Sequoia Health & Fitness, Inc. - Calories are Not King, BOSU for Better Balance and LIVe Again! for Your Health

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The Sequoia Advisor

IN THIS ISSUE November 1st 2010

BOSU: Better Strength, Balance and Cardio

Calories are Not King

Pet's Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Diet

NEW Intro Video on Marodyne LIVe Again!

Healthy Lifestyle Consultations Now Available

Feel Better... Live Better

BOSU: Better Strength, Balance and Cardio

by Woody McMahon

The BOSU

The BOSU is a unique piece of functional training equipment that can help
improve your strength, balance and cardiovascular fitness. If you are not
using the BOSU in your workouts, you are missing out on a great piece of
training equipment. The BOSU is a half round ball that is flexible, much
like a trampoline, when you stand on it. Originally the name "BOSU" was an
acronym for "Both Sides Up." It meant that the BOSU Balance Trainer could
be used on either side, the dome or the platform.

Improvements in Strength

The BOSU is really just a modified step that requires greater use of the
stability muscles to maintain balance. It adds an unstable dimension to any
lower or upper body exercise creating a greater muscular challenge. Of
course, an increase challenge means faster strength increases in less time.
The soft, deformable surface strengthens your whole leg complex (foot,
ankle, knee, hip and core) as it works together to try and stabilize the
rest of your body.

Benefits to Balance

The BOSU is considered an advanced balance trainer especially if you are
standing on it. The soft, movable surface places a greater demand on your
balance muscles, core stabilizers, foot proprioceptors and inner ear. This
increased demand on the equilibrium mechanisms challenges them to improve
your balance faster. Beginners can start using the BOSU by stepping into it
one foot at a time. Each step increases your comfort level with how the
BOSU moves under your feet.

Cardiovascular Demands

The BOSU offers the perfect solution for those looking to get a more
functional and dynamic cardiovascular workout, especially if you have knee,
hip or back pain. Standing on the soft surface of the BOSU, you can jump up
and down for several minutes really getting your heart pumping. You can
also start on the floor and jump onto the BOSU as well. Finally, standing
on the ball doing 90 or 180 degree jump turns offers a balance, strength
and cardio challenge like none other.

Some Great BOSU Exercise Ideas

The many ways you can use the BOSU is only limited by your imagination and
creativity. Here are 3 good exercises to challenge your balance, strength
and cardiovascular conditioning.

1. BOSU Balance

Try this the first time with the BOSU near a wall in case you need to hold
on for stability. Place the BOSU on the floor flat side down. Start by
stepping onto the BOSU and placing your feet slightly less than shoulder
width apart. Stand on two feet until you feel comfortable with the feeling
of the soft, moveable surface. Place one foot on the top center of the BOSU
and try balancing on one leg. Switch legs after about a minute. When you
get comfortable balancing on one leg with your eyes open, try closing your
eyes.

2. BOSU Jumps/Jump Turns

Place the BOSU on the floor flat side down. Start by stepping onto the
BOSU placing your feet slightly less than shoulder width apart. Bounce up
and down until you feel comfortable on the soft surface. Once you feel
stable try jumping high enough so that your feet actually leave the ball.
Make sure to keep your knees bent. When you have mastered that progression,
try 90 degree jump turns. Make sure to jump in both directions for equal
balance and muscle development.

3. BOSU Lunges

Place the BOSU on the floor, flat side down, against a wall or other
immovable surface. Standing back about 3 feet and facing the BOSU, lunge
into the side of the soft top surface. Try to keep your balance making sure
that both knees are slightly bent and your back heel is slightly off the
ground. Also keep your head and chest upright and maintain your balance.
Return to your original starting position and step with the other foot. You
can make it a little more challenging by placing hands on your hips.

Would you like to improve your health but don't know where to start?

How about an exercise program that alleviates pain and strengthens your bones?

Do you have weight problems but are tired of dieting? We provide an easy to
follow program without the gimmicks or fads. You'll also get the education,
motivation and accountability necessary to improve your health while helping
you feel and look your best. Please call Woody McMahon for a no cost
consultation, at 703-464-5171 or email to Woody@SequoiaHealth.com.

