Everyday Fitness

I say "steroid" because it isn't a steroid by scientific definition. First of all, myostatin is normally made in the body to stop muscles from growing. So the idea is this: block myostatin from working and you get muscle growth. This most certainly turns out to be the case. Clinical trials involving myostatin inhibitors are intended for treating diseases of muscle wasting, like Duchenne's muscular dystrophy.

However, the obvious implications in competitive sports are hard to ignore. Myostatin inhibitors have the potential to achieve the desired results of anabolic steroids with none of the traditional draw backs. We've found cases of animals, and even the odd human, who lack myostatin in their bodies. A perfect example is the Belgian Blue breed of cow. Look at that beast! Scientists have been able to engineer mice with similar genetic changes as Belgian Blue cows. This link shows normal mice in the first column, genetically engineered mice in the second column, and mice treated with a myostatin inhibitor in the third column. Follistatin is one of the current therapies in development to block myostatin.

So what about human examples? There's little Liam; here's an exerpt from another blog:

"He could do the iron cross when he was 5 months old," said his adoptive mother, Dana Hoekstra of Roosevelt Park. She was referring to a difficult gymnastics move in which a male athlete suspends himself by his arms between two hanging rings, forming the shape of a cross.

Liam has the kind of physical attributes that bodybuilders and other athletes dream about: 40 percent more muscle mass than normal, jaw-dropping strength, breathtaking quickness, a speedy metabolism and almost no body fat.

Liam can run like the wind, has the agility of a cat, lifts pieces of furniture that most children his age couldn't push across a slick floor and eats like there is no tomorrow -- without gaining weight.

Liam Hoekstra was hanging upside down by his feet when he performed an inverted sit-up, his shirt falling away to expose rippled abdominal muscles. It was a display of raw power one might expect to see from an Olympic gymnast. Liam is 19 months old.

It makes you wonder how many Olympic athletes have altered myostatin genes...

Alright, what I'm about to write is the one thing you must know to lose weight. Promise to keep this guarded with your life... Okay, here it is:

Calories eaten < Calories burned = Weight loss

That's it, that's all there is to it. You need to eat less calories than your body needs in a day, and it will make up the difference by burning fat. I hate seeing so many ads on countless websites claiming you can get ripped in 2 weeks, and all you have to do is pay them $XX.XX for their product to do so. That's actually what inspired the title of this post; sort of a tongue in cheek way to lead into things.

• No magic pill, herb, or formula will do it for you.

You don't even have to exercise to lose weight, but it certainly helps. And why not do so to reap all the additional benefits of working out? Now, down to the heart of the matter. In order to eat less calories than you burn in a day, it helps to have an idea of how much you burn! A useful BMI Calculator site can help you work this out. First of all, find your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) with one of these formulas:

Pounds and Inches
Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight) + (4.7 x height) - (4.7 x age)
Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight) + (12.7 x height) - (6.8 x age)

Kilos and Centimeters
Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight) + (1.8 x height) - (4.7 x age)
Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight) + (5 x height) - (6.8 x age)

Your BMR is how many calories you would burn if you sat completely motionless 24 hours a day. Which realistically, isn't how we live. Even if you watch TV all day you still get up to eat and go to the bathroom! So, you multiply your BMR by a certain factor depending on your level of activity:

1. If you do little or no exercise : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
   
2. If you do light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week : BMR x 1.375
   
3. If you do moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week : BMR x 1.55
   
4. If you do hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week : BMR x 1.725
   
5. If you do very hard exercise/sports or a physical job : BMR x 1.9

Whatever your resulting number is, eating less calories will cause you to lose weight. Eating more calories will cause you to gain weight, if that's your goal. Remember, a pound of body fat is worth 3500 calories. If you can eat 500 calories less than you burn each day, that's 1 pound a week. That's a reasonable and easily reachable goal. Even though quick results would be nice, trying to lose too much too fast can really put a strain on your body and lead to binge eating, ruining all your hard work. Staying realistic will keep you on the right track!

I actually pulled this recipe from one of the ads on my site. I love cooking with Carnation evapourated milk! It's great for replacing cream in savoury sauces or sweet desserts. The calories I'm quoting are using Fat Free evapourated milk and yogurt. Most of the carbs in this dessert come from berries and dairy, which are some of the highest quality carbs out there!

Per Serving:
Calories: 125
Fat: 0.2 g
Carbs: 27 g                                                       
Protein: 6 g     
Prep Time: 15 minutes + 2 hours chilling time
Cook Time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 pkg [1 tbsp/15 mL] Powdered unflavoured gelatin
¼ cup [50 mL] Cold water
1½ cups [375 mL] Regular, 2% or Fat Free (Carnation®) Evaporated Milk
¾ cup [175 mL] (Smucker’®) No Sugar Added Apricot Fruit Spread
½ cup [125 mL] Plain yogurt
1 tsp [5 mL] Vanilla

Sauce
2 cups [500 mL] (Europe's Best®) Frozen 4-Field Berry Mix
½ cup [125 mL] (Smucker’s®) No Sugar Added Apricot Fruit Spread
2 tbsp [30 mL] Water

PREPARATION
Combine gelatin and water in a small bowl. Let stand 10 minutes.
Place evaporated milk and fruit spread in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until mixture just comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in reserved gelatin. Mix until well combined. Add yogurt and vanilla, stirring to combine.

