12 Ways To Be Healthier

1 Have a lie down
Back pain can be avoided and the damage repaired with one easy exercise, which is lie down on the floor with your knees bent, hip width apart, feet on the floor. Do this daily for about five to fifteen minutes to release and lengthen your spine.

2 Note your nibbles
Crash diets don't work for long enough; instead maintain a food dairy to note your daily eating habits. With this you'll be conscious of what you eat, and make healthier choices.

3 10 deep breaths
Our breath power our lymphatic system, which removes waste from cells. By taking 10 deep breaths, three times a day, you'll clear more toxins and boost your thinking power by getting 20% more oxygen to your brain.

4 Put your fork down
Put your fork down between every mouthful of food, it makes you chew your food properly, preventing digestive problems, and also prevents you from over- eating.

5 Make a list
The most effective stress buster is to make a list. Your short term memory can only remember, on an average, seven things. So when you overload it , your stress level escalate. Making a list clears out all the stress from your brain you feel tension free. This saves you from headaches, depression and high blood pressure.

6 Massage your feet
Poor circulation could be robbing you of much needed sleep. Your temperature needs to drop slightly before you fall asleep, so your body dispels heat via your face, hands and feet. But many women have poor circulation, which constricts the blood vessels in their hands and feet and prevents them from dispelling heat. A hot bath before sleeping or a hand and foot massage will increase your circulation.

7 An organic apple a day
If you buy one organic item a day, make it an apple. Research found that pesticide residues in 71% of apples- the highest in fruits and vegetables.

8 Change your tea bag
When it comes to tea white is the new green. White tea comes from the same plant as green and black but is harvested earlier and undergoes less processing, which means it contains more cancer fighting anti- oxidants.

9 Eat dried apricots
The most common nutritional deficiency is iron. Tiredness, irritability and lack of concentration. Prevent it by having two helpings of lean red meat a week, or three dried apricots a day.

10 Stop skipping meals
Eating three meals a day is very important for a healthy body. It's the simplest way to balance blood sugar levels, which will keep your mood, energy and concentration balanced and strengthen your stress tolerance.

11 Keep it crunchy
Include some raw vegetables in every meal. Many of the vitamins and minerals are in vegetables are lost through cooking, so raw food is as good as it gets.

12 Focus on your feeling
Take two minutes to boost your resolve to do walk, jog or aerobics class. The instant gratification of that exercise high is far more motivating than the promise of thinner thighs two months down the line.

10 Healthy Tips for Fitness Success

Getting fit is on the minds of most people.  However, many people are not consistent and fail in the first three months of an exercise program.  But if it becomes a habit and they stick to it, something magical happens after four months.  You are finally getting the results you expect and chances are you will continue with the exercise program.

Here a 10 simple tips to help you with your fitness success.

1.   Get Moving.  Resolve to be active in a variety of physical activities on a regular basis that will develop strength, cardiovascular capacity and flexibility.

2.   Prime the Pump.  Resolve to participate in physical activities that involve the large muscle groups of the body.

3.   Let Your Muscles do the Work.  Resolve to lift weight or use resistant exercises to place demands and challenge your muscles.

4.   Loosen Up.  Resolve to stretch regularly ñ before and after or during exercise.  Remember to move your muscles through their full range of motion on a regular basis.

5.   Win the Losing Game.  Resolve to maintain your weight at an appropriate level.  If you need to lose weight, a general rule to follow is to eat less and exercise more (both in moderation).

6.   Watch What You Eat.  Resolve to eat a healthy diet.  Good nutrition equates to good health.  Good nutrition involves providing your body with the required nutrients in appropriate amounts.

7.   Chill Out.  Resolve to keep matters of your life in proper perspective.  Know what factors you can and cannot control in your life.  Don't stress out over those things beyond your control.  See change as an opportunity, not a threat.

8.   Get Plenty of Rest.  Resolve to get enough sleep.  The basic guideline concerning how much sleep you need is whatever enables you to feel refreshed, alert and in relative good spirits the next day.  Sleep helps to rest and restore your body ñ both physically and mentally.

9.   Keep Your Focus on the Task at Hand.  Resolve to make time to exercise on a regular basis.  Consistency gets results.  Focus on the muscle you are exercising.  Don't just go through the motions.

