Editors Note: This is a contribution from Jake O’Callaghan of Slow Change and Zenteen.

Before my injury I was a pretty fit guy. I could knock out pushups and pull-ups and run a few miles with ease.

Developing fitness wasn’t hard for me, so I thought people who weren’t fit were simply lazy. When I became injured I became sedentary. I went from working out everyday to laying in bed. It was weeks before I could even walk. Months past before I could run again.

So I was starting out with Zero Fitness. My leg had no muscle and I had lost my endurance. It was like I was a couch potato who wanted to start building fitness. Coming back was incredibly hard. As I mentioned before, I thought people that weren’t fit were lazy. Not true. In fact, they probably are just as disciplined as I am.

Because starting is freaking hard.  I know now why people fail again and again at becoming fit –  it’s too hard to make fitness a habit.  Before my injury, I was in shape and fitness was an ingrained habit, so it was easier.

So if becoming fit is hard, how does one make it a habit? I came up with a solution. Start slowly.

Walking

First I started walking.  For week after week I walked everywhere I could. I walked around and around my neighborhood, up steps, and to places a short distance away. At first I hated walking. It quickly grew monotonous and I even stopped doing it for a few days. But I knew that walking was a very necessary first step to developing fitness.

So I made it fun. I focused on enjoying the moment, the breeze, the climate, being out in open air. My walks then became enjoyable, and I walked longer and longer as I built up endurance.

So the first step to fitness is walking. It’s easy on your body, and it can be a good workout. Start walking small distances and slowly increase. Walk everyday. Learn to enjoy walking.

Strength

My body had grown weak from surgery and laying in bed. I needed to strengthen it but I was discouraged. My leg had almost no muscle and my upper body had been reduced in strength.

So I started with the basics. I did pushups, squats, lunges, dips. I went as close as I could to the bar when doing a pull-up (eventually completing one). Only when I felt confident doing bodyweight exercises did I move on to weights.

Working out everyday quickly grew boring. I again wanted to quit. So I made things easier. Did it hurt my workout? Yes, but it allowed me to continue working out consistently which is what truly matters.

I slowly worked my way up, and as of today am over twice as strong with my surgical leg and upper body than before surgery.

Running

Running was painful. And it was discouraging to run two miles and feel like I was going to pass out. I knew that if I kept pushing myself I wouldn’t run consistently.

So I went slowly. I ran till I felt tired than stopped. Next day I would run a little further and so on. In only a few months I was in better shape than I was before. The reason was I ran consistently. Starting slowly and gradually building allowed me to be motivated to run everyday.

The Key

So the key to starting fitness is to go slowly. It doesn’t matter how slow or for how little distance you run. It doesn’t matter how little you lift. If you slowly build, you will workout consistently. And you will get much better over time.

Developing lifetime fitness doesn’t happen overnight. If you start to fast, you will probably fail. Start slow, be consistent, and you too can become fitter than you’ve been in your entire life.

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Editors Note: This is a Contribution from Eric Hulse.

“No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.” - Emma Goldman, Author

Children are amazing. It’s a shame we have to “grow up”. I’m completely in favor of “Peter Panning” my way through life however, I am well aware that adulthood has fully set in and there is no turning back!

So, to combat the inevitable, I have chosen a career which allows me to be around kids all day. Besides having a fulfilling job as a Holistic Health Coach, I am also an elementary school teacher and proud uncle of SIX nieces and nephews. I am grateful that I can be a part of their day and learn from them just as much as they learn from me.

What I’ve realized throughout the years is, life is beautiful, meant to be a never ending exploration, filled with endless energy and love.

Below is a list of several life lessons I’ve learned from working with and being around children. I hope you find them helpful and can apply them to your life.

Playtime is a natural part of the day

Children need to play. It’s how they learn, interact with each other, and explore the world. Playtime is built into a child’s day so they can use their imagination, move their bodies, and meet new friends without judgement or hatred. Adults, on the other hand, hardly ever play. There are deadlines to meet, bills to pay, and “things” to take care of which all comes with the job of being a grownup. However, this doesn’t mean we have to neglect our inner child! Many adults suffer from anxiety, stress, and depression because they don’t allow themselves to play, be creative, and they take life very seriously. It’s important for our spirit to enjoy a hobby that fosters our creativity, to spend time outside in nature, and to meet new friends. Oh, and a genuine smile helps also!

