The Calories?! You Can’t HANDLE the Calories!

Well, sure you can Jack.  It is not that calories are bad, it is just that if you want to lose weight, you’ll need to control the amount you are taking in so that you won’t have as much to work off. 

Foods that are lower in calories but rich in nutrients are the healthiest for you.  Think whole-grain breads and cereals, rice, beans, vegetables, and fruits.  The opposite of this are foods high in calories and low in nutrients.  You’ve heard the term, “empty calories,” which basically means calories without nutrients.  Alcohol is an example of this, as is candy and sugary foods.

What exactly is a calorie anyhow?  Since they show up near the top of every nutrition label, it seems like they might be some sort of nutrient.  But they are not.  A calorie is just a specific unit of heat. 

That’s important because heat is generated when your body processes food and the heat generates energy.  So calories, in essence, give you the energy you need to be active.  Where the problems start is if you take in a too many of them and then don’t complete the other side of the deal, being active and burning them off. 

The FDA in 2006 introduced the general guide to calories, which says a single-food item with 40 calories is low calorie, one with 100 calories is moderate calorie, and one with 400 calories is high calorie. 

Try entering a food in the search box at the Nutrition Data website.   It displays the nutrition facts for an enormous number of food and beverage items just as it would appear if on the side of the package.  And it gives you many choices for serving sizes so you can get more accurate.  It also includes some restaurant food such as McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Krispy Kreme, Pizza Hut, Starbuck’s, and Taco Bell – which hopefully you won’t need!

BUT IT IS NOT EVEN THE NFL SEASON RIGHT NOW!

Uh, yes, we are aware of that.  First of all, the NFL may have seasons, but your health is year-round.  That is why we created Training Camp as a scaled down version of Fantasy Healthball.  In Training Camp, just the like NFL pros, you focus on diet, nutrition, and exercise without actually playing the full game.  And you get or stay in shape for the 2008 Season.  Find out how by clicking here.  When the 2008 NFL season gets closer, we’ll add the full rules of Fantasy Healthball to the website and blog about them here.  If you are a prospective publisher and would like to see them now, just send us an email.  And if you are a fan and just can’t wait, we’ll send them to you too if you ask. 

Second of all, the boom of fantasy football is making NFL football a year-round sport.  What running back might be traded to a team with a good back already?  What player just got injured on his motorcycle/basketball court/strip club?  You may have noticed our streaming Fantasy Football news on the home page of this blog (right hand column below the “Users Say”).  That should give you a good idea of how football season is extending to 12 months these days.  With fantasy football a billion dollar industry, it can’t be contained to just the football season.  Likewise with Fantasy Healthball. 

More Player Feedback – Hair Club for Men

“I’m not only the Hair Club for Men president, I’m also a client!”  That is the old tv commercial quote that comes to mind when I write this post.  “I didn’t just co-create Fantasy Healthball, I’m also a player!”  Sure, Jeff and I created Fantasy Healthball to help Jeff, and the millions of other Americans who are overweight and obese and love sports, but what has come as a bit of a surprise is that our program can change your life no matter your starting weight and health!  Take me for example, I take a great amount of pride in the fact that I’m fit and healthy.  If you’ve read “Our Story” you know.  So while I was 100% confident that Fantasy Healthball would help Jeff and millions of others, I didn’t expect it would have too big of an effect on me.  I wasn’t looking to lose weight and I felt my nutrition and exercise had been pretty darn good. 

So we played with “our beta testers” throughout the 2007 NFL season.  And I’ve been playing Training Camp since the season ended.  Here is what happened:  I became much leaner, dropped about 10 pounds of body fat, I’m eating more fruits and vegetables than I ever have in my life, and I feel the healthiest I’ve ever felt.  And I’ll turn 40 this year.  I’m convinced all those vegetables (at least three servings a day) has caused a chronic colon issue I had to just evaporate as if it had never existed.  I can’t prove Fantasy Healthball did it.  All I know is that I had a many year painful condition that just disappeared after I started getting serious about fiber, adequate water, limiting red meat and alcohol, and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. 

 In the “Other category” (read about it here) I’ve been creating a new challenge for myself for the last month or so of 250 sit ups per day.  The first faint signs of ab muscles are starting to poke out my once undefined stomach.  If I squint and try to flex them, I can picture the Batman abdominal suit reflecting back at me.  If I keep at it, I can get there.  Since there are a bunch of other players working on their personal goals through this NFL off-season, I have the support I need to keep pushing.  I want that Batman suit by the time the 2008 NFL season starts.  I know Reggie Bush and LaDainian Tomlinson will have theirs.  So whether your goal is to drop 100 pounds or just to drink more water and eat more veggies, you are going to find it here.  We are here to help. 

Player Feedback

Though we launched www.fantasyhealthball.com just a short time ago, a group of people that we affectionately call “our beta testers” played Fantasy Healthball throughout the 2007 NFL season.  From time to time, we’ll post player feedback here and then keep a running list of feedback under our “Our Reviews” tab.  If you would like to send us your feedback, please post a comment to this blog or send us an email. 