10. Keep in Mind that ìThere is no Free Lunch.î  Resolve to commit to sound lifestyle choices.  For example, don't smoke.  Maintain an appropriate level of body fat.  Avoid the latest fitness and diet fads, magic potions and exercise gadgets that seem too good to be true (they always are).

3 Layer Berry Smoothie

1st layer: strawberries, banana, milk and organic vanilla powder, 2nd layer: strawberries, raspberries, banana and milk, 3rd layer: blueberries, banana and acai powder

Best Beginning Runner Resources Collection

Good Places for Beginning Runner Q&A

Beginners Running Q&A Blog

Forum for Beginning Runners (RW)

Runners Community on LiveJournal

General Advice

“Newbie” Advice (by supermanz)

Breathing Tips for New Runners

Basic Gear for Beginning Runners

27 Ways to Run Better Every Day

Running Basics Explained

Base Training Explained

Stride Rate and Length, Explained

How to Find Good Form (Midfoot striking)

Training Plans

Couch-to-5k Plan

Free RW Training Guides

Hal Higdon’s Training Plans

Coaching by Pfitzinger

“The Healthy Runners Marathon Training Plan” by LiveStrong

Injury Prevention

How to Avoid Injury (RW)

Injury Diagnosis

How Injury Happens/How to Avoid It

Barefoot Running

General Discussion on Barefoot Running - What and Why?

Article on Barefoot Running (Science Daily)

Finding “Barefoot Shoes”

Barefoot Running University

Minimalist Running

Fun/Useful Stuff

What to Wear for Runners

MapMyRun

Free Workout Mixes by Podrunner

25 Ways To Get 10 Mins of Exercise

Experts recommend working out 45 minutes to an hour a day (30 minutes for beginners) for weight loss and fitness. But if you're like most women, you don't always have a block of 30 to 60 minutes a day to devote exclusively to doing your workouts.

You can still exercise--you just need to sneak in the equivalent in resourceful ways. "The idea is to keep moving," says fitness expert Ann Grandjean, EdD. "Get a cordless phone or put a long cord on your regular phone, and walk when you talk. Find whatever works for you and just move. Park half a mile from the mall and walk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Those little, itty-bitty things add up."

Every Stolen Moment Adds Up

Lest you think that short bursts of activity have a negligible effect on your fitness program, think again. One study found that women who split their exercise into 10-minute increments were more likely to exercise consistently, and lost more weight after 5 months, than women who exercised for 20 to 40 minutes at a time.

In a landmark study conducted at the University of Virginia, exercise physiologist Glenn Gaesser, PhD, asked men and women to complete 15 10-minute exercise routines a week. After just 21 days, the volunteers' aerobic fitness was equal to that of people 10 to 15 years younger. Their strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility were equal to those of people up to 20 years their junior.

In yet another study, researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore found that for improving health and fitness in inactive adults, many short bursts of activity are as effective as longer, structured workouts. "It would be useful for people to get out of the all-or-nothing mind-set that unless they exercise for 30 minutes, they're wasting their time," says Gaesser.

Breaking exercise into small chunks on your over scheduled days can also keep your confidence up, says Harold Taylor, time management expert and owner of Harold Taylor Time Consultants in Toronto, who has written extensively on the subject. "Skipping exercise altogether is 'de-motivational'--you feel depressed and guilty," Taylor says. "If you skip it, you tend to figure, 'What's the use? I can't keep up with it anyway.' Yet as long as you make some effort each day, that motivates you onward. Success breeds success."

Keep in mind, though, that short bursts of exercise are meant to supplement, not replace, your regular fitness routine. Here's a roundup of practical ways to work exercise into your day even when you "don't have time to exercise." (You don't have to do them all in 1 day; select what works for you.)

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (about 1 1lb)
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup to 1 cup of sugar (depending on how sweet your blueberries are, and how sweet you want the result to be)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups full fat plain yogurt (full fat yogurt is preferred, if you use low-fat or non-fat yogurt, substitute 1/4 cup of it with heavy whipping cream)
• 1/2 cup whole milk

METHOD

1 Place the blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Heat on medium heat, stirring, until all of the sugar has dissolved. While the mixture is heating, use a potato masher to mash up the blueberries. When all of the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

If you want a smooth result, you can process the cooled mixture in a food processor, or skip, in which case you'll have pieces of blueberries which can add flavorful texture to the frozen yogurt.