Forgiveness 

Children are quick to forgive. It’s as if there minds instinctively know that holding a grudge will lead to unpleasant feelings. They won’t be able to play if they can’t forgive their friends, this leads to sadness, a decrease in energy and overall “yucky” feeling. It’s just not worth it. There’s really no time for it in a child’s world. There’s too much life to live!

Laughter

Kids can laugh up to 150 times a day while most adults barely make it to 5! It’s a pleasure watching my nieces and nephews run around the house laughing for no good reason at all! It’s a way for them to connect with each other and release the positive, unrestricted energy they have inside. Laughter is a clear indication of how you view the world. Those who are tense, self conscience, or too busy to laugh have forgotten the many joys and silly episodes life has to offer. Laughter can reduce stress, relax the body, and inspire hope.

Curiosity

Can you remember as a child wanting to explore the out doors, take things apart so you can see how they work, or ask your parents a million questions about one thing? Everything was new and exciting. Being curious was how we learned about life, our bodies, and the world. It gave our days that special spark and trill! Somewhere along the line, that natural inclination of wanting to know more was replaced by the comfort of staying the same and closed off from the possibilities of the world. However, those brave enough to continue being curious as adults have discovered new lands, invented marvelous creations, and have changed the world as we know it. Their inner child never stopped asking why, how come, or believing in the impossible.

Unconditional love

I believe children are love. They are pure, kind, and filled with life. They don’t care if you’re rich, a different color, a different race, and for that matter a different species! They want to make you happy, give you presents, and make you smile. Children love with their entire being and do so from a place of honesty. There is peace in their hearts that some grown ups have covered up with judgements and fears. Unconditional love has the power to save relationships, bring us together, and heal the world.

I hope this list has given you a chance to reconnect with the children in your life and to see them as tiny teachers guiding you throughout your day.

 Remember children know many of live’s secrets, the ones we as adults have forgotten about.

Eric Hulse is a Holistic Health Coach. His practice focuses on teaching parents how to regain control of their health in order to improve the health of their families. Visit his website or follow him on Facebook for tips on how to increase your energy, reduce daily stress, and regain your happiness. 

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For those of us who are very active – whether due to job or just by choice things change. nutrition and eating has to change as our bodies start to work in a different way. Usually this is as simple as following our intuition but for many people who are into health and fitness this intuition is spoiled by bouncing from theory to theory over how and what to eat.

If you are doing lots of sports, cycling to and from work, have an active job or whatever it is that increases activity levels it is key first and foremost to eat more. And eat more calorie dense food. The alternative is to seriously slow down your metabolism and impact your hormonal health through calorie restriction caused by over exercising and under eating - ultimately eating away muscle, making you feel sluggish and maybe even weight gain.

When you exercise lots it is not only the immediate effect of the calories you are burning that you need to take into account but also the after burn, and hormonal impact that extra activity causes – making the body almost machine like in its ability to churn through food.

Here are some practical tips that can help you figure out how to improve your nutrition when more active than normal.

How much more you need to eat. Technically this should take care of itself, but due to many factors it is sometimes hard to listen to appetite. I find it is a good idea to eat three main meals a day – and at each one keep eating until your body actually tells you it is full. This means a sensation of fullness at the top of your stomach and literally not wanting to have another bite. Not to say you should stuff your face but learn to listen to your bodies signals of saying ‘I’m Full!’.

Focus on Starchy Unrefined Carbohydrates and Fruit. When active the body needs glucose. Your muscles are like sponges waiting to soak up all those starchy roots and grains. As always try to stick mainly to a philosophy of unrefined carbs (roots, rice, beans, lentils, whole-grains etc) this will not only give your body what it needs to recover but also give you a feeling of fullness as Insulin levels rise and trigger satiety.

Easy to Digest Food. Think well cooked and easy to assimilate foods – good examples are oatmeal with lots of fruit and made with milk. Pizza is good after a hard exercise session. The truth is that sometimes eating too clean when being very active just isn’t enough – maintain flexibility with your diet and allow yourself less clean foods. Food is life and without enough calories, especially well assimilated calories you won’t recover or feel your best.

Smoothies are also a good idea after exercise – make them simple think bananas or dates/figs, oats, milk and berries.

