Guest Post By Donna Smith

Call it what you will, munching, carb loading, fulfilling a craving, snacking, having a treat … it’s all the same thing …. Taking on excess calories.  Of course, if we only reached for carrots or apples to meet this “need,” then it really wouldn’t be a problem.  But the food that usually appears in our hands and subsequently in our mouths is more typically chips, ice cream, cookies, candy, etc.  Do we enjoy this?  Yes.  Have we been inundated since early childhood by advertising to do just this?  Absolutely.  Is it smart, thoughtful, useful, beneficial to our bodies in any way?  Hardly!  Other sources address the “why” of this behavior.  This article addresses ways to control it so that it no longer subverts our efforts to achieve fitness.

 First, take a close look at what you eat every day.  Just write down all that you eat.  Next, look at what you are doing while you’re eating, (e.g., sitting at the dining table, working at your desk, watching TV, browsing the web.)  Your list might look something like this:

• Cereal, coffee and juice, 7:00 a.m., sitting at the dining table
• Coffee and doughnut, 8:00 a.m., grabbed in the break room and taken to my desk
• Soda, 9:30 a.m., at my desk
• Sandwich and chips with soda, noon, eating with colleagues
• Soda, 1:00 p.m., taken back to my desk after lunch
• Coffee and M&M’s, 2:30 p.m., at my desk trying to get an energy boost
• A beer and a couple of jalapeño poppers with friends after work
• Chicken, rice, squash and broccoli, 7:00 p.m., sitting at the dining table
• Popcorn and soda, 8:30 p.m., sitting on the couch watching TV
• Milk and cookies, 10:00 p.m., getting ready for bed and watching the local news

Looking at this all written out makes you want to say, “I don’t eat like that.  That’s way too much food!”  But I am willing to bet that if you’re concerned about those pants which just don’t fit like they use to, that your list, if you’re honest with yourself, will be very similar.  Pick up an old grocery receipt and really look at what’s on it.  Look at what’s on your kitchen shelves or in your refrigerator.  Large or small, the behavior is there.

 Once you’ve made such a list, cross out the meals and then look at what’s left.  This is the part that contains most of the excess empty calories (i.e., the calories that have little to no nutritional value and serve no purpose for your body except to pack on extra weight.) 

 Once you clearly recognize and acknowledge this behavior in yourself, then you can work to change it.  Here are some tips that can help you make this change.

• Keep a list going every day.  Believe me, your conscious mind doesn’t want to keep seeing that junk on your list.
• Start reading the nutrition facts about the extra foods you choose to put in your mouth.  Read the package or check it out online. 
• Once you know what’s in the food you are thinking about eating, ask yourself, “what does this do for me?”

After you have repeated the above steps enough, you can boil all of this down to one simple question.  “Is eating this food a smart choice?”  If the answer is “no,” then consider taking another action.  Here are some tips on other actions.

• Choose to eat something else to which the answer to the “smart choice” question is “yes!”  Try fruit, yogurt, nuts or seeds, a protein drink, an energy bar or some other small snack that you know to have nutritional value (i.e., something that feeds your body with protein or vitamins.)
• If you’re not really hungry, then do something else.  A lot of this munching behavior is driven by the need to be doing something in addition to or other than what you’re already doing.  Find something to do with your hands … crafts, crossword puzzles, games, web-surfing, etc.  At work I keep a star-shaped slinky on my desk and when I feel the need to reach out and grab something, I pick it up and run it through my hands till the urge passes.  It’s much better for me than M&M’s and co-workers love to play with it, too.  At home I crochet to keep my hands busy while watching TV.  It’s all about finding something to do instead of picking up worthless food and putting it into your mouth.

 Here are a couple more tricks to break this unconscious behavior.

• Don’t keep that kind of food in the house or office.  This can be a problem if you live or work with others who don’t have the same commitment to improve eating habits, but see what adjustments you can make.  You don’t have to stock the foods that really tempt you.  If chocolate is your thing, then buy cookies for the family, but don’t buy chocolate cookies.  Minimize your bad options so that at 10:00 at night when you find yourself in the kitchen looking for something to munch, there just isn’t anything there that’s bad for you.
• Choose the time when it’s okay (i.e., the least damaging to your fitness and health), to eat the things you really like.  If you really love ice cream, then use it as a treat for yourself after you’ve gone a whole week without excess eating. I definitely like sweets and so I limit myself to only eating sweets that are really very good and therefore worth expending the empty calories.  This means that I don’t munch doughnuts just because someone brought them into the office, but if we go out for lunch to a restaurant that has great tiramisu, then I let myself have it.  But it has to be really great as opposed to just on the menu!

