John Aaron Wellness

A few years back, manufacturers of vodka, gin and clear rum were promoting the idea that drinking clear alcohol would keep you trim as long as you counted the calories (calculated at about 7 cal per gram). What they didn’t tell you was that your body can discriminate (and prefer) one type of calorie source over another. According to some research from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, alcohol can literally put a halt to fat metabolism. Participants in this study were given two servings of clear alcohol administered 30 minutes apart. Fat metabolism was monitored before, and after each serving. What they discovered was that even hours after drinking both drinks, fat metabolism had decreased by over 70%. This means that while your body might be busy processing alcohol as fuel, it will also be simultaneously suppressing you're fat burning abilities. Basically: the more your drink, the less your body burns fat. They also found test subjects to have decreased levels o...

It’s the weekend and I must first apologize if the title to this posting set your heart aflutter. The truth of the matter is; easy weight loss is a myth. Sorry… Unfortunately, many diet and weight loss gimmicks have preyed upon the American obsession with thinness. It is the very promise of FAST results that has spawned a grand multibillion dollar industry and a plethora of fat-fighting strategies. The question is, “Do they work?” Well, yes…, and, well, no. Take for example, Liposuction. It is t he process of suctioning fat out of specific areas of the body. This procedure requires t ubes to be inserted in half-inch long incisions in areas such as the thighs, buttocks, upper arms, abdomen or hips, in order to “vacuum” out the fat cells. It’s a brutal procedure leaving the patient bruised, sore and in support bandages upwards of six weeks after surgery, and contrary to popular belief, liposuction is not recommended for obese individuals. In fact, many docto...

I’ve often been asked, “How many times a week should I exercise?” Well, the truth is that we should be doing “something” physical every day. This is especially true for us forty (and older) year olds. The great thing about your body is that it was designed to move, whether or not you're in the gym. One great exercise to improve the strength of your lower body is to perform wall sits. With your feet about a foot from the base of a wall, push your back against the wall and let your body slide down the wall until you are in a sitting position (like you’re on an invisible chair). Be sure to stop when your thighs are parallel to the ground. Hold this position for as long as possible. Some of my clients have made it to a full 3 minutes! Another smart way to stay in shape is to skip the elevator and escalator and go for the stairs when shopping, making your way through an airport, or whenever the opportunity presents itself. And, a good third exercise would be to begin sitting in a chair,...

Okay, so you don't want to go completely “crazy” over your cardiovascular routine, but if you are looking to improve your health and energy levels (maybe even shed a few extra pounds), you'll probably need to alter the amount of cardio you subject yourself to on a regular basis. How much cardio should you be getting each day? I usually say “shoot for an hour, but get at least 30 minutes.” If you are in a part of the country where the summer heat can be overly oppressing, try doing your walk indoors at your local gym, shopping mall, or church recreation hall. While you may want to push yourself to your limit the entire time, you may be surprised as what alternating between fast and moderate-speeds can do for you. Try doing this; walk as fast as you can manage for about one minute (pretend you’re playing a race with someone – but don’t run!), then walk at a more relaxed rate of speed for up to two minutes. Doing this will not only increase your energy, cardiovascular strength ...

Maybe you’ve been working really hard at losing those last 10 pounds. You’ve done everything you can think of from cutting back on the amount of calories you eat, to working out twice a day. You’ve even sworn off desserts! So why do those extra pounds hold such a stubborn grip on you? Well, if you’ve read a couple of my most recent posts, you could be sabotaging your efforts by neglecting your sleep. As I’ve been saying, your ability to maintain a healthy weight can directly correlate your ability to obtain adequate quality. The interesting thing is that the two benefits are symbiotic in that losing weight is a good way to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep. Why? There are a number of reasons. For starters, a significant number of overweight people tend to suffer from sleep apnea. This is a condition which commonly causes snoring. However, the snoring is severe enough to obstruct a persons’ breathing for prolonged periods, as he or she sleeps. However, there are recorded...

Inside your body, a complex process is going on that involves hormones, enzymes, and food. Known as metabolism, this process is responsible for your body's ability to take food and turn it into energy. Additionally, your metabolism determines if you take that energy and burn it off with ease or if it sits around on your body and goes nowhere (except for maybe your thighs, hips and belly) fast. Though you probably wish your metabolism was sky high (everyone wants that sleek body - right?), there are a number of factors you can't change that determine the level of your metabolism. These include age, sex, and your genes. That's right - being over 40 decreases your metabolism, as does being a woman or having a family history of slow metabolism. Ever wondered why the first few pounds of weight loss come so easily for some people? It's because your body has to work a little harder when you're overweight. So when you make a small lifestyle change, your higher metabolis...