PACE with Kathy Smith

I have had Kathy Smith’s DVD called Functionally Fit Peak Fat Burning (FFPFB) for sometime and enjoy working out to it immensely. It had occurred to me sometime ago that it fit very nicely in to the Progressively Accelerated exercise program that Al Sears devised and I thought it was worth a mention to those who like PACE.

Kathy Smith does it with a bit of humor as she does occasionally make mistakes that are not edited out but I enjoy a smile when I am exercising, so that is alright with me. She takes you through a stretch and warm up and then in to the exercise itself quite effortlessly. The exercises are accelerated for 2 minutes at a time for 6 different segments and following each accelleration there is a cool down that she uses to work your lower body. The total workout is 45 minutes ( longer than Al Sears suggests you need) but it flies by and you feel energized when you are done.  At the very end you can do her stretch or your own stretch. I happen to like the stretch she does on her DVD titled Power Walk for Weight Loss, so I choose to do that when I am done.

I do FFPFB every other day and mix it up with the Power Walk because she works your upper body in that program and it is shorter for those days when you don’t want to spend lots of time getting fit. It also does have you work out at different levels but it is not a PACE type of exercise.

If you  mix this exercise with 5 minutes in front of your Vitamin D sunlamp three times a week and 20 minutes in your Sunlight FIR sauna almost every day you have done everything a body needs to be healthy and you will feel fighting fit.

Phthalates in the News

IT seems to be the buzz word these days. IT has been on the news for several weeks and every station offers it up on a plate like they are the first to serve this delicious tidbit. IT is a class of chemicals called phthalates and they are a byproduct of our plastic world that is worming its way in to our bodies and destroying our health.

What is a phthalate? It is a salt of phthalic acid, a dibasic acid obtained by the oxidation of napthalene and allied substances. When added to plastics the phthalates allow the long polyvinyl molecules to slide against one another and are chiefly used to turn polyvinyl chloride from a hard plastic in to a flexible plastic.

As of 2004 manufacturers produce about 800 million tons of phthalates every year. Phthalates are not only the magic behind the water bottle you drink out of but they are found in many cosmetics, caulks, paint pigment, adhesives, fishing lures and sex toys. According to Wikipedia, phthalates are prevalent in pop culture electronics like iPods and iPhones and personal computers despite heavy criticism after a commercially purchased iPhone was tested for phthalate levels and it was found to be emitting “toxic” levels of the substance.

Our esteemed government agencies who, by the way, have told us that our imported toys are safe (check out the latest recall from Mattel), our food supply is safe (note the number of hamburger patties recalled due to e coli contamination) and has created a food pyramid that is making us one of the least healthy, most obese nations in the world claims that the level of phthalate found in humans has not been proven to cause any harmful effects. However, other sources claim that the current levels of phthalates have been found to have Xenoestrogen affects particularly in young boys and changed an anogental measurement. Studies done in Sweden and Denmark found a very strong link between allergies in children and the phthalates DEHP and BBzP. Other studies primarily done on rodents shows damage to liver, kidney, lungs and developing testes. Can we find research that discounts all of this data? YES. Do we know where the research has been done that discounts these potentially life altering affects of phthalates? YES the U.S. Do I trust my government to not be beholden to big industry magnates and to be looking out for me? NO

What can I do?

I personally will stop drinking water from plastic and plastics in my house are going in the recycle bin and out of my house. I do not use cosmetics and my body wash and shampoos and conditioners are chemically free . My perfumes are essential oils and my hair is naturally and sometimes rather wildly allowed to blow in the breeze unfettered by hair gels and sprays. I use a far infrared sauna at least three times a week as FIR sauna is one of the only ways to rid your bloodstream of phthalates and other toxins we have accumulated. Will I live longer as result of my actions? Probably not but I will feel I did everything I could do for myself and what happens after that is in God’s hands.