Online Health Research Tips

The Good Ol' Days.

 Kinda.

Image: Duke yearbook

Doing health research online is crazy-making enough, even when you manage to find reliable and credible sources. There are so many bickering experts and contradictory findings to sort out!

But most people don't even manage to GET to the reputable sources in the first place. Typing in a random google query can quickly lead to quacks and crackpots, sponsored ads, and forums full of blathering no-nothings repeating something they read "somewhere."

So this next guest post by Dr. Tiffany Reiss, an actual professor with a background in exercise physiology, offers some tips for navigating the interwebs when you have a question about health and fitness.

Say hi to Tiffany!

Dr. Tiffany Reiss serves as an adjunct faculty member for Seattle University, Lake Washington Institute of Technology, American Public University and Walden University. She received her PhD from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in Health Promotion at Virginia Tech and holds a MS degree in Exercise Physiology from Appalachian State University. She is a contributor for the Sports and Fitness Network and is the co-founder of TheHubEdu: A Learning Library. (More about that later; it's pretty cool and right now it's FREE!)

As for Crabby, she's still off on her South African Adventure and hopes to pop in at some point when there's internet. In the meantime, please welcome Tiffany Reiss .--Crabby

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True....

We live in the information age.  We have more information available to us at our fingertips than any individual can manage to keep up with on a daily basis.  We think because we have access to all of this information, we are better informed.  The problem is, we aren't.

Can Crabby Blog from a Droid?

It seems unlikely that I can manage to post on the road with a smartphone, given that I can barely make calls with it. But internet access is already proving problematic, and we haven't even left Frisco Texas yet. (Apparently not just our hotel, but others in the Hilton chain were down too, which has got to mean a crapload of pissed off business travelers.)

So I thought i'd try a test post on the phone with a photo of nothing, using a goofy retro filter.  Because today it's only a judgmental bull in a texas parking lot, but later it could be lions and giraffes and shit, who knows? Anyway, good thing guest posts are a 'comin. Stay tuned!

So i can take 1 photo, put text on top, and center a caption below.

But seriously blogger, no other options?

Where's the freakin menu? Sigh.

Giveaway WInners!

By Crabby McSlacker

So today we have  3 winners of each of these two great books for a total of 6 winners!

And if I weren't behind on packing, with a cab coming to whisk me off to the airport terrifyingly soon, I wouldn't recycle the same graphics as the in the original Rick Hanson & FBG Anit-Diet giveaway post.

I also had planned to have a nice philosophical pre-trip ramble on some health or travel-related topic. But it looks like y'all get a reprieve and I'll leave it at this:

When heading off on a big trip, don't leave so f--king many things to do until the very last minute!

(Fortunately, the first stop before we make our way to Cape Town and then to the safari thing is a return visit to Frisco Texas (where the Lobster works) and where there are tons of malls. I suspect anything important that I've forgotten, save my passport or my sanity, can probably be purchased there).

Anyway, so you guys already know I'm a big fan of the "FBG's," (Jennipher Walters and Erin Whitehead), and Rick Hanson.

So wanna know who won The Fit Bottomed Girls Anti-Diet? Or  Hardwiring Happiness?

Man Overboard: Castaway

Jack Sh*t over at Jack Sh*t Gettin' Fit is back with another guest post, as Crabby McSlacker frantically packs her bags for her upcoming adventure in the exotic wilds of South Africa and Frisco, Texas.  She flies out tomorrow morning.

Oops, wrong city!

Always did have a crappy sense of direction.

But anyway, Crabby hasn't forgotten that tonight she and the Random Number Generator have a hot date to pick 6 winners in the Rick Hanson's Hardwiring Happiness and FBG's Anti-Diet Book Giveaway!

Winners announced tomorrow so please stay tuned.

Also, Crabby has belatedly stopped by to respond to some of the wonderful and amusing comments on yesterday's Secret Menu post. Thanks for your patience and sorry for the delay!

Warning: there will probably be some travel pictures posted along the way during the next few weeks, with or without the usual pretense that they have anything to do with health and fitness. But on the plus side, there are some great guest posts in the works too!

