Irene Pastore

Cookin’ Healthy With One Foot Out The Door: Quick Meals For Fast Times

May 12, 2013

Recommended Product

Vegan authors, Polly Pitchford and Delia Quigley call themselves the “bad girls of natural foods.”

There’s nothing bad about this terrific little cookbook that gives time-saving, healthy recipes for hurried, health food fans.

Get recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, salads, sides and desserts. Prep times average between 5 to 10 minutes, and cook times from 6 to 20 minutes.

Packed with easy recipes, this little book is fun to read, has gotten great reviews on Amazon, and won’t take up much space on your cookbook shelf. Buy it at amazon.com for only $9.95 new.

The Lunge Stretch for Tight Hips

May 11, 2013

The Lunge Stretch

This is an excellent basic stretch to help open the hips. If you practice Yoga and have difficulty with hip openers, make the Lunge Stretch part of your regular stretching routine. This stretch targets the iliopsoas muscle.

How To Do the Lunge Stretch

Get onto all fours.
Bring your right leg forward within your ability. You may have to align your right knee directly under your right hip, unless you have more flexibility, and can bring your leg further back.
Place your hands on either side of your right foot.
Hold the Lunge Stretch for 15 to 20 seconds.
Repeat the stretch on the left side.

How To Modify the Lunch Stretch

If you have difficulty reaching the mat, place a Yoga block under each hand.
Place a folded towel under your knee for added cushioning.

400 Pound Woman Gets Skinny

May 10, 2013

**Before at 400 and after at 152 pounds.**

Are you stuck in a rut about losing weight? Do you think it’s impossible to shed fat, especially if you weigh hundreds of pounds over your normal limit?

I’ve got news for you, there are plenty of people in your boat.

Many of them reached a breaking point, and made the decision to turn their lives around.

For some the tipping point is fear, for others it’s a medical scare, and others are literally sick and tired of being fat.

Here’s a news story about 49 year-old wheel-chair bound Theresa Borawski, who weighed over 400 pounds before deciding to change her eating habits, and lost 276 pounds in the process.

Her method was cutting back on calories, and eliminating junk food. Theresa got down to 152 pounds, and no longer needs a wheel chair or cane for mobility. Her blood pressure has stabilized, and her medications have been reduced.

If she can do it, so can you. Read the entire story at Huffington Post.

Muscle Imbalance: Tight Iliopsoas and Weak Gluteals

May 9, 2013

Opposite Muscles Work Together

Muscles work in opposite pairs. Ideally both pairs should be equal in strength and flexibility.

A pair of muscles has opposite functions. The iliopsoas and gluteals are opposing muscles.

The iliacus and psoas are two muscles that comprise the iliopsoas, a hip flexor, and low back stabilizer.

The iliopsoas brings your hips forward, while the gluteals bring your hips backward.

To get an idea how these muscles work together, stand up and swing one leg forward and back without bending your knee.

If your iliopsoas becomes excessively tight, your gluteals become lengthened, and can’t do their job. The imbalance affects the positioning of your pelvis, and the lower portion of your spine.

Pelvic Stabilization Improves Your Posture

When the iliopsoas and gluteals are working properly, they help to stabilize the pelvis and keep it in a neutral position. That means, your spine is balanced and healthy. Poor posture develops when the spine is not in neutral.

Why the Iliopsoas Muscle Becomes Tight

Long hours of sitting at the computer, in a car, or watching television.
Sleeping in the fetal position (legs drawn up toward chest).
Cycling.
Running.
Neglecting to stretch.

What Happens When Muscles Become Imbalanced

Low back pain
Neck pain
Sports injuries
Poor sports performance
Restricted range of motion
Poor Posture such as swayback (flattening of the lower back), hyperlordosis, (excessive arch in lower back), flatback (natural low back curve is flat), and kyphosis (excessive arch in upper spine).

When the iliopsoas overpowers the gluteals, the pelvis is tilted forward increasing the arch in the low back.

Returning Muscle Balance With Pilates

Human posture is considered healthy when the pelvis is in a neutral position, not tipped forward or back. From the side, the spine has three gentle curves (cervical/neck, thoracic/upperback, and lumbar/low back). When viewed from the back, the spinal column appears like a straight line. A healthy spine is pain-free.

Pilates exercises are specific to correcting muscle imbalance, by returning the spine to its normal position.
Pilates exercises are performed while maintaining the spine in neutral position.
Participants who have difficulty holding the spine in neutral, are given modified exercises to help correct muscle imbalance.
Special Pilates props and equipment are used, when participants experience difficulty performing the exercises.

Only 1 in 5 Americans Get Enough Exercise: CDC

May 7, 2013

Picture brighter for aerobic exercise than for muscle-strengthening, report finds.

HealthDay news image

THURSDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) — Most Americans are falling short when it comes to exercise, a new government report shows. Overall, only 20 percent of U.S. adults get the recommended amounts of both of aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The news was less disappointing for aerobic exercise, with 51.6 percent of adults getting the recommended amount, than it was for muscle-strengthening activities, with only 29.3 percent getting the recommended amount.The overall exercise rates also varied widely by state, ranging from 13 percent in Tennessee and West Virginia to 27 percent in Colorado.

The researchers put a positive spin on the results.

“While only about 30 percent of adults meet the muscle-strengthening guidelines, we find it very encouraging that half of U.S. adults are meeting the aerobic guidelines,” said report author Carmen Harris, a CDC epidemiologist.

The report was published in the May 3 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a CDC publication.

One expert also thinks the findings are good news.

“It is great that more people are participating in regular exercise,” said exercise physiologist Samantha Heller. Continue reading “Only 1 in 5 Americans Get Enough Exercise: CDC”

Irene Pastore Fitness.com