Learn to Love Morning Workouts

This post was written by guest contributor Angela Simpson, a Fitness Instructor Specialist, Nutrition & Wellness Specialist, and blogger at Eat Spin Run Repeat.  All views and opinions expressed in the piece are hers.

Throwing back the covers may feel like a Herculean feat when it’s still dark outside. But during my seven years (and counting) of commitment to my morning sweat date, I’ve come to find the effort is well worth it.

My family moved from Canada to the Middle East when I was 13, and due to culture shock, initial unhappiness, and just plain laziness, I gained a lot of weight. As a kid I’d been super active, but once we moved, the opportunities for physical activity weren’t as plentiful as they’d been for me back home. At 16, I decided to do something about it. I vowed to lose the weight I’d gained by replacing the junk in my diet with nutritious foods. I started running on a nearby track and played golf about five times each week. My family also purchased an elliptical trainer and a rowing machine, and I made a one-hour non-negotiable cardio date with these machines every morning. That hour before anyone else in my house woke up was my me-time. And it didn’t take long before I noticed the scale tipping – this time in my favor.

Two years and 70 pounds later, I was back in Canada, running races for my university’s varsity cross-country team and training to become a group fitness instructor. Even today, I find time for some physical activity well before the sun comes up — whether it’s running, strength training, teaching spin classes, or doing yoga. Sure, it’d be nice to lie in bed a little longer on some days, but that would mean postponing my workout until later when other commitments might get in the way.

And it turns out there are a lot of other early risers out there! Last year, a new member walked into my 6 am spin class and said to me, “I don’t know how you get up this early and have enough energy to work out.” Still, she was determined to develop her cardiovascular fitness. Since she didn’t have time to get to the gym after work, she turned up to my Monday morning class almost every week without fail. Now she even shows up at the gym before I do to squeeze in some strength training before we hop on the bikes. How’s that for a positive life change!

10 Tips For Becoming a Morning Gym-Goer:

1. Schedule it. You probably wouldn’t miss an appointment with your doctor, your dentist, or your hairdresser. Just like these appointments, make your morning exercise session something you can’t skip.
2. Get out your gear the night before. That way, you won’t arrive at the gym without socks or with your shirt inside-out.
3. Write it down. Jot down an exact workout plan before going to bed. When you wake up, you won’t have to think about what machine to do next or how long you’re going to run.
4. Consider a workout you have to pay for. I used to work out with a trainer at 5 am, and some days it was very tempting to stay in bed. But then I’d think about how much money I’d waste if I missed a session, and a few minutes later I was out the door and on my way. A commitment to personal training sessions or small group fitness workouts like TRX might help make sure you get out of bed.
5. Find a buddy. Maybe it’s a friend you already know, or maybe it’s someone you meet on your first early-morning trip to the gym. Make a commitment to each other that you’ll show up and hold each other accountable.
6. Make it a competition… with a reward, of course! If you and a gym buddy are both on a quest to make early exercise dates a habit, come up with a little challenge. Maybe you’ll decide the first one to miss a day has to do 20 extra push-ups. If you’re working out solo, treat yourself to new gym gear after a solid month’s worth of commitment.
7. Do a class. Many gyms offer one-hour classes that start around 6 am. Since no one wants to be the person that walks out in the middle of the class, I’d be willing to bet you’ll stay through the end.
8. Take baby steps. Start by setting back your alarm by five minutes this week. Next week, go for another five. You’ll be getting up an hour earlier before you know it.
9. Have something tasty to look forward to. Some experts say the golden window for post-workout nutrition is 30 to 60 minutes after we finish exercising, so make breakfast your next priority. Try a blended smoothie with greens, protein powder, and frozen berries or a parfait with granola, yogurt, and fresh fruit.
10. Preserve those endorphins! Make great feelings last by writing them down. The next time you think hitting snooze sounds like a better idea than lacing up, read what you wrote and remind yourself how on-top-of-the-world you felt last time. Then get moving!

Workout Nurition

FIVE TIPS TO FALL IN LOVE WITH RUNNING

Yes, it is true.  YOU can fall in Love with running too. Yes, you. 