And now, heeeee'res Jack! ---Crabby

Jack Heads to the Deep End: Another Super Secret Blog Post

Blah blah blah blah blobbity blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blobbity blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blobbity blah blah blah.

There! Now you're caught up.

Here's the next in my series of super-secret blog posts that somehow managed to find their way over to Cranky's site.

Oh, yeah. One more thing: blah blah blah.

Secret Menus and Special Requests: Staying Healthy When Dining Out

By Crabby McSlacker

So it turns out many chain restaurants have "secret" or "hidden" menus--there's even  a blog called hack the menu devoted to describing items you can order that are not listed on the regular menu.

The problem? Almost all of these secret items are even more evil and poisonous than the usual craptastic chain offerings. They may make you feel more like a hip insider as you use the special secret passwords and score an exclusive treat--but the items themselves don't deserve any coverage on a healthy living blog. Even one as half-assed as Cranky Fitness.

There is one notable exception, however: Panera's Hidden Menu!

Wanna find out what happened on a recent Stealth Mission to check it out In Real Life?

Or, bored enough to hear some tips on how to get the healthier food you want in restaurants in general?

Let's get crackin'!

Takin' Care of Business

image: x-ray delta one

This is just a short post today, with one quick idea, and totally unrelated link.

First the link: it's a beautiful and powerful post, "The Cure for Not Being Good Enough," by Charlotte over at The Great Fitness Experiment.

Seriously, it's well worth an extra click.

Anyway, here's what I'm trying to do today, and I'd like to pass it on as a quick suggestion:

Giveaway: Rick Hanson's Hardwiring Happiness and The FBG's Anti-Diet Book!

By Crabby McSlacker

So today we have a giveaway featuring 3 copies of each of these fine books...

So SIX Winners!

Plus the giveaway includes Canadians!

And yeah, this is the weirdest blog post formatting ever, and I shudder to think what happens on a mobile phone, but I couldn't figure out any other way to not put one book "on top" and the other "below."

Both are well-written helpful books by writers I'm already quite fond of: The "Fit Bottomed Girls," (Jennipher Walters and Erin Whitehead), and Rick Hanson.  So it would bug me not to treat them equally--even though I know the authors themselves don't give a f... um, fig! who goes on top.

At first glance these titles might seem to have nothing to do with one another. So one might wonder why on earth I've combined them for this giveaway.  (Aside from the fact they have the same publisher, which I did NOT know until after I already decided to put them together.)

But there's actually something interesting they have in common:

Three Annoying Questions for Gigi of Gigi Eats Celebrities!

photo: the unquiet librarian

Interview By Crabby McSlacker

Our next victim for "3 Annoying Questions" is the hilariously healthy Gigi at Gigi Eats Celebrities. Her videos and blog posts on celebrity diets, fitness trends, and other aspects of healthy or deranged living are so fun and informative that we can almost forgive her for being all gorgeous and talented and clearly destined to be a big-time celebrity herself. So please welcome Gigi as she bravely fields Crabby's "3 Annoying Questions!"

Ready Gigi?

Strange Adventures and Assorted Announcements

Photo:  X-ray Delta One

By Crabby McSlacker

So Happy Saint Patricks Day!  Although aside from a green shirt that makes an appearance in a photo or two, I'm afraid we're not doing much on that theme today.

This post is partly about seeking out "adventure!" But, if you are an anxious person, fear not. I haven't changed my opinion that there is absolutely nothing wrong with embracing your comfort zone, and staying way the hell away from "adventures" other people suggest if they seem too risky or otherwise unappealing.

However, there is still a lot of excitement and novelty to be had in the world from within your comfort zone.  And in fact, scooching up right to the edges of it can keep life interesting and keep your world from shrinking into something drab and confining and boring.

So how do you find an adventure that's right for you?

OK, I'll Shut Up Now: Final Pics and Thoughts on Natural Products Expo West

By Crabby McSlacker

Regular readers are probably now vicariously nauseated and exhausted from our many virtual hours wandering through the convention halls together, eating everything in sight.  I "dead blogged" Natural Products Expo West on Monday and nattered on again with the Expo West musings on Wednesday and here we are again with more of the same on Friday. Sheesh!

