The other day I was at work talking to another co-worker who just started up Weight Watchers. For those of you who don't know, Weight Watchers is based on a point system. Based on your current weight and other factors you are given a certain number of points you can eat per day. Each food contains a certain amount of points depending on it's nutrition facts. She explained to me that she is constantly hungry, unhappy and frustrated with her new diet. It just so happens that her daughter and husband also went on the diet at the same time she did and within the past couple of months they lost over 15 lbs., while she lost a crushing 5 lbs. I began to ask her a bunch of questions about what else she has done to lose weight and the answer was, "Well, nothing." There's the problem right there. And here's why ...
Friday, August 12, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Shin Splints, Again? Maybe not!
A lot of runners, experienced or not, can develop tightening, "buldging," pain in their shins while running. Many people like to associate this with shin splints. In reality, it's highly unlikely that every time you go running you get actual shin splints. When I go running my shins can sometimes start killing me. I run a lot, but I do not consider myself a true "marathoner" or expert runner by any means. It's not like I am out there doing intense running intervals, I am just trying to get an enjoyable workout. I knew that there is no way it could actually be full-blown shin splints. But, what is it then?
Many times your shins can start hurting due to weakness, not in your legs, but your hips! Your hip flexors control how your foot hits the ground. If your hip flexors are not conditioned, or strong enough, your body may be compensating by putting too much stress on your legs, or shins, in this case. It's quite possible it could be shin splints, but unless you are doing intense training, it's highly unlikely it is. Instead of treating yourself as a shin splint victim and avoiding running altogether, try these helpful tips first. You might just find that you don't have shin splints after all!
Many times your shins can start hurting due to weakness, not in your legs, but your hips! Your hip flexors control how your foot hits the ground. If your hip flexors are not conditioned, or strong enough, your body may be compensating by putting too much stress on your legs, or shins, in this case. It's quite possible it could be shin splints, but unless you are doing intense training, it's highly unlikely it is. Instead of treating yourself as a shin splint victim and avoiding running altogether, try these helpful tips first. You might just find that you don't have shin splints after all!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Welcome.
To kick off my new, first-time-ever blog, I figured I would start with a quasi-formal introduction about what's to come. This first post may be a little rusty, so please bare with me. Well, here I go ...
Many of my friends and family have always encouraged me to start something that pertains to personal training, health or anything of that nature. Apparently, I am good at being healthy and leading a pretty active life. In taking baby steps to reach out to those who may find my advice and healthy living tips useful in their own personal lives, I figured I could easily start a blog and figure out how everything will evolve from there.
I like blogs because they share first-hand accounts of "real" people and their "real" life experiences. Therefore, you're not necessarily reading about a statistic that some person with a Ph.D. posted on the internet. Instead, you are reading about things that other people did, experienced and worked through to get where they are. My goal is to share with you real-life stories and information that I have found helpful in living a healthy and happy life. It does not necessarily mean it will work for you, but at least I can share it. You can decide whether to take it or leave it, it won't hurt my feelings. Posts may include: interesting, healthy living tips, low-fat recipes that I find DO NOT taste like cardboard, articles that I think are interesting or funny, or possibly a story about my day (of course, making it as relevant as possible to the intended message of this blog). Again, I will have to see how I want to shape this blog through trial and error.
Well, that's about all I have for now. Stay tuned!
Many of my friends and family have always encouraged me to start something that pertains to personal training, health or anything of that nature. Apparently, I am good at being healthy and leading a pretty active life. In taking baby steps to reach out to those who may find my advice and healthy living tips useful in their own personal lives, I figured I could easily start a blog and figure out how everything will evolve from there.
I like blogs because they share first-hand accounts of "real" people and their "real" life experiences. Therefore, you're not necessarily reading about a statistic that some person with a Ph.D. posted on the internet. Instead, you are reading about things that other people did, experienced and worked through to get where they are. My goal is to share with you real-life stories and information that I have found helpful in living a healthy and happy life. It does not necessarily mean it will work for you, but at least I can share it. You can decide whether to take it or leave it, it won't hurt my feelings. Posts may include: interesting, healthy living tips, low-fat recipes that I find DO NOT taste like cardboard, articles that I think are interesting or funny, or possibly a story about my day (of course, making it as relevant as possible to the intended message of this blog). Again, I will have to see how I want to shape this blog through trial and error.
Well, that's about all I have for now. Stay tuned!