Hey Team Tiger!

The Mighty Mice and the Thundercats went head to head at beautiful Clover Park in Santa Monica, with the the Mice taking the APRIL Cup with a tie-breaker in overtime. What a competition, what a day—sweet! Afterward, good eats were had by all with a BBQ from Tiger Fitness. Great burgers Brian!

>>Join TigerFit Boot Camp Here.

Fitness Tip: ALWAYS keep an eye on your pulse – When doing aerobic or cardiovascular training! Keeping your pulse inside your 80% target heart rate zone will burn up to 9 times more calories. Dropping below your target heart rate will not burn nearly as many fat calories, and going above your target heart rate may lead to muscle breakdown.

Exercise of the day: The Ball Hamstring Curl will help develop the backs of your legs in the hamstring region with this perfect exercise ball fitness move.

Eating Healthy—Gets You Sexy &
Saves a Boat Load. Sounds Good!

OK, the news sucks, unemployment is soaring, housing prices are plumetting and you still need to put food on the table. Yeah, you could hit the dollar menu and fulfill your salt/sugar/fat food groups but where will that get you…pants that used to fit—retired to the back of the closet, that horrible feeling you get when your back fat creases as you bend over and last but not least…when you  have to catch your breathe a little when you tie your shoes. The dollar menu is NOT the answer.

Now listen to me closely…eating healthy is not a choice between affordabilty and paying the rent. Eating healthy is truly affordable at ANY income level. The choice is easy…make it to yourself and it will pay-off in a more healthy, more fit and more sexy you, AND you will save a stink-load of money.

• COOK YOUR OWN FOOD, DINING IN IS AWESOME. —Make as many meals as you can from scratch because processed foods are often the most expensive and the least nutritious for you. With all the money that you will save dining-in, you will be able to buy very high-quality food for your meals at home. Cool!
• MAKE A LIST AND PLAN YOUR ATTACK AT THE MARKET—Hey, with a list in hand you will get in and out of the store in record time—time better spent doing ANYTHING else. Also, it will keep you from impulse buying and killing your budget. Good strategy.
• WHEN IT’S IN SEASON—EAT IT!—Produce that’s in-season is usually LESS EXPENSIVE than other times of the year, it’s tastes better that it ever will and will be the most nutritious for you. Just get in the habit of buying small amounts at a time so none of it will go bad and so you will get to get the biggest nutrition impact. Farmer’s markets are hot ticket for in-season fruits and veggies.
• HIT COSTCO FOR THE NON-PERISHABLES.—Stock-up on canned foods, water, diet-drinks, nuts and frozen foods at the warehouse stores. They have the best deals and the highest quality.
• THE MOST NEEDED NUTRIENTS ARE GENERALLY THE CHEAPEST.—Beans are a very inexpensive source of protein and fiber, and VERY versatile. There are many varieties of beans, and you can do many things with them. Popcorn and oatmeal are inexpensive grain options, and nonfat dry milk is a cheap source of dairy and great to have on hand—you just mix it up when you need it.

Santa Monica Stairs Fitness Mania

Brian Woodruff, owner of Tiger Fitness Los Angeles was interviewed for a CBS News report on the growing fitness trend in Santa Monica, CA. The Santa Monica stairs are a fitness mecca to throngs of Tiger Fitness clients and fitness enthusiasts. “Brian says, the Santa Monica Stairs are a true fitness landmark in the Santa Monica area. Our TigerFit Personal Training love it because, with our program, it helps melt-off the weight.”

Exercise isn’t just for the gym, integrate physical activity
into all parts of your life—especially at home.

Listen, we all spend most of our time at home and we see it as a sanctuary from the outside world. We get cozy on the couch and much of our time is spent preparing meals and eating and generally relaxing. The problem is that this sedentary lifestyle that we have at home neutralizes any exercise program that we may be doing at the gym and is a missed opportunity to generally increase our overall metabolism.

With a few easy changes to your lifestyle, adding physical activity at home can turn a couch potato into an athlete. As a side benefit to your healthier consciousness, your children will see that physical activity is not something you “do” at the gym or just on the soccer field, but is a normal, healthy part of life, which sets a good example for them.

You’ll soon find that you can combine exercise with many daily activities and that your time spent at home will supercharge your fitness program and help you burn fat and gain lean toned muscle.

Tiger Fitness Top 10 Home Exercise Tips:

1. Ditch the housekeeper and clean the house yourself— home cleaning is just one huge aerobic exercise class!

2. Retire the riding mower and landscaping team and work in the garden or mow the grass yourself. —Raking leaves leaves, weeding, pruning and digging in the garden burns huge amounts of calories-get to it!

3. If you are a stay at home parent and/or work out of your house go outside for short walks. —Start with 5-10 minutes and work up to 45 minutes of brisk walking.