Snack Well. When hungry between meals don’t go for any junk – try to keep your desk, bag or kitchen stocked with healthy snacks. Fresh Fruit, Yoghurt, Cottage Cheese, Whole Grain Crackers, Wholesome Granola Bars. Also drink enough water….

Always follow hunger, even if you are hungry just after eating. EAT AGAIN. Sometimes after lots of activity hunger seems to go beyond what is normal. As in even after eating what seems a substantial meal there is still an empty void or a nagging hunger. This is quite normal – just follow your appetite and eat some more. Try and feel out for what your body wants and eat what you crave.

 When exercising or being especially active it is important first and foremost to eat more. This can be in the way of bigger meals or eating more often – whatever suits you. Remember that our bodies are smart and will normally guide us, really being in tune and listening to the signals is hard though. Just be sure to eat enough if you are being especially active – this will make your body strong and robust rather than weak and frail.

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Editors Note: This is a post from our contributor Megha Mehta

Here’s a mini quiz to get you thinking about the rules we’ll talk about

- if you’re a fiery ambitious easily irritable person who doesn’t take well to hot weather and ur in the middle of this desert town and have been eating spicy barbecued food for the last one week – guess how ur going to be feeling?

- imagine a working executive who lives in a highly urbanised town surrounded by concrete most days of the week and feels burned out and has low energy levels. what food group do you think he will benefit from?

Here’s a reminder that will help you answer the above and many such questions – each food has a specific personality n character – it actually informs us of what it can do! And depending on your personality, environment, body type, lifestyle and weather influences, your body will demand and benefit from certain kinds of foods more than others.

Our first example - the person who has a fiery personality because of which he/she doesn’t particularly enjoy hot weather and has been gorging on hot spicy food. This person is probably as of now super heated. This imbalance will most likely make him/her feel easily irritable, have a heated or upset stomach, allergic reactions, hyperacidity and so on…and these very same imbalances over a longer period of time might result in more severe issues like hypertension, liver disorders etc.

And in second example of a person who is burnt out and has no energy left is probably not getting enough clean air because of the environment he is living in. Living and being around greenery is a great way to supply higher levels of oxygen to your body which in turn makes your blood richer with nutrients and your organs have more vitality and energy.

Whatsoever was the father of a disease, an ill diet was the mother.  ~ George Herbert

If you’re unable to get that benefit from your environment then you will probably do well to include dark leafy greens in your diet. They have the very quality that is the opposite of what our lungs do – take in CO2 and release O2. So these can work wonders to one’s respiratory system and consuming them regularly can give you higher levels of oxygenated blood which in turn gives more energy and vitality to all your organs.

So here are some basic rules to get you started on these rules that can allow you to make smarter food choices.

1. Eat as per season

One of the best ways to ensure you’re giving your body the right foods is to buy foods that are fresh and in season. That means not buying the mangoes in the middle of winter cos they’ve probably been frozen through months and have come out to be sold now. If you eat fruits in the season they’re naturally produced you automatically ensure nature is working to balance the factors that your body needs now and you’re making sure you get freshest and highest quality foods!

So think watermelons in summer, kiwi and oranges in winter and pineapples and lychees during the spring.

2. Consider your personality and temperament 

Remember that your personality type has a huge role to play in choosing balancing nourishing foods. If you’re feeling cold n dry and have been anxious n stressed lately – your body is probably giving you signs in the form of dry cracked skin. What you need at that point is balancing grounding warm foods. That means you should favour soups, stews, and cooked foods more than raw salads.

3. Time of the day matters

You can digest heavier food better during the day because your metabolism and digestive fire is higher then. Eating your last meal 2 hours for you sleep is a great way to ensure your digestive system has done its work in time and you will be able to sleep more peacefully and wake up refreshed and energised. A light nourishing fibre rich meal for dinner will keep your stomach happy and constipation will never be an issue!

Megha is a Holistic Health Counselor helping busy working executives to eat healthier and achieve their ideal weight, energy levels, and body type. She also blogs about health tips, interesting recipes, natural remedies etc… at www.backtobaiscs.com.sg. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter. 

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It’s a new year and that means changes. More and more people are dropping their gym memberships and opting to workout either at home or outdoors. Using a mix of bodyweight and minimal equipment. Now whilst this isn’t ideal for people in pursuit of bulging muscles it is more than enough for an athletic physique and a healthy body.

