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How to Make Your House a Health Haven

Dr Joe — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:14:11 +0000

One of the best ways to stay motivated and stick to your health goals is to make wellness as easy as possible for yourself. To shift your lifestyle and settle on better, healthier decisions, make a few quick modifications to your home. Here are 12 quick steps to turn your house into a health haven, room by room. View Slideshow ›

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How to Make Your House a Health Haven

Mistakes You’re Making on the Pilates Mat

Sean Duffy — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:51:53 +0000

Mat classes are the most affordable way to reap the benefits of Pilates. Taught across the country at gyms and private studios, group classes mean you don’t have an instructor cuing and correcting your every move. Make the most of your time on the mat and be mindful of these common mistakes I’ve seen in classes over the years. Not Going Deep There are many benefits to Pilates, but getting in touch with the deep abs , aka the transverse abdominals, is, to me, the most important. If the deep abs are working, then all four layers of ab muscles will be working right along with it, making for a very stable torso. In class, use every exhale as opportunity to reengage your abs and pull them into your spine with a little lift up. If the abs are pooching outward, you’re only working the top layer of the abs and training them to pull away from the spine – the opposite effect of what you want. Momentum Is Not Your Friend Deliberate pauses are built into the choreography of many Pilates exercises to prevent momentum from taking over the motion. The Pilates method was originally named Contrology (the study of control) to emphasize this very concept. Going slowly is key. Jayme Boyle, the group fitness coordinator and Pillates mat instructor at the SF Equinox , explains the importance of forgoing momentum like this: “Slower pace means you’re turning on stabilizing muscles and you’re creating more isometric contractions.” And I have to agree. Pilates is not a race. Keep reading for more common Pilates mat class mistakes.

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Mistakes You’re Making on the Pilates Mat

A.M. Vitals: Wal-Mart, Supervalu Pull Some Enfamil From Shelves

Dr Joe — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:03:36 +0000

Focus on Formula: Wal-Mart and Supervalu have removed certain containers of Mead Johnson Nutrition’s Enfamil infant formula from their store shelves following the death of a Missouri infant from a rare bacterial infection, the WSJ reports . The FDA is testing the formula for the presence of the Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria that killed the infant. Another infant in the state survived after being infected by the bacteria after consuming an undisclosed brand of formula, the paper says. A Mead Johnson spokesman says the company’s pre-sale testing showed no traces of the bacteria. Precautionary Removal: France’s health minister is urging tens of thousands of women to have their breast implants removed, saying the products — made by Poly Implant Prothese — used substandard silicone and are subject to rupture and leakage, the WSJ reports . No association between cancer and the implants has been found. The implants weren’t sold in the U.S. but were sold in other countries. Short-Term Doc Fix: House Speaker John Boehner agreed to extend the payroll tax break by two months in a deal that will also push off a scheduled 27% cut to Medicare reimbursement for doctors, the WSJ reports . In a statement, the American Medical Association called the two-month extension a “brief reprieve” and urged Congress to enact “a real and fiscally responsible solution” to what has become a parade of short-term patches for the flawed Medicare reimbursement formula. Bolstering Funds: The federal government has shored up the high-risk health insurance pools in New Hampshire and California to make sure the funds last until 2014, Kaiser Health News reports . Both states say their pools, for people who lack insurance and have difficulty getting it because they have pre-existing conditions, may start to run low on funds early in 2012, KHN says. Image: iStockphoto

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A.M. Vitals: Wal-Mart, Supervalu Pull Some Enfamil From Shelves

Will Santa Bring a Last-Minute Doc Fix?

Dr Joe — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:10:52 +0000

A doc fix is looking like an increasingly unlikely holiday present for the nation’s physicians — and the patients they treat. Last year at this time a one-year patch for scheduled cuts to Medicare reimbursement was all squared away with a bow on top. But it’s been a different story in 2011: as the Associated Press reports , Congress has not yet acted to push off a reimbursement cut of about 27%. That means unless something is done, those cuts will kick in next month. The cuts are officially scheduled to take place Jan. 1, but Medicare has told physicians that without a fix the program will hold claims for the first 10 business days of next year, the AP says. That takes us to Jan. 18, thanks to the New Year’s Day and Martin Luther King Day holidays. The doc fix itself isn’t particularly controversial — no one thinks it’s a viable strategy to let the cuts go into effect. (Nor does anyone think the current reimbursement formula, which regularly gets us into this mess, is sustainable; the question is how to pay for a permanent fix .) But the current patch is being considered as part of the debate over whether to extend the payroll tax cut, as Bloomberg News explains . A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner tells BN House Republicans have no plans to move a stand-alone bill. The WSJ has more on the standoff over the payroll-tax break. We mentioned earlier that a failure to pass a fix might affect patients as well as their physicians. That would happen if doctors’ reimbursements were cut and they decided not to accept Medicare patients for the time being. Yesterday, the American Association of Family Physicians said it was “outraged” that Congress had failed to pass a fix. Image: iStockphoto

Too Cold to Run? Burn 250 Calories With This 30-Minute Circuit

Martin Neumann — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:37:13 +0000

