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Thanksgiving
Wed 25 – Regular Business Hours : 7am – 1pm & 3:30pm – 7pm
Thurs 26 – Closed
Fri 27 – Closed
Saturday – Regular Business Hours : 9am – 12pm

Christmas
Thurs 23 – Regular Business Hours : 7am – 12pm & 3:30pm – 7pm
Fri 24 – Closed
Sat 25 – Closed
Mon 27 – Regular Business Hours : 7am – 1pm & 3:30pm – 7pm

New Years
Thurs 31 – Morning Business Hours : 7am – 12pm
Fri 1 – Closed
Sat 2 – Regular Business Hours : 9am – 12pm

Have a great holiday with your family and friends.

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-Joyce Albertini
1,000 workouts and counting

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Today, Austin, a 31-year-old mother who lives in Los Angeles, is a vegetarian who eats organic foods. She’s also an avid exerciser, doing aerobic activities like biking, roller skating and surfing along with lifting weights at least five days a week.

“I know there are other benefits to exercise, but I also know that a lasting commitment to regular exercise is the best way to reduce my chance of developing breast cancer,” she says.

Austin is indeed correct. In fact, a study sponsored by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research found that exercising more, eating healthier and keeping weight in check could prevent as many as 38 percent of breast cancer cases in the United States.

Boosting the benefit
But for many women, the big questions are: How much exercise do you need to get and what type offers the best protection against breast cancer? Fortunately, recent research has provided some of those answers, even revealing what age you should ramp up your exercise regimen to maximize the protective benefits.

In one recent study from Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers examined cardiovascular fitness in more than 14,000 women with no history of breast cancer. Overall, women who were moderately fit, meaning that they did moderate-intensity exercise like brisk walking 150 minutes per week or vigorous aerobic activity like jogging for 75 minutes each week, had a one-third lower risk of developing breast cancer.

Women who were highly fit, logging about twice that amount of activity, experienced a 55 percent reduction in risk.

“Regular physical activity may be beneficial through several biological mechanisms,” says Steven N. Blair, lead study author and professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. That includes reduction in hormone levels, improvements in insulin, less fat and better immunity.

The value of getting moving also got a push from a major study last year in the journal Breast Cancer Research, which followed more than 30,000 women for 11 years.

Lean women who did vigorous activity several times a week over their lifetime — such as scrubbing floors, running, competitive tennis, aerobics, bicycling on hills and fast dancing — were 30 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than women who never got their heart pumping. The same effect wasn’t seen among overweight women, a puzzler for researchers, who say, no matter your weight, any activity is better than none.

“A sedentary lifestyle is a risk factor for breast cancer, even among women who aren’t overweight,” says Dr. Michael F. Leitzmann, a professor of epidemiology and preventive medicine at Regensburg University Medical Center in Regensburg, Germany.

That’s why the American Cancer Society recommends doing at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity five or more days a week. Of course, more is better, which is why the group says 45 to 60 minutes a day is preferable.

The group defines moderate activity as the equivalent of a brisk walk, including things like walking, bicycling and mowing the lawn. Vigorous activity, on the other hand, should cause deeper, faster breathing and sweating and might include jogging, playing tennis, jumping rope and even weight training.

Although there aren’t studies to show that strength training can reduce the risk of breast cancer, studies have found that strength training may help breast cancer survivors reduce the risk of side effects from breast cancer treatments, including lymphedema.

Never too late
Perhaps the best news from the latest research is it’s never too late to start exercising to lower your risk. That’s the message from a study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual meeting in May in which researchers asked more than 4,000 women to recall exercise patterns in four stages of their life: 10 to 15 years old, 15 to 30 years old, 30 to 50 years old, and over 50 years old.

Although exercising before the age of 30 didn’t alter the odds of developing breast cancer, women 30 years and older who exercised more than 60 minutes a week significantly cut their risk.

“Although we don’t know exactly why, exercise seems to have a protective effect for women in this age group,” says Lisa K. Sprod, study author and research assistant professor in the department of radiation oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y. Overall reduction in body fat may play a role, she suggests.

The message, of course, is clear: If you want to reduce your risk of developing breast cancer, add exercise to your life, no matter what your age. And don’t get hung up on how much you’re doing. Just get out there and move, as some activity is always better than none.

As for Austin, her mission will continue, especially now that she’s a mother of an almost 3-year-old daughter. “I’m even more motivated to do everything I can to prevent breast cancer because I don’t want my daughter to grow up without me,” she says.