It occurred to me today that my blog, Running For Dummies, has yet to give any advice for new runners.  I am always quick to point out my blog name is tongue-in-cheek.  This blog is not intended to be an instruction manual for runners.  I'm the dummy here, sharing my growth experiences along the way.  I have such a passion for running and I wanted to share with you how I got there, so maybe you can fall in love too.

Here are my five tips to fall in love with running.

1. Step out of your comfort zone.  

The one thing I always hear from my friends who don't run is, "I can't run, I hate running."  

Lets first talk about why you might hate a certain exercise.  I used to hate planks. When I was in boot camp we did a one minute plank at the end of each session.  If one person in the group dropped before a minute, the whole group had to do it again!  I would stress-out over those planks.  I would spend the entire one hour boot camp class thinking about and dreading that one minute at the end.  Why did I hate it? Because it was hard! Why was it hard? Because I wasn't good at them.  Why wasn't I good at them? Because I hardly ever did them!  So I started doing one plank a day, every day, with no time requirements.  I would just hold as long as I could.  Sometimes back in boot camp I would struggle to hold it for that one minute.  After doing a plank every day over a period of a six months, my plank record is 7:30 continuous minutes!.  Do I hate planks now? No. Why not? Because I can rock a plank!  Is it still hard? Yes, sometimes. But do I love it? Yes! 

The moral of the story is that if you want to love to run, you have to do it.  You have to fight through the uncomfortable feelings in the beginning.  You have to accept the fact that it will be difficult at first. If you decide not to do something because you are not good at it (yet), you are missing out on the opportunity to grow.  You don't have to be good at it, you just have to do it consistently.  You will get better, it will get easier.  I promise.

2. Go Slow.

The biggest mistake I made as new runner all those years ago is that I started off too fast.  I would head out at a pace that is too fast to sustain and then get frustrated and ready to give up before I reached the end of the block.  Start off slow.  Go even slower than you think you can.  Give your body time to adapt to this new exercise.  You can worry about speed later, right now work on endurance.

3. Do Run/Walk Intervals.

There is no shame in walking.  The ultimate goal may be to run continuously without walk breaks, but in order to get there, you have to build up to it.  Start your run at a slow pace and maintain it as long as you can.  When you feel that you need to walk to recover your breath, take a walk break but keep moving forward.  As soon as your breath is recovered, pick back up into a jog again.  This is where it is important to be honest with yourself.  Only walk when you need a breather and start running again immediately when you catch your breath.  Don't stop and walk if your breathing is fine, just because it may be a place on your route where you usually stop and walk.  Don't walk a moment longer than you need to, because this is where the magic happens.  You will find that over time that your running intervals will get longer and your walk breaks will get shorter.  Before you know it, you won't need to take walk breaks at all.

4. Avoid Treadmills (at first).

I am not denying that treadmills have their place in training.  My treadmill runs were instrumental in my speed work training.  Treadmills can be beneficial in so many ways.  They allow you to have strict control over your pace and time, they provide shelter from the weather and a safe environment to run.  However, right now we are trying to fall in love with running.  I don't think anyone ever fell in love with running on the dreadmill treadmill.  When someone tells me that they hate running, but they only tried to run on the treadmill at the gym, I say D'uh!  Almost everyone hates the treadmill.  I love to run with a passion, but even I dread the treadmill.  It can be boring and monotonous and that clock staring you in the face can play major tricks on your mind.  Running is a mental game as much (or more than) a physical one.   I suggest starting your love affair by running in the fresh open air.

5. Buy Good Shoes.

When I first started running and some of my toenails fell off, someone finally enlightened me that I should be buying my running shoes at least a half size bigger than my street shoes.  Go to a running store, have them fit you for a pair of good quality running shoes.  Have your gait analyzed.  Specialty running stores usually perform this service for free.  If you are running in poor quality shoes that are too small and not the proper fit, you are needlessly making it harder on yourself.  The great thing about running is that it is free.  You don't need a gym membership or expensive equipment, you just need to invest in a good pair of shoes.

source: http://www.runningfordummies.net

Why Should You Do Interval Workouts?

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What are Interval Workouts?

Interval workouts, also known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), consist of alternating intense bursts of activity with less intense aerobic activity. You do this off and on throughout an entire workout.

For instance, you alternate between sprints and easy jogs, counting 1 minute for sprints and 2 minutes for jogs, or you can just sprint for as long as you can and jog when you need to. 

