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Since pull-ups and chin-ups are two of the best ways to work on your upper body strength and thereby stimulate your metabolism I thought I’d explain how anyone regardless of how strong they are can complete a set of pull-ups.

If you’ve tried and you’re not able to complete a body weight pull-up here are 3 ways to do them with some assistance:

1. Monster Bands
These big rubber bands come in all sorts of resistances with the thickest ones giving you the most help. All you do with these are loop one end around the pull-up bar and then loop the other side around your knee(s).

2. Pull-Up Revolution
This device is brand new and will be out in May 2010. One end of the strap attaches to the pull-up bar and the other end has a loop for your foot. You can adjust the assistance by adding or subtracting the amount of bands.

3. The Gravitron/Assisted Chin-Dip Machine
You may have seen this really tall piece of equipment at your gym and not have known what it is. Although this piece is my least favorite of the 3 options since it does not force you to stabilize on your own, it is nevertheless still a great alternative. With the Gravitron all you do is simply adjust the weight stack to provide you with the added resistance you are looking for.

I hope these 3 ways of allowing you to complete pull-ups and chin-ups have given you some new motivation to try this powerful upper body exercise!

Since pull-ups and chin-ups are two of the best ways to work on your upper body strength and thereby stimulate your metabolism I thought I’d explain how anyone regardless of how strong they are can complete a set of pull-ups.

If you’ve tried and you’re not able to complete a body weight pull-up here are 3 ways to do them with some assistance:

1. Monster Bands
These big rubber bands come in all sorts of resistances with the thickest ones giving you the most help. All you do with these are loop one end around the pull-up bar and then loop the other side around your knee(s).

2. Pull-Up Revolution
This device is brand new and will be out in May 2010. One end of the strap attaches to the pull-up bar and the other end has a loop for your foot. You can adjust the assistance by adding or subtracting the amount of bands.

3. The Gravitron/Assisted Chin-Dip Machine
You may have seen this really tall piece of equipment at your gym and not have known what it is. Although this piece is my least favorite of the 3 options since it does not force you to stabilize on your own, it is nevertheless still a great alternative. With the Gravitron all you do is simply adjust the weight stack to provide you with the added resistance you are looking for.

I hope these 3 ways of allowing you to complete pull-ups and chin-ups have given you some new motivation to try this powerful upper body exercise!

If your fees for a weight-loss program are considered medical expenses, you may be able to write them off on your taxes! A weight-loss program prescribed by a doctor in order to treat a specific medical condition (i.e., obesity, diabetes) is required.

While OTC diet products do not qualify for the break, if your doctor prescribes a special food or beverage you may be able to deduct the extra cost (if it is more than the cost of your normal food expenses).

You can only deduct these or any other kind of medical expenses if you itemize and the expenses are greater than 7.5% of your AGI (adjusted gross income).

For a list of qualifying expenses, see IRS publication 502 at irs.gov or talk to your accountant.

Tax Time Tips originally appeared on About.com Weight Loss on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 00:28:39.

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If your fees for a weight-loss program are considered medical expenses, you may be able to write them off on your taxes! A weight-loss program prescribed by a doctor in order to treat a specific medical condition (i.e., obesity, diabetes) is required.

While OTC diet products do not qualify for the break, if your doctor prescribes a special food or beverage you may be able to deduct the extra cost (if it is more than the cost of your normal food expenses).

You can only deduct these or any other kind of medical expenses if you itemize and the expenses are greater than 7.5% of your AGI (adjusted gross income).

For a list of qualifying expenses, see IRS publication 502 at irs.gov or talk to your accountant.

Tax Time Tips originally appeared on About.com Weight Loss on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 00:28:39.

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Save crazy calories with this week’s swap at two Mexican style eateries … if you order the Crispy Chicken Crisper tacos at Chili’s, you’ll be taking in nearly 2,000 calories! As the name implies, the tacos are made with crispy fried chicken which ratchets up the exact calorie count to 1,990 and over 100 grams of fat.

Stop instead at Baja Fresh and order their Original Baja Chicken tacos and cut your calories down to 630 and you get three of them (same as the Crisper tacos!). That’s savings of 1,330 calories! ¡Aye caramba!

Saturday “Smart Swap!”: Save Loco Taco Calories originally appeared on About.com Weight Loss on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 03:36:18.