4. For short trips, walk (choose a hilly route) or bike to the corner store instead of driving. —Great for the love handles, the environment and the soul.

5. Always combine watching TV with another activity like pedaling on your stationary bicycle, folding laundry, performing crunches, etc. (be creative). —Parking it on the couch leads to boredom and bored-eating. Move it!

6. Stand up and take walk while talking on the telephone. —You never know where you will end up!

7. Walk the dog or better yet take the dog for a leisurely jog. —you both will love it!

8. See shopping as a way to increase your steps for the day. Park farther away at the mall and vigorously walk the extra distance. Try to mostly wear your running shoes and sneak in an extra lap or two around the mall or department store.—Easy and effective!

9. Make things less-convenient at home, by placing things you need daily in the garage or place cleaning items in high places. —Extra squatting, bending, walking, carrying and stretching ALL add up to a fitter you!  

10. Keep the exercise equipment in your home gym repaired and convenient to use! —Dedicate a room or garage space for your home gym!

You are on the way to a leaner and more tone you…sweet!

Change your lifestyle—Improve Your health

Many people believe that some folks are going to get cancer and nothing can be done to change their future, but that’s just not the case, new research indicates. And it even looks like people who have genes that predispose them to certain types of cancer might be able to decrease their risk by changing to a healthier lifestyle.

3-steps to dramatically improve your long-term health and fend off disease

Eat a mostly plant-based diet

Maintain a healthy weight

Exercise regularly

Research data is looking more and more clear: about 1/3 of cancers can be prevented with these three changes. Combined with tobacco prevention, which reduces about 30 percent of cancers, about 60% of today’s cancers could be prevented.

Researchers recommendations include:
 

Weight:
Maintain a body mass index (BMI) between 21 and 23 and avoid gaining weight during adulthood. Although a BMI of up to 24.9 is considered normal, the lower end of normal is better for cancer prevention.

Exercise:
Participate in moderate activity — brisk walking or something equivalent — for at least 30 minutes a day. Ideally, though, people are advised to work up to 60 minutes of moderate exercise daily, or 30 minutes of vigorous exercise. Limit sedentary activities, such as TV-watching and surfing the internet.

Diet:
Eat a healthy diet. That means mostly plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Avoid sugary, processed foods and fast foods and limit red meat consumption to no more than 18 ounces a week. Salt consumption should be no more than 2.4 grams daily. Limit alcohol consumption to one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men.

Supplements:
Think food not pills. Cancer-preventing benefits derived from nutrients come from foods, not from supplements. Best to avoid supplements, they are expensive and any health benefits are questionable. Save your money and focus on increasing your nutrients through fruits and vegetables.

These are not all or nothing propositions. Each of these lifestyle changes that you incorporate into your life makes it easier to commit to additional changes. When you’re active and at a healthy weight, eating choices become clear, because healthy foods tend to give you more energy to be physically active. So starting now is the best advice.

These recommendations are good for most people, but everyone with a family history of cancer, of any type, should make sure their doctor is aware of it and should ask whether tests are available to assess their risk.

The Bitter Cocktail of Alcohol and Weight Loss

It’s summer and we’re all slurping downs salty, blended maragaritas, ice cold micro-brews, endless glasses of wine and smooth coffee-drinks—usually after burgers, ribs and steaks. Yah, now we’re talking…sounds good to me!

But dang it, all that over-consumption has it’s price. On top of the over-sized meals that most folks in Los Angeles regularly consume, we pour glass-upon-glassful of high-calorie liquids streaming down our throats without a drunky second thought. And, we wonder the next day…why we don’t have that flat belly we see in all the fitness mags.

Now, drinking alcohol can have good and bad effects on your body depending on how much you consume, but experts are talking about 1-2 glasses of red wine a day—and who really sticks to just that? When you down 3-4, even 5-6 drinks in given day you are padding your caloric intake (not to mention your belly, hips and thighs) with 300-1000+ calories at a given setting. In addition to a few faded fun memories (and they can be great), is an ever-expanding body fat percentage that covers over all of the hard-fought muscle-building and negates any fat burning that you may be doing in your workout program. And that just sucks.

OK, So I’m Bracing Myself, Just How Many Calories are in My Favorite Drinks?

Take a good long look. This table is a guide to estimate the caloric intake from (1) serving of various alcoholic beverages. An example serving volume and the calories in that drink are shown for beer, wine, and distilled spirits. Higher alcohol content (higher percent alcohol or higher proof) and mixed-drinks, such as sweetened soft drinks, tonic water, fruit juices, or heavy cream, dramatically bump-up the amount of calories in the beverage. 

 
So, I should stop drinking? In a word “No”.

Moderate drinking is a fun part of life for many people and abstaining completely is just not realistic. Here are the few simple strategies that can help keep your good time from turning into way too much of a good thing.

