(Runner’s World) Many people think snacks mean junk—and they probably do if they come from a cookie jar or candy bowl. But for runners, snacking is a valid nutrition strategy. It helps us fuel up for workouts, get a variety of nutrients, and spread calories evenly through the day. Snacks also sustain blood-sugar levels (which reduces cravings) and keep your metabolism high, warding off weight gain. “Without a snack to take the edge off, people eat faster, eat more, and choose higher-calorie foods because they’re overly hungry,” says Suzanne Farrell, R. D., a runner and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

The key is to keep portions small—around 200 to 300 calories—and choose healthy, nutrient-dense foods, says Kelli Montgomery, a coach and nutrition consultant in Connecticut. By going for fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats, runners can get nutrients they may have missed at meals. But it’s important to know what to choose—and when, since some foods offer runners the most benefit at particular times. Here’s how to snack smart to get the fuel your body needs.

Prerun Snack Attack

If you’re like many runners, your workout often takes place hours after your last meal. Morning runners haven’t eaten since last night’s dinner, and late-afternoon runs take place long after lunch. To curb prerun hunger, 30 to 60 minutes before running eat high-carb, Continuedlow-fiber foods that are easy to digest and provide fast energy. You can eat some protein and fat to steady your blood sugar during a long run, but include them sparingly, says Montgomery: Fats and protein break down slowly and, like fiber, can lead to an upset stomach midrun.

Pick This Have a piece of fruit and pair it with cottage cheese. Other options: fig cookies; half a bagel with nut butter and jam; an energy bar; sports drink.

Postrun Snack Attack

Even if you eat a meal before running, you may be hungry afterward—especially if you ran long and hard and your muscles need fuel. Choose a more substantial snack combining a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein. The mix speeds muscle recovery, especially if eaten right away since foods consumed within 30 minutes of your workout provide the maximum recovery benefit. Not hungry? “It’s okay to skip a snack after shorter, easier runs,” says Montgomery. If a tough workout leaves you feeling queasy, try chocolate milk—it provides that 4:1 ratio and helps you rehydrate but won’t strain your stomach.

Pick This Save half of your turkey sandwich at lunch for later as a snack with juice. Try a fruit-and-yogurt smoothie.

Fiber is an important part of a healthy diet. Most Americans don’t eat enough fiber and this can have real health consequences. One common consequence of a low-fiber diet is constipation or the presence of hard stools that are difficult to eliminate. One effective way to treat this problem is by increasing the amount of bulky, insoluble fiber in the diet.

Types of Fiber

There are two main kinds of fiber in food that people eat: soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber is a kind of fiber found in many fruits and vegetables that helps lower cholesterol and slow the absorption of sugar and other nutrients from the bowel. Insoluble fiber is a rougher kind of fiber that passes through the gut largely unchanged and therefore provides “bulk” to stools. Insoluble fiber is essential for good bowel health and helps prevent common bowel disturbances like constipation and hard stools that are difficult to pass.

Sources of Insoluble Fiber

Insoluble fiber comes from many different plant sources. Many foods are rich in both soluble and insoluble fibers, including oat bran, beans, peas, citrus fruit pulp and strawberries. Foods which are high in insoluble fiber include wheat bran, wheat cereals, cabbage, beets, carrots, sprouts, cauliflower and most nuts and seeds. 

The skins of fruits that are most like apple skins are likely to be high in insoluble fiber, too. These foods have a high level of non-digestible fiber (insoluble fiber) that passes through the gut without being changed much by the enzymes and microorganisms in the gut. Because of this, stools will be made up of more of this material instead of fermented carbohydrate and processed protein, which leads to hard, compact, and difficult to pass stools.

Making Fiber Work for You

Cooking foods–even those high in insoluble fiber–will reduce their fiber content and make the remaining fiber less effective. When food is cooked, some of the chemical bonds within the molecules of the food are broken and this weakens the structure of the food. This is why food becomes softer when we cook it–even if no water is added to the food during cooking. So, if you have an option of eating the apple raw or having fried apples for breakfast, eat the raw apple if you want the benefits of the fiber. 

Drink plenty of water during the day. Adding additional fiber to your diet will help stabilize bowel function and soften and bulk the stools, but if you don’t drink enough water during the day, the gut will absorb what it can from the food you eat, also leading to hard, dense stools that are hard to pass.