2 Stir in the yogurt and milk until completely incorporated. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for several hours (or overnight) until completely cold.

3 Process the blueberry yogurt mixture in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions (usually about 25 minutes). Serve immediately (it will be soft) or let it firm up a bit by freezing it for several hours.

Healthy Breakfast Cookies

3 mashed bananas (ripe)

1/3 cup apple sauce

2 cups oats

1/4 cup almond milk

1/2 cup raisins

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

bake for 15-20 minutes. 

NO SUGAR!

Pain Relieving Turmeric Juice

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of organic celery
• 1 English cucumber, peeled if not organic
• 1 inch piece of ginger root
• 1.5 inches of turmeric root (or three smaller root sections)
• 3 organic carrots
• 2 cups of freshly chopped pineapple

Instructions

1. Wash, prep and chop all of your ingredients.
2. Process through your juicer.
3. Drink immediately or store in an airtight container such as a mason jar for no more than 48 hours before drinking.
4. Enjoy!

5 Health Benefits of the Goji Berry

Even though this powerful superfruit is just now receiving spotlight attention, the goji berry has been part of the Asian diet and traditional medicine for centuries! Goji berries are potent with enormous amounts of nutrients that can greatly increase your overall health and well-being. Here are five major health benefits of the goji berry!

1. Heart Health: Containing natural fibre, goji berries can help blood circulation by strengthening the heart and reducing cholesterol. Goji berries are also able to protect the heart and blood vessels from future damage.

2. Anti-Ageing: One of the most powerful leaders in antioxidants, goji berries help fight free radicals that are caused by environmental factors such as stress, pollution and diet. Goji berries can help strengthen your skin, reduce wrinkles and improve internal organs.

3. Boosts Libido: As you get older, you and your partner may suffer from sexual dysfunction that is caused by low testosterone levels. Goji berries boost testosterone and estrogen production, while also increasing mood, enhancing stamina and reducing stress-related symptoms.

4. Increased Energy: Goji berries supply 18 different amino acids including all 8 essential amino acids, phytonutrients, vitamins A, B-Complex, C and polysaccharides for pure, clean energy that helps strengthen muscles and promote mental clarity.

5. Burns Fat: Known to have natural weight management compounds including chromium—an ingredient that helps balance healthy blood sugar—goji berries suppress appetite, increase metabolism and maintain lean muscle, which add up to a very powerful fat burning supplement that is safe and effective.

16 Benefits of Eating Bananas

Banana fruit has many health benefits. It is a rich source of potassium. Bananas are also a natural source of iron. Banana is a nutritious food and helps in weight loss, constipation, blood pressure, brain power, anemia. In addition to the cardiovascular benefits, the potassium found in bananas may also help to promote bone health. This article helps you to discover the many benefits of bananas that you may not know about.

Benefits of Eating Bananas

Bananas contains three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose. These natural sugars combined with fiber in a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes. But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills – eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the tassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels,while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito Bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature Control: Many other cultures see bananas as a ”cooling” fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be balanced with the help of a high potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in “The New England Journal of Medicine,”eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%.

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape.

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around.

The Most Healthy Cooking Oils

You have many options when it comes to selecting fats and oils for cooking.

But it’s not just a matter of choosing oils that are healthy, but also whether they stay healthy after having been cooked with.

The Stability of Cooking Oils

When you’re cooking at a high heat, you want to use oils that are stable and don’t oxidize or go rancid easily.

When oils undergo oxidation, they react with oxygen to form free radicals and harmful compounds that you definitely don’t want to be consuming.

The most important factor in determining an oil’s resistance to oxidation and rancidification, both at high and low heat, is the relative degree of saturation of the fatty acids in it.

Saturated fats have only single bonds in the fatty acid molecules, monounsaturated fats have one double bond and polyunsaturated fats have two or more.

It is these double bonds that are chemically reactive. Therefore, saturated fats, with no double bonds, are by far the most stable.

Alright, now let’s discuss each type of cooking fat specifically.

