Weekly Health News Round-Up : Mon April 30 2007

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Weekly summary
All Tags : brain, Drinking (alcohol), memory, obesity, stress, studies & trials, surgery

A few snippets from this week's health news : Enhanced Environment Restores Memory in Mice with Neurodegeneration A new study has found that placing mice in an enriched environment can reinstate learning behavior and reestablish access to long-term memories after...

Working Out In The Heat

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Articles
All Tags : conditioning, Drinking (alcohol), heart, heat, Home Gyms (Classical - Free Weights, Machines), sleep, squat, water, water consumption

Turning up the heat.What do you do workout-wise when it gets this hot?

Dosing up on Vitamin B

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
All Tags : Drinking (alcohol)

Before heading back down to warmer climes I decided to try a few of the beers which rarely make it as far as Australian shelves (there'd be a fair bit of competition if they did). Tonight I came across the...

Study : Middle-aged US citizens less healthy than English counterparts

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Research studies & clinical trials
All Tags : cancer, diabetes, Drinking (alcohol), obesity, studies & trials

The cause of this difference? Would love to hear your thoughts.

8 Glasses of Water Per Day?

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
All Tags : bodybuilding, coffee, diet, Drinking (alcohol), protein, water, water consumption

Burn more, drink more.

Bionic Muscles

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : News
All Tags : Drinking (alcohol), exoskeleton, magazines

Fantastic.

England Smoking Ban

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : News
All Tags : Drinking (alcohol), smoking, Training Partner Required

Nice one.

Lifting, Coughing and Spluttering

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : workouts
All Tags : coffee, diet, Drinking (alcohol), illness, protein, squat

The past 5 days have felt like a month.

Basic Meal Plan : An Update

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
All Tags : coffee, diet, Drinking (alcohol), Goals & Goal Setting, protein, water, water consumption

Recently John asked how the new meal plan is going. Here's a little more information.

A Bit About My Diet

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
All Tags : coffee, diet, Drinking (alcohol), Goals & Goal Setting, protein, water, water consumption

A vast improvement.

Morning After

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : workouts
All Tags : bench press, Drinking (alcohol), Grip Work, sleep

The clocks here went back an hour last night. As it happened to be in the early hours of a Sunday morning (or the late hours of a Saturday night, depending on your point of view) the first thought to came to mind was 'that's an extra hour of drinking time'. I suspect I was not alone in that thought.

Finding a Balance

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
All Tags : balance, coffee, diet, Drinking (alcohol), Goals & Goal Setting, water, water consumption

Cleaning up.

Fighting Colds the Natural Way

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
All Tags : air pollution, breathing, diet, Drinking (alcohol), illness, recovery, sleep, Supplements & Supplementation, water, water consumption, Widespread Epidemics & Pandemics

Major illness = serious medical advice. For minor illnesses though...

Phase 1 Summary - Health

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
All Tags : coffee, diet, Drinking (alcohol), Goals & Goal Setting, protein, sleep, Supplements & Supplementation, water, water consumption

My diet has changed substantially over the past 12 weeks, and the corresponding improvements in overall health are starting to appear. The major changes were : Alcohol consumption has been reduced from a ridiculous 10-15 drinks per day, to around...

Dietary Goals

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Health
All Tags : diet, Drinking (alcohol), Goals & Goal Setting

The workout goals will be re-evaluated in a couple of weeks (12 weeks after starting), however there are a few dietary improvements I hope to make over the next couple of months. A number of changes have already been made, but to add to the list : Reduce alcohol consumption to 3 drinks per month Limit fried foods to 2 meals per week Limit consumption of red meat to 2 meals per week Reduce consumption of foods containing additives and preservatives Increase consumption of fruit/veg (the fruit is already quite reasonable, it's the lack of vegetation that I'm mainly looking to address) Reduce consumption of milk to under 3 pints per week (until quite recently I was drinking this amount daily) Eat more nuts and seeds The target date for the first four items is 1st July, with a deadline of 1st August for the remainder. Should be an interesting couple of months.

Nutrition

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
All Tags : air pollution, coffee, diet, Drinking (alcohol), photography, sleep, Supplements & Supplementation

My diet has improved again over the past few weeks, largely resulting from suggestions in The Optimum Nutrition Bible (with subsequent research elsewhere). These include : Further reduction of caffeine and alcohol (approx 5 cups coffee per week, 10 alcoholic...

Daily Diet

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
All Tags : coffee, diet, Drinking (alcohol), protein, Supplements & Supplementation, water, water consumption

The sorts of things I currently consume.

Goals

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : News
All Tags : diet, Drinking (alcohol), Goals & Goal Setting, protein

These are my primary aims for the short term (next few months) : Further reduce consumption of alcohol. Frequency is now reasonable; the quantity is still too high. Reduce intake of dairy products. Still use quite a bit of cream and butter in cooking - these are the main targets. Remove 'out of season' products from my diet. Foods which are shipped from countries where the products are still available (usually due to a difference in seasons) are never as good as those available locally. Increase consumption of protein. Currently around 1.5g/kg of bodyweight. Increase bodyweight to around 80-83kg, without increasing body fat percentage. Currently around 73kg, which is a little light for my height (6').

Dietary Changes

posted by Scott Andrew Bird
Filed in : Diet and Nutrition
All Tags : coffee, diet, Drinking (alcohol), protein

Over the past couple of months I have made a number of changes to my diet, including :

Increasing my intake of protein and carbohydrates
Minimising intake of coffee
Increasing consumption of tea...