Today is a fun day and a fun look at unusual diets. There is a poll at the bottom of this post about diet plans you have tried.

As I have confessed before, I have used many methods in the past to attempt to lose weight without the rigors and sweat of working out. I didn't want to work that hard but wanted to see almost overnight success. Sound familiar?

There have been many fad diets and plans that promise bigger results in less time than submitting to a healthier lifestyle would do for you. Some of these are so strange it's a wonder anyone tried them, much less continued with them to achieve any amount of success.

Many diet plans also have some sort of exercise plan which must be followed to achieve results. There is an incredible number of these plans. If you don't believe me, go to the site everydiet.org and look at the list of diet plan reviews on the right hand sidebar. They come with all sorts of names: 321 Baby Bulge Be Gone, Bikini Boot Camp, The Cheater's Diet, The Tapeworm Diet, The Fast Food Diet, the Martini Diet, My Big Fat Greek Diet.

Some diets tell you to feast on one particular food and very little else. The Three Apple a Day Diet seems to impart almost magical weight-loss attributes to the apple. There are other food diets based on the Grapefruit, Cabbage Soup, Apple Cider Vinegar, Bread For Life, Coconut, Cookies, Bananas. After using one of these diets, it may take you a while before you want to eat a single serving of that particular food again.

The Coffee Diet (not on the list) tells you to drink cup after cup of coffee, as much as you can. It must be caffeinated coffee. The theory is that the caffeine will boost your metabolism and, through your increased metabolic rate, will enable you to burn off calories. You won't be as inclined to require as much sleep, this diet claims. Caffeine being a natural diuretic means you will be visiting the bathroom frequently and will not retain water. I can tell you increased coffee intake will mess with your body. After so many years of overconsumption of coffee I found myself under doctor's orders to limit my caffeine to one morning cup of coffee, preferably eight ounces, and a daily dose of Detrol. Unlimited coffee drinking had led to an overactive bladder and urinary incontinence. I can also testify to the fact you can develop a high tolerance to caffeine. This diet is promoted by John D. Greene who amazingly enough (sarcasm intended) has a book "The Coffee Diet" which you can buy to find out all about it.

Some of the diets are ineffective and some, like the Tapeworm Diet, are extremely dangerous. The Tapeworm Diet is practiced in some parts of Mexico and involves allowing tapeworms to grow inside your digestive tract. You will lose weight but you may also have severe medical complications besides the nutritional deficiency you will suffer when the worms steal many of the nutrients your body requires.

My advice to anyone looking for a diet plan to get rid of body flab is to remember you must pay attention to both exercise and diet. Any diet plan you start must be one which you can follow with ease and with a minimum of expense, which does not require a lot of special ingredients. It should be one you can follow for life. Any diet plan which you would not want to continue throughout your life will offer only temporary results because you won't have dealt with your food or activity level problems.

If you absolutely must have some exercise with your fad diet, try installing the Bowel Movement Energizer System on your toilet as seen here: http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/faddiet_2142_3985976

I didn't select this photo for my blog post today because it was nice eye candy for the lady readers. Notice the slope from the bodybuilders neck to the top of his shoulder? That is the trapezius muscle.

I know you're probably saying, "But I don't want to look like that so I don't need to pay attention to that muscle. Right?"

Wrong. This muscle allows you to shrug your shoulders to questions people ask. If you are into canoeing or sculling, you use the middle and lower parts of this muscle to row. Developing your trapezius can also improve your posture. It can also prevent damage to your neck or upper back. The trapezius muscles are triangular in shape and extend up to the base of the skull, down to the mid back and to the tops of the shoulders.

The main exercises which will strengthen your trapezius muscles will require the use of barbells, dumbbells, or a machine usually used to strengthen the calf muscles. Some of the exercises require you to shrug with weights in your hands. Another involves a rowing movement using weights.

