April 15th, 2010 by Berci in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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I recently come across BodyTrace, a nice way to combine a bathroom scale that wirelessly uploads and displays your weight and BMI and a website where you can track all the changes with visualized solutions. An excerpt from the description:
We are using the GSM network to transmit your weight to our website. We use these measurements to create weight and BMI charts and by combining this information with additional data that we collect (from food tracker, for example) we can better evaluate your progress and give you feedback on how to reach your goals.
They also have a collaboration with DailyBurn. You can read the whole story from the first idea on the blog.
See more examples of how Web 2.0 or social media can be used in fitness here.
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
April 10th, 2010 by DaveMunger in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor, Opinion, Research, True Stories
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If you follow me on Twitter or read my personal blog, you probably know by now that I bought myself an iPad this week. The main reason I got it is because I’m a sucker for shiny new technology, but I also wanted to see if I could use it to help myself become a little less sedentary.
As I mentioned in my first two posts about fitness this month, there’s a growing body of research suggesting that a sedentary lifestyle is harmful to your health. I was interviewed about one such study a few months ago on the PRI show “The Takeaway,” and the evidence is fairly convincing: People who spend more hours watching TV also have a higher mortality rate than those who watch it less, even after accounting for exercise. Granted, it’s only a correlation, but the evidence converges quite well with several other studies.
But what am I supposed to do about it? My job requires me to spend long hours in front of a computer screen. If exercising a 30 or 40 minutes a day can’t prevent me from getting heart disease or cancer, what will? Some researchers, including David Dunstan, the lead researcher on the TV-watching study, suggest that just standing periodically, rather than sitting all day, can help a lot. That’s where the iPad comes in. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Daily Monthly*
April 3rd, 2010 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA
Good news: You can get fit and toned anywhere with simple exercises.
My good friend works at a major company in NYC and she’s fortunate since she’s able to hit the gym on her lunch hour. If you have a job that allows you the time to go to the gym, that’s great. Not everyone is that fortunate.
As women we have so many responsibilities and we’re so busy. Trying to juggle work, family and friends can be a struggle and it’s not always easy to find time to exercise.
Truthfully, you don’t need to belong to a gym to exercise. Just keep moving. Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or if you sit behind a cubicle, it doesn’t matter who you are. There are simple exercises that you can do anywhere.
I asked fitness expert Karen Ficarelli to share some simple tips to help keep you toned, whether you’re at home working or at the office. Karen suggests these easy moves to help tone your butt, thighs, calves, abs, waist, back, arms, shoulders and thighs. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
April 2nd, 2010 by DaveMunger in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor, Opinion, Research, True Stories
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I consider myself a relatively fit person. Of course, “relatively” is still relative. I try to watch what I eat. I usually exercise five days a week. Heck, I’ve even run a couple half-marathons. But the rest of my days are pretty much sedentary. I sit in a climate-controlled office staring at my computer screen. I make dinner in my highly-automated kitchen. After dinner I sit in the living room sipping wine and watching TV or talking to Greta. Then I go to bed and start the process over again.
That’s not a whole lot of activity for a creature that evolved for endurance. Over a 50 mile course, a race between a man and a horse can be quite competitive. Millions of people all over the world do hard manual labor day in and day out. But millions of others don’t set aside any time for exercise. In my half-marathons, I’ve finished in the top half of competitors, so compared to a lot of people, I must be doing something right. Right? Or do my sedentary days outweigh my occasional bursts of activity? I exercise an average of 4 hours per week. That’s less than 4 percent of my total waking time. Is that really enough to stay fit? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Daily Monthly*