The sad thing?  Still dozens of more pictures and thoughts, but enough is enough I'm thinking.  Natural Products Expo West  is a really humongous undertaking and a fun time. I hope to bore you with it again next year... if any of you are still hangin' in there by then.

But there were negatives as well as positives, and this is Cranky Fitness after all. That's the great thing about being an irascible swear-word-filled blog too scary to attract respectable corporate sponsorship: no pressure to be nice, ever!

Take My Antioxidants, Please!

photo: neatly sliced

By Research Nancy

(Hi there! This is Crabby poking her head in here to welcome Research Nancy back with another post full of actual research of the sort that I'm too lazy to sort through myself these days. You may recall she rounded up research on whether coffee is good or bad for you, and now she's looking into antioxidant supplements for us and finding some Most Unpleasant Surprises.)

Take it away, Research Nancy! --Crabby)

What happens when you find a good sale on the vitamins you like and purchase a 6 month supply? Sounds great! Well, maybe not when you discover there are a bunch of studies showing that antioxidant supplements may not help, in fact may be very bad for you. How’s that for saving money?

Let me start by first by saying this isn’t the first time we’ve heard this. Just goes to show you that Cranky Fitness was on to one aspect of the antioxidant vitamin problem back in 2009. (Note: I did not pay Nancy to say that! And in fact I totally forgot I wrote it.---Crabby.)  Another reputable blog back in 2009 suggested that antioxidant supplements actually negated the effects of exercise in muscle tissue.  And recently the New York Times reported on a study in Norway with the same conclusion: vitamins may be bad for your workout, and the BBC agrees.

What is going on here?

Aren’t free radicals bad for me? Won’t these antioxidants mow them down?

Dead Again! Best, Worst, Predictable and Shocking from Natural Products Expo West 2014

By Crabby McSlacker

So as you may recall from the first Dead-Blog of Natural Products Expo West 2014, we've established that I'm too lazy and greedy to "live blog" a trade show like most sensible bloggers. The whole "reporting" thing tends to get too much in the way of Eating Free Samples As Fast as You Can Snarf Them Up.  

And it's the same deal today!  I'm in and out with clients to talk to and shelter cats to visit and Other Shit to do, and can't get it together to post all the pictures and impressions at once. Plus there are lots of "healthy" snacks left to sample and I can't do it all in one sitting or I'll explode into a huge four-alarm gluten free organic non-gmo stevia-sweetened conflagration. Not pretty.

Also, sorry, I know I've been spotty about comment reply, which is especially lame as the comments to recent posts were so great, but will try to pop in better later this afternoon.  But I ABSOLUTELY LOVE when you guys reply to each other and talk amongst yourselves!  Do you have any idea how freakin' rare that it is in the blogosphere?

OK, a brief Part One and I'm off to the gym...

Up (Jack) Sh*t Creek: More Secret Blog Ramblings

Photo: WI Dept Nat Resources

Yet again Jack sneaks off from his own amusing blog Jack Sh*t, Gettin’ Fit and clues us in to the Secret Struggles of the Man Behind the Sh*t!

Welcome again, Jack! --Crabby



Here we are again.

This is my ongoing series from my super-secret weight-loss blogging project called Man Overboard that I started and abandoned (much like many of my diets) last year.

The Crankster has been kind enough to give me a new forum to run the posts.

Hope they float your boat.

Natural Products Expo West 2014: Dead-Blogged by Crabby!

By Crabby McSlacker

So, you know how reporters and bloggers go to an exciting event like the Natural Products Expo West and they "live-blog" it?  Readers can virtually experience the happenings themselves as they see pictures and impressions scroll by in Real Time.

Well, sorry, but "live-blogging" is SO not Crabby McSlacker!  That would require flexibility, multi-tasking, and a focus on something other than "where is the next free snack and how many samples can I take home with me?"

A Huge Crapload of Samples, Yay!

