How to do damage control with alcohol consumption.

Lately I've noticed many of my clients have been intaking many of their calories from alcohol. Now I do not want to be a prude because I like to have a few cocktails now and then as well. However, you need to be mindful of the effects alcohol can have on your blood sugar which can make you gorge many excess fat storing calories and sabotage your goals.

I have ha clients record 800-1200 calories per day from extended happy hours. Definitely counter productive when it comes to reaching their goals with getting lean and mean.

So here is a good alcohol tip article I cam across that can help with some obstacle management when it comes to drinking alcohol and still be mindful of your weight loss goals.

Check it out.

University Health Service (UHS)



Health Promotion Office


Caloric Values of Alcoholic Beverages

We have all seen it attached to the front of our once thin and athletic friend - the infamous "beer belly". Commonly misattributed to excess alcohol calories being stored as fat, the "beer belly" is actually a result of alcohol's more complex effects on the body's metabolic system. Simply put, alcohol reduces the amount of fat the body burns for energy. This occurs for the following reason:

1. A small portion of the alcohol consumed is converted into fat.

2. The liver then converts the rest (ie: majority) of the alcohol into acetate.

3. The acetate is then released into the bloodstream, and replaces fat as a source of fuel.

Coupled with the high caloric value of alcohol, the resulting effect is that body is forced to store an excessive amount of unburned fat calories, often in the form of a 'beer belly".



According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), obesity puts individuals at risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, osteoarthritis, respiratory problems, and some forms of cancer. Poor diet and physical inactivity lead to the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans annually, and costs the nation close to $100 billion. Knowing the facts is the first step in making healthy change.



A commonly held misconception is that light beer is like diet coke - calorie and fat free. Although light beer does have fewer calories that the regular variety, the average light beer still contains upwards of 100 or more calories per 12 oz can, and regular beer ranges from approximately 140-200 calories.



Despite the small quantity of liquid, a single shot of liquor (1.5 oz) can contain anywhere from 115-200 calories. In comparison, a 4.0 oz glass of wine contains anywhere from 62-160, with 160 being on the high end of the spectrum. Mixed drinks are where the calories really add up, ranging from approximately 280 calories for a gin and tonic to over 800 calories for some of the frozen, creamy drinks.



Referring to the combination of alcohol and "pop or "fizz" from a carbonated drink, alcopops first appeared in the United Kingdom in the summer of 1995 and have since taken off in markets around the world. Essentially an alcoholic form of the traditional soft drink, alcopops come pre-mixed in 12.0 oz glass bottles and can be purchased in the common convenience or grocery store. Unless an artificial sweetener is used, most alcopops average slightly over 200 calories per 12.0 oz bottle.

Calorie Reducing Tips

• Try alternating alcoholic drinks with low calorie non-alcoholic drinks or water.

• Ask for low calorie / diet mixers where possible.

• Make your wine into a spritzer (a longer drink), or your lager into a shandy - both have fewer calories.

• Substitute your "alcopop" for a shot of spirit and a low calorie mixer - about a quarter of the calories!

• Plan your alcohol into your daily calorie quota so you can enjoy a glass or two. If you know you will be drinking during the weekend, try to save some calories each day in advance, so you can eat normally before you go out.

• Don't be tempted to skip meals to allow for drinks, as alcohol won't satisfy your hunger. In fact, alcohol lowers blood sugar levels (it prevents sugar that is normally stored in the liver, as glycogen, from breaking down). A drop in blood sugar levels sends signals to the brain you are hungry. With alcohol in your system, willpower can go out of the window and the snack attacks kick in. Eating a proper meal before you go out will line your stomach and slow the rate at which alcohol absorbs into your bloodstream, keeping you in control of how much you eat and drink.

Coffee...Is It “the Ultimate Superdrink”?

Most of us start our day with it—coffee. Some of us may even recharge with more coffee throughout the day—for an afternoon pickup or perhaps before a workout. While you know, obviously, that caffeine perks us up and you may have also heard that it does improve concentration and focus….there are some other great benefits in that ‘cup-o-joe’ that you may not know about.

It’s a no-brainer!

Lifelong caffeinated-coffee drinkers may be less prone to develop Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Coffee’s antioxidants may tamp down cell damage linked to Parkinson’s. And caffeine blocks inflammation in the brain, which is associated with Alzheimer’s.