Calories are Not King

by Woody McMahon

Counting Calories

On the surface, counting calories seems like a good thing to do if you
want to lose some weight. Over time however, counting calories becomes very
labor intensive and actually increases your stress and preoccupation with
food. The whole point to successful weight loss is to reduce stress and food's
importance; not increase it. The mere process of calculating and totaling
calories for all the foods you eat makes you more rather than less food
focused. So if counting calories is not the answer, then what is the best
way to keep from overeating?

Control Portions

For most people, excess weight results from a combination of food over
consumption and inactivity. Reaching a healthy weight and keeping it there
first requires an understanding of proper portion size. If you eat out or on the
run, you probably have noticed that food portions have gotten larger. Some
portions are even called "super size," just to let you know in advance that
a lot of food is headed your way. Once you can get portions under control,
70% of your weight loss challenge is over. Here are some pointers to help
you eat smarter.

Food is Visual

Before taste and smell come into play, your food is first visual. Visualizing
how much food you really need keeps your portions in the healthy size
range. First look at your meal; does it look like a lot of food. If it does
look like a lot, than it probably is a lot. Take your meal and look at it
again. Is it bright and colorful? If it is then you have a good food
variety with lots of fruits and vegetables included. What is the ratio
between your meat, vegetable, fruit and starch groups? If your vegetable
group is the largest, followed by meat, fruit and starch then you are doing
well.

The Half Meal Rule

At a restaurant, generally if you want to eat a healthy portion you'll
take their serving size and cut it in half. Your mother was wrong; you don't
have to finish everything on your plate. That advice was based on a young,
active growing body and does not apply now. Consider this; in our time of
spiraling food costs, take half your meal home and save yourself some
money. Sometimes, certain foods are even better the next day. If you are
not a leftover person, just leave it behind.

Save Yourself a Lot of Work

Remember, every extra 250 calories consumed means another hour at the gym.
Practically, you'll eat 500 to 1000 extra calories a day if you're not careful.
Do the math and you see that it takes 2 to 4 hours of gym time just to
maintain your current body weight. If you are trying to lose weight, the
2 to 4 hours does not shed one extra pound from your body. So be smart
and eat a normal healthy portion to control your weight and then get to the
health club 3 hours a week to improve your fitness and health.

Learn Your Correct Meal Size

Once you can look at your plate and know what the correct amount of food
looks like, counting calories can be a thing of the past. As you make the
switch from counting to visualizing, it may be helpful to get a food scale
and measuring cup. You can weigh a correct portion of chicken, beef or fish
and remember what that looks like on your plate. Use the measuring cup for
serving sizes of vegetables, rice pasta and fruits. Once you can see what a
meal with correct portion sizes is supposed to look like, at home or on the
road, you'll never overeat again.

High stress living can cause calcium loss from bones and excess weight gain!
Follow our Be Bone Strong! system and you'll increase the strength of your
bones and improve your health at the same time. We provide the education, motivation
and accountability necessary to improve your health while helping you feel and
look your best. For a no cost consultation, please call Woody McMahon at
703-464-5171 or email to Woody@SequoiaHealth.com.

Pets and People

Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Diet

by Ingrid King

Far too many cat owners accept occasional, or even chronic, vomiting and

diarrhea as a fact of life with cats. Cats just do that sometimes, don't they?

Well, no. Healthy cats don't vomit on a regular basis, nor do they have

diarrhea. Chronic vomiting and diarrhea can lead to dehydration, and,
if left untreated, can become life threatening.

The most common cause of gastrointestinal problems for cats is
Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Although cats of all ages can be affected, it
is typically seen in middle-aged or older cats. The term IBD is used for a
number of chronic gastrointestinal disorders. Physiologically, it is
characterized by an infiltration of inflammatory cells into the lining of
the digestive tract. The location of the inflammation can help determine
the specific type of IBD.

Symptoms of IBD

Symptoms most typically include chronic vomiting and diarrhea, but
sometimes, constipation can also be a problem. Some cats present with
weight loss as the only clinical sign.

Diagnosis of IBD

To rule out other causes of gastrointestinal problems, your veterinarian
will perform diagnostic tests that may include complete blood cell counts,
blood chemistry, thyroid function tests, urinalysis, fecal analysis,
abdominal x-rays, and ultrasound. The most definitive way to diagnose IBD
is through biopsies of small samples of the intestinal lining. These
samples can be obtained through endoscopy or abdominal surgery. These
procedures require general anesthesia.