Player HB:  “Fantasy Healthball has given me a structured and fun way to be and feel healthier.  I have always gotten sick easily.  This September my kids started preschool, they went from being at home full-time to being exposed to the toddler germ pool.  We had wave after wave of sickness, one week well, two weeks sick, for months.  Miraculously, I managed to stay healthy through this rollercoaster of colds.  I attribute this to the healthier lifestyle I have been practicing since I started Fantasy Healthball.  I am drinking sufficient water, getting regular exercise, sleeping well, avoiding sugar and processed foods, getting my servings of vegetables and fruits and taking my doctor prescribed medications and supplements.  My immune system is stronger, I am more alert and well rested, I have more energy and I have noticed a significant difference in my ability to maintain focus and energy at work.  I am not perfect, I don’t max out my scores for all my Healthpoint categories each week, but getting points in my categories 3 or more times a week has made a real difference in the way I feel.  I love the healthy structure that Fantasy Healthball has encouraged me to create and I love knowing that I am achieving my goals for an overall healthier lifestyle.  I would not be doing any of this without Fantasy Healthball and the competition and companionship of the other players.  This program is just hard enough to be challenging and easy enough that you don’t get frustrated and give up.  Each week it’s a new score card and each week you have a chance to do your best.”

Tips for Boosting your Fantasy Healthball Score

If you are finding that you are not getting the score you want, here are a few ideas to boost that score:

• If you are having trouble eating your fruit or vegetables for the day, we suggest putting them in a bag and bringing your day’s portion with you to work.  Then, snack on them throughout the day guilt-free!  Fruits and vegetables that aren’t messy are the easiest to snack on at work (carrots, celery, bananas, apples, grapes).  Plus, you will soon get the reputation of being “the healthy guy or gal” and people will stop putting candy or donuts in front of your nose all the time. 
• Likewise, bring a yogurt (or other healthy item you want to eat) to work to help meet your dairy goal. 
• Remember the day is long.  Use the whole day to get your Healthpoints.  For example, try a relaxing stretch before going to bed.  You can get your Healthpoints in and also wind down from the day.
• Bring a one liter bottle of water with you to work each day.  Then you only need to refill it once, for most people, and you will have met your water requirement.  There are some very classy sport bottles these days. 
• Develop food portion sizes ahead of time.  Pack ahead of time and bring with you only what you want to eat.  If you are still hungry afterwards, get into your fruit or vegetable bag. 
• Even if it is too cold out, or too hot, or too dark, or you are too tired, or whatever, find a way to fit in a daily exercise.  As Fantasy Healthball sets a general minimum standard for a workout (see ”Exercise” on the website), give yourself permission on a tough day to deliver just the absolute minimum!  On a good day, you may run for an hour.  But on a bad day, fit in that short 30 minute walk around your neighborhood and then count it!  We all don’t have 365 good days.  We have good and bad.  Don’t lose your opportunity for exercise Healthpoints (and those big bonuses for consistency!) because you are having a bad day or few days.  Fit something in.
• Utilize the great opportunity that a Sunday exercise provides.  The only Healthpoint you can earn on a Sunday is for exercise (read the “Detailed Descriptions of the Daily Challenge Team Roster Scorecard” in the “Start Playing” section of the website).  It is a long day.  Fit that exercise in and it is like extra credit for the week!  It starts the week off right.  Fit in only two more exercise that week and you are already at the first bonus.  
Now get out there and get moving, for yourself!

Join us in playing Fantasy Healthball

What better moment than halftime at the 2008 Superbowl to launch the Fantasy Healthball website?! Welcome, we’ve been waiting for you.

At our website (see “Links” to the right), we hope you’ll find everything you want to know about Fantasy Healthball. Here at our blog, you can be a part of and stay connected to the healthy world of Fantasy Healthball.

Inspire yourself and others. Help us spread the word. Stay informed about the latest in health, fantasy football, exercise, and the progress of the Fantasy Healthball phenomenon. You will routinely find new information at this blog so keep coming back and be sure to post your comments or questions.

Think of us, and the players who join us over time, to be your giant sports-minded support group! Like you, we are passionate about football. We loved Amani Toomer dragging his toes just inside the line to make a great sideline catch in today’s game. We loved Ahmad Bradshaw carrying a tackler and refusing to go down. We loved David Tyree trapping the ball to his helmet for another great reception. We just love watching football.

But we’ve found that it is not enough to just watch. Too many of us spend hours and hours on the couch watching athletes that are in the best shape of their lives. We watch, as we sink into the worst shape of ours. With Fantasy Healthball, we can finally change that. Jeff and I have created a health and nutrition program rooted in fantasy sports. Where YOUR game counts as much as the pros. Exercising and eating right? You’ll score and score again. Supersizing those fries and laying on the couch? You are likely to get pounded by your opponent. Just like in the NFL, if you make smart choices and play hard, you are likely to come up with the win. Show a lack of effort and make poor choices and you will likely tally a loss.

When it is not the NFL season, we go into Training Camp mode. At our website, it will only take a few minutes to learn how to play Fantasy Healthball Training Camp. It is just like the full version but without the fantasy football component. It’s a health-only game designed to build your healthy habits so that you are ready to play in September 2008 when the NFL season starts back up. Even though the Superbowl is over, it is no time to relax. If you are a New York Giant, you can go to Disneyland. For the rest of us, it is time to get to Training Camp!

Two out of every three Americans are overweight or obese. Together, we are going to change that. One person at a time. Are you ready for some Fantasy Healthball? Check out our website and then head back here and let us know what you think.

WE ARE LAUNCHED!!

It is halftime at the 2008 Superbowl.  Tom Petty is rockin the crowd hoping to avoid any serious wardrobe malfunctions.  AND, the world of Fantasy Healthball has officially begun!  www.fantasyhealthball.com is launched.  The world will soon be a healthier place.   Join us!

Fantasy Healthball to Launch at Superbowl Halftime

Keep an eye on this blog.  www.fantasyhealthball.com will launch during the Superbowl halftime show.  Enjoy the game.