UPDATES FROM LAST NIGHT'S CLASS
VEGGIE CHALLENGE
Exercise: A Healthy Habit to Start and Keep
How much exercise do I need?
Talk to your doctor about how much exercise is right for you. A good goal for many people is to work up to exercising 4 to 6
times a week for 30 to 60 minutes at a time. Remember, though, that exercise has so many benefits that any amount is better
than none.
How do I get started?
Start by talking with your doctor. This is especially important if you haven't been active, if
you have any health problems, or if you're pregnant or elderly.
Start out slowly. If you've been inactive for years, you can't run the Boston Marathon after 2
weeks of training. Begin with a 10-minute period of light exercise or a brisk walk every day
and gradually increase how hard you exercise and for how long.
How do I stick with it?
Here are some tips that will help you start and stick with an exercise program:
• Choose something you like to do. Make sure it suits you physically, too. For
instance, swimming is easier on arthritic joints.
• Get a partner. Exercising with someone else can make it more fun.
• Vary your routine. You may be less likely to get bored or injured if you change
your routine. Walk one day. Bicycle the next. Consider activities like dancing and racquet sports, and even chores
like chopping wood.
• Choose a comfortable time of day. Don't work out too soon after eating or when it's too hot or cold outside. Wait
until later in the day if you're too stiff in the morning.
• Don't get discouraged. It can take weeks or months before you notice some of the changes from exercise.
• Forget "no pain, no gain." While a little soreness is normal after you first start exercising, pain isn't. Stop if you hurt.
• Make exercise fun. Read, listen to music or watch TV while riding a stationary bicycle, for example. Find fun things
to do, like taking a walk through the zoo. Go dancing. Learn how to play tennis.
Making exercise a habit
• Stick to a regular time every day.
• Sign a contract committing yourself to exercise.
• Put "exercise appointments" on your calendar.
• Keep a daily log or diary of your activities.
• Check your progress. Can you walk a certain distance faster now than when you began? Or is your heart
rate slower now?
• Ask your doctor to write a prescription for your exercise program, such as what type of exercise to do, how
often to exercise and for how long.
• Think about joining a health club. The cost gives some people an incentive to exercise regularly.
How can I prevent injuries?
Start every workout with a warm-up. That will make your muscles and joints more flexible. Spend 5 to 10 minutes doing some
light calisthenics and stretching exercises, and perhaps brisk walking. Do the same thing when you're done working out--until
your heart rate returns to normal.
Pay attention to your body. Stop exercising if you feel very out of breath, dizzy, faint or nauseated, or have pain.
Sneak exercise into
your day
• Take the stairs instead of
the elevator.
• Go for a walk during your
coffee break or lunch.
• Walk all or part of the way
to work.
• Do housework at a fast
pace.
• Rake leaves or do other
yard work.
Wk 10: Exercise
Benefits of regular exercise
• Reduces your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, diabetes and obesity
• Keeps joints, tendons and ligaments flexible so it's easier to move around
• Reduces some of the effects of aging
• Contributes to your mental well-being and helps treat depression
• Helps relieve stress and anxiety
• Increases your energy and endurance
• Helps you sleep better
• Helps you maintain a normal weight by increasing your metabolism (the rate you burn calories)
What is a target heart rate?
Measuring your heart rate (beats per minute) can tell you how hard your heart is
working. You can check your heart rate by counting your pulse for 15 seconds
and multiplying the beats by 4.
The chart to the right shows the target heart rates for people of different ages.
When you're just beginning an exercise program, shoot for the lower target heart
rate (60%). As your fitness improves, you can exercise harder to get your heart
rate closer to the top number (85%).
What is aerobic exercise?
Aerobic exercise is the type that moves large muscle groups and causes you to
breathe more deeply and your heart to work harder to pump blood. It's also called cardiovascular exercise. It improves the
health of your heart and lungs.
Examples include walking, jogging, running, aerobic dance, bicycling, rowing, swimming and cross-country skiing.
What is weight-bearing exercise?
The term weight-bearing is used to describe exercises that work against the force of gravity. Weight-bearing exercise is
important for building strong bones. Having strong bones helps prevent osteoporosis and bone fractures later in life.
Examples of weight-bearing exercises include walking, jogging, hiking, climbing stairs, dancing and weight training.
What about weight training?
Weight training, or strength training, builds strength and muscles. Calisthenics like push-ups are weight-training exercises
too. Lifting weights is a weight-training exercise. If you have high blood pressure or other health problems, talk to your family
doctor before beginning weight training.