Medical Treatment

IBD is usually treated with a combination of medical and dietary therapy.
Corticosteroids are used for their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant
properties, and they can also serve as an appetite stimulant. However,
steroid therapy carries serious longterm side-effects.

The Diet Connection

There are commercially manufactured diets available for the treatment of
IBD, most of them containing so-called "novel proteins," ie., proteins that
the cat may not have been exposed to before such as rabbit, venison, and
duck. (We used to call them the "Disney diets" when I still worked at a
veterinary clinic - Thumper, Bambi and Donald...).

However, increasingly, holistically oriented veterinarians are seeing a
connection between diet and IBD. These vets believe that commercial pet
foods, especially dry foods, are a contributing factor to the large numbers
of cats with chronic IBD. They also discovered that many cats improve by
simply changing their diets to a balanced grain-free raw meat diet. Similar
results may be achieved with a grain-free canned diet, but a raw diet seems
to lead to quicker and better results.

Vomiting and diarrhea are not something you, and your cat, should learn to
live with. Take your cat to a veterinarian for a thorough physical exam.
After ruling out other conditions or diseases as causes, the solution might
just be something as simple as changing your cat's diet.

Ingrid King is a former veterinary hospital manager turned writer. She is
the author of Buckley's Story - Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher. Her
online magazine News for You and Your Pet goes out to subscribers around
the world. Her blog, The Conscious Cat, has been called "educational cat
nip for the cat lover" and is a comprehensive resource for conscious
living, health and happiness for pets and their people. For more information
about Ingrid, please visit http://www.ingridking.com/

Osteoporosis Support News

"Healthy Bones Come From a Healthy Body" Woody McMahon

NEW Intro Video on Marodyne LIVe Again!

Sara Meeks and I were invited by the Marodyne Corporation to shoot an
introductory video at the Newark, NJ airport last Saturday. The video talks
about the new healthy lifestyle program Sara and I are developing called
LIVe Again! that will be used with the Marodyne LIV Tablet.

LIVe Again! will be the first Complete, Safe and Effective, Drug Free and
Empowering approach to improving bone health. It will be easy to follow and
allow you to relax knowing that you are doing the very best for your bones.

If you are not familiar with LIV it stands for low intensity vibration.
The research of Dr. Clint Rubin and others has shown that LIV helps
stimulate the bone cells, especially the osteoblasts, which are responsible
for new bone production. LIV has also been shown to improve postural muscle
strength, balance and circulation. Marodyne has taken Dr. Rubin's research
and developed an LIV device (looks like a bathroom scale) they call The
Marodyne LIV Tablet.

The video will air shortly, probably around Thanksgiving. If you have
questions about LIVe Again! or the Marodyne LIV Tablet, email them to
Woody at bebonestrong@sequoiahealth.com.

Healthy Lifestyle Consultations Now Available

Do you have questions about how to live a healthy lifestyle? Do you need
accurate, cutting edge solutions to lifestyle and other health problems?
Sign-up for a healthy lifestyle consultation and get the answers you need
now. Click Here for more information.

You can also contact Woody McMahon directly at 703-464-5171 or email to Woody@SequoiaHealth.com.

Continued Good Health,

Woody

Woody McMahon
The Sequoia Advisor

Sequoia Health and Fitness, Inc.
483A Carlisle Dive
Herndon, VA 20170

Required Disclaimer: The material provided herein should not be construed as a health-care diagnosis,
treatment regimen or any other prescribed health-care advice or instruction. The material is provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in the practice of medicine or any other health-care profession and does not enter into a health-care practitioner/patient relationship with its readers. The publisher does not advise or recommend to its readers treatment or action with regard to matters relating to their health or well-being other than suggesting that readers consult appropriate health-care professionals in such matters. No action should be taken based solely on the content of this publication. The material and opinions provided herein are believed to be accurate and sound at the time of publication, based on the best judgment available to the authors. However, readers who rely on material in this publication to replace the advice of health-care professionals, or who fail to consult with health-care professionals, assume all risks of such conduct. The publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions.

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