Self magazine recently named the Women of Orange County the fittest in the nation. According to the magazine Orange County women spend about 1 1/2 hours a week exercising.

The magazine states:
“The O.C.’s yearlong beach season motivates women to exercise an average of 96 minutes a week, compared with 68 minutes in least-fit Huntington, West Virginia. There are 39,000 acres of parks, 150 miles of bike trails and 40 miles of coast.”

We also ranked 3rd in “healthiest Eaters”, 4th in “Least Smoky”, and 6th overall as the “Healthiest” place in the country; down from 4th overall last year.

I am very pleased with this poll because my health and fitness company, My Fit Life, is located in Orange County and I specialize in women.

Note: We are very fortunate in Southern California to have easy access to gyms and healthy eateries.

Congratulations ladies. Bravo!

Alexander Morentin, C.E.S.
Author: Better Living With Whole Foods

I went to Fresh n Easy this past weekend and was very disappointed. I was expecting to see a scaled down version of Whole Foods Market, but it’s not.

All the hype led me to believe that Fresh n Easy was a healhty neighborhood store; kinda like Whole Foods Market meets Trader Joe’s. In reality, Fresh n Easy carries vegetables, fruits, meat, dairy, and a ton of mainstream packaged foods. For instance, Fresh n Easy carries a ton of packaged and processed kids cereals such as Lucky Charms. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s do not carry these types of denatured foods. In fact, I did not notice an assortment of organic foods in Fresh n Easy, which is what I was hoping for.

As a clinical exercise specialist, I was looking forward to being able to recommend Fresh n Easy to my clients, but I can’t. Now, all I can do is hope that Whole Foods or Mother’s Market decide to open a store near me in the near future.

Fresh n Easy gets a grade of “C” in my book.

Well, that’s all I have for now.

Best regards,

Alexander Morentin, C.E.S.
www.fitness-for-women.net

One of my friends just emailed me this article from Parade.com:

“Who doesn’t want cleaner lakes and rivers? Some senators, it seems. A bill making its way through the Senate is asking that animal waste be exempt from a law that helps protect our nation’s waterways. According to a Congressional study, 1.4 billion tons of waste is generated by animals on megafarms in more than 40 states. That’s 130 times the amount of waste that the entire American population produces in a year. Not only does this pollution kill fish and aquatic life, it also seeps into our drinking water. Tell your Senators how you feel at www.Parade.com”

Some of these huge commercial megafarms house more than 100,000 head of cattle. These cattle live in deplorable conditions and are fed an unnatural diet, which wreaks havoc on their digestive systems. This not only affects our ecosystem, but also the quality of the meat that is produced for our consumption.

This is one of the main reasons I am a vegetarian. By not eating commercial meat, I am voting with my dollars and telling these large corporations that I will not stand for the mistreatment of farm animals and Mother Earth.

Progress can be made if we collectively take a stand.

Well, that’s enough for today. I'’ll get off of my soap box now.

Have a wonderful day.

Alexander Morentin, C.E.S.

It’s true. Disneyland is closing the “It’s A Small World” attraction to install bigger boats that will accomodate bigger riders. 

When the ride was first opened the boats were built to accomodate a 175 pound man and a 135 pound woman. It seems that, with the increased weight of todays population, the boats are routinely bottoming out.

 Al Lutz reported on MiceAge earlier this month that Disney will next year rebuild the ride system of the It’s A Small World attraction at Disneyland to add larger boats and a deeper flume, to prevent what’s become a common occurrence — the 1960s-era boats “bottoming out” and coming to a stop, due to the excess weight of today’s riders.

“The new flume will follow the exact same path as the original, and it will travel past sets that are in the exact same locations. But the extra depth of the new flume and the added buoyancy of the new boats should allow for several hundred extra pounds of churro-loving park visitors to pile into the new boats before they bottom out and bring the ride to a stop,” Lutz wrote.

According to Robert Niles of www.ThemeParkInsider.com , this is becoming a common occurrence in theme parks across the nation. According to Niles, “parks are adding “plus-sized” seats to roller coasters, “test” seats at the beginning of ride queues, and in some cases, rebuilding ride systems entirely.”

Isn’t this a shame? 30% of the American population is clinically obese and 65% are overweight. This translates into 90 million Americans clinically obese and 195 million overweight.

These numbers are staggering. If you have been thinking about starting a weight management or exercise program it’s time to get off the fence and start… today!

If you don’t know where to begin, I can help clear the confusion and set you down a straight line path towards health and fitness. I have developed proven methods that guarantee your success.

Have a wonderful day,

Alexander Morentin
Health & Fitness Consultant
www.myfitlife.net