The Truth about Supplement Advertisements

This interview goes on further to describe how before and after pictures are often taken in the same day. Photoshop goes a long way these days. In short, do your homework before you go spend your dollars on something that is potentially useless. With supplements I like to stick to the tried and true products that have some scientific studies backing them and I take them knowing they are not to provide replacements for healthy foods but to supplement my diet. It gives me that extra few percent and that is all. Your diet and exercise program far outweigh what any supplement will give you.

I strongly urge you to pick up a copy of the Bigger, Stronger, Faster DVD if you haven't already.

When 5 Fruit and Vegetable Servings aren't Enough

For optimum health experts are saying 10-12 servings of fruits/veggies is a minimum. So is it possible to get all these fruits and vegetables every single day?

The average person doesn't even meet the 5 fruit/vegetable serving recommendation and to be honest that isn't all that difficult. It's fairly easy to have 5 servings covered before you even eat lunch with the right strategies in place. Front loading vegetables early in the day can gaurentee they'll be consumed. Think of the person that exercises first thing in the morning. Many argue this isn't the best time to exercise, but who cares. If that is a time you can dedicate day in day out, why not? This works similarly with planning your meals.

So how exactly can this principle be applied and what else can one do to sneak in all those fruits and vegetables.

• Eat vegetables at breakfast. Start the morning off with some spinach and tomato mixed in some eggs (or other veggies of your choice). Have a piece of fibrous fruit on the side like an apple and you are well on your way to kick starting your day. If you like avocado it makes a great side for this meal. Heck this meal alone will trump the average dieters vegetable intake for the day.

Wheaties can't compare

• Add berries to shakes. Bridge the gap between your meals with a berry smoothie protein shake. Couple that shake with some greens powder and three easy servings can be had right there.

• Use unconventional eating methods. Call it lazy or call it efficient. Either way don't feel bound by society's constraints on the way foods SHOULD be eaten. There are plenty of vegetables that aside from a quick rinse need no food prep and you can just shove them directly into your mouth. A few quick and easy veggies are carrots, mini cucumbers, snap peas and even bell peppers. Try eating a bell pepper much like you would an apple. The tri colored ones are sure to satisfy with their subtle sweetness. You can eat a cucumber much like a banana (except it's even more convenient, no messy peel!). Eating spinach directly out of the bag is for the dangerously hardcore.

Go ahead, take a bite

• Steam Frozen Veggies. Frozen veggies can be just as nutritious as fresh because they are typically packaged immediately and flash frozen. They can be had fairly cheaply and you can feel free to stock up when there is a sale as they keep for a long time.
  

• Use Vegetable based condiments. Things like salsa and pesto pack a good punch for your meals and also pack in some veggie servings. Just be careful to check the labels for added sugars and other additives. You'll find most grocers sell fresh salsa and this not only tastes better, it typically has a better ingredient list. Feel free to make your own salsa or pesto this way you can control what goes into it. NOTE: This is not a good way to rationalize going hog wild with things like ketchup because it has a bit of tomato in it.

Using these strategies will hopefully get you thinking about how you can add vegetables and fruits to your own meals. What strategies do you use? Please feel free to post a comment and share.

Manufacturing a Healthy Workforce

A healthy workforce can have a direct impact on production, especially in a dynamic manufacturing environment. Between people calling in sick and even those coming to work when their health is questionable, can have negative impacts in the workplace.

Coming to work sick can not only affect your performance, but also can affect others around you if you are contagious. Small businesses in Michigan have realized this and have taken steps to preventing illness by offering wellness programs. To add incentive to this cause they offer lower health insurance premiums to those that partake in these programs.

The same approach taken to continuous improvement in manufacturing are being applied to health and wellness programs. The MEASURE & IMPROVE phases of the DMAIC model of Six Sigma methodology are being applied in this case.

The same tools to produce a better product are being used to produce a healthier workforce

I still think few companies realize how the health of their employees affect their success. The recent realization of this affect is a direct result of rising healthcare costs.

Again these are all steps in the right direction and I hope other businesses follow suit in this endeavor towards helping their employees live healthy lives.

The article that highlights the thoughts above can be found here. An example of 5S (everything restored to it's place) being utilized in a gym environment is below:

Someone better be using that missing lat pulldown bar as we speak

You ate what for lunch?

Warning this is yet another rant...

Yesterday at work the main dish at the grill in our cafe was the following:

Crispy Fried Chicken Breast
Bacon
Ham
Cheese
White Flour Tortilla
Dressing
Served with a side of fries and a fountain drink. And in Utah with fries comes the inevitable fry sauce.

I honestly can't think of a more unhealthy lunch yet people ordered it again and again behind me after I ordered a couple pieces of chicken breast to go with my salad. No vegetables, not an ounce of fiber, some bad fats coupled with fries and a soft drink.

Alright maybe deep fried Oreos are worse, but that's like asking which boy band is better?

Why is it that we(adults) push organizations like the YMCA to clean up their act, force our childrens' schools to ban things like soft drinks and birthday cakes, yet we somehow rationalize that these things are okay for adults because we know moderation. The corporate office and workplace somehow gets a free pass on selling us processed crap. Our vending machines are loaded with it, refreshments at meetings are out of control and even the cafeteria itself is often a lost cause in many workplaces. Well the fact is we obviously don't understand moderation and not only is it affecting us, it's affecting the youth as well and it's shameful. We aren't setting a good example (understatement of the century).

For the first time in history some scientists are predicting our children will have a shorter life expectancy than the generation that came before it. I suggest reading that previous sentence again and letting it sink in. It's time to wake up, hopefully it's not too late.

And since it's friday I should end on a more fun note...