Just a few startling facts about our health insurance system.
1. According to the World Health Organization, the U.S. spends more than $2 trillion a year (roughly 16% of the gross domestic product) on health expenditures yet has a healthcare system ranked 37th in performance in the world.
2. The Census Bureau estimates that some 46 million Americans were uninsured in 2007 that’s 15% of the U.S. population.
3. In just three years, the Medicare and Medicaid programs will account for 50 percent of all national health spending.
4. Over the last decade, employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have increased 131 percent.
5. Rising health care costs correlate with significant drops in health insurance coverage, and national surveys also show that the primary reason people are uninsured is due to the high and escalating cost of health insurance coverage.
6. Elsewhere, insurance and drug companies are making stunning profits. Health insurance CEOs averaged $8.7 million in 2006 compensation and pharmaceutical company CEOs pulled down an average of $4.4 million.
7. In 2004 (the year for which the most recent data are available), Cuba had the lowest infant mortality rate in the world at 5.8 per 1,000 births, compared with Russia’s 11.5 and Detroit’s 15.5.
8. Starbucks spends more money on Health Insurance for employees then on their coffee beans.
Tags: drug companies, health expenditures, health insurance coverage, health insurance premiums, health insurance system, healthcare, Medicaid, Medicare, pharmaceutical company, uninsured, World Health Organization
Check out this video from Diet.com. It shows basicly what a typical bootcamp workout is like. Cardio, then high intensity exercises and weights.
Tags: Boot Camp, Exercise, Fat Loss, Fitness Tips, healthy experiences, Metabolism boosting, running, strength and agility training, Weight Loss, Workout Videos
Healthy Fat Burning Foods contain the omegas and are found in fish like small wild salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel and in nuts, pecans and pumpkin seeds. Foods with trans fats or hydrogenated fatty foods block our metabolism, slacken the fat-burning process, increase fat storage and intensify your food cravings.
Refrain from eating carbohydrates after 3pm, as they inhibit your body’s production of human growth hormones which release insulin. When you eat fat burning foods they tell your fat-burning genes to maintain lean muscle and prevent the production of stress hormones which could keep your body from losing weight.
Click Here to read 8 More Ways to Burn Fat Fast:
Tags: burn fat, Burn Fat Fast, Burn The Fat Inner Circle, fat burning foods, Fat Loss, fat-burning genes, fat-burning process, good diet, Healthy Foods, healthy lifestyle, Plant-Based Foods, Weight Loss
and she suggests ways you should get moving too. She’s sold more than 20 million exercise videos and DVDs, starred in fitness television shows since the 1980s and written 10 books. And at 52 she’s still going strong and she’s still helping women to achieve their fitness goals.
She has always promoted a well-balanced workout plan. Part of it is cardio, part strength training and then flexibility. You really need all three. You have to make your muscles feel surprised. Mix in interval training, boot-camp-type workouts, a little yoga, a little Pilates. I personally have switched my routine to be a little bit of everything.
Situps & Crunches: Fitness Guru helps burn fat & lose inches without going to the gym!
Denise says a woman can get a fit, toned and sexy body at 50, but she has to work out for it. Fight gravity all the way. Exercise is a must. Especially muscle-conditioning moves. To keep up your muscle tone and firm up, work out at least three times a week with weights, your own body weight, Pilates or boot-camp-type exercises that focus on strength.
Of course, cardio is so important too, as well as stretching for flexibility.
Online Diet Program: Let America’s favorite fitness guru help you with recipes, tips, more.
Denise says, I see people who are always in their cars, always driving. I encourage them to walk more — walk to the post office, walk to lunch. Even if it is a 10-minute walk, it’s so good for you.
I also tell people to wake up 10 minutes earlier and do some calisthenics. Mentally, you prepare yourself to have a healthier day.
Lower Abs Exercise: Flatten abs with this great abs exercise. Get a tight stomach!
