Guest Blog Post – Why Fantasy Healthball Works for me (Part 1 of 2)

A Fantasy Healthball “high five” to Duff Beach for writing in with the below.  We’ll post the rest of his letter in our next blog post:

You need three things to win at football: offense, defense, and special teams.  The same is true for me and my health.  Fantasy Healthball is my offense.

I’m your typical 35-year old weekend warrior.  Almost fifteen years out of college I found myself tipping the scales 30 pounds heavier than when I graduated (and 40 pounds heavier than my “fighting weight” from my post-college Army days).  Not good.  Literally since I’ve been 10 I’ve struggled with my weight.  I’ve never been morbidly obese, but I’ve always eaten too much, and, not surprisingly, I’ve been too heavy most of my adult life.

I’m something of an athlete, and when I was in the Army and running five times a week, I could eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and stay relatively fit (and I don’t want to know what my cholesterol level was like), but whereas my eating habits stayed the same, the Army didn’t last.  There went the scales.  Playing hockey once a week wasn’t cutting it.  At just shy of 6 feet and weighing 215 pounds, I realized enough was enough.  I tried Atkins and immediately dropped back to 200, but I didn’t like it, and my wife thought it was crazy to eat that way (she’s probably right).  Back up to 215.  I started biking to work.  That got me back down to about 205, so I compensated by eating more.  Not long before I was back between 210 and 215.

Then I found Fantasy Healthball.  Was it the panacea?  Not exactly, but it was a huge step in the right direction.  It became my offense.  There are plenty of different offenses out there.  For me Atkins was the run-and-shoot: a gimmick that offered immediate results, but couldn’t work in the long run.  Fantasy Healthball is the pro-set, I-formation.  It’s not flashy, it’s not earth shattering, but it’s tried, true, and it works.  Not on its own; you still need defense and special teams, but it’s a reliable offense that moves the ball down field.

How did it work for me?  First, like a lot of sports fans out there, I don’t like losing.  Wearing my lucky t-shirt is of dubious worth for my beloved Wisconsin Badgers, but I can control my Healthball score.  If I’m playing, I’m playing to win, and that means adhering to my various Healthball goals.

Second, Healthball isn’t a deprivation system.  Instead of shocking your system, it’s a holistic, moderate approach to healthy living, not an instant path to short-term weight loss.  It’s built on the basics: exercise more, eat better.  That’s the other thing: it’s not necessarily eat less, it’s eat better.  Moreover, it’s not dogmatic.  You don’t have to do everything right every day.  If you’re going to compete with the best, you’d better work hard, but you can have your ice cream, a soda, miss some sleep.  Just don’t do it a lot.  Also, you set your own goals.  Different people need to focus on different things.  For me it’s food intake, but for others its exercise, or caffeine, or sodium, etc.  And finally, there’s Sunday — the day off (because I’m a college football fan, I adjusted that to Saturday).  By nature, I’m not an extremist.  Fantasy Healthball’s rational and moderate system works for me.

Third, and most important, Fantasy Healthball gave me the tools I’d need to compete in the big game.  There’s nothing like counting calories for a few weeks to really understand what you’re eating.  Seeing the difference between eating white bread and wheat, a Snickers bar and an orange, or an extra serving of steak versus an extra serving of brown rice.  And there’s nothing like tracking your exercise, sleep, drinking, and eating habits to show you where you’re missing out.  –  Duff Beach

The O-Line – Vitamin B

So we’ve covered vitamin and mineral basics, free radicals vs. antioxidants, and why you should Vote Yes on [vitamin] A!  And after A, comes…well…B!  The B vitamins were long confusing to me.  They made about at much sense to me as punting on second down.  First of all, all those numbers were confusing:  B1, B2, B3, there is no B4, but there is a B5, 6, and 7, but no 8, 10, or 11 but I hear about B12 all the time.  Calgon take me awwwaaaaay!  The other confusing part was the names:  Thiamin, Riboflavin, Pryidoxine, Cobalamin, not sure if those are vitamins or the names of friendly centaurs in a JRR Tolkien epic!