1. Alternate your alcoholic drink with a glass of sparkling water or diet drink (boring but effective).

2. Mixed Drinks: Avoid sugary mixers (sweet & sour, fruit juices, soda) use diet soda instead. (this works)

3. Beer: Go for the light beer choices—Sorry, dark thick beers are just killers to those abs.

4. Eat a Meal before drinking: This slows down binge-drinking.

5. Just realize that being the hottie at the party is way more fun than buying bigger pants!

Good luck!

Is This One of Those
“Scream in Your Face” Boot Camps?

-Jillian March, Santa Monica, CA

Dear Jillian;

No, we all get enough of that just driving around LA!

Our approach is to strongly encourage with motivating, positive affirmations, uplifting quotes, and we convince, not confront.

We aim to keep you focused on the task at hand. Abuse, harassment – we don’t go there, even if you want us to. If you want verbal abuse, join the military or get back in your car!

For positive reinforcement, however, come and enjoy the camaraderie of a competitive team atmosphere at TigerFit Boot Camp! Go to Tiger Fitness Boot Camp>

-The Tiger Fitness Team

Obesity and Insulin Level Impact
Your Prostate Cancer Survival

Listen up Men of Los Angeles and Santa Monica!
Men who are overweight and who have high insulin levels when they are diagnosed with prostate cancer may be more likely to die from the disease, research shows. This striking finding, published early online and expected to be in the November 2008 issue of The Lancet Oncology, is yet more reason to continue fighting the battle of the bulge, experts say.

“I don’t want to be sensationalist, but obesity effects and the insulin effects are so big that I think if you had to choose between being thin and having a low insulin level or having access to the best chemotherapy, you would be more likely to survive without chemotherapy,” said study senior author Dr. Michael Pollak, professor of oncology at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

“Tens of thousands of men are taking chemotherapy for prostate cancer — as they should, because it is a good treatment. Doing so is actually helping,” he said. “But potentially, dealing with insulin, obesity may one day be of more benefit.”

The findings also have scientific import, giving researchers a clue that could lead to new prevention and treatment strategies. Good to know Los Angeles!

Experts have long known that androgens, or male hormones, play a critical role in spurring prostate cancer. In fact, these cancers are often treated with approaches that deprive the tumors of testosterone.

Smaller reports have suggested that obese patients with prostate cancer have a worse prognosis than patients of regular weight, though weight hasn’t been related to actually developing a malignancy.

“We found in a large sample that obesity has a very important influence on prostate cancer outcome,” Pollak said. “Then the question becomes, why would obesity make the outcome worse for men?”

Pollak and his colleagues looked at information on more than 2,500 men who had been followed for 24 years as part of the Physicians’ Health Study. Information on body mass index (BMI) was available for all of these men, while information on C-peptide concentration (a marker of insulin levels in the blood) was available for 827 men.

Overweight men (those with a BMI of 25 to 29) had a 47 percent higher risk of dying from prostate cancer, while obese men (BMI of 30 or over) were more than two-and-a-half times more likely to die of the disease, compared with men of healthy weight (BMI under 25). Very important to know your BMI Santa Monica!

Men with the highest C-peptide concentrations also had more than double the risk of dying from their cancer compared with men with the lowest levels, the study found. Finally, men who had a BMI of more than 25 and high C-peptide concentrations had quadruple the risk of dying from their cancer compared with men who had lower BMIs and lower C-peptide levels, the researchers reported.

“This suggests that there may be a whole new story to tell, whereby not just androgens have something to do with cancer behavior, but also insulin,” Pollak said. The insulin hormone may be latching onto insulin receptors located on prostate cancer cells, he speculated. Some pharmaceutical companies are already testing drug candidates that target insulin signaling, Pollak added.

And the findings could have broader implications for other cancers that men get, said study lead author Dr. Jing Ma, of Harvard University’s Channing Laboratory.

The Simple Fixes

“The simple things are still the important things. Don’t drink, don’t smoke, exercise, and eat well,” said Dr. Ganesh Palapattu, assistant professor of urology, pathology and oncology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. “This is yet another piece of evidence suggesting that obesity is not a good thing for many reasons.”

“Obesity is the second leading cause of cancer death in this country next to tobacco,” emphasized Dr. Jay Brooks, chief of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge, La. “Two years ago, I would never have told my patients that obesity is increasing their risk of death from cancer. Today, I do.” Take this to heart Santa Monica, men need to watch what they eat!

Why is it Easier for Guys to Lose Weight
Than it is for Women?

-Marilyn Kind, Brentwood, CA

Dear Marilyn;

Men have more muscle mass than women, especially in the upper body.

Women usually have a greater percentage of body fat. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, giving men a 5 – 10% higher metabolic rate than women.

So men start out at an advantage – they burn more calories, even at rest.

-The Tiger Fitness Team