What is the best exercise?
The best exercise is the one that you will do. Walking is considered one of the best choices because it's easy, safe and
cheap. Brisk walking can burn as many calories as running, but is less likely than running or jogging to cause injuries. And it
doesn't require any training or special equipment, except for good shoes.
Walking is an aerobic and weight-bearing exercise, so it is good for your heart and helps prevent osteoporosis.
Wk 10: Your Body Can Burn Fat on Its Own
Your Body Can Burn Fat on Its Own, by Debbie Rocker
Wouldn’t you just love it if your body decided to burn fat and calories on its
own?
It can:
Exercise in short, intense bursts (interval training) for effective fat burning after
exercise.
Increase the amount of resistance/strength/weight training you do, to build more lean
muscle. Muscle is “metabolically active” and burns more calories than other body
tissue even when you’re not moving.
And of course, for best results:
Chill on the amount of food you are eating.
Technically:
Our bodies are built to survive, so when you exercise for long periods of time (often
and consistently) your body thinks it needs to hold on to fat for energy. Doing short
(12-15 minute), intense exercise sessions builds strength and burns calories, but not
fat, so it “feels safe” using fat stores for energy after exercise.
Resistance training (using extra weight) helps build lean muscle mass (and strong
ones), and muscle burns more calories than fat.
If you are obsessing over things like fat grams and not eating a nutritious diet, your
body will reserve energy (store fat) to survive.
Realistically:
Varying your exercise is the most effective and efficient way to stay lean and healthy.
You must do some longer exercise to build cardiovascular endurance, burn lots of
calories, and yes, even burn fat during exercise - your body will not click in to “save”
mode unless you exercise for long periods of time, regularly and often.
You must do resistance training in order to build muscle and strong bones.
Nobody wants to exercise more - and we don’t want to train our bodies to need more
exercise to stay fit. So exercise efficiently - two short, very intense (relative to your
level of fitness) training sessions weekly, like a 15-minute fast run/walk or fast cycling
sprint intervals, and - two moderately long, moderately intense sessions (30-45
minutes) of strong walking, cycling, or yoga, - with one long day (60-90 minutes) of a
moderately paced walk/hike. That’s a great five-day/week training schedule.
Eat moderately - stop counting fat grams and calories and look at how much food is on
your plate! And eat more nutritiously by eating foods that are natural and unprocessed.
Wk 10: Is Stress Making You Fat
Is Stress Making You Fat?
Provided by: Women’s Health
By David Zinczenko, Men's Health
Like just about everyone else I know, I'm pretty much stressed out to the max. I have family
issues. Work issues. Love life issues. And that Edie on Desperate Housewives . . . oh, she
makes me so mad!
All this anxiety isn't good for us. You probably already know that stress can raise your blood
pressure, diminish your sex drive, and cause excessive horn-blowing in traffic. But did you know
it's one of the biggest factors in determining your weight, as well? Here's why.
Stress Changes Your Body
Stress isn't just something you feel in your head. It's something that trickles all throughout your
body. Under stress, your body produces two hormones: adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline is
like lighter fluid, and cortisol is like charcoal. The former quickly burns off the immediately
available sugar in your blood, so you can fight or flee whatever is stressing you. Cortisol
continues to fuel the fire, pumping more sugar into your blood so you have energy to burn. The
problem is that excess sugar coursing through your blood is meant to help you flee the sabertoothed
tiger or battle the charging wild boar. It's made to be burned off quickly as you either
escape or attack. When the stress comes in a more modern form like a pressing deadline or a
stack of unpaid bills, you can't literally fight back or flee. And without that burst of physical
activity, you don't have the chance to burn off that extra blood sugar. Instead, it gets stored in
your belly as fat.
Every time you feel anxious over those bills or deadlines, there's more mush added around your
middle. In a recent study at Yale, women who were most susceptible to stress had both higher
levels of cortisol and greater abdominal fat than non-stressed women. And the ladies under
stress stored fat primarily in one place: their bellies.
Stress Incites Your Cravings
You know the kid in school who always egged you on to do the things you didn't want to do -
throw spitballs, trip the math-club president in the cafeteria, or touch your tongue to the frozen
street sign? That's what stress is: the instigator. It goads you to do things you know aren't good
for you, and under pressure, you cave in and do them anyway.