Nutritionally speaking, grapefruits are high in vitamins C and A. The pink or red varieties contain more phytonutrients than the white. Grapefruit contains fiber and it is lower on the glycemic index, which means it doesn’t cause a big spike in blood sugar. Perfect for when you’re at your desk (like right now), but won’t result in a sugar-crash. Just like tomatoes, the red and pink varieties deliver an antioxidant called lycopene, which may help to protect against certain forms of cancer. Some studies have even shown that grapefruit can help keep cholesterol levels balanced. Be aware, though, that grapefruit may interact with certain medications, so if you eat or drink it regularly be sure to ask a physician if it could affect any medications you are taking.

Here are some great ways to use the might grapefruit;

1. Plain
2. Sprinkling of toasted almonds
3. With cottage cheese or yogurt (try it with vanilla Greek yogurt)
4. On a green or spinach salad
5. Juice in a juicer or a blender
6. Segment and dip in natural roasted almond butter or any roasted nut butter
7. Add to smoothies
8. Dip in melted dark chocolate
9. Add to fruit salads
10. Blend with olive oil, herbs and spices for a delicious salad dressing
11. Add chopped grapefruit to your favorite pre-made Salsa-Fresca, or chop and add to mango, green onion, jalapenos and tomatoes for a delicious topping for fish
12. Combine with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper as a marinade for meat or chicken breasts

This is really for the men, to get a better understanding of what decreases the libido in women. This explains it well and you could accompany your partner to the doctor to make adjustments in the prescriptions that are given. An informed consumer is a smart consumer. Plus, it’s cool to impress the GYN with your knowledge;)

The not-so-sexy truth:
In the past decade, researchers have found that hormonal contraceptives–including the Pill, the Patch, and the vaginal ring–can dampen how often women want, think about, and even respond to sexual stimulation. And an online Women’s Health poll backs that up: We found that 36 percent of you firmly believe the Pill muffles your mojo.

Unfortunately, no official stats are averilable on how prevalent this problem really is. When asked to estimate how many of their patients on the Pill have suffered a blow to their sex lives, doctors’ answers range from 10 percent to 40 percent–though some sexual-health specialists argue that 40 percent is a lot closer to reality.

The phenomenon may be underestimated because many docs simply aren’t clued in to the, well, ins and outs of their patients’ sex lives. “Sex drive is not a subject most doctors are comfortable discussing, because it’s not something they learn about in detail in medical school,” says Irwin Goldstein, M.D., director of sexual medicine at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego. And while some European countries, including Germany, list decreased desire as a side effect on birth-control packages, there are no printed warnings about it in the United States.

Why so horny?
So, what drives your love machine? A key component is testosterone. As a woman, you don’t have enough juice to grow a goatee or develop a burning desire for an Xbox 360; but the amount you do have plays a role in your randiness, especially just before ovulation (when you’re most likely to get pregnant). Every month at midcycle, women’s brains signal their ovaries, which create 50 percent of the body’s testosterone, to produce a surge of the lust-stimulating stuff.

Testosterone also initiates blood flow that causes your girly parts to become plump and sensitive. This leads to lubrication and, with any luck, one hell of an orgasm (according to Hormones and Behavior, Canadian researchers report that women with higher levels of testosterone climax more often than those with lower hormone levels.)

What’s the holdup?
The problem is that some contraceptives alter the body’s testosterone production–and not in a good way. This occurs for two reasons. First, the hormones in the Pill put the ovaries to sleep, halting ovulation. Conked-out ovaries can’t produce testosterone.

Then your birth control renders the other 50 percent of your testosterone useless, thanks to the super-potent synthetic estrogen it contains. After you take each pill, your liver–convinced that you’ve consumed a potentially toxic amount of estrogen–starts pumping out a protein called sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). It works by glomming onto sex hormones (including estrogen, but also testosterone) like a mosquito to fly paper. As more of your testosterone glues itself to SHBG, less of it is available for your body to use. This “free” testosterone–whatever’s produced that SHBG doesn’t swallow up–partially determines your sex drive. In fact, a 2004 Boston University study found that subjects who reported the greatest sexual desire had higher levels of free testosterone. (Maybe that’s A-Rod’s problem.)

