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Miami Herald

South Florida fitness franchise among leaders in $2 million nationwide ALS fundraiser Miami Herald The fight against a crippling disease recently received a multimillion-dollar influx thanks to a nationwide effort by Orangetheory Fitness, a workout company founded and headquartered in South Florida. In just two weeks, between Feb. 20 and March 5, ...

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South Florida fitness franchise among leaders in $2 million nationwide ALS fundraiser - Miami Herald

Running

RUN AND WALK THROUGH HISTORY:8:30 a.m. April 23, Metairie cemetery, New Orleans. 5K and 1-mile run, nation's largest run/walk held inside a cemetery. Entry fee: $20 to $30.Contact: Chuck George at (504) 884-7565 or chucknorsi@cox.net. Website: http://www.NOLArunning.com.

DEVELOPMENTAL MEET:9 a.m. April 22 at Broadmoor High. For youth athletes 5 to 14, adults 30 and older and middle school division. Cost: $8 per athlete or $8 per spectator. Contact: Byron Turner at (225) 892-3489 or byronturner@usexpresstrackclub.org. Website: usexpresstrackclub.org.

MOTORMAN 5K:8:30 a.m. May 20 starting at Zachary High School, benefiting law enforcement officers Sgt. Bruce Simmons and Cpl. Nick Tullier, who were injured in the line of duty in July. One-mile fun run set for 8 a.m. Cost: $25 online (www.imathlete.com/events/motorman5k) or $30 on race day; includes T-shirt and jambalaya.

YMCA SWIM LESSONS:For parent/child, preschool, school age, teen/adult. Monday through Saturday at Paula Manship YMCA, Baton Rouge. Cost: 4 lessons per session, $40 members, $60 nonmembers; 8 lessons per session, $75 members, $105 nonmembers. Contact: Billie Babin at (225) 767-9622.

YMCA PARENT AND CHILD SWIM LESSONS:For children 6 months to 3 years. Tuesday/Thursday or Saturday at Southside YMCA, Baton Rouge. Cost: Six lessons, $45 members or $79 nonmembers; Eight lessons, $60 members or $105 nonmembers. Contact: Savannah LeJeune at (225) 766-2991. Website: ymcabr.org.

YMCA SWIM LESSONS:For children 3 to 5 years or 5 to 12 years. Tuesday/Thursday or Saturday at Southside YMCA, Baton Rouge. Cost: Six lessons, $45 members or $79 nonmembers; Eight lessons, $60 members or $105 nonmembers. Contact: Savannah LeJeune at (225) 766-2991. Website: ymcabr.org.

CRAWFISH SWIM SCHOOL GROUP CLASSES:Monthly lesson classes for ages 3 to 10. Morning and afternoon class times, Monday-Saturday. Cost: $80 per month. Siegen Lane, Baton Rouge. Contact: Jennie Hebert at (225) 769-4323. Website: crawfishaquatics.com.

CRAWFISH SWIM SCHOOL BABY AND TODDLER CLASSES:Monthly lesson classes for 6-36 months with an adult, Morning and afternoon class times, Monday-Saturday. Cost: $80 per month. Siegen Lane, Baton Rouge. Contact: Jennie Hebert at (225) 769-4323. Website: crawfishaquatics.com.

RED CROSS LIFEGUARD CERTIFICATION COURSES:8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 21-23. Cost: $225. Anselmo Lane, Baton Rouge. Contact: Kayla Dysart at (225) 769-4323. Website: crawfishaquatics.com.

CRAWFISH AQUATICS YOUTH GROUP SWIMMING LESSONS:Two-week/eight-day session, April 20-30 or May 8-18. Cost: $145 per session. Anselmo Lane, Baton Rouge. Contact: Nan Fontenot at (225) 769-4323. Website: crawfishaquatics.com.

CRAWFISH AQUATICS CRAWBABIES/MOMMY AND ME LESSONS:Ages 6 to 24 months. Two-week sessions, Monday-Thursday May 8-18. Cost: $130. Anselmo Lane, Baton Rouge. Contact: Nan Fonenot at (225) 769-4323. Website: crawfishaquatics.com.

CRAWFISH AQUATICS SWIM TEAM:Developmental competitive swim team groups; 4:30 p.m. for 5-8 years old. Cost: $65 per month. Also, 5:30 p.m. for 9 and older. Cost: $85 per month. Anselmo Lane, Baton Rouge. Contact: Kayla Dicharry at (225) 769-4323. Website: crawfishaquatics.com.

