Today is the Fourth of July, the United State’s Independence Day. On this day in 1776, we officially separated ourselves from Great Britain. We’ve talked a lot about this federal (national) holiday and how it’s celebrated (see here, here, and here).

Many cities have their own celebrations that are unique (special) to that place or among a certain group of people. One of these events is the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York City, which began in 1916.

Nathan’s Famous is a chain (business with many locations) of restaurants that specialize in hot dogs. Its original restaurant was a hot dog stand (small structure or building used for selling food or other things) at Coney Island.

Coney Island is a famous place in one of the boroughs (neighborhoods) of New York City called Brooklyn. Coney Island is well known for its amusement parks. Amusement parks have rides that go very fast and high in the air, games where people can win prizes, and many different types of fast food.  Between 1880 and the early 1940’s, before World War II, Coney Island was the largest amusement park area in the United States. During the height (high point) of Coney Island’s popularity, several million people visited it each year.

The legend (traditional story about history that may or may not be true) is that the hot dog eating contest started when four immigrants (people who move to another country to live, in this case the U.S.) held a contest to see who was the most patriotic (loving and supporting of the U.S.).  But in the early 1970s, a man named Max Rosey admitted (said was the truth even though he didn’t want to) that he and another man made up (created) this story as a publicity stunt (action taken to get attention).  Even though nobody really knows why and how this hot dog eating contest starting, the contest continues today.

The contest got a lot of attention starting in the 1990s because Japanese competitors began to take the contest very seriously, with Takeru Kobayashi winning six consecutive (without a break) years from 2001-2006. These “athletes” trained for the contest and broke world records (the official number of the most that anyone has done in the world). Since that time, the event has become very popular, with tens of thousands (10,000 to 90,000) of people going there to witness (see for themselves) this event.

So how many hot dogs do the winners eat? The 2013 winner ate and kept down (did not vomit or bring up again) 68 hot dogs in a 10 minute period. Can you beat (do better than) that?

Are there eating contests where you live? Are there special local events to celebrate independence day in your city or town?

~ Lucy

Photo Credit: Hot dog with mustard from Wikipedia

Fit or fat is the title of an interesting little book by Covert Bailey, a well-known fitness expert. In it he tells us that we have a choice – to be fit (healthy; able to do physical activities) or to be fat.

If Bailey is right, too many people in the U.S. seem to be making the wrong choice. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tells us that the U.S. has a problem – too many of us are obese, which means having too much fat. Some fat is natural and necessary. But obese people have so much fat that it is not healthy. As a result they have less energy, they get sick more often, and they don’t live as long as people who are fit. The CDC reports that about 35% of U.S. adults and 17% of children are obese.

Eating better can help solve the problem. But, according to Bailey, “the ultimate (main or most important) cure for obesity is exercise.” It’s even more important than what we eat. He explains that obesity goes down as we grow our muscles and increase the muscle enzymes (chemicals that help our bodies work or operate) that burn up the fat. And to do that, we need regular exercise. “The choice is for fitness or fatness,” he writes, “to exercise or not to exercise.”

The question is what kind of exercise and how much. Many experts have said that we need at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week – 30 minutes a day for five days. Aerobic exercise includes activities like jogging (gentle running), running, swimming, cycling, and walking. It’s exercise that is hard enough to make our hearts beat faster, our breathing to get heavier (require more effort), and to cause us to sweat (our skin to become damp or wet). But it’s easy enough to do for a long period of time.

Unfortunately, a recent New York Times article reports that 80% of the people in the U.S. do not get this kind of exercise. Many don’t do it because of the time it requires. As a result, some scientists have been trying to discover if smaller amounts of exercise will provide similar benefits.

The answer seems to be “yes”. This spring, at the annual (yearly) meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, many people who attended the meeting agreed that a few minutes of hard exercise is enough to help people become more healthy or fit, if it’s the right kind of exercise.

One study suggests that 30 seconds of “all-out (as fast as you can) pedaling” of a stationary bicycle “followed by a brief rest, repeated five or six times” led to similar results as 90 to 120 minutes of aerobic bike riding. Other studies seem to show that only “16 to 30 minutes per week…of highly intense (requiring a lot of effort) exercise also improves certain markers (indicators) of health….” High-intensity exercise seems to be effective and takes less time, but it is very hard work.

If you’d like to see an example of a seven-minute high-intensity workout you can do at home without any special equipment, check out (look at) this article from The New York Times Magazine.

One of the scientists said that high-intensity exercise “may not be the ideal (best) form of exercise for everyone. And we have a lot more science (research) to do.” But he added, “I’m 45, with a family, and very busy. So…this is how I work out (exercise) now.”

I prefer aerobic exercise, partly because I enjoy it. I ride bike for 30 minutes four or five days a week and for about two hours on Saturday or Sunday. Do you exercise regularly? Which would you prefer – aerobic or high-intensity exercise?

~ Warren Ediger – English coach/tutor and creator of Successful English, where you can find clear explanations and practical suggestions for better English.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

A recent survey (questionnaire) about Americans and sleep reported in the Los Angeles Times found that we don’t get enough sleep. About 85% of Americans say they don’t get a good night’s sleep on a regular basis (normally).

Here are the top reasons why these approximately 1,000 American say they don’t sleep well.

48% – Stress and anxiety (pressure and worry)
47% – Failure (unable) to turn off their thoughts (stop thinking about things)
38% – Pain interferes with (stops from happening) sleep
32% – Too overtired (too tired) to rest
23% – Background noise interferes with sleep
23% – Children or pets interferes with sleep
18% – Breathing problems interferes with sleep
17% – Spouses (husbands or wives) or significant others (boyfriends or girlfriends) interfere with sleep.

Interestingly, women have more trouble getting a good night’s sleep than men, 88% versus 78%. Not surprisingly, low-income (earning little money) adults report more sleep problems than more affluent (wealthy) adults, with stress and anxiety and pain being the most frequent reasons cited (mentioned; given). But regardless of how much money Americans make, we are equally likely to be bothered by children, pets, and our own thoughts.

Based on these results, it seems to me that to get better sleep, we — especially women — should get rid of (remove; don’t have anymore) pets, children, and spouses. That might also help reduce (lower) stress and anxiety.

Do you get enough sleep on a regular basis?  What prevents you from catching some z’s (getting some sleep)?

~ Lucy

Photo Credit: Bronze Statue of Eros Sleeping from Wikipedia