Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Good to think about...
"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else." ~Steve Prefontaine, American middle and long-distance runner
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Stave off Heart Disease
Did you know that Heart Disease is the #1 killer in men and women! It has a higher death rate than cancer and it is, in many cases, preventable....
Here are 5 easy ways to help take care of your heart:
1. Know your numbers! The American Heart Association defines optional numbers as your LDL (bad cholesterol) lower than 100 mg/dl, and a BMI of less than 25. Another measurement that I find is a better indicator than BMI is the Waist to hip ratio (WHR). It is when you measure your waist at the height of the belly button and dividing that by the measurement of your hips measured at the widest part of your buttocks or hip. A WHR of 0.7 for women and 0.9 for men is considered healthy.
2. Move! Just 30 minutes, three times a week, cuts your risk for heart disease! And in this case, more is better!
3. Eat more veggies! Research has shown that men and women who get more of their calories from vegetable sources have a 24% lower chance of developing heart disease than those who eat fewer veggies.
4. Make more friends! According to one study, women who said they felt moderately or frequently lonely were 76% more likely to develop heart disease than those who reported rare spells of loneliness. (Mayo Clinic Women's Heart Clinic info.)
5. Kick Back! Schedule down time. Less stress lowers blood pressure and makes for a less chance of heart attack! Don't worry so much about the 50 things that "need" to be done!
Check http://www.americanheart.org/ , http://www.goredforwomen.org/ and www.wholeliving.com/heart-health for more information on protecting your heart and preventing the nations #1 killer!
Here are 5 easy ways to help take care of your heart:
1. Know your numbers! The American Heart Association defines optional numbers as your LDL (bad cholesterol) lower than 100 mg/dl, and a BMI of less than 25. Another measurement that I find is a better indicator than BMI is the Waist to hip ratio (WHR). It is when you measure your waist at the height of the belly button and dividing that by the measurement of your hips measured at the widest part of your buttocks or hip. A WHR of 0.7 for women and 0.9 for men is considered healthy.
2. Move! Just 30 minutes, three times a week, cuts your risk for heart disease! And in this case, more is better!
3. Eat more veggies! Research has shown that men and women who get more of their calories from vegetable sources have a 24% lower chance of developing heart disease than those who eat fewer veggies.
4. Make more friends! According to one study, women who said they felt moderately or frequently lonely were 76% more likely to develop heart disease than those who reported rare spells of loneliness. (Mayo Clinic Women's Heart Clinic info.)
5. Kick Back! Schedule down time. Less stress lowers blood pressure and makes for a less chance of heart attack! Don't worry so much about the 50 things that "need" to be done!
Check http://www.americanheart.org/ , http://www.goredforwomen.org/ and www.wholeliving.com/heart-health for more information on protecting your heart and preventing the nations #1 killer!
Monday, September 13, 2010
It's all about what you eat...
Hello again! I hope the beginning of the school year is treating you well! Biggest Loser is off to a start! Weigh-ins were last Tuesday, the 7th and we had a pretty good turn-out. I think there is 12 or 13 people participating. If you are interested, please let me know, as we are leaving weigh-ins open for this week also. There is more information on the Biggest Loser link on the right side of the blog. So, back to the subject for the week.... Nutrition.
"You can't out exercise a poor diet". One of my favorite sayings because it is so true!! Weight loss and Maintenance is: 80% nutrition, 10% genes, and 10% training. You have to pay attention to what you eat! Are you working hard, but not really paying attention (or knowingly ignoring) to what you are putting in your mouth? Are you thinking you are eating decent, but really, if you wrote it all down, it wouldn't be so great? This is something to think about if you really want to see the results you are working so hard to get!
