Attack of the Euro Giants - [Rufus]

Europeans are getting taller as Americans shrink, read the whole article here, http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/04/05/040405fa_fact?printable=true

"For centuries, he explained, governments have kept careful records of their soldiers’ heights, providing a baseline against which modern populations are compared...If you were to stretch a string from the head of the earliest soldier in that row to the head of the most recent recruit, you might expect it to trace an ascending line. Humans are an ever-improving species, the old evolution charts tell us; each generation is smarter, sleeker, and taller than the last. Yet in Northern Europe over the past twelve hundred years human stature has followed a U-shaped curve: from a high around 800 A.D., to a low sometime in the seventeenth century, and back up again. Charlemagne was well over six feet; the soldiers who stormed the Bastille a millennium later averaged five feet and weighed a hundred pounds. 'They didn’t look like Errol Flynn and Alan Hale,' the economist Robert Fogel told me. 'They looked like thirteen-year-old girls.'”

Would You Like Fries With That? - [Rufus]

O.K., I'm way out of my element here but I promised a post on diet, so here goes. I know little on this subject. I am not a calorie counter and really never "diet." I just know what I've observed about myself, and through watching others.

I think most women have different metabolisms than most men and things vary from individual to individual. Look around your own family; even the people you share DNA with react differently to different diets and foods. You've got to find what makes sense for you.

As stated earlier, stay away from "bad" sugar; processed sugar, candy, soda, packaged cookies and cakes... Regardless of the high calories, when I eat this stuff I'm hungry more often and I crave more high calorie foods. When I don't eat this stuff I feel better and more energetic.

Don't eat 4 hours before bedtime. This one is very important for me. My wife seems to be able to snack at night and not gain weight but when I want to lose weight this is the first rule I implement. Drink water, but don't eat. If you are an avid, late night snacker and you find yourself starving try this find a large, low calorie food item you can eat to make yourself feel full. Pickles and raw potatoes work for me. I like both, they are low calorie and filling.

As Blackhawk pointed out; eat breakfast. I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal. Well, I could give a lot of specifics about me, but that doesn't necessarily correlate to you, so the main thing is stay away from sweets (we don't need more diabetics in this country) and experiment with different stuff until you find what works. I also like Harry's suggestion of setting aside one day a week when you don't pay any attention to what you eat. I typically do that also, even when trying to lose weight.

Oh yeah, when you're in a restaurant try eating half a meal. Mrs. Firefly and I almost always split an entree when we go out and it's always enough. American restaurants serve huge portions. We typically split an entree and get one extra salad or side dish and it is plenty. Also, when out with our kids I sometimes won't order a meal because they will leave enough uneaten food to feed a grown man. Restaurants give kids too much food too, but kids are smart enough not to eat it all. So, save yourself some money and calories the next time you take your family out to eat.

The #1 Mistake Most Folks Make with Cardio Exercise - [Rufus]

O.K., Mrs. Right, this post's for you! Cardio exercise is great; good for body, mind and spirit. As I wrote previously we are built to move and when we move we feel good. However, most of us also exercise to be less fat. Have you ever met avid runners, cyclists and swimmers that are chunky? I ran the Chicago marathon a few years back and there were good runners that beat my time who looked like they just stepped away from their 3rd trip to the buffet line at Caesar's Palace. In other words, just because you do good, honest cardio exercise does not mean you will be svelte.

I hope blackhawk will chime in here because I'm speaking strictly from observation and personal experience, but there is a point of diminishing returns with cardio and the reason for that is the amazing adaptability of the human body I spoke of earlier. To state it very simply, the number one mistake most folks make with cardio exercise is they do not mix up the pace they exercise and they do not go fast enough. They think 30 minutes of running at a 10:00 mile pace is better than 15 minutes of running at a 7:30 pace. 30 minutes is twice as long, it has to be twice as effective, right? Wrong! Your body will adapt to whatever you ask it to do (within reason). If you ask it to run 3, 10:00 miles each day it will get good at that. Very good. Assuming you're starting from coach potato status you'll notice incredible changes the first month. The first week will be a challenge, by the end of the second week you'll hit a groove and by the end of the month you'll be able to do it and carry on a conversation for the entire half hour. Your body is no longer being pushed.

Do not get me wrong; running 3, 10:00 miles is still far, far better than sitting on a couch watching an episode of "The Office," but you are up against the law of diminishing returns. The first few weeks you've really shocked your body, now it's used to the routine and it has adapted. If you like running 10:00 miles do it! That's fantastic! However, if you want to get lean you're going to find you hit a wall that you cannot get around without severe dietary restrictions.

Now, this gets into rather complex stuff. If you have no experience as a competitive athlete you really ought to work with someone who does if you are going to begin a cardio program featuring intervals of intense work. I have a lot of years of football and track work-outs under the tutelage of trained coaches and a lot of years of running and cycling with others and I still make mistakes in my cardio training that lead to minor injuries. In order to do this right you are going to have to push yourself and it is very important to know the difference between "good" pain and "bad" pain. And, you'll need someone to build some paces and durations that make sense for where you are, and continue to push you as you improve. For more information on this concept google "interval training" or "fartlek." I just did that and found this decent little video someone posted in relation to walking. It really helps emphasize the point that this is relative. You don't have to be an elite athlete or sprinter to benefit from intervals. You can even walk. You just have to push yourself out of your comfort level for brief intervals.

Have fun!