CRAWFISH AQUATICS HIGH SCHOOL PREP:Monday-Thursday, 6:45-8 p.m. Cost: $85 per month. Anselmo Lane, Baton Rouge. Contact: Kayla Dysart at (225) 769-4323. Website: crawfishaquatics.com.

The deadline for Fun & Fitness Calendar notices is 5 p.m. Friday. Submissions must include activity/sport, date, time, site, entry fees, entry deadlines, the full name of contact person(s) and telephone numbers with area code. Email sports@theadvocate.com.

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The Advocate's Fun and Fitness calendar for April 11 - The Advocate

Suffolk County Community College has just funded construction of a sports and fitness center at its Eastern campus. So what about the local fitness world in the private sector? Lets explore the gym facilities here on the North Fork, and some insights into their culture. Lets also delve into the interesting social side of our local fitness spots, and trends here and in other countries. Then well share some thoughts about the SCCC Eastern campus project.

Riverhead hamlet is the site of the North Forks two major fitness centers, hosting a total of almost 5,000 paid members. There are similarly active, smaller facilities found as well in Wading River, Jamesport, Cutchogue and one planned in Mattituck, where gym investors seek town approval to open an indoor swimming pool. Each of these has its own style, with its own circles of enthusiasts, along with their share of the not so enthusiastic, all part of Americas ongoing connection with physical fitness.

As everywhere, weight-training is a central activity, consisting of free weights and an ever-growing variety of weight machines. Yet weight-training is but one of a host of exercise choices at many of these places. Such aerobic devices as climbers, stair masters, and all manner of treadmills provide the cardio side of the fitness equation. There are also aerial facilities, boxing, TRX, boot camp, and cross fit.

Commonly called gyms, fitness centers have fast become a social center of the community; a neutral ground where all pursue workout routines, some on their own, and others together in groups or classes. In larger communities up West, large crowds gravitate to gyms and fitness centers day and night. When I run on Sunday mornings, one NYC resident explains in the N.Y. Times Magazine of Oct. 14, 2014, I pass seven packed, bustling fitness boutiques, and five nearly empty churches.

Back in the 60s, columnist Jimmy Breslin chided younger reporters for avoiding the rough and tumble of the city streets in favor of elitist health clubs. Todays gyms, however, are anything but elitist.

Here on the North Fork, gyms have evolved into a gathering point for all age groups. Its where the common denominator of exercise and fitness, in one form or another, brings together every economic, educational, and ethnic background, and where the art of conversation seems to rival the art of any exercise form. Social distinctions evaporate with everyone donning sweats or gym shorts. And high-priced gym garb, down to the sneakers, also make the scene. In this connected world, many arrive at the gym and plug in iPods just to disconnect and escape during workouts. As one gym patron says, Its me, my music, and the weights.

One who is new to such a varied place, or reluctant to step into a culture that is at the same time egalitarian and physically challenging, can always hire a personal trainer, or simply avail oneself of a staff consultant to show the way, be it a routine with weight/cardio machines, or all manner of classes. Theres also a well attended, and well received, three-credit course for beginners weight-training at SCCC, where a privately operated gym in downtown Riverhead serves as the hands-on, open classroom.

A heightened awareness of obesity and diabetes, of how to reverse the risk of a sedentary lifestyle (sitting is the new smoking); sensitivity to weight and diet, practicing balance for brain health; these help to explain a surge in fitness centers. Another trend locally and across America these days is grueling workouts not unlike a sort of physical atonement. Perhaps its a creature of our heightened fixation on extremes, on more is always better. This trend animates workout routines with a presumption that the extreme version of anything has to be an improvement on the original. But temper this with a relatively new and welcome feature in gyms: the absence of pressure to conform its each to his/her own pace and intensity.

What paradox that we Americans have been in the forefront of child obesity, and still lead the world in fitness trends! But Fitness Magazine and other sources reveal how we can learn much from other societies as well.

