Eating with a purpose

True healthy eating involves eating with a purpose. What are you eating and why? The foods that you select should be carefully selected and should possess the nutrients needed to over come some health issues and promote overall good health.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

True Fitness Boot Camp Success Story- Angelica G

I was unhappy with the way I looked and felt. It was affecting a lot of aspects in my life. I wanted to look good and feel good about myself. More than looking good, I wanted to get fit and not feel so tired all the time so I could do more stuff with my boyfriend and friends. After the first 8 weeks with True Fitness Boot Camp, I lost 28lbs! I went from a size 14 to a confident size 6! Thanks to True Fitness, I not only look and feel the way I always wanted to feel but I’m also living and enjoying life to the fullest!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Agility Ladder Training

These are a few the important factors and benefits of the Agility Ladder Training:

1. Better Balance.

2. More Quickness.

3. Hip mobility and co-ordination.

4. Reactive Strength.

5. Improved Neuromuscular Coordination

6. Muscle Recruitment

7. Toning of the body

8. Improved Cardio Vascular System

9. Muscular Endurance

10. Increased Speed

11. Increased Agility

The Stepping Response:

One strategy frequently used by Physiotherapists when we start to lose our balance is something known as a stepping response. A stepping response is a balance response that occurs when someone steps quickly to adjust from a loss of balance. Seems simple enough, but if your foot does not step out fast enough either forward, sideways or backward another body part (such as your hand, arm, hip or head) will come in contact with the ground. This can lead to a bruise, strain, a sprain or, worse, a fracture.

Other benefits include:

1. Helps the body to respond quickly in various situations.

2. Reduce risk of injury.

3. Increase efficiency of performance, speed and balance.

4. Maintain core strength, overall good health, flexibility and performance.

5. Ladders are important in maintaining health and strength in which health improves self-confidence and better shape helps to become a better athlete.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Eating Green Leafy Vegetables

Health Benefits of Green Leafy Vegetables: Dark green leafy vegetables are, calorie for calorie, probably the most concentrated source of nutrition of any food. They are a rich source of minerals (including iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium) and vitamins, including vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B vitamins. They also provide a variety of phytonutrients including beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which protect our cells from damage and our eyes from age-related problems, among many other effects. Dark green leaves even contain small amounts of Omega-3 fats.

Perhaps the star of these nutrients is Vitamin K. A cup of most cooked greens provides at least nine times the minimum recommended intake of Vitamin K, and even a couple of cups of dark salad greens usually provide the minimum all on their own. Recent research has provided evidence that this vitamin may be even more important than we once thought (the current minimum may not be optimal), and many people do not get enough of it. Vitamin K:

* Regulates blood clotting

* Helps protect bones from osteoporosis

* May help prevent and possibly even reduce atherosclerosis by reducing calcium in arterial plaques

* May be a key regulator of inflammation, and may help protect us from inflammatory diseases including arthritis

* May help prevent diabetes

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin, so make sure to put dressing on your salad, or cook your greens with oil.

Almost Carb-Free Greens have very little carbohydrate in them, and the carbs that are there are packed in layers of fiber, which make them very slow to digest. That is why, in general, greens have very little impact on blood glucose. In some systems greens are even treated as a "freebie" carb-wise (meaning the carbohydrate doesn't have to be counted at all). One study showed that an increment of one daily serving of green leafy vegetables, lowered the risk of cardiovascular disease by 11 percent.

Because of their high magnesium content and low glycemic index, green leafy vegetables are also valuable for persons with type 2 diabetes. An increase of 1 serving/day of green leafy vegetables was associated with a 9 percent lower risk of diabetes. The high level of vitamin K in greens makes them important for the production of osteocalcin, a protein essential for bone health. The risk of hip fracture in middle-aged women was decreased 45% for one or more servings/day of green, leafy vegetables compared to fewer servings.

Green vegetables are also a major source of iron and calcium for any diet. Swiss chard and spinach are not considered good sources of calcium, due to their high content of oxalic acid. Green leafy vegetables are rich in beta-carotene, which can also be converted into vitamin A, and also improve immune function. Millions of children around the world have an increased risk of blindness, and other illnesses because of inadequate dietary vitamin A from green leafy vegetables.

Lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids found in dark-green leafy vegetables, are concentrated in the eye lens and macular region of the retina, and play a protective role in the eye. They protect against both cataract and age-related macular degeneration, the major cause of blindness in the elderly. Some studies suggest that lutein and zeaxanthin may help reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, such as breast and lung cancer, and may contribute to the prevention of heart disease and stroke. Green veggies contain a variety of carotenoids, flavonoids and other powerful antioxidants that have cancer-protective properties.

In a Swedish study, it was reported that eating 3 or more servings a week of green leafy vegetables significantly reduced the risk of stomach cancer, the fourth most frequent cancer in the world. Cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and broccoli are rich in indoles and isothiocyanates, which protect us against colon and other cancers. Broccoli sprouts have been reported to contain 10 or more times as much sulforaphane, a cancer-protective substance, than does mature broccoli. A higher consumption of green leafy vegetables has been shown to significantly decrease the risk of breast cancer and skin cancer.

Quercetin is a bioflavonoid found in leafy green vegetables. Quercetin has an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity and displays unique anticancer properties. Quercetin is a natural compound that blocks substances involved in allergies and acts as an inhibitor of mast cell secretion, and causes a decrease in the release of interleukin-6.

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsuperfoods/a/greensnutrition.htm

http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/benefits-of-green-leafy-vegetables.php