Doing your workouts in the open is ideal, unless you live somewhere with extreme weather most people can do some kind of workout outdoors year round. I for one use outdoor workouts most of the time now (occasionally I will workout at home when time is limited) using minimal or no equipment – just a selection of bodyweight exercises and running implemented in a short and fun workout whilst making use of the surroundings for props while working out (Branches for pull-ups, benches for step ups and dips etc…)

When doing outdoor workouts you have a few options:

- Bodyweight Workouts (lunges, squats, push-ups, pull-ups etc) all done in quick succession with little rest.
- Sprint Workouts
- Hybrid workouts which mix bodyweight exercise with running (i.e. run 200m then do 25 bodyweight squats x 5)

Of course there are many more but those are the three main options when going outdoors. The beauty is the amount of variation you can implement depending on how you feel on the day.

For me though the real benefit of outdoor training comes from making the most of the environment and having it all at our disposal for free. Gym’s these days have become like industrial zoo’s for humans with people (usually) working out mindlessly either on a cardio machine or spending hours lifting weights. It is rare to see someone be creative with their workout and do something which coincides with the bodies natural movements. Plus gyms are expensive and encourage people to rely on them.

When you workout outdoors you get fresh air pumping through your lungs and get to take in the environment. Most importantly you learn to be self-sufficient with exercise giving you the ability to workout anywhere at anytime. This is invaluable – it also forces you to learn a variety of bodyweight exercises and creative ideas for working out. For me this is the key, just as it is important to cook & eat healthy food for ourselves, knowing how to safely and effectively mobilise, stretch and train our bodies without equipment is something that every person should have a basic knowledge in.

You needn’t learn anything advanced or complicated – simply knowing how to do certain bodyweight exercises with good form and how to properly warm up before exercising is enough to give you the tools to workout. Here is an essential checklist:

- Learn a basic Warmup that lasts around 5 minutes including some running and mobility exercises
- Perfect the Pushup, Lunge, Bodyweight Squat and Pullup
- Figure out 2-3 basic routines (which you can use as a blueprint and build on in the future)
- Always train in flexible/comfortable clothing and comfortable shoes (barefoot if you can)
- Take a cooldown walk after training
- Make sure workouts stay <30 minutes

Props like Kettle-bells and TRX’s are great but they are tools used around normal exercise. I use them and love them but they would be nothing without a good core knowledge of bodyweight movements and basic joint mobility.

Once you learn this for yourself you can help others, show them how to safely and quickly train their bodies. And whilst everyone’s take on it will be different, essentially the message is the same. Encouraging people to workout outdoors with simple exercise learning how to use their bodies effectively.

There are a variety of guides to bodyweight exercise and simple workouts on this site – check the archives. Or for a full guide checkout All About Fitness.

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Editors Note: This is a Guest Post from Contributor Danny McLarty. And is a double length Christmas Article.

In the fitness world, science can be very beneficial.  Science has helped advance the field and will continue to do so in the years to come.  However, it is not without its limitations.  The results obtained by researchers may give them X, Y, or Z results – in the setting that the research was conducted.  However, not every study ever performed was designed to meet your particular needs in your exact situation.

Another thing about research/science; there is still a ton to be tested.  We’ve all formed an opinion based on what we’ve observed with our training and nutrition (and/or while working with our clients).  And we didn’t have to wait for a study to be conducted to form this opinion.  This is where “in the trenches” experience sometimes trumps science.

With that said, I contacted a handful of Coaches that have logged thousands of hours working with their own guinea pigs.  This in the trenches experience has left each of them with training and nutrition information that you just won’t find from the white coats.

Nate Miyaki:

Danny: Nate, when it comes to nutrition, what is the biggest mistake that you see from most trainees that are trying to add muscle?

Nate: “I think the biggest mistake is the low-carb trend.  Research has shown that for the obese, sedentary, and insulin resistant/type II diabetic populations, low-carb plans are the most effective approach.  These populations should follow a Paleo-style plan 100%.

The active, anaerobic athlete whose primary goal is physique enhancement should add back in a select few, low fructose, non-”anti-nutrient” containing carbohydrates to support their training and recovery demands.  Recommendations include potatoes, rice, and yams/sweet potatoes.

Still most modern foods like sugar, dairy, bread, juices, and whole grains (as are typical in many physique athletes’ plans) remain off-limits to avoid the host of metabolic, hormonal, and digestive diseases associated with modern eating.”