Take Egypt, living proof of how a poor society embraces fitness, even where 40 percent of their 80 million population earns about $2 a day. The wealthier communities, especially those cropping up in Cairos suburbs, boast walled-in tennis courts and swimming pools, reminiscent of their colonial era. But in a great number of poorer communities, impromptu gyms multiply, where young men are devoted to health and weight-training, amidst rundown, windowless walls covered with posters of their icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Then theres China, whose people overall are quite thin compared to Americans. Exercise is more socializing than calories. Basketball and badminton are popular street sports, as the outdoors are the gyms for China. Outdoors is where public school kids practice group calisthenics daily. Reports from all over China tell of city parks filled with agile senior folk walking backwards, practicing Tai-chi, and forever slapping their arms and legs for circulation. Later everyday, women crowd the parks for line- and ballroom dancing, always to the sound of Communist folk tunes, courtesy of the watchful governments ubiquitous loudspeakers.

Workouts in France have little to do with any zeal for fitness and all to do with merely enjoying a variety of sports, especially walking, along with cycling, swimming and running, activities there that are by far more popular than weight-training.

In Iran, the fitness craze dramatically grows, with a populace quite taken by whatever exercise routines work for Westerners. Gyms similar to ours have opened in many communities, and interest has soared in routines and trends from the US. Spinning has reached the level of a craze. And while hardly Western in origin, interest in Yoga has soared to such an extent in the West as to earn new validity among young Iranians.

In Canada, however, a decades-long video-game paradise, personal fitness has yet to take off. Some communities seek to combine the national passion for hockey with traditional YMCAs. Alberta is Canadas lone wolf with its expanding, city-operated fitness center. Fitness barely holds its own in the rest of the country. Participaction, a government program tasked with inspiring Canadians to exercise, just downgraded its recommended, minimal level of activity owing to so few Canadians meeting existing standards.

Quite the opposite in Columbia, where every Sunday morning in Bogota, roads close to all motorized vehicles to give way to joggers, rollerbladers and bicyclists. Known as ciclovia, it creates miles of routes weaving through this city of 8 million, with a regular turnout of tens of thousands. Many cities in Central America are adopting this open-air form of fitness program.

So as our North Fork embraces the fitness culture, in private gyms or in the private home, the $20.9 million SCCC Eastern campus fitness center, half to be funded by county taxpayers, forms on the horizon. Its hard to measure as yet its impact on the private gym sector. While the East Ends population growth has outpaced that of Suffolk and Nassau Counties, according to the 2000 Census, coupled with the five-year census estimate ending in 2015 (increase for Nassau: 1.5 percent; for Suffolk: 5.8 percent; for the five East End towns: almost 11 percent), still there are limited demographics here for fitness facilities.

This planned, 48,000-square-foot facility, boasting an eight-lane competition and diving pool of Olympic size, with spectator seating; a rock-climbing wall and weight room, a basketball court, several volleyball and badminton courts and a huge, three-lane indoor track, available to all county residents, will be quite a draw. Or will it?

Thanks almost entirely to its poorly negotiated, long-term, unsustainable contract with the police unions, the county sinks in huge debt. As with shaky OTB gambling revenues, Suffolk County now gambles on big bucks from this Eastern campus fitness center, so their yet-to-be-announced user-fee structure bears watching. Many corners were cut in the projects design to allow for the pool, as county officials insisted, convinced it will be a desperately needed money-maker.

Virtually all revenues earned at this new SCCC facility will go to the countys starving general fund, and not to the college. Consider Suffolk Countys 2017 overall operating budget, with $37 million in new fees and $12.3 million in fee increases. Is it likely that, once they are set up, fees charged to the general public for pool use will escape the countys penchant for relentless fee increases? Time will tell. But for better or worse, the countys costly, decades-long, imprudent mixing of politics and labor relations may well price them out of competition with the rest of the East Ends fitness centers.

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Greg Blass: How will the SCCC fitness center fare? - RiverheadLOCAL - RiverheadLOCAL

Alex LaCasse @Nomad_Reports

KITTERY, Maine Participants of Freda Emersons rigorous exercise classes at Coastal Fitness were getting a little extra for their money over the last several weeks, aside from the most premiere TRX workout in the Seacoast.

Emerson has recently been putting on drop-in TRX classes at Coastal Fitness and on Sunday the attendance fees from the classes plus a donation from Coastal Fitness owner, Mark DellaPasqua, were presented on a big check for $1,368 to be donated to club members Christy Varney and her father Tim Proctor. The two are running the Boston Marathon as a team for We Run with Ellie to benefit autism research along with former NFL player Doug Fluties, Flutie Foundation.

Mark and I have worked together as a team to be able to make this donation, said Emerson of Kittery. Its a cause thats dear to my heart as well since my 20-year-old daughter is autistic. Shes come along a long way with the help of organizations like the Flutie Foundation.

