GetFit.com.au

With alot of emphasis on dieting in the media this article about learning how to cook is very true - throw away the microwave which encourages you to heat up fast food that can be high in fat and tasteless and learn how to prepare fast, fresh, nutritious meals - this way you will enjoy your food more and consume the right type of calories - not the ones that make you fat !

I dont use a microwave and cook most things at home with the George Foreman Grill - its excellent !

Enjoy the article below

Dean Piazza
www.getfit.com.au
Your Online Personal Trainer

AS AUSTRALIANS have been eating themselves towards full-fat, inglorious deaths in the past decade or two, an essential skill has been fading away, now a skeletal shadow in the corner.

We have forgotten how to cook.

The revelation is shocking and sad in equal parts: the more we gorge ourselves, the less we are in love with the wonder that is food. This can be the only explanation for the loss of such an essential skill.

Isn't preparing food - the modern-day equivalent of hunting, gathering and providing nutrition to self and family - essential to a healthy life, like washing and cleaning?

Continue reading "A Fat Society Starved Of Able Cooks" »

Posted by Dean at 12:03 PM | Permalink

When it comes to exercise and losing weight most people think its just about being active and eating right.

While these are very important so is setting your priorities and having good time management skills so you can
achieve what you would like to do each day.

With people living life at such a hectic pace and employers demanding longer working hours , effective time
management is an essential part of your week.

Watch the video above for some great time management tips and if you find the video stopping and starting, press the pause button for 1 minute and start again.

You can also email me info@getfit.com.au for personalised help with organising your complete exercise, diet and time management schedule

Dean Piazza
www.getfit.com.au
Your Online Personal Trainer

Posted by Dean at 10:00 AM | Permalink

Could you keep it down? Can't you see we're trying to get a little shut-eye?

Sleep. It rejuvenates. It refreshes. It restores. And while it may seem as if sleep renders us inactive, the truth is quite the contrary. Our bodies, our brains, our minds are accomplishing great things while we slumber.

Dr Nilesh Dave, medical director of the Sleep and Breathing Disorders Centre at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, says: "When you get good-quality sleep and enough hours of it, it is amazing how much better patients' moods are, how much better they're functioning. They're truly happy."

During a series of studies in the 1980s, rats were forced to stay awake. After five days, they started dying.

Continue reading "Happiness is ... sleep" »

Posted by Dean at 10:36 AM | Permalink

IF BOOK sales are anything to go by, Professor Jennie Brand-Miller's GI revolution is here. "At one time there was only one book ahead of us on The New York Times bestseller list, and that was Harry Potter," she says. "So I'm pretty pleased with that."

Based on the glycaemic index and co-authored by Kaye Foster-Powell, a nutritionist, and Professor Stephen Colagiuri, Brand-Miller's books have sold 3.5 million copies worldwide. A fourth edition of two of the most popular titles in the "glucose revolution" series was published this month.

Continue reading "Now for the glucose revolution" »

Posted by Dean at 07:03 PM | Permalink

I am currently in the US at a fitness conference so I was surprised to read the article below that we are now officially the Fattest nation in the world.

Who would have thought we have gone from fit and healthy bronzed aussies to a nation of over worked , over stressed and over weight people.

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Australia has become the fattest nation in the world, with more than 9 million adults now rated as obese or overweight, according to an alarming new report.

The most definitive picture of the national obesity crisis to date has found that Australians now outweigh Americans and face a future "fat bomb" that could cause 123,000 premature deaths over the next two decades.

If the crisis is not averted, obesity experts have warned, health costs could top $6 billion and an extra 700,000 people will be admitted to hospital for heart attacks, strokes and blood clots caused by excess weight.

The latest figures show 4 million Australians — or 26% of the adult population — are now obese compared to an estimated 25% of Americans. A further 5 million Australians are considered overweight.

smh.com.au

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Everybody knows we have to eat less and eat healthy and move more and stay active as we are bombarded with these messages on a daily or weekly basis depending on how many magazines you read or Television shows you watch.

Its obvious we need to focus more on mindset and teaching people how to get motivated and being positive and focussed as this will make it a whole lot easier to get in shape.
learning how to deal with stress and time management or being organised will also help greatly as alot of people lack these skills.

Once you feel good about yourself, your self esteem improves , your energy levels go through the roof and this makes it a whole lot easier to exercise more and reach for heathy food, not fatty food.

My online coaching focuses alot on motivational topics with regular videos and emails and combined with the day by day , week by week program it makes it easy for people to stay on track and get results they couldnt achieve on their own.