How to stay forever young

Research shows that certain foods can lessen the degree to which the effects of ageing show. Stem the years with a well-balanced diet and an active lifestyle. Here’s how.

Eat more tomatoes

Tomatoes are a rich source of lycopene – a powerful antioxidant that protects against coronary hear disease and cancer – especially cancer of the lung, stomach, mouth or colon.

Add garlic and ginger to your cooking

Garlic has antioxidants, antiseptic, antibacterial and antiviral properties and can reduce high blood pressure, lower HDL (bad fats) cholesterol and triglycerides, reduce blood stickiness and dilate blood vessels. It is also helpful in treating intestinal, respiratory and skin infections. It is believed that eating a clove of garlic a day helps to protect the body against cancer and heart disease.

Replace two meat dishes per week with soybean alternatives

Complete protein and low in fat, soybeans (i.e tofu, edamame beans and legumes) contain isoflavones that help to prevent ageing due to hormone imbalances. Soy may protect against breast and prostate cancers, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis and heart disease. Soy helps to maintain oestrogen levels in menopausal women too.

Detox with berries

All black and blue berries such as blackberries, blueberries, blackcurrant and black grapes contain phytochemicals, powerful antioxidants.

Snack on nuts and seeds instead of high sugar foods

Nuts and seeds are rich in vitamin E, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, selenium and essential fatty acids like omega-3 fatty acids (food for your skin!). Eat a handful, about 30 g daily. Note the nutritional details of nuts and seeds as some have a higher fat content than others.

Complete breakfast with a low fat yoghurt drink

Yogurt (and yoghurt drinks like laban) help to boost immunity and improve digestion and the absorption of nutrients from the gut.

Sweeten food with honey

The research carried out in 2007 on rats at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand revealed that honey could be used to combat the effects of ageing, including memory decline and anxiety. Researcher Nicola Starkey says: “Diets sweetened with honey may be beneficial in decreasing anxiety and improving memory during ageing.” Honey contains natural sugar so will help to satisfy your sweet cravings too.

Get out more

Alright, it’s not a food, but sunshine is good for you. Elderly people are at risk of developing heart disease and diabetes due to a vitamin D deficiency as a result of natural aging process. They can reduce their risk by spending more time in the sunshine to boost vitamin D in the skin, as revealed by the study done by Dr Oscar Franco at Warwick Medical School and published in Diabetes Care Journal 2009.

How to get legs like Joanna Lumley

She still looks absolutely fabulous at 66, though her svelte legs owe nothing to the gym, but to walking everywhere.

‘I don’t exercise, but I rush up and down stairs and run around rather than ambling,’ she says. 

Joanna Lumley, 66, eats a vegetarian diet, never has a mid-day meal and rarely eats breakfast

She also credits her youthful appearance to vitamin supplements, flaxseed oil and a vegetarian diet on which she never has a mid-day meal and rarely eats breakfast. 

‘I find it helps not to wake my stomach up because if I had a good, big breakfast, I’d then be ready for a three-course lunch, then a cocktail and an enormous dinner,’ Lumley has said.

TRY THIS: Single leg circles for lean thighs. Lie on your back on a mat with your arms by your sides (palms down). 

Raise your left leg into the air, pointing your foot towards the ceiling. 

Rotate your leg out to the side (keeping it straight and toes pointed), then trace a circle on the ceiling. 

Move your whole leg leading with the foot, but keep your hips still. 

Don’t let the left hip come off the floor. Trace a clockwise circle five times on the ceiling, then five times anti-clockwise.

Return to start position and repeat with right leg.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2232011/Joanna-Lumleys-legs-Secrets-A-list-body.html#ixzz2C6aDXWd7 

10 Daily Gut Busters

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Don't let "lose my spare tire" find its way onto your list of failed resolutions this year. It doesn't have to be a struggle! With just a few simple changes to your daily routine, you can fire up your metabolism and say goodbye to fat forever . Make these strategies a way of life, and you'll find your six-pack in no time.

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1. Eat eggs for breakfast

A study in Nutrition Research found that people who egg it up consume fewer total calories the rest of the day. 

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2. Stand up

Stand up whenever you read or take a phone call at work. (You can also use a stand-up desk.) Standing burns 1 1/2 times more calories than sitting does. 