Bret Contreras:

Danny: Bret, what is THE biggest mistake individuals make when trying to improve their glutes?

Bret: “This one is easy! The biggest problem is that they’re not activating their glutes sufficiently. The gluteus maximus is a strange muscle. It’s always trying to find a reason to shut down and go to sleep. Any lower body injury or pain will shut it down, any activity that’s easy will not activate it sufficiently, and quite often people are performing great glute exercises but aren’t activating them properly throughout the movements. For example, you can squat and lunge while using mostly quad and erector, and you can deadlift and bridge by using mostly erector and hammy. When people learn to activate their glutes properly and master the feel of strong glute contractions, they’ll begin to heavily incorporate their glutes into all of their lower body movement patterns, including squats, deadlifts, good mornings, lunges, hip thrusts, back extensions, and even planks.

Many readers have seen all of my Youtube videos of strong girls and athletes moving heavy weight on their glute exercises, but they don’t start out that way. Most of my clients start out with bodyweight squatting and bridging and I have to work hard to get them to sit back, keep their knees tracking over their toes, utilize proper lumbopelvic mechanics, push through the feet properly, and symmetrically activate the glutes. Once all of these are happening, then I add load. After around six weeks clients almost always boast about how well their glutes work during their sessions.”

Tim Henriques:

Danny: Tim, what is THE biggest training mistake made by the “intermediate” lifter that is trying to add muscle?

Tim: “I would say the biggest mistake an intermediate lifter makes (excluding simply not training hard, because if you aren’t doing that it doesn’t matter what soviet bloc routine you are on) is that they get decent results with one method and they just stick with it too long.  They become HIT guys or Westside Guys or DC guys or Kettlebell guys or whatever.  To build muscle to you want to stimulate the muscle as much as possible in a variety of ways.  You want to do some serious strength training but don’t focus exclusively on that.  You should try some higher rep stuff but don’t focus exclusively on that.  And a good chunk of time should be spent on the intermediate modalities.  A simple guideline is train 25% of the time for strength (high weight, low reps), to train 25% of the time for endurance (lower weight, higher reps – as in 20 or so), and to train about 50% of the time in the traditional size building zone (moderate weight, moderate reps, high volume).  Personally I had good success following a HIT routine for 6 weeks (1 all out set on the exercises), a Westside routine for 8-10 weeks, and then a more classic traditional bodybuilding routine for 6-10 weeks and then just rotating through them again.  Do several rounds of that and you will be bigger and stronger no doubt about it. 

I would also add that a close second mistake is that the intermediate level lifters should start to understand their bodies and start to figure out what works and what doesn’t.  Tricep pushdowns might give you big triceps or they might not.  Same with dips and close-grip bench press.  Don’t just perform an exercise forever because some expert said it would do something for you, give it a fair test (2-4 months) and see what happens.  If you don’t get any measurable results from that exercise, drop it and try something else.

Finally try to surround yourself with like-minded individuals that have similar goals and train their ass off.  Don’t underestimate the power of training in a productive environment with strong social support.  The “me against the world” mentality is nice for a while but it gets old real quick and you only have so much energy, better to use that energy to create a good environment then always fight a bad one.”

Danny McLarty:

Next I contacted this really good-looking guy, Danny McLarty.  Since I’m used to talking to myself, the conversation went really smooth!

Danny: What do you find is the biggest mistake made by trainees trying to take their physique to the “next level?”

Danny: “In my mind, there is no doubt the biggest mistake that most people make, is that fact that they change their goals far too often.  We all want to have the strength of an NFL linebacker, while having 2.4 percent body fat, while training to knock out GSP, while having so much muscle that we make the average human being  look like Christian Bale in the Machinist.

But that just ain’t happenin’.  Pick a goal and STAY WITH IT long enough to see it come to fruition.  As the great Dan John says, ‘the goal is to keep the goal the goal.’

Don’t go try to get as HYOOGE as possible one week, only to decide it’s time to get shredded the next.  Pick one goal, focus all your efforts on this goal, and kick some ass while you are at it!”

Dr. Clay Hyght:

Danny: What is the biggest nutrition mistake made by the individual trying to lose fat?

Dr. Clay: “From what I’ve seen, by FAR what holds most well-intentioned dieters back is failing to adhere to a very specific plan.  People tend to do things like “eat well” or “eat less carbs” and so on.  But if you ask them “how many grams of carbs are you eating?” they don’t know exactly.

