Reviveyourlife

By now you will have heard about the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. They lift your heart health, they lift your mood, they reduce low level inflammation caused by stress and other factors, they protect your brain from disease and they even relieve joint pain.

And the best source of these miracle nutrients? Oily fish like salmon and tuna.
But a nagging question these days is, are these fish really safe for you to eat?

Look, you’ve probably heard that many fish species are contaminated with mercury.
Unfortunately the problem doesn’t stop there.

For instance, a recent review of contaminants in fish and shellfish throughout the U.S. found more than 30% of fish have levels of accumulative toxins that are potentially cancerous. Twenty-nine percent have unsafe mercury levels. Eleven percent have unhealthy levels of DDT and DDT derivatives. (Harvey J, et al. “Contaminant concentrations in whole-body fish and shellfish from US estuaries,” Environ Monit Assess 2007 (June 13))

As well, we have to confront the reality most of the fish on our shelves is now imported, some of it from very suspect sources. And reef fish can contain siguatera, which may make you quite ill.

What this means is that you can’t trust the fish in our general food supply.

Accumulative toxins build up in your system and can lead to cancers, nervous system issues and neurological disorders. Mercury is a well-known neurotoxin. In other words, you don’t want to eat foods that have any levels of these substances.

What’s more you don’t want to take fishoil supplements which contain these substances either.
Despite what manufacturers and health regulatory bodies tell us, there isn’t any “safe” level of these poisons.

So, how do you take advantage of the health benefits of fish while avoiding all these nasty drawbacks?

The first step to choosing fish that’s healthy and non-toxic is to know which fish are most likely to be contaminated.

Typical fish with high levels of mercury and other contaminants include farmed salmon, mackerel, tuna steaks, swordfish, shark and bass. You should avoid eating these fish unless you can find a source that guarantees the safety and cleanliness of the fish they sell.
Remember farmed fish can be laced with antibiotics, and fed unnatural food. Farmed salmon are also fed drugs to make their flesh the distinctive pink colour.

In the low-contaminant category, you have anchovies, crayfish, Pacific flounder, sole, scallops, clams, light canned tuna, and Alaskan salmon. You can eat these kinds of fish as often as you like with no ill effects.

Besides knowing which fish are clean and which are toxic, you can also protect yourself by purchasing your fish from a source that guarantees low-contaminant levels. These kinds of providers hold their product to strict quality standards, so you can relax and enjoy your fish worry-free.

To make sure you are getting all the omega-3 fatty acids your body needs, it’s a good idea to take a supplement. But not just any supplement. You need a Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil (PGFO) where the product is guaranteed to contain NO accumulative toxins or heavy metals.

When you are taking 4-6 grams of fish oils a day, you want to make sure you are going to become more healthy, not less. You need a SAFE supplement, and PGFO fills the bill perfectly.

Most health food stores don’t sell PGFO, many don’t even know what it is.
We sell a great PGFO locally. You can find it on the “products” page of this website.

Get great Omega 3’s and Revive Your Life.

I keep seeing ads by drug companies selling osteoporosis prevention pills.
Being naturally sceptical of anything sold by drug companies (remember Vioxx and Celebrex)
I thought it would be a good idea to show you how to prevent osteoporosis.

So how do you strengthen your bones without drugs and their harmful side effects?

In men and women, a lowering of levels of key hormones is at the root of the problem. Estrogen is the main regulator of bone breakdown. Progesterone regulates bone build-up. And the most powerful bone-builder of all is testosterone.

In men and women levels of all these hormones go down as you get older.
This results in decreased bone strength, lower levels of calcium in the bone, and increased risk of breakage.

Like all age-related physical changes, these problems can be easily reversible. Here’s a simple 6-step process to reverse the effects of osteoporosis:

• Exercise: The best way to increase bone density and reduce fractures is body weight exercises (like calisthenics) and resistance (weight) training. Make a habit of doing these exercises two or three times a week. Even thirty minutes of walking a day can lower your risk of fracture by thirty percent. (Willett W. Calcium: too much of a good thing? Report from the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Roundtable.)

When you exercise, your muscles pull on your bones where they are attached by the tendons. This pressure creates a challenge that your body responds to by lifting bone density.
The bone crystalline structure gets more compact. This process ensures that you stay physically mobile and independent as you get older. because you are also stronger.

Unfortunately Pilates won’t cut it. You need to lift weight using particular exercises under the supervision of a suitably qualified personal trainer. (Their Fitness Queensland registration will show if they have the training or not).

• Forget calcium supplements and get your calcium from your diet: Eat a variety of small fish, dark, leafy green vegetables, almonds and cashews, or dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt. You should be aiming for about 400 mg per day. Most supplements are in a form that is converted by plants into the calcium we eventually absorb. Plants eat crushed rocks, we don’t.