Do you work on a computer for hours on end? That neck pain you may feel after a long work period is called trapezius myalgia. On the website necksolutions.com, Dr. Steve cited a study which showed exercising the trapezius muscle using hand weights helped to relieve neck pain. The recommended exercise duration was three times each week for twenty minutes a session. Each session included the dumbbell shrug plus two of the four other exercises for the trapezius muscle.

So the next time your work, children, or spouse gives you a pain in the neck, perhaps your trapezius muscle needs to get some attention and TLC. Until next time, think healthy, think fit.

A video demonstrating exercises to develop the trapezius muscle. This is not an endorsement of the products on the site but I hope it helps you see how to do the exercises:
http://www.leehayward.com/art27.htm

This site talks about the study involving women who had neck pain after spending long periods of time on the computer. It has diagrams for the exercises best used to rid yourself of trapezius myalgia.
http://www.necksolutions.com/trapezius-myalgia.html

This last video shows a number of exercises which you could do at home with just a bench to lie upon. The exercises are done with no stops. You would want to do between 8 to 15 repetitions of each movement and probably not all of them in one session.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5-PLpC2Zlo

Does the phrase "sleep like a baby" apply to you? Are you getting less than seven hours of sleep a night and either plateauing with your weight loss plan or gaining?

According to Denise Mann's webmd.com article "Sleep and Weight Gain: Will better sleep help you avoid extra pounds?" if you are constantly depriving your body of the full seven to eight hour recommended dose of restful sleep, you may be setting yourself up to gain weight.

When you are sleep-deprived you tend to reach for any food which will boost your energy temporarily. All too often, this may be fast food, coffee, energy drinks, the goodie tray at work. Healthy foods require a combination of pre-planning, a bit of preparation, and availability.

Tired people have less ambition to work out. Tired people may also subconsciously fight the signals the body sends telling them it is time to go to bed.

As a stay-at-home mother with a teenager and a twenty year old still at home, I tend to get eight hours of sleep each night. I remember what it was like to be a new mother, wondering if I would ever get enough sleep to last through each 24 hour day.

I remember grabbing anything I could to eat after nursing my babies. I tried to get my housework done when they took naps instead of lying down to catch a few ZZZs myself. I drank enormous amounts of caffeinated coffee, at one time four twenty ounce cups each day when my children were past the age of nursing.

My husband works twelve hour shifts three days out of seven with a four hour shift on Wednesdays. He has to get up at 4 AM to be to work by 6 AM. When he gets home at 6:30 to 7 PM, the last thing he wants to do is go to work out. Even though he is tired, he says he is so wired from work that he stays up very late watching movies or surfing eBay's used motor vehicles. (He also begins watching a movie and goes to sleep while sitting up in less than fifteen minutes). He takes cat naps but doesn't get prolonged restful sleep. I worry over his safety on the road. I love my husband and want him around for the next 40 or 50 years of our lives together.

He has gained weight since the day we were married almost 31 years ago. Most of it is around his midsection. His belly is not so big he requires a second legal name for it but he does have a small muffin top which embellishes the waistband of his jeans. (I already confessed in a previous post that I have a muffin top, too.) It was part of the reason he agreed to a family membership at the fitness center. I wonder if he is doing what so many sleep-deprived workers do: grabbing whatever food is quick and easy, whether it's a donut or a burger and fries from a fast food joint, whenever they can.

It turns out, there is a medical explanation for this tendency to reach for food when you really need sleep. Sleep-deprived individuals have more of the hormone ghrelin which is produced by the body to indicate when it needs food for energy. Think of it as an invisible internal gas gauge like you have on your car. It tells your body when it is running on fumes.

They also have less of the hormone leptin which is produced by the body when it has enough food fuel. It is like the gas pump handle which clicks and stops the flow when your car's gas tank is full. Leptin tells us that we can stop fueling up.

Another hormone is at play in the relationship between sleep and eating. Orexin production is lower in individuals who have narcolepsy, a sleep disorder where the person gets enough nighttime sleep but still can fall asleep easily at any time of the day, sometimes involuntarily.

