PJ's Fitness Blog – Page 26 – A blog about a fitter you. Come find out what is on the cutting edge of fitness science and be a part of the ongoing conversation.

Mess with Creation, Risk Your Life

Did you know that MRSA has killed more people than AIDS? Did you also know that MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is man made?

According to Dr. Mercola:

Animals in factory farms are given doses of antibiotics — both to keep them alive in stressful, unsanitary conditions, and to make them grow faster. The practice leads to new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as the now-widespread form of staph (MRSA) known as ST398.

Federal regulators have in the past refused to release estimates of just how much antibiotics the livestock industry uses. But recently the FDA released its first-ever report on the topic. And the amount? Twenty-nine million pounds of antibiotics in 2009 alone.

According to Grist:

“[T]he Animal Health Institute, a veterinary-drug trade group, estimated total use in livestock at 17.8 million pounds. The industry has been clinging to that number ever since … [T]he industry figure is woefully off — about 40 percent lower than the real one.”According to Grist:

Healthy Change in Three Simple Steps

Why is change often so hard?

The answer is simple: We aren’t wired for change. Our brains are wired for security, routine, efficiency and consistency. Change is inefficient because we have to learn new stuff and create new neural networks. Change also represents uncertainty. Change breaks our routine too, and since we are creatures of habit with roughly 95% of the same thoughts we had yesterday, change takes extra energy and isn’t within our comfort zone.

Your brain and change

Our brains are designed to detect changes in the environment and then alert us to anything unusual. Error detection signals are generated by a part of the brain called the orbital cortex (OC), which is wired in with the brain’s fear circuits in another structure called the amygdala (AD). This explains why change brings

The common drug that can make you fat.

Dr. Sears came out with another great post on the conflict between antibiotics and your waistline. Below is his message in it’s entirely. You will quickly see yet another reason to eat clean and stay healthy!

When your doctor gave you your last prescription for an antibiotic, did he tell you it would make you fat?

He should have. Because taking antibiotics regularly can do all kinds of strange things to your body. And that includes making you gain weight.

The bacteria in your gut play an important role in determining whether your body stores the food you eat as excess pounds.

Let me explain…

Your gut is filled with both good and bad bacteria. Nature designed you that way. In fact, they

Fitness and Nutrition on the Road

Have you ever thought it difficult to maintain good eating habits and regular exercise while on the road? Well, think again. It’s easier than you think.

Check out my video diary below for some tips, tricks and secrets from my last trip to Idaho in search of some stairs to climb and good food to eat while on the road and in the air.