Supplements...What Are They Really Good For?

I really believe you get what you pay for when it comes to supplements. $10 for over 300 pills is probably worth about $10 worth of fried ice. Supplements aren't cheap, but there are several web sites that you can find good prices and there is a great new web site that digs in deep on whether the supplement you are thinking of taking is worth taking it and worth the money.

Here are a list of web sites I search for the best price on the supplements I take:

• www.allstarhealth.com
• www.amazon.com
• www.luckyvitamin.com
• www.mynaturalmarket.com
• www.vitacost.com

But before you buy check out Examine.com, an independent organization that presents un-biased research on supplements and nutrition. I love this web site!
Here are the list of supplements I take, I'm tweaking it all the time as I come across information that convinces me to start taking or stop taking something.

• Symbiotics Colostrum Plus® -- 480 mg - 2 every morning - I'm a huge believer in Colostrum, it's great for your immune system.
• Source Naturals Arctic Pure® Krill Oil -- 500 mg - 1 every morning - You can take less Krill Oil than other fish oil, which can save you money.
• Dr. Mercola Organic Broken Cell Chlorella -- 1 g - 5 every morning
• Jarrow Formulas Astaxanthin -- 10 mg - 1 every morning
• Jarrow Formulas Milk Thistle -- 150 mg - 1 every morning
• Vitacost Selenium SeLECT® -- 200 mcg - 1 every morning
• Garden of Life Primal Defense® Ultra Probiotic Formula -- 1 every morning - a must for keeping your gut flora healthy.
• B-12 -- 2500 mcg - 2 every morning - I also keep this with me to take before working out if I need some energy.
• Vitamin D-3 -- 2,000 IU - 1 every morning
• Solgar Gentle Iron® -- 25 mg - 1 every morning - I've always been anemic, so I have to take this.
• Selenium -- 200 mcg - 1 every morning 
• Tums - 2 every morning
• Country Life Chelated Magnesium -- 250 mg - 4 Tablets every night - if you get leg cramps, like I do this has helped immensely!
  
  
  

Fitness / Health Myths...WHY Are They Still Around?

These emails, articles, posts boggle my mind, you can search the Google and you will find the same re-hashing of these myths in articles going back for years, YEARS! So, why are we still talking about them and a better question…why doesn’t everyone know these to be myths? I bet you’re saying to yourself everyone does know they are myths; the authors are just churning out the same old articles to make money. I would tend to agree on some level, but being a fitness person and a NASM Certified Personal Trainer, I talk about fitness all the time to anyone who will listen. And I run into people all the time that STILL don’t know that these are myths or facts that have been proven false.

Every few weeks or so I get an email from one of the many fitness people I follow about Fitness / Health Myths. In fact, I got one today - - “Seven Myths of Strength Training for Women” (the author didn’t spell out “seven”, which isn’t the grammatically correct, but that’s a different blog post, any number under 10 is supposed to be spelled out, in case you were wondering).

Here are a few of the MYTHS I hear almost on a daily basis (yes I talk about fitness/health that much)

1.    I can’t eat eggs, I have high cholesterol – Eggs are the one of the closest foods to being perfect. It is a perfect balance of protein and fat for the body to utilize.

2.    It has to be fat-free or I’ll get fat – We need to change our mindset. Fat-Free means chemically laden. This means toxins in your body that make you retain weight.

3.    Doing crunches will get rid of belly fat – You’ll have sore ab muscles under the layer of fat you’re trying to get off. Health, fitness, and how you look is 80-90% of what you eat and 10-20% of your exercise regimen

4.    And my all-time favorite ... Weight training will make women bulky. – Unless you are a woman that is naturally high in testosterone you cannot bulk up like a man. And even if you are naturally high in testosterone you will never get a s big as a bodybuilder without supplementing with steroids.

So, why do we get weekly reminders that these are myths? And why do many people still believe that they are truths?  Well, I personally think it’s because there are people in the fitness industry that still believe them as truths.

In my quest to find a job in the fitness industry, as a certified personal trainer, I was talking to a trainer, who owned a franchised gym, that said to me (and I quote) “as women we need to do yoga to lengthen our muscles so we don’t bulk up.” What?! What did you just say?!

And that’s how these myths continue and I’m sure there will be new articles next week telling us again that you can’t spot reduce fat.

Two for Two

Whether you’re a B, C, D and/or above cup you need to always wear at least two sports bras when exercising, especially, when doing high impact workouts.

Why:

As we run, jump, bounce our breast are feeling the impact. In turn creating micro tears (yes tears) in our breast tissue, which contributes to sagging. And NOBODY wants saggy, belly button reaching boobies.

Get The Right Fit:

If you are shooting for wearing two sports bras the first bra (the one next to your skin) should be your typical go to bra size. The second (outer) bra should be one size larger in the band and one size smaller in the cup. As with all bras as you go up in circumference you go down in cup size.

The goal here is little or no movement (bounce) when you run, jump, etc.

I personally wear three bras. My first being a Genie or A-ha bra, then two underwire sports bras.

Brands:

This is a very personal preference and obviously it has to work for you with the “no bounce” goal.

Some of the brands I like are:

• Wacoal
• Natori

Both make very supportive bras that can be worn as sports bras.

DON’T FORGET WEAR AT LEAST TWO!