Get your mojo back:

I run across several articles and it’s quite interesting to see how open female focused magazines get about fitness, dieting and a man’s favorite word, “sex.” Hey, I’m not complaining or denying it, but it doesn’t help if these articles go unread. So to do my civil duty to the men out there (men, raise your hands and thank me later, lol), here is what I have found. There is a level of self-confidence that a man should have with his partner and I personally believe it stems from a strong and healthy lifestyle. The healthier the couple is, the likely one partner is to read this article and take a few tidbits home to try out. Get healthy men, make sure you could see your “member” and have fun with your ladies. COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE: 75 Crazy-Hot Sex Moves

It’s every man’s worst nightmare: man boobs. You saw it on the Seinfeld episode, “The Mansierre,” in which Kramer developed a bra for guys who were suffering from a little too much breast development. Let’s face it: No man wants to wear a bra. Getting man boobs will make you feel unattractive and will give you a low self-esteem. Every guy knows the best way to attract a woman is by being confident, so how can you win this man boob battle?  It comes down to gaining control of your diet and committing to the proper exercise program. And remember: If you don’t stick to it, the next time you hit the beach, you may find yourself resembling your girlfriend more than the guy with rock-hard pecks.

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WHY YOU GET MAN BOOBS?

There are two main reasons guys get man boobs. The first comes from simply being overweight. Man boobs, or “moobs,” are composed of fatty tissue stored over the pectoral muscles. A common myth is that you can spot reduce your man boobs, but unfortunately, you can’t pick and choose where your body is going to shed its fat, so you will just have to lower it overall.

In order to remove fat deposits from your body, you have to adhere to a cardio and strength-training workout program and follow a proper diet. You must create a slight caloric deficit in order to lose weight. This means either increasing the number of calories you expend through exercise or reducing the number of calories you take in by changing your diet. If you are smart, you will do both.  

The second reason guys get man boobs is due to a medical condition called gynecomastia. This is a hormonal condition in which the body produces an increased amount of estrogen and a decreased amount of testosterone. Gynecomastia can often happen as the result of taking certain medications that influence the body’s hormonal levels. It can also occur if someone is suffering from a testicular tumor, which causes estrogen production to significantly increase. 

To treat this problem, medical advice should be sought. Most often, the patient will be taken off the particular medication or will be given anti-estrogen treatment. Surgery may be necessary if the problem does not improve.

EXERCISES THAT HELP PREVENT MAN BOOBS

Cardio

Cardio will enable you to burn a significant amount of calories over a set period of time, helping you to achieve the caloric deficit that is necessary for fat loss.

1- Interval training: Interval training is your best option because it will kick your metabolism into high gear. Since it is so intense, your body will expend a great deal of calories — even after you are finished working out — in order to repair and rebuild the muscle tissues that have been damaged. Your interval training session could range from about 20 to 45 minutes, during which time you work out at a ratio of 1:3 in regards to hard vs. easy. Ideally, aim for 20 to 30 seconds of hard training and 1 to 2 minutes of easy cardio, and repeat this ratio 8 to 15 times. Hardbody training is composed primarily of Interval Training. We take adequate breaks, but still keep the 1:3 ratio of intensity.

2- Running: Generally, the best mode of cardiovascular exercise to do for fat loss is running; however, if you have joint problems or just really hate running, there are several other methods that can be substituted.

3- Rowing: A good option is to use a rowing machine or to actually go rowing outside. Rowing is a great form of exercise for fighting man boobs since it encompasses all your upper body muscles, allowing you to sculpt your chest while you burn fat.

4- Elliptical machine: While biking is a good cardiovascular workout, it focuses more specifically on your lower body. Many people are now turning to the elliptical machine for their cardio sessions. This machine is a great calorie burner since it uses both arms and legs, and it is easy on the joints. 

5- Playing sports: Don’t forget about sports. Activities such as tennis, basketball, hockey, and soccer are great cardiovascular workouts, as they typically involve all-out bursts of movement accompanied by shorter periods of rest. Playing sports goes a long way in helping you burn stubborn body fat, thus preventing the development of man boobs. So join that soccer team and get that old tennis racket out of your closet.

Strength training

Strength training exercises will not burn a great deal of calories while you are performing them, but they will help to increase your lean muscle mass, which is responsible for determining how many calories you burn on a daily basis. Weight training will also promote the development of strong and shapely chest muscles, so when the fat does come off, you are going to look significantly more attractive.

