Indications You're Doing Too Much Cardio

by Brett Blumenthal - Sheer Balance, on Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:25am PDT

Sometimes when I go to the gym, I have this urge to tell some of the most religious treadmill riders "Ma'am, Step away from the treadmill!" No matter how many articles and reports are written on the benefits of exercise other than cardio, it never ceases to amaze me how many women (and men too...) relegate themselves to the endless monotony of the treadmill - or for that matter, any other piece of cardio equipment. Moreover, these individuals will do cardio for over an hour...sometimes hopping from one piece of cardio equipment to another...never even considering time in the weight room, in classes or outdoors.




Although there are definite benefits to doing aerobic exercise; strength, core and flexibility training all provide numerous health benefits that cardio can't: They increase muscular and bone strength, increase lean body mass, safeguard against injury and boost metabolism while decreasing fat.

Is it possible you are overdoing the cardio? Here's how to know:

Time: Unless you are training for a race, marathon or triathlon, there is no need to do more than 30 minutes of cardio (with your heart rate between 65% - 85% of your maximum heart rate) when you workout. Fitness Revamp: If you want to exercise for over 30 minutes, you are better off doing a 20 - 30 minute cardio session and another 20 - 30 minutes dedicated to strength training, stretching and/or core training.

You aren't seeing results: If you are trying to lose weight, yet you aren't seeing results, it may be because of too much cardio. Believe it or not the idea of 'burning off fat' does not stem from cardio...it stems from strength training. Fitness Revamp: Build in 20 - 30 minute strength training sessions 2 - 3 times a week.

Injuries: Too much wear and tear on your muscles and joints can end up in an injury...or even worse, multiple injuries. Incorporating flexibility and strength training helps to strengthen the joints which will prevent pain and damage to joints. Fitness Revamp: Take the time to stretch before and after your cardio sessions.

Boredom: Does it take a lot to motivate yourself to go to the gym? Doing the same type of exercise every day, of every week, of every year is...BORING! Working out should be fun and should make you feel good. Fitness Revamp: Mix it up. Take a class or two that interest you each week. Get into the weight room and do a few sets of bicep curls. Go hiking. Do things that motivate you and keep you interested. Being active is what is most important...not the time and mileage on a piece of equipment.

Do you think you are overdoing cardio? Have you found any of the above indicators true?

A Liquid Diet That Could Lead to Obesity

This is a great article. There are so many drinks and smoothies out there that have people thinking they are doing good by drinking them rather than going through the drive through, but here is the reality!

For the original article click here

A 2,010-Calorie Shake?!?! (and Other Shocking Drinks to Avoid)

By David Zinczenko, with Matt Goulding - Posted on Tue, Jul 28, 2009, 2:51 pm PDT

Americans have a drinking problem—we simply consume too much nutrient-empty, calorie-full liquids. Blame food marketers for the ever-expanding serving vessels, chock-full of cheap sugar substitutes, a variety of hard-to-pronounce chemicals, and tons of fats. But it’s not all doom and gloom—it turns out, those liquid calories are the easiest kind to cut. And a recent study from Johns Hopkins University found that people who cut liquid calories from their diets lose more weight—and keep it off longer—than people who cut food calories. In fact, cutting those calories in half could mean you could drop around 23 pounds in one year! Two years ago, Eat This, Not That! exposed the 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America. The list was bad in the scary, jaw-dropping sense: Belt-busting beverages that tipped the scales at over 1,000 (and sometimes, 2,000) calories; hundreds of grams of blood-glucose-spiking sugar, and a slew of unnatural and exotic-sounding additives.
The good news is that many of these beverages have since disappeared from menus and grocery aisle shelves. The bad news, of course, is that even worse monster-malts and Franken-shakes have popped up in their place. That’s why, in our all-new book, Eat This, Not That! The Best (and Worst!) Foods in America! we’ve updated our list of the absolute worst drinks to avoid—and offered sensible alternatives, so you can still enjoy your meals and beverages, but lose weight anyway. Here are the top 4.

4. WORST FLOAT Baskin-Robbins Large Ice Cream Soda with Vanilla Ice Cream Float (32 ounces)960 calories40 g fat (25 g saturated, 1.5 g trans)136 g sugarsIf you’re going to have a float, it’s best to limit yourself to one small scoop of ice cream and a reasonable pour of soda, yet Baskin-Robbins’ smallest portion is 32 ounces! Unfortunately, if the ice cream mogul doesn’t begin offering smaller sizes, your options are limited. Either split a small float or cut the soda out of the equation. All of this is part of a troubled history of serving up deleterious drinks at Baskin-Robbins, which came to a belt-snapping climax earlier this year when they began offering the 2,600-calorie Oreo Cookie Shake. After deriding it as the Worst Drink in America on the Today show and in this very blog, we’re happy to say that the folks at Baskin-Robbins have snapped to their senses and eliminated the weapon of mass construction, along with the rest of their so-called premium shakes. They're starting to offer some healthier varieties, too.
Drink This Instead! Cappuccino Blast Original (small)310 calories 12 g fat (7 g saturated) 42 g sugars