• Take a vitamin D supplement: Recommended dose is 400 IU per day. It helps your body absorb calcium and maintain bone density. Without vitamin D, all calcium supplements are worthless anyway! The best source of vitamin D is the sun – 10 to 15 minutes of exposure a day should be enough. During the winter, take cod liver oil. It’s by far the best supplemental source of vitamin D.

• Get vitamin K in your greens: Vtamin K regulates calcium whilst stabilizing bones. In addition it regulates blood clotting. You should at at least one serving of green vegetables like spinach, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, Brussels sprouts or broccoli every day. One study found people eating just 0.1 milligrams of vitamin K daily (about one large serving of greens) were 30% less likely to break their hips than people who ate less than that amount.

• Eat foods rich in B-complex vitamins: Your body also uses a variety of B vitamins in bone building. The best sources are liver, eggs, lean meats, yeast, fish, raw nuts, asparagus, broccoli and bananas.

• Get a blood test: A simple blood test will tell you how your hormone levels affect your bone health. This is the best way to determine the health of your bones and your risk for fracture. Women may need to take natural progesterone. For both men and women testosterone is the most powerful controller of your bone density.

So there you go.
A simple and easy primer on bones and how to keep them dense.

Her time for Helen has gone from 15:30 to 13:33.
And have a look at where we run our 400 metres - 200 up and 200 back down. (See the 400 not 300 link at left).

Well done girl.

Sheree and I are doing an aerobics and Aqua class at the moment. She moves well, and like me she is a Master Trainer.

Her normal PT is away at the moment, so she asked me to fill in. Always delighted to help good looking women, I accepted her invitation and she arrived on our doorstep all ready at 10:00 this morning.

She wanted something “different”, so I showed her how to use a kettlebell properly, which she did perfectly by the way.
And how to mount and use the Chin/Dip Assist machine.

Still unaware of what was to come, I said we would start with a little jog, and we went up the driveway and commenced the 400 (not 300) - see links at left.

Fifteen minutes and thirty seconds later we had completed three rounds of 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings and 12 pullups.

After we got our breath back, we did a strength workout on the oly weights, abmat (my GHD machine is still somewhere in China) and pinweight machine.

After we got our breath back again, we recorded the tape below. The upshot is Reviveyourlife now has another raving fan of what we do here, because Sheree can now see herself getting the fitness results she wants in a shorter timeframe. “Sure beats boring hours on the treadmill…” and so say all of us.

And here is another goal she wants to get…
You go girl…

Have any of you ever read a book called supersquats?

It’s written by Randall Strossen of Iron Mind and teaches some old style strength training that gets results.

I like his stuff, amd am also reading his Strong Minds, Strong Bodies book.

Anyway, I decided to try it out - nothing to lose and everthing to gain.

So yesterday I did 20 100kg squats straight up. Now understand this, I am still on Beta Blockers for a heart condition, so I got a bit of a puff up. (See My old Blog to get an idea of what happened.)

I now have to add 5 kg and do it again in a day or two.

And another little victory - today I did 2/3 of a Crossfit “Helen”.
Up the hill (click on the link at left “400 (not 300)”), 21 kettlebell swings of 12.5kg, and 12 pullups.
I did it 2 times out of the normal 3 and got a bit of a puff up. Took 10.04 minutes to do.
A bit sad when you consider the world record is held by a girl in under 8:30 for 3 rounds.

Still, I reckon I’ll crack under 11 minutes for all 3 rounds within 2 months.

Considering where I was this time last year, I reckon I am doing OK, but could be doing a lot better.
But I fight the same battles you do - sugar hits (I love chocolate), excusitis, old injuries (I used to have a construction business), bad habits.

But I am moving forward, inch by inch.

You can too. Give me a call on 0419 930964 and find out how.

I have a pair of clients, a highly motivated and conscientious husband and wife team.
We have been working together for about 6 weeeks now, and wanted some tangible form of how well we are doing.

I always take a clients blood pressure before training, and sometimes their blood glucose and cholesterols too, if they want.

So here are the BP results.

Margaret - before 154/90 (borderline hypertensive)
after 135/78

Rob - before 153/82
after 130/75

I am so proud of these folks, and their dedication to their fitness training.

How easy is it?

As easy as eating the right foods, walking briskly for an hour 3 mornings a week (we go together from 6-7 am Monday and Wednesday) and use the adult playground equipment so thoughtfully provided by the Gold coast City Council in the park behind Parasol Street at Ashmore.

Now that we are fitter, we can start more strength work, because for a couple in their mid fifties with active grandchildren, this is needed.

We are mindful that osteoporosis is a looming problem and know that strength training and good food is the best way to combat it.

So congratulations to Margaret and Rob for their achivements the last six weeks.

Are your fitness goals any nearer than they were six weeks ago?

Hmmmmm????