Ellie is the daughter of Janelle Dunn, Varneys sister, and she was diagnosed with high functioning autism in July 2016.

I feel grateful every day for the continued research and awareness happening for autism, said Dunn. We are so blessed to have an amazing daughter who will have every opportunity to excel in the future because of foundations like Doug Fluties.

To help raise money for Autism research Dunn, Varney and Proctor have been fundraising as a trio, and Varney and Proctor are running the April 17 marathon with the official team of the Flutie Foundation, Dougies Team.

Varney is running in her first Boston Marathon having previously run in the Mad Marathon in Waitsfield, Vermont. She said her team has hosted a silent auction on Feb. 3, placed donation jars at a handful of businesses in Kittery and has been supported by over 140 donors.

In this process, its been amazing to see just how supportive our community has been, said Varney of Kittery. It really restores my faith in community and reminds me that when you meet people, theyll want to rally around you and support you.

Varney and Proctor said they had a personal fundraising goal of $22,500 and with the donation from Emerson and Coastal Fitness the father-daughter pair has exceeded their personal goal. Varney also said Dougies Team has already exceeded their team goal of $125,000 for the marathon.

We picked a winner with the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation, said Proctor, a six-time marathon runner and resident of Kittery. Boston knows tough and they know winners. The greatest race in the world has given us the opportunity to make a difference in other peoples lives.

DellaPasqua said the donation was part of the gyms desire to help the clubs members in their charitable efforts.

We just try to get involved with the community and all our members, said DellaPasqua of York. Freda asked me if we wanted to be a part of this effort and I said, of course, because we want to be doing everything we can to help our community as a fitness center.

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Coastal Fitness donates to family's Boston Marathon effort - Seacoastonline.com

Ronald Koeman is going to be sweating the fitness of Morgan Schneiderlin for todays game as Everton host Leicester City at Goodison Park. The midfielders absence has greatly affected the Blues composure in the middle of the park and not having him available coincided with a couple of rough performances at Liverpool and Manchester United.

The Frenchman will face a late fitness test just before the game to determine if he is good to go. Everton are already missing Seamus Coleman, Ramiro Funes Mori and Yannick Bolasie for the rest of this season. Aaron Lennon is recovering from a knock and might be in the matchday squad, but there is no date of return noted for midfielders James McCarthy and Muhamed Besic.

For visitors Leicester, captain Wes Morgan practiced this week but is not ready to play yet, especially with the big Champions League quarter final coming up midweek. Nampalys Mendy is still struggling with an ankle injury while Molla Wague had dislocated his shoulder on debut in February, and is still out.

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Schneiderlin will face late fitness test for Everton - Royal Blue Mersey (blog)

Spring means blooming flowers, new leaves on trees and green grass. But for millions of people, spring also means seasonal allergies. Also known as allergic rhinitis or hay fever, seasonal allergies are caused by pollen produced by plants.

Tree pollen is the most common culprit in the spring, with grass and ragweed in the summer and fall, respectively. Allergy symptoms watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, congestion and cough may start within 5 to 10 minutes of exposure in sensitive individuals and last for hours.

Seasonal allergies are an abnormal response of the immune system to pollen. Inhaled pollen acts as an allergen, which stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies, including IgE.

Antibodies are produced whenever the immune system encounters a foreign antigen, whether it is a virus or pollen. The IgE stimulates specialized cells in the airways called mast cells to produce histamines, which cause the familiar symptoms of seasonal allergies. This is the same process that causes allergies to dust mites, animal dander and certain foods.

Since histamines are an important step in triggering an allergic response, seasonal allergies can be treated by using antihistamine drugs such as fexofenadine (Allegra), loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec) and diphenhydramine (Benadryl). Some antihistamines also include a decongestant (Claritin-D, for example).

Allergy symptoms can be diminished by reducing exposure to pollen. This means keeping the windows of your home and car closed and minimizing outdoor activity when pollen levels are highest, particularly early in the morning, on windy days and when the pollen count is high. Pollen levels are often reported with weather forecasts.

People often ask if it is safe to exercise if they have seasonal allergies. In most cases, the answer is yes. Allergy symptoms are typically similar to cold symptoms, so the usual advice about exercise with a cold also applies.

If the symptoms are above your neck (runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing), it is safe to exercise. That said, allergy symptoms are based on exposure to pollen and the more you inhale, the worse your symptoms. Since your breathing increases significantly during exercise, so does your exposure to pollen.