One must first have a specific plan.  For example, “have 150 grams of carbs on days I lift weights.”  Then to make sure that actually happens, write down EXACTLY how many carbs you consume.  After a couple weeks, you’ll know if that’s gonna work or not and you can tweak from there.  (Of course the same goes for protein and fat.)”

Science is great, and I know it has influenced each one of us involved in this Q and A.  But NOTHING is more helpful than experience training people in real live situations.  Many people say that knowledge is power.  I disagree – knowledge is information, applied knowledge is power.  In this article, you have information that you can APPLY right away.  Do so and go take your physique to the next level!

If you have any tips that you have found to be particular beneficial in your training/nutrition plans, let us hear them in the comments section below.

If you’re on twitter, you can find Danny over @DannyMcLarty

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Only recently have I really recognised the power of thoughts - and although they are not something we have full control of they are something we can definitely guide and point in the right direction. Whether or not you are a believer in the law of attraction it seems common sense to me that we learn to control our thoughts.

When you are in a good state of mind the world becomes a lighter place – problems don’t seem so bad and we put things into perspective. This is normally when we think good thoughts. On the opposite end of the spectrum we can have our thoughts drag us into some pretty dark places – all it takes are a few things to go badly in a short space of time and our thoughts can slowly become more and more negative leading to a downward spiral.

So what can we do to make our thoughts point in the right direction? firstly do not try to force your bad thoughts away – accept them as they are and know that they will pass like any other thoughts.

Make Lists of Positive Things – It can sometimes be as simple as taking out a pen and paper and writing down a list of positive things in your life now. It could be good things in your work life, love life or pretty much anything that is going well now. Things may be hard but if you dig deep enough there are always good things to look for.

Count Your Blessings – Ever heard the term ‘Luxury Problems’ well these are the types of problems that most of us experience and let get us down. Look at the things in life you are good and that you can count as blessings – the bigger things, not the small stuff going on now. Check out this Twitter – for a humorous look at our problems.

Look at How Far You Have Come – Sometimes it is worth looking back at your life one, two or five years ago and see how far you have come. How much you have developed as a person, all the things you have achieved in life that you would not have dreamed of a few years ago. We all grow and learn throughout life.

Listen to Feel Good Music – Music is hugely important to our minds and feeling good. Just as scary or sad music can set the scene in a film feel good music can pull your thoughts into the right place. Listen to what makes you feel good and watch your thoughts slowly shift into the right place. And there is the other side – avoid listening to music which reminds you of bad times or makes you sad. Music is hugely influential to our minds!

Go For a Walk – Get in touch with nature. Many of us are so out of touch with our surroundings that it is no wonder our thoughts tend to get drawn in the wrong direction. Ultimately it comes down to doing what makes you feel good and for most of us walking, especially walking in nature makes us feel good. It helps calm the mind and put things into perspective.

The list could go on and on – I haven’t included things like keeping active, having a strong social circle, finding purpose and job you enjoy! Basically comes down to doing whatever you need to do in life to make your thoughts shift in the right direction. Only then will life start to flow and make sense.

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Editors Note: This is a guest post from Matt Stone of 180 Degree Health.

Attention! There is a serious infectious disease spreading around the globe.  Just when we thought diseases were sneaky with their ability to be passed through the air, blood, water, or through our sex organs – now we have a virus that spreads in the most innovative and deadly way – the internet, as well as through books.

It’s called Scienceitis, a nasty inflammatory disease caused by the Ferrisstim virus.  Human antibodies are useless against it because of the virus’s unique ability to produce antibody-destroying substances called 4 Hour Bodies.  With the release of all these 4 Hour Bodies, the brain becomes confused, and strange abnormalities in motor function occur that include uncontrollable urges to do pushups against the wall of the men’s room, lift objects at unusually slow tempos, and other peculiar symptoms.

Perhaps the most alarming symptom is the frequent inability to eat a meal without analyzing its nutritional content, assessing its glycemic index and glycemic load, estimating its relative ratios of protein, carbohydrates, and fat, making adjustments depending on whether the meal is being consumed pre or post workout, and needing to take a wide variety of expensive supplements to make sure that it is digested and metabolized in accordance with both blood and metabolic types, and that there are no known substances in the meal that trigger any adverse reactions.