Karen Asp, a freelance journalist who specializes in fitness, health and nutrition, is a contributing editor for Woman’s Day and writes regularly for Self, Prevention, Real Simple, Women’s Health, Shape and Men’s Fitness.

Author: Karen Asp
Courtesy of MSNBC

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Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

hr min

Cook Time:

7 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

6 servings, serving size: 1 salmon fillet

Ingredients

• cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 (6-ounce) salmon fillets, skin and any pin bones removed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

Coat your grill or a grill pan with cooking spray and preheat over medium heat. While the grill is heating, combine the brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Brush each salmon fillet with 1/2 teaspoon of the oil, then rub each fillet with about 1/2 tablespoon of the spice mixture.

Grill the salmon, flesh side down, until charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the salmon and cook another 5 to 6 minutes for medium doneness. For well done fish, cook an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to a platter and serve immediately.

Per Serving:

Calories 280; Total Fat 13 g; (Sat Fat 2 g, Mono Fat 5 g, Poly Fat 5 g) ; Protein 34 g;

Carb 5 g; Fiber 1 g; Cholesterol 95 mg; Sodium 135 mg

Excellent source of: Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Copper, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium

Good source of: Folate, Magnesium

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By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, July 14 (HealthDay News) — If fear of heart disease and diabetes isn’t enough reason to slim down, here’s another: Being overweight or obese can cause rapid deterioration of the cartilage in the knee, leading to osteoarthritis, researchers report.

Osteoarthritis usually progresses slowly, but some patients experience a more rapid progression. This is the first study to connect obesity with fast progression of the disease and cartilage loss.

The report is published in the August issue of Radiology.

The researchers recruited 336 patients from a major osteoarthritis study. All were overweight and at risk of osteoarthritis, but had minimal or no loss of cartilage in their knees, said the researchers, who were led by Dr. Frank W. Roemer, an adjunct associate professor at Boston University and co-director of the quantitative imaging center in the department of radiology at Boston University School of Medicine.

During 30 months of follow-up, 20.2 percent of the patients showed a slow loss of knee cartilage and 5.8 percent had rapid cartilage loss, the study found.

The main risk factors for cartilage loss were pre-existing cartilage damage, being overweight or obese, tears or other injury to the cartilage at the knee joint (meniscus), and severe lesions seen on an MRI. Other factors include inflammation of the membrane lining the joints and abnormal build-up of fluid in the joint, according to the report.

Being overweight was associated with rapid cartilage loss, Roemer’s team found. In fact, for every one-unit increase in body mass index, the chances of rapid cartilage loss increased 11 percent.

The association between obesity and rapid cartilage loss remained even after taking into account age, gender and ethnic background.

“It is a disease without treatment at present other than symptomatic — mostly pain therapy and surgical total joint replacement,” Roemer said.

“We know that weight loss is probably the most important factor to slow disease progression,” Roemer said. “Additional studies will have to show if other measures, such as vitamins or targeted treatment of bone marrow lesions, will help to slow progression,” he said.

“Osteoarthritis is the most common musculoskeletal disorder with major health and socioeconomic impact in our aging society,” added Roemer.

Dr. Sean Scully, a professor of orthopedics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida, agreed that the danger of developing osteoarthritis is another reason to control weight.

“Don’t let yourself get heavy,” Scully said. “This study shows a direct correlation — people who are heavy are the ones that are getting worse,” he said.

Keeping your weight down — through diet and exercise or weight-loss surgery — could prevent the need for knee-replacement surgery, he said.

SOURCES: Frank W. Roemer, M.D., adjunct associate professor, Boston University, co-director, quantitative imaging center, department of radiology, Boston University School of Medicine; Sean Scully, M.D., Ph.D., professor of orthopedics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Fla.; August 2009, Radiology

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In my 20 years as a nutrition counselor, I’ve never had a client who knew the truth about energy bars. I didn’t worry much about that until recently when manufacturers started to expand their market beyond endurance athletes like marathoners to busy moms, baby boomers, and even kids. With virtually everyone becoming a potential customer, the industry is expected to rake in a billion dollars a year by 2008.

Before energy bars drain your wallet-many brands cost close to two bucks a pop-see how much you really know about them. Answer true or false to each of the following five statements. Then check if you knew the correct response; what you find out may surprise you.

1. The combination of ingredients in energy bars gives you more pep.

False. “Energy bars get their energy from calories, not magic ingredients,” says Nancy Clark, RD, a Brookline, Massachusetts, sports nutritionist and author of Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook. In the science world, “energy” means the number of calories in food or exercise, not how you feel. So a high-energy food is a high-calorie food. Since there is no legal definition for “energy” on food labels, any product that provides calories can be called an energy food.