There are some cases in which exercise with allergies could have serious effects. Exercise-induced bronchospasm, or EIB, also called exercise-induced asthma, is a condition that affects the majority of people with asthma, many of whom also have seasonal allergies.

EIB is thought to be caused by the cooling and drying of the airways due to the high ventilation during exercise or exposure to particulate matter in the air, typically from pollutants, or pollen. EIB results in the constriction of airways, severely limiting airflow into the lungs. Asthmatics typically carry a rescue inhaler (bronchodilator) during exercise for this reason.

Interestingly, EIB also occurs in athletes, including those who compete at the Olympic level. It is more common among athletes competing in outdoor winter events (cooling and drying of airways) and indoor ice events (pollutants from ice resurfacing equipment). Through careful warmup and use of certain approved medications, athletes with allergies and EIB can successfully compete at an elite level.

Since most of us dont reach the exertion level of athletes, there is no reason to let seasonal allergies stop you from exercising. You may be able to exercise outdoors on days in which the pollen count is lower, especially if you do lower-intensity exercise like walking.

Antihistamine medications may help ease the symptoms and shouldnt interfere with exercise. For many people, allergy season is a good time to exercise indoors. Walking on a treadmill or an indoor track or participating in a group exercise class at a local gym are great ways to stay active on days when exercise outdoors just wont work. By taking some precautions, you can and should exercise, even if you have seasonal allergies!

Brian Parr, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Exercise and Sports Science at USC Aiken where he teaches courses in exercise physiology, nutrition and health behavior. You can learn more about this and other health and fitness topics at http://drparrsays.com or on Twitter @drparrsays.

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HEALTH AND FITNESS: Exercise and seasonal allergies - Aiken Standard

Los Angeles is home to many celebrities. And thus, also home to many beauty professionals who keep them camera ready. Here, a guide to the best, and oftentimes most discreet, hair, fitness, and skincare experts in Hollywood.

For hair color: Negin Zand at Salon Benjamin

Zand has earned the nickname Hands of Gold for good reason: Sarah Jessica Parker, Cate Blanchett and Diane Lane are all loyal clients. Famous for her use of balayage technique, the 20-year hair veteran is the best at creating a sun-kissed color, that looks as youve been gallivanting the beaches of Malibu (even if you've been filming in New York all winter).

For a facial: Lena Bratschi at Carasoin Day Spa

Thanks to her Jet Peel Facial, Bratschi is the esthetician of choice for Hollywood stars. The remarkable treatment was originally developed by the Russian Aerospace engineering program. The real selling point: there's no downtime after the treatment. So you're ready for the red carpet right away.

For a private manicure or pedicure: Gina Alcedo

Alcedo is one of Los Angeles' most seasoned manicurists--she's worked with stars such as Catherine Zeta Jones, Donatella Versace, and Faith Hill. But Alcedo's signature is a long-lasting polish--her secret? She applies a topcoat in between layers of polish, and uses a special cream to revitalize dry cuticles.

For botox and fillers: Dr. Ilya Reyter

D. Reyter is a Hollywood staple, thanks to his no-nonsense, no -frills technique. He has a conservative and precise approach to injectables, using small needles all over the face to restore symmetry to aging skin.

For face and neck: Dr. Karyn Grossman

Renowned dermatologist Dr. Grossman is best known for a non-surgical procedure that uses radio frequency to tighten and firm the neck. Results last about seven years after one treatment, and downtime is about a week--a small price to pay to skip the anxiety of going under the knife and still have a swanlike neck.

For dark spots and acne: Dr. Simon Ourian

Dr. Ourian developed the Coolaser specifically to remove stubborn dark spots and acne scars. And now, discernable Angelenos are regular devotees. The procedure only takes 30 minutes, and you're back in action in less than three days.

For a blowout: Maxime Salvadore at Salon by Maxime

Salvadore is a true magician. The French hairstylist can work wonders on any hair type, according to a client's wishes. Also: his smooth, shiny, voluminous blowouts last an entire week. So skip the shampoo and grab an appointment instead.

For a private workout: Dalette and Shanee at Tracy Anderson Method in Studio City

Yes, you will feel like you are going to die in the middle of this workout. But there's a reason several notable actresses--including Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow--are devotees of Anderson's classes. With regular attendance, there's nothing that will make toned arms, a firm butt, and svelte legs appear faster.

The Gigi Hadid Runway Workout!