Orexin also stimulates a protein called HIF-1 which makes the cells burn their glucose stores quicker and more efficiently to provide the body with energy. Lower orexin levels mean a lower metabolism.

In other words, when you don't get enough sleep, your metabolism and your endocrine system (which produces hormones) becomes screwed up. Hormonal imbalances and lower metabolism triggers weight gain.

So try to get quality sleep. Set up a normal pre-sleep routine. Even if you think you aren't tired, follow the routine and go to bed seven hours before you have to get up. You may find it a bit easier to shed the excess pounds.

Until next time, think healthy, think fit.

Denise Mann's article:
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/lack-of-sleep-weight-gain

Studies involving orexin:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071114183255.htm

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I've heard of resveratrol via radio ads by Larry King and Regis Philbin for Welch's Grape Juice. I read blurbs about resveratrol in various women's magazines. I never really thought much about this supposed anti-aging supplement until today. The only thing I knew was it was somehow related to grapes, a fruit I have been known to over-consume.

My small amount of research to prepare this post gives me a lot of information, most of which comes from the Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center website. Here are the main things I learned:

Resveratrol is a polyphenol, a kind of fat soluble compound. (From my years of reading about nutrition and dieting, I know vitamins A, D, E and K are also fat soluble. It is possible to overdo these vitamins since the body stores them in the fatty tissues. Water soluble vitamins like vitamins B and C are secreted through urine. Excess amounts of those vitamins don't build up in your body.)

Foods high in resveratrol include blueberries, cranberries, peanuts, dark chocolate, purple grape juice (not white grape juice) and red wine.

There are many health claims associated with resveratrol. Among these are:

Reducing the risk of coronary heart disease;

Acting as an antioxidant to inhibit the development of free radicals which are believed to cause cancer;

Reducing the appearance of diseases and conditions associated with aging and increasing the life span;

Reducing insulin sensitivity in diabetic patients;

Aiding in weight loss;

Reducing chronic inflammation of body tissues;

And I could go on and on.

Since the 1980s when we were told if we only ate oatmeal every day we would not have heart trouble or cholesterol problems, I've been cautious about health claims. (According to one article I read, you have to eat three servings of oatmeal per day to see any benefits. Is that realistic?) I want to see the clinical research, research done in more than one study involving a large sample group of human beings, not laboratory test animals.

As with many things, many believe people like Dr. Oz or Larry King or Regis Philbin who seem to endorse resveratrol or a product containing that supplement. Almost as bad as believing spokespeople for a particular product: the mind set which says that if a little of something is claimed to be good for your health, then a lot of that something will be even better.

Stephen Barrett's article linked below does a fine job of explaining where the resveratrol is in the grape and why we should not put all our hopes for better health in the supplement. Until next post, think healthy, think fit.

"Resveratrol: Don't Buy the Hype" by Stephen Barrett, MD.
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/resveratrol.html

Linus Pauling Institute's article about resveratrol:
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/resveratrol/

A very pro-resveratrol site with most of the health claims attributed to the supplement:
http://www.resveratrol.com/

'Q' is for quadriceps. Cyclists need strong quads to compete in long distance races. You probably guessed that quadriceps are found in your legs. My post today is all about this group of muscles.

The quadriceps are a group of four muscles which are located in the front of your thighs. Together they allow your knee to extend (straighten). Thinking of the pedaling motion a cyclist does, you can understand why her quadriceps would be highly developed.

Other physical activities which rely upon the athlete's strong quadriceps include kickboxing, running, basketball, baseball. In fact, any sport in which the athlete must run, jump or otherwise use the knees in repetitive bending and straightening movements utilize the quadriceps.

The machines at the gym which allow me to strengthen my quadriceps include the hack squat machine (Precor Icarian), the hip multi-exercise machine (Body Masters 114), the leg extension machine (Body Masters 110), the Nu Step 4000 cross trainer, the elliptical trainer (FreeMotion) and the recumbent exercycle.

