That's Fit

Do you have a soda habit? I went through a period when I used to work in an office and I would drink cup after cup of loaded coffee all morning and bottle after bottle of Diet Coke all afternoon -- talk about sugar and caffeine overload! I have since pretty much cut out soda (and am still working on cutting down on so much coffee) but it wasn't an easy transition. For me the habit-breaking point came when I moved into a home office that (thankfully!) didn't come stocked with a Diet Coke vending machine calling my name from across the room.

The other day, while hosting over a dozen of my children's playgroup friends here at my house for some outdoor fun....I created a frozen treat guaranteed to fill their little tummies up in a completely nutritious and fun way. Bapaloneo (a weird word my three and five year old children made up) Pops served the purpose I had intended and energized the group for several hours of insanity. Try them this summer.

Fitz's Bapaloneo Pops:

• Cut bananas in half length-wise, and stick a popsicle stick in the flat end.
• Coat the banana with creamy peanut butter.
• Roll the peanut butter coated banana in a bowl of regular cheerios.
• Place pops on a pan covered with freezer paper and then put them in the freezer for an hour or so.

Motivational pop and rock music is the key to strength training success. Really. A 2006 U.K. study says so.

A York St. John University study found that students could hold a 2.4-pound weight straight out in front of their bodies at shoulder height for up to 10 percent longer when strong lyrics were booming around them. All-music workouts beat out both a partial-music workout and a white noise workout but only when the tunes were powerful enough to pump up exercisers.

Pick a song you'd belt out recklessly in the shower or in your car and use it to power your next workout. Or borrow this Women's Health recommended playlist. Or this one, compliments of Divine Caroline. Or this one, offered by Fitness magazine.

I love flying but one aspect I don't like the effect it has on my ears. I'm really sensitive to pressure changes, you see, and sometimes the pressure in my ears caused by the altitude change is uncomfortable. If you have the same problems, consider these suggestions:

• Chew gum. Yes, it's the most common suggestion, because it works. If you don't like gum, suck on a candy, sip some water or eat something.
  
• Swallow and yawn, often.
  
• Close your mouth, plug your nose and gently blow through your nose. Gently is the key here -- blow too hard and you can bust an ear drum. Also, don't do this one if you have a head cold.
  
• If you do have a head cold, take a decongestant.
  
• Place a warm, damp towel over your ears. You know, the kind the flight attendants give out to first class. Don't be afraid to ask for one.
  
• Got a baby travelling with you? Try to have them suck on a pacifier during take off and landing.
  

Have any tips of your own? Please share.

Do you ever wonder why your body makes all those creaky noises? You know, the snap, crackle and pop you sometimes hear eminating from your knees, shoulders, wrists, or wherever else. What causes that? Interested to find out, I started my search. And thanks to the rapid retrival of a Google search, I had my answer in about 3 seconds.

On Men's Health's website, I came across a recently published article explaining why our bodies make these sounds and what health implications, if any, they may signal.

Here's what the article had to say.

SNAP

This sound is the result of friction between two structures (such as tendons) gliding past each other. If the snapping body part (usually the hip, ankle, or shoulder blade) doesn't hurt, don't worry about it. But if the area also feels stiff or tight, the tendons are constricted and could benefit from regular stretching.

CRACKLE

Most cracking sounds are the result of a vacuum being created between two joint surfaces and then releasing (like the noise a wet glass makes when you lift it off a table). Contrary to popular lore, cracking your joints has not been proved to cause damage. In fact, it actually relaxes the muscles surrounding the joint, improving joint movement and reducing pain. Just don't do it too often, or you'll overstretch the joints, making them unstable and injury prone.

POP

In most cases, popping occurs when a joint dislocates and then pops back into place. The danger is that one day it may not go back where it belongs, and the very movement may also irritate tissue around the joint (an especially common problem in the shoulder socket). Rule out exercises that may be causing damage, such as behind-the-neck pulldowns and shoulder presses. Strengthen the rotator cuffs with exercises such as external rotations, but also see a physical therapist for treatment.

Four things I knew about the effects of soda on your health:

1 - It contains extremely high amounts of sugar, in the form of sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, and just about every other form known to man.

2 - It is bad for your teeth and gums, due chiefly to the aforementioned high sugar content.