**Calorie = Kcal = unit of energy (measurement)**
Calories are not our enemies! However, you have to burn more than you take in to lose weight! 3,500 calories = 1 lb. of fat. So, to lose 1 lb. you have to burn 3,500 calories. DON’T get frustrated! It can be done! Safe and long lasting weight loss is losing 1-2 lbs per week. (NOT 20 OR SO LIKE ON THE BIGGEST LOSER TV SHOW!) so if you burn or save 500 calories/day for 7 days = 1 lb. 500 Calories in not very much… It is like 1 snickers (271 calories, 13.6grams fat & 28.8grams sugar!), and one large Pepsi (280 calories, 74.0grams sugar!). Or sometimes a Grande Mocha Frap from your favorite coffee shop (over 500 calories!) So, easy right? Just don’t eat. Or if you “only eat one or two meals a day”… then you are also making it harder to lose weight. Why? Read on:
Your body is a furnace and needs fuel to keep it going. If you don’t eat enough “fuel” then the fire (energy) will go out. Sounds Cliché but it is true. Experts agree that we should eat 5 - 6 small meals per day. Now I say MINI meals… For example, breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and if necessary, snack. What it does is starts and keeps your metabolism running all day. When you don’t eat enough, and start to make your body hungry, your body goes into starvation mode, and hangs on to every last calorie it can! It isn’t going to starve to death!!
Now, keep in mind, when you are trying to lose weight should try to keep their calorie intake between 1200 – 1600 calories for women, more for men. If you are very active, you can up it to 1800 – 2000 calories to keep your energy going with your major workouts. So, you have to split up 1600 calories between 5-6 meals. Make sure to keep snacks around 100 calories, and have a bit of protein, carbohydrate, and good fat in each meal and snack.
Another thing to focus on is cutting your portions in half. This will make a dramatic difference! We as a society, eat WAY to much in our portions! Just think, by cutting your portion in half, you save so many calories and probably make it way closer to the proper serving size! Think of your plate as a pie chart, split in half. On one half, fill it up with veggies. Split the other half in half again and one part is complex carbohydrates, and the other part is protein. Try it for a while. See how it works. Remember the cliche saying: "you are what you eat". Talk to you next week!
"You can't out exercise a poor diet". One of my favorite sayings because it is so true!! Weight loss and Maintenance is: 80% nutrition, 10% genes, and 10% training. You have to pay attention to what you eat! Are you working hard, but not really paying attention (or knowingly ignoring) to what you are putting in your mouth? Are you thinking you are eating decent, but really, if you wrote it all down, it wouldn't be so great? This is something to think about if you really want to see the results you are working so hard to get!
**Calorie = Kcal = unit of energy (measurement)**
Calories are not our enemies! However, you have to burn more than you take in to lose weight! 3,500 calories = 1 lb. of fat. So, to lose 1 lb. you have to burn 3,500 calories. DON’T get frustrated! It can be done! Safe and long lasting weight loss is losing 1-2 lbs per week. (NOT 20 OR SO LIKE ON THE BIGGEST LOSER TV SHOW!) so if you burn or save 500 calories/day for 7 days = 1 lb. 500 Calories in not very much… It is like 1 snickers (271 calories, 13.6grams fat & 28.8grams sugar!), and one large Pepsi (280 calories, 74.0grams sugar!). Or sometimes a Grande Mocha Frap from your favorite coffee shop (over 500 calories!) So, easy right? Just don’t eat. Or if you “only eat one or two meals a day”… then you are also making it harder to lose weight. Why? Read on:
Your body is a furnace and needs fuel to keep it going. If you don’t eat enough “fuel” then the fire (energy) will go out. Sounds Cliché but it is true. Experts agree that we should eat 5 - 6 small meals per day. Now I say MINI meals… For example, breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and if necessary, snack. What it does is starts and keeps your metabolism running all day. When you don’t eat enough, and start to make your body hungry, your body goes into starvation mode, and hangs on to every last calorie it can! It isn’t going to starve to death!!
Now, keep in mind, when you are trying to lose weight should try to keep their calorie intake between 1200 – 1600 calories for women, more for men. If you are very active, you can up it to 1800 – 2000 calories to keep your energy going with your major workouts. So, you have to split up 1600 calories between 5-6 meals. Make sure to keep snacks around 100 calories, and have a bit of protein, carbohydrate, and good fat in each meal and snack.
Another thing to focus on is cutting your portions in half. This will make a dramatic difference! We as a society, eat WAY to much in our portions! Just think, by cutting your portion in half, you save so many calories and probably make it way closer to the proper serving size! Think of your plate as a pie chart, split in half. On one half, fill it up with veggies. Split the other half in half again and one part is complex carbohydrates, and the other part is protein. Try it for a while. See how it works. Remember the cliche saying: "you are what you eat". Talk to you next week!
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