GretaBfit

This Christmas, Fight the Dangers of Wrap Rage

Hey, take it easy when opening those Christmas gifts.  Each year an estimated 300,000 people visit the hospital as a result of lacerations incurred from packaging.  This peaks, of course, on Christmas day and the following couple days.  Here's a great example of what NOT to do: 

The Hazards of Air Travel & Safety Tips to Keep You Well

Terrific video from Dr. Ron Klatz, who is one of the founders of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.  Do yourself a big favor--watch this before taking your next flight!

Vitamin D Prevents Cancer: Is It TRUE?

This is an important video.  Nearly 1/2 the adults in the United States are deficient in Vitamin D and this deficiency has been linked to cancer and other diseases.  I want you all to get educated about this, get your vitamin D levels tested, and take a Vitamin D supplement, particularly during the Winter months. Dr. Joseph Mercola, by the way, recommends adults take 5,000 units of vitamin D daily.

White Tea the New Skin Lover!

Guest column by Sandy Alcide:

First there was green tea, touted for its ability to help lose weight and destroy free radical damage (free radical damage is generated from environmental factors like sun exposure and pollution, that causes premature aging of skin.)

 

But, credible research discoveries prefer "white tea" as being three times more effective for the skin than green tea!

 

 For those of you who dislike wearing sunscreen but love your outdoor activity: white tea protects the skin and helps to reverse some of the damage from staying out in the sun too long. And for those who are trying to keep their weight down for better racing times or fitness competition and are lacking enough proper nutrition; white tea is also known to help skin from poor dieting which in time can damage the skin.

 

Drinking white tea promotes healthy and radiant skin and helps to give a boost to those who may tend to neglect their skin from free radical damage.

 

White tea strengthens skin's cells that can lead to immune system damage increasing chances of pre-mature aging, such as wrinkling or discolored pigmentation. Drinking this tea also helps to build your skin's resistance against stresses that cause skin to age.

 

So how much white tea do we need to get these benefits? Not as much as you think. Depending on your lifestyle, about one to two cups a day should help.

 

Next time you shop for your green tea, pick up a box of white tea. Your skin will love you for it.

Note from Greta: Sandy Alcide writes for Motion Media in Nesconset, NY

NUKE AGING! A Message from Greta: FitCamp Cancun, April 14-18, 2010

Dear Friends,

We are putting the final touches on a mini-brochure for the camp as well as a lot of new website stuff. Meanwhile, why wait for this when I can send you a letter!

 

Camp this year will have a terrific anti-aging focus that will be the underpinnings for ALL of us as time marches on.  We all want to stay young and healthy for as long as possible, right?  For this reason, we picked the theme: NUKE AGING!

For those of you who are personal trainers, it will give you the inside edge when it comes to having something NEW to offer clients. It doesn’t hurt that Ceiba del Mar, the resort we have booked, is gorgeous and the healthy food is five-star.

 

You can fly into camp a day or so early if you want to extend your visit. We have a very special rate at the resort and can help you make that happen if you’d like. Otherwise, fly down Wednesday, April 14, as early as you can so that we can get the ball rolling by noon and depart on Sunday, April 18, anytime after noon so that we can have a full-tilt BLAST OFF from camp that day.

 

If you register NOW with a $250 dollar deposit you get some special goodies like a pre-camp CD with an interval training workout as well as a pre-camp GOODY BAG with fantastic supplements.

 

Note that the camp fee ($1595 STANDARD shared room, and $2295 DELUXE single room) includes everything at camp except your airfare and airport transfers to and from the resort. We can help arrange your transportation from the airport and back via a van that costs $90 and holds 6 people at a time. We also have a travel agent we have worked with for nearly 15 years and she is great at helping campers get good air deals.

 

Following is a sample list of the classes we will feature at FITCAMP Cancun: NUKE AGING!

• Hell Hikes
  These daily “grinds” are a special treat at FITCAMP. Once you’ve conquered our special Cancun version of Hell Hill you’ll never be the same. You go at your own pace and have the support of the entire group in helping you make your way through this revolutionary new way to work out that is being debuted at this camp. Fitness champs can lead the pack and break existing camp speed records if they want a real challenge. Either way, everyone gets to finish.
  We’ll even teach you how to create a Hell Hike in your hometown so that what you learn at camp goes back home with you.
•   Obstacle Course
  For those wanting a real bootcamp experience, this is it. Speed, balance, agility, focus, strength, and flexibility all come into play on this timed course. There are awards given out for Best Individual, Best Team and Best Effort.
•   Abs 101 and Advanced Abs
  Ever dream of having a 6-pack? We’ll show you how. Whatever your fitness level we’ll work your stomach and core in ways you’ve never seen before.
•   Yoga
  Are you a devoted yogini? Then these classes will heighten your practice.
  Never tried it, but wanted to? Learn the basics from our pros.
  The style of yoga taught at FITCAMP is a groovy vinyasa style that allows for variations for all levels.
•   Sprint 8
  You haven’t heard of it ..yet. But you will! This camp exclusive is the answer to your prayers. We’ll teach you the secrets of high-intensity interval training interspersed with low intensity intervals for recovery. You can use this with your workouts at home whether they’re biking, running, walking, swimming, or weight lifting.
  
