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Your Food, Your Migraines

Jim — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:44:15 +0000

Understanding the link between what you put in your mouth and what you feel in your head.

Must Have Coffee!

If you’ve ever experienced a migraine headache, you have one more life goal than those who haven’t. That goal? To never have a migraine again. However, to meet that goal, you have to be well aware of the triggers that set you on the painful path to a migraine.

Since some of the most common triggers are those things you put in your mouth, you may want to keep reading to find out what foods and drinks you should avoid to keep migraines from getting inside your head.

Regular Stuff

In your day-to-day routine, you probably come across a lot of potential migraine triggers. From peanut butter and sour cream to raspberries and pizza, nearly every food can be a trigger. Some, however, are more common than others. In most cases, a food-induced migraine begins to rear its ugly head within 20 or 30 minutes of consuming the food or drink.

To avoid migraines, consider avoiding the following foods and drinks that are known to cause migraine headaches:

coffee, tea, cola, chocolate, and other foods and drinks that contain caffeine
extremely cold foods, such as ice cream, particularly when you’re hot due to weather or exercise
alcoholic beverages, such as red wine, champagne, whiskey, and beer
cheeses that have been aged to perfection and other foods containing tyramine (substance formed when foods age)
foods that contain nitrates and various other additives, preservatives, or artificial sweeteners

Special Instances

In addition to specific food and drink, other diet-related issues can result in the mind-boggling pain of a migraine headache. Your body requires a healthy balance of vitamins and minerals to function properly, and your head comfort requires the same. Any time this balance is thrown off, you put yourself at risk for a headache.

One of the easiest headache-inducing dietary mistakes you can make is missing a meal. Life is busy, you’re always on the go, and sitting down to eat isn’t always possible. But when you opt out of mealtime, you’re upping your risk of a migraine substantially. Another simple way to mess up your diet and your head is through dehydration. Unless you are regularly drinking from a tall glass of water, you’re probably a little bit dehydrated. Decide to drink even less one day and your head could pay the price. A final cause of food-related migraines is fasting. Less common than the others, fasting from all sorts of food causes an immediate lack of everything your body needs to keep going strong.

A Hot Headache Problem

While some people suffer migraines after chomping into a spoonful of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, others have the opposite problem. They suffer migraine headaches when the temperature outside starts to climb. And there is actually research that backs their claims of high-temperature headaches.

According to one study, the risk of suffering a headache climbs seven and one-half percent for every increase of nine degrees Fahrenheit. What’s this mean for you? Either live somewhere with a cool climate, stay inside during the hot days, or be prepared to suffer heat-induced headaches.

Causes You Didn’t Consider

The list of migraine triggers can go on forever. But if you’re suffering from migraines and still aren’t sure why, you may want to consider these triggers.

Your Exercise. It may seem odd, but pushing yourself too hard in the gym can lead to stress-related headaches.

Your Hair. It may look great, but if you keep your hair pulled back tight or in braids all the time or wear an improperly fitting hat, the stress could result in a headache.

Your Perfume. More than likely, you know someone who claims to get headaches around strong scents. If you suffer migraines and are around strong scents regularly, it may be time to give up your favorite scents.

Your Habit. Smoking has long been known to bring on headaches of all shapes and sizes. Put out your risk for cigarette-induced migraines by kicking the habit.

Your In-Laws. Actually, anyone or anything that raises your stress level puts you at increased risk for a migraine.

Good Turn Out For Nutrition Seminar

Jim — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 16:32:42 +0000

Yummo

Just wanted to thank all the athletes who came to the nutrition seminar yesterday on a sunny Saturday. We even had two folks who had heard of the gym and dropped in to hear the class. Thanks again! Now go clean out your kitchen!

Killeen’s Fitness Boot Camp Welcomes New Athletes!

Jim — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 03:37:35 +0000

I would like to welcome two new athletes to our fitness family:

Tatiana Behrmann

Sarah Prosser

Another Great Healthy Recipe! Thai Beef Salad

Jim — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:27:43 +0000

Thai Beef Salad

What you’ll need:

4 oz of steak per serving (Sirloin works well)

1 bag of salad greens

1 cucumber, scored and chopped

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1 large tomato, seeded and thinly sliced

1 bunch cilantro, stemmed and chopped

1 bunch green onion, chopped

1/2 purple onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

several limes, juiced

zest of 1 lime

1/3 cup olive oil

1tsp soy sauce (or fish sauce)

sweet chili paste (trader joe’s or supermarket)

What you do:

In the morning, in a big baggie, marinate the steak in the olive oil and 3 crushed garlic cloves. Oh, what the heck, squeeze a lime in there, grate a tsp of lime zest, add a tsp of sweet chili paste and throw it in too. Let it sit in the fridge all day. When you are ready to start dinner, throw the bag of meat in the freezer for about 10 minutes. This firms up the meat and makes it easier to slice really thin.

While you are waiting on the meat, slice up your onions, chop the cilantro, slice the tomato. If you have one of those really cool but utterly useless cucumber peely things (to make stripes on the cucumber skin) you can use that. Otherwise just scrape the skin with a fork or just leave it alone and chop the cucumber.

Take the meat out of the freezer and with an extremely sharp knife, slice it very thin. Heat a pan with a little oil and stir-fry the beef. Remove the beef from the heat when cooked and let it cool. Place all salad ingredients and meat in a large bowl.

Mix 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup lime juice, 1T. soy sauce (or fish sauce), 1 crushed garlic clove and 1tsp sweet chili paste for the dressing. Poor over the salad and toss to coat. If you want more heat you can use some red pepper flakes.

Big Signs That The Nation Is Fat!