When it’s too chilly to even imagine donning all the layers needed to run outside, you need a simple indoor workout to fall back on that will get your heart rate soaring and work your entire bod. Here’s a five-minute circuit workout you can do at home using set of stairs, a jump rope, and an exercise ball. If your house or apartment is only one floor, just use a sturdy low bench in place of the stairs. No jump rope on hand? Use your imagination and pretend; just jump in place without it. Using the exercise ball for push-ups and crunches makes these two moves more challenging, but if your home gym doesn’t have one, just do those exercises on the floor. Crank up your favorite workout tunes and keep an eye on the clock, repeating this circuit one time through: One minute walking up and down the stairs: 8 calories burned One minute strength training (30 seconds push-ups, 30 seconds crunches): 5 calories burned One minute jumping rope: 11 calories burned One minute skipping around your house: 10 calories burned One minute fast-paced jumping jacks: 8 calories burned Total calories burned per round: 42 Repeat this five-minute circuit five more times for a total of six rounds and you’ll burn 252 calories. This indoor circuit can be done at home, in a hotel room when traveling, or even at the gym (if you don’t feel silly skipping in public!).

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Too Cold to Run? Burn 250 Calories With This 30-Minute Circuit

How Celebrity Trainers and Nutritionists Stay Healthy on Black Friday

Martin Neumann — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:54:12 +0000

For the patient and well prepared among us, Black Friday can mean significant-discount shopping. For the rest of us, it can mean braving the crowds, dealing with hunger pangs, and ignoring achy feet only to get back to the house empty-handed. No matter which Black Friday camp you belong to, chances are that if you are shopping today, you’ll need to be prepared in order to stay healthy (and out of the food court). We asked a few celebrity trainers, nutritionists, and dietitians to tell us what they pack in their purses to ensure they stay healthy, happy, and stress-free during this hectic shopping day. Read on for their advice and recommendations! View Slideshow ›

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How Celebrity Trainers and Nutritionists Stay Healthy on Black Friday

6 Reasons to Workout With Your Furry Friend

Martin Neumann — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:09:43 +0000

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site. By Tina Haupert On the days when I am dragging, my dog, Murphy, reminds me that exercise should be fun. Murphy’s energy is contagious, so it makes me look forward to our time together. He gets so excited before we go outside for a walk. Imagine if we all felt that excited before exercise! Here are six reasons why you should work out with your fury friend. Health.com: Fun Ways to Get Fit Without a Gym It’s Fun Dogs love to run and play, so it’s no surprise how much Murphy and I enjoy being active together. On the days when I’m just not in the mood to exercise, the thought of playing outside with my favorite pug always gets me out of the house. A game of fetch or an “adventure walk” in the woods always leaves us both with smiles on our faces – and it burns calories! You Can’t Make Excuses When Murphy is itching to get outside, it’s hard to say no to that adorable pug face. He doesn’t accept my excuses for missing a workout, so there’s rarely a day that I don’t do some sort of activity. Health.com: 9 Easy Ways to Sneak in More Exercise The Stats Aren’t Important During my workouts, I used to worry about how many calories I burned or the distance I ran. But the calories and miles mean nothing to Murphy. He focuses only on the fun stuff – the sights, sounds, and smells of our exercise. Murphy reminds me that the best workouts are the ones during which we don’t worry about the stats. Keep reading for more reasons to get fit with Fido.

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6 Reasons to Workout With Your Furry Friend

A.M. Vitals: Cloning Technique Used to Create Human Embryos

Martin Neumann — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:51:39 +0000

Cloning Technique Success: Researchers reported in Nature that they created 13 early-stage human embryos that were partial clones of diabetic patients, albeit abnormal ones, with three sets of chromosomes instead of the usual two, the WSJ reports . That extra set would have to be eliminated if the cloning technique were ever to be used to develop stem-cell based treatments for patients with diseases, the paper says. Tracking Operations Toward the End of Life: New research published in the Lancet shows that almost one in ten Medicare patients who died in 2008 had surgery in their last week of life, while almost one in three had surgery during their final year of life, the New York Times reports . Researchers said the number of operations towards the end of life was surprising, but an expert not involved with the study said it’s impossible to judge from these data whether or not those surgeries were valuable. Probing the Middlemen: Rep. Elijah Cummings from Maryland, a Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is investigating distributors offering drugs in short supply on the so-called “grey market” at marked-up prices, the WSJ reports . Cummings wrote to five companies about the prices at which they had offered the drugs. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices has called the recent rash of shortages “unprecedented.” Miscarriage Tied to Tainted Cantaloupe: Adding to the toll from the outbreak of listeriosis linked to eating cantaloupes, an Iowa woman has miscarried after contracting the infection, MSNBC.com reports . The medical examiner for the Iowa Department of Public Health says the woman, who is between 18 and 40, miscarried early in her pregnancy after eating tainted cantaloupe. The cantaloupes were recalled by Jensen Farms of Colorado on Sept. 14 but infection symptoms can take two months to manifest. Image: iStockphoto

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A.M. Vitals: Cloning Technique Used to Create Human Embryos

No Couch Potato Here! Calories Burned From Common Household Activities

Sean Duffy — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:32:20 +0000

From cleaning up to an afternoon nap, it’s surprising how many calories household activities can burn. Curious? Check out this chart to see just how many calories you’re burning doing day-to-day household tasks.

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No Couch Potato Here! Calories Burned From Common Household Activities

A Reader Recipe: Roasted Broccolini With Pistachios

Martin Neumann — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 07:17:58 +0000

Whip up an autumnal treat with this recipe for roasted broccolini that FitSugar reader Dara8182 shared in our

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A Reader Recipe: Roasted Broccolini With Pistachios