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Monday, July 31, 2006
Cutting down on Liquid Calories
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Smoothies, fitness waters, herb-infused juices, coffee combos, energy drinks—the thirst for new specialty drinks seems almost unquenchable. but waistlines in the U.S. are expanding along with exotic drink choices. Calorie intake is up as much as 15 percent in the last 20 years, and about half of the extra calories comes from sweetened drinks. No wonder: A 24-ounce Starbucks Vanilla Bean Frappuccino (without whipped cream) or a 20 ounce Smoothie King Pina Colada Island contains about as many calories as a McDonald’s Big Mac.
Energy drinks, fortified juices, exotic teas, and waters often contain other “extras” you don’t need: high levels of stimulants, vitamins, and minerals, as well as questionable herbal ingredients. For example, a 16-ounce can of Burn2 energy drink contains almost as much caffeine as two cups of coffee, plus herbal stimulants. Syzmo energy drink packs 600 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin B6 and 1,000 percent of B12—far more than most people require.
Here’s how to avoid the pitfalls and choose drinks that won’t pile on the pounds.
LIQUID CALORIES GO DOWN EASY
Drinks don’t fill you up the way solid food does. Suppose you have a small cafe`mocha with breakfast(240 calories), a medium soft drink with lunch(210 calories), an 8-ounce energy drink midafternoon (115 calories) and a beer after work (150 calories). Those add about 700 extra calories to your day, and, by the end of the week an extra pound of weight.
The main culprit, sugar, lurks in places that might surprise you, such as flavored waters and ready-to-drink teas. Juice drinks and smoothies are among the worst offenders. A 24-ounce Jamba Juice Banana Berry smoothie, for example, has as much sugar as four-and a half chocolate bars.
You should also check the fat content of lattes, frappes, chai teas, smoothies, and other creamy drinks. A 32-ounce Dunkin’ Donuts vanilla Bean Coolatta Packs more than an entire day’s ration of saturated fat. You can slash the fat and calories in creamy drinks by skipping the whipped cream and substituting nonfat or soy milk for whole milk.
Alcohol is double trouble for the calorie conscious, since it can boost your appetite. If you imbibe, opt for wine or light beer over mixed drinks, and limit your intake.
Finally, be aware of portion sizes. Restaurants often use huge cups or glasses. And check the number of servings in bottles and cans. Arizona’s Asia Plum green tea initially seems like a reasonable choice, with 70 carlories per serving. But if you drink the whole bottle, you’ll actually consume two-and-a-half servings and 175 calories.
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Weight Loss and Fitness Myth #7: You Burn More Fat at a Lower Heart Rate than a Higher Heart Rate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is one of the least misunderstood types of exercise advice, that has been lingering for quite some time. Another fitness myth that needs to get busted.
Somewhere, someone read an article or a journal stating that the ratio of fat that you burn while doing cardiovascular activity is higher at a lower heart rate. As you begin to increase the intensity by means of speed, resistance, or incline, your fat burning ratio will decline. While this is all true, this information can be severely misinterperted.
At all times of the day, the energy of which your body is using is primarily aerobic. All this means is that you will utilize more fat energy as compared to carbohydrate energy (aka- glycogen that is converted to glucose). When you increase your aerobic output, you will begin to change the ratio at which you utilize fat and carbohydrate energy. Now matter what, when you increase aerobic activity, you will increase your carbohydrate usage. This is done by what is known as aerobic glycolosis (you don’t have to remember that). There is a high correlation between between your heart rate and increasing “carbohydrate burning.” So, when you read this you may think, “okay, if I want to burn more fat, I need to keep my heart rate down.” However, and this is a big however, notice that nothing was mentioned about the quantity of fat calories that is used at a lower intensity as compared to a higher intensity. All that was mentioned was the ratio. However, ratios have nothing to do about the amount of calories used, it is just a comparison.
When you increase your heart rate while doing cardiovascular training, you will burn more fat than you would at a lower intensity. Ratios don’t matter. It’s quantity of fat you’re after and it just so happens that your training will also be more qualitative. Even if you were to think, “well I don’t won’t to burn more carb’s, I won’t to burn more fat.” Well, don’t worry, you’ll still be burning more fat than carb’s at a higher heart rate, so long as you’re not breaking what is known as anaerobic threshold (which you can’t sustain for long periods of time anyway). Besides, when you burn more carb’s, that is less carbohydrate enegy that will be converted to fat.
So, when you go to do cardio, get a sweat going and do something more than a “mall paced walk.” Of course, this all depends on your current fitness level. At some time though, you’ve got to push it.
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