Jim — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:56:56 +0000

This is the main point: You have all the answers! Obesity isn’t about some rampant gene (except in rare cases). It’s almost entirely about:

behavior
environment
EDUCATION

Even the BMI mentioned in this video is a load of B.S. Isn’t it amazing how the answer to obesity is right under the administration’s nose? And you’ve got it!

Because of safety concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration has instructed the airlines to add ten (10) pounds to approved passenger weights.

When administering vaccines and drawing blood, doctors now need longer needles to penetrate thicker layers of fat on American bodies.

Almost 25% of women in their 50′s are too large to have their body-fat measured with a traditional skinfold caliper.

Liposuction is the most commonly performed cosmetic sugical procedure in the U.S. - increasing 118% between 1997 and 2001

Over the last decade, diabetes rates rose 60% in the U.S. (over half of diabetes cases are due to overweight, poor diet and physical inactivity.)

Today’s size 10 was sold as a women’s size 14 in the 1940′s.

The Gap, Limited Too and Target are selling plus-sized clothes for youth

Plus-sized boutique Lane Bryant is expected to increase its number of stores from 650 to 1,000 over the next five years. Catherine’s Plus Sizes is projected to increase from 470 to 700 stores. The plus-size clothing market generates $23 billion in sales each year, accounting for a quarter of women’s clothing sales.

Nike changed the size scale for it’s women’s fitness apparel. A small sports bra use to fit a woman with a 33-inch to 35-inch bust. Now it fits a 35- to 37-inch bust.

One of the reasons the Boston Red Sox decided to rebuild the legendary Fenway Park was that the seats were too narrow for today’s baseball fans. The seats in the new ballpark are 4 inches wider.

Don’t wait to be a statistic! Join the gym and make a difference in your life! Call Jim at 254-247-4999

Welcome New Boot Camp Athlete!

Jim — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:31:44 +0000

I would like to welcome Becky Honer to our Boot Camp family!!!

Welcome New Athletes!

Jim — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:36:31 +0000

Hey Everybody! I want to welcome two new Athletes to our Boot Camp family. They are:

Lindsey Lee

Neenah Saucedo

When you see them in the gym tomorrow, help them warm up!

Think You Have It Tough?

Jim — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:00:08 +0000

An Ex-Marine, Coming Back From Severe Injuries, Follows an Intense Regime He Calls a ‘Livelihood’

By JAMES WAGNER, Wall Street Journal. Please visit WSJ for full accounting of the article.

In April 2003, corporal Hector Delgado lay in an induced coma on a Navy ship in the Persian Gulf. His pelvis had been crushed into six pieces and his legs and nerves were mangled after a fuel tank fell on him while he was with the Marines in Iraq.

Being in a wheelchair doesn’t stop U.S. Marine and Iraqi veteran Hector Delgado from keeping fit. He does CrossFit, a highly intense exercise program that combines Olympic lifts, body weight exercises, kettle ball exercises, and much more.

The accident kept him in a hospital for a year. His right foot was paralyzed and his left foot was partially damaged. Mr. Delgado, who often has to use a wheelchair, fell into what he calls a three-year “funk.” His weight ballooned to 230 pounds, his cholesterol shot up, and he was smoking and going to bars every night.

“When I got out of the hospital, I could care less,” says Mr. Delgado, 30. The accident left him three inches shorter than what he was before deployment.

But in 2008, a friend mentioned a vigorous cross-training routine, CrossFit, often used by military special forces. Mr. Delgado was enticed by the workout’s intensity and variety, and liked the camaraderie of the exercisers.

He now works out five times a week and keeps a strict eating regime. His 5-foot-6 frame is down to 149 pounds, and he now has the strength to walk short distances unassisted.

At this point, [working out] is more of a livelihood than anything,” says Mr. Delgado, who lives in North Patchogue, N.Y.

Mr. Delgado is an outreach worker at the Queens Vet Center in New York, where he educates other veteran organizations and service members about military benefits and support programs. He is also earning his Bachelor’s degree in education and psychology at St. Joseph’s College.

Want to read the rest of the article? Go to the WSJ.

Write to James Wagner at james.wagner@wsj.com

Congratulations Lorene! You Are The Mayor!

Jim — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:24:30 +0000

Mayor Lorene Spurlock Ruiz

Congratulations to Lorene Spurlock Ruiz for winning our Foursquare Mayor contest last month. She had the most check-ins of the entire family and wins the Crown!

She receives the Official Mayor’s Certificate Of Office and a gift certificate for a Manicure/Pedicure from T’s Nails.

Not sure what I am talking about? Follow these steps and be good to go.

Step 1: Go to Foursquare and join. Download and install the application on your smart phone.

Step 2: Friend me on Facebook.

Step 3: Check in on Foursquare each and every time you come to the gym and TRAIN. Go to “places”, look for Absolute Self Defense and Fitness. Check in then. Not when you drive by or late at night.

That’s all there is to it…

So, who will be next? You?

Want To Know Why Your Back Hurts?

Jim — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:59:23 +0000

It’s SNOWING!!! Since I have the morning off, I was going through all the blogs that I follow on Fitness, Self Defense and such and found a great article on back pain and spinal alignment. Something I harp on during every workout.

So, here is the first paragraph, but you’ll have to read the full article here. Posture – Why Your Back Hurts.

From Craig Weller at Elevating Fitness.com

We’re all born with near-perfect postural alignment. Watch a toddler walk, stand, reach overhead and squat and you’ll see tremendous mobility and safe strong joints.

It’s pretty much downhill from there.

North American culture has us spending an inordinate amount of time in the sitting position. A great deal of time and effort goes into preventing us from expending, well, time and effort when it comes to moving around in our daily lives. Items on shelves are always within arms reach, if we have to move very far we hop on an escalator, an elevator or get in our cars; and a job that involves spending much time on one’s feet or lifting something heavier than twenty pounds is considered “strenuous.”