Fun and Fitness for the 40-Something

Women’s Health has lined up several food face-offs “to see if real food is better than the packaged stuff at home, the office, or the gym”:

Preworkout:

Energy bar vs. Egg McMuffin

During a workout:

G2 vs. water

Gu vs. banana

Gatorade Endurance vs. orange juice

Post-workout:

Lara Bar vs. PB&J

Naked Protein vs. Soy Good Smoothie

Energy boost:

Red Bull vs. yogurt and apple

Odwalla Bar vs. trail mix and jerky

5-Hour Energy vs. espresso

Weight loss:

Clif Bar vs. almonds

Slim-Fast Optima vs. 6-inch turkey sub

Last year, I wrote about an easy way to carry your emergency contact information—the Road ID. It’s a secure, light-weight shoe attachment that provides all of the information you would want on you if you have an accident. I’ve been wearing a Road ID on my running shoe for several years, but I always wondered whether a first responder would even notice it there. Now I know.

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Sometimes you just can’t avoid fast food. You might try to cope by ordering a salad, but those salads can pack a calorie wallop. Fitness magazine comes to the rescue with its list of salads that are high in flavor and low in saturated fat at the best-known fast-food outlets:

McDonald’s: Premium Bacon Ranch Salad with Grilled Chicken (with half the dressing)

Wendy’s: Mandarin Chicken Salad with Grilled Chicken (with half the dressing)

Burger King: Tendergrill Chicken Garden Salad (with the light Italian dressing)

Taco Bell: Chicken Fiesta Taco Salad (without the tortilla shell)

Quiznos: Black and Bleu Flatbread Salad (without the flatbread)

Another weekend, another cookout? Good for you—literally, depending on what you’re throwing on the grill. While barbecues have traditionally conjured up visions of glistening steaks or sticky ribs, vegetarian options have gained favor over the last decade or so. But, when it comes to nutrition, all veggie foods are not created equal.

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After yesterday’s post extolling the motivational virtues of Nike+, it’s a good time to bring you up-to-date on the upgrades the product has undergone since my first review of Nike+ last year.

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It’s been almost a year since I reviewed my first Nike+ iPod Sport Kit, and I’m as hooked on it as ever. So much so that I bought a new one while out of town last week because my runs just weren’t the same without it. A recent article in Wired shows that I’m not the only one who feels this way. And now Nike has rolled out some upgrades, making the product even more addicting for number-crunching runners.

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Following up on my previous post about sun safety, here’s a list of some of the best sunscreens, as determined by Women’s Health:

1)   Biotherm Sun­fitness Revitalizing Sunscreen SPF 30

2)   Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Gel SPF 45

3)   Skin Effects SPF 45 Active Sunscreen

4)   Hawaiian Tropic Oil Free Sensitive Skin SPF 50 plus lip balm

5)   Desert Essence Towelettes SPF 30

6)   Malin + Goetz Sunscreen SPF 30

7)   Coppertone Sport Continuous Spray SPF 50

FWIW, I’ve been a loyal fan of Coppertone Sports for several years—it doesn’t run when you do, and it doesn’t sting your eyes. I prefer the lotion to the spray, though. I didn’t like waiting for the spray to dry. I like to spread and go.

And I’m not talking about vibrating dinner plates. Nope, it turns out that vibration plate exercise machines like the Power Plate may help you lose weight and trim the particularly dangerous belly fat between the organs. I thought it sounded too good to be true, yet a study presented this month at the European Congress on Obesity suggests that the machines could be a useful addition to a weight control plan. But it’s not enough just to stand on the plate—you have to work it!

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I had my first experience with a sports cream back in high school, during my volleyball team’s August “double sessions”—about four hours of practice split between morning and afternoon, followed by a mile run every day until you ran it in eight minutes or quicker. To this day, I remember my legs being so sore that it was hard to sit down on the toilet. For relief, I turned to Sportscreme (unbeknownst to my mother, no doubt). I don’t remember if it “worked,” but, if it helped, the New York Times says it was likely a placebo effect.

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I’ve been an ice cream fan since my family’s regular trips to Baskin-Robbins when I was a kid. The counter guy knew our family’s orders by heart, if that tells you anything, and we always had ice cream in our freezer, too. Of course, now we know that full-fat ice cream isn’t the healthiest choice. Those of who still love our cold treats have some alternatives, though.

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