1- Seated chest press: Sit with your back flat against the machine and slowly push the weights straight out in a horizontal motion, then return to the starting position. Keep your breathing controlled and the movement steady. Perform four sets of 8 to 12 repetitions.

2- Cable crossovers: Attach the handles to either side of a pulley station and stand with your arms extended at shoulder level, your elbows slightly bent and your feet shoulder-width apart. Slowly bring your hands together in front of you and cross them. Return to the starting position and repeat. Concentrate on using your pectoral muscles to generate the power needed to perform this action. Do four sets of 8 to 12 repetitions.

3- Incline flyes: Sitting on an incline bench at about a 45 degree angle with the dumbbells held above you, lower your hands out to the sides (but not lower than your shoulders), then bring your hands back together above you, mimicking a hugging action. Perform four sets of 8 to 12 repetitions. 

4- Bench press: Lie with your back against the bench and slowly press the barbell directly upward. Make sure that your back does not rise off the bench, and that you are breathing out on the upward movement and inhaling on the downward action. Perform four sets of 8 to 12 repetitions.

5- Push-ups: Push-ups are an excellent workout for your upper body and can be done anywhere. Place your hands on the floor, shoulder-width apart, and lower yourself so that your nose is almost touching the ground. Pause for a second, then rise up again. To add an extra challenge, try doing clap push-ups: After the lowering motion is complete, drive yourself up with enough force to clap your hands before resuming the push-up position. Perform four sets of as many as you can.

The answer is definitely “yes”. Both men and women suffer from lack of sexual desire and enjoyment along with hampered performance when facing weight issues. Many people report avoiding sex entirely. Sexual difficulties among the obese are a more common problem than one would expect, and many deserve the most common treatment…exercise, exercise and more exercise. Self-esteem issues may contribute to the sexual problems facing the obese, whose numbers are growing yearly. I think society has been schooled about the risks of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension, but the risk of sexual problems isn’t talked about much. Why? When that’s a huge factor in many people’s lives.

What are your thoughts? I want to know.

Do you think weight plays a big role in sexual pleasure?

If your mate gained a considerable amount of weight in the midsection, would that reduce your sex drive?

There is virtually no medical condition that will keep you from doing any type of exercise. Even people with heart failure — who were long told not to exercise at all — can benefit from moderate amounts of activity.

And people with limited mobility can often do water exercises, or do yoga or other exercises while seated in a chair (some “chair exercise” videos are now on the market). Of course, if you have any medical condition, check with your doctor before starting any exercise program.

The 60-minute suggestion is based on the National Academy of Science’s recommendation for people who are trying to prevent weight gain, or keep themselves from regaining after weight loss — not for people who are trying to increase or maintain their cardio-respiratory fitness or health. There’s plenty of research to show that 30 minutes of physical activity a day will help you gain lots of health and fitness benefits.

Remember that you don’t have to do all your exercise in one session. If you already exercise vigorously at the gym several times a week, there’s no reason to quit. But if 60 minutes seems like too much for you, try 30 minutes a day as a starting goal.

The most important thing is that you do something.

In interval training, you alternate between bursts of higher-intensity exercise and periods of less-intense exercise (or “active rest”). As you get more fit, you decrease the “rest” time and increase the high-intensity periods. You’ll see big fitness gains if you train this way regularly.

For example, if you now run for 30 minutes at 6 mph, try this routine: Jog for five minutes to warm up. Then, increase your speed to 6.5 mph for one to two minutes (less if you can’t go that long). Then, jog for a few minutes at your normal speed, then again at the faster speed, and so on until you reach your time limit. Your ratio of work to active rest would be 2:3 if you ran for two minutes at 6.5 mph, then jogged for three minutes at 6 mph.

You can also use your heart rate to set intervals. For example, if your heart rate hits 70% of your maximum when you jog at 6 mph, start at that speed. Then increase either your speed or elevation (if you’re on a treadmill) to get your heart rate to 85% or 90% of maximum for one to three minutes. Then, go back to jogging at the 70% heart rate, and continue alternating.

We recommend interval training just once a week to start, as it is more intense than you may be used to. Once you get a feel for it, you can do it more often