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Save crazy calories with this week’s swap at two Mexican style eateries … if you order the Crispy Chicken Crisper tacos at Chili’s, you’ll be taking in nearly 2,000 calories! As the name implies, the tacos are made with crispy fried chicken which ratchets up the exact calorie count to 1,990 and over 100 grams of fat.

Stop instead at Baja Fresh and order their Original Baja Chicken tacos and cut your calories down to 630 and you get three of them (same as the Crisper tacos!). That’s savings of 1,330 calories! ¡Aye caramba!

Saturday “Smart Swap!”: Save Loco Taco Calories originally appeared on About.com Weight Loss on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 03:36:18.

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As the baby-boomers are aging we are doing almost everything we can to keep our youth but it continually boils down to taking care of ourselves by watching our weight and eating in a healthy way. This isn’t just about looking good anymore (although that’s always a plus!) it’s about our cognitive skills too.
Anna Dahl, doctoral student at the School of Health Sciences, Jönköping, published an article in the Journal of Gerontology, and states “that being overweight or obese in mid-life also negatively affects memory and thinking skills independent of dementia. Moreover, these skills decline more rapidly in old age among those who were overweight or obese in mid-life… The steeper decline in memory and thinking skills observed among individuals who were overweight or obese in mid-life, cannot be explained in our study by an increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. There are probably other mechanisms that explain this link.”

Still other studies conflict with this but overall it’s still best to have a healthy weight to prevent all the other numerous diseases and health conditions that are associated with being overweight.

As the baby-boomers are aging we are doing almost everything we can to keep our youth but it continually boils down to taking care of ourselves by watching our weight and eating in a healthy way. This isn’t just about looking good anymore (although that’s always a plus!) it’s about our cognitive skills too.
Anna Dahl, doctoral student at the School of Health Sciences, Jönköping, published an article in the Journal of Gerontology, and states “that being overweight or obese in mid-life also negatively affects memory and thinking skills independent of dementia. Moreover, these skills decline more rapidly in old age among those who were overweight or obese in mid-life… The steeper decline in memory and thinking skills observed among individuals who were overweight or obese in mid-life, cannot be explained in our study by an increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. There are probably other mechanisms that explain this link.”

Still other studies conflict with this but overall it’s still best to have a healthy weight to prevent all the other numerous diseases and health conditions that are associated with being overweight.

This past week I’ve been reviewing how to recover from setbacks when dieting.  Today I’m suggesting if nothing else has worked and you’ve been trying endlessly it’s time to get some help! That might be an obvious choice but it amazes me how long a person tries on their own before he feels he can take this step.  If you feel stymied by so many set-backs, ask for advice from a trusted source, better yet, several sources. Weight loss offers numerous approaches and the more ideas you can obtain the better. Get opinions and pick out the ones you think will work the best for you.  Support is especially important in weight loss because we feel like we are the only ones facing the problems that are challenged all the time.  We all need each other with weight loss.

Then there are also professionals in the field that are quite capable of giving you the needed expertise help. Pick an RD or Certified Nutritionist who has been overweight themselves because they’ve been on your journey and could possibly offer more compassion with your efforts. Interview them first to make sure she/he is a good match for you personally.

And of course Nutrition Data has numerous ways of helping you as well. Just go the the Diet and Weight Loss page to get any information you need by clicking on the appropriate links!

This week I'm at the largest fitness convention in the world and during these past few days I've been speaking with some of the top people in the fitness field. We've been sharing ideas, talking about the latest research, and brainstorming to come up with even better ways of helping our clients succeed at reaching their goals.

There is one question, though, that has been brought up every year now for the past decade that no one has seemed to figure out. Everyone in the fitness industry is searching for the right answer to getting more people to exercise than the current member base. The strange thing is that although every year more and more additional health clubs are opened the number of people actually exercising remains at about 13% of the total US population.

Malcolm Gladwell, the keynote speaker at IHRSA, said that he believes the answer is to reframe exercise as something that is socially fun to do. I'm not quite sure if that is the answer but it may be a start to getting people to use fitness as a way to lose weight and enjoy the myriad of health benefits that accompany it.

I'd really like to hear your opinion, so if you're someone who isn't currently exercising please comment on why you don't and what would get you to begin!