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The Los Angeles Beauty Guide: 9 Celebrity-Approved Hair, Fitness, and Skincare Experts to Go To Now - W Magazine

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> The Spa City will soon have a new place to get fit, with the upcoming opening of Full Circle Fitness on Route 9.

Full Circle Fitness-NY, a locally owned and operated business, will open its second Capital Region location this spring at 3257 Route 9 in Saratoga Springs.

Joining the current location on New Karner Road in Colonie, the new studio will have a grand opening event on June 3, and sessions will begin on June 5.

Founded in 2013 by Dan and Laurie Romand, Full Circle Fitness-NY is a fitness studio focused on helping those who have been ignored by or are disenfranchised with the current fitness center model.

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When we started Full Circle Fitness my husband and I wanted to help that segment of the population that the fitness industry rarely pays attention to; those who feel who intimidated by or who think they are too out of shape to join a gym, said owner and CEO Laurie Romand in a press release.

She continued, Many of the members of our fitness family have come to us because they felt out of place at the bigger gyms or felt like they couldnt keep up at other fitness studios whose mentality is to Push them til they drop.

Co-owner and head trainer Dan Romand, who has lived in Saratoga for almost 30 years, said many people have contacted him because they cant find a place where they fit in.

Theyve practically begged me to open a location in Saratoga and we are looking forward to being able to provide them with our unique brand of fitness programs, he said in the release.

The new fitness studio will be managed by Tyler Adamczak, a certified personal trainer and small group fitness specialist who has been with the company for almost three years.

Im really excited to help the Saratoga Community reach their fitness goals Adamczak said in the release. Whether you are aiming to improve your health, lose weight or simply just want to feel better were here to help.

The new studio will host several sessions per week, including the Capital Districts only program custom tailored for those who have felt too nervous or embarrassed to join a gym or who havent worked out in a while: Full Circle Fitness-NYs Beginner Bootcamp program.

In addition to the this program, Full Circle Fitness-NY offers a wide variety of fitness options, including small group and personal training, boxing, TRX, yoga, nutrition coaching and massage, as well as corporate wellness programs.

More information on Full Circle Fitness-NY can be found at http://www.fullcirclefitnessny.com or http://www.facebook.com/fullcirclefitnessny.

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Full Circle Fitness-NY getting new Route 9 studio into shape - The Saratogian

The Fitbit Charge 2.

A Connecticut woman is crediting her Fitbit with saving her life, after the device detected signs of life-threatening blood clots.

The woman, 73-year-old Patricia Lauder, had recently retired and bought a Fitbit to help her get in shape, according to a statement from the University of Connecticut, where Lauder was treated. But then, she began to feel ill, even though doctors' tests for health problems came back negative.

She also noticed that her heart-rate reading on her Fitbit was gradually increasing, until one day, it spiked to 140 beats per minute. She called 911 and was taken to the hospital, where tests showed that she had a condition called pulmonary embolisms, or blood clots in her lungs. Doctors gave her anti-clotting medication, which got rid of the clots.

"If I didn't have a Fitbit on my wrist, I would never have known that my heart rate was getting dangerously high," Lauder told UConn Today, the news website for the university. "And I might not be here to tell my story." [Top 10 Amazing Facts About Your Heart]

Experts say that, because some fitness trackers include heart rate monitors, the devices can potentially alert people to certain health problems that cause changes in heart rate.

"Heart rate is a general signal for how much stress your body's under," Dr. Allen Taylor, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., told Live Science in a 2015 interview. Like a fever, a high heart rate could be a symptom of many conditions, so it cannot be used by itself to make a diagnosis, Taylor said. But "for certain conditions, [if] patients find their heart rates running faster, it could alert them to say 'something's not right here,' Taylor said.

A rapid or irregular heartbeat can be a sign of a pulmonary embolism, according to the Mayo Clinic. The blockage caused by the clots can require the heart to start working harder to pump blood through vessels, and this can also lead to an increase in blood pressure inside the lungs, the Mayo Clinic says.

Other conditions that a fitness tracker might detect include atrial fibrillation (an erratic heartbeat), anemia (a low red blood cell count) and an overactive thyroid. All of these conditions can lead to a faster-than-normal heart rate. A normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute, according to the Mayo Clinic.

In September 2015, a high school senior credited his Apple Watch with saving his life, when the device showed he had a heart rate of 145 beats per minute. An exam revealed that he had rhabdomyolysis, a condition in which muscles release a protein that damages the kidneys and other organs.

