making it difficult to recover between workouts.

Loss of appetite. Overtraining can cause an increase in hormones such as epinephrine and norepinephrine that tend to inhibit appetite. The physical exhaustion and anxiety that often comes with overtraining can also have the same effect.

Chronically elevated heart rate at rest and during exercise. A clear sign of an overworked heart muscle is a chronically elevated heart rate. Also, people who overtrain will often find that it takes longer for their heart rate to return to normal after a workout.

Menstrual cycle disturbances in women. Exercising excessively and not consuming enough calories may disrupt a woman's menstrual cycle. While some may experience irregular periods, others will stop menstruating altogether.

If you experience any of the above symptoms, you should re-think your workouts. Decrease the intensity, length or both of your workouts. Not only will over-training hinder your workouts, it is detrimental to your health. And if you're in the gym, isn't health what it's all about?

Liquid Lunch!

A recent study has found that milkshake-like meals, bulked up with certain gasses or water actually makes people feel fuller longer and could result in weight loss.

As someone who likes to chew on food, I found this kind of odd, but it's not my place to judge, just to report on the world of health and fitness, so here it is.

A study presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Geneva compared 2 groups of people, one who at a full milkshake-like meal, and a half-sized version bulked up with a gas similar to that used in aerosol whipped cream.

According to the research, the gas-filled meal actually reduced appetite more than the standard one. Not only that, the satiety (feeling full) was maintained for 1-2 hours or even longer.

The results are expected to lead to new weight-loss products within the next few years.

EverythingFit Answers: Realistic Muscle Development

Here's another reader question we wanted to share with everyone since there is so much misconception.

Q: I've been weight training every day. How much muscle can I realistically gain.

A: We've discussed this in brief in a past post, but the general consensus is that you can gain between 1.5 to 5 pounds of additional lean muscle per month.

Of course there are many variables, including age, gender, physical condition, genetics, diet and your training program. Also, the gains you achieve in your first few months may be hard to sustain long-term.

Gaining 4-5 pounds of muscle in a month would mean 100% dedication to nutrition and training. 1.5 pounds of muscle is much more realistic for most of us, but still requires a lot of work.

Don't be fooled by products promising more muscle gains. Most of that gain will come in the form of water, which will make you look and feel bigger, but it is actually just bloating.

No one said muscle building was easy. If it was, everyone would have muscular bodies. But a strong, chiseled bodies are something work striving for and as long as you're consistent you'll reach your goals. Just be patient and keep working!

Want to fight wrinkles? Skip Botox and go to the Gym

It's no gimmick! You can look 10 years younger than your non-exercising friends.

Authors at The Archives of Internal Medicine have published a report stating that regular exercisers may be biologically 10 years younger than their non-exercising peers.

The researchers found that exercisers had longer telomeres in their white blood cells. Telomeres are repeated sequences at the end of chromosomes and progressively shorten over time, serving as a marker for biological age.

Researchers also found that a sedentary lifestyle may also accelerate the aging process.

Regular exercisers have lower rates of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, obesity and osteoporosis.

The proof just keeps piling up that exercising is not only a past time or a vanity project but that it's an absolute necessity if you want to live a long, healthy life.

Get Moving, Fight Breast Cancer

A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine has reporter that physically active women are 25% less likely to develop breast cancer

That's great news considering breast cancer causes over half a million women every year!

Researchers found the lowest risk group for breast cancer to be lean women who play sports and remain physically active in their spare time.

Physical activity was especially important for women who had gone through menopause. Post-menopausal women who were very active during their lives had the lowest breast cancer risk, but post-menopausal activity had a greater impact than activity performed earlier in life.

Of course other factors, including a family history of the disease, also played a role in whether women developed breast cancer, but this study is yet another definitive reason why you should start exercising now, no matter what your age.