The good news is that the numbers aren’t used as much anymore.  My Trader Joe’s vitamins list the names of the B vitamins instead of the numbers (except for B6 and B12 which they list both for some reason – maybe because some people may still look for them by number) (by the way, the reason for the skipped numbers is that scientists once may have thought it was two different Bs but then realized it was the same or not a vitamin at all, so the numbering system got messed up over the years).  The other good news is that my daily vitamin supplement has all the B’s, so I don’t have to worry about memorizing their names.  They are all there in my vitamin tablets and the food I eat.  Here is what they do (with one food example each just to give you an idea):

Thiamin (B1):  nerve, heart, and brain functions, memory, convert food to energy (sunflower seeds)

Riboflavin (B2):  energy, energy, energy, helps growth and development (yogurt)

Niacin (B3):  all sorts of great stuff your body does behind the scenes, also releases energy, removes toxins (tuna)

Pantothenic Acid (B5):  breaks down fats, proteins, and carbs into energy; makes vitamin D, hormones, red blood cells (chicken leg)

Pyridoxine (B6):  makes amino acids into proteins and makes enzymes your body needs, immunity (banana)

Biotin (B7):  breaks down fats, proteins, and carbs into energy (peanut butter)

Folic Acid (B9):  helps cells grow, keeps arteries open, prevents birth defects and heart disease (lentils)

Cobalamin (B12):  breaks down fats, proteins, and carbs into energy; prevents heart disease, happy blood cells (clams)

Remember, the B’s are water soluble so you need daily doses and your body just flushes what it doesn’t need (you can overdo niacin and pyridoxine in huge doses).  While there are recommended daily allowances for B vitamins, most people get what they need from the foods they eat and/or through their daily vitamin.  B’s are everywhere:  meat, fish, eggs, milk, yogurt, peanut butter, breakfast cereals, bread, oranges, peas, beans, whole grains, leafy veggies, nuts, bananas, potatoes, avocados, liver, oatmeal (we don’t recommend those last two combined in one bowl), salmon, clams, beets, cheese, and more. 

Getting your B’s can do all the above, and also help with depression, some negative effects of aging, high cholesterol, and immunity.  In a word, you might remember B’s as your “base.”  They are the basic vitamins that help your body to run its normal operations smoothly.  In Fantasy Healthball terms, they are like a good offensive line that allows you to run a successful offense!  — Jim Ballard

Stop Food Racism Now! Vote Yes on A!

ESPN’s Len Pasquarelli wrote this about the NFL’s diversity:

“Consider the most memorable moment of Super Bowl XL [in 2006]: On the touchdown play that secured a fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy for the Pittsburgh Steelers, a white quarterback born and raised in Middle America and drafted in the first round (Ben Roethlisberger) handed off to a black tailback from a small town in North Carolina who made the roster as a free agent (Willie Parker). He reversed the ball to a player with a Muslim-sounding surname but who was raised in the Pentecostal faith (Antwaan Randle El), who then threw it to a wide receiver born in Seoul, South Korea, (Hines Ward) to parents of mixed races, for a game-clinching 43-yard hookup.”

NFL teams are stronger when made up of players from all parts of the earth.  And at Fantasy Healthball, life imitates the NFL far more than the NFL imitates life.  In other words, your body is stronger when you fuel it with healthy foods from all parts of the earth, made up of all colors.  The more colors the better.  You need diversity for great health.

Carotenes are what give foods their vivid colors – think carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes.  Carotenes are the natural plant forms of Vitamin A.  You need both Vitamin A and carotene.  You may remember that Vitamin A is fat soluble, so it can store in your body.  Vitamin A helps fight infections and illness.  It helps your body’s defenses grow and repair themselves.  It is good for healthy eyes and cell growth.  You will find a load of Vitamin A in liver.  But if that is not your thang, you can also find it in American, Swiss, or cheddar cheese; eggs; skim milk; yogurt; swordfish; salmon; and many other foods.