However, since the expo is now over and it's too late to "live blog" it, how about I Dead-Blog it instead?

That's right, I'll start with some initial impressions, and then, LIVE throughout the day, I'll review and photograph some random stuff as I scarf it up. Bonus: this will allow me wander away from the computer to go to the gym and tackle dirty laundry and do Important Coaching Things like forgetting to invoice people and see what's going on at other blogs, yet to come back and add more stuff so I don't feel all guilty that I haven't managed to crank out even one simple blog post yet.

All this will be in totally random order, btw, because that's way easier!

Sound like a plan?

Tasty Links!

photo: X-ray Delta One

By Crabby McSlacker

Yep, it's been a while since the last links post, so this should be more than a short rushed slopped-together compilation, and yet... that's exactly what we got.  After I put this up, I'm planning a quick playground workout and then the Lobster and I are whisking off to a mystery destination for an exciting event.

Crabby Hits the Jackpot: Cranky Readers are Ultra-Awesome!

photo: sexy77beto

So Crabby has coerced... er, let's say "invited" another fun and inspiring blog commenter to share a fitness adventure.  And yet again, it was an exciting aspiration to which Crabby herself would say "hell no!" The Jackpot Ultra Marathon is not the sort of thing one approaches in a half-assed fashion, and Crabby rarely employs her entire ass unless absolutely necessary--being chased by angry bears or pursuing fleeing cupcake vendors are the only situations that come immediately to mind.

Anyway, wanna hear how it went?  This is the first guest post by UltraKaz but, I'm sure hoping there will be more in the future! UltraKaz has commented on the blog as Anon, and briefly as Janonymous, partly because I poked her with a large pointed stick until she de-Anonyfied herself but never mind that part.

Please welcome... UltraKaz! --Crabby

By UltraKaz

Don’t mind me… just horning in on Crabby’s territory momentarily and only because I did something recently about which I wish to brag publicly and she has graciously provided the platform.

This thing I did is something I’ve barked out to total strangers in the grocery store, such is my over-the-top pride about it.  I ran 100 miles.  All at once.   I’m 60 years old.  

Bucket Lists--What Should Be on Yours?

By Crabby McSlacker

Do you have a "bucket list" of things you'd like to do before you croak?

There's a whole website designed to help you "track and achieve your life goals," and there may be some bucket list ideas there you could swipe.

I don't actually have one myself, but hmm... maybe I should?

Mostly I'm curious about what you guys have on yours.

Three Annoying Questions for Jody of Truth 2 Being Fit!

photo: the unquiet librarian

Interview By Crabby McSlacker

So again with the "3 Annoying Questions!" This time we decided to ambush... er, ask the awe-inspiring Jody, whom you can find being all Fit at 56.  Jody keeps it real, offering inspiration and practical tips on fitness and health and nutrition, but damn it, she stubbornly refuses to offer quick fixes to tough problems or magical solutions which require no effort or sacrifice. Spoilsport.

Please welcome Jody to the weirdness that is Cranky Fitness!--Crabby 

And here are the 3 Annoying questions:

Monthly Support Post: Blow Your Own Horn (Plus, Life Coaching Flash-Sale )

By Crabby McSlacker

Regulars here may recall that about once a month, Cranky Fitness gets all nosy wants to know what you guys are up to.  These "goal support" posts may have started out being about New Years resolutions, but many people who check in are not actually pursuing any official resolutions or goals. And that's just peachy too! 

So how about we do something slightly different? This month, I'd like to encourage Cranky Fitness readers to say something nice about themselves. 

So join me, will you? Let's go ahead and brag a little!

And, like me, you can consider getting some practice promoting your business or blog or your employment qualifications or your leadership ability or the crafts you make or your athletic prowess or parenting skills.  Or you can acknowledge your determination, generosity, accomplishments or the tough challenges you've overcome. Or... 

Wait, no! Don't leave yet!

Crap.

This is such an unpretentious, humble, down-to-earth, non-braggy bunch of readers that it's gonna be like pulling teeth to get some of you to join me in this, but please stick around and hear me out, ok?