3 - It can be high in caffeine; something that can be looked at as being either a good or bad thing. But, considering the fact that so much soda is consumed by kids, I'd venture to say that it's definitely a bad thing.

4 - It can contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.

One thing that I just learned about the effects of soda on your health:

1 - It can raise your risk of heart disease.

Canadian researchers analyzed the diets of more than 600 healthy people and discovered that those who regularly ate the most sugar-laden foods -- such as soda -- had the lowest level of HDL (good) cholesterol. Given the fact that HDL helps remove arterial plaque left by LDL (bad) cholesterol, and also because low HDL is related to related to high triglycerides, this sugar-based reduction of this cholesterol is far from sweet.

I know, I'm springing this quiz on you with no prior warning. You had no time to prepare or study and for that, I apologize. But that's the whole point of this little test, to determine just how off-the-cuff savvy you are about a few health matters. Are you ready? Here goes.

True of False: The term "fat free" means a food contains no fat.

True or False: Feed a cold, starve a fever.

True of False: White sugar and brown sugar have the same nutritional value.

For the correct answers, click below.

For many of us, the reason we're overweight or obese isn't down to what we're eating -- it's down to what we're drinking. Soda, alcohol, juice, smoothies, lattes -- these are all major sources of calories, yet we don't think of them that way because we don't sit down with a knife and fork to eat them. CNN has done a report on this as part of their America's Killer Diet feature.

Keep in mind that drinks have a lot of calories. A large soda with your burger and fries has about 400 calories -- that's more than the fries! A syrupy sweet coffee drink from Starbucks can have upwards of 250 calories. And beer? 160 calories a bottle. For more calorie counts, check out this post on Fitbuff.

Here's a challenge: Quit the juices, the soda and the booze for a week and see if you lose any weight as a result. Drink water and tea instead and eat as you normally would. I bet you'll notice a difference -- if not in your weight, in your energy at least.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Greetings Fitz. So far I've lost 25 lbs and have a few more to go to get rid of that annoying belly fat. I'm training for a duathlon. I bike one to two hours a day, run for 30 minutes or so every other day, and workout every other day (different day than running). I'm 155 pounds, 68" and eat about 2,000 calories a day (I keep track in a spreadsheet). So let's say I burn 900 calories/hr biking, 300 calories/half hour running, and some more doing other workout stuff. Is it okay that I only take in 2,000 calories a day? Should I take in more, less, etc? I eat 5-6 small meals a day and am feeling great, but I just want to maximize my effectiveness for fat loss. Thanks, Ryan

A. Wow Ryan! Sounds like you've turned your life all the way around. Going from 180 to 155 is not an easy task, and your exercise routine is really athletic. I'm inspired! The reason your 'belly fat' is taking longer to go away, is because you're nearing your goal weight. It's easy to lose five pounds quickly when you have 35 to lose. When you are nearing true leanness the pounds take a little longer to lose.

2,000 calories a day is not starving in anyone's book. In fact...it's quite enough calories to fill up almost anyone. I'm really not concerned that your body may be in 'starvation mode', especially since you didn't even mention feeling hungry. You are burning a ton of calories it's true, but you shouldn't need to add calories to lose weight. Accept that this process will take time. You're striving to look like an athlete and that is a lofty goal. Not a silly goal.......just a really high one.

Have patience, keep doing what you're doing, and add some intense ab training to your routine. I recommend push-ups, roman-chair leg lifts, and crunches on a stability ball or BOSU. Do this at least every other day. Keep me posted Ryan. Send before and after pictures when you get to your point B. We're all dying to see your new abs! Fitz

Q. Hi Fitz. The world is bashing Britney Spears' body after her performance at the Video Music Awards and now I feel like garbage about mine. I'm no where near as trim as she is. Does she really look that bad? If so......I'm screwed! Is there hope for the non-perfect people? Angelina

In addition to the many many many reasons not to drink soda, here's another: It rots your teeth. Does this really come as a surprise to anyone? I mean, with all that sugar and calcium-sucking acidic carbonation, how could it not? I think the real question is: Why is the soda industry doing better than ever, now that we know all we do about how bad it is for us? Or to paraphrase: Why are we still drinking it in huge quantities?