Tags: Boot Camp, calisthenics, cardio, Exercise, fit, Fitness Tips, flexibility, healthy lifestyle, interval training, muscle-conditioning, Pilates, sexy body at 50, strength and agility training, strength training, toned, walking, women over 50, yoga
Two Bouts of Exercise before Meals, but Not after Meals, Lower Fasting Blood Glucose Levels says scientists in the August 2009 issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
Participants were nine healthy postmenopausal women who were given two hours of treadmill exercise at 43% of their maximum effort twice a day and 1 hour before a meal.
They conclude that the Before-Meals exercise, but not After-Meals exercise, reduced glucose levels by 20%. And there was a 49% increase in insulin-glucagon ratio during meals.
The nutrient-regulated control of the release of insulin and glucagon manages metabolism and blood levels of glucose, fatty acids, triglycerides and amino acids. These are responsible for homeostasis; the minute-to-minute regulation of metabolism leading to a stable inner milieu. The mechanisms involved are extremely complex. Yet, unfortunately these are still not completely understood.
After a meal, fat from food is stored and carbohydrates from the diet are burned. Between meals stored fat is released from fat cells and supplies fuel for most of the body’s organs until the next meal. Blood cells and the brain must use glucose as their energy source. We say that “fat spares sugar” so that an even supply of fuel is available to all of the body’s tissues. This is possible only through the minute-to-minute adjustments in the ratio of insulin to glucagon.
These results demonstrate that exercise performed in postabsorptive,( Before meals) but not in postprandial ( After meals ) state, lowers the fasting blood glucose levels.
Also sustained lowering of blood glucose are most likely the consequences of reduced carbohydrate availability during exercise.
See more articles on weight loss through exercise >>
Tags: Before-Meals exercise, blood glucose, Exercise, fasting, Fat Loss, Fitness Tips, glucagon, healthy lifestyle, insulin, postmenopausal, stay healthy, Weight Loss
Findings published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, suggest that training the brain may be as helpful as training muscles in preventing knee injuries.
Scott McLean of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor says experiments indicate the shift from performance to prevention training to prevent injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee may need to focus above the neck.
“These findings suggest that training the central control process — the brain and reflexive responses — may be necessary to counter the fatigue induced ACL injury risk,” McLean says in a statement.
The researchers had subjects perform one-legged squats to the point of fatigue and then tested the reactions to various jumping and movement commands. They found both legs — not just the fatigued leg — showed equally dangerous and potentially injurious responses.
But sharpening the brain’s anticipatory skills reduces the likelihood of these dangerous responses.
Tags: anterior cruciate ligament, athletes, brain, Brain training, Fitness Tips, injury prevention, preventing knee injuries, train the brain, women athletes
We ended our 6 week Boot Camp by doing our “testing out” day on friday. We tested in when we first started and now to see how we have progressed we do the same tests again. Most people dropped inches off of their various measurements. Unless I saw it for myself I might not have believed it, but it happened for me as well. My hips, waist and butt especially. I lost over 4 inches just on my waist.
Mind you I didn’t lose a lot of weight on the scale, but I know I gained a lot of muscle and since muscle has more metabolism boosting properties I feel good about that. I know I lost inches, since all of my clothes fit better and people have noticed a difference especially in my face and to me that’s more important.
I also ran my mile, a whole 1 minute faster.
I did twice as many pushups (66) in 2 minutes, more than my testing partner who was a spritely 28 years old! And I did 3x as many situps in the 2 minute test as when I first started. My stomach muscles have improved immensely and I’m very happy about that. One of my biggest goals is to reduce my belly fat and I’m well on my way to doing so.
We have a week off and then I’m starting my next 6 week Boot Camp. I’m hooked and I feel great and I want to keep my momentum going. My increased strength and stamina has been very helpful to my tennis game and to my overall feelings of well being.
Stay tuned for more updates over the rest of the summer….