It’s believed based on various clusters that have been identified by the CDC, that this virus is spread in greatest concentration from internet forums, fitness blogs, gym locker rooms, and personal trainer seminars.  These are all considered to be very high risk areas for contracting the virus.

Fortunately a vaccine and treatment has been developed.  The vaccine, which has proven to be almost 100% effective in the prevention of Scienceitis is the ETF Vaccine.  Because of the disease’s strange ability to trigger paranoia relating to dietary choices, the vaccine is commonly referred to as the “Eat the Food” vaccine – as it allows people to eat whatever they want, enjoy their lives, and be relaxed members of society.

For those not lucky enough to receive the vaccine in time, there is a drug that has been developed to treat advanced cases of the disease.  The wonder drug, developed by GlaxoSmithKline, inc., is called Fukitol – side effects include increased dietary need for certain substances including saturated fat, cholesterol, fructose, and gluten.

This has been a special news bulletin about this new raging disease epidemic and the best current treatment and prevention approaches known to the mainstream medical field.  If you cannot afford medical treatment, you can do a quick home-administered test by walking into your kitchen, eating the first thing that looks appealing, and waiting 15 minutes to see if the word “insulin” comes into your mind.  If it does not, you are likely free of the disease – but get the ETF vaccine as soon as possible to avoid this affliction.

Matt Stone, author of 7 books, is an independent health researcher who emphasizes the dangers of dieting and restricted and restrained eating of many varieties.  He is the voice of www.180degreehealth.com

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Magnesium is something that is often overlooked in the health and fitness community – sure it occasionally comes up as the ‘go to’ supplement or thing to cram into the diet. Rarely though is it a consistent thought on health enthusiasts mind, in my opinion this is a big mistake…

In order for our nervous system to work we need both calcium and magnesium – they are like the Ying and Yang of minerals relaxing and contracting our muscles, both equally and hugely important. We get Calcium pretty easily from dairy products, vegetables, even mineral water. Magnesium on the other hand which is just as important is more difficult to get hold of, with a lot of the foods that are rich in Mg being things that we simply do not eat much of any more. Add to this the mineral depleted soil we grow our foods in today and this serves up even more of a problem when it comes to getting in our magnesium.

We should aim for around 400mg of magnesium a day, how many of us get this amount? probably very few. Have a look at the list of Magnesium rich foods below….

• Black Beans
• Brocoli
• Peanuts
• Okra
• Spinach
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Oats
• Plantain
• Molasses

These are all ‘health’ foods and while I am sure quite a few of the readers here manage to get quite a few of them into their diets, the vast majority of people do not. Leaving to a Magnesium deficient population with imbalanced and strung out nervous systems, muscle cramps and general fatigue.
So one of the easiest ways to improve your general wellbeing is simply to up your magnesium intake via food – this means lots of Beans, Wholegrains, Lightly Cooked Veggies and doing everything you can to improve nutrient absorption. Things like having lemon in hot water to start the day and chewing your food well – these simple things are the key for you to get more from your food.

“In developed countries, the Mg [magnesium] intake [from food] is often marginal and the Mg intake coming from drinking water represents the critical factor through which the Mg intake is deficient or satisfactory . . . all [Mg studies have] shown a reverse correlation between cardiovascular mortality [death] and the Mg level”  - Source

The other option is Magnesium supplementation. If you are an athlete or under stress from your lifestyle then this is something I highly recommend – by simply taking 200mg of Magnesium Citrate 2-3 times a week many people feel a profound effect on their bodies, most notably a more relaxed nervous system (improved sleep, better tolerance to stress and feeling more relaxed).

Magnesium Food Salad

Here is a simple recipe I make from time to time that is a perfect thing to keep in the fridge and use as a mainstay for your meals. It is a simple whole food salad using the following:

- Fresh Spinach
- Whole-wheat Pasta or Quinoa
- Black Beans
- Sweetcorn
- Dressing: Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, Salt, Pepper

Simply cook and drain either whole-wheat pasta, or quinoa. Let them cool (this is very important so the salad doesn not stick/clump together) next add the black beans, sweetcorn and spinach to a big bowl and mix into the dressing. Then grab the cooled pasta or quinoa and give it a good mix in.
Together it makes for a fulfilling and tasty whole food salad that is a perfect side to eggs, meat, or fish.