I pride myself on personal interaction and answer all emails with 12 hours so people feel like their hand is being held the whole way.

Click here to get started today and we can work together to help you slim down and tone up .

You can also email me at dean@getfit.com.au

stay strong

Dean Piazza
www.getfit.com.au - Your Online personal trainer

Posted by Dean at 11:40 AM | Permalink

Heart disease is the number one killer in Australia, and it's strongly linked to lifestyle. That means there's scope to prevent it if you do the right things. But what if you've been doing all the wrong things? If you've been a chain-smoking, junk-food addict for years, can you turn your life around and catch up with all those virtuous vegie-eating types?

Continue reading "STARTING LATE TO A HEALTHY LIFE" »

Posted by Dean at 01:32 PM | Permalink

Most Australian women drink too much and feel bad about their weight with some so troubled they avoid mirrors a survey has found.
They are stressed, confused about diet and dnt exercise enough and australian womens weekly survey of 15000 women found.

The worrying evidence is that women are putting their health at risk says editor Deborah Thomas.
Only one in six women were happy with their weight , one in five had such poor body image they avoided mirrors and 45% would have cosmetic surgery if they could afford it

More than a quarter of the women were confused about what constuted a healthy diet and 26% did not eat vegetable every day. Women were not getting enough exercise with only 45% exercising for 30 minutes or more at least three times a week
Binge drinking appeared to be rife with a third drinking too much and one in five women admitting she had been told she had a drinking problem.
Daily drinking to ease stress or unwind has delined among women -16% now drink every day down from 19% in 1980.

Comment from Personal Trainer Dean Piazza:

These are very interesting stats and with my clients I always get them to submit photos so I can compare their progress down the track anf give them feedback.

Rather than just relying on the scales for weight loss also use photos to compare your progress as this is alot more motivating and highlights which areas on your body you would like to improve next so you can be alot more specific.

Clients are who do not submit photos to me are alot less likely to succeed I have found .

Taking photos usually means you are alot more serious and committed to improving your body shape.
Not taking photos or avoiding photos means its alot easier to live in denial about your real body shape and therefore its easier to not make a committment to losing weight and getting into shape !

Dean Piazza
Online personal Trainer @ http://www.getfit.com.au

Posted by Dean at 09:55 AM | Permalink

Popular antidepressants are a waste of time for most depressed people, research suggests.

A review of clinical trials for antidepressant drugs regularly prescribed in Australia found they worked no better than a placebo for mildly depressed patients and most people suffering severe depression. The study, which used research on drugs, including Prozac, Efexor and Aropax, that drug firms had not previously released, has been applauded by experts for its scope and integrity

Continue reading "Antidepressants ineffective: study" »

Posted by Dean at 08:37 AM | Permalink

1 in 2 Australians over 25 have high cholesterol.

That's right. High cholesterol affects 50% of Australians over 25, and even if you feel okay you can still have high cholesterol.

However, if any of the following apply to you, it's particularly important to talk to your doctor about a blood cholesterol test

Are you a smoker?
Exercise less than 15 minutes weekly?
Eat less than 1 serve of fruit daily?
Eat less than 3 serves of vegetables daily?
Standard alcoholic drinks daily: more than 4 (male) or more than 2 (female)?
High blood pressure (BP)?
Overweight?
Diagnosed with diabetes?
Family history of heart disease or diabetes?
High cholesterol levels?

If left untreated high cholesterol can lead to cardiovascular disease so click on the link below to find out more.

www.cholesteroltest.com.au

Posted by Dean at 04:46 PM | Permalink

What is FebFast ?

FebFast is a community education and awareness campaign that invites people to do something good for their own bodies, and someone else's by sacrificing their alcohol intake for up to one month, during February.

Participants are sponsored by friends & family, with funds distributed to organisations that support young people struggling with substance use

Click here for more Information www.febfast.com.au

PS I will be recommending all my members join this program as its a great way to cut calories , lose weight
and raise funds for a good cause - all at the same time !
dean piazza

Posted by Dean at 05:29 PM | Permalink

Dieting has fallen out of favour while trying to eat more healthfully is in, a marketing research firm that tracks what Americans consume has said

Continue reading "Diet versus dieting" »

Posted by Dean at 06:43 PM | Permalink

The Life Smart site is about cancer risks that you can actively lower by changing your lifestyle.
Its all about being more active , eating the right foods and better health and wellbeing

There are other factors that affect your risk of cancer, such as genes and the environment. You can learn more about these from The Cancer Council NSW website or by calling the Cancer Council Helpline in any Australian state on 13 11 20.