The Winner: Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil

When it comes to high heat cooking, coconut oil is your best choice.

Over 90% of the fatty acids in it are saturated, which makes it very resistant to heat.

This oil is semi-solid at room temperature and it can last for months and years without going rancid.

Coconut oil also has powerful health benefits. It is particularly rich in a fatty acid called Lauric Acid, which can improve cholesterol and help kill bacteria and other pathogens .

The fats in coconut oil can also boost metabolism slightly and increase feelings of fullness compared to other fats. It is the only cooking oil that made it to my list of superfoods.

Fatty Acid Breakdown:

Saturated: 92%.

Monounsaturated: 6%.

Polyunsaturated: 1.6%.

Make sure to choose virgin coconut oil. It’s organic, it tastes good and it has powerful health benefits.

The saturated fats used to be considered unhealthy, but new studies prove that they are totally harmless. Saturated fats are a safe source of energy for humans .

Natural Sports Drink Recip

 

Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

Homemade sports drink recipe without artificial flavors or ingredients.

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• 1 quart of liquid (options: green tea, herbal teas, coconut water, plain water, etc)
• ⅛-1/4 tsp Sea Salt (regular table salt will work, but it doesn’t have all the trace minerals)
• ¼ to ½ tsp crushed Calcium magnesium tablets or powder (optional)
• ¼ cup or more of juice (optional. Can use grape, apple, lemon, lime, pineapple, etc)
• 1-2 TBSP sweetener (optional)- can use honey, stevia, etc. I suggest brewing stevia leaf into the base liquid for the most natural option.

Instructions

1. Brew tea if using or slightly warm base liquid
2. Add sea salt and calcium magnesium (if using)
3. Add juice and mix or shake well
4. Cool and store in fridge until ready to use

Notes

[As an example, my normal recipe includes 1 quart of tea (brewed with Red Raspberry Leaf, Alfalfa, Nettle and Stevia), ¼ tsp sea salt, ¼ tsp calcium magnesium powder (about 1,000 mg), and ¼ cup grape or apple juice]

Mixed Berry Greek Yogurt Muffins Recipe

Total time: 60 minutes

Muffins:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup Greek yogurt (I used 2% plain, Chobani Greek yogurt)
• 2 cups mixed berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)
• 2 tablespoons flour (for berries)

Topping:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour (or more)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

Use one regular size muffin pan (12 muffins)

Makes 12-14 regular size muffins

To make muffins:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line muffin cups with muffin liners.

2) In a medium bowl, mix together flour, white sugar, salt, and baking powder.

3) In a separate large bowl, add vegetable oil, 2 eggs, and Greek yogurt and whisk to combine.

4) Add flour mixture from step 2 to the liquid mixture in step 3 and mix just enough to combine.

5) In a separate medium size bowl (the one you used in step 2), combine berries with 2 tablespoons of flour. This is supposed to prevent berries from clumping together and sinking. Fold in the berries into the batter from step 4.

To make the topping: 
Combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter in a small bowl. Mix until you have crumb-like mixture.

6) Fill muffin cups with the muffin batter about 3/4 full. Sprinkle the streusel topping over muffins. Bake for about 20 minutes in the oven.

The Home Buyers Guide to Choosing a Treadmill

This week, before I get in to the nuts and bolts of the treadmills and the ellipticals I work on, I'm going to start with a quick guide to how to choose a treadmill -- well, how to choose a residential / home grade treadmill. Choosing a commercial treadmill tends to be a bit easier -- go Star Trac, Matrix, Landice or Life Fitness and, in spite of their great ellipticals, avoid Precor treadmills. Precor is a great company, they just don't quite have treadmills down as well as the other companies. With the commercial treadmills it's kind of like choosing between a BMW, a Mercedes and a Lexus. It's all about bells and whistles more than performance...they're all great machines and we'll talk about them another time.

Home treadmills are a tough sea to navigate for most buyers -- there are so many different brands and they all look alike to outsiders. Luckily, over the past 20 or so years, I've had to repair just about every treadmill ever made. In other words, my pain will be your salvation!

