I've seen the informercial for the Kymaro New Body Shaper not once but twice this morning, and I think I've said "but you're still overweight" at least a dozen times already.
One thing that I heard over and over during the commercial is that "I've lost XX inches." They show a series of 'before' and 'after' measurements in which women "lost" 4.5 - 5 inches in their waist measurement. The ladies wearing the New Body Shaper get all excited because their clothes fit better and they look better as a result.
Now, that's all well and good (looking better, that is), but let's be clear here: the users of this product haven't "lost" anything. They've hidden their fat beneath a slimming fabric that essentially crushes the fat ("redistributes" it, the commercial says) into the shape of the garment. When the garment comes off, the fat is still going to be there. The self image will likely suffer when the woman removes the New Body Shaper, releasing the fat from its fabric prison, and sees herself in the mirror as she actually is - overweight.
Another incredible (the bad kind of incredible!) claim that the commercial makes is that Kymaro's New Body Shaper is "the only way to regain your figure."
Really? Have exercise and nutrition somehow lost their effectiveness in helping a woman regain a shapely, sexy, feminine body? I understand the producers of this commercial are doing their best to sell a product, but the "only way" claim is outright falsehood. Millions of people can attest to the figure-enhancing benefits of regular cardiovascular and weight-training exercise, as they can to the REAL self-image boosting that occurs when a person drops fat rather than just hiding it.
Always keep this in mind - fitness is about looking good with your clothes off, not with your clothes on. If what you see in the mirror after a shower doesn't impress you, it's time to hit the ground running - literally.
Score Kymaro's New Body Shaper as a big fat ZERO on the Wo40 fitness scale. Save your $39.95 + s/h for a more useful purpose - like CytoSport's Muscle Milk, for example!
Be well!
]]>The label of this product makes a variety of claims about the activity of the ingredients and their effectiveness in helping the user trim body fat and build lean muscle mass. The label is basically a commercial for the product itself.
Despite the volume of information found on the label of Muscle Milk, the product inside the jar is quite honestly one of the better-tasting protien products I've ever tasted. The consistency isn't too thin nor does it almost require a spoon in order to be consumed. With 24 flavors to choose from, there is certainly a flavor for every palate out there. The chocolate flavor is very similar in flavor to a restaurant-quality milk shake.
Overall, I have to recommend this product as both a pre- and post-workout meal choice based on the quality of proteins it contains and the very pleasing consistency and flavor of the drink.
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First, a quick overview of the nutritional information on this cereal:
There are a couple of things that might make this cereal look unappealing at first glance. The first is that it is organic, which some people have a tendency to equate with being bland. The second point of departure might happen when someone sees that the cereal contains both flax seeds and pumpkin seeds. Addressing the first point, while organic cereals have a tendency to be a bit boring, this cereal is actually quite pleasant due to the inclusion of organic cinnamon and organic molasses. It is just sweet enough to pique the tastebuds without overdoing the sugar content. On the second point, the flax and pumpkin seeds pass rather unnoticed while eating this cereal. Perhaps the only real taste effect of the flax is a slightly oily consistency. If you've ever taken flax seed oil as a supplement, you'll find that eating this cereal is a far superior tasting means of taking in the beneficial fats of flax.
Speaking of fats, the 10g of fats are exclusively found in the cereal when skim milk is added. 55% of the daily RDV of omega-3 fats can be consumed in one serving of Flax Plus, which is a real benefit to those trying to reduce bodyfat stores.
300 calories is a fairly decent calorie count for the first meal of the day. There's enough natural sugar to bring an end to night-fast sugar crashes, which can provide a ready source of energy for the early morning hours. The cereal is lacking in protein content, so adding a light protein source (lowfat cottage cheese, a slice of lean ham, etc.) to supplement the cereal isn't a bad idea.
From a cost perspective, the cereal does very well. In North Carolina, the cereal is retailing for less than $3.00 per box. With 6 servings per box, that equates to just about $.75 per meal when milk is factored in. It's hard to beat that price, especially when the average "quick" breakfast from a fast-food joint is going to cost at least $4.00.