If we all made a few life smart changes, we could reduce cancer deaths in our community by 50 percent. Take the life smart challenge now.

It takes 20 minutes to take the leap to better health and well-being.

http://lifesmart.cancercouncil.com.au/

Posted by Dean at 04:45 PM | Permalink

A new study shows that women can significantly cut their risk of having a heart attack by eating right, drinking a moderate amount of alcohol, staying physically active, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking.

Continue reading "Five steps to avoid heart disease" »

Posted by Dean at 10:19 AM | Permalink

The evidence suggests that if a woman exercises for an average of four hours per week throughout her life then her risk of getting breast cancer falls by around a half.

Exercise is good for a lot of things from heart disease and obesity reduction to cancer. And one of the first malignancies found to be prevented by physical activity was breast cancer.

It's been looked at in all sorts of ways and results suggest that whether a woman is pre or post menopausal, if she exercised around three hours a week moderately in her adolescence her risk of breast cancer falls by about a third. And if she kept up and average of four hours per week throughout her life then her chances fall by around a half.

One explanation is that exercise may lower oestrogen levels and oestrogen stimulates breast tissue.

The evidence suggests though that if you're already getting a lot of exercise, that increasing it further won't make a lot of difference. Women with most to gain are probably the one's not taking much exercise at all or taking their physical activity too easily.

So if you've enough puff to chat on your morning walk, you're probably not doing it hard enough.

For Reference
Title: J Natl Cancer Inst.
Author: Bernstein L et al. Lifetime recreational exercise activity and breast cancer risk among black women and white women.
URL: http://jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjournals.org/2005 Nov 16;97(22):1671-9

Posted by Dean at 03:54 PM | Permalink

Older adults with low levels of the mineral selenium may be lacking in muscle strength, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that in a group of men and women age 65 and up, those with the lowest blood levels of selenium were at greatest risk of poor muscle strength around the hips, knees and hands.

People commonly lose muscle mass and strength as they age, which contributes to falls, injuries and illness in elderly adults. The new findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that low selenium levels may be one of the reasons for age-related muscle weakness

Continue reading "Mineral for muscle strength" »

Posted by Dean at 12:11 PM | Permalink

Depressed? Instead of firing up that Prozac or other depression drug this evening, why not form a battle plan to get some daily exercise at the local gym?

New research has concluded that regular exercise may work just as well as many common depression medication in improving those symptoms .

The research involved 202 depressed adults who were followed. Some of those studied went through group-based exercise therapy. The others were treated with an antidepressant drug.

Results? Those in group-based exercise routines fared just as well or better against their depression symptoms as those on medication. Those who participated in home-based exercise therapy also improved, although to a lesser extent compared to those with the social commitment to a group.

Posted by Dean at 10:02 PM | Permalink

For thousands of years, it's been part of our diet, as a seasoning and as a preservative. It's hard to imagine a meal without it.

Unfortunately though, recent research suggests that salt seriously ups the risk of heart attack. And that's a problem because we unknowingly consume far more than is good for us.

We've known for years that it raises blood pressure – but the latest research suggests it also causes heart disease and stroke. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the US looked at two groups of people aged between 30 and 54 over periods of up to four years.

Continue reading "Salt raises risk of heart attack" »

Posted by Dean at 08:48 PM | Permalink

CHILDREN who drink more than two glasses of fruit juice per day are more likely to be overweight or obese, according to new research.

Researchers from Deakin University in Melbourne have found that Australian schoolchildren who drank 500ml of fruit juice and fruit drinks per day were more likely to be overweight or obese than those who did not.

The researchers took a one-day snap shot of the eating habits of 2184 children aged four to 12 years from eight kindergartens and 18 primary schools in the Barwon region in Victoria's south-west.

Continue reading "Kids who drink juice 'likely to be fat'" »

Posted by Dean at 04:03 PM | Permalink

If you enjoy good fresh food then summer is a time of plenty, especially if you love the fruit and vegetables that are in abundance right now.

When it comes to delicious, nutritious summer fare it's hard to go past a salad – you can almost feel every cell in your body sing after eating a bowl full of brightly-coloured vegetables.

But if constipation is an issue for you then maybe you should reach for the potato salad or sushi in addition to your more traditional salad favourites.