My first piece of advice is: avoid anything and everything from Icon Health and Fitness. They're the manufacturer of the units you'll find at places like Sears -- nothing against Sears, but the treadmills they sell tend to be on the lower end of the quality scale. Their treadmills seem to have specs that are too good to be true for their cost and, truth be told, they are. The old proverb, "you get what you pay for" comes in to play with them. Small motors with high RPMs to give them a perceived higher horsepower (most of their motors should really be rated at under 1.5 HP regardless of what they tell you -- a motor the size of a soda can should not be powering a full sized treadmill!), lots of plastic pieces, tiny rollers, and generally unstable machines are par for the course for the Icon brands like Proform, Weslo, Healthrider and Image. Just stay away from them! There are better treadmills even at the more affordable prices that Icon tempts the unlearned consumer with.

On with translating the arcane lore that is treadmill purchasing for the lay person.

Let's start with the motor. The first thing you want to do is make sure the motor is rated with "Continuous Duty." Any sales person or manufacturer who gives you a "Peak" rating is trying to sell you a bag of magic beans. Peak is best described as the maximum a motor will perform at before it breaks down. What's more imporant is: how the heck is that motor going to perform when you're actually using it? Another thing a shady salesperson might mention is that a common home circuit (120v/15amps) will only let you run about 2.5 HP and any motor larger than that is a waste of money. Technically that is true (about the amps vs. HP, not the waste of money), but the larger motors will tend to last longer as they are not running at the higher RPMs of a smaller motor. And, if nothing else, the larger the motor, the smoother the "ride." A bigger motor will allow you to run or walk on it without slipping.

The next thing to look at is the size of a treadmill's rollers. The bigger the rollers, the longer your belt will last and the better the running experience.

Next, and this is my favorite thing -- especially when recommending cardio equipment to my in-laws -- the warranty. Like anything else, the better the warranty the more piece of mind you will have. The 5 year parts warranty on Spirit treadmills, for example, is one of the best in the business. For me, the more faith a manufacturer has in its own product (i.e. the warranty), the more faith I have in that product. Of course, doing repairs I absolutely love the lower end warranties as it means more paying work for me!

What's next? The weight and stability of the machine. There is nothing worse than getting on a treadmill and having it move back and forth, or shake, or, even worse, creak as you run on it. The heavier the unit the longer it will last. If you're used to running on a treadmill at your local gym and then get on most home units, you'll immediately notice the difference. You don't want to be running around on something that feels like it is going to fall apart now do you? Don't answer, that was a rhetorical treadmill question.

The tread and the deck are where most problems for treadmills happen. When the friction from your running builds up between the deck and the tread, the badness begins. Stick with the 4-ply belts/treads that help to reduce the amount of friction, and look at units with reversable, phenolic wax coated decks. Reversable decks let you flip over your running surface to use the opposite side when the original wears down. It's like having a free second deck if you wear out the first one.

Programs. Don't be fooled by this. Most people only wind up using 3-4 programs. If the treadmill has 20, that's cool, but you'll rarely use them. If you do heart rate training, then heart rate control is great. If not, it's just an extra you'll never use...like the clock you've never set on your VCR.

Speed and Incline are worth talking about. Most treadmills can go up to about 10 miles per hour and a 10 degree incline. Don't let speed or incline become a deciding factor unless you're doing a lot of high speed or high incline training. Obviously, electronically controlled speed and incline are the way to go. If those feature are manual just move on.

Finally, test out the shock absorbtion. You want to make sure you aren't running on a hard surface. This is a "feel" thing more than a "scientific" one. If the deck is bouncy, move on. If the deck feels like running on concrete, move on. If the deck moves from side to side, move on. You want to find a deck that feels good, with just enough give and little to no lateral motion.

Beyond that fans, speakers, cup holders, magazine racks and even television sets on the treadmill's console are all just icing on the cake. It's better to get a good treadmill without a fan or TV and spend $50 to buy your own than to get a crappy, fully loaded treadmill which will eventually just become an expensive coat rack for dirty clothes.

Now, I know I alread typed "finally" but there is one last piece to consider: PRICE. You can only get what you can get but don't be fooled into buying a lemon. There are decent (and some downright Great) treadmills at just about every price point. I'll go over some of the best, at least in my experience, treadmills in the under $1000 range in the next week.

Don't despair, there is a good treadmill out there you can actually afford!