What’s “skinny fat”?
If you are doing prolonged cardio exercise several times a week, or perhaps even more often, chances are you’re not getting the physical results nor the health benefits you think you are. You want to look good and be healthy, right? Although all that jogging, swimming, running, and cycling may make you accomplished at all of these activities, it also can put you into a category known as skinny fat. Read More
Mussels are the best protein on the planet
For those of you who have followed my blog, you know that I love sardines and I still think they’re one of the best foods for men. That said, I think mussels are equal to if not better than sardines as part of your diet because they check all three boxes for positive lifestyle eating: moral, nutritional, and environmental.
Want to lose weight? Don’t run a marathon….
Reluctantly, I recently signed up to run the New York Marathon again this year. I am doing it with a close friend, Chris Klug, who is raising money for his Chris Klug Foundation — a great cause that I am excited to be supporting.
I say reluctantly because I had long ago ticked marathons off my bucket list. I’ve continued doing a whole bunch of other trail races and adventures but had personally sworn off doing any more marathons.
Why?
For me it came down to two things: the type of training, and the associated nutritional requirements to support that training load (and running the actual race) — basically, all the highly-refined carbs and fructose-based sugars you need to ingest to maintain the level of training required over all the months. Read More
11 reasons all men should take magnesium supplements
I had some blood work last year that showed I was deficient in magnesium. I had never thought much about this mineral as I assumed I was getting enough from my diet. It prompted me to not only make sure I was getting enough of it going forward, but to also share what I’ve found out about this mineral with other guys – and why we need it. Read More
Chronic inflammation is the silent killer of men
Spend the weekend mountain biking and you might experience some acute inflammation of the tendons in your legs and wrists. A little rest, ice, and some ibuprofen may take care of it quickly. Systemic chronic inflammation, however, is a different story. That’s the kind of inflammation we are increasingly discovering to be intimately involved in or even at the root of many of our most challenging and serious diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, cancer, depression, heart disease, obesity, and stroke.
How can something so seemingly simple as inflammation be behind these life-altering, even deadly illnesses? After all, inflammation is the body’s natural response to the attack. It defends the body against invaders such as viruses and bacteria, helps get rid of debris, and assists in repairing damaged tissue. All of these are positive characteristics.
Part of the answer lies in the differences between what we commonly think of as inflammation – a swollen ankle caused by a hard landing on a trail run that can be treated with buymellow products. However, that is different from chronic inflammation. The latter is a condition that can run rampant throughout your body. Here’s the story and, more important, what you can do about it – to stay healthy and charging forward in life. Read More
Here’s how to avoid having testosterone therapy
Open any men’s magazine or visit a website that targets men or men’s health and you probably will see them: ads promoting testosterone hormone therapy and articles urging men to consider taking testosterone to improve muscle mass, lose weight, improve their sex drive, and boost their mood. But is testosterone therapy the answer to these and other issues that commonly affect men as they approach and surpass their 50th year?
It may however possible to increase testosterone naturally by following a proper diet that can boost your body’s hormone production. Supplements containing zinc may also help in this regard. On the other hand, marketing moguls and companies that will profit from selling their testosterone products want you to believe it can. After all, use of testosterone therapy promises to combat aging and some of the fears and anxieties that go along with it. Why wouldn’t men want to buy into that? The “fountain of youth” in a gel! Sex like a teenager!
I have a bunch of friends who are on T-therapy and none of them have been diagnosed with actual male hypogonadism (see below for the clinical definition of low-T). All of them except one (who takes it for cosmetic reasons) have been convinced that the symptoms they are experiencing as they age are due to low testosterone. I say the same thing to each of them – you need L-therapy not T-therapy.
What do I mean by this? Read More
11 ways to have a better life starting today
One thing I try to remember daily is that life is about progress, not perfection. It’s hard to make massive changes all at once and this is why most of the fad diets, exercise trends, and weight loss plans fail – because they are not sustainable in the long term.
Taking small steps daily can be life-changing if you are ready to take the first step toward better physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Here are a few to get you going that I personally encourage: Read More
11 ways to sleep better
Here’s an extract from my latest article on The Huffington Post about the importance of sleep for health and high performance.
Sleep is tough. Getting enough of it. Falling into it. And staying that way for a good amount of time — restfully and without waking. A “solid” night’s sleep? Who gets that nowadays?
According to statistics reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 30 percent to 40 percent of men and women get less than seven hours of sleep per night. About one-third of adults unintentionally fell asleep during the day over the past 30 days, and more than 41,000 people are killed or injured due to nodding off or falling asleep behind the wheel each year.
Feel stronger and think clearer by eating less
I started incorporating fasting about a year ago into my weekly health and fitness program. I had done a number of extended fasts over the years but the logic and practicality always escaped me. You fast in order to cleanse and detoxify but then what happens? Invariably most people go back to the same habits until the next New Years resolution or some other new fasting fad comes along.
I wanted to incorporate fasting in a manner that would provide consistent health benefits in a practical manner that was also sustainable; so that is how I started practicing what is called Intermittent Fasting (IF).
IF is nothing revolutionary. It basically involves a day fast once a week – on a consistent basis where you don’t eat anything for a defined period.