One Big Health Nut

Steroids are often used by athletes and body builders to enhance their performance and appearance.  Steroids are a man made substance created to treat medical conditions caused by low testosterone levels and diseases that cause a substantial loss of lean muscle mass in the body.  The term anabolic specifically refers to muscle-building.  Most individuals that use steroids take the substance orally or via injection in cycles of either weeks or months.  Many users will combine different types of steroids to accelerate and maximize the results.   

Steroids pose many health hazards to those that choose to use them.  Some of the side effects can vary based on age and sex.  Adolescent aged individuals can irreversibly stunt their growth.  The steroids precipitately mature the skeletal system halting the growth.  Steroids will also advance puberty.  Steroids cause women to grow facial hair, subject them to male pattern baldness, and cause a deepening of the voice.  In men, steroids will cause infertility, baldness, shrinking of the testicles, and development of breasts.  Steroids will also increase the risk of prostate cancer. 

In addition to the gender and age specific health hazards posed by steroid use, there are other, more serious health hazards posed to anyone choosing to use steroids.  Anabolic steroids have been found to cause liver tumors, jaundice, cancer, and fluid retention.  Steroid use will also result in high blood pressure and can lead to high cholesterol.  Steroids increase the number of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the system and reduce the good cholesterol (HDL) that helps balance your cholesterol level.  Steroid abuse will lead to kidney tumors.  And for those individuals concerned with appearance, steroids cause severe acne. 

Many people that use steroids believe the results outweigh the risks.  Perhaps it is because these individuals believe they will not suffer the more serious health maladies caused by steroid use.  The problem with that kind of thinking is that you don’t know until it is too late to prevent it.  The medical dangers of steroids are only a fragment of the hazards that steroid use exposes the user too.  The mental health side effects are also significant; depression, uncontrolled anger, extreme mood swings are also factors that are known to cause dangerous, and sometimes, deadly behaviors.  Before deciding to use steroids to help achieve your goals, think about the long term risks you are exposing yourself too.

Beverages: 

·        Non-alc. Egg Nog (4oz)   172 cal.   10g fat  (6g sat. fats)

·        Champagne (4.5oz)                  95 calories        0g fat

·        Mulled Cider (6oz)                   90 calories        0g fat   

·        Wine (3.5oz)                            79 calories        0g fat

 Main Dishes: 

·        Lasagna         369 calories          19g fat (10g saturated fat)

·        Ham (6oz)     414 calories          28g fat (10g saturated fat)

·        Beef Brisket (6oz)   376 calories     16g fat (6g saturated fat)

·        Turkey: white meat (6oz)   328 calories  14g fat (4g sat. fat)

Side Dishes: 

·        Bread Stuffing (1/2 cup)     178 Calories     9g fat (2g sat.fat)

·        Green Bean Casserole (1/2 cup) 171 Cals.   10g fat (4g sat.fat)

·        Candied Yams (2 x 2.5 piece)  144 calories   3g fat (1g sat. fat)

·        Mashed Potatoes (1/2 cup)   118 calories      4g fat (2g sat. fat)

·        Dinner Roll            111 calories      3g fat (1g saturated fat)

·        Cranberry Sauce (2oz)            86 calories        0g fat

·        Cooked Corn (1/2 cup)       76 caloreis        1g fat (0g sat.fat)

Desserts & Extras: 

·        Apple Pie         411 calories      19g fat (5g saturated fat)

·        Pumpkin Pie     316 calories      14g fat (5g saturated fat)

·        Fruit Cake        139 calories      4g fat  (0g saturated fat)

·        Sugar Cookies  66 calories       3g fat (1 g saturated fat)

·        Candy Cane     60 calories       0g fat

·        Butter (1 tsp)    36 calories       4g fat (3g saturated fat)

·        Gravy (1/4 cup  31 calories       1g fat (1g saturated fat)

New video games released onto the consumer market have raised interest in mental exercises.  Games like Nintendo’s ‘Brain Age’ promise to build your mental alertness and increase your brain’s acuity by completing exercises intended to sustain and increase cognitive function.  The premise is that your brain requires exercise just as your body does.  And they further contend that the brain, as with the body, suffers a decline with age that can be slowed by exercise. 

How accurate are these claims?  Researchers are claiming that there may just be evidence that supports the brain training assertion.  Researchers suggest that exercising the mental muscles may prompt the brain to generate new neurons.  The muscles the experts are suggesting can benefit from exercise are memory, visual/spatial, attention, motor coordination, planning, problem solving, and stress.  The claim is with exercise, proper nutrition, stress management, and brain exercises you can slow the decline of your brain functions.

Desserts are the diet downfall of the holiday season.  Who can resist the cookies, the cakes, and all the other holiday treats?  And if you do manage to avoid the temptation, you’re left to deal with the regret of having missed out on something delectable.  Chances are you are not the only one at the holiday event contending with the same problem.  Many people face this dilemma.  Why not work together to solve this problem? 

The solution lies in the menu choices offered at holiday parties and events.  If you are involved in planning the event, whether it is an office party or a friend’s open house, suggest presenting only one high calorie treat.  Or, better yet, make all the treats low calorie and low fat.  Instead of serving brownies and cake, prepare a low fat apple crisp.  Set out fruit trays with low calorie dips.  Make festively decorated rice crispy treats.  There are numerous available recipes that can meet the low calorie requirement.   

If you are the host of the party, you determine the menu.  So surprise your guests with a platter of oven baked cinnamon apples.  Vegetable trays are also very popular.  Platters arranged with cheese and a variety of whole grain crackers are delicious and healthy.  If you still want to offer one or two delicious desserts, prepare the lower calorie version offered for most recipes.  If your recipe doesn’t provide the option, look it up online.  And if you really have your heart set on making a sinful treat, cut the end product into tiny bite size pieces and stick toothpicks in them.  That way everyone can sample the dessert without having to overindulge.  Your guests will appreciate it.    

There are websites that offer a personalized journal option.  The websites will help you track your eating habits and some will allow you to track your exercise progress.  There are two websites currently available on line that I would strongly recommend.  The first site is MyPyramid.gov.  And the second site is Glamour.com.  The pyramid website is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The USDA is the agency that develops the food pyramid and the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) of foods that your body needs to stay nutritionally balanced.  The second site is administered by the magazine Glamour.  The magazine advocates healthy body images and healthy bodies. 

The USDA website offers a wide variety of resources.  When you first begin using the site, you are prompted to enter specific information regarding your age, weight, and gender.  The site then provides you with your daily nutritional and caloric needs.  You can then track your eating habits.  The site provides you with a customized food guide and tips and resources from the foremost authorities on nutritional health.  The site also provides information on losing weight and the benefits of staying physically active.  It can help you determine the amount of physical activity you will require to reach your fitness goals.   

The Glamour magazine website offers a comprehensive program called “Body by Glamour”.  The website prompts you to enter your fitness goals and personal information when you register for the program.  Once you have completed your registration, Glamour provides you with a personalized program to help you reach your goals.  It offers you the option of adding friends to your personal journal page so that you can encourage each other.  It also provides a fitness program that increases in intensity.  The site will send you encouraging e-mails and tips to help you stay motivated.  And best of all, it offers a chart to track your progress.