And the Winner Is...

The winner of the free workout book giveaway is GrnMtnGrl at Green Mountain Girl's Adventures! I will email her later today for her mailing information.

By the way Green Mountain Girl, I love your blog. :)

I want to thank everyone who stopped by to enter this giveaway. I hope you will all keep visiting and keep watching--you never know when I'll have another great freebie.

Thanks again everyone.

An Exercise Pill

If you are like me and have a hard time exercising, you're going to like this news. Scientists have found two chemical compounds that may trick you body into thinking it has exercised more than it actually has. Now that sounds like my kind of workout!

Of course, this is a long way from being tested on people, but mice who were given these compounds were found to burn more fat and even were able to run longer than the mice who were not given the compounds.

This type of drug could be just the ticket for those unable to exercise much due to chronic illness or extreme obesity. This doesn't mean that no physical activity is needed however. The mice who did nothing noticed no benefits. On the other hand, the mice who were put on their little mousy treadmills were actually able to run significantly longer than mice who didn't have the extra benefit of the the compounds.

So if this becomes something that people can use in the future, a person who is only able to walk to the mailbox and back will be able to do more. No word yet on potential side effects though. Hopefully we'll hear more soon.

For more details read Drugs Give Couch-Potato Mice Benefits of Exercise.

Win a Free Workout Book!

Starting today, July 28 through August 1, Diet Rundown is having a giveaway for a free workout book. If you remember a short time back, I posted about the Show It Love Workout. Well, I just happen to have an extra copy and would love to send it to someone who will enjoy it.



To enter, just leave me a post here on this blog and tell me why you'd like a copy of the Show It Love Workout. Be sure to give me your email so I can contact you if you win. If you'd like, you can email me at Kathleen@DietRundown.com with your email address after you have made your post here. Be sure and let me know which post is yours if you used a screen name.

If you'd like to enter for more giveaways, visit Kathleen's Brand Buzz for another giveaway. You can also find lots more at Bloggy Giveaways.com so make sure to visit and check out all the fun!

Senior Exercises and More

Not a lot of time today, but I wanted to share a site I found that has fitness information for seniors. There is also a nice page on exercises for seniors on this site as well as information on how hard you should exercise and how to improve endurance and flexibility. The site is called Responsive Health.

When you visit this site you'll find other information too. It's not just for seniors. There are sections on men's, women's and children's health as well as senior health. What I liked about the page on senior exercise is that these simple exercises would be great for people with illnesses that make it hard to exercise.

For example, I have some illnesses that make exercise very difficult. Some days I can't even walk from my bed to my kitchen (making coffee is a big motivator though!). Since most of these exercises involve sitting in a chair, I think I could handle them.

I hope you all enjoy this site. It has a great deal of helpful information.

Can You Have Too Much Water?

We all know that drinking water is important to good health and weight control, but can you ever have too much? Yes! I remember some time back a woman died as a result of overdosing on water for contest to win a video game system.

More recently, a man died after drinking large quantities of cold water to numb his hurting gums. This is known as water intoxication or water poisoning according to Wikipedia.

In a similar vein, recently a woman won a judgment for large sum of money when advice from her nutritionist caused her to become epileptic. After being advised to embark on the Amazing Hydration Diet to detoxify, Mrs. Dawn Page became extremely ill. Mrs. Page was told to drink an extra eight cups of water a day and drastically cut her sodium intake. She was advised that the vomiting which struck her after doing this for a several days was part of the detoxification process. Later she had an epileptic seizure and was rushed to the hospital.

This is something that makes me repeat: It's not how skinny you are; it's how healthy you are. Mrs. Page was not an obese woman but she still felt she needed to lose weight. Unfortunately, the advice she received, from someone she should have bee able to trust, was faulty. She will suffer from this bad information for the rest of her life.

Be careful of fad diets. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

(Image courtesy of Stock Xchng; Photographer: Trudy Loosman)

Try SparkPeople for a Free Diet Plan

Have you checked out SparkPeople yet? If not, you are missing out on some great aids in losing weight and getting healthy.

SparkPeople is a popular website that offers all kind of helpful tools for your weight loss journey. The best part is, all of the tools are free! With your free registration you get a personalized diet and fitness plan and free email newsletters that are relevant to you. For example, I get one on high cholesterol because, well, I have high cholesterol. There are many others to choose from as well.

If you remember my post about keeping a food diary, this is a great way to do it. Input foods on your nutrition page as well as your water consumption. This food diary will tell you the calories you have consumed for the day. It also allows you to set nutrition goals, print grocery lists and print your meal plan for the week. What more could you ask for?

Wait! It gets better. You can also set fitness goals for strength and cardio and track your progress. You can also watch videos on how to do different exercised, like Pilates exercised on an exercise ball. Each week you can also input your weight so you can see how well you are doing.

You'll also have access to an online journal where you can express yourself thoughout your ups and downs. If you need extra support you can visit the forums and talk with others who are dealing with the same challenges--and victories!--as you are.

In a nutshell, SparkPeople is a one stop diet center and support group that helps you set and reach goals and offers the motivation you need to succeed. Join the thousands who love SparkPeople.

Free Online Diet Plan at SparkPeople.com

You Just Thought It Was Healthy

I just saw an excellent video from Healthy Life, a part of ABC News.com. In it, the nutrition director of Prevention magazine tells about foods that many people think are healthy choices, but in reality they are poor choices for people who are watching their weight and their health. The baddies are:

• Diet soda--as few as two can a day can make you 57 percent more likely to become obese
  
• Blueberry muffins--high in calories and fat, made with white flour
  
• Pretzels--high calories, white flour. Try whole wheat versions instead.
  
• Spinach wraps--they just have green coloring, not actual spinach
  
• Vitamin water--high calories, high sugar. Like drinking Kool-Aid with some vitamins added, not a healthy choice at all.
  

Foods that dieters avoid but are actually good choices include:

• Bananas--high in potassium, eat the tiny ones to be calorie conscious
  
• Potatoes--high potassium, antioxidants and vitamins
  
• Dried fruit--eat small portions with no added sugar
  
• Frozen veggies--nutrients are frozen into them, can be healthier than fresh because vitamins degrade as they sit
  

I have been trying for an hour now to embed the video for you to watch but I guess Blogger doesn't like the code. If I figure it out, I'll put it up for you to see. It is listed under ABC News Now, Healthy Life. The video is titled "What Foods Are Really Good for Us?" Sorry about that.