Fitness News #17

Fitness News #17
Welcome to the other side of Easter.  Hands up if you ate too many Easter eggs [mikes hand goes up].  Hands up if you put weight on over Easter  [mikes hand goes up].   And with the indulgence over Easter, its made we think about diet foods and why the exist
Diet foods have we been sold a puppy?
Every decade the statistics show that Australia was fatter than previous decade.  By 2005 65% of males and 55% of females were deemed to be overweight.  At the same time the selves at the supermarket carry more and more diet related products, in alignment with the obesity crisis that Australia is facing.   Flash back to the 1950's, society was very different to what it is today.  The food on the table was simplistic, relatively healthy and lifestyles had a stack of incidental exercise built in.  For most life was in balance.   So what happened, how did society end up where it is today?  The answer is complex by nature, but can be broken down to; The loss of incidental exercise.  The housewife was freed of the more difficult jobs with the influx of devices, the washing machine, the vacuum cleaner and later the dishwasher, while the man of the house got the motor mower and collection of power tools.  Yes in 50's gender roles were defined.   The trip to the shops on foot was replaced with the motor car to the shopping centre.  And entertainment was delivered to the home via the Television. The changes in our diet.  Fast food came on to the market, based on taste derived from large doses of inexpensive fat and sugar and fuelled by massive marketing campaigns.  Even the humble sandwich taken to work has been replaced by the dreaded takeaway.  It seems that on every second corner is a vending machine providing products guaranteed to harden the arties and send us to an early death.   So to sum up on the food, what changes have we seen since the 50's Meat and 3 vege, becomes a host of different meals, some good but mainly of much higher calorie content Almost complete absence of fast food, that was once the special treat has become an everyday food. Portion size could be close to double what it was. The market has shrunk for simple healthy foods such as the humble apple, unable to compete without the massive marketing machines behind it And the introduction of the not so humble snack.   You may ask, what does this have to do with diet food, well the answer to that diet food is a reaction to the calorie onslaught that has hit our shores, and is flooding the stomachs of almost all before it.   For example, look at the liquid we put into our bodies, back in the 50's we drank tea and water and the occasional soft drink, as a treat.  60 years latter tea has been replaced with the cappuccino and worst still, water with soft drink, one of the most evil products on the market, simply  calories with no nutritional value what so ever.  Enter the diet soft drink, the calories are removed from drink.  However this is where we have been conned, the marketing machine has placed the product in everyone's hand, the product is bad for us, so the marketers have created a situation where we need a diet product to counteract the evils of the original product.   Lady's and gentlemen, we have been sold a puppy.  The marketing machine has hooked us on an evil product we didn't previously need and then it sells us a diet product to remove the evil, but we never needed the original product in the first place, so therefore we don't need the diet product.   Next week I'll talk about the super puppy
Outdoor Cycling
Road Racing This weekend is the Tour of Canberra.  Your's truly, the boys (and one girl) from the club are down to battle it out in pollie town with the best that NSW/ACT and perhaps the odd VIC can throw at us.   For me it's a 3 stage race; Saturday morning 55k hilly pack race Saturday afternoon 20k flat Individual Time Trail (ITT) Sunday morning 82k very hilly pack race   The times of the 3 stages are summed together and the winner is who has the smallest total time.   I've come 11th, which I'm really happy with   http://canberratour.org.au/   Woman's introduction to track riding – Saturday 2pm Continues this Saturday Info : http://www.dhbc.org.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2344 Contact: Jessica jnor7837@gmail.com Guy's are on Monday and Wednesday nights.
Classes
Fitness First Join me for a double at Rockdale Tuesday evening   Mon 2/05/11 5:45 PM          5Dock Mon 5.45pm Tue 3/05/11 5:45 PM           Rock Tue 5.45pm Tue 3/05/11 6:45 PM           Rock Tue 6.45pm Wed 4/05/11 5:45 PM          N Strath Wed 5.45pm Thu 5/05/11 6:00 AM           Walker Thu 6.00am Fri 6/05/11 6:15 AM             Rock Fri 6.15am Sat 7/05/11 8:15 AM            Rock HiPf Sat 8.15am   YMCA Mon 2/05/11 7:30 PM          Riverwood Mon 7.30pm Tue 3/05/11 6:15 AM           Riverwood Tue 6.15am
Ask Mike
If you have any questions or things you would like to see in the newsletter, then let me know   See you at the Gym   Cheers Mike
Sleep Ride Eat Repeat