Burn it Up With Your iPad

The holidays are a time for many things, including seeing family, visiting with friends, eating too much and basically blowing off exercise. That’s probably why come January 2 many people vow to “do it right” and pledge to turn over a new leaf. Maybe one way to start the New Year off right is by better managing your food intake.

One problem say experts is that you can easily shed pounds by reducing intake, but as soon as you go back to old habits – which die hard and quickly – you’re likely to regain the weight. Additionally, people who reportedly lose weight more slowly while increasing the exercise tend to keep the pounds off.

Brian Young realized this, and he’s worked to develop an app that helps you track and burn, hence the Tracknburn app for the iPod and iPhone. It incorporates the BMI formula that “is accurate as it gets,” says Young, who further notes that one of the most popular ways to determine how many calories are needed to sustain the same body weight is to use the body mass index (BMI) and current activity level. Subtract 250 calories a day to lose 1/2 pound per week.

Sounds simple, but Young notes that this formula also changes as you lose weight, making it hard to track over time. The Tracknburn essentially picks up on this, and does the weight loss math for you. This app takes a users individual profile, along with weight goal and helps make responsible choices. It can be used a food log with more than 140,000 common foods to choose from, and by tracking what you can eat, you can more easily lose at the same time. Now that sounds like a winning solution.

Tracknburn Official Website

No Such Thing as Bad PR(Bar)

There is an old saying that there is no such thing as “bad PR,” so we’re curious about the new PR Bars, which have nothing actually do with the other kind of PR. These are actually Personal Record bars, which use something called Fast Burn Nutrition I echnology. This reportedly can keep insulin levels steady so that the body will use fat stores as an energy source. In other words, you shouldn’t get that sudden burst of energy followed by the accompanying crash that often occurs when eating other energy bars during a workout.

The PR Bars sound good too – good PR maybe – as they offer 15 grams of protein and yet only 200 calories. According to the company these can control hunger for three to six hours, and actually these come in tasty sounding flavors such as Double Chocolate. That’s enough to make you want to work out longer, just so you can indulge with one of these bars.

PR Bar Official Website

Losing Weight with Optical Illusion Dinnerware

As you know, there are various methods of weight loss, including exercising, diets, pills, and hypnosis. Now you can add optical illusion to the mix, with a product called Slimware. Slimware are plates with unique designs that help you maintain portion control with food placement. See those flowers on the plate? In addition to adding aesthetics to your dinnerware, the size of the floral pattern is the size of the amount of a particular food you should have on the plate (the larger flower should contain more vegetables, while smaller flowers contain proteins and carbs). According to Slimware, “We are psychologically and culturally programmed to ‘stay in the lines,’ whether on the highway or at the post office. Slimware applies that mental predisposition to help you become portion conscious.”

Of course, the theory goes that if you eat less, you gain less. But you still have to be concerned with what types of foods you are putting on the plate. It also doesn’t stop you from building mounds of food on the plate as long as you stay within those lines. So, we’re not sure if we buy into the idea, but Slimware does point out the important fact that portion control plays a huge role in weight control.

Slimware lists celebrities like Elisabeth Röhm, Tori Spelling, Judith Light, Kendra Wilkinson, Emily Procter, Kathy Griffin, Rene Russo, Ashlee Simpson, Jennie Garth, Faith Hill, and Kristin Chenoweth as fans. If a celebrity uses it, then it must be good! Right?

The product is available in various designs, all for $36.50 for four plates.

Slimware

Infinite Trainer Programs in the Works

An online subscription based software package will soon help people by offering different training and nutritional programs, specifically designed to reach each individual’s fitness goals. This subscription program, the Personal Trainer Software Package, from Texas-based Infinite Technology Corporation will be offered in yearly or monthly membership programs. It was also announced that the company has secured a non-exclusive distributor for its custom sports supplement line, which will be launched this month.

“We feel the Personal Trainer Software Package will add value to the supplement line and additional revenue to the Company, said CEO Amy Lawrence. “Everyone can’t afford to hire a personal trainer or a nutritionist, but this is a reasonably priced alternative that will help educate and motivate our clients.”

The Personal Trainer Software Package from Infinite Technology Corporation

Eat Right in March, and Continue

American Dietetic Association National Nutrition Month
March is National Nutrition Month, a time to look at what you eat and how you exercise.

This month is National Nutrition Month, a campaign created by the American Dietetic Association to raise awareness of our diets. It’s a time to learn to make informed food choices and reinforce your physical activity habits. This is low tech, unless you want to use the Web to research exercise, nutrition, and recipes. That’s all good. But we’re all for the diet and exercise the ADA is promoting here. So see it as a time to evaluate, and learn about what you can do to increase your fitness and overall health.

American Dietetic Association

PowerBar Makes Workout BonBons

PowerBar Gel Blasts
Take a packet of PowerBar Gel Blasts on your next extended workout for an energy boost.

PowerBars have come a long way from their original chewy formula. The company has developed a dual source energy blend, C2MAX, made from sugar, glucose syrup from wheat, and invert sugar to boost energy and carbs during a workout. PowerBar Gel Blasts energy chews with a flavor choice of raspberry and strawberry banana use C2MAX to provide just such energy in an easy-to-eat form for workouts.

The quantities may be a little difficult to digest. PowerBar recommends that during activities lasting more than one hour, exercisers should take on -to-three pieces every 10 minutes, followed by water or sports drink. You can alternatively down a packet of 30 chews, the equivalent of one and a half PowerBar Gels, 60 minutes before exercise.