And last year, doctors in New Jersey used data from a man's Fitbit to determine how to treat him when he arrived at the ER with a rapid and irregular heart rate.

Still, it's important to note that having a normal heart rate doesn't necessarily mean you're healthy, Taylor said.

And fitness trackers like the Fitbit aren't approved medical devices, so they cannot be used to diagnose cardiovascular conditions. A study published last year found that wrist-worn heart rate monitors, which are typically used on fitness trackers, are not as accurate as chest strap monitors. The researchers advised fitness-tracker users to be aware that the devices' heart-rate readings aren't always accurate.

Original article on Live Science.

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How a Fitness Tracker Spotted a Woman's Life-Threatening Condition - Live Science

Mubarakah Ibrahim didnt expect a cancer scare to lead her to any sweet treats. But when a doctor found a growth on her uterus, she was hit with a thought that pierced her to her very core: What if I never get to eat bean pie again?

Ibrahim survived that scare. Now she is revisiting a culinary history she grew up with, and bringing it to New Haven.

Ibrahim is a well-known local fitness trainer and founder of the womens health not-for-profit Fit Haven (as well as a radio host). She has now launched Mmm Pies and Gourmet Desserts, a New Haven bean pie bakery and distributor.

Watch out, New Haven. A new treat, with a backstory, has arrived.

On a recent Sunday, Ibrahim was in her kitchen, blending soaked navy beans, milk, eggs and sugar into a smooth, fragrant custard that would puff up in the oven. She crimped the bright edges of pie crust, ran through buttons on a blender, checked the temperature of the oven. She paused to adjust the corners of a headscarf printed with bright flowers and leafy swags.

The ritual, she said, anchors her to a rich history of food, black culture, American diaspora and religious revolution.

Ibrahim is a practicing Sunni Muslim. The bean pie has its roots in the Nation of Islam (NOI), a black Muslim organization founded in the 1930s. In 1967, NOI leader Elijah Muhammad published his book How To Eat To Live, a set of gastronomic guidelines for followers that doubled as a tribute to whole foods unprocessed foods, as well as particular types of beans, grains, natural sweeteners like honey, and meats and fish that exclude bottom-feeders, scavengers, and pork. Among the most heralded were the navy bean.

Not just heralded, but revered as a culinary staple. Muhammad said he could raise a man from a baby to 100 years old on the navy bean alone; he instructed his readers Do not eat any bean but the small navy beanthe little brown pink ones, and the white ones.

Of the bean recipes that emerged from the book, two stuck: a thick, savory navy bean soup, and sweet bean pie. The latter took on a life of its own, baked and distributed in NOI strongholds including Detroit, Chicago, and New York City. Carried onto street corners, small bodegas, and bake shops in these cities, Ibrahim recalls them as accompanied by four magical words, spoken by their vendors: Bean pie, my brother? Or in her case, Bean pie, my sister?

Thats where Ibrahim found them, and they found her. Spending her formidable years as a child in Brooklyn, she and her sisters developed a routine. Midday during the summers, they would head to a neighborhood playground nestled between Alabama and Georgia Avenues. The boys would head to the basketball court to shoot hoops. She and other 8 and 9 year olds would eye a wide expanse of cement, where teenage girls including her older sister were practicing double dutch, precise and mesmerizing as they jumped through the ropes. A few of the really nice older girls would offer, without fail, to teach Ibrahim.

When she and her friends took a break, theyd grab cash from their mothers and walk over to a cool basement corner store, where the owner was selling six-inch bean pies. Theyd buy a few, and munch on them for the rest of the day, practicing new double dutch moves until the sun went down and it was time to head back inside and eat dinner.

One bite of the sweet, spicy pie meant friends, family, community, safety, said Ibrahim.

Then she grew up, moved to a state where there was no plentitude of bean pies, and started the road to fitness trainer. A road that didnt include a lot of sugar-studded signposts.

That changed with a cancer scare a few years ago. At a routine appointment, a doctor found a growth in her uterus and ordered a biopsy. Results took around a week to turn around; Ibrahim remembers time slowing down and dragging during those seven days. Among those thoughts and fears that she experienced: Will I ever get to eat bean pie again?

In the face of not knowing anything, you think of worst case scenario, she said. And so at that time, I was like: Do I want to die not having not had the slice of pie? That was literally my thought process. LikeIve given up so much ... are you going to enjoy life along the way?