Continue reading "Had a gutful of salad today?" »

Posted by Dean at 10:00 AM | Permalink

A new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery reports that a newly developed stretch can ease the pain of the heel condition common in middle-aged people and younger people who spend a large proportion of their time standing up

Continue reading "New stretch eases pain of plantar fasciitis" »

Posted by Dean at 10:36 PM | Permalink

Even after age 60, people can significantly reduce their risk of heart disease and diabetes by adopting healthier habits, a new study from the UK shows.

"The present findings emphasise the benefits of lifestyle modification, including losing weight, increasing physical activity, stopping smoking, and avoiding a high-carbohydrate diet, in reducing the risk of the metabolic syndrome in older men," report Dr S Goya Wannamethee of the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London and colleagues.

Continue reading "It's never too late to be healthy: study" »

Posted by Dean at 11:35 AM | Permalink

The more your belly sticks out, the greater your risk of developing heart disease, a new study shows.

"The message is really obesity in the abdomen matters even more than obesity overall," Dr Carlos Iribarren of Kaiser Permanente of Northern California in Oakland, the study's lead author, said.

Body mass index (BMI), a gauge of weight in relation to height, is a fairly crude way to judge a person's heart disease risk based on obesity, he noted. For example, muscular people may have a high BMI and be perfectly healthy

Continue reading "Obesity is in belly" »

Posted by Dean at 01:48 PM | Permalink

A vigorous session at the gym isn't the only way to burn energy - get science on your side.

Muscle up. The single most important factor in determining your resting metabolic rate (the amount of energy you use at rest) is how much lean muscle tissue you have.

Your muscle tissue uses 16 to 22 per cent of your daily calories just to exist. (Your liver uses 21 per cent and your brain 20 per cent, but you can't do much about beefing them up.)

"Increasing metabolic rate through the development of more muscle tissue is the key to lasting weight loss," says Pete Williams, founder of London fitness club Health Dept

Continue reading "7 Ways to Boost Your Metabolism" »

Posted by Dean at 11:43 AM | Permalink

AM - Wednesday, 13 September , 2006 08:26:00
Reporter: Alison Caldwell
TONY EASTLEY: Some of you may be about to take it. You won't be alone, it's certainly one of the more popular anti-inflammatory drugs used in Australia today.

More than 800,000 Australians used the drug last year, but a new study has shown that Voltaren could increase the risk of heart attack by as much as 40 per cent.

Australia's medicine watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, is now reviewing Voltaren's safety, amid fears it poses the same risks as Vioxx, which was recalled in 2004.

AM's Alison Caldwell reports.

Continue reading "Anti-inflammatory drug could increase heart-attack risk" »

Posted by Dean at 04:46 PM | Permalink

Many conservative methods used to treat work-related complaints of the upper body have only limited effectiveness, according to an updated systematic review by Arianne Verhagen, Ph.D., and her colleagues in the Netherlands. Exercise, however, emerged as "a very good thing to do," she said.

Yet, "conservative interventions such as physiotherapy and ergonomic adjustments play a major role in the treatment of most work-related complaints of the arm, neck or shoulder," said Verhagen, a physical therapist and epidemiologist at the Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam.

As for expensive ergonomic equipment like special keyboards and office furniture, little scientific evidence currently exists to support their use.

Continue reading "Exercise Better Than Ergonomics to Treat Upper-Body Work Injuries" »

Posted by Dean at 11:18 AM | Permalink

Stress could help trigger the onset of eating disorders, a new study shows.

Many factors contributed to eating disorders, Dr Luis Rojo of the University of Valencia in Spain and colleagues report in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

Multiple factors, including psychological ones, can influence the onset and development of an eating disorder.

Stress is thought to be an important precursor of eating disorders. Rojo and his team studied the connection between stress and eating disorders as well as the influence of psychological problems in 32 teenagers with eating disorders.

Continue reading "Study Links Stress to eating disorder" »

Posted by Dean at 12:22 PM | Permalink

Our metabolism slows as we age, but if you're aware of the life stages that can affect your weight, you can do something about them. By Joanna Hall.

How many times have you heard a woman say they could eat anything until they turned about 25, but that they now only had to look at food to put on weight? It's true that our metabolism begins to slow down in our mid-20s, but when the scales suddenly tip in the wrong direction, the finger of blame can often be pointed at our current stage of life.

From pregnancy to menopause, each life stage poses different challenges which can result in poor eating or not enough physical activity. But maintaining a healthy weight has important implications for your health and wellbeing, now as well as in the future
So how can you keep on track? The key is identifying each life stage and its challenges - and knowing what to do about them.

Continue reading "Weighty Matters" »

Posted by Dean at 04:18 PM | Permalink