Sip for your smile.

Caffeinated java has anti-bacterial and anti-adhesive powers, so it may keep cavity causing bacteria from eating your enamel. And drinking a cup daily has been shown to slash oral cancer risk by half. Also, compounds found in coffee may limit cancer cell growth and DNA damage.



Coffee’s a bosom buddy!

Premenopausal women who downed four cups of regular coffee per day experienced a 38 percent reduction in their breast cancer risk, a study in The Journal of Nutrition finds. Coffee unleashes phytoestrogens and flavonoids that may stifle tumor growth. But drink up: Those who had less than 4 cups didn’t benefit.

Stop stones.


Gallstones grow when mucus inside your gallbladder traps cholesterol crystals. Xanthine, found in caffeine, may reduce mucus and risk for deposits. Two or more cups daily may help.



Save your skin.

Two to five cups of regular coffee daily may help lower your risk for non-melanoma skin cancer by up to 17 percent. Caffeine may spur skin to kill precancerous cells, and it also inhibits tumor growth.



Dodge Diabetes.

People who sip 3 to 4 cups of regular or decaf coffee a day are 30 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Chlorogenic acid may help prevent insulin resistance, a precursor of the disease.



Now, if you like your coffee with a couple of dollops of cream and several teaspoons of sugar or as a frappuccino with caramel and whipped cream...you’re basically turning it into dessert and drinking a crème brûlée.



This is okay as a treat once in a while, but I certainly don’t recommend this everyday. With all the extras – sweeteners, flavors, cream and whipped cream, you are adding tons of extra calories, fat, and sugars that your body doesn’t need and it definitely counter-acts your efforts in the gym.



To get these benefits, and your caffeine fix, opt for straight, black coffee.



But if you must, choose skim milk and sugar-free syrups instead. Also, select a lighter roast; its milder, so you need less milk and sugar to cut flavor.

Why we Procrastinate

By Puravida Trainer Chris Brinson

Here are some reasons why we procrastinate, and don’t get things done in a timely fashion.

It’s too hard. The first reason why we might procrastinate is because we often think and believe the task at hand is too difficult. We tend to put the harder things to the side and start with the easier things. By doing the same things that we usually do time and time again, keep us from moving forward towards our goals. I know that I’ve done this myself, and it kept me from moving towards my goals. It takes time to tell yourself this, but if you keep at it, good things will happen. Think about it this way, it would be the same thing if I led myself through the same workout with no variety.



The second reason why we procrastinate is the fear of failure. This is a key reason because I’m sure everyone at least once thought of this at one point in their lives. I can relate to this: one time I had a project in school and it was typing up a 5-7 page paper on what makes me myself. I kept telling myself “Oh I’ll do it tomorrow night when I have more time.” Well as it turns out I waited until two days before it was due, and I had stayed up all night for two nights trying to cram in everything. All it made me do was to stress about not getting a good grade. But as it turns out, I had gotten a B on it. Was a happy about that? Yes I was, but if I had started a little bit earlier and taken the time to really focus on it, I think the outcome would have been far greater.



A third reason is Time Management. Procrastination can be also influenced by our fear of being overwhelmed by our time. We usually have busy lifestyles such as work, at home things, kids, pets, etc. If you have a project to do or trying to balance working out into your schedule, time management is huge. Take a look at your schedule, see when your free gaps are, and plan to use those times as fillers. Fillers meaning things you want or need to get done. But start looking at your schedules this way and you’ll find that giving yourself even 15 minutes to start something you need to get done will help in the long run.



I hope this is helpful for everyone, because I know that I’m starting to plan my time better to get things I want and need to get done.

Get rid of the parasites in your life!!

Recently one of my favorite clients was always negative and in pain. Every session it seemed like he complained about his job and the environment there.  Finally one day said "I have never heard you say one good thing about your job it's a toxic place."  He agreed and finally his wife said basically the same thing. He decided to quit and take another job with less pay. Even though his pay was going down he came in with a totally different attitude.  He was happy energetic and his pains weren't bothering him. 

You see we many times stay in these toxic situations because we are fear based. We accept them due to the fear of what will happen to us if we leave. "Will I be able to pay my bills" "will I ever find someone to love me?'   It could be a relationship or a job it doesn't matter.

