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Fitness Tip

Why Strength Train?
By Kathy Smith


Still not convinced you should strength train? Here's a good reason. After the age of 30, we all lose a quarter pound of muscle mass each year. Yikes! With less muscle, our metabolism slows down and we gain fat—averaging about 15 pounds a decade. While muscle is metabolically active (each pound of muscle burns approximately 35 to 50 calories per day), stored fat is not, burning far fewer calories. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day, whether you're walking, vacuuming . . . even sleeping! What's more, while aerobic activity burns fat during exercise, weight training utilizes fat hours after exercising, so your metabolism stays slightly elevated for a longer period of time following a strength-training session than following an aerobic workout.


Nutrition Tip

10 Tips to Avoid Bingeing
By Chalene Johnson

1. Brush your teeth right after dinner to remind you: no more food.

2. Put a sign on the kitchen and refrigerator doors: "Closed after dinner."

3. Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The large majority of people who struggle with night eating are those who skip meals or don't eat balanced meals during the day. This is a major setup for overeating at night.

4. Eat your evening meal in the kitchen or dining room, sitting down at the table.

5. Drink cold no-calorie beverages such as water or Crystal Light at night. They taste great and keep your mouth busy.

6. Change your nighttime schedule. It will take effort, but it will pay off. You need something that will occupy your mind and hands. Try knitting, lifting free weights in the living room, stretching while watching TV, or putting together your photo albums.

7. If you're eating at night to unwind, calm emotions, or soothe yourself, focus on getting in touch with what's going on emotionally when you head for the fridge. Develop non-food methods of coping with stress.

8. Eat without engaging in any other simultaneous activity, i.e., no reading, TV, or sitting at the computer.

9. Eating late at night won't cause weight gain. It's how many calories you eat—not when you eat them—that counts. However, by setting a cutoff point, many lose weight by simply eliminating calories they were consuming out of habit as opposed to hunger.

10. If you're up late burning the midnight oil, fill up on "free" foods. These are foods that, though they have minimal health benefits, are super-low-fat, low-calorie snacks and are virtually harmless. These include sugar-free Jell-O (10 calories) and sugar-free chocolate pudding (60 calories). Want something crunchy and salty? Try trans-fat-free microwave popcorn, which can have as little as 60 calories per 2 cups popped.


Health Tip

Exercise Calmed My Restless Legs
By: Anonymous

I have been using Beachbody products since 1/20/06 and this is my first post. I am pretty excited.

I was a 32-year-old, 5'8", 260 pound guy who couldn't walk up his own stairs or play with his 3-year-old daughter without feeling like I was literally going to die. Like my name I am so sick of being fat.

I have restless leg syndrome and have suffered from it nightly with most nights getting only 3 or 4 hours of sleep and have had this for the last 10 years of my life. Hence, the reason I was up late and was able to see Tony about to save my life. Of course I ordered Power 90® right away.

Since then I have made it through 1/2, 3/4, and am finishing with Master Series and have my P90X® in hand. I am now 215 pounds. I could barely curl 15 pounds for 5 reps when I began and can now curl 40 pounds for 8-10 reps. Another AWESOME thing is, I may only get Restless Legs once or twice a month!!! This is usually when I have really worked out super hard and am super tired. But even then the severity of it is about 1/4 of what they were normally.