Pour ½ cup (125 mL) mixture into 6 small dessert bowls. Refrigerate until set; about 2-4 hours. To serve, run a knife around the sides and turn upside down onto serving dish.

Sauce:
Place berries, fruit spread and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 10 minutes. Refrigerate until cool or ready to serve over panna cotta.

Tips:
• Try using (Smucker’s®) No Sugar Added Strawberry, Raspberry, Blueberry, or Wildberry Fruit Spread or Orange Marmalade for something different.
• For a fun entertaining idea, let the panna cotta mixture set in different shaped glasses or ceramic bowls.

Makes 6 servings.

In this 2006 report, Statistics Canada puts 2/3 of Canadians at overweight or obese. That should sicken you. There's no end to the list of negatives involved in being overweight. Your mood, physical health, appearance, and overall quality of life; not to mention the inevitable burden on society when it comes time to take care of your failing body.

Also, research shows that overweight people are most often viewed as lazy, incompetent, overindulgent, sloppy, slow, and unintelligent. None of these things may be true about an overweight person, but it's how they're most often stereotyped. And that won't help you get ahead in life.

Seriously, two thirds! Since when did abnormal become the new normal? As a society, over eating or poorly taking care of one's self shouldn't be tolerated. Obesity needs to become the new smoking. Like it was put in the movie "Super Size Me" I believe; we might leer at a smoker and say, "what are you doing? Don't you know smoking is bad for you?" The same needs to happen with poor eating, as insensitive as it might seem to some.

I'm no psychology major, but I've heard of research that suggests people are more likely to act a certain way if they risk facing the scorn of their peers, rather than behaving that way for their own good. Sounds like the case to me; overweight people have a hard time kicking the habit for their own sake, and they may not feel pressure to have to. That's because being overweight is tolerated in day to day life, since we're supposed to be accepting of other peoples' appearance. But obesity is more than just appearance. It's killing our species.

Let's get it right Canada

Baking Substitutions:

• 1 Cup whole milk = 1 Cup skim milk
  
• 1 Cup buttermilk = 1 Tbsp lemon juice + 15 Tbsp skim milk
  
• 1 Cup heavy cream = 1 Cup evaporated skim milk, or 1/2 Cup low-fat yogurt + 1/2 Cup low-fat cottage cheese
  
• 1 Cup sour cream = 1 Cup fat-free plain yogurt, or 1 Cup chilled evaporated skim milk whipped with 1 Tsp lemon juice
  
• 1 Cup cream cheese = 4 Tbsp margarine + 1 Cup dry low-fat cottage cheese
  
• 1 Cup butter or oil = 3/4 Cup applesauce, or 1 Cup mashed banana
  
• 1 Egg = 2 Egg whites
  
• 1 Oz Chocolate = 3 Tbsp margarine + 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
  

Miscellaneous Tips:

• Use chicken broth to stir-fry instead of oil.
  
• In place of butter, use non-fat cooking spray to brown.
  
• Replace bacon with turkey bacon.
  
• Use extra lean ground beef, or ground turkey.
  
• No sugar added fruit spreads taste more fruity than jam, and are plenty sweet.
  
• Canned fruits should be packed in fruit juice instead of heavy syrup.
  
• Use low calorie or skim versions of dairy products.
  
• Try milk and sweetener instead of cream and sugar in your coffee.
  

A report compiled in 1995 on behalf of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that MSG was safe for most people when eaten at customary levels. However, it also said that, based on anecdotal reports, some people may have an MSG intolerance which causes "MSG symptom complex." A subsequent study found that while large doses of MSG given without food may elicit more symptoms than a placebo in individuals who believe that they react adversely to MSG, the frequency of the responses was low and the responses reported were inconsistent and not reproducible, and were not observed when MSG was given with food. While many people believe that MSG is the cause of these symptoms, a statistical association has not been demonstrated under controlled conditions, even in studies with people who were convinced that they were sensitive to it.

The big "scare" was started by people claiming to be allergic to MSG, and no study could show that was actually the case. Yet the widespread phobia of MSG persisted. This is one of those huge public health misconceptions I absolutely cannot tolerate, and can be down right idiocy in some cases.

What is MSG? Monosodium Glutamate. Sodium is an atom of salt, and glutamate is an amino acid. MSG is quite literally salt and protein. The two parts dissociate when mixed in fluids, meaning if you mix MSG in wet foods or when it hits your tongue, you instantly have two very common components to everyday life: salt and protein. The next time someone tells you MSG is bad for you, tell them to go suck a lemon.

Okay, so this video is a little extreme/harsh. I really just like it for the "can squats cure cancer?" line. The average person doesn't have to be THIS adamant about them, but squats really are the best exercise ever! Everyone (injuries permitting) should add a little squat to their lives.