You can also get your A through plant foods with carotenes.  Beta carotene is the majority leader of the carotenes.  You body converts beta carotene in your small intestine into Vitamin A.  If you have had plenty of Vitamin A, your body can regulate and store the beta carotene for use later.  The leftovers help fight off those nasty Free Radical Raiders.  That’s right, Vitamin A is an antioxidant.

 Where do you get ‘em?  Carotenes are found in most every fruit and vegetable.  Eat those, and you will be golden (no, not literally).  They’ll give you all the Vitamin A you need.  Vitamin A from animal sources include eggs, liver, poultry, milk, and dairy.  But those can be high in calories and cholesterol too, so the best way is fruits and veggies.  If you are a male over 14 years old, you need about 3,000 IU of Vitamin A a day.  In really large doses (over 25,000 IU daily), Vitamin A can be toxic so don’t go way overboard.  Beta carotene doesn’t have a recommended allowance but the suggested range by nutritionists seem to be in the 6mg to 15 mg range.  Just stick to eating it in your healthy foods and in your daily vitamin and you don’t have to worry about these ranges.  Wanna know how many fruits and vegetables to have in a day?  Check out this nifty on-line calculator. 

Here are some foods very high in beta carotene:  raw carrots, cooked sweet potatoes, cooked collard greens, apricots, cantaloupe, cooked kale, peaches, red peppers, cooked spinach, winter squash, watermelon, oranges, and tomatoes. 

So embrace diversity.  Eat your colors.  Vote Yes on A!  — Jim Ballard

Free Radical Raiders vs. the Antioxidant Giants

Giants vs. Raiders.  East vs. West.  But we we aren’t talking Eli Manning and Darren McFadden.  This is about an internal struggle you should know about. 

In our last post, we talked about how we need vitamins and minerals to stay healthy, grow, convert food to energy, defend against infection, and stay sharp and strong.  But another thing they do is act as powerful antioxidants.  We all hear that word all the time and we know it must mean something good because products promote how much they have of it!! 

The antioxidants are our Giants.  A proud team with a history of winning.  In your body, they are the enzymes that round up those nasty Free Radical Raiders and keep them from scoring – they neutralize them.  The Free Radical Raiders are mean, tough, and destructive (sound familiar?).  In your body, they are the unstable oxygen atoms that cause damage to your cells.  They are missing an electron from a pair and go around robbing other atoms creating more radicals.  Picture a large senior prom where everyone has a date but then a bunch of lonesome (yet handsome) singles crash the party and start stealing everyone’s dates.  Chaos ensues! 

In our body, free radicals are created through natural processes and by the effects of chemicals and toxins like cigarette smoke or air pollution.  If left to multiply and create chaos, they can lead to cancer and heart disease.  So it is a battle between Raiders and Giants. 

So let’s say this is happening in your body right now, and it is.  And lets say, for this example, you are the head coach of the Giants (sorry Oakland fans, we’ll make it up to you in some other post!).  You want to do everything you can to prepare your team to win.  You want to blow out the Free Radical Raiders and overwhelm them.  How do you do it?  With your Giants.  And to bring us back to our last post, your Giants are vitamins and minerals – especially Vitamin C, A, E, beta carotene, and selenium.  Eat those fruits and veggies!

Here are some Fantasy Healthball recommended foods high in antioxidant Giants:  berries (cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberry, strawberry, etc.), broccoli, tomatoes, red grapes, garlic, spinach, tea, carrots, soy, whole grains, beans (red kidney, pinto, black, etc.) artichokes, prunes, apples, nuts (pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.), cherries, plums, russet potatoes, grapefruit, oranges, cabbage, kale, peppers, beets, Brussels sprouts, barley, millet, oats, corn, raisins, and more.   Like any of those?  Work them into your diet.  And you’ll defeat those Radical Raiders.  Go get ‘em!   – Jim  Ballard