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3. Don't eat meals in front of the TV

In a University of Massachusetts study, people who did that took in nearly 300 more calories a day.

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4. Weigh yourself each week

Three out of four successful dieters do this, the American College of Sports Medicine Health & Fitness Journal reports.

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5. Have an apple

At lunch, have an apple instead of apple juice. Chewing triggers satiety, so you'll likely consume nearly 15 percent fewer calories, notes the journal Appetite.

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6. Mix a shake

Consuming 55 grams of whey protein a day for 23 weeks can leave you 4 pounds lighter than if you'd eaten those calories in carbs, USDA scientists say.

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7. Put produce at eye level

You're 2.7 times more likely to eat healthy food if it's in your line of sight, say scientists at Cornell University.

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8. Clean the house

People with the most spic-and-span abodes have the highest levels of physical activity, research from Indiana University reveals.

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9. Add chickpeas to soup

Toss a half cup of chickpeas into your next pot of winter soup. You'll tack 6 more grams of flab-fighting fiber onto your bottom line.

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10. Drink skim milk

Got milk? Drinking 2 1/2 cups of skim milk in the a.m. instead of the calorie equivalent in juice can lower calorie consumption by 8.5 percent, says an Australian study.

13 Things You Never Knew About Your Weight

1. It Really Is Genetic

When scientists first discovered it in certain chubby mice, they called it simply the fatso gene. Years later, when they scoured the human genome for markers that increased vulnerability to type 2 diabetes, the fatso gene (now more politely called FTO) showed up there too. Turns out, people with two copies of the gene were 40 percent more likely to have diabetes and 60 percent more likely to be obese than those without it. Those with only one copy of the gene weighed more too. 

Scientists now suspect that there are lots of fat genes. "There could be as many as 100 of them," says Claude Bouchard, PhD, executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University System, "each adding a couple of pounds here and a pound or two there. That's a noticeable difference when it comes to how much more fat we need to burn off."

2. Some People Just Have More Fat Cells

And the range is enormous, with some people having twice as many fat cells as others have, says Kirsty Spalding, PhD, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Even if you've lost a few pounds (or gained some), your fat-cell count remains, holding tight to the fat already inside and forever thirsting to be filled up with more. (To add insult to injury, the fat cells of overweight and obese people hold more fat too.) 

New fat cells emerge during childhood but seem to stop by adolescence. Those of us destined to have a lot of these cells probably start producing them as young as age two. The cells' rate of growth may be faster, too-even if kids cut way back on calories. 

Strangers have written to Spalding, telling her how depressed they are by her research. But she says her news isn't all bleak. You're better off with more fat cells, she says, than with fewer fat cells that become overstuffed and enlarged. (New research suggests that the overstuffed group are more vulnerable to obesity—related health complications.) So while you can't reduce your total number of fat cells, there are things you can do to keep them small.

3. You Can Change Your Metabolism

Another Scandinavian team looked into what happens at the cellular level when you gain weight. Kirsi Pietiläinen, PhD, an assistant professor of nutrition at Helsinki University Central Hospital, studied sets of twins where one was fat and the other thin, and learned that fat cells in heavier twins underwent metabolic changes that make it more difficult to burn fat. Pietiläinen's team suspects that gaining as little as 11 pounds can slow metabolism and send you spiraling into a vicious cycle: As you gain more fat, it becomes harder to lose it. 

How to get back on track? "The more I learn on the job, the more I'm convinced we need physical activity," Pietiläinen says. Once a chubby child herself, she now runs regularly and is at a healthy weight. 

4. Stress Fattens You Up

The most direct route is the food-in-mouth syndrome: Stressful circumstances (your bank account, your boss) spark cravings for carbohydrate-rich snack foods, which in turn calm stress hormones. (When researchers in one study took away high-carb food from stressed mice, their stress hormones surged.)

Stress hormones also ramp up fat storage. For our prehistoric ancestors, stress meant drought or approaching tigers, and a rapid-storage process made sense; we needed the extra energy to survive food shortages or do battle. Today we take our stress sitting down—and the unused calories accumulate in our midsection. 

To whittle yourself back down to size, in addition to your usual workout routine, make time for stress relief—whether it's a yoga class or quality time with family.