2. Energy bars are more nutritious than a banana.

False. Many energy bars are filled with lots of refined sugar, and some contain unhealthy saturated or trans fats. Choose energy bars made with wholesome ingredients like dried fruits and nuts, says Clark. The real plus to energy bars is their convenience, says Roberta Anding, RD, a Houston-based spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. “You can pack them in advance and they won’t spoil or squish easily.”

3. A snack before your workout may help you lose weight.

True. The key to losing weight is having a calorie deficit by the end of the day. Pre-exercise eating helps you work out better, so you burn more calories and build more muscle. It can also prevent you from becoming so hungry that you overeat. But choosing the correct-size snack is essential. While marathoners need 200 to 300 calories-the amount found in a typical energy bar-those following the Curves workout require about a 100-calorie snack. “You’d just want to eat half a bar,” says Anding.

4. High-carb energy bars are better before exercise than high-protein ones.True. Carbohydrate is your body’s preferred pre-exercise fuel, says Clark. So as you wade through the bars, choose carbohydrate-based ones, especially the more natural bars that include whole grains and dried fruit instead of sugar alone. Exception: If you’re using the bar to replace a meal or as a snack when you’re not working out, higher-protein bars are fine and may even be more satiating. But not the protein-only bars.

5. Some energy bars contain little or no sugar.

False. Even if an energy bar doesn’t have refined sugar, it may contain sugar alcohols like maltitol, sorbitol, and lactitol. These ingredients cause gas, bloating, and cramping in some people.

Colleen Pierre, RD, is a nutrition consultant and fi tness enthusiast in Baltimore. She has also written for Prevention and Child magazines.

Courtesy, diane, the Curves magazine, Fall 2006

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Sometimes, all we need to do is make simple changes in order to get to a healthier weight or form healthy habits.

Take a look at this list and see if any of these suggested behaviors are a challenge for you. Hopefully awareness of the new behavior will bring about change.

At Home

• Avoid eating in front of the TV
• Do not read while eating
• Pre-portion food and put the box or package away
• Keep tempting foods out of the house, and keep healthy foods available and ready
• Focus on activities other than eating
• Brush your teeth after meals if feeling the desire to eat
• Use smaller plates and bowls
• Do not graze. Sit down to a real meal, and stop when you are full.

At the Grocery Store

• Do not go to the grocery store hungry
• Make a shopping list and stick to it
• Make most of your purchases from the perimeter of the store

At a Party

• Do not show up ravenous. Have a snack beforehand to tame your hunger.
• Do not eat standing up at parties or buffets
• Do not stand at the food table at parties
• Offer to bring a healthy food item to a party

Every Day

• Park your car far away from the destination
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Keep a food and exercise diary

My change: I love celery, especially with peanut butter. But, I know that celery will rot in my fridge unless I clean and chop it as soon as I bring it home. If it is not convenient for me to grab for a snack, I just won?t. So, I like to keep raw vegetables ready and available for snacking so that I will make a good choice.

Courtesy of CurvesComplete.com

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No one is perfect. We live busy lives and we don?t always plan each meal to perfection. Because we aren?t perfect, just about everyone can benefit from a little ?nutrition insurance? to cover key nutrients that are missing in their diet.

This multivitamin not only covers your basic nutrition needs, but it also contains antioxidants to protect you from disease.

Additionally, the general multivitamin only gets one pass through your body. This vitamin is uniquely time-released. That means that the nutrients are gradually released over the course of a few hours. This translates into the best nutrition for you.

Do you want shiny hair and strong nails? Taking a multivitamin optimizes nutrition status for your entire body…including hair and nails. Take two tablets per day with food.

Price: $15.00

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You know fish (especially salmon!) is healthy for you, but do you know why? The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish have been shown to prevent blood clots, protect against irregular heart beats, lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation. Heart disease, some cancers, and Type 2 diabetes are among the leading causes of death around the world, and each of these diseases is linked to inflammation.

Experts recommend that you eat at least two 3 ounce servings of fatty fish per week, but most individuals fail to meet this recommendation. Instead, most people consume many more omega-6s, found in processed foods, compared to omega-3s. Therefore, our lack of omega-3 compared to our omega-6 intake puts us at increased risk for inflammation. Remember, inflammation is linked to heart disease, some cancers, Type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer?s and many other common conditions.

It is important that we incorporate omega-3s into our diet. The average individual should aim for 500 mg of omega-3 fatty acids each day. If you have known cardiovascular disease, you may benefit from 1 gram of omega-3s per day.

Price: $15.00

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