• You’ll build muscle, lose fat, increase feel-good hormones and get anti-aging benefits to boot. Better yet, the guy who invented it will be the guy teaching you at camp. Doesn’t get better than that.
• TEAM BUILDING and MOTIVATION
  Challenge yourself and break through to new ways of being. You’ll conquer your fears and create powerful new goals. No one pushes you beyond what YOU want to do but watch out! At the FITCAMP people have been known to become outrageous, courageous warriors like never before. You just might have some untapped potential that even you are unaware of. The folks back home may not recognize you after this one.
   
  More…..
   
  Supplements That Work: Dr. Dave Woynarowksi is the internet supplement guru from drdavesbest.com He will cut thru the crap and teach you what you really need to keep going at age 40, 50, 60 and beyond. He is a nationally recognized authority on anti-aging and the guy you see on TV talking up the latest in the field.
   
  Superstars of Science: FITCAMP guests will include leading researchers and authors in the field of anti-aging research. They will share the top tips that are being investigated in labs around the world. You may come away from camp knowing more about telomere biology and stem cells than your doctor! We are firming up our Special Guest list and will have announcements soon about this hotshot line-up.

 

Please call me anytime with further questions (800/727-2888). And direct your friends to www.fitcamp.com so that they can sign up as well. FITCAMP is addictive!

 

Love ya!

Greta B.

Obesity Trends to Negate Smoking Benefits

Ann Arbor, Mich. — If obesity trends continue, the negative effect on the health of the U.S. population will overtake the benefits gained from declining smoking rates, according to a study by U-M and Harvard researchers published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Obesity plays a large role in life expectancy,” said co-author Allison B. Rosen, assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan. “Despite the fact that we are smoking less, body-mass indexes (BMI) are going up. These increases in obesity are overtaking these changes in smoking behaviors.”

Using a technical analysis that includes forecasting future trends based on historical data, researchers found that despite declines in smoking, the remaining life expectancy of a typical 18-year-old would be held back by 0.71 years by the year 2020 because of the increased body-mass index of the general population. The researchers also looked at quality of life. That same 18-year-old could expect to give up 0.91 years of increased quality-adjusted life expectancy.

If all U.S. adults became nonsmokers of normal weight by 2020, their life expectancy would be forecast to increase by 3.76 years or 5.16 quality-adjusted years.

However, the researchers say the study’s results don’t imply that life expectancy will fall – more likely, life expectancy will continue to rise due to other factors, but less rapidly than it otherwise would.

“In the past 15 years, smoking rates have declined by 20 percent, but obesity rates have increased by 48 percent,” says lead author Susan T. Stewart, Ph.D, a Harvard University research associate for the joint project of the National Bureau of Economic Research and Harvard’s Program for Health System Improvement. “If past trends continue, nearly half of the population – 45 percent – is projected to be obese by 2020.”

In addition to better managing clinical risk factors such as blood sugar among those who are obese, effective public health efforts are needed to address the roots of obesity, like sedentary lifestyles, the widespread availability of high-calorie food in large portions and reduced time for the preparation of food at home, says David Cutler, Ph.D., another co-author of this study and professor of Economics at Harvard University, as well as a research associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Rosen said this study does not indicate that people are getting heavier because they are not smoking. The weight gain associated with quitting smoking is temporary and thus not significant enough to drive the rising trend in increased BMIs.

Public health efforts to discourage smoking have worked, and a similar effort could help turn around obesity rates, Rosen said. Many weight control interventions have proven successful and their use should be encouraged.

 “Losing weight is harder than quitting smoking. People don’t have to smoke to live. People have to eat to live,” she said.

“The hypothetical scenario of having everyone a non-smoker of normal weight may be unachievable. But these results show the dramatic toll that both smoking and obesity can have on both the length of life and the quality of life.”

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging, the Harvard Interfaculty Program for Health Systems Improvement and the Lasker Foundation.