1. Lose that extra weight. Lightening up and shedding a few pounds will make it easier for your heart and on you!

2. Watch out for fat.  Learn to be “fat-savvy.”  You want to eat little to no cholesterol, saturated, and trans fat.  Choose lean meats and low-fat or non-fat dairy to help cut these numbers down.

3. Watch out for salt. Look for reduced-salt and no-salt added products and try your food before you add extra salt.

Ugh.  Phew. ZZzzzzz. That Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred is one tough, exhausting DVD. But, you know what?  It works.  Just in ten days - the number of days I devoted to level one, figuring that three levels divided by four weeks would be ten days a level - me so smart! - I can feel my endurance has improved tremendously. The first two days that I did the exercises, I was huffing and puffing, stopping here and there for a breather. Last night, I breezed right through it. That’s how I - gulp! - know I’m ready for level two.

Let’s see, what do I like about this DVD? It kept me on my toes.  The three circuits seem to flip by fairly quickly, and as soon as I think I’m about to die, it’s time to change to another set. The formula seems to work - three minutes of strength, two minutes of cardio, and one minute abs.  Three circuits and you are done. Use your choice of hand weights - I used 5s and 8s.

We recently had the pleasure of joining EA for their Sports Active media event in New York City. The event started with a demo of the EA Sports Active game/workout product. Following the demo they allowed attendees to play the units and experience the workout intensity. The workouts require the use of an occasional resistance band and the leg strap for the Wii controller, which are included with purchase. If you have purchased the Wii Fit, you can also use your balance board for a number of the workouts. The balance board, although, is not required for any of the EA Sports Active workouts.

Here’s some interesting news to chew on…

A recent study examined how the number of times you chew your food relates to satisfying your hunger. What they found was intriguing. Forty chews was the magic number.

When people in the study ate a small serving of almonds, 40 chews satisfied hunger better than 10. And even when they looked at people taking 25 chews with almonds, it wasn’t as effective. On top of the benefit of feeling full, the magic number of 40 chews also made the subjects feel full longer than the lower counts.

** UPDATE: Contest Over! Congrats to Hil’lesha & Stacey on winning the babycakes cookbooks. Hil’lesha won a special edition signed by Erin Mckenna**

To celebrate the 2 year anniversary of the Natural Health Newsletter we are giving away a signed copy of the just released Babycakes cookbook.

Babycakes is a famous New York City bakery that makes baked goods using alternative and healthy ingredients while keeping all the yummy taste you would expect from a cupcake, chocolate chip cookie or even banana chip loaf.

There’s more evidence showing that diet is even more important than exercise in maintaining a healthy weight. I covered a separate study regarding diet and exercise from last January asserting the same thing. That’s not to say exercise isn’t an integral part of your healthy lifestyle, it’s just that you can’t think you can eat what you want and just “work it off.”

The current obesity mess we’re in is almost entirely due to people’s dietary choices, not the lack of exercise. And that’s one whopper of a surprise.

“There is no evidence that a marked reduction in physical activity has been a contributor to this epidemic in the United States,” says the study’s leader Boyd Swinburn, a professor at the health faculty of Australia’s Deakin University.

One of the hottest buzz words in food right now is “organic.” I want to help you better understand what these foods are, what you stand to gain from them and a few of the negatives.

What is organic?
In order for a food to be labeled organic it needs to be grown and processed without using any genetic engineering procedures, or without any synthetic/artificial fertilizers (must use real fertilizers).  Organic foods are grown without the use of all “-cides”, meaning no pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides.  Also, the food must be grown or processed without antibiotics, preservatives, chemicals, or use of radiation.  In short, the food was produced and processed in the most natural way and delivered to consumers in the purest form without any chemical tainting. To be certified organic a product must bare the USDA certification of 100% organic.  This seal means the farm has been evaluated and tested by a set standard of practice and is certified after passing.

Well, hopefully wedding fitness week 1 was a successful week for you. It’s time for a new week and a new you!! Week two is geared toward cables, or “freemotion,” exercises. Week one consisted of machine weights, which are perfect for beginners because the machines control your movement and help you get the most benefits from each repetition. Cables exercises are a little more advanced due to the fact that you control your own movement.

Proper technique is crucial while using cables, so please use the correct weight and pay attention to the correct form from the videos below. Again, I recommend performing two sets of 20 repetitions from the exercises listed below and follow them up with a sweat-filled cardiovascular exercise for 30 to 60 minutes.

At the beginning of the month, our senior editor Brandi Koskie blogged about the Hydroxycut recall. Here’s a quick recap, and where it may (or should) lead with regards to future health legislation:

Is the Food & Drug Administration protecting consumers from dangerous and fraudulent claims by supplement makers, or are they simply reacting after the fact when it’s too late? That’s what the advocacy group called the Reality Coalition thinks. And there’s some merit to that claim. The group argues that the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), does little to protect consumers from unsafe supplements like Hydroxycut until it’s too late.

Exercise can be an important part of mental health treatment. Often those experiencing difficulty with anxiety can benefit from regular cardiovascular exercise, which allows the opportunity for the body to learn recovery from arousal. On the other hand, yoga has been researched as a treatment for PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder. In two studies, the PTSD sufferers that were taught and practiced yoga experienced greater symptom reduction than those that were only a part of more traditional treatment.

Yoga is used as a relaxation technique because it focuses the mind and slows down the body. Simply learning to control your own breathing can allow you to feel more in control of yourself.