I consider myself lucky because growing up, I wasn't allowed soda, and these days I still don't have a taste for it. My parents weren't health nuts either -- they were just old fashioned and believed that homemade was better than mass-produced. So to me it really is baffling that people can't give up soda. What is it? The taste? The caffeine? The carbonation? Are we slaves to the advertising? I'll take healthy teeth, bones and body over a coke any days.

I used to have a friend that cracked her knuckles all the time, and everybody would always tell her that she was basically giving herself arthritis. I never knew if that was right or not, but it sounds like it probably wasn't. According to this article the act of cracking your knuckles is simply releasing pressure and carbon dioxide (in the form of a gas bubble) from the fluid in between the joints. The gas bubble eventually re-dissolves into the joint fluid, and the person cracks their knuckles all over again. No harm done.

Although it may not cause arthritis, I am skeptical that it's really completely harmless. Popping air bubbles around inside joints is not a natural process, so it seems likely that after an entire lifetime of cracking knuckles there would be some kind of side effect?

Someone tried to tell me the other day that the tea I was drinking had more caffeine than coffee. I dismissed this statement because although I know regular tea has quite a bit of caffeine, it doesn't cause nearly as much of those nervous jitters that too much java leads to. But I decided to look in to it, and this is what I found -- Black tea has about half the caffeine of brewed coffee, and green tea has even less than that. Also: some soft drinks that you wouldn't think have caffeine do, including Mountain Dew, Cream Soda, Mellow Yellow and Sunkist Orange. So if you're watching your caffeine, cutting out the coffee might not be enough.

Another thing the article points out? A Grande-sized coffee at Starbucks has twice the caffeine of a regular-sized portion of coffee, so don't fool yourself into thinking that one cup actually counts as one.

Every year since 1950 the National Coffee Association (wow, they really do have an association for everything) has conducted a survey to see just how many people are drinking coffee, and to determine the direction of trends. This year, from data collected in January 2007, is the first year that daily coffee drinkers outnumber daily soda drinkers since 1990. And, interestingly enough, although the NCA attributes the rise to the ever-growing number of coffee options available to consumers, it was actually specific to regular coffee only -- gourmet coffee drinkers declined slightly.

With soda consumption causing so many health problems, and even becoming popular even as a breakfast drink, I'm sure the coffee industry is relieved to get this news. But (not to burst anybody's bubble) with coffee at 57% and soft drinks at 51%, they're practically the same!

Think breakfast beverages, and coffee or orange juice probably comes to mind -- but what about soda? According to a consumer research firm based out of New York City, soda consumption for breakfast has almost doubled over the last 15 years. Given, they only took into account sodas taken with a meal (i.e. Starbucks didn't factor in) -- but people are ordering pop with their eggs and pancakes 15.1 percent of the time today, vs. 7.9 percent back in 1990.

Although most sodas contain some level of caffeine, the average is only about half what's in a similar-sized cup of coffee. So if it's not for an extra energy boost, what's the draw? Die-hard morning soda drinkers seem to get a kick out of the cold, tingly, refreshing factor of drinking down a Coke, vs. the warming action of coffee, first thing in the morning.

To each his own, just beware the calorie attack.

Did you know there are 450 different types of soda sold in the United States today? If you're like many Americans, chances are you've had one already today. In fact, the average American drinks 18 ounces -- 2 full glasses -- of soda a day.

Two glasses, that's not so bad, right? Wrong. Recently, a That's Fit blogger wrote about what happens when you drink a coke, and another wrote about how quickly liquid calories add up. In fact, according to this article at AOL's 30-day Jumpstart, two glasses a day could help you pack on a whopping 24 pounds a year.

Not only do they pack on calories, sugary liquids in general add on pounds in a hurry. Because they pass through the stomach more quickly, they don't seem to register fullness like food does. The sweet in soda is high fructose corn syrup. Studies have found that, unlike other carbs, corn syrup doesn't trigger the hormones that tell us we're full. You could drink a day's worth of calories in soda and still feel hungry. And what is all the high fructose corn syrup doing to your internal organs? Your pancreas has to dump out increasingly larger loads of insulin to help the body process all that sugar. In the long run, this can put you at risk for Type II diabetes. As if that wasn't reason enough, soda also erodes the enamel on your teeth and may contribute to bone loss.