Quadriceps exercises you can do without machines are squats, lunges, and step ups. You can use resistance bands for leg extension and hip abduction exercises. Squats can be done with a solid wall and a Swiss ball.

You should not exercise the quadriceps without also exercising the hamstrings and gluteus muscles. Well-developed quadriceps and hamstrings help you climb stairs better and hike and bike for longer distances.

Until tomorrow, think healthy, think fit.

Quadriceps exercises with and without machines:
http://www.weight-lifting-workout-routines.com/quadriceps-exercise.html

More exercises without machines, one with a Swiss ball, some with resistance bands:
http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8290850/quadriceps-strengthening-exercises-vmo-strengthe.htm

How to diagnose and treat a sports-related quadriceps strain or injury:
http://www.sports-injury-info.com/quadriceps-strain.html

Video showing the type of Icarian squat machine I use:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0P1M4Na35A

Video showing the standing glute kickback using the hip multi-exercise machine:
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/standing-glute-kickback.html

I had an entire collection of Barbie dolls when I was a little girl. I allowed my daughters to own and play with Barbie dolls when they were young. I don't remember obsessing over Barbie's proportions or thinking, "Now if I could have a chest like that and be thin over the rest of my body, I would be perfect."

Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) student Galia Slayen created a life-size version of what she believes Barbie would look like if Barbie were alive. Her Barbie has a huge bust in proportion to the rest of her body and her arms are like something you would see on a charity appeal for starving children in a third world nation. With the measurements of 39-18-33, her life-size doll is hardly something you would want to emulate.She made this Barbie doll to create awareness for eating disorders displayed first at her high school and later at her college. She states that she believed at one time Barbie's figure was the way her figure was supposed to look. She used anorexic behaviors to try to make her image conform to that misconceived idea of perfection.

For me, Barbie dolls were not the image I compared myself to when I was growing up. For one thing, I was what they called an early bloomer. I was the first in my class to develop a bust and to begin my menstrual cycle. I remember after going to an all-girl assembly and watching the movie about our changing bodies, a couple of boys in my science class teased me about it, asking me what the movie was about (they knew darn well what the movie was about!)

No, what did it for me was the other girls in my class. In junior high, all girls were supposed to take Phy Ed. This lasted until my sophomore or junior year of high school (I don't remember which now). The Phy Ed classes meant that all of the girls in my class used the same locker room and the same group shower room. One Phy Ed teacher made showers mandatory and actually stood by the shower room to check off our names when we went in. She would not allow the ones who didn't shower to go to their next class. Resistance was futile.

I thought I was fat back then. When I look at some pictures of myself from those years, I wasn't but at that time I thought I was. And I compared myself to the other girls in my class. Some of them were cheerleaders. Many of them had hunky looking older boyfriends. In my perception, all of those girls had perfect figures and I didn't and that was the reason why I had no boyfriend.

I also knew an older girl who was somewhat built like a shorter version of Barbie. She had a lot of back pain.

Adding to my insecurity about my body shape was a mother who pursued weight loss with many different methods. She used the Ayds diet candies, the roller exercise wheel, took before and after photos of herself, me and my brother for an exercise program she had sent for in the mail, etc. She said nothing when I determined one summer to lose weight by measuring out my food and eating under one thousand calories a day.

The reasons I want to lose weight today are much different than those I had when I was that age almost forty years ago.

I want to go hiking with my family and not get winded on the way up a scenic hillside or back to a remote, pristine location.

I don't want to have to take high blood pressure medications for the rest of my life.

I don't want my bones to become fragile and brittle.

I want to be able to find pretty clothes in my size which flatter my shape.

But, no, I don't want to look like Barbie.