Tags: Boot Camp, burn fat, dietary changes, dropped inches, Fat Loss, healthy experiences, Metabolism boosting, reduce my belly fat, stomach muscles, Weight Loss
So friends have been telling me how different I look lately, not because I’ve lost that much weight but because getting stronger your weight shifts and you carry yourself differently. I feel great, I feel stronger, I know I have more endurance and more energy and I’m definitely already contemplating carrying onto to the next session of Boot Camp.
For one because I’ve motivated several friends to join. And also because its such a high, and it feels like I’m reshaping myself in a way I haven’t done for many years. And this whole process is working, its steady, its grueling at times, its painful on these old knees, but I can tell its worth it.
And if I continue on to a 90 day program, I know I’ll meet even more of the challenges I’ve set for myself. And the biggest challenge I know that most people face and can’t meet is the first step to any plan. And that is to just show up….if you show up, at your gym, yoga class, soccer practice or whatever, you know that is the biggest part of the battle right there. Then why wouldn’t you go ahead and work out.
So take that first step and show up somewhere…soon, for yourself….
Killer Boot Camp No No’s List – Foods to avoid at all cost during Boot Camp:
- Alcohol
- Bacon & Sausage (unless lean turkey)
- Butter, Margarine & Mayonnaise
- Whole Milk, Cream, Creamy Soups, Dressings, esp. Caesar Salad Dressing
- All Cheese, unless low fat
- All Sweets, Cookies, Cakes, Candy
- Croissants, Scones & White Breads
- Fast Food & Fried Foods
- Ice Cream, Milk Shakes & Frozen Yogurt ( unless fat & sugar free)
- Lamb & Veal
- Movie Theatre Popcorn
- Pizza
Tags: Boot Camp, burn fat, challenges, Diets, endurance, energy, Fat Loss, Fitness Tips, Foods to avoid, good diet, Weight Loss
I’m reading this new book called: The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite
Its all about how the food industry has hijacked our brains into overeating. He explains that since the 80’s they have manipulated sugar, fat & salt into our diets and created products that stimulate our appetites into a cycle of desire and over consumption.
So for millions of people struggling with weight loss, it sounds like knowing our brains are being manipulated how help us get out of that cycle. I started the book so, “film at 11″.
Tags: appetites, brains, dietary changes, Diets, fat & salt, Fat Loss, food industry, over consumption, Overeating, sugar, Weight Loss
Tomorrow is the start of week 4 for Boot Camp and I have to say week 3 was better, I felt stronger, less sore and less tired. They say if you can keep on doing something for 3 weeks straight it becomes a habit. Well I think this is a good habit to have. It has helped my feel stronger and have more endurance on the tennis courts. But I must say may knees still don’t like the running much.
We did some sprints last week which we all liked much better then the longer runs. It added some variety to our workout. But the guys who are leading our workouts, keep it varied with lots of different variations of exercises, & intensity.
I think we have even inspired a few of our friends to join the next session, since they seeing the results of efforts are paying off.
A few things the Boot Camp staff also suggests for faster weight loss are these:
- Eat immediately after the Boot Camp session, when your cells are most receptive to taking in fuel. Most of your meal will go to your muscles and not to your waist…
- If you drink caffeine, drink it before Boot Camp. Caffeine is a powerful ergogenic aid, which means it will help you burn more fat, work harder and have better performance overall.
- Eat nuts, in very small quantities before a meal to curb your appetite.
- Don’t drink empty calorie beverages. Get all your calories from good healthy food
- Avoid Alochol. It lowers your metabolism.
- Keep a daily food log to get the best results from your efforts. When you track what and when you are eating you get a more complete profile of how your training is effected by your food intake.
- Drinking Green Tea, may help boost your metabolism & help to burn fat. Its also full of antioxidants.
- Get lots of Sleep. Adequate makes it easier to eat right and helps your muscles recover faster
Tags: Boot Camp, burn more fat, Burn The Fat Inner Circle, caffeine, calories, curb your appetite, daily food log, ergogenic aid, Fitness Tips, good healthy food, Green Tea, health benefits, Healthy Foods, healthy lifestyle, metabolism, Metabolism boosting, Sleep, Weight Loss