3. WORST ICE BLENDED COFFEE DRINK Così Gigante Double OH! Arctic (23 ounces)1,210 calories19 g fat259 g carbohydratesHow does Così’s coffee creation reach such abysmal heights? By dropping a giant Oreo cookie into the blender with a flood of chocolate syrup and then sticking another Oreo on top. The only thing stronger than the massive caffeine jolt will be the sugar crash to follow. “Blended coffee drinks” is a troubled genre in need of a name change; we think “caffeinated milk shakes” is a more apt description.
Drink This Instead! Grande Latte (15 ounces)210 calories7 g fat21 g carbohydrates

2. WORST SMOOTHIE Smoothie King’s The Hulk, Strawberry (40 ounces)2,088 calories70 g fat (32 g saturated) 240 g sugars To be fair, this smoothie is made to help people gain weight and that's the only reason it's not our official worst drink in America. The problem is that we live in a nation in which two-thirds of us are overweight, and the number of professional body builders doesn’t constitute a significant demographic. Plus, if you really want to put on some pounds, just eat 9 Odwalla Super Protein bars. That’s how many it would take to match this caloric load.
Drink This Instead! The Shredder, Strawberry (20 ounces)356 calories1 g fat41 g sugars

1. THE WORST DRINK IN AMERICA Cold Stone Creamery Gotta Have It PB&C Shake2,010 calories131 g fat (68 g saturated)153 g sugarsIs this the worst drink on the planet? All signs point to probably. First off, it has more sugar than 12 Fudgsicles, as much fat as a stick and a half of butter, and more calories than 37 Oreos. Oh, it also has 3 days’ worth of saturated fat. Need more proof? Let’s hope not.
Drink This Instead! Sinless Oh Fudge Shake—Like It490 calories2 g fat (2 g saturated)110 g carbohydrates44 g sugars

Check out 15 more drinkable disasters here. And don’t stop with the beverages. Here is the current list of the 30 Worst Foods in America. (Prepare to be shocked!)It’s not all bad, though. Check out the 125 Healthiest Supermarket Foods in America. To learn the truth about diet soda, energy drinks, and discover the best no-diet weight loss solutions on the planet, check out all of the eye-popping lists at eatthis.com.Want a flat belly fast? A lean, sexy body can be yours--fast! Try the new Men's Health iPhone app! It's like having your own personal trainer 24/7!And please share your nutrition and weight-loss tips and tricks with the rest of us.

Fell off the Wagon

Exercise and Pregnancy #3

Week 10
OK, so I have fallen off the exercise wagon because I completely lost my voice (which some of my family think is quite funny) and have gotten a head and chest cold. Being pregnant I can't take any of the 'good stuff' like my normal Theraflu. So the priority of the moment is to try and get some sleep without coughing.

Week 11
I STILL have the cold and would really love to take some Theraflu and get it over with, but I don't. My sleep is deprived because I can't make it more than an hour at night without coughing (which my husband loves as well). I have also fallen off the healthy eating wagon because Top Ramen and croissants seem to make me feel better :).

Week 13
We finally got to spill the new baby news to my parents and my husbands siblings! I finally started feeling better a few days before we left for our trip to CO. All of the lack of exercise and the sudden indulgence of comfort foods have made by belly start to bump out at a much faster rate than I remember with my other two.
I can only give myself credit for working out ONCE this whole week. It was a big wake-up call to feel the effects of exercise at altitude after living on an island for 7 months!

Week 17
I am finally getting back into a groove of working out and getting exercise 4-5 times per week. I have had sporatic volleyball practices the past few weeks which is probably a good thing considering it has been 94 degrees with island humidity. But I miss volleyball because it has been a great way to exercise without being boring.
My nutrition lately has been what I call healthy with some sprinkling of treats. My will power to stay away from baked goods for snacks has been weak, but I am consistent with healthy breakfast lunch and dinners! So I give myself points for that:).

Exercise and Pregnancy - My Own 9 Month Journal

Baby number 3 is on the way!

I have decided to blog about my journey through pregnancy and how exercise plays such a big role in the health of the baby and the mother. This will mostly be MY opinions and MY experiences and NOT medical advise for pregnant women.

I realize that I am VERY casual when it comes to being pregnant. With my first two pregnancies, I had an occasional glass of wine and I couldn't get enough sushi. I know that many will disagree and some will agree with what I choose to experience while pregnant. I am happy with my first two pregnancies and I had happy and healthy babies who slept GREAT!

So here is my journey of baby number 3:

(this post includes many week updates due to not posting until the announcement has been made public with our families :))

Week 5

I am pretty sure I am pregnant because I have missed my period by a week and I have been charting my temperature and it is staying high. I am not taking a pregnancy test yet because I want to be sure that the little bugger is implanted for sure.

I am still in my normal routine of working out 5-6 days a week varying yoga, cardio, weights, and volleyball. I am thrilled with volleyball! In my community here in Puerto Rico we have a former Olympic Women's Volleyball player who is providing a weekly clinic of court volleyball. I played long ago in junior high and some of it is coming back. It is a whole lot of fun and a great workout as well!

