Blogger Guy: September 2011

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Body Fat Percentage

What is body fat percentage, how do you measure it and what is a healthy range?

The amount of body fat you carry, your body fat percentage, makes a difference to your body shape and your health. Our chart

Your shape is affected by body fat percentage because muscle tissue is more compact than fat - a balloon containing 1lb of muscle tissue would be smaller than a balloon containing 1lb of fat!

So a woman, 5' 6" tall weighing 140lbs (10 stone) who does regular muscle enhancing exercise, will have a lower body fat percentage, and look slimmer, than a woman of the same height and weight who doesn't exercise and therefore has a higher ratio of body fat.

Measuring changes in body fat percentage, rather than just measuring changes in weight, can be very motivational when you're dieting - especially if you are exercising as part of your Weight Loss regime.
How body fat is measured
Bioelectrical Impedance

Until fairly recently, measuring body fat percentage required the help of professionals. Bioelectrical Impedance technology means that body fat monitors are now easy to operate and available for home use.

A very low level electrical signal is sent through the body - normally by standing on sensors on a body fat monitor. The signal travels quickly through lean tissue, which has a high percentage of water and is therefore a good conductor of electricity, and more slowly through fat, as fat has a lower percentage of water and is therefore a poor conductor of electricity. Bioelectrical Impedance devices use the information from this signal to work out body fat percentage.

Tanita offer a range of body fat monitors / scales for use at home - click here for details.
Skinfold Measurements

This method involves a skinfold caliper to pinch predetermined sites on the body. The tongs pinch the skin, pulling the fat away from the muscles and bones. A gauge on the calipers measures the thickness of that pinch.

It is recommended that this test is carried out by a professional and should be repeated to verify measurements. To make the test reliable you should not exercise beforehand. Exercise makes your blood travel to your skin to help you cool down and this causes the skin to swell, making your test inaccurate.
Hydrostatic Weighing Tanks

This method is the most accurate but also the most uncomfortable. You sit on a scale in a large tank of water and blow all the air out of your lungs, then submerge yourself in the water completely. You stay underwater for 5 seconds, while your underwater weight is recorded.

You have to make sure no air is trapped in your lungs, otherwise the test will be inaccurate and your results will make you appear fatter.
Infrared Interactance

This technique involves a different coloured light, which is shone onto the skin surface at selected areas. The spectrum of the wavelengths reflected is analysed by computer. The lean : fat ratio at the test areas can be calculated as fat and lean tissue have different interactive spectra.

This method is not recommended because researchers have found prediction errors.
How much body fat is healthy?

Motivation to keep yourself healthy comes in the form of a new application, Fatbooth

Need a reason to keep in shape? Wondered what you would look like if you let yourself go? Well, no need to imagine it anymore as Fatbooth, a newly released Android application that did very well on iOS has no problem showing you exactly how you would look. While yes, the application may not assist you in your daily tasks, it certainly can help out that extra ounce of motivation in you to push yourself into the gym that day. So, let's have some fun with this free application, and if you aren't shy, show yourself off in the forums here. Download links after the break.

Monday, September 19, 2011

How to Keep Yourself Healthy 2

Preoccupation with germs is one thing. A healthy respect for hygiene is another, especially since many people and products travel globally. Microbiologist Anne E. Maczulak, author of The Five-Second Rule and Other Myths About Germs, offers essential cleaning tips.

HANDS ON Washing your hands after using the restroom eliminates 80 percent of dangerous germs. Use warm water and soap for a full 20 seconds (two rounds of "Happy Birthday" if you prefer humming to counting).
HANDS OFF Avoid touching your face. Germs enter you via eyes, nose, and mouth. Some adults touch their face up to 100 times a day; children do it even more.
BEWARE HOTSPOTS There are five places in the home where germs love to lurk: kitchen sponges and dish cloths, the air blown from a running vacuum cleaner, the washing machine, a toilet during a flush, and the kitchen trash can. Ideally you should:

Change sponges every week or sanitize them with chlorine and water.

Find a Therapist

Search for a mental health professional near you.
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Acupuncturists
Chiropractors
Massage Therapists
Dentists
and more!

Replace the vacuum bag once a month.

Wash your clothes with an antimicrobial laundry additive.

Keep the toilet lid down while flushing.

Disinfect toothbrushes regularly.

Disinfect the inside of the trashcan each time the liner is replaced.
SLICE SAFELY Don't forget to clean the cutting board. There are 200 times more fecal bacteria on the average home cutting board than on the toilet seat. Immediately after use, wash with hot soapy water and rinse well. Pat dry with paper towels, then air-dry completely.
HANDLE WITH CARE Be mindful of places touched by wet hands or raw meat—the refrigerator handle, the cabinet where the garbage can sits, sink faucet handles.
SCRUB RIGHT Use "disinfectant" or "antimicrobial" cleaning products and heed instructions. If advised to leave a product on for 10 minutes, do so, then wipe off with water. Clean sink drains by running water and pouring a little bleach down them.
WATCH THE WASH Doing laundry in cold water saves energy but spares germs. The dryer kills some microbes, but not salmonella bacteria or hepatitis A virus.
DEBUG HOTEL ROOMS Telephones and remote controls are germ hideouts; it's wise to keep disinfecting wipes in your suitcase.
ONE PLACE NOT TO WORRY ABOUT: Frequently asked, "Can I catch something from a public toilet seat?" Maczulak answers, "Not unless you really try. The average office has 21,000 microbes per square inch of surface—400 times dirtier than a toilet seat."

