Moderately strenuous exercise, about 30 minutes a day, can lead to enormous benefits in terms of your mood, health, weight and the ability to live an independent and fulfilling life. The exercise doesn’t need to be athletic or difficult. Studies have shown that simply walking at a brisk pace for 30 minutes or more on most days can lead to significant health improvements. Add simple strengthening exercises two or three times a week and the benefits are even greater.

The January issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter lists some of the benefits of 30 minutes of exercise a day:

- Lower blood pressure: A reduction of 5 to 10 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) is possible. In some cases, that’s enough to prevent or reduce the need for blood pressure medications.

The difference between the plethora of weight loss propaganda and a true nutrition science based, health enhancing approach such as Team Diets is that the theory is simple but the implementation of a successful program takes considerable change, discipline, organization, and support.

Around age 50, even healthy older adults begin to experience mild declines in cognition, such as occasional memory lapses and reduced ability to pay attention. Convincing evidence shows that regular exercise contributes to healthy aging, but could the types of exercise a person does influence his or her cognitive fitness?

Angevaren and her colleagues at the University of Applied Sciences, in Utrecht, evaluated 11 randomized controlled trials, comprising about 670 adults ages 55 and older, which examined the effects of aerobic exercise on areas of cognition including cognitive processing speed, memory and attention.

Nine studies took place in the United States; one occurred in France and another in Sweden.

It is well known that research has provided evidence that physical activity and nutrition work together for better health. Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-funded scientists have again reported on how the elderly also can engage in physical activity to improve quality of life.

In a recent study involving a group of 213 volunteers aged 70 to 89 years, the better the participants' adherence to a physical activity program, the greater their improvements in physical functioning. The study was led by physiologist Roger Fielding with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University, Boston, Mass. He is director of the center's Nutrition, Exercise Physiology and Sarcopenia Laboratory.

This is a great photo gallery of the type of eating TeamDiets promotes and discourages. Both the 1600 and 3000 calorie days are broken down into 5 meals. Check it out:

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he.0609.calories-pg,1,323287.p...

I have to be honest. I am feeling a little bit neglected. My mission in life is to help people get the most out of their physical vehicle. I want to do more for TeamDiet members. I want to hear from them and get to know them. I am totally approachable and want to assist as many people as I can.

When I am working with clients at a gym I have people constantly asking for advice, recomendations or feedback on nutrition and fitness. It is not that I have a desk set up in the middle of the gym with a sign promoting free fitness consultation. Actually I have only 5-10 minutes before and after working with each client. In person I can convey my openess, willingness and desire to communicate with others with my body language and expression. Here I literally have to spell it out.

The first thing we need to do is define what a plateau really is. Understanding plateaus are important, because if you were losing weight, but now you’re not, you are experiencing one. It will not just fix itself. As with all of life you need to make an adjustment to maintain momentum. If you have plateaued it is because you were in a calorie deficit but you’re no longer in a calorie deficit.
It is inevitable unless you understand how to make the proper adjustments

4 reasons you hit a plateau:

In the ongoing effort to motivate everyone to take action, here we are again.

We are halfway through the year.

The entire first half of 2008 has already passed- there are now only six months to 2009.

How are those New Year's Resolutions looking now?

Are you on track with those New Years Resolutions? Are you on track with your goals?

It's ridiculous how quickly time passes.

Don't waste a minute.

If your goal is weight loss- start today. If you're just a little behind, reacess your plan and put it into overdirve! 50% of this year is gone forever. Will you make changes TODAY or will another 25% pass, then another 50% -- and before you know it -- it's 2009.....