Week 6

POSITIVE pregnancy test! Woo Hoo! I really like the method of charting my Basal Body Temperature. I have always been quite regular so it has been easy to predict when I ovulate with the temperature charting. We used it successfully to plan a boy first then a girl.

So far I feel the same. There is maybe a bit stonger pull for a mid-day nap:), however, I think that is mostly mental.

I remember the discomfort of constipation early on in preganancy with my first two so I have begun taking a stool softener every day as prevention.

Week 8

I am definitely short on motivation to get up and go work out, but as soon as I do I feel so much better. I am fortunate to have had the luck of not having morning sickness with my other pregnancies and this one seems to be the same. There was once or twice with the others where I rushed to the toilet/sink/out the car door, but all in all quite easy compared to some women I know. Again, I believe the exercise and circulation help to keep the sickness at bay.

Thank God for my husband who helps to push me out the door in the morning. I am still biking the dogs every other morning so that is also a nice start to the day. For some reason it is more mentally difficult to get myself to do my weight training, so right now I am doing mostly 30 min elliptical workouts and volleyball...some yoga.

I haven't changed my eating at all...OK, maybe an occasional extra healthy snack. I am fully aware that "eating for 2" is just an excuse to eat too much. I remember reading that in the 2nd and 3rd trimester the body needs only about 300 more kcals per day. The trick is tring to keep those extra calories healthy!

I have been used to eating every three hours since I did Body for Life. My body likes that system and especially while pregnant.

Perfect Yoga Podcast

If you are ever in a place where you don't have access to your favorite yoga studio or the local class schedule doesn't fit with your schedule, then I have to say that a yoga class by podcast is a very nice substitute.

My podcast of choice to try it out was "The Yoga Practice Show" by yogajournal.com . It was free on itunes which makes it even better. As I am not terribly familiar with downloading and using pocasts, it probably took longer than it should have to get all set up. However, all I had to do was set my computer on my coffee table and roll out my yoga mat. Some of the podcasts, just like studio classes, require props so you should have at least a block and a strap ready.

I was quite happy with the instruction and the level of difficulty. Beginners might want to watch the session all the way through once to get an idea for the poses if they aren't familiar with the names or specifics. What was the most convenient was the choices of podcast durations. Most are 20-30 min long but could easily be combined to give you a full hour class or longer if desired. I have not yet tried this on my mobile device. I figure it would work sufficiently with just the audio as long as I know all the poses. I suppose I could find a spot to prop the devise in order to follow the video as well.

I would highly recommend trying yoga by podcast, especially for those who don't conform well to the schedules of studio classes, or to those that travel. This would work fabulous in your hotel room.

I look forward to trying out other podcasts from other sources and I will keep you all posted on what I find out!

The Balance Guru now in Puerto Rico

Bienvenidos a Puerto Rico!

The Balance Guru has moved to Puerto Rico. My family and I have chosen to have an adventure in the Carribean and we moved to Puerto Rico site unseen. We have left the door open as to how long we will live here, but so far we are absolutely in love with the island.

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As far as The Balance Blog is concerned, I have seen many interesting health habits here that are common with most Latin American countries. The way they eat is the most obvious.

This is a plate of common Puerto Rican specialties; twice-fried empanadas and the standard rice and beans. Yes, you read it correctly, TWICE-FRIED! I have to say that the red beans and rice most always taste delicious. But most foods with high fat content do!

Our eating experience the first week we were here was that everything can come with rice and beans if you want it to. If not, then it comes with bread. I can't tell you how overloaded each plate is with carbohydrates and fat. And it is very rare to see ANY vegetables. For Puerto Rico, a vegetable is the onion and corn they cook with the stew, or sancocho (again very tasty dish, but loaded with fat and carbs). It surprises me how difficult it is to get fresh green vegetables here.

All of our experiences in every type of restaurant we came across (local, breakfast, deli, lunch, dinner) were very telling as to why there is such a problem here with Diabetes.

Statistics from the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) show that Puerto Rican residents are 1.8 times as likely as whites to get diabetes.

For those with diabetes, it must be so difficult to make changes in their nutritional habits with all the access to unhealthy foods. But there is also a cultural componant in that there is such connection with the heart and soul that goes into the food. And it is the food that is the centerpiece of most family and neighborhood gatherings.
There needs to be a family and community support for those with diabetes and those at high risk for diabetes to make a change. There has got to be a way to keep the soul and loose the fat in the food.

Tough Love from the Tainer

The Hard Truth About Injuries, Vacations, and Falling off the Health Wagon

The general consensus among health professionals is that is takes
TWICE AS LONG AS THE TIME YOU WERE OUT to get back to where you started.

So to explain, if you go on a 2 week vacation and enjoy the food and lack of exercise, it will take you 1 month to simply get back to the shape you were in on the day you left.

It is also true if you had an injury and you decided not to maintain exercising your parts that weren't injured.

So next time you decide to let yourself slip off the "health wagon" for a bit, just remember that it takes that much more work to climb back on.

Tough Love.