One week later, she got good news: it wasnt cancer.It really was a wakeup call for more moderation, for more enjoyment of life, she recalled. Enjoyment that included eating bean pieswhile still working out five of six days a week and eating lots of greens.

Shed fantasized about them from time to time, almost tasting their sweet, decidedly un-beany texture on the tip of her tongue. Her husband, who had belonged to NOI before converting to Sunni Islam, recalled how he used to sell the pies, and missed them still.

But there wasnt a distributor in Connecticut. After considering getting in her car and driving over an hour to Brooklyn, Ibrahim decided to try making them herself.

She thought she might find a recipe online. But a Google search returned a result as horrifying as it was side-splittingly funny: a bean pie in a soggy, tired-looking crust, with whole navy beans spilling out from the sides of a slice. That was a non-starter: cooked bean pies arent supposed to resemble the humble legume from which they come. Theyre golden brown, with a custard filling just a few shades lighter than pumpkin or sweet potato. She put a screenshot of the bean pie on Facebook; friends familiar with the culinary tradition chimed in, suggesting she try her own recipe. She still knew the texture and flavor profile from childhood, she reasoned.

In Abdussabur, she had a willing taste-tester. So she got to work, pulling out kitchen utensils and measuring tools, scrutinizing overnight soaking practices and best dry bean distributors, writing down every amount of every ingredient.

It was slow going, she said. Just when she thought shed nailed an amount, Abdussabur would say it came close to the bean pies hed sold and eaten years ago, but didnt hit the exact mark. She recalled being deeply grateful for her training in science, and aversion to naked numbersmeasurements without units attachedthat a teacher had instilled in her some 20 years prior.

She tried different recipe permutationsblending the milk, then the eggs, then the vanilla, then the beans, then the sugar; the sugar, then the beans, then the eggs, then the milk, then some of her secret ingredientsbut the consistency and flavor werent quite right. Back to the oven, and several rolled-out pastry shells, shed go with a pie-scented cotton apron never far from reach.

Then one night, Abdussabur took a piece into his mouth, chewed pensively, and proclaimed the recipe spot-on.

Ibrahim checked the amounts to make sure shed committed everything to paper. The recipe was typed up and slipped into a pamphlet with Mmm Pies/SECRET/Recipes in large black and red typeface on the front.

Before she would allow her daughter to join her in the kitchen, she made her swear not to share the ingredients, amounts, or order with anyone. While she beta-tested batches for friends and family to get their feedback including one weekend where she made 25 pies in 48 hours she also moved forward with the business end of things. She secured a commercial kitchen, at Katalinas on Whitney Avenue, where she can bake two days per week, and got the right licenses to sell food. She learned that ingredients, each painstakingly weighed out, needed to be listed in order of metric weight on each box. Then she took a deep breath, and reached out to local distributors.

Willoughbys Coffee & Tea was the first to say yes at least for a test run. When its two small coffee shops on York Street and Grove Street were sold out of individual, 3-inch pies within a week, the shop doubled its order. Then she asked herself, Who [else] would be interested in this unique type of pie?

Thyme & Season, a Hamden market run by State Rep. John Elliott and his mom, offered to test them out. People started messaging Ibrahim to say theyd tried to get pie and found them out of stock. Edge of The Woods and Sheltons Common Bond market jumped on next.

Of the two, Edge was of particular significance to Ibrahimshes been shopping there for the better part of 25 years. When she dropped pies off there last week, an employee asked how quickly he could buy one from her. It turned out that as a kid in New York, his grandmother used to take him down the street to buy bean pies from NOI practitioners. For her, that was bean pie juju coming full circle.

I love the fact that every time [I sell bean pie], someone tells me about the memories, she said. Those kind of things really touch you. Youre able to bring back that memory of just love and care to people and thats what food does.

No matter what ethnicity or culture that youre from, theres some type of food from your childhood that is attached to a memory, she added. That is the commonality between us allthat we have these memories that are attached to very tangible things that we taste, things that we smell, things that we touch. We have these memories that are attached to them. So food is kind of the common denominator.

And she has a new maxim for her trainees. Life is short. Eat a piece of pie.

Click on or listen to the audio above to hear a discussion with Ibrahim about her bean pie business on WNHH radios Kitchen Sync, or check out Kitchen Sync on iTunes or any podcatcher.

The rest is here:
Fitness Guru Launches Bean Pie Company - New Haven Independent

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