Finally, no discussion of consuming empty calories is complete without discussing alcohol.  When, where, what and why you drink alcohol is your own business and not the topic of this article.  Being aware of calorie intake when you drink alcohol, is.  Hard liquor ranges from 25 to 110 calories per shot, and liqueurs are closer to 150.  Mixed drinks really start to escalate caloric intake and those with several kinds of alcohol, sweeteners and whipped cream start to rival rich desserts for calories.  16 ounces of beer averages around 200 calories and 4 ounces of wine ranges from 65 to 100 calories.  The important thing to remember here is notwithstanding claims of benefits to health from wine, these are all empty calories, and should be given the same choice test above for eating snack food.  Any perfectly nutritionally balanced day topped off with consuming 500 calories of alcohol will result in weight gain.  But don’t take my word for it, just step on your scales!

 We’re talking about replacing a bad habit with deliberate action to improve fitness.  It’s not easy, but it is the smart thing to do.  There are basically three steps:

1. Identify and define the behavior of consuming excess, empty calories for yourself.
2. Identify what triggers this behavior.
3. Either eliminate the trigger or replace the behavior it triggers with something more beneficial to your health.

The goal is to be able to say, “I make smart choices about what I eat!”

It seems that there is an awful lot of confusion when it comes to the term ‘functional training’. I have found that most of the non-fitness industry folks I’ve spoken to about this seem to think that functional training is some sort of advanced form of exercise for athletes or entails a specific sport. While this term can be applied to a specific sport or activity, the broad meaning is quite a bit different.

Functional training is basically a form of strength training which is used to enhance the performance and ease of completing activities of daily living (ADL).  Such activities would be bending (to pick up your child), reaching (for that last jelly donut in the back of …oh wait), jumping, walking, climbing stairs, twisting, you get the idea…

The goal of this type of training is to teach your nervous system to become more efficient at interacting with your muscular system. The way this is done is by choosing exercises which replicate movements of ADL’s. Performing movements in all  three planes of motion is key to this form of training. The three planes are frontal, sagittal, and transverse.

Examples of each are:

• Frontal plane-bicep curl
• Sagittal plane-lateral shoulder raises
• Transverse plane-standing side twists

Functional training is important for all, but even more so for aging adults. As we get older, our bodies begin to break down and movement decreases. Picking up your keys off the ground have caused numerous lower back injuries. Turning in your car seat to yell at your kids has been cause for more than a few neck injuries. Falling down trying to climb up or down stairs are sources of common injuries as well.

My belief is that along with strength and cardio training, functional training should be a part of an exercise program in which the client has the goal of maintaining mobility and reducing the likelihood of injuries. Um..I guess that’s everyone…

Functional training will address flexibility, core, balance, and coordination issues which are all extremely important components of a proper exercise program.

Here are a few exercises which I will classify as functional training:

• Squats
• Lunges
• Woodchops
• Resistance band rotations
• Stability Ball exercises
• BoSu Exercises

For videos of functional training exercises as well as plenty of quality articles, you can visit LiveStrong.com. It’s a very good site with tons of good information.

From the hundreds of exercises out there, push ups have to be one of my favorite. It’s a phenomenal exercise and can be done in dozens of variations. The best part is that it’s free, there is no equipment required, and can be done anywhere.

The push up is mainly a chest exercise, but also uses your triceps and front deltoids as synergists. Your biceps also play a role in stabilization as do your abdominals, obliques, and quadriceps. Done properly, it is an extremely effective exercise for building lean muscle, increasing bone density, and improving your cardiovascular system (just check your heart rate after doing 30 push ups in a row). From what I understand, doing a standard push up from your toes is the equivalent of pressing between 65-75% of your bodyweight. Doing this from your knees will reduce the load by about 50%.