If pumpkin seeds and flax aren't your thing, there are 4 other varieties of the Nature's Path organic granola cereals: Pomegranate Plus, Vanilla Almond Flax Plus, Agave Plus, and Hemp Plus. My only other experience with Nature's Path granola cereals is with the Pomegranate Plus cereal, which was very tasty and relatively equal in nutritional content to the Pumpkin Flax Plus.
Let's Review:
Nature's Path Organic Pumpkin Flax Plus Cereal
Happy Healthy Eating!
Be well!!
]]>Muscle magazines have a notorious reputation for being little more than a collection of trivial articles embedded with tons of advertisements and other fluff content. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that most of the body builders featured in such magazines, especially in the ads, are artificially enhanced monsters who bear no resemblance to normal people who lift weights. They have abandoned exercise for the sake of health and entered the realm of extreme vanity.
All deference to Mr. Marquardt, who does NOT appear to be steroidally enhanced and could seriously screw me up in a fight!
While this edition of Muscle & Fitness magazine doesn't report any stories on the next up-and-coming steroid beast, it doesn't disappoint in the content-versus-advertisement arena. Within its 248 pages (not counting inside front cover, inside back cover, and back cover - all of which are full-page ads) are the following breakdowns:
There was a bit of generosity on my part with these numbers due to the fact that there are small ads on the same pages as actual articles. Rather than counting half-pages, I simply credited the page as an article.
The "Fluff" consisted of the following:
The "Junk" consisted of 2 pages of Table of Contents and 2 pages of staff listings for Muscle & Fitness Magazine. A bit of generosity was offered here as well, since both of the Staff pages were 1/3 page margin advertisements.
The really difficult part of reading this magazine is sifting through the chaffe to find the wheat. There's A LOT of worthless supplement advertisement to be found in this magazine. Since I've already addressed the supplementation issue in another article, suffice it to say that the ad pages are all pretty much dead space to any readers of weightingon40.
However, the publishers of Muscle & Fitness take the confusion a couple steps further by putting a page of article beside a page of advertising. For example, in their article "Freq Out" (a discussion of workout frequency with a workout program outline - page 110), there is a 2 page pictoral title followed by a page of the actual text of the article (pages 110-112). The next 10 pages are: advertisement (113), program routine (114), advertisement (115), program (116), advertisement (117), program (118), advertisement (119), more article text (120), advertisement (121), article conclusion (122). Included (but not counted as page content) is a pull-out workout reference card to carry to the gym. Very handy, except I almost missed it between advertisments.
Another bothersome aspect of this magazine is the fact that ads can be dressed to look like articles. I started reading what I thought was an article about improving my sex life only to discover that it was an ad for a male enhancement pill. It's probably a good thing that there was little useful information in the "article" - I'm not sure Alice could handle me being more interested in sex than I already am! ;-)
Regarding the actual (real) articles, there is indeed much good information on nutrition and exercise interspersed between the pages and pages of advertising. There are some pretty tasty sounding recipes and information on various foods. The workouts presented in the various articles (including the Freq Out article and another on police Training Tactics) look intense and would be beneficial in shocking muscle into growth.
There are a few "fluff" articles that I counted as fitness articles despite the fact that they give no real meaningful fitness information to the reader. Sure, it's interesting to read about new training equipment that my small-town gym will likely never buy. So is reading about the 10 toughest gyms in the United States, none of which are near my not-so-tough hometown (the closest one to me is in Florida). Neither of these articles, however, is going to help me shed the last 10-15 pounds of fat or help me increase the size of my quads.
Perhaps the most telling detail in this issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine is that the first 42 pages of the magazine are either Fluff, Junk, or Advertising. There is ZERO meaningful content in the first 1/6th of the magazine's pages. This fairly proves to me that my interests as a reader must survive the constant pummeling of advertising in order to be fed. Personally, I'd rather not deal with it.
You could probably read the salient portions of this magazine in an hour while sipping a skinny latte at Books-a-Million. Unless you really want the training regimens or recipes offered in the magazine, you're probably better off keeping the $6.99 you'd have to pay to carry the magazine home with you.
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