5. Mom's Pregnancy Sealed Your Fate

A mother's cigarettes increase the risk of low birth weight, and alcohol can damage her baby's brain. So why wouldn't unhealthy foods wreak similar havoc? A growing body of science suggests that sugary and fatty foods, consumed even before you're born, do exactly that. A Pennington study on rodents reports that overweight females have higher levels of glucose and free fatty acids floating around in the womb than normal-weight ones do. These molecules trigger the release of proteins that can upset the appetite-control and metabolic systems in the developing brain. 

What's true for mice is often true for humans too. Doctors from State University of New York Downstate Medical Center compared children born before their mothers had gastric bypass surgery with siblings born later. Women weighed less after the surgery, as expected, but their children were also half as likely to be obese. Because siblings have such similar genetic profiles, the researchers attributed the weight differences to changes in the womb environment. Moms-to-be, take note: You can give your kids a head start by eating well before they're born.

6. Sleep More, Lose More

When patients see Louis Aronne, MD, past president of the Obesity Society and author of the forthcoming book The Skinny, they're as likely to have their sleep assessed as their eating habits. If patients are getting less than seven to eight hours, Dr. Aronne may prescribe more shut-eye rather than the latest diet or drug. With more sleep, he says, "they have a greater sense of fullness, and they'll spontaneously lose weight."

Why? University of Chicago researchers reported that sleep deprivation upsets our hormone balance, triggering both a decrease in leptin (which helps you feel full) and an increase of ghrelin (which triggers hunger). As a result, we think we're hungry even though we aren't—and so we eat. Indeed, sleep may be the cheapest and easiest obesity treatment there is.

7. Your Spouse's Weight Matters

When Jodi Dixon's six-foot-two, 360-pound husband lost 125 pounds, she had mixed feelings. She was the one who always watched her weight and exercised; she was always the one trying to get her husband to be more active. Mort, a medical sales rep, was always the life of the party, says his wife, a 43-year-old mother of two in Freehold, New Jersey. But when he lost the weight, it was different. 

"Men and women would flock to him, drawn to his charisma," she recalls. "I felt jealous." Dixon comforted herself with food and gained 20 pounds before she decided to take action. She began biking with her husband and enrolled in a diet program. Eventually she trimmed down, too, shedding 30 pounds, and has her sights on losing more.

Dixon credits the weight gain, and the loss, to her jealousy. But research shows that weight gain and loss can be, well, contagious. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that if one spouse is obese, the other is 37 percent more likely to become obese too. The researchers concluded that obesity seems to spread through social networks. 

As in Dixon's case, slimming down seems to be catching, at least within the family: When Dixon launched her weight-loss plan, her eldest daughter, also overweight, followed her mom's healthy habits and lost 40 pounds.

8. Achoo! A Virus Can Cause Obesity

Adenoviruses are responsible for a host of ills, from upper respiratory tract problems to gastrointestinal troubles. The link to fat was uncovered when researchers at the University of Wisconsin injected chickens with the viruses and found that certain strains fattened them up. 

Stem cells, known for their chameleonlike abilities to transform, also turned into fat cells when infected with the viruses. "The virus seems to increase the number of fat cells in the body as well as the fat content of these cells," says Nikhil Dhurandhar, PhD, now an associate professor of infections and obesity at Pennington. 

Human studies, including comparisons of twins, suggest that obese people are indeed more likely to harbor antibodies for a particular virus, known as adenovirus-36. 

We have flu shots; could an obesity vaccine be the next step? It may sound far-fetched, but "that's what they said about cervical cancer too," says Dhurandhar. 

9. Cookies Really Are Addictive

While food is not addictive the way cocaine or alcohol is, scientists in recent years have found some uncanny similarities. When subjects at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia were shown the names of foods they liked, the parts of the brain that got excited were the same parts activated in drug addicts. It may have to do with dopamine, the hormone linked to motivation and pleasure, say researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York. If obese people have fewer dopamine receptors, they may need more food to get that pleasurable reaction.

10. Ear Infections Can Taint Your Taste Buds

For years, the team at Linda Bartoshuk's taste lab at the University of Florida wondered why people who tasted food less intensely than others seemed more likely to be fat. Researcher Derek Snyder had a theory: Could an ear infection, which can damage a taste nerve running through the middle ear, be the missing link? After tabulating 6,584 questionnaires, the team discovered that those over 35 who had suffered several ear infections had almost double the chance of being obese. 