Keeping proper form is an important part of its effectiveness. It’s crucial to keep your abdominals and glutes (butt) tight as you perform each rep. You want to keep your spine in a neutral position during the exercise. Of course, there are variations that will have you twisting, but those come after you have mastered the basic push up.  Also, make sure you breathe out every time you are pushing up. Holding your breath is a quick way to raise your blood pressure, get light headed, or pass out.  

Given that the push up requires no fancy gadgets or equipment, those looking to make money on this popular exercise have found ways to convince the public that they need them. The fitness market is HUGE and there is no shortage of fitness “experts” out there who will promote some useless piece of crap to earn a buck. One of the most frustrating things about being in this industry is seeing all the snake oil salesmen capitalizing on a hot trend or profitable market and selling something of very little value.

Below are several popular push up “necessities” that can be purchased just about anywhere:

Guest post By Terry N. Collins, C. Ped.

Anyone starting or continuing an exercise program needs at least one basic piece of equipment, a pair of shock absorbing, supportive and proper fitting athletic shoes. For exercise involving walking or running a pair of quality running shoes will satisfy this need. Those old basketball shoes, casual sneakers or other well-used “athletic” type shoes will not provide the cushioning and support required. You may see other athletic looking shoes in certain stores, but unless you know what you’re looking for, they may not provide the support and cushioning you need for your exercise routine.

Like the rest of our body, our feet often change over time. You may not be aware of your current foot size and may purchase shoes that are not the correct size. Many people have one foot that is longer or wider than the other foot. It is IMPORTANT to have your feet measured by someone that is trained to measure feet correctly.

LENGTH: It is common to fit shoes that are ½ to a full size longer than the measurement of the longest toe of the longest foot. A properly sized shoe will allow the foot to flex during running and walking so that the longest toe on each foot will not contact the front of the shoe. This helps to eliminate the possibility of blisters on the end of the toe, as well as allowing the foot to flex properly when running and walking.

WIDTH: The width of the foot is as important as the length. If your foot is wider than average, it may cause the mesh-upper of the shoe to extend over the side of the mid-sole. Wider width shoes may be required for you. Your shoe fitter will advise you about the proper length and width of the shoes you need. Most running/walking athletic shoes are available in a variety of lengths and widths. Athletic shoes are available for people with narrower feet as well as wider width feet.

CUSHIONING AND SHOCK ABSORPTION is provided by athletic shoes. This is just as important as proper length and width.  When walking for exercise, your feet will experience the force of three times your weight when your heel strikes the ground and your forefoot propels you forward. When running the number is 5 times your weight. For example, a 200 lbs man will experience the force of about 1,000 lbs on his feet when running. Quality athletic shoes that have ample cushioning will absorb much of that shock instead of your feet, ankles, knees, hips and back.

SUPPORT: Other components of a good running/athletic shoe will help to support your foot’s arch and heel. Arch supports of various heights and stiff heel counters are two devices built into athletic shoes to provide this type support.

If you run or walk for exercise and don’t have athletic shoes that provide cushioning, shock absorption and support required, you could experience shin splints, ankle pain, knee pain, back pain, blisters and a variety of other issues that may be caused by ill fitting and unsupportive shoes.

Selecting and fitting athletic shoes is a task that requires both knowledge of feet and knowledge of athletic shoes. When purchasing your athletic shoes you should seek the advice of personnel at a specialty running and walking shoe store. Shoe fitters at specialty athletic shoes stores are trained to ensure that you have the correct shoes for your level of exercise activity.

Here are some simple rules to follow when shopping for athletic shoes:

• Shop for shoes in the afternoon, when your feet are at their maximum size. (They swell during the day.)
• Wear the socks you normally wear with athletic shoes to assure the right fit.
• Try on both shoes. Most people’s feet vary a bit in size from each other, so you should be sure the shoes fit your largest foot comfortably.
• Look for materials that breathe.
• Don’t shop by price alone. Prices may vary, but the comfort you feel from a pair of properly fit shoes ensures your purchase was well worth the price.

Terry Collins is an owner of the specialty shoe store If The Shoe Fits in Frederick. His website offers tips on running and marathon training as well as links to numerous running organizations.