I remember years ago I was dating this girl who was really cute and had a great body. Being a shallow 20 something I kept dating her even though every time I talked to her it made me tired and lethargic from her negativity. Finally something  happened where I couldn't take it anymore and I broke it off. The physical features were outweighed by her negative personality. Lesson learned.

Life here is too short. So quit complaining and take action. Now if you are married don't cut and run try counseling and most of all try looking at how you could be contributing to the problem. Marriages require work and many of us today are so busy working and running kids that we don't make time to work on our marriages. No wonder so many fail. Neglect kills anything.

My wife and I jointly decided to do some counseling last year. Not that we were on the verge of divorce but we knew we had some issues that needed to be resolved and it was important to us to deal with them before they became bigger and we were in crisis.

Are there people in your life who just need to be cut out or told flat out they are an energy sucker? The girl I mentioned above, I actually told I her she was a downer and my friends couldn't believe it. Now I did it in a respectful manner but how would she ever know if everyone around just tries to be "nice" and skirt the issue. It says in the bible "people appreciate frankness more than flatter' and it's true. They might get pissed initially but it will make them aware that they have an issue that is affecting others.

As for jobs, right now the economy has us all in fear mode but too often I see people complain with out doing something. You have no right to complain unless you are doing something active to change it. That might hit some nerves but it's true. It's no different than the people who tell me they can't lose weight and have tried everything as they shove chips into their mouth at the same time.

Update your resume. Start looking.  There are opportunities out there for those who wish to to do the work and look. Maybe it's time to do something different. Think out of the box.

Anyway to sum it up. True wellness is not just about eating right, exercising, and taking supplements. It is also about getting rid of things that rob your health and replacing them with healthy energizing ones. Remember that stress and negativity can rob you of your health just as much as junk food and inactivity.

Can Eating Like A Rabbit Add 2 Years To Your Life??

Rabbit food is good for people too.




That’s according to researchers at Louisiana State University.



In a study of more than 17,000 people, the researchers found that those who ate just one serving of garden salad daily tended to have significantly higher levels of folic acid and vitamins C, B6, and E.



The salad eaters also had higher levels of lycopene and alpha– and beta-carotene, antioxidant substances that may help protect cells from damage that leads to disease.



Not all that surprising, right?



But, here’s the payoff: The amount of raw vegetables in one serving of salad significantly increases the odds of getting the recommended amount of nutrients, and if eaten every day, is
estimated to increase life span by 2 years.

That sounds too good too be true—two extra years just by eating salad. Can’t hurt to try.



To get the most health benefits, build your salad with vegetables rich in antioxidants—dark leafy greens, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, and red and green bell peppers.



Unfortunately, only about one-third of the people in the study ate salad on any given day. The other two-thirds might want to take a cue from the bunnies and add some colorful raw veggies to their diets.

Stop TV Snacking Now By Switching The Channel To…

Snacking while watching TV could make you eat more… especially if the show is really entertaining. According to Consumer Reports “On Health” newsletter, in a recent study, 45 adults were asked to eat potato chips for five minutes with the television OFF, and then again while watching a late-night talk show.




All told, participants ate 44 PERCENT MORE chips while watching “Late Show With David Letterman” than they did when the screen was blank.



Experts think that the more distracted, engrossed or entertained you are while eating...the less attention you pay to a food’s flavor and the less satisfied (satiated) you feel.



Bottom line: Shut off the TV when eating or snacking...or...if you must eat/snack while watching TV...switch the channel to C-Span!!!



Are Cherries Better Than Aspirin And Other Anti-Inflammatory Drugs?



First, let’s be clear about this: Although I like to share my thoughts and feelings about a variety of topics with you (in addition to all the factual research and articles on important healthcare issues) I do NOT endorse ANY political party to you - your politics are your business - and despite having strong feelings about the subject - I’m certainly not a political science expert. That being said… you should know about this…



U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has introduced a bill that would curb restrictions imposed by the FDA and FTC regarding health claims for dietary supplements.


Why would he do that? Aren’t these restrictions good for the consumer to make sure they don’t get “duped” by snake oil salesmen making false claims?


Maybe. But, maybe not. Check this out and decide for yourself:



The Cherry Grower’s Story…



Back in 1999 a peer-reviewed report came out in the Journal of Natural Products, published by the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.