If you reach for chow when you're stressed, it's not because you're weak. It's because you're
programmed to do that. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have
identified a biochemical feedback system in rats that could explain our stress/craving
connection. In their study, the researchers determined that stress stimulated a flood of
hormones that prompted the rats to engage in pleasure-seeking behaviors like eating highcalorie
foods. While observing pleasure-seeking responses in rats might explain a lot about
Charlie Sheen, what does it say about the rest of us? Well, a study done at Yale University
found that people with higher stress-induced cortisol levels ate more food - including more
sweets - than people with lower cortisol levels.
Stress Keeps You And Your Weight Up
A University of Chicago study showed that men who slept only 4 hours a night had cortisol
levels 37 percent higher than men who got a full 8 hours. Men who stayed awake the whole
night had levels 45 percent higher than the well-rested guys. And remember, increased cortisol
equals more fat stored in your belly. Another study tracked the work habits and weights of nearly
Wk 10: Is Stress Making You Fat
1,800 men over a 12-month period and found that those who regularly logged late hours were
36 percent more likely to tip the scales at above-normal weights than the 9-to-5ers.
That's another reason why letting go of stress is an important step toward letting go of pounds.
Another University of Chicago study showed that men who were relaxed enough to get deep,
quality sleep secreted almost 65 percent more human growth hormone (HGH) than men who
didn't fall into deep sleep. Why is HGH important? It helps prevent the loss of muscle mass that
can be caused by cortisol. And muscle mass helps you burn calories and maintain a constantly
burning metabolism.
Stress Changes Your Decisions
Sure, you have every intention of eating right. But when dinner is something that can be
considered only in the 15 seconds of free time you have each evening, It’s awfully tempting to
swing through the drive-thru and pick up something that's ready faster than you can say, I’ll
have fries with that. More and more research is showing that a journey to the fast-food
emporium is almost as dangerous as a hunting trip with Dick Cheney. Consider:
One study found that fast food increases the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Subjects who
consumed fast food just two or more times a week gained about 10 more pounds than
participants who consumed fast food less than once per week.
The high-fat, high-carbohydrate content of fast food messes up your blood vessels. A University
of Buffalo study found that levels of arterial inflammation remained high for 3 to 4 hours after a
high-fat meal. (The study was conducted using an Egg McMuffin and hash browns.)
Soda contains high levels of high-fructose corn syrup. On average, we drink 50 gallons of soda
per person per year. Yes, you read that right.
Fast and convenient foods are soaked with trans fats. In a 9-year study of more than 16,500
men, researchers found that for every 2 percent increase in trans fat intake, men added onethird
of an inch to their waists. (Mono- and polyunsaturated fats had no effect.) Plus, an 80,000-
person Harvard study found that getting just 3 percent of your daily calories from trans fats
increases your risk of heart disease by up to 50 percent. To put that in perspective, 3 percent of
your day's calories totals about 7 grams of trans fats - that's roughly the amount in a single order
of fries.
So Now What?
Okay, so this is the point in the book where I tell you to relax, not work so hard, and get more
sleep. That would also make it the point at which you close the book, hurl it across the room,
and start cursing my ancestors. So let's see if we can find a better way, shall we?
Like I said, I’m just as stressed as you are. I don't have any magical solutions for finding
relaxation and inner peace, and I can't call your boss, your kids, your spouse, and your creditors
and tell them to back off. (Well, I could, but I'd have to charge you a lot more for this book.)
Instead, we need to learn to embrace the stress in our lives and start making it work for us. Not
to get all new-agey on you (incense is not my thing), but the fact is, we need stress. For
example, too much cortisol may force us to gain weight, but too little isn't good for us, either. We
need cortisol to help with organ function. Too much stress may make us confused, anxious, and
angry, but too little stress makes us bored - and boring.
So the point of this book is to help you manage your stress and undo the evils that it can wreak
Wk 10: Is Stress Making You Fat
upon you. As long as you have the quick and easy meals and healthy ingredients outlined
beginning in chapter 4, you'll have a great weapon with which to battle the ravages of stress.
You'll always have healthy food at your fingertips, so you won’t be at the mercy of the drive-thru.
You'll always be full, so you won't reach for an unhealthy snack when deadlines approach. And
you'll have all the food you want in the time you have, so you can get back to what's really
important in life - like trying to figure out who's who on Lost.
In the following chapters, you'll learn techniques that will help you take control of your time and
your food by:
Planning your meals one day at a time, so you can avoid impulsive decisions
Eating six times a day to avoid extreme hunger ups and downs
Making your own meals, so you know exactly what ingredients are being used and, more
important, which belly-inflating ones aren't
You can fight stress with food –
With good food.
With Powerfoods.
With food that takes less than 6 minutes to make.
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