The MSNBC story about Galia Slayen's life-size Barbie (with photo)
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42595605/ns/today-today_people/

An analysis of Barbie's proportions and health problems if she were real (based on studies done at Duke and Yale Universities):
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/If_Barbie_were_life_size_what_would_her_measurements_be

History of the Barbie doll as we know her, written by Robin Vinci:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1780832/barbie_doll_history_explains_why_it.html?cat=7

A sweet video version of the infamous (some say annoying) Barbie Girl song by Aqua:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EzgUA4FwFM

A few years ago I broke my ankle in three places. The orthopedic surgeon who put it back together with plates, screws and pins commented afterward that he believed I had soft bones. He recommended I begin supplementing my diet with vitamin D and calcium and have a DXA scan to determine my bone density.

I had neglected my bones for many years. Caffeine had impaired the absorption of vitamin D and calcium that would have strengthened them. I was extremely sedentary. I didn't even take many walks, not even leisurely strolls around my neighborhood.

Although the DXA scan did not show low bone density, I knew I had to change my lifestyle somehow. I didn't know exactly how. Our pastor's daughter who is close to finishing medical school told me that exercise builds stronger bones. According to the website lifelinescreening.com, the exercise you do causes your body to release chemicals which build the bone mass and density in preparation for any future exercise. It's a similar type of thing which happens to your muscles when you train with weights.

I have also read that reaching the age of menopause can cause a woman to develop osteoporosis because estrogen levels drop at that time of life. Until then, estrogen plays a part in keeping bones strong.

I know what it's like to be laid up for a month or more, not being able to move except by crutches or a walker. I never want to have that happen to me again. Being laid up makes you feel vulnerable and helpless, dependent upon others to help you with the most basic of your needs.

If exercise will prevent another fractured bone in my body, I'll do it. Until next time, think healthy, think fit.

Lots of information, including prevention, management, and other facts about bone health from the National Osteoporosis Foundation:
http://www.nof.org/

Explains why you should exercise to develop strong bones and the three types of exercise you should have in your routine:
http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/exercise-for-osteoporosis

Articles on how exercise builds bone density and mass:
http://www.lifelinescreening.com/health-updates/healthy-you/bone-health/exercise-strengthen-bones.aspx
http://www.drmirkin.com/joints/bones_exercise.html

I love nuts.

Right now, where I sit on my couch with my laptop, there is a container of Blue Diamond Oven Roasted Almonds with Sea Salt and a can of Planters Nut.rition South Beach Diet mixed nuts within reach. Of course, this week I have had to hold off my daily snack of one ounce of nuts. The area of my mouth where my molar was removed is still healing. I'm being cautious.

Not all nuts pack the optimal level of nutrition. According to the United States Food and Drug Administration, nuts which might be beneficial in  guarding against heart disease are pecans, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, peanuts, hazelnuts and certain kinds of pine nuts. These nuts have more going for them than this. Nuts are a good source of fiber and protein. They contain fat but the fat is unsaturated.

According to an article written by Extension Educator Alice Henneman for the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension (Lancaster County) newsletter, research has suggested daily consumption of nuts and nut butters may assist in weight control and loss and reduce the risk of diabetes.

I read a few years ago almonds were a very good source of vitamin E, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin and folate as well as minerals like magnesium, phosphorous, copper and calcium. I use the single serving bags of almonds you find in gas station convenience stores as snacks when I'm on day trips with my family. When at home, I count out the number of nuts in a single serving into a small bowl before I begin eating them. Otherwise I might get carried away and eat more than I should.

You should not be afraid to use peanut butter or almond butter as part of your healthy diet as long as you don't consume more than the two tablespoons which constitute a single serving.

Until next post, think healthy, think fit.

Alice Henneman's article may be read here:
http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ftmar04.htm

I wrote an article for Associated Content titled "Nuts For the Raw Foodist: Delicious, Nutritious Additions to a Healthy Diet" which may be helpful in determining which nuts you may want to eat for their nutritional benefits:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1034924/nuts_for_the_raw_foodist_delicious.html?cat=22

A fun peanut butter lover website:
http://www.peanutbutterlovers.com/nutrition/index.html

My iPod contains some slower music but I have attempted to place mostly upbeat songs on it. I have found it's very important to me to have music with the right tempo when I work out on various machines. I see some people paging through magazines, reading books, and watching television when working out, but that isn't for me.