According to LewRockwell.com, the study concluded that “tart cherries may relieve pain better than aspirin and many other anti-inflammatory drugs.” It turns out that consumption of about 20 cherries reduces inflammation in a similar manner as aspirin or Cox-2 inhibiting drugs without the lethal side effects of gastric bleeding or vitamin depletion associated with these drugs.



The molecules in cherries, called anthocyanins, work to reduce inflammation at ten times less dosage than aspirin. [Journal Natural Products 1999 Feb; 62(2): 294–6] Pills that provide concentrated anthocyanins would make it even easier to consumers to achieve these health benefits.




When cherry growers began to cite this scientific study, the FDA followed by sending a warning letter to 29 companies that market cherries threatening regulatory action if they did not remove the scientific information regarding the anti-inflammatory properties of cherries from their websites. The FDA declared cherries to be "drugs" once health claims for a disease were associated with the product.



Bob Underwood, who sells capsules containing concentrated cherry paste, was quoted in an Associated Press story in 2006 as saying: "We have the government telling people to eat more fruits and vegetables, and we have the U.S. Department of Agriculture funding some of these fruit studies, and now we have another arm of the federal government that says you can't use the research."



According to LewRockwell.com, “The Health Freedom Protection Act would stop the FDA from censoring truthful claims about the curative, mitigative, or preventive effects of dietary supplements,” says Scott Tips of the National Health Federation, a Monrovia, California-based organization that is leading the charge behind this legislation.”

Sad to see that legislation is needed to stop the censorship of truthful claims… isn’t it?



United States DEAD LAST In Healthcare?



On May 15th, 2007, the Commonwealth Fund issued a report entitled, “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: An International Update on the Comparative Performance of American Health Care.”

The Results Were Not Good…

In fact, here’s what the first sentence of the report had to say: “Despite having the most costly health system in the world, the United States consistently underperforms on most dimensions of performance, relative to other countries.”



I haven’t seen Michael Moore’s movie, “Sicko,” but I know his reputation and I’ve heard the movie is about as one-sided and biased as a movie can be.

Obviously, there are problems with the US healthcare system, and I would like to see them fixed, as I’m sure you would, too. But all-in-all, considering the obesity epidemic that pervades our country (Michael Moore is a fine example), and the HUGE drain that puts on our system, we do a pretty darn good job (and we don’t have to pay draconian taxes to support a government subsidized program).

Now here is something that you will probably find interesting…. even puzzling... According to the report, “the area where the U.S. health care system performs best is preventive care, an area that has been monitored closely for over a decade by managed care plans.”

It’s always been abundantly clear that…

An Ounce Of Prevention Is

Worth A Pound Of Cure

For example, the May 9th edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) had an article entitled: “Cardiologists Get Wake-up Call on Stents.”

According to the article, “Patients with stable coronary artery disease treated with stents and optimal medical therapy fare no better than those who receive optimal medical therapy alone, according to new findings from a large clinical trial.”

For many cardiologists, the results serve as a wake-up call that they need to reevaluate how frequently they offer stenting (which has slight risks associated with the intervention itself, as well as stent-associated thrombotic events) as a first option for relief of stable angina. The data comes from the Clinical Outcomes Utilizing Revascularization and Aggressive Drug Evaluation (COURAGE) Trial, reported in March at the annual conference of the American College of Cardiology.

What So Many Knew All Along…



It seems like research is simply confirming what many thought to be true all along. Prevention is far superior to invasive “crisis” procedures after years and years of neglect.

It is abundantly clear you cannot abuse or neglect your body and health and have the wonders of modern medicine save you.



More on Moore’s “Sicko”



Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee addresses that very issue of prevention in reference to Moor’s movie. The former Arkansas governor told reporters in a conference call recently that he hasn't seen and probably won't see Moore's "Sicko," which calls for an overhaul of America's health care system.



"Frankly, Michael Moore is an example of why the health care system costs so much in this country. He clearly is one of the reasons that we have a very expensive system (Moore is clinically obese). I know that from my own personal experience," said Huckabee, who lost more than 110 pounds and became an avid runner after he was diagnosed with diabetes.



"I know how much more my health care cost when I didn't take care of myself than when I do take care of myself, not only in terms of doctor visits but regular diseases, illnesses, chronic things that come up, monthly prescription bills," Huckabee said. "All of those things have gone dramatically down since I've taken care of myself and worked to live a healthier lifestyle."



Politics aside, all I can say to Huckabee’s comments is… “Amen, Brother!”