Responses to additional questions provided clues as to why. Former ear-infection patients were a little more likely to love sweets and fatty foods—perhaps because the damaged nerve causes them to have a higher threshold for sensing sweetness and fattiness. Even a small increase in calories from bad food choices adds up over time. 

Childhood ear infections are as hard to avoid as the colds that tend to bring them on, but limiting passive smoke seems to drive down incidents of ear infection. If you're an overweight adult who suffered a severe ear infection as a child, it may be worth paying attention to the taste and texture of your food. Simply finding healthier substitutes, such as fruit instead of candy, or olive oil instead of butter, may help drive you toward eating better and weighing less. 

11. Antioxidants Are Also Anti-Fat

Free radicals are now blamed not only for making you look old but also for making you fat. Zane Andrews, PhD, a neuroendocrinologist at Monash University in Australia, says these oxidizing molecules damage the cells that tell us we're full. Free radicals emerge when we eat (something even the keenest dieter must do to survive), but they're especially prevalent when we gorge on candy bars, chips, and other carbohydrates. With every passing year, these fullness signifiers suffer wear and tear-causing the "stop eating!" signal to get weaker and appetites (and possibly our stomachs) to get bigger. The best way to fight back? Avoid the junk and load up on colorful, antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables.

12. Pick a Diet, Any Diet

As established diet books constantly reinvent themselves to sell copies and win converts, a curious phenomenon has emerged: Ornish, Atkins, and everyone in between are sounding remarkably similar. The low-fat gurus now say that certain fats are okay, while the low-carb proponents are beginning to endorse whole grains. With every new guideline and selling point, each diet acknowledges that there are really four basic rules to healthy eating (drumroll, please):

• Consume carbs in the form of whole grains and fiber.
• Avoid trans fats and saturated fats.
• Eat lean protein.
• Fill up on fruits and vegetables.

The low-carb South Beach Diet, for example, now espouses the virtues of eating the Mediterranean way-including lots of carbohydrate-rich fruits and vegetables. The latest Atkins book emphasizes the "good carb" message too. Weight Watchers, a champion of the points system, is now offering a "no counting" option based on healthy choices like those above. Jenny Craig is pushing Volumetrics, a high-volume, low-calorie strategy. And everyone gives a thumbs-down to processed and sugary carbohydrates, which cause insulin to spike and can lead to more fat and even diabetes. 

Low-fat-diet guru Dean Ornish, MD, says, "It's the end of the diet wars." His most recent book, The Spectrum, even offers recipes that can be prepared in various "degrees"-from a vegetable chili served plain (low-fat) to one served with olives (more fat) to still another served with turkey breast sausage (still more fat). 

The key to all of this, of course, is moderation rather than deprivation -- eating in a way you can live with. And for some people, an important side effect of eating more plant-based foods is that it's better for the environment.

13. You Can Be Fat and Fit 

A growing body of literature suggests that size doesn't matter when it comes to your health. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine surveyed 5,440 American adults and found that 51 percent of the overweight and almost 32 percent of the obese had mostly normal cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure, and other measures of good health. 

Further defying conventional wisdom, the article also reported that 23.5 percent of trim adults were, in fact, metabolically abnormal-making them more vulnerable to heart disease than their heavier counterparts. 

The latest U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report corroborates what our doctors have said all along: You need about 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five days a week for health. And you don't even have to do your exercise in one fell swoop-ten-minute stints of walking are just as effective. That means if you forgo the elevators for the stairs, get off one train or bus stop earlier, and park your car a few blocks away, chances are you'll be good for the day.

Remember Steven Blair, the self-described short, fat, bald guy? At age 69, his blood pressure is in check, his cholesterol levels are normal, and his heart is strong. What's more, he may have even more positive vital signs, according to his recent study in the journal Obesity: Men who are fit (determined by their performance on a treadmill) have a lower risk of dying of cancer than out-of-shape guys, regardless of their body mass index, waist size, or percentage of body fat. 

The news is heartening, says Blair: "We don't have great tools to change people's weight, but we know we can change their fitness levels.

source: rd.com