On the weight machines, I can have just about anything playing since the repetitions need to be done at my own pace. At the peak of a repetition, I must hold the position for about three to five seconds. This type of activity can't be timed to a beat.

On machines like the NuStep, the treadmill, the exercycle, the stair stepper, and the elliptical, I like to have songs which have a tempo paced from 100 to 110 beats per minute (BPM). Most upbeat pop songs alternate their tempos from the low end of this range to the high end. Rock songs are anywhere from 100 to 130 BPM.

Examples of this speeding up and slowing down tempo are "Land Down Under" by Men At Work, "26 or 5 to 4" by Chicago, "Africa" by Toto, and "Just Can't Get Enough" by the Black-Eyed Peas. Just put up the metronome website listed below in one window and one of these songs found on You Tube on another window. Turn the music down so you can hear the metronome over the music and see if you can hear where the song's beat varies.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" starts off at around 110 to 115 and speeds up until it's sailing away at around 150 BPM at the end.

The 80s song "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr., is set to a beat of 115 BPM and remains fairly constant throughout the song.

A song which moves along at about 120 BPM is close to what many exercisers' target heart rates are. I have gotten up to 120 BPM walking at a 3.2 mile per hour pace on the treadmill.

The right music can keep you motivated and moving. The wrong music can be a drag to your workout.

Here's to good music that inspires you to keep it going! Until next time, think healthy, think fit.

A metronome for you to determine your exercise beat:
http://www.visionmusic.com/metronome/110bpm.html

"Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np0solnL1XY

To read more about the science of choosing a beat and music to go with your workout:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/fashion/10fitness.html

I used to think lettuce was boring to eat. Sure, there was some crunch to it and you could bathe it in salad dressing but the taste was so blase. Your typical dull iceberg lettuce especially lacked taste.

I guess the reason I am thinking lettuce right now is because spring is here. In one and a half months, the frost will have left the ground in northeastern Minnesota. I will be able to plant my garden. A big feature of my yearly garden is lettuce.

The four kinds of lettuce you may be familiar with include head lettuce (like iceberg), leaf lettuce (like Black-Seeded Simpson or Red Sails), romaine lettuce and asparagus or stem lettuces. I have started romaine lettuce varieties indoors with some success. In my part of the country, leaf lettuce seed can be sown directly into the garden. I have planted the two types named above and the Grand Rapids and oak leaf varieties. Head lettuce like butterhead and crisphead varieities do not grow as well in our climate.

I also grow spinach which can be combined with the other lettuce leaves for a healthy salad. One year, my husband and I tried mizuna and kale. Mizuna is a type of Japanese mustard green which grew quite well in our climate. The combinations of all these lettuces and greens can boost the taste and nutrition level of any salad. Each lettuce and green has its own set of phytonutrients. The color indicates which phytonutrient is dominant in the lettuce or green. For instance, Red Sails lettuce has a reddish bronze hue which tells researchers it is rich in cyanidins. Incidentally, fruits like strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries are also rich in cyanidins, believed by some to be antioxidants and cancer inhibitors.

Iceberg lettuce tends to have the least nutrients of all of its cousins, while arugula tends to have the most nutrients packed into its dark green leaves. My personal favorite, romaine, is high in fiber, vitamin C, and calcium. If I weren't still recovering from a tooth extraction, I'd fix myself a salad right now.

Until tomorrow, think healthy, think fit.

Photos and descriptions of many types of lettuce and greens:
http://www.foodsubs.com/Greensld.html

Recipes and specifics about mizuna:
http://www.specialtyproduce.com/index.php?item=2027

Lettuce types:
http://www.naturalhub.com/grow_vegetables_cultivars_lettuce.htm

Nutrition information for different types and guidelines toward a healthier, more nutritious salad:
http://www.personal-nutrition-guide.com/lettuce-nutrition-facts.html