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Editors Note: This is a book review of Joy Bauer’s Food Cures by contributor Khaled Allen.

Modern nutrition is a mess. Mainstream dietary guidelines are totally out of sync with the reality that our failing health as a nation is connected to poor diet. Making that connection is taboo because of corporate interests. So when I heard that Joy Bauer, nutritionist of the The Today Show, had published a book saying just that, I was pretty excited that a mainstream voice was finally going to push for real change in how Americans approach their nutritional health.

Of course, the fact that poor diet causes everything from diabetes to cancer to arthritis isn’t new, but the diet books making that connection are on the fringes: Paleo, Weston Price, veganism. For someone in the position of Joy Bauer to do it could be a potential game-changer.

Let food be thy medicine, and let thy medicine be food. - Hippocrates

Unfortunately, it isn’t. In the end, Food Cures comes off as just another generic diet book, recommending the same meal plans, the same calorie counting, and the same basic guidelines as every other diet book out there. It’s actually quite good taken in that light, but I don’t think it lives up to its claims. The only difference is the realization that diet can affect disease.

A Nutritional Approach to Dealing with Chronic Disease

Because it is basically illegal to suggest that foods can vary in quality, and that quality differences can have a real impact on your health, nobody in the government or the mainstream diet industry is allowed to say that beef from happy cows is objectively better than beef from factory-farmed cows. The same goes for vegetables, fruits, dairy, and eggs. If it has the right seal of approval, it’s just as good as any other food of the same type.

This isn’t true, of course. Grass-fed beef has a different chemical composition than cord-fed beef. Organic vegetables are not oozing pesticides. These are very real differences, and being aware of them can save you from a lifetime ingesting small amounts of toxic chemicals, leading to all sorts of diseases.

How amazing would it be for a book published by the nutritionist of The Today Show to tell that to all of America? It would completely change the way we approach food as a society. It would take the truth from ‘radical’ books and movies like Food, Inc. to the rest of the population, bringing it into the spotlight of popular discussion.

Sadly, that is not to be. There is no mention of the most basic quality distinctions in the book: nothing about processed vs. unprocessed foods, nothing about organics, very little about refined carbohydrates, not even an explicit discussion of the importance of whole foods (though the meal plans are all whole foods based and favor vegetables). In the end, Bauer simply advocates doing the best you can in the supermarket of the Standard American Diet. She dares not go so far as suggest that the system is broken and that you should try eating outside of it.

A Cornucopia of Information

The book is full of information, though it’s all stuff you can find online, but what makes it useful is the presentation. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular disease or condition, and includes very concrete (though very basic) steps you can take to make a change immediately. It reads like a troubleshooting guide, and is very accessible. The prescriptions provided are for healthy appearance, losing weight, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, Type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, vision and memory problems, mood, migraines, premenstrual syndrome, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, and cancer prevention.

Bauer has a long track record of successful coaching, so she clearly knows what she’s doing, does a great job with the self-motivation aspect of the book, and stays away from just being a cheerleader. She is realistic and pragmatic, without being a drill-sergeant as in a lot of the new diet books. For example, she understands that people don’t want to appear high-maintenance when they are dinner guests.

Still, she isn’t a revolutionary and won’t stray too far from mainstream health advice. However, she’s not afraid to recommend something if it works, sometimes giving poorly researched cures the benefit of the doubt instead of relying too strongly on ironclad scientific proof. I sometimes had the impression that she wanted to be more helpful than she was, as if she couldn’t say what she wanted to and still have her book accepted.

Bauer also expands her advice beyond simple nutritional guidelines. She dedicates a lot of space to discussions of lifestyle changes in addition to the eating advice, since the reality is that nutrition encompasses so much more than just what you eat.

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Unfortunately, most people who are concerned about their nutrition have already picked up on the connection between diet and disease, so Food Cures is behind the times. Still, it consolidates a lot of the research into a standard format that people shying away from Paleo, Weston Price, or veganism will appreciate and benefit from. Just thinking of your chronic conditions as related to diet is a huge step for many people.

Personally, I was left underwhelmed. Food Cures has a huge potential to reach a massive audience and change the way people think about food, but ends up falling short. It takes the format of every other diet book, adds the spin that disease is related to diet (which isn’t really a spin anymore), and presents the same meals plans and recommendations we’ve seen for decades. Change will have to come from the bottom up, it seems.

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