Heptagrama

Keep yourself healthy

When we are healthy, we usually forget how important is our health. Taking this into account, on this article we have gathered ten of the most important recommendations doctors have been giving for years to keep a good health. Maybe it is time to check if we are fulfilling them in our own lives.

+ Drink plenty of water. We all need to drink at least two litres of water every day, four if we live a stressful life. The consequences of not doing it can be serious, specially if you take into account that your body is at least 60% composed of water.

+ Keep a healthy diet. We all should eat meals that are good for us. This includes taking meals that have proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and fibre, but not just that: Keeping a healthy diet also includes eating at regular hours and avoiding artificial foods. Maybe you are healthy now and don't notice it; but eating disorders, as well as colourants and preservatives sooner or later affect our health, if taken in an ongoing basis.

+ Avoid useless toxins (tobacco, alcohol and drugs). Despite the fact a cup or two of any liquor can be even healthy for us; abusing those substances usually leads both to addiction and death, so never lose control on them.

+ Keep your house, body and office clean to avoid infectious diseases. There are already enough pollutants on the streets, don't you think?

+ Without puritanisms, do not have one-night stands. Your sexuality is great, but the libertine behaviour people has had in the last decades have helped spread dozens of sexual transmission diseases, or STDs. You think that will never happen to you? Think again: When was the last time you went for an HIV check, for example?

+ Exercise and sleep, but don't exaggerate either. Even if it's just only simple half-hour walks, your body needs to move to keep healthy. Likewise, those who don't get enough sleep often suffer from stress and anxiety, not to mention they always seem to be in a very bad mood. You have a time to study and work. You also need a time to sleep.

+ Take care of your eyes. We are in the era of screens and it's OK. However, when you are concentrated in a screen you usually blink much less than you do when you are not. Don't ill-treat your eyes: take a rest from that screen now and then. Now that we are talking about this, control the brightness and contrast of your screens too.

+ Build relationships, but good ones. Social animals as we are, we all need friends. Lonely people usually suffer from depression than the others; singles statistically live less than their married peers. There is any other thing you must consider, though. Are your friends good friends? Thousands of lives around the world ruin every year just because of bad friendships, so love yourself a little more and stay away from people who are not very honest or trustworthy.

+ Relax. Rome wasn't built in one day; you won't be able to become a millionaire in one year either. Work without obsessions. Give a time to yourself. You will thank it in the long term.

+ Last but not least, do not pollute the environment. Do you really think your negligent behaviour will not affect the water you drink or the food you eat? We are not the only ones in the world, so be responsible: Don't buy what you don't need and, please, recycle.

How to Keep Yourself Healthy

Holistic health, should be seen from an integral point of view, taking into consideration several aspects such as :

Nutrition. We should always get an adequate nutrition, it is necessary to have a balanced combination of the following elements : Minerals, Vitamins, Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fats, Fibers, Pure water, Oxygen, Sunlight

A good combination of these elements provides the correct nutrition that the body requires.

Positive attitude. It is essential to keep stress low. These keeps the immune system in good condition which produces as a consequence, good health. Stress, on the other hand, tenses neck and back muscles which causes some vertebras in the spinal column to move and dislocate provoking a series of disorders.

Spinal Column. Keeping the spinal column in good condition is important to optimum health. Correct posture, sleeping on a good mattress, and keeping stress low, plus correct nutrition are required factors for maintaining the skeletal system in good health.

Exercise. Exercising daily is also am essential factor for good health, Exercise stimulates the organs like the heart and joints, and in general, activates the whole body, giving vitality even to the farthest cell.

Hygiene. Hygiene for the body is as essential to good health as the other elements. Taking a bath or shower everyday, scrubbing your skin with a gentle loofah or body scrub 2 times a week, brushing your teeth and flossing, cleaning the colon periodically, as well as fasting, which eliminates toxins in the organism, are necessary factors to maintain good health.

Recommended Food Supplements :

Aloe Vera Juice - natural antibiotic, cell regenerator, energizer, nutritive.

Bee pollen - multi-minerals, Multi-vitamins, energizer

Multi- minerals - needed for proper composition and function of the body.

Nutritional Drink - should contain multi-vitamins, multi minerals, vegetables proteins, amino acids, fiber, etc.

Vitamin C - powerful antioxidant, strengthens immune system.

Garlic - powerful antioxidant

Bee Propolis - stimulates the immune system and prevents against infections.

Beta carotene - powerful antioxidant, helps resist infections, repairs and maintains body tissue.

Vitamin E and Selenium - improves circulation

Pure Water 8 - 12 glasses per day Rehydrates , cleans, detoxifies.

Sun bathing - 10 to 30 minutes per day( 6 am to 8:30 am)

Provides energy necessary for the production of vitamin D.

Pure air - oxygen provides vital energy.

Exercise - provides energy, promotes circulation, produces endorphins (activating substances for a person's vitality and mental attitude).

Positive Attitude - eliminates stress and provides enthusiasm and optimism in life.

Physical Hygiene - detoxifies the body.