What To Do After A Bikram Yoga Class

When you hear your teacher saying “Namaste” to the class you now that you have made it: the 90 minutes in Bikram’s “torture chamber” are over.
You have twisted your body in all possible ways, locked your knee, kick your butt big time, and sweat tons. Now it’s time to give yourself a well deserved reward for all this effort but before that you wanna make sure to take care of your body.
Why? Because after every intense workout you should spend some time focusing on your body before going back to your daily routine. And this is even more true when you’re dealing with Bikram Yoga...

Why A Lot Things That Taste Bad Are Good For You

I bet you always had the suspicion that there was some correlation between bad tasting food and its health benefits.
As far as I’m concerned every time I make myself a green juice I get more than a mere suspicion: it has to be good for me otherwise why all the pain of drinking this gross tasting stuff?
And what about broccoli? I eat them everyday and I’m accustomed to the taste but I cannot say that I find them to be the better tasting food on the planet. But as they are one of the most healthy food on the planet I just go for it thinking that it’s totally worth to sacrifice the taste for the health.
Not to mention Brussel Sprouts...my food nightmare.
So the suspicion that there must be a correlation between bad taste and healthy benefits of food grew in me to a point of almost certainty.
And, I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG! In fact, a recent study conducted by a team of researches of the University of Washington confirmed that since the phytonutrients (that have been long associated with cancer prevention and other health benefits) have a bitter, acid or astringent taste the food industry has worked over the decades to remove them.

Taylor Kitsch Five Rules Of Leaness

Today we are talking about the the five golden rules of “leaness” according to Canadian actor and model Taylor Kitsch.
Taylor has modeled for Diesel and Abercrombie & Fitch, he portrayed Gambit in the X-Men franchise spinoff “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and football player Tim Riggins in the NBC series “Friday Night Lights”.
In 2012 he will be portraying John Carter in science fiction action adventure film “John Carter”, the heroic protagonist of Edgar Rice Burroughs' 11-volume Barsoom series.
But that’s not it. Taylor is also a certified nutritionist and personal trainer.
So you might have figured out by now that Talyor Kitsch is not a novice when it comes to training, health and well-being.
That is why his five rule of leaness (that he unveiled in an interview to MensHealth) totally make sense and if you manage to follow them well you might end up in an A&F campaign or in a major blockbuster movie...

The Tale Of Prosciutto Crudo San Daniele

Today we're talking about Prosciutto Crudo San Daniele, one of the most famous raw hams in the world. The name itself denotes its origin: San Daniele in Friuli (North-East of Italy).
Prosciutto Crudo San Daniele is produced with traditional methods dating back to the Celts period.
It’s a completely natural food, free from additives and preservatives, made with sea salt and pork coming exclusively from 100% Italian organic meat.

Running: 4 Simple Steps To Good Form

I borrowed this image from www.goodformrunningaz.com
I think it’s just genius and explains perfectly how to achieve good form in running.
Everybody can run but only few are good runners. I run everyday and see hundreds of runners but only few good ones. So read this carefully and become a better runner!

Tomato Paste: Better Than Botox?

My 4 years old niece Irene is, unlike other kids, not crazy about sugary or junk foods; instead she loves eating bulgur, quinoa and/or brown rice mixed with a ton of tomato paste.
I was a little bit concerned that a kid was eating all that tomato paste so I did some research and discover some amazing things about it. So yes, the 4 years old kid was right all along...
In particular, high consumption of tomato paste has been found - according to a recent research - to improve skin health, thanks to its high concentration of lycopene.

Be Ready For The Runway

Yesterday was the last day of NYC Fashion Week, today the fashion crowd moved to London, then it will be Milan turn and finally the curtains will close in Paris. A whole month of fashion, probably more than you can actually chew. But don’t worry I’m not gonna talk about fashion here, there are hundreds of thousands of blogs that will cover every inch of the shows.
What I want to discuss with you is how models get themselves ready to step on the runways. Because let me tell you, nothing happens by chance, and models put a lot of effort and sacrifice in order to look perfect.
And I’m sure that there are some tips you could use to your own benefit. I mean, we encounter endless situations in our life where we want and need to at look at our best: there’s nothing bad about that.
Whatever the reasons to look perfect here are several “secrets” that models use in order to enhance definition, make their skin glowing and look sharp.
We’re sure that if you follow them you’ll be ready to rock you own runway.

Michael Kors ss2012 @NYFW

Michael Pollan's 7 Rules For Eating

Have you ever heard of Mr. Michael Pollan? If not you should better get on board because he’s one individual capable of changing the way you think about food.
Michael Pollan is an American author, journalist, activist, and, last but not least, a professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. He’s been described as a liberal foodie intellectual but what’s most relevant about him it’s his knowledge about food and, moreover, the food industry.
For the past twenty-five years, he has been writing books and articles about the places where nature and culture intersect: on our plates, in our farms and gardens, and in the built environment. He has wrote some pretty relevant stuff, including one of my favorite books of all time The Omnivore’s Dilemma that I will soon review here on TIY.
Pollan strongly believes that Americans suffer a national eating disorder: the unhealthy obsession with healthy living. "The French paradox is that they have better heart health than we do despite being a cheese-eating, wine-swilling, fois-gras-gobbling people," Pollan said. "The American paradox is we are a people who worry unreasonably about dietary health yet have the worst diet in the world."
In various parts of the world, Pollan noted, necessity has forced human beings to adapt to all kinds of diets.
"The Masai subsist on cattle blood and meat and milk and little else. Native Americans subsist on beans and maize. And the Inuit in Greenland subsist on whale blubber and a little bit of lichen," he said. "The irony is, the one diet we have invented for ourselves -- the Western diet -- is the one that makes us sick."
Increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease in the U.S. can be traced to our unhealthy diet. So how do we change?

Hurray For Chocolate!

We have praised the benefits of dark chocolate and cacao nibs already in two different posts but hear this out: a brand new research published yesterday in the BMJ (British medical journal) concludes that the consumption of chocolate is linked to better heart health.
We can actually say it: “Hurray for chocolate!"

Book Review: Nutrition Periodization for Athletes

Time for another book review, this time we’re talking about “Nutrition Periodization for Athletes: Taking Traditional Sports Nutrition to the Next Level” by 2008 Olympic Dietitian Bob Seebohar published by Bull Publishing Company.
This is the kind of reading we love here @TheIronYou, as it underscores all the things we believe in.
If you’re looking for something to read that eventually will help you with your training (and life) well, this is the book for you.