By Earl Ellingson, Editor

I recently endured a session of Bikram Yoga, the 90 minute session in a super heated 107 degree room. It was intense to say the least. I was stripped almost bare and sweat was dripping in torrents as I went through various poses and breathing exercises. By 70 minutes I was praying for release or death, and then it happened. The Yogi, reading my mind suggested to the weary class that we stop yearning for the end and embrace the present, or something like that. It worked. Afterwards I was loose as a noodle and feeling 2 inches taller. Plus I'd lost 4 lbs of water weight. Intense.

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(ARA) -- Ahhh, nothing quite so refreshing as a clear, clean drink of water … unless, of course, you stop to think about exactly what else you could be ingesting with your good old H2O. The WQA National Consumer Water Quality Survey indicates that 86 percent of the United States population is concerned about the quality of their drinking water.

The Culprits: What causes these problems? High concentrations of dissolved calcium and magnesium result in water hardness. Water that tastes or smells bad is caused by the presence of organic matter or chemicals. Chlorine kills bacteria and other pathogens and is widely used as the primary line of defense in municipal water supplies. However, pathogens like cryptosporidium and giardia, are resistant to chlorine disinfection, and high chlorine concentrations can react with water creating trihalomethanes (THMs), carcinogenic compounds. Lead can leach into water supplies, but the bigger problem is lead getting into your tap water from plumbing. Homes built before the 1930s utilized lead pipes. Builders then switched to copper pipes, but the solder used in joining them contained lead. Both lead pipes and lead solder can leak lead into your drinking water and there are no safe levels of lead exposure.

Results of Exposure: Every year, millions of Americans suffer some form of gastrointestinal illness from drinking water contamination. Waterborne contaminants do not discriminate between major metropolitan areas and rural areas, though problems in big cities get more press. In 1993, there was a highly publicized outbreak of cryptosporidium contamination in Milwaukee that killed 111 people and sickened 403,000. Cities throughout the nation, including Las Vegas, Nevada, and Austin, Texas have also had widely publicized outbreaks. But, in fact, more water problems tend to exist in smaller communities, private developments, highway rest areas and other rural areas where modest water systems may lack the resources or equipment to meet and monitor water quality standards. The reality is that any community is at risk of having poor water quality.

The Solutions: Taking control of the quality of drinking water is exactly what many consumers are doing. The percentage of Americans using some type of home water treatment system has increased by 66 percent since the WQA first began surveying consumer attitudes in 1995 -- to the point where 41 percent of Americans now take it upon themselves to treat that water at home. What began as a bottled water phenomenon has burgeoned into an entire industry of water filtration products. In fact, manufacturers and others providing water quality solutions spend an estimated $100 million annually on advertising. Courtesy of ARA Content

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Here are five tips for making the most of your fall and staying fit and active in the process.

1) Diversify: Take advantage of the outdoors by swimming, bicycling, walking, jogging, and playing golf and tennis. This variety of activities helps strengthen and condition all muscle groups. Putting the fun back into your workout also reduces boredom, the number one killer of good health and fitness regimens.

2) Don’t stop using your club or gym: It takes 30 days to make fitness a habit, and supplementing outdoor exercise with regular visits to your health club will ensure that you remain active during those rainy days, and especially when the temperatures begin to drop.

3) Maintain a balanced diet: Fall is a great time to feast on fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, making it easy to ensure that you get your four to five servings of these important foods every day.

4) Make it social: One of the great things about exercise is that it doesn’t need to be done alone. Call that long-lost friend that you don’t see nearly enough and arrange to meet over a brisk walk. Find someone with a similar fitness level and try a variety of activities -- you can help to motivate each other.

5) Stretch: The more you become active during the summer, the more important it becomes to implement a regular stretching regimen. Remember that your muscles may not be ready for the type of activity you’re engaging in, so warm up and stretch to help increase flexibility, reduce the risk of injury and improve blood flow. Courtesy of ARA Content

True or False? Take the 9 question health quiz

Even with a fitness regimen in place, most people tend to be more sedentary in fall and winter; for that reason, it is important to incorporate a balanced approach to diet and nutrition into your plan. For example, most people don’t eat the recommended four to five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. But our health, energy, muscle development and more are all directly linked to the whole foods, vitamins and supplements we ingest each day.

Accurate information is imperative when considering a change to your diet. Unfortunately, too many people make their choices based on information from television, newspapers, magazine, books and myriad other mediums that lack scientific authenticity or any form of governmental regulation.

Test your knowledge regarding health, fitness and nutrition by answering the following true or false questions:

1. A fat-free diet is good for you.

2. You can lose fat around your mid-section by performing sit-ups or leg lifts.

3. Eating late at night is bad for you.

4. A slow metabolism is a result of your genetic disposition.

5. An all-protein diet is a safe and effective way to lose weight and keep it off.

6. You can lose weight more quickly if you combine exercise and an extremely low-calorie diet.

7. When you go on a very low-calorie diet, your body will use its own fat for energy.

8. Counting calories is the solution for proper, long-lasting weight control.

9. The real purpose of exercise is to burn calories.

If you answered “true” to any of these questions, it is a good indication that you don’t understand the basic information about your body and how it works. Don’t feel bad; you aren’t alone. Most Americans share these misconceptions.

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Sam, we'll call her, is a 27 year old administrative assistant for a large bio-tech company. She loves cycling, pilates and dancing on weekends. Sam is 5'6", weighs 121 lbs and tries to maintain a balanced lifestyle: 2 pieces of fruit per day and a salad at lunch, minimum. Sam is relatively fit, alert and bright. But she has a problem. She can't pass a bag of doritos, sugared donuts or a can of Mountain Dew without succumbing to her digesto-carnal desires. She indulges and then feels guilty, plunging herself into an overachieving fitness regimen to compensate. Sam is riding the peaks and valleys of in indulgent, undisciplined habit that causes her continual stress. How to deal with it? Going cold turkey is not the answer, she needs to limit herself to one planned and allowed indulgence per day, guilt-free.

What's your advice to Sam? Send it to Samhelp@prosnack.com

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